NEW YEAR FOR DANES WOULD TRIGGER ARRESTS FOR LITTERING ELSEWHERE IN WORLD
Week of January 6~12, 2011
January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than had previous calendars. The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and guardian of doors and entrances. He was depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. At midnight on December 31, Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new. The tradition of New Year's resolutions goes back to 153 B.C.
LESSON 20: SOME LUCKY RITUALS
In every culture, the New Year is a time for celebration and customs to ensure good fortune and prosperity in the coming year. Here’s a look at some rituals from around the world:
- AUSTRIA – “Sylvesterabend” (Eve of St. Sylvester) is celebrated with punch made of cinnamon, sugar and red wine to honor him. Evil spirits of the old year are chased away by firing mortars called “böller”. Midnight mass is attended and trumpets are blown from church towers at midnight, when people exchange kisses.
- DENMARK – It’s a good sign to find your door heaped with a pile of broken dishes on New Years Eve. Old dishes are saved year round to throw at the homes of friends … many broken dishes are a symbol that you have many friends!
- ENGLAND – The British place their fortunes for the coming year in the hands of their first guest. They believe the first visitor of each year should be male and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the master. For good luck, the guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Guests who are empty-handed or unwanted are not allowed to enter first!
- GREECE – A special New Year's bread is baked with a coin buried in the dough. The first slice is for the Christ child, the second for the father of the household and the third slice for the house. If the third slice holds the coin, spring will come early that year.
- NORWAY – A rice pudding is made one whole almond within. Guaranteed wealth goes to the person whose serving holds the lucky almond.
- SICILY – An old Sicilian tradition says good luck will come to those who eat lasagna on New Year's Day. But woe if you dine on macaroni, for any other noodle will bring bad luck!
- SPAIN & PERU - When the clock strikes midnight, the Spanish eat 12 grapes, one with every toll, to bring good luck for the 12 months ahead. The Peruvian spin on this custom is a 13th grape that must be eaten to assure good luck.
- SWITZERLAND – The Swiss celebrate St. Sylvester’s Day on January 13 by going through the streets dressed in costumes and hats representing good and evil spirits. Letting a drop of cream fall on the floor New Year’s Day is said to bring a year of overflowing abundance.
- WALES – At the first toll of midnight, the back door is opened and then shut to release the old year and lock out all of its bad luck. At the twelfth stroke of the clock, the front door is opened and the New Year is welcomed with all of its luck.
- USA – A kiss shared at the stroke of midnight is derived from masked balls that have been common throughout history. As tradition has it, the masks symbolize evil spirits from the old year and the kiss is the purification into the New Year.
IMMIGRATION OF YESTERYEAR, DOCUMENTATION AT ELLIS ISLAND NO HAPHAZARD AFFAIR
Week of January 20~26, 2011
I recently heard from someone who was frustrated at not being able to find an ancestor on ship manifests. As family lore had it, he arrived in America without paperwork and, since he couldn’t speak English, authorities at Ellis Island changed his name. He had only 50¢ in his pocket, yet somehow made his way to Ohio where he joined relatives who immigrated before him.
This is a common story, so let’s examine the facts … one at a time.
LESSON 21: “JUST THE FACTS MA'AM …”
“He arrived without paperwork ...” Requirements for admission to the U.S. were strict. One had to have proper ID filled out in the country of origin. Even if our ancestors couldn’t read or write, they always had paperwork, usually written in their native language, which clearly identified who they were and where they were from.
People arriving in America without proper ID were sent back to their port of embarkation at the steamship company’s expense, so steamship lines typically checked IDs before allowing anyone to board. (Note: I understand exceptions to this rule were made 1945-1946 when a flood of refugees from Europe arrived here. Many, whose passage was paid by the American Red Cross and other relief agencies, did not possess an ID.)
“… and authorities at Ellis Island changed his name.” Despite claims to the contrary, this never happened! Names were copied from documents filled out by clerks at the immigrant’s country of origin. Immigrants processed through Ellis Island used their true names, though often with spelling variations as many were illiterate and didn’t know how to spell their names in their native language.
It’s true that many immigrants couldn’t speak English, but authorities were well-prepared. During its years of operation, Ellis Island hired an army of part-time interpreters. Steerage passengers (the majority of our ancestors) were not allowed off a ship until they had spoken with an interpreter who was also able to read and write the language on an immigrant’s documentation.
