Three Years of Blogging

Photo by Leo Reynolds on Flickr

What’s Past is Prologue is three years old tomorrow!  It’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by.  Most (honest) bloggers, no matter the subject of their blog, will tell you that they had no idea what they were doing when they started.  After three whole years I can unequivocally say that I still have no idea what I’m doing.  But it’s been a fun ride!

My blog’s odometer will flip past the 100,000 milestone this month, and I am humbled and grateful that so many folks stop by just to read what I have to say.  [Hmm, who will be my 100,000th visitor? If it’s you, email me!] Last year wasn’t an easy one when it came to blogging, and it shows in the frequency – or lack thereof – and the quality of my posts.  Despite the fact that I posted only half as much as my first year of blogging in 2008, I had almost double the number of visitors.  Many thanks to Genea-musings and Creative Gene as the top two sites who sent many visitors to here by linking to my stories!  Thanks also to all of my fans who voted to make my blog one of Family Tree Magazine’s Top 40 Genealogy Blogs of 2010 (and who nominated me for 2011)!

Some of my most popular posts from 2008 and 2009 continued to rack up the visits with Philadelphia Marriage Indexes Online (June, 2008) pulling in over 6,700 visitors in 2010 and I Remember Betsy (March, 2009) with over 4,900.   Looking at only the posts I wrote last year, the most popular has been Climbing Up Gene Kelly’s Family Tree (September) with nearly 400 hits.  Rounding out 2010’s greatest hits (in terms of visitors) were parts 1-4 of my 5-part series on Bavarian Military Rosters (January), my surname series on FISCHER (January), The Boy Next Door (April), How I Spent My Genealogy Vacation (May), Lessons Learned from WDYTYA (March), and The Address Book (March).

The posts with the most visitors don’t always equate to the author’s favorites, but this year there is some overlap.  I avoided the end-of-year “Best of” lists on all the genealogy blogs knowing my blogiversary was coming up, so here are my 10 favorite posts of 2010:

A Killer Chair – borrowing Greta’s Memory Monday idea, I wrote about seven different memories throughout the year.  While they technically had nothing to do with genealogy, they were among my favorite posts to write.  This August memory is a favorite just for the laugh it gave me to remember that event.

It All Started at a Dance – March’s submission for the 92nd Carnival of Genealogy was about my parents, how they met, and how dancing remained a part of their lives for a while.  I was honored when it was selected as the Featured Article for the COG!

Genealogical Smackdown: Colonials vs. Immigrants – My October post on which researchers have it harder is a favorite because I attempted writing it for months before finally finishing it.  It didn’t offer any groundbreaking conclusions, but it was something I wanted to publically ponder for a while, and I was pleased to finally pose the question to other genealogists to fight (nicely) amongst themselves.  The answer is still pending (unless you belong entirely to one camp or the other, then the answer is quite clear!).

If Genealogists Ruled the Television Networks – In February, I wondered what television would be like if genealogists were in charge – see the comments for more great ideas!

The Walk Home – This was my first “Memory Monday” post.  Again, not much to do with genealogical research, but a nice walk down memory lane.  I wish I knew what my ancestors’ walks home were like.

The Bavarian Military Rosters – Rounding out my ten favorites is my 5-part series on using the Bavarian Military Rosters on Ancestry.com.  Part 1, Cousins, Countries and War, shows my inspriration for using these records – a possible cousin to my great-grandfather of the same name.  Part 2, The Bavarian Military Rosters, explained what they are and how to read one.  In Part 3, Josef Bergmeister’s WWI Military Record, I finally learn about the life and death of the mysterious stranger.  Part 4, The Great War and the Homefront, provides details on the battle as well as what my great-grandfather faced in the U.S.  In Part 5, The Bergmeister Family Tree, I listed all of the known male lines from 1650 to WWI to show how the U.S. immigrants and German WWI soldiers were related.

This year I hope to post more frequently and write about more research, tips, memories, and humorous musings.  Thanks for coming along with me for the ride – let’s get this show on the road!