Friday, February 11, 2011

Two complete years of Amanuensis Monday

Back on February 16, 2009 I began a weekly meme I called Amanuensis Monday.  This past Monday I completed two years of transcriptions -- a total of 105 posts.  (The first two weeks I posted an extra three transcriptions, for a total of five.  I have also 'taken off' both Labor Days.  This explains why there are 105 transcriptions, and not 104.)

Awhile ago I created a chronological index of transcriptions, which I have kept up-to-date.  Originally I had one chronological  list of all my posts, but at some point last year I created two lists - depending upon whether the document referenced a maternal or paternal ancestor.  And I realized there was a significant imbalance.  As of this Monday, that imbalance has been corrected.  52 posts relating to paternal ancestors; 52 posts relating to maternal ancestors.  And one transcription relating to my self.

I find the differences between my research on my maternal and paternal ancestors interesting.  My maternal grandparents saved a multitude of letters.  However, finding mention of kin in newspaper archives has been difficult.  On the other hand, while less letters seem to have been saved by paternal branches, I have found a multitude of references in newspapers.  Part of the difference may be due to the fact I live where my paternal ancestors lived at least for a few generations.  I have a greater access to St. Louis newspaper archives than I do to Texas or New England newspapers.

What does the future hold for this space? As I mentioned in early January when I reached 100 transcriptions
I believe in 2011 I may begin including some transcriptions that don't directly mention kin, but are of interest historically, either in the Greater St. Louis area, or in other ancestral locations.  I also have a couple more audio tapes I still wish to transcribe - one of which excerpts from may appear here.
I also still have a lot of letters that haven't been transcribed.

4 comments:

Susan Clark said...

Congratulations! It's a wonderful meme - my favorite.

Cynthia Shenette said...

Wow, two years of transcriptions! Congratulations! I love Amanuensis Monday, and intend to post every week, but I find other aspects of my life (meaning not genealogy) seem to get in the way. You are my inspiration!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the anniversary.

Heather Wilkinson Rojo said...

Thanks so much for Amanuensis Monday! It is also one of my favorite meme in genealogical blogging. I think it's important to transcribe all sorts of documents, especially handwritten and rare things. It's an important excercise to learn as a genealogist, and also an important thing to post as a blogger. Several of my Amanuenis Monday posts have been found by distant unknown cousins online, which is an important side benefit of genealogical blogging.