Today is New Year's Eve day 2012 and there is no better time to get a jump on a New Year's resolution than the night before the new year begins -- and it also makes it easy to remember a Blog Anniversary! Following an excellent introduction to the world of genealogy blogging earlier this year (see immediately below), I resolved that I would start my own modest contribution to this growing community.
But, first things first.
I was inspired to finally get started with my own genealogy blog by the outstanding example of Nutfield Genealogy http://www.nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com owned by Heather Wilkinson Rojo. Heather and I have never met, but we have exchanged several emails following my initial introduction to her blog. In the January 11, 2012 issue of The Weekly Genealogist, Heather's Nutfield Genealogy was selected by Lynn Betlock, Editor of the New England Historic Genealogical Society's (NEHGS) The Weekly Genealogist, as the first ever "Featured Blog." Since my ancestors are almost all from New England -- and since I was born in Rhode Island and lived in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire before venturing southward when my father's work transferred him to Philadelphia -- I immediately checked out Heather's blog centered in New Hampshire. To my surprise and delight, I actually found that Heather had a posting relating to my Tew family from Rhode Island. I emailed Heather to inquire further. This led to Heather's very generous and kind invitation to submit a posting on the pirate Thomas Tew for consideration as a guest post to her blog. She accepted the submission and posted it on February 16, 2012! As so many authors have said before, the inspiration (and recent encouragement) for beginning this Blog belongs to another -- Heather in this case -- but any errors and missteps will be entirely my own. THANK YOU HEATHER for your inspiration and encouragement! :-)
- - - - - - - - - -
This is my first post to my new Blog. I am definitely in the learning stages of the techniques, etiquette, effort and time commitment involved in maintaining a useful and meaningful genealogical blog. It will undoubtedly take a while before I can aspire to the dedicated consistency Heather and others have shown with their genealogy blogging, so please do not expect regular postings for some time to come (probably to coincide with my too-distant retirement). I hope to post at least bi-weekly for the time being while I begin to learn the basics of Blogger and put together some items of interest through my genealogy prism; but the all-important first step has been taken -- and there is no turning back now.
Happy New Year and Best Wishes for a wonderful 2013! :-)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Copyright 2012, John D. Tew
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
All best wishes for your blog, John! Just follow your own instincts and you'll be fine!! I'd love to hear about more of your Rhode Island connections in the future!
ReplyDeleteThank you Diane! Good words of advice. My Rhode Island family roots go back to the 1600s on both my mother's and father's side. I plan to slowly start adding some posts related to those roots.
DeleteJohn
Welcome to geneablogging! I started last February after being inspired by a distant cousin, Bill West, who writes a blog called West in New England. Heather and I have found several ancestor connections and her blog is wonderful! My ancestry is also deeply seated in New England it's possible we have common ancestors also. I look forward to reading your posts. Best wishes for 2013!
ReplyDeleteHi Pam! I have actually visited your cousin Bill West's blog once or twice. My NE ancestry in Rhode Island and Massachusetts goes back on both sides to the 1600s so a common connection would not surprise me at all. What is your blog address?
DeleteJohn
Well done - and welcome to the world of blogging! :) You had a good inspiration in Heather. Connecting to others and finding people who love genealogy and might even be related is the best part of it all.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you...
Carla: I could not agree more about Heather and her blog. She is a wonder with the quality, consistency and depth of her postings. It is intimidating when one sees she has posted at a rate of almost once a day for the last three years! Something to aspire to if I can just get this little matter of a daily job out of the way! :-)
DeleteJohn
I loved reading your guest post on Heather's blog - great story-telling skills here! As a newby myself (May 2012), I shared your trepidation, but in fact, there are so many different styles of blogging, that you can't do it 'wrong'! Also remember that many of us are looking for the same small group of NE immigrants. I have two blogs going now - one personal one, and one inventory of my greatgrandfather's souvenir album. Cheers on your new venture.
ReplyDeleteThank you Cella! I am excited about finally taking the plunge in starting this, but I do worry about my ability to keep up since I have this thing called a "job" that just keeps getting in the way of my genealogy addiction. :)
DeleteHappy 1st blogiversary, John! May your blog go from strength to strength!
ReplyDelete