“He had only 50¢ in his pocket ...” Millions of immigrants were nearly penniless upon arrival. However, would-be paupers were not allowed into the U.S. Immigrants had to either have money in their pocket or some documentation proving they had financial support.
While we could quibble that this man didn’t have 50¢ unless he arrived from a country that used dollars and cents, the FACT is that somebody paid for his ticket and trans-Atlantic passage was not cheap: It was often paid by someone who was already here, and it was common for immigrants to possess a letter from that person stating, “I will provide food and shelter ...” Many immigrants were sponsored by corporations who provided steamship tickets for the new employee and his family, along with dormitory accommodations upon arrival, if the would-be immigrant signed an employment agreement for 2-3 years or longer.
“… yet somehow made his way to Ohio.” Our ancestors carried documentation stating where they were headed and who they were going to. You’ll find this information on ship manifests along with who paid their passage and how much money they arrived with.
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect: If you’re having trouble finding an ancestor on ship manifests, try saying his/her name out loud using various spellings, pronouncing it the way you imagine your immigrant ancestor might have. If it’s a married female, search under her maiden name … particularly if she was Italian. Children will be listed using their father’s surname.
PEDIGREE CHART IS FIRST STEP IN GENEALOGY 101
Week of March 10~16, 2011
The chart most genealogists begin with is a Pedigree Chart. This chart begins with you and branches back in time, displaying the line of your direct ancestors. Most pedigree charts cover four generations, including space to record names with dates and places of birth, marriage and death for each individual.
LESSON 22: PEDIGREE CHARTS
Pedigree charts are available in several formats:
Paper Forms: At
http://www.byub.org/ancestors/firstseries/teachersguide/charts-records.html, the online companion to PBS television’s program Ancestors, you’ll find PDF files of blank forms available FREE to the public. Genealogists who like to work with paper copies can print and fill them out by hand, which is often the easiest first step for beginners.
Genealogy Computer Programs: Each program can print information in pedigree chart or family group sheet form, as well as several other choices. Some have particular places to enter research log information; it may also be entered in the "notes" field for each individual or family. Blank forms can always be printed for working by hand.
Online Genealogy Websites: Ancestry.com and others like it have the capability for genealogists to enter and store their information online, keeping it private if so desired. Just like a genealogy program on a home computer, an online site will print information in various formats. Blank forms are generally available for non-members to print as well, but it may take some digging to find them.
The standard Pedigree Chart always begins with you (or the individual whose ancestry you’re tracing) at #1 on the chart. Information on your father (or #1's father) is entered at #2, mother at #3, paternal grandfather at #4, paternal grandmother at #5, maternal grandfather at #6, maternal grandmother at #7 and so on. The male line always follows the upper track, while the female line follows the bottom track.
• Record full names when known, writing the surname in caps (John William SMITH)
• Record full maiden names for married women
• Record dates as day, month and year (1 Jan 2011)
• Record places as Town, County, State, Country
After you've traced a family back more than four generations, you’re ready to add an additional chart for generations 5-7. To make it easy to follow a family from chart to chart, record the next chart number beside each individual in the 4th generation (ancestors 8-15). At the top of each new chart, you’ll reference their number and original chart so you can quickly follow the family through the generations. For example, person #1 on chart #2 will be the same person as person #8 on chart #1 (your father’s father’s father).
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect: Once you have the basics recorded, there are many creative ways you can turn your tree into a lovely heirloom. Go to Google.com and search for “family tree images”. A click on many of the images will bring you to sites where you can either download FREE templates or order custom-made trees.
SOLVING THE RIDDLE OF AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH MAKES THIS GENEALOGIST ONE HAPPY CAMPER
Week of April 7~13, 2011
We all have photos of people we can’t identify and keep them because they’re precious heirlooms. We hope that someday we’ll figure out who they are, but that usually won’t happen without some detective work. Here are five steps to help you uncover their secrets.
LESSON 23: BYGONE DETAILS
1. By understanding old processes, it’s possible to determine the period of time a photograph was taken. If you can’t identify the process yourself, a local photographer may be able to help:
- Daguerreotypes (ca. 1839): Images created on a silver or silver-covered copper plate.
- Ambrotypes (ca. 1854): A glass negative backed with black material which enabled it to appear as a positive image.
- Ferrotypes/Tintypes (ca. 1855): Produced in various sizes and substituted an iron plate for glass. Because tintypes were placed in albums along with CDVs, they were often trimmed at the sides and corners.
