A Family Tree With Index Cards and Black Tape

I try not to watch TV in real time.  I love my DVR.  This week, I caught up on some episodes of Elementary.  The show is a modern interpretation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books. The show features Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Sherlock and Watson.  I enjoy the different ways the show incorporates the original books.  Sometimes it is very obvious such as Sherlock’s battle with his arch enemy, Moriarty.  Other ways are more refined such as Sherlock being a recovering drug addict.  Drugs are very prevalent in the books.

The episode I just watched was called “Hounded.”  It began with a spin on the “Hounds of Baskerville” story.  The story opens with Charles Baskerville dying after being chased by an animal.  Not long after, this “animal” is captured after chasing the dead man’s brother, Henry (Henry lives).  It turns out the animal is actually a robot built by a company owned by the dead man’s cousin, Roger.

This is where genealogy enters the picture.  The three men (Charles Baskerville, Henry Baskerville, and cousin, Roger Stapleton) are the last living heirs to a vast fortune left by patriarch Hugo Baskerville.  There is a great scene with Sherlock and Watson standing in front of a large family tree created with index cards and black tape.

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It appears all branches of the family tree have died out.  Sherlock proposes that there may be an unknown heir from a non-paternity event. He goes on to describe an illegitimate child as a “cross pollination event”.  An interesting way of looking at it!

I was cracking up as Watson says,”So all we have to do is look through 120 years of birth records to find our new suspect?!”

The genealogy laughs continued when Sherlock was explaining his ideas to Henry Baskerville as to who killed his brother.  Henry says to Sherlock, “He or she could have been born anywhere in the world sometime in the last century to anyone of several dozen people!!”

A plan is hatched to have Henry “kill” his cousin, Roger.  Therefore, since the last heirs are eliminated, the killer/unknown heir will come forward to collect his or her fortune.  Sure enough, with a few minutes left in the show, Miss Laura Lyons appears to collect her money.  She claims to be the daughter of Ike Stapleton, the dead older brother of cousin Roger.  She also worked for Roger and had access to that robot animal who caused the death of Charles Baskerville at the beginning of the episode.

I always enjoy when genealogy is part of a tv show.  I really enjoyed the way it was incorporated into Elementary. A huge thank you to the writers for not portraying family history research as a one click find your answers. I also enjoyed the large black tape family tree.  I wish I had a wall to go crazy on in my house!

 

 

Join The Fun – We Are Genealogy Bloggers Facebook Group

Last weekend, I read a blog post at the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog about a new Facebook Group.  Lorine McGinnis Schulze has started the group We Are Genealogy Bloggers to share ideas, inspiration, and knowledge.  In less than a week, the group already has 170 members.

It has been no secret that I have not been blogging much in the last year.  The past year has been filled with many highs, lows, and children’s activities.  While my family still has a full calendar, I have decided it is time to prioritize what I want to do.  I miss writing.  I enjoy writing.  I need to make time for writing!

Yesterday, I posted a question asking how the group’s members schedule their writing.  Do they write posts in advance?  Wing it? etc.  Within a day I had nine responses.  It made me realize I am part of a larger group out there. This supportive group has me inspired.  I sat down this morning and created a list of blog post ideas.  Joining this new Facebook Group is the perfect motivator to get my fingers moving across the keyboard again.

If you have not already done so, check out the We Are Genealogy Bloggers Facebook Group.  Maybe you will find some inspiration too!

My Geneapets

There is a fun genealogy bog called GeneaDictionary.  It was created by Jill Ball (aka GeniAus) to document words that have been adopted by genealogists into our vocabulary.

At the end of December, a new word was added that caught my attention.  Check out the blog post here: Geneapet.

Geneapet : The genealogists four-legged friend who keeps him or her company while spending time researching in the geneacave.

I personally have two geneapets.  The labrador, Riley, can be identified by the loud snoring while I am working.  The King Charles Cavalier, Coco, snuggles at my feet any time I sit down at the computer.  Some of my best work is supervised by my loves!

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Review – My Heritage Book by Deanna Bufo Novak

This Christmas my husband’s entire family went on vacation together to Disney World.  It was an incredible week of fun!  One of the highlights for me came on our last day.  My mother-in-law purchased a copy of My Heritage Book by Deanna Bufo Novak for my kids(her grandkids).  To top it off, Deanna was scheduled to be at Epcot that afternoon.  We could meet her and have the book signed.

Myself, my older daughter, and Deanna at Epcot.
Myself, my older daughter, and Deanna at Epcot.

My Heritage Book looks at the traditions and customs of the countries you where your ancestors are from.  You as the buyer get to decide what countries your book includes.  There are currently almost 100 countries to choose from.  Each section focuses on a little geography, the country flag, food, important festivals, people, stories, and an invention/music/sport that originate from the country. The last section of the book is about the United States.  The book ends with pages to write your own family traditions down and a family tree to fill in. The book includes beautiful illustrations by Alicia Bresee.

The best part of the My Heritage Book is that it is completely customized to you and your history.  My mother-in-law and I discussed which countries to include in the book to best represent the extremely varied ancestry my kids enjoy (aka European mutts).  My girls love that their name is printed at the beginning and end of each country.  They also love learning how to say hello and goodbye in the language of each country.

My Heritage Book was written for school aged children.  The book hits the mark for my girls who are aged 4 and 7.  It is just the right amount of information and interesting traditions to keep them engaged.  The vocabulary is perfect for school children.  My new reader is able to enjoy the book on her own with just a little help for the words in other languages.  I was happy to see my girls understand the concept that you can have ancestors from other countries and our own country.

It was such a pleasure to meet Deanna Bufo Novak at Epcot that afternoon.  She has created an incredible product for any family to enjoy.  I am so happy we have added this book to our collection!  I highly recommend visiting her website and ordering a book at www.myheritagebook.com.

Deanna will also be at Roots Tech next week.  If you are lucky enough to be going, stop by her booth and check out her products!