October was another productive genealogy month. I accomplished most of what I wanted to, although I am feeling a little burnt-out again.
Writing
Write 8 blog posts (not including “On this date” posts) – my priority is to write up more notes from FGS. – I actually wrote 21 posts. It’s funny, I started out the monthly really slowly and didn’t think that I would even get 8 written, but the last two weeks, I have been a post-writing machine. A lot of these posts are scheduled for November and December, but several go out into 2011.
Research
Process 5 headstone photos from my visit to Chatsworth Heights Cemetery (this includes entering data into RootsMagic, (possibly) writing “Tombstone Tuesday” posts, and adding the photos to TNG). – 6 done
Check 1860 census for Dave Butler – I’ve checked numerous times, but hope springs eternal. Supposedly, he lived with his father, James, and stepmother, Nancy. – I checked but found nothing.
Order FHL film that has Ben Hemphill-Martha Lytle marriage record. This will be my first time to order film from the Family History Library. This roll of film should have numerous other records that I need, so before it arrives, I will also review my database for McDowell County, NC marriages and also review the “NC Marriage Collection” index on Ancestry.com. – I ordered the film last week, so it should come in the first part of November. I have a list of other McDowell County marriages from my database printed out and will review the Ancestry database today. I’m excited about this film, because when I visited the McDowell County Register of Deeds office last year, they only had an index of marriages.
Order Mary Elizabeth (Patterson) Whitener’s death certificate from Oklahoma Vital Records. – Ordered and received.
My piles of paper “to-be-entered” are getting out of control and have actually taken over the top of my printer. Deal with at least 5 pages from the printer-top: entering data, doing due-diligence, scanning, etc. – 6 pages done.
Visit the Alaculsa Valley cemeteries – Baxter Family, Chable Family, and Hopewell Baptist Church. – I visited Hopewell, but I couldn’t find the Baxter or Chable cemeteries. However, I visted three other cemeteries last weekend (Ballground, McEntire-Montgomery, and Mt. Zion), so I’m calling it even.
Other
Database work: delete duplicate notes from records with surnames starting with M & N. – M, N, and O done.
Notebook Project: I’m starting with Howell and I want to complete 215 names. – I did about 71 names. I’m going to put this project aside for a little while.
Continuing Education: read chapters 2 & 3 in North Carolina Research (the Helen Leary book). I started reading chapter 2, which was just excellent. Then my first NGS HSC CD arrived, so I did the first lesson, instead of reading more of the Leary book.
Database Statistics
- Individuals: 2805 (this is fewer than last month; I did a little pruning)
- Families: 952
- Unique Surnames: 594
- Places: 939
- Sources: 417
- Citations: 9,189
Overall, I give myself an A+ for October. Check back tomorrow to see my November goals.
