Preserving the Stories and Photos

I have woefully neglected this blog. My Uncle Don passed away in his sleep on Monday, which was a shock to us all.  However, some good has come.  I've reconnected with my family and even kin doing genealogy.  In going through the old pictures, I know I need to get them digitized and saved.  I also want to record the stories in a way that will be fun and preserve them for all.  I know that there must be some fun digital book/scrapbook software and even movie software.  I see getting the names and dates included as I get help in telling my family's story.  I even wonder if we might have a family reunion and tell what we remember about different ones of our kin.  I also would love a way to catalog video and audio clips to add to genealogical records and to use in making other scrapbooks or histories.  I know there is much that we can do and don't want to lose all of this.  I am not sure where to begin in finding software, but want to get busy.  With whom should I begin?

Cherokee Great, great-grandmother

My Uncle Perry has a picture of my great, great-grandmother with her sister in full Cherokee dress (my paternal grandfather's grandmother).  This is the first proof we've had, though we knew there must be a connection. The granddaughter of the sister had a picture and contacted my uncle through church.  They all knew about us, though we didn't know about anyone else.  My grandfather's parents died when he was quite young.

My mom has said that her mother's grandmother was also full-blooded Indian.  I do not know the connection, yet, but hope to discover more.  I have a strong feeling that there are Indian connections on the Gilliland side, too.

With the help of a couple of awesome DAR ladies, my application is ready to submit.  It seems that I have a proven patriot of which I was not even aware.  :-)  It goes through my dad's line and I really want to know more of their stories....  As I went back to South Carolina for my grandmother's funeral (step-grandma), my desire to spend more time finding their stories, their histories, grew.

As an avid reader, I have loved historical fiction and biographies that tell the story and not just the facts....  As a budding genealogist, the facts without the stories of their lives leaves me feeling like part of the puzzle is missing...

Introduction

      Having just discovered that others blog their genealogical research, I decided that I would start blogging my family history research.  Though not a newbie researcher, I still have quite a bit to learn.  Much has been gathered on my family line due to the work of others.  My challenge is to verify the information, while gathering more information on my ancestors.  I believe our desire to find our ancestors was predicted in Malachi 4: 6 "And he shall ^aturn the ^bheart of the ^cfathers to the ^dchildren, and the heart of the ^echildren to their fathers, lest I come and ^fsmitethe ^gearth with a ^hcurse." Malachi 4 


     I am working with the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) to try to verify one of my several lines that has Revolutionary War patriots.  One of my lines, the Gillilands, immigrated from Ireland/Scotland to the United States, settling in Virginia initially.  My Gilliland ancestors moved to North Carolina, then South Carolina, before being one of the first settlers in Christian County, Kentucky.  As I write this, I have an overwhelming desire to go to these areas and dig deeper in the records.  My father was able to find the graves of many of our ancestors.  I have the pictures that I've taken, but I do not know if he took any pictures.  He did give me the information he gathered before he died.


     My Mielke family line immigrated from Prussia to Wisconsin and then settled in Christian County, Kentucky.  An aunt that moved to  Illinois way before I was born did some research on my Knight line.  My mom remembers her, but no one has the information that she gathered.  An uncle on both sides of my family was able to do quite a bit of research, but even that is not completely accurate.


     I have quite a bit of information on my husband's side of the family, too.  I would like to find a way to organize this information and have it available for others that are researching their family trees.  


    One challenge that I would like to overcome is finding my American Indian roots.  It is evident in our features and has been rumored, but no one has been able to help me understand the connection.  In talking with my friend, it is very difficult to find information.  


    I am very interested in verifying my line and gathering as much documentation as possible, but I also want to tell their history.  I want recipes, stories, pictures, the times and history of their day. My lofty goal is to be able to tell their stories, not just gather their data.