One of the things I’ve done to try to prevent memories from being lost is to ask all my aunts and uncles (and anyone else I can) to let me scan the old picture albums. Most old albums that were used were before people realized that the acid in paper would yellow and destroy photos – so the earlier you digitize pictures the better. You can now get all sorts of acid free supplies, but I found that even trying to remove the photos from the albums might tear and destroy them.
Originally I used the HP Photosmart 7280 printer/scanner. It has the ability to work as a flatbed scanner or you can sheetfeed through a stack of photos. All our family photos that I had from when my kids were little are paper photos, so those I was able to just feed through in a stack. I would start them scanning and come back later to find the pile finished. (This included the 12 rolls my husband took on our honeymoon that were all of the great scenery.) I may send one of those off today to have a big poster made for our anniversary (19th). Now I have the Magic Wand scanner in my pile of tools. It’s great for scanning things at relatives houses and even books that can’t be removed from the library. It’s a small handheld scanner that uses batteries and scans to a microSD card. These aren’t the highest resolution, but it’s a start.
Once in a while the copy I find is a copy printed from a copy, so resolution takes even more of a hit – but in some cases the originals may not be available, or have degraded so badly that the copy is the highest resolution. If you are going to preserve lots old old photos having good software is a must. I’ve tried several, memory manager from Creative memories is good for a beginner, but isn’t heavy duty enough. Photoshop Elements is pretty great for the Album feature, I have notes, albums, and sharing all set up. But for heavy duty editing something like Photoshop is really ideal. (Gimp is a free alternative with the same features). I actually even have a book on restoration…. Some are below. One is even available for the Kindle.
The toughest part of course is knowing who’s in the photo. I actually stuck little post it notes next to what photos before scanning to identify the people (My grandmother at the time was with me). After scanning I editing the tags out, but as I put them in photoshop album I added notes for who was in the photos. I also could tag them with the people so that when doing a search I could identify every photo of that person. I currently have over 10,000 pictures, so organization is essential. (Those include our family pics too).
I’ll post pics in my next post. I also have to mention backups, since doing all this work would be pretty painful if a hard drive crash took it all out. I have several backup methods that include using photoshop.com to backup and share photos. Me.com for a few things, and Mozy for full backup of important files (not just pics and video). I also have an external hard drive for a local backup. Having more than one method of backup is important. (And don’t forget you want a backup off site too, so if something happens to your house your still covered.)
I also have converted our old VHS tapes, slides, 8MM films and more to digital. The toughest being the old 8MM since it’s really tough to find a bulb for an 8MM projector now. We have one more to go for that…. 🙂 It actually was one that turned up a couple years after we finished, so we don’t have the projector anymore. I have it waiting while I consider options. There are services that do this for about 12 cents a foot. It might be worth it for one reel. Projectors for these varied too, I might be able to find one on Ebay – but this might be so much easier. The negatives are another story though. We have a lot of these left, so having the equipment could make life a lot easier. VHS to DVD is really the easiest conversion.
Hopefully cousins can help with this translation. I’m including the original document below. What I can translate is Town of Locana, Province of Turin, Birth Certificate.
Official registered certificate of birth.
Named Maria Caterina Negri. Nationality Italian
Father: Giacomo and Mother Maria Francesca Pezzetti
Born: November 18, 1874 in Locana
I’m fuzzy on guessing at the next part. If must be time. So I’m going to guess 2:05 in the morning.
I’m guessing the rest of the document tells where it is recorded. I also find it interesting that it has the date December 30, 1950. So I don’t know if this is a copy requested in 1950 or …… no idea. I only know a little Italian, so someone else may be able to tell me more about what it says. I know my great grandmother got citizenship sometime after this, so maybe this was needed for her paperwork. The document looked to be pretty old before I got a copy so it’s possible that it
Wills are another great source of information. In this will of John McArdle living in Georgetown IL he lists his children that include Remus, Collins, and Uriah as sons and Cynthia McArdle and Electry Wygle as daughters. (Also from this we have Electry’s married name. )
It also shows he owned 162 1/2 acres at the time. It also lists a daughter Albertine, and sons John McArdle and Martin McArdle. He also listed daughters Mary and Naomi and listed a deceased son, Charles (that had children). The will lists who will receive what portion of his estate and lists Uriah as the executor. So from this we know that John McArdle at Age 67 had sons – Remus, Collins, Uriah, John, and Martin that were still living, Charles that had passed away, and daughters, Cynthia, Electry, Mary and Naomi that were still living. We also know that he had grandchildren from Charles at this time. He may have had other grandchildren, but Charles is the only one expressly named. Later I’ll write up the family store about Uriah and how he passed away saving the life of one of his siblings daughters. (Run over by a team of Oxen I think) Uriah was my direct ancestor.
I also have a marriage certificate showing a Levi McArdle’s marriage to Olive Stewart in 1870. (July 29) Interestingly enough this was officiated by a R. McArdle (Justice of the Peace) in Kansas. I know this is not my direct line ancestor, but am sure this is a branch off of the tree. I think I have also found the census records for Levi and Remus McArdle, but they aren’t on the top of the pile right now. They should have been found in Kansas in 1870 and would show where they were from. I know John McArdle was in Illinois and From Virginia so either would show a possible tie.
I probably have a lot of this documented, but I’m trying to go back through my files and fill in sources and document records.
It’s amazing the things you can find out from the Census. The older census records were created by census takers that went door to door and collected names, occupation, and lots of other goodies. You can find a list of everyone living in the household at the time, their nationality, their parents nationality and lots more.
For the McArdle Side of my family, I looked at the Georgetown Twp Census in 1870 (Census were taken every 10 years)
Listed is Name, Age, Sex, Color, Profession, Value of Real Estate, Value of Personal Property, Place of Birth, Father’s nationality, mother’s nationality, also – attended school, ability to read and write, deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic and so on…. and whether a person is a male citizen 21 years or older (and whether they can vote)
I found three households of McArdles, John, John, and Uriah….
The first John (69 year old Farmer) had $5000 real estate and $1600 personal property – was from Virginia. He lived with Cynthia (20), Martin (22) and Polly (18). Cynthia was listed as Keeping House. I am guessing from the ages Cynthia and Polly were his daughters – but on this I am guessing. They are both listed as from Illinois. Martin is listed as a Farm Laborer from Illinois.
Uriah McArdle (35) is listed next with Mary McArdle (25). Uriah is listed as a Farmer with $400 of real estate and $800 in personal property. He is from Illinois whereas Mary (House Keeper) is listed as from Pennsylvania.
The final household is another John McArdle (30) with Sarah (30). They have two children Lucy (4) and Mary (2) living in the house with them. John is listed as a Farmer with no real estate but $300 of personal property. Sarah is listed as keeping house. They are all listed as from Illinois.
A lot of times the census records are the only record we can find to verify children. Obviously these children and parent all live close together adding to the likelihood that one is the parent of the others and they are all siblings….
