The Genealogy Blog Party --Remember The Descendants: Passing Down The Stories.

It's genealogy blog party time again! Elizabeth O'Neal of the My Descendants Ancestors blog is back hosting and has provided this month's theme. If you aren't familiar with the blog party, please take time out to visit Elizabeth's blog for more information. 

This month's question is:

How Will You Preserve Your Family History Research For Your Descendants?

There's been a few things that I've been doing to preserve my research. I realized early on that I would have to turn all these bits of birth records, censuses, and various other records into something my descendants could relate to. Also, I had the oral history that was passed down to me from various relatives. Lastly, I wanted to record the excitement of discovery. You know that moment when you catch yourself gasping out loud because you found something out for the first time. All this had to be transformed into stories. The point of view of course was mine. 

So with all that in mind I started blogging. I've been blogging now for just over 6 years. Seems kind of crazy to me when I say that number out loud but yes it has been 6 years. What has been the added blessing of having a blog is that it is a great way to stay organized. Think about it. All those facts about a zillion different family members, My memory is not like it used to be, so I'm glad that I started writing things down.  What's great about a blog is that you can organize your posts with tags or labels. This way if you click on a tag for a certain family line. All those posts for that family line you can access at once. You can review through what you've already written. I plan to keep blogging into the foreseeable future. I blog for myself but also for my descendants. 

In the event that I stop blogging, I have taken my blog posts and have created several blog books using Blog 2 Print. You can learn more about the process of making a blog book with them here. My blog books are a way to back up what I've written. Plus, I find it wonderful the feeling of flipping through pages of my own work.

I pass down stories to my kids all the time. I have pictures in my living room of our ancestors and I tell them what I know of each one. Sometimes, I get a sigh of annoyance followed by the comment, "Mom, you've already told us this." I figure they may at times find me annoying but down the road they will be thankful for what I was able to share with them. 

I have saved on computer a ton of pictures and I have them backed up in several places. Of course, there's photo albums that we flip through and enjoy together. I've asked my kids to care for these and share them with their families when they grow up.  

DNA test results may not be the first thing people think of when passing down information to your descendants but it's something I've thought of. My husband and children have all had DNA tests. The kids just recently received their results and we started looking at what markers they inherited from their father and I. 

In regards to all my history books, I've asked my kids that if they don't wish to keep them, to donate them to a library or historical society located where their ancestors once resided.