In 1989 I put together a hard back family genealogy book. Back then it cost, what to me was a fortune! I gave a copy to those who helped me with information on their family side. Many others wanted one. I assume those others wanted it given to them also! because very few were willing to come up with any money. I have recently found some of the information which I had printed in the book on Ancestor com and other places on line.  So I wouldn't advise anyone to write a book, and expect to get any funds back for the expense. That far back, (1970 - 80)  family history was found by travel, a lot of it on foot, to cemeteries, to court-house, out of state county records, and visiting the older generation. So, its disheartening to see information on line, and mistakes printed. --- hmwh  

Hazel, Gale and others, I think when many of us start out tracing our ancestors we contemplate writing a book in the future, and might even make a little money for our efforts. This is an expensive hobby -- likely very few us of will recoup our expenses, but then nothing in life worth pursuing is free of effort, expense, etc. Most of us will die having incurred lots of expense without completing our projects, but what do we have -- the JOY of the chase, perhaps some new friends, and lots of good memories when we do stumble upon some of the facts we thought we'd never find. We can feel proud of any well researched document we manage to put together whether in the form of a published book, family group sheets we send to a library or historical society, or a database we place online with WorldConnect, Ancestry, LDS, etc. My theory about sharing is that I would have nothing if others long before us had not collected records -- personal and government, had not some families kept diaries and old letters, photos, etc. for those of us down the road to "discover". I personally like to share my own efforts, and enjoy hearing from people who found my contributions helpful. Personally I will likely never publish the BUCK genealogy, I set out to update a number of years back. But I do keep all my BUCK families as well as other surnames of interest in my good sized database on Rootsweb's WorldConnect where hopefully other people may find my incomplete information, use if to enlarge their own databases, and hopefully give me additions where my information is lacking. A word to the wise -- if one does want to contribute a database online -- try to do it with a group that does not allow entire gedcoms of the file of another. I use WorldConnect where I can specifiy no downloads of my total database. People can make family group sheets, pedigree charts, etc. from the program and then retype the information they want to their own database. Such a process should make others think about what material they are using, and perhaps encourage them to check out my contributions to see if they find the information creditable. Yes, I like everyone else makes errors. Not only do some of the books I transcribe contain inaccurate information, but I have my own share of typos and information that I can misinterpret. Lastly, we all need to get over expecting others to correct information they took by gedcom from the databases of others. If they were concerned about accuracy, they would not POLLUTE their own databases with thousands of families/names they had made no effort to verify. Our local public library (genealogy department) will bind a genealogy manuscript and put it on their shelves if they deem it to be of good quality and an enhancement to their collection. For those of you ready with a manuscript to share, that cannot afford self-publishing, this might be an option. Margaret Scheffler

I drove to Crockett, TX yesterday to look at a book someone published years ago on one branch of my family. The information I found broke through one of my walls and gave me a jump start on the next. Volunteers were very helpful at the Houston County Historical Commission. But the main "thank you" has to be to the person who did the research 50 years ago and persisted to publish a book. This person's work was well documented. She often listed her findings, for example a census, and her steps to decide which name in the list actually belonged in this tree. On the drive back to Houston I took a little side step to find a great grandfather's grave and took a picture of the headstone. Lot of progress for a rainy day. Gale Gorman Houston On Apr 17, 2012, at 3:54 PM, MScheffler wrote: Hazel, Gale and others, I think when many of us start out tracing our ancestors we contemplate writing a book in the future, and might even make a little money for our efforts. This is an expensive hobby -- likely very few us of will recoup our expenses, but then nothing in life worth pursuing is free of effort, expense, etc. Most of us will die having incurred lots of expense without completing our projects, but what do we have -- the JOY of the chase, perhaps some new friends, and lots of good memories when we do stumble upon some of the facts we thought we'd never find. We can feel proud of any well researched document we manage to put together whether in the form of a published book, family group sheets we send to a library or historical society, or a database we place online with WorldConnect, Ancestry, LDS, etc. My theory about sharing is that I would have nothing if others long before us had not collected records -- personal and government, had not some families kept diaries and old letters, photos, etc. for those of us down the road to "discover". I personally like to share my own efforts, and enjoy hearing from people who found my contributions helpful. Personally I will likely never publish the BUCK genealogy, I set out to update a number of years back. But I do keep all my BUCK families as well as other surnames of interest in my good sized database on Rootsweb's WorldConnect where hopefully other people may find my incomplete information, use if to enlarge their own databases, and hopefully give me additions where my information is lacking. A word to the wise -- if one does want to contribute a database online -- try to do it with a group that does not allow entire gedcoms of the file of another. I use WorldConnect where I can specifiy no downloads of my total database. People can make family group sheets, pedigree charts, etc. from the program and then retype the information they want to their own database. Such a process should make others think about what material they are using, and perhaps encourage them to check out my contributions to see if they find the information creditable. Yes, I like everyone else makes errors. Not only do some of the books I transcribe contain inaccurate information, but I have my own share of typos and information that I can misinterpret. Lastly, we all need to get over expecting others to correct information they took by gedcom from the databases of others. If they were concerned about accuracy, they would not POLLUTE their own databases with thousands of families/names they had made no effort to verify. Our local public library (genealogy department) will bind a genealogy manuscript and put it on their shelves if they deem it to be of good quality and an enhancement to their collection. For those of you ready with a manuscript to share, that cannot afford self-publishing, this might be an option. Margaret Scheffler

Gale: That sounds like a truly ideal day! Suzanne ----- >I drove to Crockett, TX yesterday to look at a book someone published years >ago on one branch of my family. The information I found broke through one >of my walls and gave me a jump start on the next. Volunteers were very >helpful at the Houston County Historical Commission. But the main "thank >you" has to be to the person who did the research 50 years ago and >persisted to publish a book. > This person's work was well documented. She often listed her findings, for > example a census, and her steps to decide which name in the list actually > belonged in this tree. > On the drive back to Houston I took a little side step to find a great > grandfather's grave and took a picture of the headstone. Lot of progress > for a rainy day.