Why I "Do" Genealogy
I am a little over five years into this interest (actually an addiction) of tracing the genealogy of my direct family and related families. I am sometimes asked why do you do it? My answer is twofold ~ a love of history and a sense of appreciation.
First, what's not to love about an interest that takes you on a trip through time, and lets you explore lands and people by studying their geography, religion, architecture, occupations, political beliefs, economies, and culture (their dress, foods, & music). Add visits to libraries, archives, churches, genealogical societies, and cemeteries in near and far off places to the mix ~ and you become a time traveler, an adventurer of sorts. I have an incomplete map and get to go on a treasure hunt!
Second, I truly believe that the more we study our families' stories the greater understanding and appreciation we have for who they were, what they experienced, the choices they made, and the gifts they gave us. Everyone has a story to tell. Oftentimes our ancestors were so busy surviving that they did not have the time or the ability to tell their stories. Thankfully today we have that luxury ~ so I am doing my part to make sure their stories are told.
The Families That Make Up the Two Distinct Trees of Scandia Musings & More
Members of Erickson Family originated in Norway, emigrated to the United States through Canada and settled in Minnesota. In the early 1900s some of the Ericksons and related families moved to the Pacific Northwest. Affiliated families remained in Norway, some ventured to the United States and settled in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin (this list is not complete and my tree is a work in progress).
Members of the Lidman Family originated in Sweden, emigrated to the United States and settled (where else) in Minnesota. In the early 1900s one of the Lidmans moved to the Pacific Northwest (with his wife who was an Erickson). Affiliated families remained in Sweden, some ventured to the United States and settled in Minnesota and Wisconsin (this list is not complete and my tree is a work in progress).
As anyone who is familiar with Scandinavian Patronymic patterns will attest, surname research is not of primary importance until well into the 20th century. Once my ancestors arrived in the United States the more common surname pattern was used and many of my family surnames come from my more recent (read American) research.
These are the family surnames that are most common in the Erickson/Lidman Tree [note that where they are used in Norway and Sweden both the sson/sen (for males) and datter/dotter (for females) would be the suffixes].
- Beckman
- Elofsson
- Eriksen/Ericksen/Erickson
- Halvardsson
- Ivarsen
- Johnson/Jonsson
- Jonsson
- Larsson
- Mattson
- Pedersen
- Persson
- Peterson
- Robertson
- Stevenson
- Zakariasson
Members of the Kocevar/Zagradisnik Family originated in Austria and Slovenia, emigrated to the United States and settled in the Pacific Northwest. Affiliated families remained in Slovenia (at various times part of Austria, Yugoslavia and finally Slovenia), emigrated to the United States and settled in various states (this tree is also a work in progress).
These are the families that are most common in the Kocevar/Zagradisnik Tree.
- Anderson
- Dernac
- Kocevar/Kochevar
- Pevec
- Prisel
- Suhoversnik
- Zagradisnik/Gradisnik/Grady
Things I Use To Do My Genealogy
My operating system is Microsoft Windows 7 ~ and I use and enjoy Microsoft Office products, especially Word, Excel and OneNote. I am also a big fan of Google ~ Scandia Musings & More proudly resides on Blogger. I find iGoogle quite helpful and encourage anyone to check out Lisa Louise Cooke's podcasts and recent book to learn more about how to get the most out of Google products.
I use Legacy Family Tree for my genealogy databases ~ I have tried other software programs but have found that Legacy does it for me! I am a firm believer in loyalty ~ learn to use your database to its fullest capacity and make it work for you (rather than jumping around to the newest thing). I also have some favorite add-ons that make my research easier and more fun ~ they include Animap Plus, Centennia Historical Atlas, Family Atlas, GenSmarts, and Transcript. I enjoy mapping programs that combine history with geography because they can give you a sense of what was happening at a particular point in time ~ context ~ it will help you answer the who, what, when & why questions. In genealogy it is all about location ~ knowing where something happened is half the battle in finding the corresponding paperwork ~ it will help you answer the where question. I also appreciate the beauty of programs that provide an assist either with the research process (let's hear it for artificial intelligence) or making it clearer and easier to transcribe all those documents we find on our searches.
Disclosure Statement
Why have a disclosure statement? As genealogy blogging has come of age, a disclosure statement is an attempt to provide transparency to readers about the content on my blog. Scandia Musings & More is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please leave a comment (I will get back with you).
Scandia Musings & More does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. I write for my own purposes ~ if I reference a software program, a book or journal, a speaker or a conference or seminar ~ it is because I use it, read it, heard or saw the speaker, or attended the conference or seminar and find it useful, learned from it or her/him, and want to let my readers in on the experience. So anything you read in Scandia Musings & More is the result of me stumbling upon the information or resource. Another reason I don't have advertising is that I find it distracting ~ I just happen to like a clean layout ~ to each her/his own. That said, and as is the case with all of us humans, I am the product of and influenced by my background, occupation, religion, political affiliation and experiences, so what you read has been processed through the "Tessa Filter."
I am not compensated to provide an opinion on products, services, websites, and/or various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on Scandia Musings & More are purely my own. Any comment or endorsement of a product or service is based on my personal use and should not be taken to be a representation about that product or service.
To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosure.org
