Hi and Welcome -- Now I'm a Blogger too.

I'm trying to set up a good web presence that will allow me to complete my 20-year genealgoy odyssey (gee, I hope this has spell check) of research of families named EFRON -- and spelling variations. My goal -- publish in book form, on disk, and on the web a family history of all families that have this surname.

First, a word to the fans of a certain 21 year-old movie star, a star who is the most popular idol of girls age 6-16 (61?) since Frankie Avalon (the 61 year-olds will understand that). I ask you PLEASE do not send me email. I have promised not to put any information about Z A C or his family into my online genealogy because I want to respect the privacy of his family. Period.

So, what have I done so far, and what else am I planning to do? I have done a lot of research and have acquired a lot of research done by others. I have put up some information on the web. If you found this, then you have found that (or will easily find it).

I have a file, unpublished, that is broken into chapters representing the different families. One of the families is huge, of which I am a part, but most of them are small, and may only go back to some Efron who was born around the mid-1800s. There are about 40 different branches. So that file I call my "draft genealogy," and it will eventually become the final, published genealogy. As part of that file, I have about 25 appendixes wherein each contains a certain type of reference. For example, Appendix C lists all of the census references I've located. To illustrate, within Appendix C I have listed 100s of 1920 and 1930 census references, and revision lists (Russian census) references, etc. Each entry has a unique nunber, or alphanumerica identifier. I will try and post these appendixes to Google docs, and reference these appendixes in this blog. For many of the references listed in the appendixes I also have source documents, including many pictures of gravestones, ship manifests, natrualization papers, etc.

In parallel to my "Draft Genealogy" with its appendixes, I have a Family Tree Maker file wherein I list the same names and family relationships as found in the Draft Genealogy. I have published my FTM file to the internet on my own FamilyTreeMaker web page, which you can find easily enough (and yes, I can and will reference the site in this blog) by Googling key words Efron, Effron, Ephron, Affron -- you get the picture.

My current work being done on the draft genealogy, to reach my goal of publishing the thing, is to make sure the info in my draft genealogy matches the info in the Family Tree Maker file. The FTM file only lists name, date and place of birth, marriage and death, and relationships. The draft genealogy currently has everything else, including unpublishable personal information that needs to be removed before it can be put up on the web. Note, the FTM file now on the web has not been updated for a while, but that is one reason why I am working on bringing it up to date -- so that I can republish it to the web. The other reason that I want it updated is because it will serve as an index and graphics for the final genealogy that I publish. Also, it is a good way to communicate with family members to show them what information I am still seeking.

I guess that's enough for my first posting. I can do this anytime I want? Cool.