Genealogy Videos: Family History in 3 Minutes

 I think I found a way to share family history without people knowing they're learning family history.

(Heads up at work: there's music involved. Also, enlarging the video to full-screen makes it blurry. Blame Blogger.)

What do you think?

I love this process. It lets me tell stories with words, pictures and music. In 3 minutes, I shared with you (and my family members who are reading this blog) about my great-great grandparents, and your eyes didn't glaze over nor did you fall asleep at the table.

Genealogy purists will probably get their ahnentafels in a bunch because this piece lacks sources, but you know what? I don't care. My mission is to share about the lives of my ancestors and help others do the same. With this nifty storytelling avenue, I'm well on my way. 

The process of developing a personal genealogy video isn't too hard. You just have to have the patience and confidence to experiment with whatever software program you choose. I used Roxio Creator 2011 (affiliate link). You can also use programs that came with your computer, such as Windows Movie Maker or Mac equivalent.

Once you have that sorted, here are the basic steps to creating a narrative slideshow:

1. Gather photos. Make sure you own them or have permission to use them. Finding pictures on the Internet or someone else's Ancestry tree doesn't count. Allow time for cropping and editing if necessary.

2. Upload and sort. Upload the photos you want to use in your slideshow. All the video programs I've used have a place where you can drag images around the screen and put them in the order of your preference.

3. Add text. Depending on the story you want to tell, you can interject slides between photos or put words directly on the images. Keep the narration simple. Limit the amount of words per slide and use a big font.

4. Add audio if desired. If you choose this option, I recommend making the selection of music "Step 0" in this process. Finding music for this slideshow was the first thing I did. Why? Because once I found the right piece, it set the tone and guided my story. There are plenty of places to get legal music for videos. If you want to get all fancy, you can also use audio clips from your own digital recordings. 

Hopefully this little video gets your own creative gears grinding. Telling the story of my great-great grandparents was a fun process. I fully intend on making another narrative slideshow. In fact, I already have an idea....

[Note part 1: This video is also on You Tube. I tried to upload it here via that site, but Blogger was having a fit. Perhaps their ahnentafels are in a bunch. --Amy]

[Note part 2: Grandpa, if you're reading this, I hope you liked it! --Amy]

2010 Family Heritage Tour, Part 3

[Part 3 of 3 in a series. Part 1 here and  part 2 here. --Amy]

Yesterday was the final day in the tour of my mother's "ancestral homeland" (aka Louisiana). In the morning after checking out of the hotel, we drove out to Iota:

The town may have a big heart, but there's zero cell phone reception of which to speak. What Iota does have is a lot of rice fields:

We paid a visit to the St. Joseph church and cemetery. I've read a couple books and records that say the church was built on land my ancestors used to own. There was a big house here once upon a time.

At the cemetery, which is part of the church grounds, I showed my mom the grave site of her great grandmother, Eliza "Lizzie" Eldridge Thibodeaux Matte. At the back of this photo is also the marker of Eliza's daughter Malina Thibodeaux, who is the great-aunt of my mom.

In another section of the same cemetery, there is a marker for Josephine DeGreve Bourgaux, who is my mom's great-great grandmother from Belgium. The stone also shares the names of two of Josephine's grandchildren. Upon seeing this marker, my mom realized that her own grandmother Josephine was named for this woman:

After that, we drove around Iota, which took about 2 minutes. Then we took the slow road home.

My mom doesn't *do the genealogy* like I do, but I think she really enjoyed this trip. She had heard stories of Acadia Parish from her parents, but had never been there. Now she has pictures, memories and new cousins.  And the food...we can't forget the food!

2010 Family Heritage Tour, Part 2

[Part 2 of 3 in a series. Part 1 here and part 3 here. --Amy]

Day 2 in the 2010 Family Heritage Tour of my mom's "ancestral homeland" started early. We had a lot to do.

First, we headed out to the area where my great-great grandfather was killed in 1889. According to the newspaper articles, he stole his neighbor's wife, and flaunted the fact around town. Then he stole the neighbor's horse and that sent the guy over the edge. Anyway, here's the scene of the crime:

Last time I visited, this field was rice. I'm think these might be soybeans:

Near the scene of the crime, there was a cemetery. We stopped to see if my great-great grandfather was buried there. I've never found a grave for him and I didn't here, either:

I thought it was an interesting stop. My mom, not so much. She stayed in the car. There she is in the front seat:

For lunch, we met my mom's second cousin at Chef Roy's. We had never met before today, and this meeting was the product of a letter I sent out of the blue in March. We had a wonderful meal. She shared pictures and I feel like I hit the jackpot. I have a photo of my third-great grandmother and a possible contact with a cousin in Belgium. We'll see what happens. After lunch, we visited some more and saw some family homes.

