Year In Review

Wow – I thought 2017 was a dry year at Jollett Etc but then 2018 is not any better. In fact, it is probably worse. Why? I don’t know, really. I could blame lack of inspiration. I could blame unsuccessful research that might have led to new stories to tell. I could blame being busy helping other women with their applications to DAR. Excuses. Excuses. No reasonable explanation comes to mind.

Enough of the “mea culpa” – let’s look back at 2018 with the attitude that quality is more important than quantity. Yeah, let’s hold on to that thought. Yeah.

Top 5 Blog Posts

I was pleased to see that two of the top 5 are from my brief participation in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge and two from Sepia Saturday. Numbers 5-8 in the tally were close in the number of page views. While #5 is just OK to me, the close competitors are actually more interesting.

1. 52 Ancestors: In and Out of the Census
2. Sepia Saturday: Mathias Homestead
3. Sepia Saturday: Grave Expressions
4. Another Scrapbook Moves On
5. 52 Ancestors: Start with Frazier 

Top 5 Genealogy-Related Activities

1. I did a lot of work for my DAR chapter this year including preparing and submitting applications for 6 new members, revamping the newsletter, and creating a new website.
2. Before resigning from the GeneabloggersTribe admin board, I was in charge of the monthly calendar prompts. That required researching daily events and finding copyright-free images.
3. I reviewed two genealogy mystery books for Nathan Dylan Goodwin and Steve Robinson.
4. I completed another genealogy book for my family. This time the focus was on my parents BEFORE they became grandparents.
5. I was proud to donate my grand aunt Velma Davis Woodring’s college scrapbook to James Madison University. I also gave Violetta Davis Ryan’s two diplomas to the Special Collections department of the library.

Top 5 Discoveries

1. In researching my father’s paternal grandmother Mary Morrison Slade, I found her family was practically in my backyard FOR.EV.ER – not in Tennessee as I had always heard. My research might have uncovered a Revolutionary War patriot too.
2. I found a marriage record for one of my elusive Irish ancestors, Gertrude Fraundorf. Yeah, she doesn’t sound too Irish, does she? But her mother was Catherine Hederman/Heatherman before marrying. Gertrude married an Italian. A regular international house of pancakes!
3. In updating routine facts on the Frazier family, I stumbled upon a fascinating murder in the family.
4. Find-a-grave may have helped identify Mr. and Mrs. Beavers whose photos are among those that Violetta Davis Ryan saved.
5. I was thrilled to read the service record of my DAR patriot and 4X great-grandfather William Jordan. He served under such notable leaders as Daniel Morgan, Mad Anthony Wayne, Nathanael Greene, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

Top  5 Best Money Spent

• Ancestry
• Fold 3
• Genealogy Bank
• Newspaper Archive
• Dues to the Greene County Historical Society and Virginia Historical Society 

I am determined to do better in 2019 because I have missed blogging and I have missed reading my favorite bloggers’ blogs. You need to stay on me. Don’t let me slide.

Wendy

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