- Carte de Visite (ca. 1859): CDVs involved a special camera that produced 8 poses on one negative. This provided photographs the size of a then standard calling card. They arrived in the U.S. on the eve of the Civil War (1861~1865) and quickly became popular with loved ones who sought an affordable image remembrance. Special photo albums were designed to hold them.
2. Formal pictures often show the name and place of the studio where it was taken. To determine the time period a photographer was in business, check old city directories for the area or ask members of local historical and genealogical societies. Some photographers were only in business for a few years, so that information may help you narrow the time period down. www.CraigCamera.com is a great resource of American photographers and www.ClassyArts.com has a Photographer’s Database.
3. The setting or backdrop may provide clues to location or time period. Look for recognizable details from other photos of the same family: Their house, car, furniture, household items, jewelry and other background items that may have appeared in photos for which you do have names and dates.
4. Photographs taken during the 19th century were generally formal affairs where people got dressed up in their "Sunday best." Clothing fashions and hairstyle choices changed from year to year, providing another basis for determining the approximate date when a photograph was taken. Pay special attention to waist size and styles, necklines, skirt lengths and widths, dress sleeves and fabric choices. Women's clothing styles tend to change more frequently than men, but men's fashions can still be helpful. Menswear is all in the details, such as coat collars, neckties and uniforms. If you're new to identifying clothing features, hairstyles and other fashion features, begin by comparing fashions from similar photos for which you have dates. For help, go to
http://www.costumes.org/.
5. Once you narrow down a location and time period, knowledge of your ancestors comes into play. Knowing which branch of the family passed down the photograph can help. If the photograph is a family portrait or group shot, try to identify other people in the photo. Talk to family members to see if they recognize any of the faces or features of the photograph.
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect: If you still aren't able to identify the subjects of your photo, create a list of the ancestors who meet all of the possible criteria, including approximate age, family line and location. Then cross off any people who you have been able to identify in other photos as different individuals. You may find you only have only one or two possibilities left!
WOMEN IN DISGUISE SERVED AS CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS, PHYSICAL EXAMS SELDOM RIGOROUS
Week of May 5~11, 2011
The Civil War began 150 years ago on April 12, 1861. Though it’s unknown how many soldiers actually served on both sides, it’s estimated that over 600 of them were women disguised as men. Flying in the face of Victorian conventions and the traditional view of females as frail, passive and subordinate, about 250 women are thought to have served in the Confederate Army, with about 400 women serving on the Union side.
Even if the estimate of 600 soldier-women is accepted as an upper limit, it’s an astonishing figure. How were so many women able to accomplish this incredible deception, when it’s inconceivable that a woman could enter the military under the same circumstances today?
A LITTLE ACORN EXTRA: SHE WENT TO THE FIELD
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| Franklin Edmonds ~ Sarah Emma Edmonds |
Recruitment examinations were only as good as the surgeon who performed them. A recruit was unlikely to face a physical more rigorous than holding out his hands to demonstrate he had a working trigger finger or perhaps opening his mouth to show his teeth were strong enough to rip open a minie ball cartridge.
1860s Army life differed significantly from today’s military. There was no boot camp with intensive physical training and living/sleeping arrangements were close or closer than today’s standard. The fact that the majority of soldiers lived outside throughout the war, with freedom to wash and attend to sanitary matters out of sight of comrades, made it possible for females to avoid the scrutiny that would give them away. Societal standards of modesty ensured that no one would question a shy soldier’s reluctance to bathe in a river with his messmates or to relieve himself in the open company sinks.
Victorian gender identification was more closely linked to attire and superficial appearances than physical characteristics. Hoop skirts were the order of the day with long hair worn in elaborate arrangements. A woman in pants in 1861 was a sight more rare than a man wearing a dress is today. Thus, if it wore pants, most people of the period naturally assumed the person was a man. In polite society, speculating further or inquiring upon what lay beneath another person’s attire would mark the questioner as less than a gentleman or lady.
A large number of young and beardless boys whose voices had yet to change served on both sides. The presence of pre-adolescent boys in the ranks aided likewise beardless and high-voiced women to blend into the ranks with their male comrades. Many of them were not discovered until they were killed in battle, required medical attention or became pregnant. When revealed, they were most often discharged on the grounds of “sexual incompatibility”.