I think my parents had a good time and my son wasn't entirely bored so it's a good day in my terms.

For dinner, we went here:

The food was fine, but really I wanted to go there for the Cajun tunes:

As you can see, I'm serious about my food, I'm serious about my live music, and I'm serious about my Family  Heritage Tours.

Next up... we'll spend some time in Iota, Louisiana before taking the slow road home.

Click here for part 3.

2010 Family Heritage Tour, Part 1

[Part 1 of 3 in a series. Part 2 here and part 3 here. --Amy]

Today began the 2010 Family Heritage Tour, where we go to my mom's ancestral homeland. For many folks, that would be another continent. For my mom, it's Louisiana since the 1700's. This particular tour, however, is focusing on the French and Belgian immigrants who came to Acadia Parish in the 1880's.

After we crossed from Texas into Louisiana, I went south on route 27 to go to Cameron. However, I forgot there were two route 27s, and I was on the wrong one. That's ok because I got to see Holly Beach again. You'll be glad to know we didn't see any oil, just a lot of shells.

The because of my wrong turn, we had to go on the ferry to get from Holly Beach to Cameron. My son took this picture while we were waiting for the ferry:

When we got to the Cameron Parish courthouse, we paid a visit to the Civil War memorial that had my great-great grandfather's name on it (among many other who died that day):

All that travel made us hungry, so we stopped in Lake Charles for lunch:

I recommend a plate of pistolettes.

After lunch, we ventured off I-10 and took the more scenic route to our hotel. My mom got to see a bit of her "ancestral homeland" along the way. Once we got to the hotel, we chatted by the pool, which overlooks the bayou.

For dinner, we went to Prejean's, where we had delicious food and sat at a table in front of the web cam. We called my aunt in California and told her to look for us online. She said it looked like we ordered a lot of food, but I think she was just jealous that she wasn't with us. (Need I remind her of the fried pie incident? But I digress...) Maybe I can do these family heritage tours for hire...

Next up, a visit to the cemetery where my mom's great grandparents are buried and a first-time meeting with my mom's second cousin. Big day ahead on the 2010 Family Heritage Tour!

Click here for part 2.

Fun with CastleGarden.org

The other day I decided to poke around CastleGarden.org. I have several ancestors who immigrated before Ellis Island, and I occasionally steal a little *me* time to search for them.

This time I entered MENOU in the surname box and found my great-great-great grandparents and some kids:

Menou, Victor Francis (age 39)
Menou, Janne (age 37)
Menou, Marie (age 18)
Menou, Anne (age 15)
Menou, Francois (age 13)
Menou, Jules (age 10)

They arrived October 2, 1884 from Havre, France on the ship Marseille. They were bound for New Orleans.

I don't know who Marie, Anne and Francois are. Children? Nieces and nephews? The lack of an 1890 census doesn't help things. All I know is that I've never seen those names in family records. Jules I know.

But where is my great-great grandmother Emelie Menou? She would have been about 8. I sat there for a second, then a light bulb came on in my head. I searched the name MENON, which is a common error with this Menou surname. Guess what I found?

Menon, Pierrette (age 38)
Menon, Jane (age 17)
Menon, Emelie (age 8)
Menon, Josephine (age 6)
Menon, Pierre (age 3)

There's my great-great grandmother Emelie (erroneously listed as a male). I do not know who Pierrette and Jane are. I'm inclined to think Pierrette is a female name (though listed as a male) and maybe she is an aunt. The three youngsters are the children of Victor and Jeanne Menou above.

This second boat (Rhaetia) came from Havre, France on May 12, 1885. The group's destination was not known.

So it looks like my third-great grandparents came first with the oldest family members. Once they settled, they sent for the youngsters. The challenge now is figuring out who some of these people are.

Based on Jules Menou's obituary, the family spent some time in Seguin, Texas before eventually settling in Pointe Aux Loups, Louisiana (now Iota in Acadia Parish).

With an hour of research time and a hunch, I now have all these questions to answer and leads to follow, thanks to CastleGarden.org.


[Note to family and cousins not yet met, some of the information for this post came from Jules Menou Sr.'s obituary (1872-1941). Please contact me if you would like a copy.]

Best Deal in Genealogy

You know those Louisiana death certificates I ordered last week? They arrived yesterday! I sent the forms on one Thursday and the certificates came on the next Thursday. And the records were only $5 each! I need to see if there are any other death certificates I need before the Secretary of State wises up and raises the price.

