Kindo Family Blog

The number one task in all your genealogy research is to document all you find. This serves two purposes.

1. It allows others to judge and evaluate your evidence.

2. It keeps you from repeating yourself years down the road.

An example: Mother found an old book of biographies from a small town in Kansas. It had engravings of the town’s founding fathers. One of them had her maiden name, and the engraving looked a lot like her grandfather. But this was early in her researches and she wasn’t sure. So she photocopied the article and picture. A few years later she found census and birth certificate evidence that she had indeed found her grandfather’s father in that book! But, she had neglected to photocopy the title page of the book, and had to search through several libraries to find it again in order to document it as a source.

A lot of time and effort would have been saved had she documented the source from the beginning.

An extensive discussion of documentation can be found in my book, Genealogy Online 8th Edition. It makes a great Father’s Day present!

Till next week,

Libbi

Yesterday the Kindo team released Norwegian, which now means that Kindo is available in 16 languages.

Thanks a lot to Eirik, who did all the translations voluntarily! It’s great to see how big and international our Kindo family has become and that there are so many committed people.

If you have a Norwegian surname, and would like to find out some interesting facts about your families origin then visit the Norwegian lastname pages .

It was an experience to cherish for the German super model and Grammy winner Heidi Klum! Seal and Heidi exchange their marriage vows each year and this time they chose to wed in traditional Indian style. The distinct Indian flavor was evident in food, dresses and even the manner in which their families approached the wedding.

What was really amazing is that everyone from the family and the guests came dressed in Indian sarees, jewellery and sherwanis.

Heidi was very moved when she was told about the significance of sindoor for the Indian bride by the priest. Similarly, her parents turned very emotional when they were asked by the priest to wash the feet of their son-in-law Seal, which was a custom in India.

It was terrific sight to witness the mix of rich culture and family traditions from two different global families. Both Heidi and Seal were well aware how Indians view the institution of marriage and how it is seen as saat janmo ka bandhan. They wanted to understand the exact philosophy of the saat pheras.

The dedication towards Indian experience was shown by the fact that only vegetarian north Indian food was served in the menu. The spices were specially imported from India. Although the chef was American, the families enjoyed excellent gobhi-aloo, naan and pulao.

For more information about Heidi Klum and her family check out Heidi’s family tree by us. To browse our other family trees please visit the celebrity trees page.

The picture shows the couple and Heidi’s family after the wedding. In the inset is the Indian priest who conducted the wedding. (Image & story via http://epaper.timesofindia.com)

About us:

We’re an Internet startup based in Putney, west London, funded by some of London’s best business angels and VC-firms. We’re currently around 15 people, but are looking to expand.  

Kindo is “where families get together, build their tree, and grow”. Our objective is to help our members to better get to know their family, and what they’re up to. The site launched only in october 2007, is growing fast and available in 15 languages. Visit kindo.com to get the full story.

Read more here.

About the job:

Your job will be country manager in a specific market. It includes localisation and translation of our webservices, corporate blogging, public relations, community outreach and creating, planning and realising additional marketing activities.

You have:

• Knowledge or experience (but at least genuine interest) about the Internet, Social Networking, Web 2.0 and Blogging
• Interest in entrepreneurship (experience is a strong plus)
• Fluent in English. Fluent/native in other languages.
• Great communications skills (written and oral)
• A talent for getting things done

We offer:

• A friendly, informal and creative environment with lots of opportunities and your own responsibilities
• A great and helpful team with experienced colleagues, knowledgeable investors and low hierarchies 
• Possible continuing part or full-time positions in marketing or even web-design or development
• An internship renumeration and additional bonus scheme

Check out http://kindo.com/blog for more information.

We are interested in what websites you have started, been involved in, designed or promoted or simply your favourite sites on the net. To apply send your CV and your weblinks to: mario @ kindo . com

Brazil will celebrate the centenary of Japanese immigration on June 18th, it is 100 years after the Kasato Maru ship arrived in the port of Santos with 165 families.

Since 1908, the Japanese family in Brazil grew a lot. Within seven years 3,434 families have moved, with World War I having a major impact on immigration. Between 1917 and 1940, immigration registers 164,000 Japanese immigrants, most of them working on coffee farms in the state of São Paulo.

A hundred years after the arrival of the pioneers, Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside Japan, with more than 1,5 million Nikkeis (Japanese descendents born in Brazil) living here. Most of them still live in São Paulo, within the Liberdade (means Liberty) neighborhood, close to the center of the city. Immigrants from other oriental countries, especially Chinese and Korean, are also here. This makes Liberdade a quick journey to the other side of the world, without the need for plane travels.

I love going to Liberdade to visit the supermarkets, they sell amazing stuff right from the other side of the world. Food, beverages and cleaning products, among other things, that come straight from Japan and that does sell a lot in São Paulo. It isn’t hard to find a very good place to eat, but it’s always better to ask a Japanese friend for the hot spot.

For Portuguese (or Japanese) speakers, check online all the tips for the centenary – and share with your family at Kindo.

