My Custom IDs...or Lack There of...to the Rescue

When I started using RootsMagic, I decided that I needed to start with a new wing of my family so that I would really learn to use the software well. I started from scratch with my Murphy family. As is my usual practice, I added a user-defined fact (LDOF) so that I could use my custom IDs:

Here's the breakdown of the custom ID:
Living = Living people
Lurk = People born 1940 or earlier (I set up Google alerts looking for obits.)
D = Dead but I don't have an obit or a Find A Grave memorial
O = Dead and I have an obit but no Find A Grave memorial
F = Dead and I have found a Find A Grave memorial but I have no obit

FO is the ideal state. Every entry in the database has a custom ID added. I use the ID to figure out what I should be searching for when looking at a given entry in the database. Click here to see more about how I create and use custom IDs.

As happens to all researchers from time to time, I went down a false path. The family name was Littlejohn. In my usual overachieving manner, I had managed to track down obits and added additional spouses names. By the time I figured out that I had the wrong name, I had added quite a few people. I thought, "Ugh, how am I gonna find them all?" I flipped to my list view (People tab in RootsMagic) and voila...I was missing a custom ID for every person I had added! I usually add the custom IDs as one of my last steps when I add people to my database.

In this instance, I could click the LDOF column heading to sort database entries by custom ID and get everybody in the Littlejohn group in one part of the list...because they had no custom IDs. As I deleted based on family heads, I could look at the list and watch as the Littlejohn group got smaller and smaller.

Using the custom IDs have always allowed me to focus my research efforts but I never envisioned the opposite holding true; that is, the lack of IDs could be used to make changes--in this case, a correction--too.



Surprise in my Cheshire ListServ

I still subscribe to a few lists. Younger researchers might or might not pay attention to this older technology. Basically, you subscribe to an email list, people send emails to the list address, and emails with contents are sent to everybody who subscribes to the list. The Cheshire ListServ has always been an active one and well worth the time to go through the email I receive because of the subscription. I've written about this list before in the post British Bonanza.

Click here to find out more about these lists.

Well today, the very kind Vanessa Dixon posted a link to a YouTube video of Dukinfield Cemetery & Crematorium. The video is basically a walking tour of this large cemetery. I have several burials there. Here's the Find A Grave list:

George Duncan Dodd
Agnes Eleanor Kay Gough
Norman Joseph Gough
Isaac Henshaw
Jane Anderson Smith Henshaw
Dinah Smith Kay
James Taylor Kay
Agnes Eleanor Anderson Smith
Clara Smith

Since I'm not jetting off to Dukinfield anytime soon (sigh...), being able to see Vanessa's video was a lovely surprise. Vanessa has 187 other posted videos. So I suppose I'll be picking through YouTube videos and seeing what else Vanessa has that I might find interesting.

Older technology (ListServ) working with newer technology (YouTube)...It's a good genealogy thing...

P.S. Vanessa also has a photostream on Flickr. Looks like it's visual arts night.

Randle S. McMillan Family Tree

Randle S. McMillan Family Tree
Click the graphic once to open a larger version.
Press the Esc key to close the graphic. 

Lemuel M. McKee Family Tree

Lemuel M. McKee Family

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Press the Esc key to close the graphic.

William C. McKee family Randolph County, Illinois

William C. McKee family Randolph County, Illinois

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Press the Esc key to close the graphic. 

Anderson Family Tree

Anderson Family Tree

Click the graphic once to see a larger version.
Click the Esc key to return to this post. 

Booth Family Tree

Booth Family Tree

Click graphic to make it larger.

Press the ESC key to close it.

To post to Printerest, you need a graphic. One of the easiest graphics to create is a family tree, using Word SmartArt. You can use Paint to create the actual graphic. 

I created the Booth graphic because I've been contacted by a distant Booth cousin, a descendant of Lucinda Ann Booth. She found this blog and is currently digging through her files. Blogs are a great way for researchers to get in touch with each other. 

Perhaps this newly found cousin will be able to explain what's up with the birth of the first three children. Something is amiss but I can't get a handle on what it might be.