Below are the death certificates I requested and received. I know you won't care, but I want to list them here so others who may be searching online will land on my blog, contact me, exchange info and live happily ever after as cousins in Genealogyland.

Julia Bourgaux Menou d. 30 Jul 1949

George Paul Bourgaux d. 26 Dec 1931

Charles Matt / Matte d. 1 July 1938 (2nd husband of my great-great grandmother who was the widow of my great-great grandfather who suffered from wandering-eye disease)

Elizabeth Thibodeaux Scanlan d. 29 March 1952 (daughter of Mr. wandering-eye disease)

Frank Scanlan d. 22 April 1946 (husband of Elizabeth)

Earl Rufus Scanlan d. 18 Dec 1933 (Homicide! Shot in a restaurant! Son of Elizabeth and Frank)

ValJean Menou d. 20 Dec 1925 (age 6 of diptheria)

Victor Menou d. 16 Nov 1954 (age 3 of accidental hanging. So sad.)

Louisiana Death Certificates

I recently ordered some older Louisiana death certificates.

You can do the same through this page of the Secretary of State's web site.

Here's the deal:

1. You can search this page for death records between 1911 and 1956.

2. If you find what you're looking for, you can fill out a form online*, then print it out to mail.

3. The cost to obtain a death record from this site is $5. A bargain!

4. You can send up to 10 requests in the same envelope.

I ordered some records for siblings of my great-great grandparents. I'm hoping they give clues to birthplaces or other little nuggets of knowledge. Always research the siblings. You find surprises that way.

The certificates I ordered were for the Bourgaux and Menou lines. I also ordered a record for Charles Matte, who was the second husband of my great-great grandmother, Eliza Eldridge Thibodeaux. How did her first husband perish, you ask? Here, let me refresh your memory.

I'll let you know what these records hold. Louisiana usually gets these documents out within a month.

* Note: I had to exit Google Chrome and use Internet Explorer to get the online applications to pop up and print. Just a heads up.

Personal Genealogy Day

You've heard of "personal days" at work? Well yesterday I took a personal genealogy day.

I haven't worked on my own family stuff in weeks. I've been doing homework for ProGen, writing articles, maintaining this blog, taking my kid to see trains, running a household, etc. So yesterday I just cleared the calendar and resumed working on my RootsMagic database that I started building from scratch last year.

I worked on the Bourgaux/Menou lines in Acadia Parish, Louisiana. I entered in the details from the death certificates and obituaries of my great-great grandparents. I found a recent online obituary from a cousin I've never met from that line and added those details to the database as well.

Then I sent a letter to complete stranger/cousin asking for family information. I enclosed a picture of our ancestors in my letter to show that I'm sincere and not some stalker freak. We'll see how that goes.

This personal genealogy day came at the right time. I really enjoy working on this database, each fact having a source. It's so small right now and takes so long to add information correctly, but the end result will be worth it.

Now back to real life and the responsibilities it entails. Laundry doesn't care about family history.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - A Nice Thing

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings provides a "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun" topic each week and invites others to play along. Tonight's topic is a question: What is the Nicest Thing another genealogist did for you, or to you in the last week or so?

Thank goodness Randy put a cap on how far I could go back, because genealogists are the nicest people, and I have a long list of good deeds. Here are examples of kindness I've encountered within the time frame:

1. I received an email last week from someone who knew of my interest in the surname Menou. He said he gathered 11 pages of his own research (he wasn't even blood related) and sent them to me. I was touched my his generosity in his introductory letter and baffled as to how he got my address. Then in looking through my own mail I noticed my first newsletter from Pointe de L'Eglise: Acadia Genealogical & Historical Society. In the "welcome new members" section were my name, mailing address and surnames of interest. What a warm welcome to this new society. Now I also have 11 pages of Menou information thanks to an act of kindness from a new friend.

2. Earlier this week I was browsing Ancestry.com and noticed that someone else had a common ancestor with me. A few clicks and I found a photo of the great-great-great grandmother I had never seen. How exciting! The user was kind enough to give me permission to share the picture with others as well as publish it on this blog. Thanks to the generosity of a distant cousin, you will see this picture in an upcoming post.

I thank Randy for providing this blog prompt. I can't wait to go to other genealogy blogs and read about the good deeds of others.

Tombstone Tuesday: Jackpot Edition

In July of this year, I visited St. Joseph Cemetery in Iota, Louisiana. I have a great-great grandmother buried there as well as various aunt, uncle and cousin types. I took a checklist with me and crossed off names as I found their graves.

When I came to the grave shown below, I was quite excited. Can you guess why?

