Familytomb year in review
Since it’s inception on January 1st of 2007 the Familytomb website has gone from 25 visitors each month to 2506 visits in December of 2009 alone. The database has increased from about 900 names in 2007 to 1600 in 2008, and over 2000 names in 2009!
In 2008 the Familytomb had over 10,400 visitors, and of those 5,400 were first time visitors. 2009 had 21,000 visitors, and 7,200 first timers. Progress has been made on all the families in the Familytomb database. The year was marked by two major breaks on the Behen family with the maiden name of Mary Nee Dowling-Behen, wife of Andrew. Frank Behan, brother of Michael, was located in Chicago and Catherine, sister of Michael, was found in Toledo, OH. I began entering data on the Sappington family who lived and died only a few miles from my current location. I have also begun to add data on the Faubion and Wise families. Several unknown photos have been positively identified by Thacker and Ash researchers. I cannot express how grateful I am to these folks for providing the needed information for a positive identification. Lambeth researchers have been more than generous with photos and information this year providing a more complete picture of the Lambeths in Missouri. The Lambeths remain my favorite family to research. I think your first family always holds a special place in a genealogist heart; they are kind of like you’re first born. You’re not supposed to have favorites, but I do. As anyone who engages in the pursuit of family history knows, there is always more data to enter and ancestors waiting to be found. I am committed to continuing the search for our families tangled roots and branches in 2010.
I would like to thank all the researchers I have been in contact with over the past year. The Familytomb database has been greatly expanded because of your help and willingness to share information. I especially appreciate the researcher who not only sends information but also documentation. Your documentation saves me a great deal of time, as I have said in the past very little goes into the database without solid documentation. Your documentation keeps me from backtracking and confirming information. My thanks to the Lambeth researchers who remain in constant contact and who have taken time out of their family vacations to Missouri to meet with me. I look forward to many more cemetery and lunch meetings with my new found Lambeth cousins. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge Lori, my expert on the McFatrich/Bryant family. Most of the information and pictures for these lines have come directly through her research. Thanks, Lori. I would also like to thank my main gravedigger. My husband has suffered through poor directions, heat, unbearable humidity, bugs, bitter cold, thorns, poison ivy and near catastrophic emotional breakdowns on my part to find, photograph and clean graves in Illinois and Missouri. Without his expert city driving, (St. Louis to be exact), shear brut strength and persistence much of the information on some the most overgrown cemetery locations would not have been found. The Cass/Bluegrass cemetery in Litchfield, Illinois ranks as his finest day. He is the most patient and loving husband a genealogist could ask for.
We have just completed a major upgrade and site re-design, this meant the loss of the forum but all the information on the forum part of the site has been preserved either through the blog side of the site or on the main pages. I promise to leave the site alone and just do research and data entry for a while (yes, my fingers are crossed).
Finally, my annual shameless plug for the continuation of the Familytomb website, on all of the blog and data pages you will see Google ads (usually at the bottom or left sidebar). It cost you nothing to click on these links but the Familytomb gets credit and funds each time you click, not a lot but enough to cover the hosting of the site. Also, if you use the Amazon link on the blog page to place any order through Amazon the site will also receive funds. You can also order a subscription to Footnote through the blog site and the Familytomb will get credit. If you find this site useful please consider helping to maintaining this site.
The Familytomb would like to wish everyone a safe and prosperous 2010, may all your brickwalls crumble and the documentation you seek will be at the local courthouse!
Since it’s inception on January 1st of 2007 the Familytomb website has gone from 25 visitors each month to 2506 visits in December of 2009 alone. The database has increased from about 900 names in 2007 to 1600 in 2008, and over 2000 names in 2009!
In 2008 the Familytomb had over 10,400 visitors, and of those 5,400 were first time visitors. 2009 had 21,000 visitors, and 7,200 first timers. Progress has been made on all the families in the Familytomb database. The year was marked by two major breaks on the Behen family with the maiden name of Mary Nee Dowling-Behen, wife of Andrew. Frank Behan, brother of Michael, was located in Chicago and Catherine, sister of Michael, was found in Toledo, OH. I began entering data on the Sappington family who lived and died only a few miles from my current location. I have also begun to add data on the Faubion and Wise families. Several unknown photos have been positively identified by Thacker and Ash researchers. I cannot express how grateful I am to these folks for providing the needed information for a positive identification. Lambeth researchers have been more than generous with photos and information this year providing a more complete picture of the Lambeths in Missouri. The Lambeths remain my favorite family to research. I think your first family always holds a special place in a genealogist heart; they are kind of like you’re first born. You’re not supposed to have favorites, but I do. As anyone who engages in the pursuit of family history knows, there is always more data to enter and ancestors waiting to be found. I am committed to continuing the search for our families tangled roots and branches in 2010.
I would like to thank all the researchers I have been in contact with over the past year. The Familytomb database has been greatly expanded because of your help and willingness to share information. I especially appreciate the researcher who not only sends information but also documentation. Your documentation saves me a great deal of time, as I have said in the past very little goes into the database without solid documentation. Your documentation keeps me from backtracking and confirming information. My thanks to the Lambeth researchers who remain in constant contact and who have taken time out of their family vacations to Missouri to meet with me. I look forward to many more cemetery and lunch meetings with my new found Lambeth cousins. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge Lori, my expert on the McFatrich/Bryant family. Most of the information and pictures for these lines have come directly through her research. Thanks, Lori. I would also like to thank my main gravedigger. My husband has suffered through poor directions, heat, unbearable humidity, bugs, bitter cold, thorns, poison ivy and near catastrophic emotional breakdowns on my part to find, photograph and clean graves in Illinois and Missouri. Without his expert city driving, (St. Louis to be exact), shear brut strength and persistence much of the information on some the most overgrown cemetery locations would not have been found. The Cass/Bluegrass cemetery in Litchfield, Illinois ranks as his finest day. He is the most patient and loving husband a genealogist could ask for.
We have just completed a major upgrade and site re-design, this meant the loss of the forum but all the information on the forum part of the site has been preserved either through the blog side of the site or on the main pages. I promise to leave the site alone and just do research and data entry for a while (yes, my fingers are crossed).
Finally, my annual shameless plug for the continuation of the Familytomb website, on all of the blog and data pages you will see Google ads (usually at the bottom or left sidebar). It cost you nothing to click on these links but the Familytomb gets credit and funds each time you click, not a lot but enough to cover the hosting of the site. Also, if you use the Amazon link on the blog page to place any order through Amazon the site will also receive funds. You can also order a subscription to Footnote through the blog site and the Familytomb will get credit. If you find this site useful please consider helping to maintaining this site.
The Familytomb would like to wish everyone a safe and prosperous 2010, may all your brickwalls crumble and the documentation you seek will be at the local courthouse!
