Family History is Fun!

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, A couple of years ago, Brother May and I launched a fun project in the ward to find out if we are more than a ward family but have closer relationships with other ward members.   Many of us found out we are cousins with other ward members….. sometimes several times removed.   Do you get confused with “9 th cousin” or “1 st cousin, 4 times removed” or similar relationship descriptions?   We certainly do! FamilySearch has the answer!   When you log onto your FamilySearch account, the home page has a box on the upper left corner with the wording “What’s a 2 nd Cousin Twice Removed?”   Click on the blue bar with the words “Check the Cousin Chart” and the FamilySearch blog post appears.   This blog post has an excellent explanation of those confusing relationships. It defines a cousin and goes on to describe 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th cousins.   As you read further, the blog describes the term “once removed, twice removed, etc” and gives tips on how to deciph

  Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today as we bring our discussion of Census Records to a close, we will cover Occupation, including Military Service. It appears that for most areas, the 1870 Census was the first to include Occupations.   Just after the Description section is a column titled “Profession, Occupation or Trade of Each Person Male or Female”.   On the line following the individual’s name is their occupation or profession.   On my great-great grandfather’s Census record from Bedford County, Virginia,   most males were listed as Farm Laborer and the females were listed as “Keeping House”,   Children age 10 and older had a question mark in the column while those under age 10 were left blank.   The 1880 Census carried the same format but the question marks were replaced with the words “At Home”. In 1900 many of the enumerators listed only the occupation of the heads of household and the servants or boarders in the home.   Others may have been employed but it is not usually note