Tag Archives: top ten

A look back at 2014: Top Ten Blog Posts

I wasn’t a frequent blogger in 2014, but I did enjoy writing these.  Here are my Top Ten blog posts from 2014 by views.IMG_0563

  1. 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks! My summary of my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and related articles. Sure I haven’t made much progress but I have organized it!
  2. Come out, come out wherever you are! The hunt for Ancestor #4: Georgia Eva Baxter’s parents. 52 Ancestors. Using the FAN approach to help figure out a mystery.
  3. 52 Ancestors: #1 Laura Cecile Donald All about great granny Laura.
  4. A Few Steps Closer to a Death Date and a Burial Place — 52 Ancestors: #6 Elizabeth Jane Wallace A little guessing and a little detective work gets me closer to my great great grandmother’s resting place.
  5. Returned not used: How I Almost Wasn’t If you assume your ancestor only shows up once in any given data collection you are probably missing something good.
  6. How Eight Children Ended Up Living Alone in 1930 They aren’t just records – they are stories.
  7. I think my great grandmother was a muse. 52 Ancestors: #3 Sarah Sudie Hamrick To understand someone’s life, you need to understand the life of the people around them.
  8. Tuesday’s Tip — Ask Ancestry Anne’s Top 20 Search Tips Need some help with Ancestry search? Here you go.
  9. How an Ancestry Shaky Leaf Solved My Marriage Problem: 52 Ancestors #2: Clara Ellen Hash Because why wouldn’t you go hundreds of miles over a mountain range to get married?
  10. Early Research. Sloppy Research. Lots of Questions. 52 Ancestors #5: Mary Elizabeth Gillespie Oh that nasty sloppy early research.

My Top Ten Blog Posts for 2012 on Finding Forgotten Stories

My most visited page on the blog is my How To Videos page where I post links and slides from my presentations that I do for Ancestry.com. Also the page Blogs You Should Read is highly viewed. (Maybe I should update that!)

But here, in order are my most read posts for the year:

  1.  Treasure Chest Thursday — Sourcing Presentations
  2. Sorting Saturday — Making Sense out of the Mess or Sources Matter
  3. Sorting Saturday — Good Source, Bad Source, Exhaustive Search
  4. Sorting Saturday — The Legend of Middle Names
  5. Tuesday’s Tip — Ask Ancestry Anne’s Top 20 Search Tips
  6. Treasure Chest Thursday — The Gillespie Family Bible Page from the Gillespie Family BiblePage from the Gillespie Family Bible
  7. Gilbert McClung Gillespie
  8. Tuesday’s Tip — Ancestry Magazine on Google Books
  9. Wisdom Wednesday: It is what it is, it aint what it aint
  10. Sympathy  Saturday– Miss You Dad

    Gilbert McClung Gillespie's (1940-2012) grave site at Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia

    Gilbert McClung Gillespie’s (1940-2012) grave site at Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia

That’s a pretty wide variety!

To everyone who has followed me this year, thank you.  I learn so much by writing this blog and I’m glad you are sharing the journey with me. 🙂

Top Ten Articles Shared in 2012 from Finding Forgotten Stories

These are the top ten articles that I wrote that were shared to other places, including Facebook and Twitter.  I left out my Follow Friday posts as those are just compilations of other people’s links.

Over half of the shares were to Facebook. I’m surprised that Twitter was less than Google.

Distribution of Shares on Finding Forgotten Stories

Distribution of Shares on Finding Forgotten Stories

I’m pleased that one of my very first posts “How Eight Children Ended Up Living Along in 1930” is on the list.  Finding that information about my grandmother was a significant genealogy moment for me.  Also, the post which has a recently discovered picture of my Uncle Paul, sister and me.

It also appears that some of my articles on sourcing struck people as useful as well.  I find it very encouraging that people care about sourcing.  I’m not an expert by any means.  But I do know that if I had started sourcing earlier in my genealogy career I would have been a happier camper.

Enjoy!

  1. Sorting Saturday — Making Sense out of the Mess or Sources Matter
  2. Treasure Chest Thursday — Sourcing Presentations
  3. Tuesday’s Tip — Ancestry Magazine on Google Books
  4. Citing Your Sources Can Be Fun!
  5. How Eight Children Ended Up Living Alone in 1930
  6. Tuesday’s Tip: Public Profiler Worldnames
  7. Wisdom Wednesday: Uncle Paul and Andy Griffith

    My sister and I sitting with my Uncle Paul

    Photo from Wisdom Wednesday: Uncle Paul and Andy Griffith. My sister and I sitting with my Uncle Paul

  8. Motivation Monday — I’m on the Clock!
  9. Sorting Saturday — Good Source, Bad Source, Exhaustive Search
  10. Sunday Obituaries — James Calvin Donald

My Top Ten Follow Fridays

I thought I’d do a few top ten lists this final week of 2012.  Here are the top ten stories that you clicked on from my Follow Friday listings and other posts:

Blown With DNA from the Legal Genealogist

  1. Blown Away With DNA from the Legal Genealogist
  2. uencounterme – A Way to Plot Cluster Genealogy Research from Geneabloggers.com
  3. Workday Wednesday The Dispatcher from Gail Grunst Genealogy
  4. 10 Awesome Onenote Tips You Should be Using All the Time from makeusof
  5. Family Lore and Indian Princesses from Evidence Explained
  6. Five Tips for Safely Reading and Photographing Tombstones from Karen Miller Bennett
  7. Brickwall Case of Oscar F Brown from Ancestral Breezes (be sure to read all parts!)
  8. Tech Tuesday: Using Pinterest for Your Family History Photographs from Tall Tales of a Family
  9. Wedding Wednesday: Robbing the Cradle from Kathryn Smith Lockhard
  10. A True Love Story? from A Southern Sleuth

All are worth another read.