Whittier Area Genealogical Society
Whittier Area Genealogical Society
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Blog Entries: 1 to 10 of 12
May 25, 2023 By: Kristina Newcomer
Writing Suggestions for June 2023
The WAGS Life Story Writing Group will have a ZOOM meeting on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14th  from 1-3 pm (PT) and an in-person meeting at PARNELL PARK on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28th   from 1-3 pm (PT).  Please join us for friendly sharing and discussion.
 
Current Writers Group members will receive a reminder before each meeting.  The Zoom link will be included in the meeting reminder prior to June 14th.  All are welcome. 
 
The June prompts are:
  1. Ancestral nicknames.  Determining a female ancestor’s first name can be a challenge, given how diverse nicknames for women have been throughout history. 
    1. Have certain nicknames been handed down over the generations of your family tree?  
    2. Write about the various nicknames you have found while doing your research 
    3. Tell a story about how you linked a nickname to a specific female ancestor.
  1. Family connections with famous events. 
    1. Have you found a direct or collateral ancestor who participated in the Boston Tea Party, the Suffrage Movement, the landing of the Mayflower, the Battle of Bull Run, or other significant event? 
    2. Tell how you found your link and describe their involvement.
  1. Which DNA tests have you taken and how have they helped you to expand and explain your family history research, or changed the direction of your research? 
    1. Autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y-DNA tests cover different segments of a person’s genetic history. 
    2. Explain how the use of one of these tests has supported or disproved your research.
As always, if none of these prompts are of interest, feel free to write about any topic that interests you.  Whether you’ve written anything or not, feel free to join us for friendly sharing and discussion at any of our Writers Group meetings!
 
May 3, 2023 By: Kristina Newcomer
Writing Suggestions for May 2023
The WAGS Life Story Writing Group will have a ZOOM meeting on WEDNESDAY, MAY 10th  from 1-3 pm (PT) and an in-person meeting at PARNELL PARK on WEDNESDAY, MAY 24th   from 1-3 pm (PT).  Please join us for friendly sharing and discussion.
 
Current Writers Group members will receive a reminder before each meeting.  The Zoom link will be included in the meeting reminder email of  May 6th.  All are welcome. 
 
The May prompts are:
  1. How tall are the tall tales in your family?  Do you have a ‘rags to riches’ or ‘riches to rags’ story, a famous personage who turned out to be more infamous, or a ‘skeleton-in-the-closet’ story that was passed down through gossip?  As a genealogist it is up to you to evaluate the truth of these tales.  Write about your search to separate fact from fiction.
  1. Did you have a saloonkeeper in your family?  How did you find them?  What sources have you used to document their occupation?  Did your tavern keeper and his family live on the premises?  Document your findings with census records, maps, tax records, newspaper reports, city directories, and Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.
  1. Write a story about your most recent immigrant ancestor.  Include immigration, naturalization, occupation and residential records where possible.  Check for changes in name spelling and how this may have come about.  Include photographs of important documents and family members.  Write about how you would feel traveling to a new country with different customs, languages, and expectations.
As always, if none of these prompts are of interest, feel free to write about any topic that interests you.  Whether you’ve written anything or not, feel free to join us for friendly sharing and discussion at any of our Writers Group meetings!
April 3, 2023 By: Kristina Newcomer
Writing Suggestions for April 2023
The WAGS Life Story Writing Group will have a ZOOM meeting on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12th  from 1-3 pm (PT) and an in-person meeting at PARNELL PARK on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26nd  from 1-3 pm (PT).  Please join us for friendly sharing and discussion.
 
Current Writers Group members will receive a reminder before each meeting.  The Zoom link will be included in the email with the April 8th  meeting reminder.  All are welcome. 
 
The April prompts are:
  1. Choose one of your ancestors and create a timeline of their life by following them through the use of censuses, city directories, birth, marriage, and death records.  Once you have completed the timeline, flesh out the story of your ancestor by adding in historical events, newspaper articles, and personal anecdotes. 
  1. Focusing on one of your female ancestors, how have DNA results confused or clarified your knowledge about her pedigree.  Have you found unexpected connections or discovered new areas to research?  Analyze your findings and develop a research plan to explain your results.
  1. Have you found an ‘embarrassing’ ancestor during your research?  Some areas to look for information include: mental hospitals and asylums, work and poor houses, and prison and court records.  Experiment on different ways to tell the story about your embarrassing ancestor, realizing that nobody is perfect.
As always, if none of these prompts are of interest, feel free to write about any topic that interests you.  Whether you’ve written anything or not, feel free to join us for friendly sharing and discussion at any of our Writers Group meetings!
March 1, 2023 By: Kristina Newcomer
Writing Suggestions for March 2023
The WAGS Life Story Writing Group will have a ZOOM meeting on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8th  from 1-3 pm (PT) and an in-person meeting at PARNELL PARK on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22nd  from 1-3 pm (PT).  Please join us for friendly sharing and discussion.
 
