In the early 1990s the brothers Abraham and Jack Shore decided that, before whole branches of our family were forgotten, they would put together as comprehensive a family tree as possible. They ended up doing a truly superb job and assembled over 550 family members into an extensive genealogy.

In the late 1990s my father, Abe, sent a copy of genealogy file to me so that I might keep the file up to date. Sadly, I did a less them impressive job of updating the file and it just languished on my computer.

In 2000 I found a website called “MyFamily.com”. I uploaded the family information to this site and many of us had access to this site. However, there were several problems with storing the information on myfamily.com. First, after a while the site was seldom used by any of us. Second, although originally free, myfamily.com wanted to charge an annual fee for access to the site. This would not have bothered me if we were actively using it. However, I was not wild about paying for a website that none of us used. Third, although we could manage the family tree, I found that it was not possible to later download the information to my own computer. Myfamily.com just wouldn’t let go of the updates. Consequently, everything on this site just stopped.

That is until 2004 when Arthur Hersh, a first cousin once removed living in Massachusetts asked if he could have a copy of the file that I did have. I was more than happy to provide him with the information. However, I was concerned that there would now be several files of genealogical information about of family that would be “similar” but not the same. My concern was that some of us would have some information about family members and others other information, but that we would no longer have one repository where any of us could go for complete information.

At this point I stumbled up a web-based software program where I could always have complete access to the data. This is software that runs on a website that I already own. I have complete access to the data and can back it up to my own computer any time I choose. Better yet, this software makes it possible for anyone with access to it to take a “family tree clipping”, i.e. down load a section of the tree to their own computer for whatever use they wish to make of it. Also, anyone can be given access to the site make their own additions and/or corrections to the family tree. Consequently, we can now all have access to this genealogical information and the data can be as up-to-date as the individuals who access it would like it to be.

Because some of this information is sensitive and we don’t necessarily want everyone in the world to have access to it, I have set this site up as a password protected, approval only website. Anyone can come to the site, but without a password and access approval from the administrator ‎(me)‎, all that they will see is that the site exists but will not be able to see any of the information in it. To gain access you must apply for it via the web site. The site will then send an email to me letting me know that you want access. If I know you, which I probably do, I’ll immediately grant you both viewing and editing access. The site will then notify you of your approval and provide you with a password. If I don’t know you, I’ll find out who you are and, assuming you either are or should be part of our family tree, I’ll give you access.

Although you will have editing privileges on the site, all changes will have to have approval from the administrator ‎(again, me)‎ before they become effective. The only reason for this is if incidents such as when two people are sure of a fact about a person and correct the record….but they are sure of different facts and keep changing it back and forth. A little administration will mean that together we’ll find out the most correct information and make sure it stays that way. Obviously, the vast majority of the time I’ll just be approving entries quickly and without any changes.

It is my hope that we all update the records for ourselves, our spouses, children, parents, etc. If each of us just maintains a couple dozen records, we can quickly have a very accurate family tree with over a thousand entries. The better a job each one of us does in maintaining our few records, the better information all of us will have about our entire extended family.

The information that can be stored in this program is more than just name, date of birth, and date of death. We can store addresses, email addresses, photos, significant events in lives, award and honors, personal facts, random notes, sources of information, and even relationship charts so that you will now know how you are related to one another.

This program, although not perfect, is pretty good. It is fairly easy to use and has good help files. If you are having problems either finding or editing information, if you can’t find proper direction in the help files, please contact me. Together we can get everything working correctly.

I’m looking forward to an improved family tree with corrected information for everyone. This will be a great resource for us all. Thank you for your help.

Stephen Shore