Writing and Research Goals Coming Together

So excited that my personal goals are overlapping with priorities for the DuPage County Genealogical Society and an active WikiTree Challenge.

I’ve set a personal annual goal of writing and submitting at least one genealogy article a year. Luckily my local society’s bi-annual magazine welcomes content, so I have a natural outlook for the article.

Unfortunately, my latest idea had been slow in coming together. Each time I thought I had a manageable focused topic, it would blow up and need more work.

Recently I came across a WikiTree Challenge that would be an easy way to support the WikiTree community, contribute to the DuPage County Genealogical Society, and meet my personal goal.

The US Black Heritage group started an 1880 Project to create profiles in WikiTree for every Black American that was enumerated in the 1880 Census. I decided to help with the project and focus on creating or checking profiles of Black Americans who were enumerated in DuPage County. I would then write up profiles highlighting the 1880 households and submit those profiles to The Review, DCGS’s magazine.

This article will bring recognition to those Black Americans and support the research efforts of their descendants.

Resources:
USBH 1880 Project post in G2G: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1698629/can-you-help-the-usbh-1880-census-project
DuPage County Genealogical Society: https://www.dcgs.org/

Connected to Women in History

In Celebration of Women’s History Month, I am proud to say that I am related to Clarissa Harlowe Barton (1821-1912), the Founder of the American Red Cross.

We appear to be separated by 20 degrees, perhaps 7th cousins, 5 times removed.

Simplified Surname Tree based on WikiTree Generational Path to illustrate the 20 degree connection.
Simplified Surname Tree based on WikiTree Generational Path

This connection was identified using WikiTree. When on a WikiTree category page, if a “My Connections” button appears in the upper right, clicking the button will lead to a page of personalized connections. The names fall into two categories: Ancestors and Cousins (blood) and Connections (through marriage). You do also need to have enough of your family’s details entered to connect to the shared tree.

When viewing the Women’s History category, I clicked the “My Connections” button to discover the connection to Barton.

Who are you connected to?