The Jordan Book

Well it’s the end of the year and I did it, I managed to get my 1st copy of the Jordan book off to be printed.

After many years of researching my family tree, I wanted to share it in a way that would be interesting to my family. I decided book format would be the best way to share photographs and stories about the families I have spent so much time researching. Another reason for wanting to create the book is all my research just sits in files, either in my cabinet or on my computer, the photos I have collected gather dust in albums, it all is waiting for an audience. I felt I had to do something to share the lives of our ancestors.

What to Include

I knew I couldn’t cover all my families in one book so I decided the easiest way to break it down would be by surnames. I picked a family line that I had a lot of information on to make it easier as this was my first try with My Canvas. I have to give credit to the Armchair Genealogist as I took her course about using the program My Canvas.

My next decision was the parameters of the book, how many generations to include, and who would be the focus? I decided the book would cover the first three generations in Canada. Why three generations? Our Jordan family arrived about 1850, the immigrant ancestor Samuel was born in 1819 in Ireland, his son William was born in Canada in 1852, and William’s children were born between 1872-1887. I do mention William’s grandchildren in the book but the focus is more on the first three generations. There are more records available for the first few generations, and a lot of the records can be located online. Another important factor when focusing on the earlier generation is I do not have to be as concerned about privacy.

Generation 1 – Samuel Jordan & Mary Quigley, he later married Matilda Stinson

Generation 2 – William Robert Jordan, Eliza Jordan (died at 17) and Matilda (Jordan) Perry

Generation 3 – Samuel Thomas Jordan, Peter John Jordan, Mary Elizabeth Jordan, John Brown Jordan, & William James Francis Jordan

All the people mentioned above (other than Eliza) became a chapter with a wedding page, photos, and a bio.

While preparing the book I reconnected with the descendants of Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Frost and they wrote the bio for their branch of the family. They also had photographs of family gatherings which were great to be able to add to the book.

Ordering

Once I finished creating all the pages in My Canvas I ordered a copy. It arrived at the house and I have been going over it, rearranging some pages, adding, and editing one last time before opening it up to other family members to order their own copies.

Cost

Cost is an issue, with the book coming in at 75 pages, it cost me just under $160 and when it showed up at my door I had to pay another $20 in fees. Not a cheap price but to see the quality of the pages, how well the photographs and documents look in the book combined with the work that I have put into this for the past 20 years, I am ok with the price.

Do It Again?

I plan to try and get at least one more book done next year. I am a little torn whether or not I will use My Canvas again. The next family I plan to focus on is the Stewart family and I do not have nearly as many photographs so I may try using Blurb or something similar.

Do you have plans to share your research in 2018? How will you do it? How ever you plan to share your research I encourage you to make a goal and stick with it, it sure feels great to have finished it!!

A Flip-through of the first 25 pages of the book.