Thursday, August 25, 2011

It's a Genealogy Birthday


Saturday my father will be 86 years old!
That is quite an accomplishment.

My father has supplied me with a ton of material for my family history research.

I thought it would be fitting to do something with the data I have been gathering for him on his birthday.

I'm no where near being able to publish my family history book, but I do have quite a bit of data on our direct lines, so that' where I focused.

I chose my father's direct paternal line, which included 4 generations, starting with his parents and ending with his 2nd great grandfather.

Since my father does not use a computer, I printed out the family trees, census reports and all other sources I found and put them in a book.


I made a cute little graphic for the front of the book resembling a family crest.





Today I visited my parents and gave my Father his present. He took to the book like it was the best thing ever. He sat there and went through all 160+ pages in one sitting! Of course he said that this was his first overview, he will go back and look at everything closely later.




Unfortunately the census sheets are almost impossible to read when they are printed on 8 1/2 x 11, but that is all I have, and he won't read them on the computer screen.




I included a few photos and family tree charts and even found some newspaper articles with a few of the ancestors in it.


Now I need to do the same thing with his maternal line and repeat the process on my mother's family lines. It's a great joy to see him enjoy my research.



Happy Birthday Dad!