There is a saying or I guess a philosophy that one should be a part of something bigger than themselves. I have found that something and it is so exciting. It's simple and almost anyone can do it right from there very own home. Want to know what it is?? Drum roll please. It is:
What is FamilySearch Indexing you might ask. Well, it is a process of extracting names and other data from old valuable records. Then those records become available for others to view for FREE!! You can find millions of records here at Record Search! Indexing is easy to do, and you all you need is your computer. You can spend hours a day, or 15 minutes a week. Whatever time you have available. Every little bit helps. Not only are you providing names for others to find there ancestors, but you learn things about life along the way.
The last few weeks I have been working on the Canadian Ontario Death records from 1933-1937. I know it may sound morbid, but I find it fascinating. Besides, the records are fairly easy to read and easy to index. The exciting thing is that these people still live and need to be bound to families for eternity. Every name I index could be someones brick wall, just getting ready to be knocked down. Indexing also has helped give me an added perspective on living in this day and age where we have wonderful medical advances. I noticed that a lot of people died of pneumonia in those days. Now we have vaccines to help prevent that from happening. I recently indexed two different records of a little babies who died from spina bifida. That touched my heart, and makes me grateful for forever families. But, also made me very grateful that my own Evan was born in a day and age where people with spina bifida can thrive.
Yesterday, I was working on some of my own family history. Just trying to get some dates straightened out. My great grandmother has a brother named Felix Constantineau who has a cousin with the exact same name. They were even born just a few months apart in 1877. Sometimes it can get confusing. Recently a lot of new records from Massachusetts and other places were added to Record Search, thanks to lots of people indexing. So, I went there, looking for information to make sure I had the right Felix Constantineau married to the right woman. Then I was surprised to find a record that my grand uncle had a little baby boy that only lived a short while. I also found another little girl who died at age 6 that belonged to another one of my families, and I never knew that before. Now they can be sealed to their families for all eternity, and there will be much rejoicing.
Indexing has records available from around the world. There are records that are easy to index and others that are harder, you get to choose which records you want to index! Anyone can do it, and you never know who you might be helping out!! So, go out and be a part of something bigger than yourself. You will be glad you did!!
No comments:
Post a Comment