C is also for Courage

When you start out on your great tree-building adventure, consider that you are doing the H.G. Wells thing in your mind.  You are really doing time travel, through what you find in documents, plus your historically informed imagination, and… you really don’t know what you will find.

Everyone goes back to Charlemagne -- right??

Everyone has royalty - right??

Or, heading the other direction … many researchers are hoping to find their own small flock of black sheep -- the witch, the pirate, the thief -- right??

Last Christmas a friend of mine gave her mother membership in a very unique lineage society, "The Descendants of the Illegitimate Sons and Daughters of the Kings of Britain" aka the "Royal Bastards."   Solid research, and totally delightful -- at this remove.

They are still looking for a witch in the lineage.  They have come up with some Salem residents, but so far, no witch connection. 

So far in my own research, no Royal Bastards, but then, I'm still headed toward the pond crossing on most of my lines.

But I have found the names/voices of two stillborn cousins of my mother.  For her entire life, she believed the family had one child; she didn't know about these births.  It's nice to have that entire nuclear family tracked. 

Even tracking names can get interesting.  My mother didn't know the first name of this cousin's grandmother, a woman who was at every joint family celebration for years.   "We called her Grandma."   Her name was Malwina….  Again, lovely to fill in the space on the tree. 

No great amount of courage required here, but family situations get strange and twisty, and the genealogist is called upon to research rigorously and report truthfully.  One does not prune the family tree, for either kindness or timidity on the part of the researcher or the client. 

You want to know your ancestors?

Ancient Chinese proverb: "Be careful what you wish for."

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2018 begins with an "ABC-darium," a walk through the alphabet expanding into short comments on matters genealogical.  Published on Tuesday and some Fridays, a letter may be visited more than once before moving on. 

© 2018, SE Ross

C is for Census (United States)

 Go Census !!! Go FamilySearch.org!!!  Go Ancestry.com!!!

Digitizing the US Federal Census put Ancestry.com on the map those many years ago. 

Wonder if there should there be a club of people who used microfilms for census research -- MCRers… ?

Ok, basic census facts.  The US Federal Census was taken every 10 years on the even 10 years from 1790 to the latest taken in 2010.  The next will be taken in 2020.  The most recent census that can be examined by genealogists (and anyone else) is the 1940 census.  Each enumeration (again, great word) is held private by the government for 72 years before being released/published. 

72 was an arbitrary number at the time, with the presumption that after 72 years, few people enumerated would still be alive.  Surprise, surprise when in 2012 the 1940 census was released, and a fairly large crowd could go "look, it's me." The 1940 census was also notable because rather than being indexed by a firm with paid folk, it was crowd indexed, and done in months.  Amazing.

For anyone looking for ancestors who lived in the US, it is the second stop.  (First is house documents; natch.)  Questions asked in each census differ, but the basic format is the same -- a heading detailing census year and geographic boundaries of this piece of the whole, and also the name of the person who was the census taker. Rows and columns below include names, ages, assets, occupation, schooling, and on and on. 

If you have an ancestor who ever lived in the US, the basic assumption is that you, the researcher, will work very hard and search very creatively to find every ancestor on every census within their lifespan and residence in the US.  Often comparing different census years tells chapters in a  story.  Gent moves from electrician to manager to owner of business through the course of 30 years. 

And even if an ancestor was only in the US for a short time, friends and relatives could have been in the US longer, and….

The census is such a big topic.  Watch for Census Friday during the next months ….

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2018 begins with an "ABC-darium," a walk through the alphabet expanding into short comments on matters genealogical.  Published on Tuesday and some Fridays, a letter may be visited more than once before moving on.  

Copyright 2018, SERoss

B is for Begat

"And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Napthtuhim, {1:12} And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (of whom came the Philistines,) and Caphthorim. {1:13} And Canaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth, …." (1 Corinthians 1:8)

Straight out of the King James Bible,  this book of "begats" names those born, but the "begat" construct does more.  It records not only who was born, but also who these people were born TO.   The book of Chronicles, often smilingly referred to as "the book of begats," spends many of its pages chronicling  the lines.  BC/BCE genealogy.  

