Finished organizing my files

Today I finally finished organizing my genealogy files, a project I started in April 2015.  I was planning to visit my aunt in June 2015 to exchange family history documents, so I wanted to have everything organized by then.  Little did I know how long it would take!  Instead of a couple months, it has taken 17 months.

I made a box for each of my grandparents:  Fast, Suderman, Siemens, and Reimer.  Inside each box is a folder for each person in that line.  I compared the Grandma 6 database that I use for my working files with the current Grandma Online information and updated my files to reflect new work that others have sent in to Grandma.  I also sent in corrections to the online database for work that I had done.  I tried to find copies of all the sources used in the Grandma databases so that I would have a copy.

A box of files for each grandparent.

The Sudeman box with a separate file for each ancestor.

Then I printed a 7-generation ancestry chart and a family group sheet for each person and put that in his folder.  I also scanned every paper document and printed every electronic document and put them in archival plastic sleeves so that I would have a copy of everything in both media to increase the likelihood of one copy surviving.  When I noticed things that were missing or thought of research that should be done, I made a to-do list and put it in the ancestor's folder.  Now I have another stack of things to chase down.  And I made a folder on my hard drive for every ancestor.  And I have an off-site backup of everything on a hard drive. 

File structure on my hard drive.

I've also improved my skills because I saw things in the Grandma database that others had done for ancestors that I hadn't worked on.  So then I could apply that to other ancestors.  And I learned a lot about sources, especially in Poland and Prussia where I mostly knew about the Gross Werder sources.  I picked up a lot about the Przechowka, Danzig, and Stuhm areas.

It's been a lot of fun organizing the files because I went systematically through each ancestor.  And I feel so much better about the organized folders and boxes.  Mess, be gone!