Memorial Day was one of the bigger Holidays for my Mom growing up. When I was young, I was fortunate to travel "up the line" with my Mom and Uncle to visit the graves of their grandparents, etc. "Up the Line", meant driving up the highway from where my Mom was raised to all the little towns along the way where our family had put down roots. These were people I didn't know, but had a kinship with. On these trips I was fortunate to hear many stories that went along with the cemeteries. My great grandfather was the undertaker, his wife would sing at the funerals, my uncle helped plant and water the trees along the entry road to the cemetery (literally hauling buckets by hand). My grandfather's twin siblings who died in infancy are buried in unmarked graves under a tree near the family plot. These stories are endangered. I have decided to preserve them. Here are some of the ways I will do that...

1. Preserve media. I have a video I shot on one of these trips. I just took it to a firm that is going to digitize it. I'm hopeful that it contains most of the landmarks I'm trying to preserve. I'm excited to see it...again.

2. Create a website. This will probably be the portal to where these memories will live. I'll tell the stories, show the photos and videos, play the audio, all of the things that we've held on to, will have a digital home here.

3. Make and collect new content. I have been planning an oral history project for some time now. Time to stop talking about it and actually do it. I'm also going to continue to put my research up in an accessible way using this site.

These are just a few of my thoughts over lunch, anyone else doing something similar?

One challenge we all face is what to do with all the data that we collect about our ancestors. For years I have been trying to gather all the copies, photos, digital files that I have and put them together in one place. Simple files on my computer weren't really working for me, so I decided to start building websites.

Why a website?

The power of a website is that you can put all your materials together in one place and make the links and connections between people and families that are so important to represent. I also enjoy being able to share the materials I have collected and discoveries I have made. Another great thing about a website is that you can continue to expand and grow. As we continue our research we gather more and more materials and these can be simply added to the website whenever we're ready. I also have several other ideas for future projects and story-telling, so I can add context to the data that I've collected. These stories will help my family understand their ancestors in their own worlds. Once I start creating these stories, I can just simply create another page for the website and voila! there it is.

New Discoveries

I have also discovered many new things and come across old things I've forgotten, simply by organizing and posting materials to the website. Being able to compare, contrast, and link documents allows for a whole new perspective. I have also been able to connect with many other researchers out in the world through my blog and website. We are truly living in a global society and the internet is our passport.

Is it hard to build a blog or website?

The quick answer is....NO! I have not programming or coding background and when I decided to do the site, I was searching for an easy and free website building program. That is how I came across Weebly. Weebly, like I said, is a free and easy website builder. Just pick a theme, drag and drop, and start creating! I have built several sites using Weebly and can genuinely say it has been quite easy and fun.

If you're looking for a way to organize your digital files and tell your family's story. I encourage you to start experimenting with building a website. You'll not only discover, how simple it can be, but perhaps you'll make some discoveries in your family history along the way.

Affiliate Disclosure

I transcribed a letter the other day (scroll to bottom of the page), a moving letter from a soon-to-be Father-in-law (John Beynon) to a soon-to-be Son-in-law (Benjamin Nicholas), giving his blessing to the marriage and their decision to move away from the family. This is a father, doing the right thing, but expressing a bit of regret that his daughter (Margaret Beynon) will no longer be close to him. Benjamin and Margaret ended up in America, so I'll have to check census records and maybe some other resources to see if they settled somewhere else first. This very interesting letter adds so much personality to the historical figures that we only know by birth and death dates, census records, and headstones.

p.s. Any Welsh speakers or readers want to help me with the address?

I've been experimenting with making videos that incorporate my family history and genealogy materials and information. I put one together on some of my Peterson ancestors and it was a fun learning experience. I used iMovie and Youtube and felt like I was able to figure it out pretty easily. I'm looking forward to making more and better videos in the future. Anyone else out there doing this?

Here are a few historic couples from my family. :) Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm busy adding content to my surname pages! Check out Peterson, Porter, and Brink, and come back often!

Family history research is not just about learning our ancestors names, but also about understanding what life was like for them. Benjamin Lewis Nicholas (12 Mar 1856-05 Mar 1939), pictured here as a police officer in Haverfordwest, Wales, held many occupations throughout his life. While in Wales, he was a police officer, a tailor, and a farmer. Due to ill health, he was encouraged to leave for America and set sail with his wife in 1882. Once in the States, he was mostly a rancher and eventually established a successful homestead in Custer County, Nebraska. It certainly seems that the change in environment helped his health, but it could not have been an easy first several years, building and living in a sod house with a small and growing family.

Here's a map to a hard to find cemetery in central Nebraska. The Danish Basin Lutheran Cemetery is 8.5 miles south of Mason City, NE and is an amazing artifact of our pioneer history. I remember being a very young child and exploring the abandoned prairie church that was across the country road. It's important to document where these places are and why they are important to your family story. The headstone pictured to the left is of Soren Nelson, a person long forgotten in our family. He died shortly upon arrival in Nebraska and his wife and children would soon take a different surname. His story, and the practical story of how to get to his resting place, are important to document for future generations.

Welcome to Smart Family History! This is the place to answer those family history research questions you've been struggling with. Our hope is to provide interesting, helpful, and relevant information to help you uncover the mysteries of your family tree.