Files and Files ... A to Z

Family File Folders
North Platte Genealogical Society

Almost two years ago the North Platte Genealogical Society, North Platte, NE (where I live!) was given access to hundreds of family files.  They pertain to families who lived in North Platte and Lincoln County.  By the end of January I realized there were too many files to copy at home or I would need a new all in one printer.  The last day of January a rental copy machine was delivered to the genealogy section at the library.  Thus began a month of frustration and fun ... mostly fun.

While I did most of the copying, a good crew of volunteers prepared files, cross-checked and filed them.  There were lots of laughs along the way.  In the category of frustration, we soon realized that we were spending society money for the copies, paper, files and rental of the machine.  However, it was that or ignore the access given us to the files.  Working diligently we were able to finish the last file on March 1st, turned the copy machine off and closed the last file drawer.

The five drawer file cabinet is full of great information ...  pedigree charts and family group sheets, copies of marriage records, death certificates, photographs and more.  I first moved to North Platte in 1976 and consider myself a transplant.  Can you imagine my surprise when I discovered an old cousin from Indiana had moved here and is buried here?  I found her information in a family file I was copying.

When I wasn't copying at the library, I was here at home scanning records such as marriages of Lincoln County, WPA interviews and church records.  Eventually we hope to have those on a web page.  It takes time, but it is worth the effort.

It is time the You Go Genealogy Girls start thinking about travel.  YGGG #2 is coming to visit me in 1 1/2 weeks.  She is presenting the program, Antique Photos and Cherished Reflections, for the North Platte Genealogical Society meeting on March 21st.  The next day we will load up 'Lil Red and head to Broken Bow, Nebraska.  We plan on staying in an old, renovated hotel and using the Custer County Historical Society museum/research center for two days.  They also have file cabinets of family files.  We will be scanning the files.  This is our first excursion together since May/June of last year.

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 .... Ruby

PS  If you are interested in the North Platte Genealogical Society family files, they are on the second floor of the North Platte Public Library, 120 West 4th Street, North Platte, Nebraska.

Celebrating a Finished Project

Have you ever had that wonderful experience of finding a new ancestor or information about somebody on your family tree? You want to jump for joy, do the happy dance and better yet tell somebody. Unless that person you tell is a genealogist, they usually are not interested in your good fortune.

So, genealogists, celebrate with me that today, August 22nd at 3 p.m. I had the wonderful experience of completing my stash of research papers brought home from Salt Lake City in June. It has taken me about ten weeks to navigate through the three foot tall stack, read them, evaluate the information and enter information into my family tree databases on the computer. I have scanned the pertinent papers, which actually was almost everything.

Last year when YGGG #2 and I went to the Family History Library I scanned microfilm to a flash drive. It was a new flash drive. Once home I was able to retrieve almost everything. Suddenly the flash drive crashed only producing error messages that it could not be opened. There was confirmed data there that I no longer could access. Not wanting two weeks of research ending up on a crashed flash drive, this year I decided to make copies which I could read, transcribe, evaluate and scan myself.

While it appears that nothing is left of my three foot stack of papers, I still have plenty of research to do. I am proud to say that I did good research, came home with a multitude of information and extended some of the pedigrees back three or four generations. I have enough leads to keep me busy for months. Well, at least until YGGG #2 and I head back to Salt Lake City in the spring of next year.

Throughout my research I have learned to never say never. You will invariably find an ancestor who did the unusual. Think out of the box and hope to discover that person. You should also review your own research and keep it current. New resources are being located, some digitized or somebody has written a book or article that will interest you. By today's research standards those books or articles are usually documented better than what we used twenty to thirty years ago.

A genealogist's work is never done. There will always be some mystery ancestor teasing and tormenting you to find them. It's like the old childhood game of hide and seek. I am always seeking and you better know that plenty of them are hiding. The challenge of genealogy is what keeps me going.

And going .... And going ... YGGG #1 -- Ruby