Since November 14, 2012, I've published 86 blogs describing Shackford ancestors, about 1.6 articles/week! When I started blogging, I hoped that:
1) The blog or Facebook page would be found by others interested in Shackford Genealogy.
YES! Because of this blog, I have enjoyed collaborating with individuals about Sabrina, George A, Charles W M, John William, Nathaniel Shackford, Charles Chauncy Shackford, and many other Shackfords. Other researchers have graciously shared their research, their exceptional writing, and recommended corrections to information I shared. And thanks to the Border History Society in Eastport, Maine, I've gotten to review and use a digital copy of a scrapbook compiled by a SHACKFORD descendant.
2) Writing a blog would help me create more of a description of the life of an individual SHACKFORD and understand more about the historical setting in which they lived.
YES! While writing, I've virtually traveled across Panama isthmus in 1849, watched regiments fight in civil war battles, quilted, been one of the first settlers in Eastport Maine, sailed the ocean in an old ship, attended an wedding in the 1850s, viewed prisoners at Andersonville, farmed, watched 1860 estates be sold, and moved across county in a carriage in 1820. I've grown an appreciation for those who scan old books and newspapers so we can read them today, index files so we can quickly find ancestors, study and share their knowledge of ships, manage list serves that help with collaboration, and create blogs or webinars that teach genealogy research techniques.
3) Sharing a blog may create input from others who might have better ideas about how to research or present research results.
YES! Other researchers who have exceptional writing skills have shared their research and working documents! I've really enjoyed reading research done by others and each document or photo or has helped me review and improve both the genealogy fact part of my research and have given me ideas on how to improve my presentation of SHACKFORD stories.
Most importantly, blogging has helped me improve my research and documentation. Because I want information published in my blog to be accurate, before writing about a person in my blog, I review the facts in my database, verify and add sources supporting those facts and search for and add new information about those individuals. But because blogs can be updated in the future, I can publish the information I know today knowing I can add new information at a later date. And while I am currently limited to digital sources, I can share my dreams of visiting libraries and museums that may house SHACKFORD diaries or SHACKFORD shipping documents knowing that if I write about traveling to these sites, those trips may actually happen in the future.
On this anniversary date, I'd like to thank the wonderful people who have shared SHACKFORD family photos on the facebook page and those who have shared their research and have collaborated on SHACKFORD family research. I'm looking forward to another year of working together!