by Cathy Gilmore | Jul 14, 2017 | News
A few days ago, we visited The Alamo. No, not
that one. The
historic home of Ezra T. and Mary Stevenson Clark in Farmington, Utah, with its architectural stylings reflective of the Alamo, was the childhood home of Kindex founder Kimball Clark. On a mission to rescue records for a treasure hunt for the upcoming
MyFamily History Youth Camp at BYU, we thought of no better place to start than in our own backyard.
Welcome to the Alamo.
I had a few minutes waiting for Kimball to arrive, so I poked around outside, walking deep into the expansive property. Situated on historic “Clark Lane” in Farmington, Utah, the property stretches north reaching the Farmington Creek Trail and Lagoon Park. So close is Lagoon that I could hear clack of amusement rides and the screams of thrill-seekers just a stone’s throw away.
Kimball’s father Charles Clark collected, among other things, wagon wheels.
And other kinds of wheels.
The random patterns of native field stones.
A marker for the old telephone system cables. It has not been disturbed.
At last, Kimball is here! Now, where’s that key.
Once inside, we had a great time exploring the home. I remember coming to this home once in a while to visit Charles and Sally’s family, but it had been at least 20 years. Wandering from room to room in the heavy July heat, we discovered some great things. Buried between craft boxes, tools, and boxes of old bills were family genealogies, old photos, letters, and a few other surprises.
A few items from a dusty old suitcase.
This 161-year old home is thick with memory. Treasure hunting aside, I loved looking around the various rooms and hearing Kimball’s memories of growing up here. With eight brothers and one sister, Kimball has no shortage of stories from this house.
A view in the kitchen.
A well-worn banister post cap.
Someday soon, Kimball will share some memories of him growing up in that historic pioneer home. That’s his story to tell. In the mean time, we’ll keep hunting for treasures and putting them on Kindex, one dusty suitcase at a time.
by Cathy Gilmore | Feb 13, 2017 | Uncategorized
What started with a discovery of grandma’s old letters ended with a $25,000 prize for the People’s Choice winners at the 2017 RootsTech Innovators Showdown. For cousins Kimball Clark and Cathy Gilmore, the award represents a heartfelt validation that Kindex®—web software that enables families to archive and index their family records together—is needed by families everywhere.
“This Award is an honor,” Kimball said. “We’ve built something entirely new and innovative that solves a real problem almost every family has: ensuring their precious records can be preserved, shared, and found for generations.” Paul Brooks, CEO of Twile and winners of the same award in 2016, agrees. “In the end, People’s Choice is the award that counts,” he said. In a year that saw customer growth, new product offerings, and a partnership with FindMyPast, Twile has proven its staying power. Kindex expects to be no different.
As self-described record hoarders, Cathy and Kimball share an ambitious goal. “Our mission is to rescue the most at-risk, under-utilized resource in family history: the records in your own home,” said Cathy. Her interest in family history began when she discovered a box of letters written by her Grandma Dorothy Smith Clark. “I thought I knew my grandma,” she said, “but after reading her letters, I saw her in a new light and I wanted to share that with everyone.” That desire to share family records grew into what is now Kindex—indexing software that enables families to “search every word” of their family records. “Letters, journals, video and audio—these personal records have gone largely underutilized by historians and families. It’s time we change that,” said Kimball.
“This is a family business in every way,” Kimball continued. “The more we read our grandma’s records, the more we discovered she had the very same vision—to share family history with everyone. But she lived with limited technology, so we are carrying on her vision in a new way.” Many of Cathy and Kimball’s family members are already catching on. Using Kindex to transcribe and search their own family’s personal records has fostered family unity and provided an easy, inviting gateway to for their family to connect with their ancestors on a more personal level—by reading and searching records written in their own words.
After adding nearly 400 users at RootsTech, Kimball and Cathy are back at work overseeing the development of their collaborative archives and other upcoming features for their almost 800 users. They are also busy with the services arm of Kindex, giving families hands-on help organizing and digitizing their family records. Kindex’s “Record Rescue” service include digitization services and record-gathering events for families. “Gathering and digitizing records is a huge bottleneck for many families,” Cathy said. “These services help families take a huge step forward in getting their records digitized and on a collaborative family archive. On-site scanning events at family reunions are especially successful in unifying records that are scattered among various households.”
To learn more about how Kindex can help you rescue your family records, visit kindex.org and sign up for a free archive.
by Cathy Gilmore | Jan 30, 2016 | RootsTech 2016, Software
RootsTech 2016 has selected Kindex™ LLC of Kaysville, Utah, from a field of nearly 50 candidates to present their family history software in the semifinal round of the Innovator Showdown on February 3, 2016. Part of the RootsTech Innovator Summit, the Innovator Showdown features the latest in family history technology and innovation. From the field of twelve semifinalists, a judges panel will select six finalists to demo live onstage for over 23,000 people. Winners take home a piece of the $100,000 prize in cash and in-kind services, not to mention the free publicity that comes with being a finalist.