Ill-fitting uniforms helped to conceal feminine characteristics. A common element of soldier-women stories was their ability to recognize other women in the ranks while the men around them were oblivious to this deception. This suggests that, while women knew what to look for in order to recognize other women in male attire, the men around them were either unfamiliar with the sight of women in pants or had extreme difficulty accepting the possibility that a fellow soldier might not be male. Biases about the physical, emotional and intellectual abilities of women, as well as beliefs about appropriate and acceptable feminine roles, precluded the concept of a female soldier and rendered many men in the armies incapable of recognizing the women among them.
Now take a closer look: Discovering this fascinating aspect of Civil War history makes it impossible to view its photos without searching for the faces of these brave women who went to field and fought like the rest of ‘em! For further reading and photos of some soldier women visit
http://civilwarsoldierwomen.blogspot.com/.
IF RESEARCH REVEALS JUICY SECRETS OR SKELETONS, THINK TWICE BEFORE SHARING
Week of June 9~15, 2011
Genealogists collect a lot of personal details about ancestors and living descendants. Sharing what we discover is fundamental to our research, but we don’t want to spill details others would rather we keep quiet. Relatives might fear identity theft or the revelation of what they see as shameful secrets. Others simply don’t like the idea of “strangers” knowing anything about them.
As social norms and morals change, so do our ideas about what’s embarrassing. Think about what’s “normal” for your family and, if possible, ask the person involved about h/her preference. To help you balance those concerns, here are 6 tips for sharing your research.
LESSON 24: PRIVACY MATTERS
1. Identify what should be private. Any information on living people that could be considered embarrassing should stay confidential. This might include illegitimate births, affairs, remarriages, mental illness or criminal history. Also withhold such details on a deceased person if h/her living spouse or children might be embarrassed by disclosing it.
2. Find out what’s already public. Even if the information you want to share is already public knowledge, it doesn’t mean it’s OK to republish what you’ve discovered online. Nor does it mean you should focus new attention on an incident that relatives might find embarrassing. It just means the information is already out of the barn.
3. Get permission before revealing details to “strangers”. Regardless of the content, get OKs from all living relatives before publishing information about them in a place where nonrelatives can access it. If contacting them all would be too great a job, take the safe route … when in doubt, leave it out.
4. Suppress information about living relatives in GEDCOMS you swap. All popular genealogy programs can exchange information with other programs via GEDCOM files (a trade language for genealogy programs). If you’re sending a GEDCOM file to someone else or posting it online, exclude information about living descendants. Most programs let you include either your entire family file or specific branches of your family tree … find out how to do this on the program you’re using. Most programs also let you mark as private all or part of a notes field.
5. Control what’s visible in online trees. Some online family trees automatically filter out information on living people and let you control who gets access to your submissions. Before posting, check out their privacy policy. As a researcher, you’ll want to be credited for your hard work (remaining anonymous offers no benefits to most submitters). Doing so also enables other researchers to contact you. If you’re concerned about infringements on your privacy, create a Google or Hotmail account for the specific purpose of sharing genealogical info online.
6. Avoid publicizing details about minors. Don’t post information or pictures of children in publicly accessible places (particularly sites like Facebook) unless you adjust your privacy settings to “Friends Only”. ALWAYS get parental permission and stick to password-protected sites you can “invite” people to view.
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect: In the end, you’re the only one who can decide what, if anything, your genealogy project says about you and living relatives. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing: For example, in an online tree you can include full names, initials only or simply use the word “living” as a first name.
PROJECT COULD IDENTIFY ORIGINS OF AFRICANS TRANSPORTED IN SLAVE TRADE
Week of June 30~July 6, 2011
The African Origins project arose from the work of Ugo Nwokeji and David Eltis who used audio recordings of names found in Courts of Mixed Commission (CMC) registers for Havana, Cuba and Freetown, Sierra Leone to identify likely ethno-linguistic origins. The names in these recordings were pronounced by speakers of the same language and accent that the CMC registrants would likely have had (if the name was written in a Havana register, the names were pronounced by a Spanish speaker with a Havana accent).
This helped connect the sound of the name to its spelling and enabled a more accurate opinion of its possible ethnic origin than would its written match alone. The recordings were played to informants in Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Angola and to members of the African diaspora in parts of North America, who were able to identify through these pronunciations the likely ethnic group from which the name derived.