Hello all!

Disasters, natural and self-inflicted, can hit your computer at any time. No matter whether you are keeping your genealogy data on index cards or the latest iMac, you must back up. Your choices are so varied, that it is silly not to!

If you are using paper, such as index cards or a notebook: Make photocopies. Store them at a relative’s house.

If you are using a computer, choose any or all of these:

1. Use a Thumb Drive to back up your databases at least once a week.
2. Write your data to CDROM C’mon. They’re cheap now!
3. Use an online service such as Xdrive, MozyHome, or iBackup. These services can backup specified directories automatically, so you don’t have to remember.
4. Use an external hard drive such as a MyBook.
5. Use a site such as Kindo to create a backup of your data.
6. Or print it all out and take it over to a relative’s house!!

Documentation and backup are essential. As I say in my book, Genealogy Online 8th Edition on these two principals hang all your effort and investment in genealogy. Next week, I’ll discuss documentation. Until then, happy hunting!

Kindo just launched in Danish! Our last name research pages for Denmark have been live for quite some time now, and finally we have launched Kindo in Danish! It should soon be available via http://kindo.dk as well.

The new language was made possible by Aske and Brian who have translated the whole website voluntarily. Brian had got it rolling and Aske finished it off. Thanks a lot for your help guys!

The new Danish version takes our language toll to 15! The Kindo family is spreading the globe

Yesterday we celebrated family day here in Russia. The history of the holiday goes back to 1993, when United Nations Organization pronounced May 15th to become an international family day. The main reason for creating the holiday was the desire of the members of UNO to attract attention of the society to the family matters. Each year UNO publishes messages on various important themes, such as in 2007 the theme was “Families and disabled people”.

In the Russian Federation the international family day was celebrated in 1995 for the first time. 2008 was announced as family year by the president of Russia.
This year lots of family events were planned, more than 100 only in Moscow. On the main square (Red square) members of families, with more than 3 children, formed a “live heart”, which is shown on the picture. In various parts of Russia a lot of fundrasing events were held in support of low income families or families which have more than 3 kids.
The members of our team also would love to wish your family all the best and we hope that our service helps you to stay connected and close to the members of your family.

Hello again from Florida, USA!
In my book, Genealogy Online 8th Edition, I have a long section on the best way to write a query. Today I’m going to give you the quick version:

A query is a short entry in a publication, online bulletin board or letter that asks for specific information on an ancestor. It is sort of a “wanted” classified ad for genealogists.

The basics of the query are:

1. You must have a date, or range of dates
2. You must have a place, at least a region
3. You must have at least one name, best if it’s a surname.

The format of a query:

Looking for First Name LAST NAME OF ANCESTOR IN CAPS, <<specific data needed.>> Know this information: <<names and vital dates>>. Contact: Your email, snailmail, or other contact info.

So a good query will look something like this:

Query: CRIPPEN, 1794, CT>MA>VT>Canada

I need proof of the parents of Diadama CRIPPEN born 11 Sept 1794 in (?), NY. I believe her father was Darius CRIPPEN, son

of Samuel CRIPPEN, and her mother was Abigail STEVENS CRIPPEN, daughter of Roger STEVENS, both from CT. They lived in

Egremont, Berkshire County, MA and Pittsfield, Rutland County, VT before moving to Bastard Township, Ontario, Canada. I will

exchange information and copying costs. [Here you would put your regular mail address, e-mail address, or other contact

information.]

As you can see, just reading queries can often give you valuable information!

Note: Do not ever send a letter or query that says, “Send me everything you have on the Jones family” or words to that effect. This is not a game of Go Fish. It is rude and unfair to ask for someone to just hand over years of research. When you ask for information, have some data to exchange and a specific genealogy goal to fill. Also, always offer to pay copying and/or postage costs.

For a more detailed explanation, see Genealogy Online 8th Edition, pp 22 - 26. Oh, and my book is available on Kindle, too!

Happy Hunting!

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, around 1.3 million Swedes emigrated to North America. This means for genealogists, that there still are an enormous amount of connections over the Atlantic ocean, and that many English speaking families are eager to trace their roots, e.g. back to Småland, the region in south-eastern Sweden where the writer Vilhelm Moberg’s fictionous characters in “The Emigrants” first had their home.

One enthusiast is Anna-Karin, a Swedish lady who regularly during the last years has broadcasted Anna-Karins Genealogical Podcast, a podcast on genealogy from an emigrant perspective! Her program contains interviews, tips on genealogy sources and material and genealogy news. The interesting thing is that the program is in English, which makes it possible for her to reach out all over the globe. The Kindo family likes her podcast and recommends it for everyone interested to learn more. - The next episode will come shortly, she promises!

By the way, if you like her podcast, it has now been nominated to the Swedish “Podcast of the year“-award - a competition held by the web-agency Daytona. Vote here! Participating in the competition is also the Web 2.0 podcast What’s Next, which in November hosted Kindo! (only in Swedish)