As a 21st century genealogist, I adore the word "begat" and the world view that it carries in its definition.  While the letter 'b' in a genealogical context has a knee-jerk expansion into "birth," that word refers to only one person at a time.  Begat speaks to a family relationship.  Parent, child and grandchild have 3 birth dates, but two begats, which form a tree.  And what is the pedigree tree about?  Building the begats backward.  A totally green genealogist (no pun intended) quickly learns that genealogy is all about family relationships, both vertical (parent/child) and horizontal (sibs).

Current birth certificates do include more than a birth date, thankfully, and include info on connections both vertical and horizontal.  Parents of the new child are named, with various personal identifiers depending on place and time, and most certificates record how many sibs this new child has - living or dead.    Tombstones, in contrast, tell births, and only rarely include begats.  Historically, often more of a challenge.

To finish this off in a Biblical fashion,  my dad said (in regard to sermons) that one often did not need to learn new things as much as one needed to be reminded. 

Hence, "Go forth, and build your begats!"

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2018 begins with an "ABC-darium," a walk through the alphabet expanding into short comments on matters genealogical.  Published on Tuesday and some Fridays, a letter may be visited more than once before moving on.  

Copyright 2018, SERoss

A is also for Ancestors - Living

We are genealogists.  We collect ancestors -- and hopefully we collect them responsibly.

We start with ourselves and our parents, grandparents, sibs, spouses, cousins and children of all.

Most of these people are living, which, in today's world means that they, and their information, require special attention and consideration.  For me, and those I speak with, the translation is that in the current climate of identity theft, and all else, that you, the conscientious genealogist, must take great care that you do not open the door and roll out the red carpet of private information. 

Have a quick look at the Ancestry online trees.  The "good ones" do not specify gender on the un-named silhouettes.  The "better ones" do not even indicate how many offspring there are in the generations which could be living.

I certainly do recommend collecting as much information as possible from and about the people who are living.  They will have the documents that otherwise you may have to wait 50-100 years to get from public sources. They will have the pictures of themselves and family growing, celebrating.  They know "the really good stories."  … and you take all this lovely information and put it away --

Enjoy the week --

It's a wonderful new year.

?? Questions ??? Give a write.
...2018...ABC-darium
(apologies for the Wednesday post of Tuesday blog... technology & MY COMPUTER still offering "learning opportunities")

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2018 begins with an "ABC-darium," a walk through the alphabet expanding into short comments on matters genealogical.  Published on Tuesday and some Fridays, a letter may be visited more than once before moving on.  

Copyright 2018, SERoss

A is for Assumptions

Fish don't realize they are in water.  We walk around in our own water, prisoners, if you will, of electricity, indoor plumbing, cars, computers, synthetic fibers in clothing, progressive lenses,  frozen food, etc., etc.    A favorite science-fiction book of mine postulates that if you could break all the threads that hold you to the 20th century, you could literally walk around the corner and enter a different time. 

Time to encourage the childlike, not childish, but childlike.  Time to dream, time to wonder, time to consider ala the world of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, who had her house built upside down so the ceiling fixtures could be campfires.  Very strange to her neighbors, but not to the children who came to visit her.  Or consider the world of "Imogene's Antlers" (where a young girl wakes with antlers, and she spends the day figuring out how they could be useful!).  Time to consider that a pencil is also an eraser with a handle.  I know, I've used that one before, but so much of genealogy is turning off our contemporary surround to 1) see the information as coming from a world with different basic construct, and 2) to rotate the specifics of the information around to see it in a different way and sometimes, at 'just that angle' it connects and joins pieces that have been floating for years. 

So ….

Consider… as genealogists, whether we realize it or not, we are time travelers.  We do much of our work in the 19th century and before.  Where we travel, names are not stable in their spelling, adults may be illiterate, information is kept orally, people do move, and on and on.  We enter a world where most is done by natural light, where labor is cheap and goods expensive, where walking long distances is normal, and most telling of all, where the parameters that surround how life is conducted are different…  not better or worse, but different.

