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Take the First Steps Towards Success at
OneGreatFamily |
Submit Your Family Tree at
OneGreatFamily
Several people have asked us how they can be
most successful using OneGreatFamily. The answer
is actually quite simple: start by submitting
everything you know about your family tree to
OneGreatFamily.
The more information you supply to
OneGreatFamily, the better chance OneGreatFamily
has of finding matches and helping your family
tree grow.
You don't need to subscribe to be able to
submit your tree. You can submit your family tree
and update your research using the OneGreatFamily
online software for free. After getting started,
you will need a subscription to view new growth
identified by OneGreatFamily or to resolve hints
and conflicts.
OneGreatFamily provides two ways to get started
on your family tree. You can either 1) start from
scratch by entering your name and the names of
your ancestors or 2) submit a GEDCOM file to
OneGreatFamily (if you are already using a family
tree software package).
After your family tree is started,
OneGreatFamily will continue to look for possible
matches on ALL of your ancestors ALL the time. You
will also be able to contact other members of
OneGreatFamily to collaborate on common
research.
The value of OneGreatFamily can be shown in the
following success story we received:
Thanks One Great Family for introducing me
and my family to our first genealogy search
program. We are all excited about the
possibilities. We have been looking for missing
family members and our roots for years. Now,
hopefully, we can meet our past and know from
whence we came...for African Americans it has
been a tough thing to do...search. We welcome
all your support in our journey.
Thank
You,
Will Matthews Sr.
Have you had a success using OneGreatFamily? We
would love to hear from you. Please submit
to us your success stories so we can share them
with other OneGreatFamily members.
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OneGreatFamily Learning Center: Last names
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Helpful Tips on Last
NamesLast names are the key to
genealogical research. Over time, they can be
spelled in different ways, surrendered at
marriage, and sometimes changed for other reasons.
So if you want to find your family's history, you
need to learn to search effectively for your
family last names. The first thing to remember is
that in times gone by, people worried less about
consistent spelling; William Shakespeare, for
example, spelled his name half a dozen different
ways. So don't be surprised if you discover that a
simple name like "Hardy" was spelled "Hardie,"
"Hardee," "Hardey," and "Haredy" by different
relatives, sometimes in the same immediate family.
Names translated from other languages into
English can be even more confusing. "Longacre" and
"Longenecker" are variant names for the same
family.
When researching family names, the best tactic
is to look for similar consonants; the vowels
often tend to shift and change. That is the
principle of the Soundex searching system, which
can help you discover ancestors you might
otherwise have missed.
One useful strategy is to keep a list of last
names you are looking for. You can list whole
lines or specific individuals you're searching
for. When you're talking with other genealogy
researchers, ask them about your family names.
Look them up in various indexes to historical
documents. When you keep your eyes open for a
family last name, you may be surprised at the
treasures you find.
You're not alone in searching for your last
names. At OneGreatFamily.com, you may find other
researchers who have discovered important branches
of your family tree. A single new link can help
you discover thousands of ancestors and entire new
lines. Home of the original online family tree,
OneGreatFamily.com can help you find your family's
place in the world. A single new link can help you
discover thousands of ancestors and entire new
lines.
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Lisa Lights the Way |
The Evolution of Language
by
Lisa South, Certified Genealogist
I was watching an old western. The homesteaders
were in their cabin. A line of Indians was quietly
sitting on their horses along the ridge. I sat
aghast as the older homesteader turned to his
younger brother and said, “Waste one of them!” The
younger brother put his gun through the window and
shot a bullet into the air to try and frighten the
Indians away! The older brother meant, "Waste one
of the bullets!!!!" I had a good laugh when I
realized that I had interpreted the word "waste"
in a modern "Dirty Harry" sort of context, but
that's not how the word was used back in the days
of the Wild West - or even when that old western
was made.
Our language has and continues to evolve and
this can cause some confusion as we try to
evaluate early records, for example:
The term “my now wife” is one that appears in
some probate records and is often misunderstood. A
researcher may assume from this term that there
was a previous marriage when in reality it is a
term to limit the inheritance rights of a future
marriage in case the “now wife” should die before
the husband’s will is probated and he
remarries.
Sometimes we find the terms “goodman” and
“goodwife” (often shortened to goody) in older
records. These terms just indicate the head of a
household or the mistress of a household.
The title Colonel was often used by old
southern planters and usually meant nothing as far
as military service or rank, however it adds an
additional means of identification and that is
helpful.
Among the very early colonists, Mr. & Mrs.
were used only by the upper classes. Mrs. was not
a term identifying a woman as married but rather
as a woman of “gentle” birth.
Prior to 1750 the term “cousin” was given to
almost anyone who was related outside of the
immediate family. It was often used when in
reality the person was a niece or nephew.
These are just a few examples. The important
thing to realize is that the evolution of our
language can impact our genealogical research and
the earlier the records, the more we should study
what those changes were.
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One Great Genealogy Site
Award |
 
USF Africana Heritage
Project
Based at the University of
South Florida, this volunteer project aims to
preserve and publish online records documenting
the names and lives of slaves, freed persons and
their descendants. The project taps library
holdings, academic archives, plantation journals,
public records, Freedman's Bureau files, early
church records, oral histories, family Bibles and
more.
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Get FREE Time on
OneGreatFamily.com |
Want some FREE
time?Current subscribers can earn
additional free time by referring others to
OneGreatFamily.com. OneGreatFamily needs your help
in growing the largest single family tree in the
world. You can get free subscription time on
OneGreatFamily by referring others to this unique
service. When anyone you refer to OneGreatFamily
subscribes to our service and enters your
username, you get an additional free month.
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This newsletter is
provided as a FREE service to the members of OneGreatFamily.com.
You can view past editions of this
newsletter by visiting our Newsletter
Archive.
To unsubscribe to our newsletter
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Managing Editor: Heather Matthews
Contributors: Heather Matthews, Lisa South
and Rob Armstrong
Editor: Tracy
Armstrong | |
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Last Week at
OneGreatFamily421,216 people
were added into the OneGreatFamily tree. 65,052
new connections between family trees were found by
our automated search system.
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