Genealogists are well aware of the challenge of trying to determine ancestors' foreign birthplaces, and here they were all spelled out in stone. These are my third great uncle and aunt. Jules' sister is my great-great grandmother. Julia's brother is my great-great grandfather. Yes, one brother and sister pair married another sister and brother pair. I am especially excited to see the birthplace information because I can't find the burial site for my great-great grandparents. At least I know where they came from.

Tombstone Tuesday: Distant Cousins Edition

I always feel a sense of dread and weary necessity whenever I take photos in the "Babyland" portion of a cemetery. Not a happy place, yet there is a longing to preserve the memories of those buried there, often more than adults. These children had fewer records in their short lives, fewer chances of being remembered through documentation.

These siblings are buried next to each other in Woodlawn Cemetery, Crowley, Louisiana. I do not know their first names yet. I am still pouring over my piles of discovered information from my road trip. At some point, I can give you their names. For now you can call them my third cousins once-removed.

Road Trip Re-Cap

I'm back from my quickie road trip to Acadia Parish. The focus was on the names Bourgaux and Menou. I threw a bit of Thibodeaux research in there for good measure, but I'll have to mosey on up to Opelousas for the real details on that line.

My dad and my son went with me on this trek. My dad was kind enough to entertain my son while I did research at the Crowley Branch of the Acadia Parish Public Library. They have a nice genealogy room, including a great obit collection developed by wonderful volunteers and some members of the local Pointe de l'Eglise: Acadia Genealogical and Historical Society.

In the afternoons, we went searching the local cemeteries. I was mostly successful but not completely. I will elaborate at a later date.

Of course, when you go to Louisiana, you must sample the local food.

One night we ate at Prejean's in Lafayette.

Another night we ate at Chef Roy's Frog City Cafe in Rayne (Frog Capital of the World, y'all).

On the way home we stopped at Steamboat Bill's in Lake Charles. My son and I shared the magic of pistolettes with my dad.

This was a good road trip and research trip. I came away with about 75 copied pages of information which will provide a strong, well-sourced base for me to continue my work on the Bourgaux and Menou lines in the Iota and Rayne areas of Acadia Parish, Louisiana.

Researching Acadia Parish

I haven't had much spare time this week, but the few minutes I did collect went to gathering the names of ancestors born in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, or somehow connected to the area.

I'm hoping to take a quick trip there in July, and I'd like to determine the cemetery sites of anyone who may be buried there.

My group is about 70 people. These are the names (so far) that occur in my family tree:

Arcenaux
Bourgaux
Brewer (an interesting case, indeed)
Eldridge
Guidry (part of the interesting case, indeed)
Leger
Matt / Matte
McGee
Menou
Petitjean
Scanlan
Taylor (guy that killed a Thibodeaux)
Thibodeaux (guy that was killed by a Taylor)

Based on what I've seen so far, I am probably related to any Bourgaux or Menou folks in Rayne, Iota or that general area of Acadia Parish. Those families rolled in to the country in the 1870's/1880's. The Thibodeaux's are the Cajun version of Smith. What a mess. I haven't sorted that out yet.

With the list done, I'll start consulting online resources, like Find-a-Grave and the local society-related web pages. Then I will move on to my local libraries here. I feel confident I'll have burial places for most of these folks by then.

I'd also love to find the court records of a murder case that occured in Acadia Parish in 1889. Advice? I've done zero searching. I'm just being lazy and fishing for an easy answer.

So that's what I've been doing this week. Fun stuff.

Naming Names

Craig at GeneaBlogie had the wise notion to publicize the names he was searching and see if anyone else knows something about them. This is a great idea. I can't believe I never did it before, but I'm posting them here now:

Baerecke, Barecke (WI, IL)
Bean (TN, AR)
Bourgaux, Bourgeaux (Acadia Parish LA, Gilly Belgium)
Bourland (KY, TX, OK)
Brauckman (Germany)
Brigance (TN, AR)
Brigham (TN, AR)
Clingman (AR)
Cloyd (TN, VA)
Colbert (Chickasaw, Indian Territory, OK, MS)
Degreve (LA, Belgium)
Eldridge (St. Landry LA, Milan County TX, KY)
Hood (KY, TX)
Howorth, Howarth (SC, TX)
Jones (Chickasaw, TX, NC, OK, Indian Territory)
Jost (Austria, PA)
Legoffe (France, LA)
Lenertz (IA in 1850's, MN, Luxembourg)
Lockweiler (poss. Luxembourg)
Menou (Acadia Parish, LA, France)
Moore (MS, OK, Indian Territory)
Mitchell (NC, AR)
Neilson (NC, TX)
Perkins (KY, TX, LA)
Quesenberry, Quesenbury (AR, NC)
Shokweiler (poss. Luxembourg)
Shukeveiler (or something like it)
Smith (LeSueur MN)
Sparks (AR, poss. TN)
Tate (NC, AR)
Thibodeaux (Acadia & St. Landry Parishes LA)
Turk, Tuerk (Germany)
Williamson (AR, TN)
Yost (PA, Austria)

Ok, now I have to use the word "genealogy" so search engines will pick it up and people searching for Eldridge genealogy or such will land on this blog.