Current Writers Group members will receive a reminder before each meeting.  The Zoom link will be included in the email with the March 4th  meeting reminder.  All are welcome. 
 
Our March prompts are:
  1. Using maps and photographs, trace the migration of one of your ancestral families from their earliest time in America.  Take advantage of the free information, antique maps, early exploration, etc. found on Google® to show the progress of their moves.  Check through County Histories for more details.  What reason(s) for their movements can you surmise from the available records?
  1. For those of you who have Irish ancestors, March is a great time to explore that branch of your family.  Many genealogy websites offer free access around St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th.  Write a brief story about your son or daughter of Erin.
  1. Write about an uproarious account from some period of your life and make it funny!  Not everything in life is serious, sad, or intense.  Joyous stories can reveal the real you.
As always, if none of these prompts are of interest, feel free to write about any topic that interests you.  Whether you’ve written anything or not, feel free to join us for friendly sharing and discussion at any of our Writers Group meetings!
February 2, 2023 By: Kristina Newcomer
Writing Suggestions for February 2023
The WAGS Life Story Writing Group will have a ZOOM meeting on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8th  from 1-3 pm (PT) and an in-person meeting at PARNELL PARK on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd  from 1-3 pm (PT).  Please join us for friendly sharing and discussion.
 
Current Writers Group members will receive a reminder before each meeting.  The Zoom link will be included in the email with the February 4th  meeting reminder.  All are welcome. 
 
Our February prompts are:
  1. Look for ideas were the past affects the present.  As an example, perhaps you still use your grandmother’s recipes, or pieces of her china for special occasions.  Make a list of items you still own, and perhaps use, that belonged to a loved one.  Be sure to connect the person to the item and why it has significance to you.
  1. In any family story, the people are the most important component.  Choose one of the “characters” in your family and bring them to life by describing their mannerisms, habits, sayings, clothing, scent, hobbies, or challenges.  How have they touched your life?
  1. Family history is a big project, so focus on starting small in your writing.  Focus on one particular event or memory that you find most interesting and describe why it is important to you and has remained a part of your life story.
As always, if none of these prompts are of interest, feel free to write about any topic that interests you.
January 4, 2023 By: Kristina Newcomer
Writing Suggestions for January 2023
The WAGS Life Story Writing Group will have a ZOOM meeting on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11th from 1-3 pm (PT) and an in-person meeting at PARNELL PARK on WEDNESDAY, JANUART 25th  from 1-3 pm (PT).  Please join us for friendly sharing and discussion.
 
Current Writers Group members will receive a reminder before each meeting.  The Zoom link will be included in the email with the January 7th meeting reminder.  All are welcome. 
 
Our January prompts are:
  1. Female ancestor roadblocks?  Have you hit a brick wall in finding one of your female lines or have you been successful in your search?  Explain how you overcame the roadblocks on this important line in your family tree, or how you plan to change your approach in order to achieve success.
  1. Have your DNA results agreed with your paper research?  Where do they diverge?  Do they offer other avenues of research to follow?  Do they support what you have documented?  What are your next steps?
  1. Do you have an embarrassing ancestor?  Not all of our predecessors were paragons of virtue.  Have you found one of these ‘characters’ in your research?  How, or should, you represent them in your family history narrative? 
As always, if none of these prompts are of interest, feel free to write about any topic that interests you.
 
November 29, 2022 By: Kristina Newcomer
Writing Suggestions for December 2022
The WAGS Life Story Writing Group will have a ZOOM meeting on WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14th from 1 – 3 pm (PT).  There will be NO in-person meeting in DECEMBER due to the proximity to Christmas.  Please join us for friendly sharing and discussion on December 14th.
 