A LITTLE ACORNS EXTRA: African Origins Project Hopes to Identify Origins of Africans Transported in the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Why the registers were created: Following anti-slave trade treaties, U.S. and British Royal Navies policed the African Atlantic coast in search of slaving vessels. They escorted captured ships to ports where CMC were established to arbitrate cases of slave trading. The registers were created to provide a record of liberated Africans in an effort to prevent their re-enslavement. Ideally, these Africans would be repatriated to their country of origin and, should they be captured again, the registers would provide legal evidence of their status and secure their freedom.
Many liberated Africans didn’t go back to their pre-enslavement existence. Instead of being returned to their place of origin, those taken back to Africa were brought to areas unfamiliar to them and some of them were re-enslaved. The less fortunate continued their ocean voyages on a repatriation vessel, sometimes taking several months to return to Africa, many dying before reaching African shores.
Other liberated Africans were taken to ports in the Americas or islands in the Caribbean where CMC were established. Almost all Africans on board vessels that were diverted to ports in the Americas, and many of those taken to Sierra Leone, eventually became part of the black population of the Americas.
How to use the database: To this writing, there are over 9,000 profiles in this database. Details include the name as it appeared in the CMC register, age, ship name and embarkation/disembarkation ports. Where known, it includes place of origin/ethnicity. In each profile, you can click to hear how the name was pronounced and can view a list of others who were on board with that individual. Because the African names were recorded by English and Spanish speakers at a time when many African languages had no written counterpart, the spelling is a phonetic representation of how the name might be spelled by an English or Spanish speaker.
To get started, type the name you are seeking in the “Name” box under Search Tools. By default, the name search locates phonetically similar names. As modern counterparts of these names are added from public contributions, this search can also be used to find likely modern spellings of these African names.
Its use in genealogical research: A challenge to tracing African ancestry is locating records that link a name in a record created on the American side of the Atlantic with the actual name of the African who made the voyage. Names of Africans transported in the transatlantic slave trade were often “Christianized” once the Africans on board were sold into slavery. For this reason, a database such as the African Origins portal naturally generates excitement, since the names of the people on board are clearly African.
However, there are limits to its usefulness in genealogical research. Because Africans on board were liberated, and never entered into the intra-national records of the slave trade, there is less likelihood they can be connected with, say, an African American’s research into enslaved ancestors. That said the database still enables the discovery of information that will help to shed light on the ancestry of individuals descended from Africans transported in the trade or members of the African Diaspora.
Contribute to this project: If you are familiar with any African names or naming practices, you can contribute to this project. By suggesting a modern counterpart for an African name recorded in the historical registers, as well as ethno-linguistic groups that use that name, you’ll help to identify the likely linguistic, cultural and geographic origins of that African. Learn more about this at
http://www.african-origins.org/.
SUITABLE WIVES HARD TO FIND IN STRANGE, SETTLEMENT-POOR ‘NEW WORLD’
Week of August 4~10, 2011
Finding a suitable wife hasn’t always been a straightforward proposition … especially when it came to establishing settlements in a savage New World.
LESSON 13-1: HERE COME THE BRIDES, PART 2
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| Jamestown Women |
Jamestown Women – After Jamestown’s establishment in 1607, there was concern as to whether white women had a place in the savage New World. By 1619, the Virginia Company of London realized the establishment of thriving communities would be impossible without the stabilizing influence of wives and arranged that “a fit hundredth might be sent of women, maids young and uncorrupt, to make wives to the inhabitants.” 57 young maids arrived in 1622, most of whom “were well married before the coming away of the ships.” Search: “The Virginia Colonial Records Project”.
Filles du Roi – Men in the French colonies were also longing for wives. Recognizing this necessity, King Louis XIV sponsored the emigration of 770 “Kings Daughters” between 1663-1779. They were generally 12-25 years old and had to supply a letter of reference from their parish priest before being chosen for passage to New France.
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| Filles Du Roi |
Most of the women were commoners of humble birth who received a King’s dowry of 50 livres (more if they married an army officer) and free passage. Some were considered orphans by virtue of having lost at least one parent. Others had both parents but needed to go out on their own. If you have French Canadian ancestors, you more than likely have one or more “Daughters” in your tree.
Go to: www.fillesduroi.org/src/Filles_list.htm.