Kindex owners and cousins Kimball Clark and Cathy Gilmore are thrilled about the prospects of their new company. “RootsTech has been fantastic at encouraging new technologies in the family history field,” said Kimball. “The Innovator Summit is a wonderful forum for us to present our ideas and learn from others. We are excited for the opportunity RootsTech provides startups like us.”
For Cathy and Kimball, what started as a project to scan and archive their grandmother’s diaries, letters, photos, and other documents evolved into developing a web software company that solved the problem of accessing and reading old documents through indexing. “We realized that scanning documents and throwing them on a website just wasn’t enough,” Cathy explained. “We had difficulty reading the handwritten letters and navigating through so many files. Why not apply the FamilySearch Indexing model to families?”
Kindex Beta debuts at RootsTech 2016
“Indexing has been immensely popular in fueling the find for millions of researchers,” Cathy continued. “Why not extend indexing to the millions of family records that are rich with people, places, and events. These records are at risk of being lost or discarded, and within them are the stories we all seek.”
“One of the most exciting parts of Kindex is the idea that not only will our family benefit, but that countless people mentioned within others’ indexed records will have new documents attached to them through our tagging and transcription tools,” Kimball said. “For them, we are rewriting their history.”
The RootsTech Innovator Summit is a one-day event for developers, entrepreneurs, and innovators from around the globe to explore, examine, and discover business and technological opportunities within the family history industry. The Innovator Summit is just one of the events offered at RootsTech, the largest family history even in the world. From Feb. 3-6 in Salt Lake City, Utah, RootsTech will offers speakers, entertainment, classes, and large Expo Hall of exhibitors.
Along with being an semifinalist, Kindex will be in the Expo Hall and “Innovator Alley” where the latest in family history tech will be on display. Kindex will debut their new family indexing web software Kindex Beta at RootsTech 2016.
For more information see:
Innovator Showdown Submission: http://devpost.com/software/kindex-index-your-history
Facebook
Twitter: @kindex
Instagram: @kindexyourhistory
Logos: kindex.org/identity
by Cathy Gilmore | Jan 24, 2016 | Letters
“Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
How can we use letters to reshape our history? We may be surprised to learn how rich a source they can be. As an example, here is a transcription of single page of a letter—one that is part of a larger story of Ellsworth M. Clark hitchhiking his way through Southern Idaho and Wyoming in the summer of 1934. He was to be married to his fiancée Dorothy Smith that August, and was desperately seeking work as a school teacher in the height of the Great Depression:
This morning I came over to Montpelier with the County Sheriff. I was in Montpelier for almost one hour before I found out Wm Clark was not coming over here. From the garage where he worked. I walked up past Munks (Mildred is now home), but I believe they were yet in bed so no one came to the door. Not knowing how I would get over here, I walked towards the canyon until I got out of town. I waited for about an hour and caught a ride over with a big truck. As there are very few cars going on that road, I consider myself very lucky to get a ride so soon. I was back on top of mail sacks and boxes of groceries etc. The wind tangled my hair until I thought I’d never get it combed out. Arrived in Afton about 12:30 and just had time to shave & clean up for dinner. Aunt Louise & family have treated me very fine. You should see the swell bedroom I am to have tonight.
After dinner I called on Mr. Crook, the Superintendent of Schools. He was not home, but his wife said she to at a ballgame or church, she didn’t know. He will be back at home about 5:30, at which time I will interview the Gentleman.
June is leaving Paris for Salt Lake today. I think she left about noon. Suppose you will see her before I will.
The weather is somewhat cool up here
Aside from containing fun details about riding in the back of a truck, this letter is more than just a story: it contains people, places, and events. For example, this page contains six people, four places, a date, and a few subjects:
Names:
County Sheriff [Bear Lake County, Idaho]
Wm Clark [William O. Clark KWCZ-3G6]
Mildred Vilate Munk [KWCB-M92]
Aunt Louie [Louisa Mary Shepherd Call KWJZ-HL8]
Mr. Crook
Mrs. Crook
Places:
Montpelier, Idaho
Afton, Wyoming
Paris, Idaho
Salt Lake City, Utah
Date:
9 June, 1934
Subjects:
Great Depression
Hitchhiking
Job search
Each person tag represents an opportunity to share this source as on their family trees such FamilySearch Memories. The date provides a mark on a timeline for that individual, and the locations can help form a map that is also linked to that person. Finally, subject tags illustrate what is contained on this page that will enrich our view of history with this new perspective.
If this much information can be indexed from a single page, imagine what we could derive from an entire letter? An entire collection of letters? This is why transcribing and tagging is the key to unlocking our histories and the stories contained therein.