My challenges are as follows:

Any indication of a Baerecke or Barecke in Chicago in 1892.
A death date for H. H. Baerecke/Barecke.
An idea of what H. H. stands for (I think it's Harry from WI but have no proof.)

Information on the following Lenertz's all born in the 1800's:
Alex Lenertz
Alexander Lenertz
Catherine Lenertz
Frank Lenertz
Henry Lenertz
John Lenertz
Joseph Lenertz
Margaret Lenertz
Mary Lenertz
Michael Lenertz
William Lenertz

Also in search of information on the Pierre Thibodeaux born in Louisiana in 1829, not the one born in 1835.

If you have any information on these folks, or you need more clarification, please email me using the email address provided in the right column of this blog.

Calling Baton Rouge

I ordered three death certificates today. The first two were for my great-great grandparents Menou and Bourgaux.

The third record was for another great-great grandmother, Eliza Eldridge. She is best known as the poor wife at home in this pesky homicide incident where her husband was murdered for making eyes (among other things) with the neighbor's wife. Ahhhh, family.

This is my first foray into Louisiana records requests. Because these death certificates are over 50 years old, I can request them from the Louisiana State Archives for 5 bucks each. Not bad.

So we'll see how it goes. I don't expect any surprises from these records. Just getting my facts straight.

COG 63: New Year's Genealogy Resolutions

The topic for the 63rd Carnival of Genealogy is New Year's resolutions. Participants are supposed to discuss plans for genealogy research and blogging in the coming year. Easy enough.

Plans for WeTree:

I resolve to double my number of daily visitors to this blog. I also plan to double the number I currently see on Feedburner, as well as my authority number on Technorati. I wrote today's stats in the back of my 2009 calendar, so we'll see if I reach my goal.

The blog itself will stay the same in terms of style and focus (or lack thereof). I will continue to treat it like a plant, adding to it, watching it grow and waiting for the crop to pay off.

Plans for Research:

Lenertz - I'm at the end of my rope with these folks and their only children, random movements across the country, and lacking vital records. It's challenging to trace an unusual name, especially a branch for which I can find no previous research. I resolve not to give up. It's all I can promise.

Thibodeaux - I resolve to poke around in Louisiana a bit, get some vital records and start to build a case to prove my theory that Noel Thibodeaux is often being connected to the wrong Pierre Thibodeaux. I also want to explore the Bourgaux and Menou names in the Acadia and St. Landry Parishes.

Colbert - I've cleared the ground and planted a seed. Now it's time to grow a family tree for my Chickasaw Colberts. This year, my Colbert time will focus on getting information on great-grandmother Frankie's sisters.

Miscellaneous Plans:

I resolve to have two writing pieces published somewhere. That's it. I don't care about the focus or the audience. Just write two pieces and have someone print them. I was published once last year, so I'm doubling the goal to challenge myself.

I resolve to have a personal CG timeline in place by Dec. 31, 2009. I know I want to be certified. Right now, my response is "some day." By next year, I figure I'll know enough about the process to feel comfortable setting a timeline to reach that goal.

I am attending the big events for NGS, SCGS, and FGS in 2009. I plan to meet as many blog readers and Facebook friends as I can so we can share in our own brand of craziness.

Guess that's all. It's going to be a good year for me, geneaogically speaking. I can feel it.

Adding Some Cajun Spice

I'm now a "friend" with Louisiana Genealogy Blogs on Facebook. Some are probably thinking, "Huh? There's no Louisiana in this blog."

I know I've spent a lot of time in Arkansas with the Williamsons, but I actually do have a big stake in Louisiana.

My maternal grandfather's family is from Louisiana. The surnames I'm searching there are Thibodeaux, Bourgaux/Bourgeaux/Borgaux, and Menou. They mostly settled in Acadia Parish in the Rayne and Iota areas. Earlier, this area was known as St. Landry Parish.

I will get around to posting more about this branch of the family, but until then I just wanted to explain why this qualifies as a Louisiana Genealogy Blog.