Preparing for April 2012

On 21 December 2010, a press release announced "U.S. Census Bureau Announces 2010 Census Population Countys -- Apportionment Counts Delivered to President." The story relayed that based on the 2010 census the U. S. had a resident population of 308,745,538. The state of Missouri had 6,011,478 residents while Illinois had 12,864,380.

Many Americans will never take note of these facts or figures. Many will rapidly forget about the census until the next one rolls around in ten years.

But for genealogists, their excitment is building! Not for the next census in 2020 but rather for the debut of the 1940 census in April 2012.

If you want to follow the amount of time before the scheduled release, check out the NARA web clock which is counting down the time in days, hours, and minutes. It is at http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1940/index.html

Watch for upcoming posts on preparing for the census release.

Hot, Hot and then Hot

St. Louis is hot! Another day of 100 degree temperatures. Today was the sixth day of over 95 degree days. But according to the weather men here, that only makes it the 20th on the record list.

Of course for genealogy it is great. I'm spending time at home. Today, I finished handouts for my upcoming talks at the Missouri State Genealogical Association in Columbia, Missouri. It is coming up on 5th and 6th of August.

Stay cool.

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day. Here in St. Louis, it is hot! This is the weather that I'm use to for the 4th of July rather than Memorial Day.

Today, I'm going to work on some of my military files. Take some time and honor the men and women who served our country! Recently, a friend's sons were home on leave. As they were going out, we stopped and talked for a bit. As they were leaving, I thanked them for their service. They seemed embarrased. I guess more people should recognize them.

Here in St. Louis, the boy scouts have gone out and decorated Jefferson Barracks with flags.

Have a great day with family and friends.

Home Sources

Mark brought up a great point! When you learn about the items you discover, it broadens your knowledge about your family. Genealogy is more than a collection of names and dates. It is getting to know your family through their own stories. Then, one gains awareness as well as understanding about our family and their decisions they made.

How many times have we quickly glanced through those home sources? I know I have!
Many will never return to the valuable home sources to look for information that was overlooked in the first rush of genealogical excitement.

Recently, I looked at a church program given out at the funeral. I discovered valuable names and dates I had previously overlooked. How many times have we done that with other items?

Look for those prized possessions. They could be the forgotten photograph or home movie. Sometimes, it is a baby book or high school year boo. It could be a tape recording of your grandfather’s voice or naturalization papers or insurance policies.

Let me know what you found!

And it starts...

Here's the first posting to Hitting Your Genealogical Stride.
I'll try to cover different sources and ways to help one learn more about our favorite pastime – genealogy!

So let’s learn how to find our family.

Our journey to discover our family roots is unique to us. It doesn’t matter if your cousin is also searching. They will have different relatives, methods, and reasons for their search!

Start by looking for those long forgotten family treasures! Sometimes, they are as close as the picture on the wall. At other times, they are stored in old box or trunk in the attic or basement. Your finds will uncover a wide variety of clues to help you learn about your family. Recently, I spent time going through some of my mother’s and uncle’s family photos. It was great! I saw my grandmothers as well as my great grandmother. Often, we over look these very valuable links to our past.