Current Writers Group members will receive a reminder before each meeting.  The ZOOM link will be included in the email with the December meeting reminder.  All are welcome.
Our December prompts are:
  1. Tell a story from your life that you’ve never told before.  What did you learn “the hard way?”  What did you learn about yourself?  Why hasn’t this story been told before?  Does this story represent a turning point in your life?
  1. Trace the ancestry of an niece-, nephew-, aunt-, uncle-, or cousin-by-marriage and write about where their history began and how it became connected with your family.  What values, customs, languages, or traits have been handed down to your family through these connections?
  1. Do you have an ancestor or relative who was in the military?  Which branch of service?  When did they enlist or get drafted?  When were they discharged?  What was their rank in the service?  Did they serve during a war/conflict?  Did they receive any medals/honors/citations?  Did they survive their service?
As always, if none of these prompts are of interest, feel free to write about any topic that interests you.
November 2, 2022 By: Kristina Newcomer
Writing Suggestions for November 2022
The WAGS Life Story Writing Group will have a ZOOM meeting on WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9th from 1-3 pm (PT). There will be NO in-person meeting in NOVEMBER due to the proximity to Thanksgiving.  Please join us for friendly sharing and discussion on November 9th.
 
Current Writers Group members will receive a reminder before each meeting.  The Zoom link will be included in the email with the November meeting reminder.  All are welcome. 
 
Our November prompts are:
  1. Preserving memories:
  • What was your childhood home like?
  • Why did your parents give you your name?
  • What were your parents’ occupations?
  • What is your earliest memory?
  • What makes you the happiest?
  • What has changed the most since you were a child?
  • What is the bravest thing you’ve ever done?
  • What is the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
  • What is the silliest thing you’ve ever done?
  1. Do you have a surprising 1950 US census discovery?
  • Unexpected occupations?
  • New/different county, city, foreign country designation?
  • New family member you never knew about?
  • Did your relatives answer the extra questions on the bottom of the form?  Any surprising revelations?
As always, if none of these prompts are of interest, feel free to write about any topic that interests you.
October 1, 2022 By: Kristina Newcomer
Writing Suggestions for October 2022
The WAGS Life Story Writing Group will have a ZOOM meeting on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12th from 1-3 pm (PT) and an in-person meeting at PARNELL PARK on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26th  from 1-3 pm (PT).  Please join us for friendly sharing and discussion.
 
Current Writers Group members will receive a reminder before each meeting.  The Zoom link will be included in the email with the October 8th meeting reminder.  All are welcome. 
 
Our October prompts are:
  1. Have you uncovered a family secret through your genealogical research or DNA testing?  Will you keep the knowledge to yourself, or will you inform the family?  If you choose to inform them, how will you approach the subject?   How will this affect you as the family historian?
  1. You are more than a name in your family tree.  What do you want future generations to know about you?
  1. Discovering migratory patterns in your family tree.  Using your family tree research, where were your ancestors living in the 1850 U.S. Census?  Follow their movements forward using the 1860, 1870 and 1880 census records to see if there is a migratory pattern. Where and when did the various branches of your family meet up or did they travel together to new locations?
As always, if none of these prompts are of interest, feel free to write about any topic that interests you.
September 2, 2022 By: Kristina Newcomer
Writing Suggestions for September 2022
The WAGS Life Story Writing Group will have a ZOOM meeting on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th from 1-3 pm (PT) and an in-person meeting at PARNELL PARK on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th from 1-3 pm (PT).  Please join us for friendly sharing and discussion.
 
Current Writers Group members will receive a reminder before each meeting.  The Zoom link will be included in the email with the September 14th meeting reminder.  All are welcome. 
 
Our September prompts are:
  1. Did you have any ancestors in the following wars?  What do you know about their service?  How are they related to you?  Did they enlist or were they drafted?  Tell their story.
Revolutionary War: 1775-1783
War of 1812:1812-1815
Mexican War:1846-1848
Civil War:1861-1865
Spanish-American War:1898
Philippine Insurrection:1899-1902
World War I:1917-1918
World War II:1941-1945
Korean Conflict:1950-1953
Vietnam War:1964-1972
  1. What’s the most meaningful personal letter you ever received?  Or, wrote?  In what way has this letter affected you?
  1. Write a short story about the most memorable person in your life and how they influenced your perspective and relationship to the world around you.
As always, if none of these prompts are of interest, feel free to write about any topic that interests you.