Photo Family Tree

For a long time, I wanted to create a family tree with photos, somehow, somewhere.

I had bought a large, archival, photo album hoping to use that but never did.  It's sitting empty.

I had dreamed of creating a fancy family tree with that vinyl stuff you can buy to decorate with.  I wanted each of the leaves to have a 2" x 2" head shot and the name and dates.  Never did that either.

I live in a 2nd floor one bedroom apartment and the walls of the stairwell are/were bare.  So, I thought I could climb the stairs with matrilineal photos on one side and patrilineal photos on the other.  Beginning with me, I'd climb the stairs to the farthest back ancestor I could find on each side.

Well, again, I wanted to do the leaves, on branches.  Never happened.

Then, one day, I decided to simplify the idea and drew it out on paper, did some measuring and decided to just step up the stairs with the family lines.

I had a few bad starts, lots of things to decide:  how big a photo, what kind of frame, how to place them, etc.?  It took a while.  I bought a few things that I might have saved money not buying, if I'd thought though some things further but, in some cases, you can't be sure until you've tried something, seen it for real and decided it's not the right thing.

Finally, I bought collectible frames roughly 3" x 4", resized and saved new copies of the photos I wanted to use, edited the photos to make sepia copies (I thought they look more antique), struggled to add the names and dates and printed them out.

It's not quite as fancy as I'd wanted but still nice to walk up the stairs with the family lines on either side.

   

    

   

                                    

In the last photo, you'll see a frame with text and no photo.  That's the frame for my paternal great grandmother, Fanny Flower Odell, who died, age 19.  I would love to find a photo of her but I suspect that there is none.

I can't say that it was fun working on the project but I'm happy that I got it done and that the photos are there and show the family trees.

Oh, how to attach them.  In an apartment complex, you're not supposed to damage the walls.  I tried the Command Velcro-type strips; they removed paint.  I had to touch up the paint.  The various Command products don't really work for many things.  They just don't stay.  Some things are too heavy, sometimes the adhesive just seems to stop holding.  Then, I saw something online I had to try.  

You've probably seen it in online ads, in passing.  It's a thick, clear "tape", not permanent, in a long roll.  It's sticky on both sides; about 1" wide.  It's gelatinous.  It works -- so far.  It is not permanent.  You can move things.  It doesn't leave a residue -- so far.  I think it's sold under a variety of names.  I'm not giving it free advertising.  If you want to know more, email me and I'll try to find it and send a link.  I just cut small pieces from the roll, 2 per photo.  It's a little difficult to work with.  It's gelatinous and bunches up sometimes but mostly it's great.

Wow, and what a struggle to get these images lined up the way I want them in this blog post.  HTML has moved past when I learned it and Blogger doesn't allow me to make tables.

So, there it is.

New Rules

After long time and recent events, I am making new rules for my family history communications:

If you want family history information from me, you have to first give me some as a sign that you understand this rule of reciprocity.  Namely, you must provide me with a sketch of your family tree as it might connect us, as the outline below indicates:

Your name

Your father's or mother's name or both

Your paternal or maternal grandparent's name or names as they relate

Your maternal or paternal great grandparent's name or names as they relate

etc. as much as you can, simply, but, certainly, if you have it, include dates and places of births, marriages, deaths that will make it possible for me to understand how we might be related.

Then, make whatever request you have and be AS SPECIFIC as possible.

I have been researching ALL my family lines for over 40 years.  I have a database with over 3,500 names in it.  It's work I enjoy.  I am well aware that every person in my database is also related to many other people and all those people have AS MUCH RIGHT as I have to whatever information I have collected.

HOWEVER, so have I.  I have as much right to whatever information you have about my relatives and ancestors as you have.

I'm more than happy to share the information and even copies of photographs and documents (that I have paid for) with others who are also related.  HOWEVER, I can't tell you how many times I have supplied information to people, many not even related, and not got a single piece of information in return.

I can tell you that I'm more than tired of it.  It's just rude as well as being ABSOLUTELY selfish and thoughtless.

Just to go back a bit to the above parenthesis (that I have paid for)  Apparently, some people don't think about this information they think the "have a right to".  It's not all just sitting out there free for the taking.  I spend hours searching for information.  "Official" documents, cost money.  Just as an example, a birth, death or marriage document, in the state of New York, costs a suggested $22, for a simple search.  You can sometimes get a "genealogy" copy for less from some municipal clerks; it varies.  Yes, it's a ridiculous $ amount but it is what it is and I've already paid it so why should I GIVE you a free copy?  If you request a record search at a historical society, etc., you can expect to pay more because they have less resources and the search for the document is usually more challenging.  In any case, this apparent ignorance about the real costs of all this information, is, for me, now, just an excuse for absolute thoughtless selfishness.  Everything costs something.

I am not the only researcher who complains of this infantile, thoughtless behavior.  I belong to a number of online groups who share information online and this is a frequent complaint.  I, for one, will do what I can to stop being the pushover for this kind of selfishness.

IF YOU WANT SOMETHING FROM ME - GIVE ME SOMETHING FIRST.

I'm not unreasonable.  In fact, I've been more than generous with my time and resources in helping others in this area.  

NO MORE

My time is valuable and so is all the work I've done to collect all this information, organize it, house it, digitize it, etc.

I will also, from now on, charge for photos and copies of documents, just for the, obviously, ignored costs of photocopying, ink, paper, postage, etc., as well as, again, my valuable time.

So, I no longer care who you are, if you want something from me, in this area, be prepared to "pay" in advance with information or like material like photos, etc.

I know some people think they "have a right".  Really?!  Not with me, not anymore.

I apologize for the tone of this post but I'm tired of being taken advantage of and frustrated knowing that there is information out there about ancestors that I'm missing and I keep giving information to people and getting nothing back from many.

Reciprocity can never be 100% but giving something, before asking for something, demonstrates a recognizing that what you're asking for has value and that you are willing to SHARE, which is not a one directional action.

Those reading this who are already actually sharing information, photos, etc. with me can ignore this.  I do have relatives who regularly share photos, information, etc. with me and I very much appreciate that they do that.  So I will now recognize a few people who have done just that, many of them have passed:

Michele Natoli

Delilah Wormuth Babcock

Cora Seeley Vandermark

Georgiana Swartwout Bodiot

Ida Mattice O'Dell

Robert W. Blackman

Ellie Bowker

Sally Beams

Judie Darbee Vinciguerra Smith

There have been many others whose names I have undoubtedly forgotten, but these few I remember having given me a great deal in time, information and photographs.  And, I really, really appreciate it.

I hope there will be many future exchanges.