Genealogy New Year's Resolutions

With the New Year comes the opportunity for a fresh start. Hence the tradition of making New Year's Resolutions. I hereby resolve to..... lose weight, save more money, be nicer to XYZ, or whatever.




It can also be a time to make genealogy resolutions, or goals. If you define a particular goal, you are much more likely to obtain it, or at least make progress towards attaining it.

My New Year's Genealogy Resolution for 2014 was to apply to a Lineage Society. Although, I have been dong genealogy research for over 35 years, I had never really entertained the thought of applying to a lineage society. I felt that it was a gimmick to allow snobs to brag about their illustrious ancestors.

               

But then, a dear friend, Pat Morgan, explained that it is really about having your genealogy research examined and judged by your peers. While I often have shared my research with relatives (whether they wanted me to or not!), I hadn't really shared my work with my genealogy peers.



I decided which society to apply to, The Society of Civil War Families of Gallia County, and which ancestor, William Preston Williams. I chose this ancestor, because he is just one step away from qualifying me for  First Families of Gallia County. I printed up the online application and started pulling together the pertinent records. Surprisingly, there were some basic records that I didn't have, like my own marriage record. I had the certificate that the minister filed out and handed to us, but not the legal record. And some copies of records needed to be replaced because the original copy was too faded to be used. I also contacted others who had already applied so that I could use their applications as guidelines.

And then I stalled... I haven't really worked on it in months. Other obligations and interests intervened. A very common phenomenon in genealogy research. It happens to me quite often.  The files are still there. I just need to organize them, cite my sources, fill out the application  and send it in.

So my New Year's resolution for 2015, is to finish the Lineage Society Application. And to forgive myself for not getting it done in 2014...

What is your  resolution??