Not possible in January, but for the spring/summer, think of taking a trip to a historical reenactment - visit the civil war or farm harvesting  -- or going somewhere where you can walk through a gate into another time -- Plymouth Plantation, Mass, and Conner Prairie, Indiana are two that I have visited.  The residents (aka staff) are well schooled in their time and their attitudes.  In Plymouth, one wife was sure that the rose infused oil rubbed into her husband's temples cured his headaches;  when questioned she was quite sure it was the oil and not the rubbing.  In Conner Prairie, a traveler was thankful that she had paid extra for a private room because otherwise she would have had to share a room with the traveling players, "and we all know what kind of people they are." 

This is longer than the ones following…. Neither of us has this much time.. !!!

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2018 begins with an "ABC-darium," a walk through the alphabet expanding into short comments on matters genealogical.  Published on Tuesday and some Fridays, a letter may be visited more than once before moving on.  

Copyright 2018, SERoss

ABC-darium -- Happy New Year --

Ok friends and neighbors.  It's January 2nd, and everyone has made resolutions -

The genealogical world is in on this also.  Head out of your cave into the gen world to see Amy Crowe Johnson, 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks; Thomas McEntee - Genealogy do-over -- and Liz Ross - ABC-darium.

I do recommend looking at both of these (and perhaps there are others out there), and/but I also very much hope that you have a read of my offerings through these next months.

My take on this … new adventures for the new year… is using the alphabet to loosely walk through items "good to pay attention to" when doing genealogy, a bit about various databases, and a bit about organization and a lot about thinking and assembling a picture from the many pieces.

May all your genealogy puzzles be solved (or substantially advanced) in 2018.  I'm pumped.

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2018 begins with an "ABC-darium," a walk through the alphabet expanding into short comments on matters genealogical.  Published on Tuesday and some Fridays, a letter may be visited more than once before moving on.  

Copyright 2018, SERoss

...BASICS... move from the known to the unknown

This statement sounds SO self-evident, like.... the sun comes up in the morning, in the east.

However,... part of the issue is the genealogical definition of "known."  For this genealogist, "known" equals solid evidence of the particulars of a person, from careful examination of documents and analysis and ...

My father knew that his gggreat, Patrick Ross, was killed during the Civil War (Union), and he wanted to find the parents of Patrick.  Off to the National Archives in DC (close by since he lived in northern Virginia) to have a look at Patrick's compiled service record, and, as it happened, his wife's widow's pension. 

By that time, I had attended a number of genealogy seminars, and had a basic working knowledge of how this world worked, and we made a day of it. 

Dad, a lovely and intelligent man, who spent his working life analyzing complex cross-cultural questions, was totally disappointed in the information offered by the thick pension file.  As he read each page, he would shake his head saying, "It doesn't say who his parents are."  I heard this at the end of almost every page, and when it wasn't said, the head would shake, saying the same thing without words.  I however, was totally delighted with the pension record.  As said, it was huge, with pages and pages of depositions by everyone in the area.  I "met" the people in the neighborhood (think FAN club), and got the married names of the daughters, and one deposition was even given by James Shirley, who said he was married to one of the daughters.  Pay dirt on any number of points -- at least as I was concerned.

Fast forward about 30 years, add unnumbered hours of research, and I have a working hypothesis about Patrick Ross' father. Is it proved?  Not yet.

But the joy is in the search.... right??
and stay tuned... Patrick et familie may make an appearance from time to time  (GRIN)

... So you want to "do Genealogy"...

Genealogists – or “so you want to “do Genealogy”

What would you need to pack for your first few road trips into the world of Genealogy?

What would you need for this journey into this new place?

Part One:

A Working Car.  You will be traveling - locally, and more.  Libraries, meetings, archives, etc., etc..  Nuff said. 

 

Part Two:

>>  Computer skills.  Yes, lots is off-line and will forever be off-line, but computer is the gateway to information about societies (most now publish their newsletter electronically), about conferences, and the starting place for most inquiries, the databases held by Ancestry and FamilySearch. 

