My Work

 

All I've been working on this month has been the GenWebs that I coordinate. I have 2 in Alabama and 2 in Kentucky. I've tried to retire from this work before. It just didn't work. DeKalb and Etowah counties in Alabama are where my family came from, really many are still there.  So while looking for something I emailed the State Coordinator about something that was wrong with one of the sites.  He asked if I wanted them and I said no. So, that is how I got to coordinate those.  The Kentucky sites are new for me.  Clay and Perry Counties in Kentucky are where my son-in-laws family is.  Really, I meant to only be there for one. <sigh> 

I've been cleaning up Clay County. It has documents on it that were submitted in 1996, which is when the GenWeb was born. Over a quarter of a century ago. In '96 I did not even own a computer.  There are documents that have gone missing over the years. I spent some quality time on the WayBack Machine trying to get a copy of them.  I was successful in about half the searches that I did.  It breaks my heart to even have one lost. My only hope is having the submitter find that it is gone and re-submitting it. Most were submitted in the late 90's and early 2000's.  Anyway, Clay has a lot of data, which surprised me. It was just hard to find it. To me, the cleaner and simpler the page, the easier to find the data you need. I am almost done reorganizing the site.  

I thought Perry County was in good shape. But I've started clicking around it and there are so many dead links. So I know what I will be doing for a while. 

The GenWebs are the one place that you can submit documents and information about your family, or just data you have collected over the years. It's a great place to get your family out there for others to find. You need to bookmark the counties you are interested in and check them often.  It is free. In the beginning of my online experience with my genealogy, I could not afford the big sites. I was able to find so much on my families, and made so many contacts on these sites. Just a basic knowledge  of html and a lot of love for the work.

If you have the ability, please look into becoming a coordinator. Let's not let this wonderful idea die.

US GenWeb

DeKalb Alabama GenWeb   Etowah Alabama GenWeb

Clay Kentucky GenWeb   Perry Kentucky GenWeb 

Being Driven to Share Data!

 

I am the County Coordinator for 2 counties in the ALGenWeb, DeKalb and Etowah. I had originally planned to just clean them up and babysit them. For some reason I can't seem to do that. Now, I am over-whelmed with material I want to get online, but I am one person, so it will take a while. When I gave up the counties in Indiana, I had planned not to get involved again. When talking to the Alabama SC, I somehow ended up with two counties. Both are counties that have my family in them. My dad was born and raised in Collinsville in DeKalb County. My great-grandparents, Patrick and Addie Brock lived in the Sand Mountain area of Marshall County. (That one I do not have, but it does has a very good coordinator.) 

The problem I am running into is that both counties are quiet. No traffic. I put several obits on DeKalb yesterday, and I'm hoping that I can determine whether there is any activity, I added a search engine to make it easier to search what I am putting on the site, and also a little counter. It is very quiet so far.

Most of the GenWeb is still online. Many counties have a lot of wonderful data on them. Does no one ever check them for free data? Much of the online data there is not found free anywhere else. Also, it is a good place to find data that is not run of the mill, birth, death or marriage. Great place to flesh out the ancestors.

Every state that is online has many counties needing a coordinator. The GenWeb has not gone away. Add a link to it and check regularly for data. Donate Data! Adopt! Please! It is still relevant. 

DeKalb  ALGenWeb

Etowah ALGenWeb