Family History Friday: Native American Research!


-Chief Hole in the Day-
You know how you hear stories about your ancestors, while growing up in your family? Have you heard a story about being related to a Native American
I heard those stories, too! 
It wasn’t until I was in my teens, that the story became more concrete. If you have heard this story, some things you will want to know in order to do research are: 

  • Do you have a name?
  • Do you know when and where they lived? (a location will help you identify a tribe)
  • Who was it in your family that said you had a Native American ancestor? Can you go talk to them and find out more?


If you don’t have much information and can’t ask for more information, you will just have to work you way back, starting with you, until you find them. 

Sometimes it is just a story.

  • Another important piece of information would be to know the tribe or nation the ancestor belonged. 


There are 100’s of tribes. My ancestor came from the Great Lakes Region. Most of the records for my ancestor were found at the tribal agency. 

If your ancestor was a member of what they call the 
“Five Civilized Tribes”,
Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole, they ended up in Oklahoma. All tribes where not relocated and my be close to their original location. Even though my ancestors tribe was placed on a reservation, they remained in Minnesota. If your ancestor was in Oklahoma, there are some very helpful Federal records called the “Dawes Roles”. They are a good source for information. You can read about them here!
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Still Organizing?

So I have recently had a 
little extra time on my hands. 
And of course, one of my favorite
 things to do, is Family History. 
It is so fun!
Besides doing research, 
it is fun to organize it.
 I have noticed though, if you haven’t had time to organize, and reorganize. It kinda piles up. I spent the entire day today organizing and reorganizing my Family History. It is an ongoing process. My new goal is, to never let it get so bad again. I will do two hours of Family History every Sunday afternoon. There, now that it’s out there. I will be more likely to follow through. Pick a quiet time of the week for organizing your Family History. It’ll make you feel great!!! I promise!
Happy Family History Friday! 
Love, Joy

Thejoyfulnest is 2!!



It’s true! I have been officially blogging for 2 years! 
It has been a wonderful thing! 
What has been my goal for the past two years?

  • To have a joyful and happy place for people to visit!
  • To write fun and interesting stories about life and family?
  • To be informative about how to get started doing “Family History!”
  • To make a history of my family and my darling missionaries!
  • To tell the world that I believe that life is wonderful, and challenging, and if we “just keep swimming” it will be great!

My goals for the future of thejoyfulnest?
More of the same! I will hope for a few more visits and new friends! 
Love, Joy

Family History Friday: What Are You’re Ancestors Telling You?

New York Times-picture
Have you ever read
a journal or 
a story of an ancestor, 
and thought that what they were saying in word or in the life they lived might be for you? 
I’m sure it was for you and anyone else who is a descendant. Just like we love our families and those who will come after us, the ancestor’s of those in Japan loved their descendant’s too
I found an amazing article about a village in Japan whose ancestor’s left a message for their descendants. 
It was a warning on a stone
that said not to build their homes below a certain spot. Apparently, many stones were found, but not all headed the warning. You can read more about it here. 
Our ancestor’s have left messages for us. 
They may not have written all of them down, but when we research and find the stories about their lives, they will speak to us. If we are listening with our hearts, we will hear what they are trying to say. Think about your ancestor’s, their lives, the way they lived, and what it all means. When I think of mine, I think they might want me to know, life is full of hard work and wonderful. They are telling me, “It was hard sometimes, but I did the things that I needed to do, you can do what you need to do. Be amazing!” I love them, and am so thankful for the messages they have left for me. 
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Location, Location, Location!

Location isn’t just important when buying a home. When trying to research our families, having the right location is important, because territories, state lines, and counties have changed over the years. Since most records are found at the county level, it is important to know the date when the county was formed. Most Family History Centers, Genealogical Libraries, and even Public Libraries have books available such as “The Red Book” and “Map Guide to the Federal Census”. But today, with so many places to look on the internet, we can find the same information there. Be careful not to get so caught up in one location where you are researching, that you forget to look in the surrounding areas. These surrounding areas may have been part of that county or state at one time. My mom was helping a patron at the Family History Center who was trying to locate her Pioneer ancestry. She was moving backwards in history looking at Census records. She had already looked at 1870, 1860, 1850 records. My mom noticed that she was standing with a puzzled look on her face and asked her if she was having a problem. The woman said, “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but I can’t find the film for 1840 in Utah.” Then she smiled and said, “Oh yeah, they didn’t even get here until 1847!” At that point she said, “I guess I’m going to have to look someplace else.” And my mom said, “Yes, you will.” She was successful at what she had been doing, but momentarily forgot that there was a change in location. That’s why it’s important to always check the year and the location. 
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: I Totally LOVE this!!

