The Problem of Family Not Wanting Your Genealogy Research

Several years ago I came to the realization that no one in my immediate family wants my 40 plus years of research on our genealogy. A few are mildly interested in hearing the more exciting stories of blacksheep ancestors or famous relatives or an intriguing mystery. No one but me does actual research into our ancestors.

That means that my binders and file folders full of documents and charts are not something anyone is going to take and preserve when I'm gone. I'm sure many of you are facing the same problem. So...what to do?

My solution has been to create family books for each surname. I keep them short, no more than 30 pages for each book. Some surnames have multiple volumes and each volume is for one generation including children. These books are what I call "Coffee Table" books, meant to be picked up and thumbed through casually. Not all documents are included because that would turn into a book consisting of hundreds of pages! 

After publishing them on Shutterfly I give them as gifts at Christmas. That is one way the family stories and research might be preserved for future generations. If you are unfamiliar with Shutterfly I have a tutorial on using it on my Olive Tree Genealogy YouTube Channel.

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 1)

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 2)

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 3)

From Van Valkenburg to Vollick
V.1 The Loyalist Isaac Van Valkenburg aka Vollick
and his Vollick & Follick Children

Another solution I use is to create books for sale to other descendants. Since I tend to research all siblings in a family I can often provide details, facts and documents on a large number of family members for each generation. I use Amazon KDP for those books which then are made available on Amazon. 

See my list of books I have published here.  Money I make from these sales helps offset my expenses in subscribing to online companies for their databases.

I also donate a copy of any books I create to local archives or libraries where the family settled.  This helps ensure that even more descendants will have access to my research in the future.

How have you overcome the problem of your family not wanting your genealogy records?