>> Organization skills.  Information will be coming into your net through many portals, electronic, paper, lecture notes, webinars, books (!), electronic books, web pages, etc., etc.   You must  have a way of remembering what you have seen, learned, done, or I promise you, you will re-do it, possibly more than once (been there done that, hope to do it less and less.)

>> Good family social skills.  It doesn’t matter if Aunt Gladys hasn’t talked to anyone in the family for years. If Aunt Gladys is holding the letters written during WW1 by great uncle Simon to Glady’s mother, you want to see them, read them, and take photographs of them. 

>> Good advertising skills.  Everyone, and I do mean everyone, in the extended family should know that you are “doing genealogy” and that the very best present they could give you is copies of all the family documents that they hold, and, if they feel flush, a DNA test.  Ditto for family photos.   My grandmother died young, had the bottom desk drawer full of photos, and the cousin who cleared the house (rapidly) tossed everything.  The result?  I do a huge happy dance when I find a photo in a school yearbook or newspaper.  “don’t let this be you”

>> Good archival skills.  You will spend hundreds of hours (or more), and hundreds of dollars (or more) amassing information about your family.   Even as you begin, it is not too early to look for someone within the family, or your community, who will inherit your work.  Even if they are not “doing genealogy” they are willing and able to be custodian of this opus, and will safeguard it, and as the family grows, look for another who is doing genealogy on this family.

         AND... you will make it much easier for someone to enjoy keeping your work when it is arranged and accessible, rather than 17 boxes of mixed paper and documents and photos.  (..yes??...)

 

Well,  bon voyage, and happy trails....

A.B.C. darium --- E is for the easy button? No deal...

E is for the easy button.  We have come to an ‘easy button’ orientation.  All those services where you summon a genie to do your bidding with a phone call or a click: peapod, bed-in-a-box, personal shopper, kindle books, grub hub (and similar), and the ENTIRE internet shopping gig, and now even removal companies “point at it and it’s gone.” 

By comparison, genealogy is in the dark ages.  To be sure, Ancestry and Family Search have digitized not only the information, but the images of many of the ‘usual suspects’ (ie. first places to look), starting with the Federal census and WW1 & 2 draft registration cards.  These databases add more records weekly, if not daily.  One can sit in one’s jammies, or deal with insomnia, by surfing for hours on internet, genealogy and other sites, and come up with some interesting stuff for one’s tree, but….

            You will  end up going off-line, off-computer, and unless your family has lived since their arrival in the US in the same city in which you reside, you will  end up taking road trips to see cemeteries, churches (those things that don’t move), and to do research in those libraries (local treasures) and courthouses (or spend lots for photocopies, and perhaps not “get it all.”)

I remember one speaker who said, “If genealogy were easy, there would be no genealogists, and everyone would have their trees back to Adam.”  (glad to credit you, but I truly don’t remember where or when.

Genealogy is invigorating, exciting, rewarding, fulfilling, useful, wonderful, but it is rarely easy.  More often it is challenging, frustrating, annoying as the pieces that you have about a family don’t mesh into a full picture or a road to take you forward. 

There is no EASY button, but there is lots of hope.

New Year's Challenge #5

Challenge #5

>> find 3 historical books (ie pre 1910) about your geographic area of interest: online, Newberry, inter-library loan (your back closet?)

check out Google books - free historical...

Why??  Don't remember where, but do remember reading the comment (which I have found true) that the past is a different country, and by reading books written in that different country, not just about that different country, one can start to catch the ethos of that time, and also that place.

Consider:
the wonder of the speed of train travel after horses
the ease of housekeeping when water was piped inside, or oil replaced candles, or gas replaced oil light
the difference when schooling became the responsibility of the local government
and on, and on, and on.

My grandfather was born into a world of horse power supplied by horses, 2x daily mail delivery, telegrams & milk brought to the door, refrigeration in true ice boxes.  By the end of his life there were computers, cars, cell phones and a man had walked on the moon.   Amazing --
          And, someone looking at our lives in 100 years may say the same of us.