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| Casket Girls |
Casket Girls – In 1718 there were no white women in and around the swampy settlement of New Orleans when the French Canadian, Jean Baptiste LeMoyne brought approximately 300 men to build the city of Nouvelle Orleans. Among those men, only 28 were married, leaving poor prospects for the remaining 272. LeMoyne’s need to keep his men happy led to a plea in his earliest message to the King for a shipment of marriageable women. But what parents of a virtuous daughter would send her into the wilderness?
Less virtuous women were available … French women who had fallen into disfavor with their families, orphans living on the streets of Paris and many who were imprisoned in dungeons and asylums. Thus, 80 “Correction Girls” were sent to Louisana with a casket-like box containing some articles of dress. Those who survived the months-long trip were snatched up on arrival by men who were fortunate enough to have their pick.
Some women didn’t wed or were widowed after brief marriages, a condition that prompted the governor to send the following message to Paris in 1722: “There are here, Gentlemen, a number of women to whom rations are given … who are useless and who do nothing but cause disorder. The majority of these women are ruined with pox and ruin the sailors. It is necessary that you be so good as to order the Council to have them go into the interior among the Indians.” Subsequently, it became a matter of pride in the colony to derive one’s origin from “filles a la cassette” or “casket girls” vs. “Correction Girls”.
Search: “filles a la cassette”.
EXPECT TO MAKE ERRORS. NOT ALL GENEALOGY RESEARCH IS TOP SHELF
Week of August 25~31, 2011
The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, available at http://www.eogn.com. It’s copyrighted by Richard W. Eastman and re-published here with the permission of the author.
In the course of writing this newsletter, I get to see a lot of genealogy information. Most of what I see is on the Web, although some information is in books or e-mail. Some of what I see is high-quality research. However, much of it is much less than that. Even the shoddiest genealogy work could be so much more if the compiler had simply spent a bit of time thinking about what he/she was doing.
Creating first-class genealogy work isn’t difficult. In fact, it’s expected. It should be the norm. Please consider the following "rules." If you follow these guidelines, you, too, can produce high-quality genealogy reports that will be useful to others.
LESSON 25: 10 COMMANDMENTS OF GENEALOGY
1. Never accept someone else's opinion as "fact." Be suspicious. Always check for yourself!
2. Verify primary sources (see Footnote #1). Never accept secondary sources (see Footnote #2) as factual until you’ve personally verified the information.
3. Cite your sources! Every time you refer to a person's name, date and/or place of an event, always tell where you found the information. If you’re not certain how to do this, get a copy of "Evidence Explained" by Elizabeth Shown Mills. It shows both the correct form of source citation and the sound analysis of evidence.
4. If you use the work of others, always give credit. Never claim someone else's research as your own.
5. Assumptions and "educated guesses" are acceptable in genealogy as long as they’re clearly labeled as such. Never offer your theories as facts.
6. Be open to corrections. The greatest genealogy experts make occasional errors. So will you. Accept this as fact. When someone points out a possible error in your work, thank that person for his/her assistance and then seek to re-verify your original statement(s). Again, check primary sources.
7. Respect the privacy of living individuals. Never reveal personal details about living individuals without their permission. Do not reveal their names, dates or locations.
8. Keep "family secrets." Not everyone wants information about a court record or illegitimate birth posted on the Internet or written in books. The family historian “records” family secrets as facts but does not “publish” them.
9. Protect original documents. Handle documents with care and return them to their rightful storage locations.
10. Be prepared to reimburse others for reasonable expenses incurred on your behalf. If someone travels to a records repository and makes photocopies for you, offer to reimburse the expenses.
The above "commandments" apply to online data as well as to printed information. Following them will increase the value of your work and make it valuable to others.
Footnote #1: A primary record is one created at or immediately after the occurrence of the event cited. The record was created by someone who had person knowledge of the event. Examples include marriage records created by the minister, census records, death certificates created within days after the death, etc. 19th Century and earlier source records will be in the handwriting of the person who recorded the event, such as the minister, town clerk or census taker.
Footnote #2: A secondary record is one made years after the original event, usually by someone who was not at the original event and did not have personal knowledge of the participants. Most published genealogy books are secondary sources; the author is writing about events that occurred many years before he/she wrote the book. Transcribed records are always secondary sources. They may contain errors created inadvertently by the transcriber. Most online databases are transcribed/secondary sources.
HEADLINE FROM '33 RINGS TRUE TODAY ~ ANCESTORS DEALTH WITH DISASTERS TOO!
