James Tanner, who is with The Family History Guide (possibly a future tip) and the BYU Library Family History Center, wrote a post that is near and dear to my heart right now—Keep or Throw Away: The Challenge of Genealogical Documents and Photos.
During our recent move, we thought we’d dejunked, but the professional came by and said we’d need three 26-ft U-Hauls and recommended a professional with a tractor-trailer. The professional wanted $40,000—we pack; his crew loads and unloads. $40k was beyond our budget, so we had to make some hard choices. One of those was the boxes and boxes of family papers and mementos.
I did a lot of scanning, which is what Tanner suggests, but he also recommends keeping or donating unique historical documents.
Along those same lines, Kristy Larsen also recently wrote about inherited boxes of photos, documents, and heirlooms. She wasn’t downsizing, but identifying and storing the items. It can be overwhelming, and Larsen shares some suggestions on getting started.
Blogging didn’t work for me. First, Google wasn’t finding me. Second, I was a small fish in a big ocean writing genealogy tips. Cheri Hudson Passey did it differently. She shares her research and the journey. In her post, Blogging + Cousin Bait = Mystery Picture Success!, she tells how she was able to connect to a distant cousin who sent her a picture. Neither of them knew the identity of one of the individuals.
Enter a few more cousins, and the photo was identified as Passey’s great-grandfather.
Blogging + Cousin Bait = Picture Success
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Why should we all have to learn the hard way? Please share what you’ve learned. Email me at YourFamilyQuest@gmail.com
Thursday, 20 August 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Emma Explores...Stories of Influential Women in Her Family Tree
Wednesday, 26 August 2026 at 10 am/1 pm (PDT/EDT) Behind the Publication with Xanthe Hall
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