<p>Hayden; I was going to say that! Yes, the DAR. I’ve not gotten to that point but a friend of mine does belong and says they are a very good conservation association, interested in preservation.Also have some very fancy affairs.I know the documentation has to be thorough for them.</p>
<p>bhg - wow, that’s the most amazing story about the photograph. Aren’t genealogists the nicest, most generous people? I was blown away just hearing your story! If I had a small part of that, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am. Have you researched all your lines, or just a couple?</p>
<p>quopoe: I am a member of the DAR myself. They are trying to overcome their mistakes of the past, and are big into providing scholarships to children of Native Americans, and are trying to encourage members of color to take the place they deserve in the organization.</p>
<p>Yes, you are right wonderful people and all so interested in the same thing.
Interesting about the DAR. I used to work at Independence Park in Phila. in the museum and there was a huge painting of the signers of the declaration at the rear of the museum. Our job was to guard the painting. Anyway, some of our duty was interpretation and we always gave the same speech about all the signers. Nobody never knew anything about them. One day I’m standing there and all these people came in and they knew all the signers in the painting, “oh there’s Elbridge Gerry, John Handcock, etc, etc.” I couldn 't give my speech because everyone knew far more funny and better stories than I. Turned out they were the descendants of the signers.</p>
<p>Re: software – I recently switched (last October) to Family Tree Maker 2006, after using Generations for many years. The switch was painful - using new software always is. But I switched because my tree had gotten too big for the old software, and kept crashing. I chose this software after a lot of research (mainly asking lots of people for recommendations. I’ve been doing genealogy for over 25 years now and have a lot of contacts.) </p>
<p>Family Tree Maker is is affiliated with Ancestry.com, and comes with a free subscription to a number of their records (The length of the subscription depends on what version you buy). I like that there is a search function built into the program that searches on individuals with just one click! It also has a feature to allow you to put your tree online, which I have not yet chosen to do.</p>
<p>Another plus of this software is that it is quite easy to learn, and to learn as you go. Family Tree Maker does a lot more than my other software does. Which is why I didn’t buy it to begin with – I didn’t see the need to get so “fancy” when I just wanted to make a tree. But at this point in my “hobby”, the ability to share files, create a variety of trees, search online, keep a “scrapbook” associated with individuals, and so on, has become a necessary part of the process.</p>
<p>For newbies, I want to share an early mistake I made – not documenting. It really helps, especially when finding conflicting information, to know what the sources are. I have found a lot of errors in the LDS site – they are a good jumping-off point, but need to be followed up with other documentation, because they are trees submitted by just anyone - and some researches are more “casual” than others.</p>
<p>Thanks, great suggestions.</p>
<p>hayden- I have not tried DAR yet, however, I have been to their website. Right now I am thinking about taking a trip to our State Archives just to get a look at what is available there regarding my family.</p>