Week of September 29~October 5, 2011
N. C. COUNTS 15 DEAD IN HURRICANE.
SUFFERING IS WIDESPREAD IN COASTAL TOWNS.
RED CROSS RUSHES AID WITH STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDS.
MANY SECTIONS STILL ISOLATED.
“…Twenty people, including several babies, were marooned in a tobacco barn near Oriental all Saturday night, MRS. O'BERRY [of Goldsboro, state director of relief] reported. Oriental is in Pamlico county. Water in the barn often reached a depth of several feet and mothers had to hold their babies over their heads to prevent them from drowning. From many sources came reports of harrowing experiences, of persons being marooned for almost 23 hours while high water almost took their homes away.” The Daily Times-News, September 18, 1933
Did grandma talk about a devastating hurricane or tornado she experienced? Was grandpa killed in a tragic accident? If so,
http://www.gendisasters.com/ is a site you should visit!
While it’s hoped that your ancestors never endured hardships and suffering from fires, explosions, floods, mine accidents and other disasters, GenDisasters is there to help you find the ancestors who did. From cave-ins to hurricanes and horse/buggy accidents to train wrecks, you’ll find peculiar facts and extraordinary pictures of events that touched our ancestors’ lives.
- You can browse the site by accidents and disasters, by U.S. states or Canadian territories and by year. The database is also searchable by surname.
- If you’d like more information on a disaster or are looking for an individual who was injured or killed in a disaster, there is a message board where you can post inquiries.
- You can tell site administers what you’d like to see on the site.
- You can add your own disaster story; if you have pictures and information about a tragedy, you’ll be able to submit and share it with the rest of the world.
How can this database aid family historians? GenDisasters is compiling vital information on the historic disasters and tragic accidents our ancestors endured, as well as information about their life and death. This searchable database contains user-submitted transcriptions of newspaper articles about these historic events.
Is the site use-friendly? Yes. The site can be easily explored by using the navigation bar located on the left-hand side of the home page. It also has a sidebar containing featured articles.
How accurate is the information? As with all family history research, information should be independently verified. Though information contained on this site is sometimes difficult to read emotionally, GenDisasters is an incredible site … one of my favorite sources for historical information.
How much does it cost? This is a FREE website!
EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT COUNTY BOUNDARIES ~ AND THEN SOME
Week of October 13~19, 2011
Genealogists know the importance of county governments for maintaining various types of records that are useful for research. But how often have you tried searching for an ancestor's historical records in a given county, only to realize that you were searching in the right place but the wrong county? In fact, according to the director of the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries Project at Chicago’s Newberry Library, "the average number of boundary changes per county is 4.5”. This means there's a very good chance that you are sometimes looking in the wrong county for some of your genealogical records.
The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
[1] is a powerful historical research and reference. The Atlas presents in maps and text, complete data about the creation and all subsequent changes (dated to the day) in the size, shape and location of every county in the U.S. It also includes non-county areas, unsuccessful authorizations for new counties, changes in county names and organization and the temporary attachments of non-county areas and unorganized counties to fully functioning counties. The principal sources for this data are the most authoritative available: the session laws of the colonies, territories and states that created and changed the counties.
Using information from the project, Randy Majors created an easy-to-use online Historical County Boundary Maps tool based on Google Maps. You can type in any present-day place in the U.S. with any historical year to see the map of county boundaries in effect at that time, along with all of the current Google Maps places, roads, etc. to put the historical map in a familiar context. You can then click any county on the map to see the specific history of the boundary changes and type in different years to see the boundary changes over time. Here's how to do it:
1. Go to
http://randymajors.com/p/maps.html and type a PRESENT-day place and a HISTORICAL year. You can also type a present day address or road name. (Depending on the date of state formation, the year can be from the mid-1600s.) This won’t account for addresses or road names that have changed. If you suspect that, start with the right present-day town or city name.
2. Click on "Go!"
[2]
3. Once you see county boundaries, click inside any county to see its name and details. A pop-up window will list the county name and when its boundaries went into effect as of the date you selected. Type a year prior to that date to see the previous boundaries. Currently, county boundaries must be viewed one state at a time.
NOTES:
[1] To access interactive maps and other historical data at the Newberry Library site, go to
http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/project.html.
[2] Occasionally, county lines may take up to 10 seconds to appear; if the county lines never appear, try refreshing the page and try your search again. As with any new and innovative technology, don't be surprised if things occasionally don't function as expected.