Cheers
Liz

ps - you are now at the end of January !! -- February is the month of many celebrations... stay tuned

New Year's Challenge #4

 Challenge #4

>> index (& put into sleeves) all ‘original’ & valuable documents.  *** if the document cost time and money, and would be difficult to replace, it is valuable.

              (Extra credit: transcribe/abstract each document and put that info into an excel spread sheet.)

 

(and this is the time when you might want to consider how you are going to keep track of all the info that you have -- by number or by name or....  There are as many ways of organizing as there are people, and/but some ways have historically worked better than others; dictionaries and encyclopedias and donor lists all work on alphabetical order...)

 

New Year's Challenge #3

Challenge #3

>> find one ancestor on every census s/he was alive for.  (remember no 1890 census), and transcribe everyone in the family on each census. 

              (bonus points for filling in the 10 years inbetween: ie. city directories, birth of kids, draft reg)

 remember that transcribing means all the info that's on the census... age... occupation... etc.

(and what is really interesting is comparing the information from census to census!!)


"extra credit"
take the parent of the ancestor you chose, and take that person back to 1850...

 

New Year's Challenge #2

Challenge #2

look at one new data base (online) that is not Ancestry:  newspapers, PERSI, Fold 3 (military & city directories a specialty)

Chicago folk have access to Chicago Trib Historical through their Chg public library card.  Suburban libraries that co-operate/courtesy card to Chg Public give many more access -- and that's from home!

PERSI is the indexing tool for genealogical periodicals.  The genius people at  Allen County Library, Fort Wayne, Ind thought this up, and maintain the list, which is available online through Heritage Quest (limited), or Find My Past (total), a finding aide which  is available through many libraries.

(yes, gen club folk... Forest Park Library has some of PERSI through Heritage Quest, which you can see at home!!)

What this resource offers is access to the items written, over many years by many people (and yes, of differing abilities) on so many many subjects for the periodicals, monthly newsletters, quarterlies, yearly journals.

So..should you be researching blacksmiths in Pennsylvania in the 1850's, you can see if anyone wrote an article about this.

NOTE: PERSI doesn't carry the article, but Allen County Library has the periodical!  Road trip for many; for few, talk to your friendly local library's reference librarian. 


Grow, learn, be brilliant !!

 

 

New Year 2017 -- Intro to the year & challenge #1

UPDATE: It's the first of January -- and unusually warm for Chicago.  Got to see the Apple drop in New York, and the Star go up in Chicago, and fireworks both places.

The new years challenge is posted, I hope.  Still working on some of the technical issues.

Challenge still holds --


ORIGINAL:   It's mid-December, and the weather is absurd.  Time to find a warm spot, cocoa or coffee, put on the fuzzy slippers, and hit the New Year's resolutions a bit early to learn a bit more about our favorite passion, genealogy.

 

For those of this mind, here is a New Year's Challenge! 

 

There are 5 challenges (so far); one will be posted (planned) each week on Monday.   Each project may be fast or slow, and with the extra credit should well occupy the remaining weeks till the first genealogy Saturday.

 

If you are local to Chicago area, join in the fun during the 2nd Saturday Genealogy meeting at the Forest Park Library.  The administration has changed, and what months will have meetings is still under discussion.  (Library is at Jackson & DesPlaines, Forest Park, IL) 

 

CHALLENGE #1:

** do 2 “learning” things: read a book, view a webinar, attend a conference, go to a gen club lecture

 

there is a world of info to be had, and much of it free or for small cost.  I know genealogists are frugal; use that to your advantage and do a little searching on line.  

 

• google "genealogy webinars free" and see what pops
• google "genealogy conference or seminar [your city]" and see what pops
• google "genealogy groups [your city]" and see what pops

or fall back to hitting the library for books.  Paper does still work...!!

 

Have fun and grow during !!

Merry Christmas - Celebrate Chicago

Before the Field's windows (now only a memory --- long sigh....), there was another (!) BIG department store.  And of course, they celebrated themselves !!!  Copyright 1911, so all ok - enjoy reading.

Stay tuned to the blog for comments through the season, and keep watch in your email for news into the New Year.

Enjoy... !!
Liz.