Genealogy Do-Over, Shiny Objects, Serendipity, Finding a Distant Cousin

This post is part of the Genealogy Do-Over project created by Thomas MacEntee.

I participated in APG’s virtual Professional Management Conference on January 8th & 9th. While watching the streaming video, I was also tweeting using #apgen during the sessions. I got distracted over a bright shiny object on my feed. Which is a no-no on the Do-Over project.

Brenda from Journey to the Past tweeted a photo of her brightly colored file folders on her computer. She mentioned a software program called Folder Maker. I was intrigued because I wanted to color code my folder names to make it easy to find on my laptop. Let’s face it, as our eyes get older, the fine print is harder to read. I also do not care do make my font jumbo size where it takes up too much room on the screen.

Folder Colors by Folder Maker

Folder Colors by Folder Maker

The photo tweeted by Brenda is of her genealogical files. Naturally being curious, I checked the file names for any familiar surnames. Lo and behold, there was. One of the folders was labeled “House.” My second great grandfather transition to spelling the last names as “Howes” sometime in the mid 1850’s. I tweeted to Brenda asking if her “House” line came from Barnstable, MA.

She replied, her line descended from Hannah House and John Lothrop. Now that’s serendipity. As I am descended from Hannah’s brother, Samuel House and Elizabeth Hammond. That makes us distant cousins. Yes, looks like social media can help you find family.

Brenda referenced @DearMyrtle for the Folder Maker tip. DearMyrtle tweeted it came from @geneabloggers, Thomas MacEntee. The very same person who has inspired thousands to re-do their genealogy research.

Off to organize my files and create my research log.

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