2018 Plan: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

For years I've used this blog for no specific purpose, with the idea that I occasionally write posts about my research to help me sort out my thoughts. That's exactly how I used this blog in 2011 and 2012, and I found it really helpful. But then it slowed down for a few years, and somehow I have gone two full years without writing anything here at all! These have also been slower years for me in terms of actually working on my genealogy, as other aspects of my life have taken over. I went back to school from 2013 to 2016, for instance.

Well, I'm still super busy, but I have at least a bit of time for my family tree! So I've decided to write about 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks in 2018. I know at one point this was a popular challenge with genealogy bloggers, but I don't know if anyone is still doing it. If you are, let me know! I'd love to have other blogs to follow on this journey.

So, each week of 2018, I will be focusing on one of my direct ancestors. I will do as much research on that person as time permits, attempting to fill in all their basic data and immediate family members, and perhaps even adding a bit of life to their stories. I'll write a blog post about that ancestor, improve their WikiTree profile, and perhaps also improve their profiles on some other sites I use like FamilySearch.

Since many of my ancestors end up neglected by my random, go-where-the-wind-takes-me approach to genealogy, I'll be methodically working my way through my direct ancestors in this endeavour. I'll start with my 8 great grandparents, followed by my 16 great great grandparents, and then 28 of my great great great grandparents, going left-to-right (or top-to-bottom) on my family tree, which will bring me up to the end of the year.

Enjoy the holidays, everybody, and then I hope you'll check out my first 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks post in the first week of January, when I research my great grandfather, Joseph Carmel Lavoie.