SECRET HANDSHAKES, INSIGNIAS OFFER INSIGHTS ABOUT OUR ANCESTORS
Week of September 10~16, 2011
Many of our ancestors joined fraternal orders or societies—associations of people bound together for common purposes. They were called friendly societies in Great Britain and, while many were based on the Freemasons, they would develop for different reasons. Broadly, there are about seven types of these organizations: Social, Benevolent & Service, Ethnic, Trade, Religious & Mystical, Political and Criminal.
The more-modern groups evolved out of ancient roman “burial clubs,” associations that offered members the equivalent of life insurance: they collected dues at regular meetings to pay for members’ funeral costs. A large number of these organizations are still in existence today.
LESSON 28: PRACTICE THE SECRET HANDSHAKE
Our ancestors took pride in belonging to fraternal societies and weren’t shy about showing off their membership. Look for the following clues: Jewelry or stationery with a group insignia, pictures taken in full fraternal regalia for cartes de visite (photographic calling cards which were given to friends and associates), funeral notices and insignias engraved on their tombstones or on flag holders placed in the ground nearby.
If you haven’t found any of those clues, you still can investigate fraternal organizations that might have appealed to your ancestors. Start by writing down everything you know about great-grandpa’s religion, occupation and ethnic heritage. Then research which organizations were active where he lived.
Finding biographical data in the records of any fraternal group requires a certain amount of tenacity and will not add generations to your family tree. Essentially, you’ll learn details that illustrate your ancestor’s personality. Keep in mind that these are private records that often aren’t accessible to genealogists. Many of these groups will respond to inquiries, but it’s usually necessary to contact them via snail mail. Some charge hefty fees for a search in their files and others don’t have staff to handle queries. If you write, remember to include a No. 10, self-addressed stamped envelope and always offer to pay for the research service.
Perfect practice makes perfect: Learn to recognize fraternal insignias and you’ll have an easier time placing your ancestor in a particular society. Excellent resources include:
IF YOUR ANCESTOR IS THE ILLEGITIMATE OFFSPRING OF BRITISH ROYALTY, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
Week of December 22-28, 2911
If you caught the genealogy bug because you thought you descended from a Revolutionary War patriot or a Mayflower passenger, you’re not alone. But if you can prove direct descent from the right ancestor, a lineage society might want you as a member. While belonging to one is an honor in itself, membership has other privileges. For example, it connects you with family historians who have similar research interests and allows you access to the organization’s library and other resources.
Just thinking you qualify for membership doesn’t count, though—to qualify for most societies, you’ll need to trace your direct line back to an ancestor who meets a specific criterion for membership. Depending on the society, it might be serving in the Revolutionary War, signing the Declaration of Independence, fighting for the Confederacy, serving with Washington at Valley Forge or running a hostelry before July 4, 1776.
LESSON 29: PROVE THE LINE
Here’s a sampling of what you can shoot for, depending on who’s in your family tree. A comprehensive list of societies and groups can be found at
http://cyndislist.com/societies/lineage:
War Societies out-number all other types. To qualify for membership, you must descend from someone who served in a specific war, either as a soldier or in some other accepted capacity. Search: Hereditary Order of the Descendants of the Loyalists and Patriots of the American Revolution, General Society of the War of 1812, Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil war 1861-1865, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and, the oldest American war society, the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts.
Old World Societies require members to trace their lineage back to nobility or royalty. Search: Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America and National Society Magna Charta Dames and Barons. (If you’re worried about descent out of wedlock, there’s even a society for the Illegitimate Sons and Daughters of the Kings of Britain!)
Colonial Societies require members to trace their lineage to someone who lived in one of the Colonies before a specified date. Search: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Society of the Ark and the Dove Associated , National Society of the Colonial Dames of America and Daughters of Early American Witches.
Early-Settler Societies require that you have an ancestor who lived in an area before statehood. With the exception of the National Society of New England Women, most are state-specific. Search: Cyndi’s List.
Religious & Ethnic Societies require that you descend from a specific cultural group. In some, you’ll need to trace your lineage back to a set time period. Only a handful of them exist, and most are related to Huguenot ancestry. Search: National Huguenot Society.
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect: In order to join a lineage society, you’ll need to thoroughly document your lineage back to the qualifying ancestor. Acceptable proof includes: vital records, censuses, wills, probate or land records, tax lists, family bibles and letters.
