A Great New Book - A Great Christmas Present Idea!

Here is an excerpt from an excellent blog by Denise May Levenick on April 28, 2015 on the Ancestry.com site.  She has some awesome ideas on what to do with all those boxes of old photos that we all have!!  I can't wait to get her book! 

From the new book How to Archive Family Photos by Denise May Levenick, The Family Curator

How many photos are stuck on your smartphone? The tremendous growth of digital photography is a mixed blessing for family memories. Instead of one roll of film that might last through an entire vacation, with today’s digital photos there’s no extra cost in snapping multiple images in the effort to capture the “perfect shot.” The trade-off for all these extra photos is, well, extra photos. Hundreds and thousands of extra photos.

If you’re drowning in digital images, here’s help with 5 Fast Tips to Control Digital Photo Chaos from my new book How to Archive Family Photos: A Step-by-Step Guide to Organize and Share Your Photos Digitally. I get a lot of questions about organizing and archiving digital photos at my blog The Family Curator and when I speak on preserving and digitizing keepsakes. You’re not alone if you feel overwhelmed by the task of organizing and preserving your digital photos.

We’re taking more pictures than ever before, especially with smartphone cameras that have largely replaced point-and-shoot models. And unfortunately, organizing and backing up photos isn’t nearly as fun as taking pictures. The result?

• Digital photos on smartphones, tablets, computers, flash drives, SD cards, and external hard drives, but you can’t find the picture you want,

• Duplicate photos scattered across your devices,

• The dreaded “Out of Memory” warning on your smartphone,

• Complicated and inconsistent file names make organizing files a dreaded chore,

• Sharing photos through email and photo projects is time-consuming and laborious.

Digital photography can be enjoyable and manageable. Get a head start on organizing your own photo collection and moving from photo chaos to control with these 5 Fast Tips to Control Photo Chaos:

1. Collect Your Photos in ONE Location

Scattered digital files create confusion and result in unnecessary duplication. Decide where you will store your photos and set up a simple, yet organized folder structure to hold your photos. One of the easiest systems to manage is to use an External Hard Drive as your Photo Library. Images can be transferred to a new system when you upgrade your technology, and backed up to a Cloud service or second external hard drive for safekeeping.

2. Celebrate Your Digital Birthday

Pick a meaningful date in the near future – a birthday, anniversary, or first of the month – and vow to make that date your Digital Birthday. On that date, copy ALL the photos on your various digital devices to your computer and make a backup to an external hard drive or a cloud service like Dropbox.com or Shutterfly’s ThisLife.com. From this date forward, make regular or automated backups of your photos and rest easier knowing that you have digital copies in case of smartphone or hard drive failure.

3. Digitize Oversize Photos

It’s hard to fit a large antique print on the standard-size glass bed of a scanner. That’s when I set up my digital camera, set the resolution to maximum megapixels, turn off the flash, and snap multiple photos from different angles. When paired with a tripod and automatic shutter release, a digital camera can become a do-it-yourself copy station that speeds up digitizing scrapbooks, photo albums, and oversize photographs.

4. Plan Photo Books with a Project Board

Whether your goal is a family history book or a photo book of your summer vacation, you’ll save time by planning ahead with a project board that reminds you of photos needed and design ideas. If you’re missing pictures of people, places, or events, think about using alternatives such as maps, census images, or advertising images. A project board can also help you compare prices and features from different photo book websites, and serve as a record sheet for ordering more books.

5. Try Something New

The popularity of digital photography has sparked new products and new ways to enjoy your family and genealogy photos. You’ll find easy, free online photo editors, mobile apps to help you create 5-minutes on your smartphone (no kidding!), and automated tagging and sorting services that make photos fun again. Turn your photos into giftwrap or wall paper with online fabric printing service Spoonflower. Create a quick and easy thank you photo book in five minutes on your iOS or Android smartphone with the Mosaic mobile app.

See more of this excellent article at: http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/04/28/5-tips-to-control-family-photo-chaos/#sthash.PeY0BOvr.dpuf

County Londonderry

A book listed at the UlsterHeritage.com site gives us a glimmer of hope of someday finding where some of our Bradfords came from.  The book is:

Scots-Irish Origins, 100-188 A.D.; Genealogical gleanings of the Scots-Irish in County Londonderry, Ireland.  Part Two – The Plantation of Londonderry, c.1600-1670

(By Bob Forrest, B.A Hons; Economic and Social History (Queen’s University, Belfast). 65 pages + 3 maps + 1 illust.)

"In this book are the names of many Lowland Scots who migrated to Londonderry during the seventeenth century. These early settlers can be considered to be the founding fathers of the Scots-Irish in the region. One hundred years later, after the first colonies of British settlers were established in both Virginia and Londonderry, the descendants of Ulster planters began to emigrate in increasing numbers to the colonies of New England, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas. Between 1718 and the War of Independence, half a million Scots-Irish left Ulster for the British colonies in North America. Many of their forbears can trace their origins to the early period of British settlement in county Londonderry. Surnames can provide much useful insight, if not proof, of family origins in Ireland..."  [Source:  http://www.ulsterheritage.com/forrest/londonderry.htm]

Bradford is including in this list of surnames.  There is no proof that this is our Bradfords, but at least there is precedent for finding the name in Ulster. I have seen the Bradford name mentioned in a few other records of other Ulster counties. 

While we know where Rebecca Bradford's Scots-Irish  father was from from County Donegal, we still have almost no clue as to the origins of her maternal grandfather, Samuel Bradford of Red Lion Hundred, Delaware.

As I have written before, the one clue we have is that Red Lion Sam's son was buried in a Presbyterian church yard (Old Drawyer's Church in Odessa, Newcastle County, Delaware), and that was the predominant religion of the Scots-Irish. Just the fact that the family was living in that region of America is a clue, as many Scots-Irish settled there.  Samuel's will gives no clue as to where he is from, nor do the land records wherein he is mentioned.  Taking all this into consideration, plus the fact that there are very few records extant for the Scots-Irish in Ulster, finding Red Lion Sam's origins is going to be very difficult, but hopefully not impossible!