There has been a series of shows on NBC called “Who Do You Think You Are?” I totally love them! They have invited several famous people to research their “Family Tree”.  It is so fun to see other people enjoying their family history as much as I enjoy mine. In fact, I have thoroughly enjoyed the episodes that I have seen. Tonight my darlin and I watched an episode where the guest was Ashley Judd. Both my hubby and I were brought to tears as we heard about her ancestor, who fought in the Civil War. He had to have one of his legs amputated. Listening to the historian talk to Ashley about her ancestor, brought her to tears too. As I’ve always said, when we hear the stories, put the meat on the bones of our ancestors and start to realize what they did in their lives that made living better for me, it is always special and creates an almost sacred bond, between us and those who came before. Go check it out!! You will find the stories and episodes here!

Family History Friday: They are amazing!!

There are some amazingly talented genealogy bloggers out there!!
 I thought I’d give you links to a few!
—- 
There’s Renee at, you guessed it, “Renee’s Genealogy Blog”, you can visit her here!
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And a very interesting blog “DearMyrtle’s” you’ll find it here!
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And Kerry at “Clue Wagon”, check it out here!
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Like I’ve said before, do a google search for; “family history blogs”, you’ll find great stuff!! These people are amazing, and helpful!
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: When Grandma Was Ready For Winter!

I found a great poem about what grandma would have to accomplish before winter came, back in the day. 
********
When Grandma Was Ready For Winter
by Eunice B. Trumbo
When the last green tomato was pickled,
And the last blushing peach had been peeled;
When the last luscious pear had been quartered,
And the last can of plums had sealed;
When the last yellow quince had been honeyed,
And the last drop of chili sauce jugged;
When the last stalk of cane had been sorghumed,
And the last barrel of vinegar plugged;
When the grape juice was all corked and bottled,
Corn make into salad, or dried;
When the beets and the apples were buried,
And the side-meat and sausages fried;
When the catsup was made, and the sauerkraut,
and potatoes were stored in the bin;
When peppers were stuffed full of cabbage,
And the pumpkins were all carried in;
When the flower-seeds were gathered and packaged,
 And the house-plants were potted and in;
When the fruit cakes were baked for Thanksgiving,
And the mincemeat was canned up in tin,
The celery blanched and nuts gathered, 
And the beans had been shelled out and hulled;
Sweet potatoes dry-kilned in the oven,
And the onions were pulled up and culled;
When the honey had all been extracted,
Comb melted, and beeswax in molds;
When the jellies were all glassed and labeled,
And the horehound juice syruped for colds;
When the tallow was make into candles,
And the ashes were leached into lye;
When the rushes were bundled for scouring,
And the walnut-hulls gathered for dye;
When the cheeses were unhooped and ripened,
Beef corned in the brine to be dried;
Hams and shoulders well browned in the smoke-house,
Lard rendered from cracklings, and tried;
When the popcorn was tied to the rafters,
And the wood was piled high in the shed;
When the feathers from goose and from gander
Were picked for the warm feather bed;
Women folk were mostly ready for winter, 
To rest as they knitted and sewed,
Spun flax, carded wool, and pieced quilt blocks;
Is it strange grandma’s shoulders were bowed?
********
It’s amazing the things that our ancestor’s had to do. 
We take so much for granted. 
The season’s come and go and life is pretty much the same day in and day out. They were amazing people and I love them. 
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Family Holiday!

 A fun way to celebrate family, and your family’s history, would be to pick a day out of the year to celebrate it! I found a great idea over at 
Family Fun 
you can find it here!
There are so many different directions
 you could go with this!!
Start off with your immediate family, pick a day, then eventually make the celebration include your extended family. You could tell stories from growing up together, or tell stories from your ancestors lives. You could even have skits or plays acting out things your ancestors did, or fun experiences they had, while they were alive. You could eat the type of food that your ancestors ate. You could watch old home movies. Do an activity that your whole family enjoys like a hike, or a bike ride, maybe even skiing. And if you record it all, then it will become part of your family history!! I love this idea. I plan on doing this with my family. Check it out and try it!! 
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: An Amazing Voyage!

In talking about the Mormon Immigrants and the hardships they endured, I have often heard my Mom say the trip across the plains was hard, but the trip across the ocean was harder. I have read many accounts of immigrants crossing the ocean, and it is always amazing to me what hardships they endured. Some, lost loved ones, that had to be buried at sea, and being sea sick would be so difficult. You would not hardly get a break from that. The close quarters and no privacy would be difficult too. I found an interesting article about the Saints and the trip across the ocean. You can read about it here!
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy