Here is the genealogy news of interest to me since late November. I've separated them into categories below.
1. GENEALOGY WEB SITES
* MyHeritage Research, the genealogy search engine on www.MyHeritage.com, has been significantly upgraded. This genealogy tool specializes in finding ancestors and advancing your family research. There is nothing else quite like it on the Internet. It is free and you're invited to use it on this link: http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/myheritage-research.php. You can search over 1,000 databases (some commercial) with this search engine.
2. NEW GENEALOGY DATABASES
a) at www.Ancestry.com - now available for FREE at San Diego FHC.
* New Jersey Will/Inventory Indexes, Volumes I - III
* Many historical newspapers - Bennington VT, Florence SC, El Paso TX, Yuma AZ, Flagstaff AZ, Ruston LA, San Antonio TX, Newport RI, Honolulu HI, Pinedale WY, Kingsport TN, Oil City PA, Albuquerque NM, Uniontown PA, Winnipeg Manitoba, Brandon Manitoba, Lethbridge Alberta.
* Early Boston MA births, Marriages, Deaths
* Books on Atlantic Canada provincial history
* Early New York state vital record books
b) Www.WorldVitalRecords.com - now available for FREE at the San Diego FHC. New items FREE at WVR for 10 days.
* Many (hundreds) of out-of-copyright books - W to Z surnames in December.
c) www.Footnote.com - now available for FREE at San Diego FHC. Information added:
* Thousands of US Air Force photos in the digital World War II collection. This release coincides with the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing, and contains tens of thousands of original World War II photos and documents from the National Archives. Among this collection are missing air crew reports, documents from allied military conferences and photos of Japanese air targets.
d) LDS FamilySearch Record Search site has more databases at http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/
* Freedman's Bureau, Virginia Marriages, ca 1815-1866 -- images and index for 5 Virginia counties
* Georgia Deaths, 1914-1927 -- images and every-name index complete
* Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953 -- images and every-name index complete
* Ontario Deaths, 1869-1947 -- every-name index and database, no images.
* Texas Death Index, 1964-1998 -- every-name index and database, no images
* US Social Security Death Index -- every-name index and database, no images * Utah Death Certificates, 1904-1956 -- every name index and images complete.
3. GENEALOGY SOFTWARE
* FamilyTreeMaker 2008 Service Pack 2 is now available - see the announcement at http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2007/11/28/service-pack-2-rev-2/. This service pack adds many reports, including Genealogy Register Report, Genealogy Ahnentafel Report, Hourglass Chart, Vertical Ancestor Chart, Updates to all reports to better display facts and notes, Updates to exporting of reports to RTF and HTML. It also added many fixes to reported problems.
4. GENEALOGY EDUCATION
* The New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston has a number of relatively short online seminars for members to benefit at a distance from the expertise of the NEHGS staff. The seminars currently offered at http://www.newenglandancestors.org/education/main/online_lectures.asp. These seminars are FREE to all.
5. ANNOUNCEMENTS
* The Generations Network and www.ancestry.com announced that they will convert their "Online Family Tree system" to Ancestry Member Tree format. This apparently is the Ancestry World Tree GEDCOMs. Submitters are urged to convert their trees to Ancestry Member Trees before March 2008. See http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2007/12/19/online-family-tree-announcement/ for more information.
* www.Ancestry.com will be available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and at 13 large Family History Centers, including San Diego. The story is at http://tgn.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=116. There is no indication which version of Ancestry will be available.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Dear Genea-Man: What is "proof?"
Dear Genea-Man,
For "proof," must I have a birth, death or marriage certificate or is something else considered "proof", i.e. Census info? Are birth, death or marriage certificates the only way to resolve conflicting information?
Dear Colleague,
Your question about "proof" is the hardest one to answer definitively in all of genealogy research - "how much and what kind of evidence is enough?" And then you asked the next hardest question - "how do I resolve conflicts in information?"
For some organizations such as lineage societies, you must submit "proof" in the form of birth, marriage and death certificates, wills, deeds, Bible records, naturalization records, military records, etc. If you cannot adequately document the relationships to their standards, then you haven't proved your claimed line.
For all of your research problems (especially when there are sparse or no vital records available), you need to collect every scrap of evidence that you can from every place that holds them, and then you weigh that evidence and draw conclusions. If there are vital records available, you should still try to gather all evidence you can, because one or more items in a record may be wrong (e.g., a birth, death or marriage certificate is only as good as the knowledge and communication skills of the person providing the information, and the ability of the clerk to accurately record the information - the clerk is not an omniscient person).
The Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) is described in some detail on the Board of Certified Genealogists (BCG) web site at http://www.bcgcertification.org/resources/standard.html and in lots of detail in the book BCG Genealogical Standards Manual (see http://www.bcgcertification.org/catalog/stdmanual.html.)
There are examples of sample work products from successful certification portfolios and published articles at http://www.bcgcertification.org/skillbuilders/worksamples.html. Look at the Proof Argument articles and the Research Report examples.
Original source records are better than derivative source records, Primary information is better than secondary information, direct evidence is better than indirect evidence. However, many relationships have been proved by indirect evidence obtained from secondary information in derivative sources, as long as the Genealogical Proof Standard has been applied to the evaluation. The key is the exhaustive search for records and then resolving any conflicts in evidence.
You can learn a lot by reading what other researchers have done. There are case studies in each issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) (http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/) and New England Historical and Genealogical Register (NEHGR) (http://www.newenglandancestors.org/) journals (among others). Many libraries, including Chula Vista's, has many years of these on the shelf, but they cannot be borrowed. There are also many articles on these subjects online at Ancestry - go to http://www.ancestry.com/learn/ (it's free) and input search words like "proof evidence sources" and you will get many hits. I input "conflicting" into the search box and found these articles (out of 423 matches):
* "Evaluating Evidence" by Patricia Law Hatcher at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=5889
* "Corroborating or Conflicting Evidence" by Patricia Law Hatcher at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=7454
* "Corroborating or Conflicting Evidence - Part 2" by Patricia Law Hatcher at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=7506
* "When It Just Doesn't Add Up" by Juliana Smith at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=2279
* "Using Clues: The Pros and Cons of Secondary Information" by Juliana Smith at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=7066
* "Weighing the Evidence" by George G. Morgan at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=911
* "Building a Case When No Record 'Proves' A Point" by Elizabeth Shown Mills at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=803
There are many other articles by respected and professional genealogists in this Ancestry article archive.
There are also general and specific books about Records, Information, Sources, Evidence, Proof, etc. - you can buy them at the Ancestry Store (http://store.ancestry.com/), Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/) or the specific book publisher web sites.Stephen Danko had an excellent series of articles in August 2006 discussing these issues, with examples of his critical evaluation of the evidence, on his blog - see
* A Preponderance of Evidence
* The Genealogical Proof Standard
* Complete, Accurate Citations
* Original Sources, Derivative Sources, Exact Images, and Original Records
* New Definitions of Original Source and Derivative Source (A Proposal)
* Primary and Secondary Information
* Evaluating the Quality of Aunt Mary's Records
I am convinced that many genealogy research problems can be solved by applying the GPS - doing the exhaustive record search, critically evaluating all evidence, resolving conflicts and arriving at a reasoned conclusion. The challenge for each of us is doing it with limited knowledge, time and resources.
For "proof," must I have a birth, death or marriage certificate or is something else considered "proof", i.e. Census info? Are birth, death or marriage certificates the only way to resolve conflicting information?
Dear Colleague,
Your question about "proof" is the hardest one to answer definitively in all of genealogy research - "how much and what kind of evidence is enough?" And then you asked the next hardest question - "how do I resolve conflicts in information?"
For some organizations such as lineage societies, you must submit "proof" in the form of birth, marriage and death certificates, wills, deeds, Bible records, naturalization records, military records, etc. If you cannot adequately document the relationships to their standards, then you haven't proved your claimed line.
For all of your research problems (especially when there are sparse or no vital records available), you need to collect every scrap of evidence that you can from every place that holds them, and then you weigh that evidence and draw conclusions. If there are vital records available, you should still try to gather all evidence you can, because one or more items in a record may be wrong (e.g., a birth, death or marriage certificate is only as good as the knowledge and communication skills of the person providing the information, and the ability of the clerk to accurately record the information - the clerk is not an omniscient person).
The Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) is described in some detail on the Board of Certified Genealogists (BCG) web site at http://www.bcgcertification.org/resources/standard.html and in lots of detail in the book BCG Genealogical Standards Manual (see http://www.bcgcertification.org/catalog/stdmanual.html.)
There are examples of sample work products from successful certification portfolios and published articles at http://www.bcgcertification.org/skillbuilders/worksamples.html. Look at the Proof Argument articles and the Research Report examples.
Original source records are better than derivative source records, Primary information is better than secondary information, direct evidence is better than indirect evidence. However, many relationships have been proved by indirect evidence obtained from secondary information in derivative sources, as long as the Genealogical Proof Standard has been applied to the evaluation. The key is the exhaustive search for records and then resolving any conflicts in evidence.
You can learn a lot by reading what other researchers have done. There are case studies in each issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) (http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/) and New England Historical and Genealogical Register (NEHGR) (http://www.newenglandancestors.org/) journals (among others). Many libraries, including Chula Vista's, has many years of these on the shelf, but they cannot be borrowed. There are also many articles on these subjects online at Ancestry - go to http://www.ancestry.com/learn/ (it's free) and input search words like "proof evidence sources" and you will get many hits. I input "conflicting" into the search box and found these articles (out of 423 matches):
* "Evaluating Evidence" by Patricia Law Hatcher at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=5889
* "Corroborating or Conflicting Evidence" by Patricia Law Hatcher at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=7454
* "Corroborating or Conflicting Evidence - Part 2" by Patricia Law Hatcher at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=7506
* "When It Just Doesn't Add Up" by Juliana Smith at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=2279
* "Using Clues: The Pros and Cons of Secondary Information" by Juliana Smith at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=7066
* "Weighing the Evidence" by George G. Morgan at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=911
* "Building a Case When No Record 'Proves' A Point" by Elizabeth Shown Mills at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=803
There are many other articles by respected and professional genealogists in this Ancestry article archive.
There are also general and specific books about Records, Information, Sources, Evidence, Proof, etc. - you can buy them at the Ancestry Store (http://store.ancestry.com/), Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/) or the specific book publisher web sites.Stephen Danko had an excellent series of articles in August 2006 discussing these issues, with examples of his critical evaluation of the evidence, on his blog - see
* A Preponderance of Evidence
* The Genealogical Proof Standard
* Complete, Accurate Citations
* Original Sources, Derivative Sources, Exact Images, and Original Records
* New Definitions of Original Source and Derivative Source (A Proposal)
* Primary and Secondary Information
* Evaluating the Quality of Aunt Mary's Records
I am convinced that many genealogy research problems can be solved by applying the GPS - doing the exhaustive record search, critically evaluating all evidence, resolving conflicts and arriving at a reasoned conclusion. The challenge for each of us is doing it with limited knowledge, time and resources.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
NEHGS Online Seminars are free
The New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston has a number of relatively short online seminars for members to benefit at a distance from the expertise of the NEHGS staff.
The seminars currently offered at http://www.newenglandancestors.org/education/main/online_lectures.asp include:
* Finding Your Ancestors Online by D. Joshua Taylor
* Methods of Finding a Wife's Maiden Name by David Curtis Dearborn, FASG
* NEHGS Resources OnLine by Marie E. Daly
* Civil War Pension Research: Union Soldiers by David Allen Lambert
* Who Was Your Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother? by Julie Helen Otto
* Getting Started in Irish Genealogy Part 1 by Marie E. Daly
* Applying to Lineage Societies by Christopher Challender Child
* Genealogical Tips: Transcribing Gravestones by David Allen Lambert
* Getting Started in Genealogy - Part 1 by Marie E. Daly
* Getting Started in Genealogy - Part 2 by Marie E. Daly
* Getting Started in Genealogy - Part 3 by Marie E. Daly.
The presentations are done in FlashPlayer - you see the slide and hear the speaker - you can click on the next slide any time you want, or go back a slide or two to hear something again. These presentations are excellent, and are a great opportunity to learn about the topics presented by expert genealogists.
The seminars currently offered at http://www.newenglandancestors.org/education/main/online_lectures.asp include:
* Finding Your Ancestors Online by D. Joshua Taylor
* Methods of Finding a Wife's Maiden Name by David Curtis Dearborn, FASG
* NEHGS Resources OnLine by Marie E. Daly
* Civil War Pension Research: Union Soldiers by David Allen Lambert
* Who Was Your Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother? by Julie Helen Otto
* Getting Started in Irish Genealogy Part 1 by Marie E. Daly
* Applying to Lineage Societies by Christopher Challender Child
* Genealogical Tips: Transcribing Gravestones by David Allen Lambert
* Getting Started in Genealogy - Part 1 by Marie E. Daly
* Getting Started in Genealogy - Part 2 by Marie E. Daly
* Getting Started in Genealogy - Part 3 by Marie E. Daly.
The presentations are done in FlashPlayer - you see the slide and hear the speaker - you can click on the next slide any time you want, or go back a slide or two to hear something again. These presentations are excellent, and are a great opportunity to learn about the topics presented by expert genealogists.
LDS Record Search has more content
On the way home from the FHC yesterday, I thought to myself "I really need to check and see what the LDS FamilySearch Record Search has added recently."
So - here are the databases that I found at http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/ :
1) Census Records
* 1850 US Census Population Schedules - partial set of images for 33 states/territories, no index yet.
* 1850 US Census Mortality Schedules - partial set of images for 16 states/territories, no index yet.
* 1850 US Census Slave Schedules - partial set of images for 18 states/territories, no index yet.
* 1880 US Population Schedules - every-name index, but no images available, no family groups either.
* 1895 Argentina Census - every-name index, with images
* 1930 Mexico Census - partial set of images from 31 states, no index yet.
2) Migration
* New York Passenger Arrival Lists (New York), 1892-1924 -- every-name index, links to www.EllisIsland.org images.
3) Military
* World War II Draft Registration Cards (fourth draft, men born 1877-1897) -- partial set of images from 6 states, no index yet.
4) Land and Property
* Vermont Land Records, Early to 1900 -- partial set of images, by county and town, no index yet.
5) Court and Legal Records
* England, Cheshire, Register of Electors (1842-1900) -- every-name index and images complete.
* Freedman's Bank Records, 1866-1874 -- every-name index and images complete.
* Maryland, Cecil County Probate Estate Files, 1851-1940 -- every-name index and images complete.
6) Vital Records
* England, Diocese of Durham Bishops Transcripts, ca 1700-1900 -- images only, no index yet.
* Freedman's Bureau, Virginia Marriages, ca 1815-1866 -- images and index for 5 Virginia counties
* Georgia Deaths, 1914-1927 -- images and every-name index complete
* Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953 -- images and every-name index complete
* Ontario Deaths, 1869-1947 -- every-name index and database, no images.
* Texas Death Index, 1964-1998 -- every-name index and database, no images
* US Social Security Death Index -- every-name index and database, no images
* Utah Death Certificates, 1904-1956 -- every name index and images complete.
You will have to register, for free, to use the FamilySearch Record Search site, but it is well worth the effort.
The image viewer (when there are images) takes a little time to figure out - there is a "Zoom Bar" in the upper right hand corner, and you move around the image by using the "Magic Hand" to move the image up, down, right, left.
There are several new databases on that list that I haven't looked at yet - how about you?
So - here are the databases that I found at http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/ :
1) Census Records
* 1850 US Census Population Schedules - partial set of images for 33 states/territories, no index yet.
* 1850 US Census Mortality Schedules - partial set of images for 16 states/territories, no index yet.
* 1850 US Census Slave Schedules - partial set of images for 18 states/territories, no index yet.
* 1880 US Population Schedules - every-name index, but no images available, no family groups either.
* 1895 Argentina Census - every-name index, with images
* 1930 Mexico Census - partial set of images from 31 states, no index yet.
2) Migration
* New York Passenger Arrival Lists (New York), 1892-1924 -- every-name index, links to www.EllisIsland.org images.
3) Military
* World War II Draft Registration Cards (fourth draft, men born 1877-1897) -- partial set of images from 6 states, no index yet.
4) Land and Property
* Vermont Land Records, Early to 1900 -- partial set of images, by county and town, no index yet.
5) Court and Legal Records
* England, Cheshire, Register of Electors (1842-1900) -- every-name index and images complete.
* Freedman's Bank Records, 1866-1874 -- every-name index and images complete.
* Maryland, Cecil County Probate Estate Files, 1851-1940 -- every-name index and images complete.
6) Vital Records
* England, Diocese of Durham Bishops Transcripts, ca 1700-1900 -- images only, no index yet.
* Freedman's Bureau, Virginia Marriages, ca 1815-1866 -- images and index for 5 Virginia counties
* Georgia Deaths, 1914-1927 -- images and every-name index complete
* Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953 -- images and every-name index complete
* Ontario Deaths, 1869-1947 -- every-name index and database, no images.
* Texas Death Index, 1964-1998 -- every-name index and database, no images
* US Social Security Death Index -- every-name index and database, no images
* Utah Death Certificates, 1904-1956 -- every name index and images complete.
You will have to register, for free, to use the FamilySearch Record Search site, but it is well worth the effort.
The image viewer (when there are images) takes a little time to figure out - there is a "Zoom Bar" in the upper right hand corner, and you move around the image by using the "Magic Hand" to move the image up, down, right, left.
There are several new databases on that list that I haven't looked at yet - how about you?
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
CVGS Holiday Luncheon highlights
We had our annual Holiday Luncheon on Monday, 10 December at 11 AM at the Chula Vista South Branch Library. There were 31 in attendance. As they entered the room, they put the gifts on the table, put the Salvation Army donations on the floor, took their food items to the kitchen, were given a door prize ticket and bought opportunity drawing tickets for the gift exchange.
Randy Seaver started the meeting at 11:20, with a brief welcome, and he made sure everybody had tickets. He passed out the "Days and Times" survey (because the library killed all of our meeting days and times) to everybody and they filled them out.
Then it was time to eat, and everybody loaded up their plates with salad, ham, turkey, cranberry, potatoes, vegetables, rolls and everything else. There was more than enough food, and excellent variety.
At about 12:15, Randy resumed the meeting with a thank you to the kitchen staff and the cooks, then thanked everybody who has served on the Board this year.
The door prize drawings (a large St. Nicholas doll, a large stand-up angel, a reindeer basket of goodies, and three poinsettia plants) were held, and then it was time for the gift drawings - and that took quite some time even with no "stealing."
It was dessert time, and the choices were plentiful and excellent - pie, cake, cheesecake, cookies, fruit, etc.
Finally, we had the member sharing of their best finds, trips and stories for 2007. Ten people shared their stories - the spirit of genealogy research is alive and well in our society!
We then auctioned off the ham bone and the remaining turkey roll, and then adjourned just after 2 PM with many shouts of "Merry Christmas" and "Ho Ho Ho."
Thank you to Susi, Shirley, Virginia, and May for their hard work making the food service run smoothly, to Susi, Shirley, Nancy and Bernice for the door prize items, and to Nancy for managing the Salvation Army donations.
Randy Seaver started the meeting at 11:20, with a brief welcome, and he made sure everybody had tickets. He passed out the "Days and Times" survey (because the library killed all of our meeting days and times) to everybody and they filled them out.
Then it was time to eat, and everybody loaded up their plates with salad, ham, turkey, cranberry, potatoes, vegetables, rolls and everything else. There was more than enough food, and excellent variety.
At about 12:15, Randy resumed the meeting with a thank you to the kitchen staff and the cooks, then thanked everybody who has served on the Board this year.
The door prize drawings (a large St. Nicholas doll, a large stand-up angel, a reindeer basket of goodies, and three poinsettia plants) were held, and then it was time for the gift drawings - and that took quite some time even with no "stealing."
It was dessert time, and the choices were plentiful and excellent - pie, cake, cheesecake, cookies, fruit, etc.
Finally, we had the member sharing of their best finds, trips and stories for 2007. Ten people shared their stories - the spirit of genealogy research is alive and well in our society!
We then auctioned off the ham bone and the remaining turkey roll, and then adjourned just after 2 PM with many shouts of "Merry Christmas" and "Ho Ho Ho."
Thank you to Susi, Shirley, Virginia, and May for their hard work making the food service run smoothly, to Susi, Shirley, Nancy and Bernice for the door prize items, and to Nancy for managing the Salvation Army donations.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Were your Ancestors in the Poorhouse?
Each of us searching for "elusive ancestors" has to think "outside the box" in order to find the dates, places, siblings and parents of these "brick wall" ancestors. Resorting to "cluster genealogy" techniques, often found in books and the published journals and periodicals, may find some of them with their families in a variety of records.
Usually, however, there are unusual sources that may contain one or more clues to solve the puzzle. They are almost always located in the places where the "elusive ancestor" lived, and it can be a challenge to find them. They may be in genealogy society files, historical society files, a local library, a local business or church, a school or university, or in someone's private collection.
One excellent example of an online source that might unlock some secrets is a Poorhouse register. Linda Crannell has gathered a wealth of information on her web site - The Poorhouse Story - at http://www.poorhousestory.com/. Read her own story about looking for and finding her great-great-grandmother, Emma Warner Thorn Pinchin here. Linda has a Letter to Genealogists also, detailing what types of records might be in these records, including:
* Homeless Families (who may have been burned out or flooded out of their homes)
* Destitute Families (who, for a time, could not afford to buy food, clothing or fuel)
* Victims of Domestic Abuse
* Unwed Mothers
* Orphans
* Elderly People (who were frail or ill and had nobody to care for them)
* Seasonally Unemployed Workers (who often were single men needing housing for the winter)
* Occupationally Injured Workers (who often worked in factories or on the canals or roads, or as lumbermen, etc.)
* Handicapped People (mentally ill, mentally retarded, blind, physically handicapped)
* Sick People (who had no money for treatment and may have suffered temporarily from the frequent epidemics of contagious diseases or from chronic diseases)
While we all hope that none of our ancestors lived in a Poorhouse, it is very likely that some of them did at some time in their lives, and Poorhouse records might unlock your own "brick wall" puzzle. Linda has a link for the History of Poorhouses, and a page of links for Poorhouses by State. She also has a page of Tips for searching for these records. You might want to explore her web site and see if there are resources on her list that might help you in your research.
Of course, this is not the only place to look. A search of PERSI (online at HeritageQuestOnline, available at FHCs or through a library online database) for poorhouse records in your state or county of interest might be fruitful, and USGenWeb county sites might have a list of Poorhouse records. Historical and genealogy society web sites or catalogs might also have them noted.
A search of the LDS Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) using the keyword = "poorhouse" resulted in 5,454 titles available in book or microform at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (microform are available for loan at a local Family History Center for a fee). You could narrow the search by adding your county of interest to the keyword search.
Ancestry's Learning Center has 24 titles with information about researching Poorhouse records. These articles are free. A search of the Ancestry Database Card Catalog found no use of the word "poorhouse*" in a database title.
In our pursuit of "elusive ancestors," we need to leave no record unopened - and Poorhouse records may be just the resource you need to crash through your brick wall. My thanks to our CVGS colleague Penny for sending me the link to Linda's Poorhouse Story web site, and my compliments to Linda Crannell for doing such a wonderful job of sharing her story and compiling all of the great information.
Usually, however, there are unusual sources that may contain one or more clues to solve the puzzle. They are almost always located in the places where the "elusive ancestor" lived, and it can be a challenge to find them. They may be in genealogy society files, historical society files, a local library, a local business or church, a school or university, or in someone's private collection.
One excellent example of an online source that might unlock some secrets is a Poorhouse register. Linda Crannell has gathered a wealth of information on her web site - The Poorhouse Story - at http://www.poorhousestory.com/. Read her own story about looking for and finding her great-great-grandmother, Emma Warner Thorn Pinchin here. Linda has a Letter to Genealogists also, detailing what types of records might be in these records, including:
* Homeless Families (who may have been burned out or flooded out of their homes)
* Destitute Families (who, for a time, could not afford to buy food, clothing or fuel)
* Victims of Domestic Abuse
* Unwed Mothers
* Orphans
* Elderly People (who were frail or ill and had nobody to care for them)
* Seasonally Unemployed Workers (who often were single men needing housing for the winter)
* Occupationally Injured Workers (who often worked in factories or on the canals or roads, or as lumbermen, etc.)
* Handicapped People (mentally ill, mentally retarded, blind, physically handicapped)
* Sick People (who had no money for treatment and may have suffered temporarily from the frequent epidemics of contagious diseases or from chronic diseases)
While we all hope that none of our ancestors lived in a Poorhouse, it is very likely that some of them did at some time in their lives, and Poorhouse records might unlock your own "brick wall" puzzle. Linda has a link for the History of Poorhouses, and a page of links for Poorhouses by State. She also has a page of Tips for searching for these records. You might want to explore her web site and see if there are resources on her list that might help you in your research.
Of course, this is not the only place to look. A search of PERSI (online at HeritageQuestOnline, available at FHCs or through a library online database) for poorhouse records in your state or county of interest might be fruitful, and USGenWeb county sites might have a list of Poorhouse records. Historical and genealogy society web sites or catalogs might also have them noted.
A search of the LDS Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) using the keyword = "poorhouse" resulted in 5,454 titles available in book or microform at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (microform are available for loan at a local Family History Center for a fee). You could narrow the search by adding your county of interest to the keyword search.
Ancestry's Learning Center has 24 titles with information about researching Poorhouse records. These articles are free. A search of the Ancestry Database Card Catalog found no use of the word "poorhouse*" in a database title.
In our pursuit of "elusive ancestors," we need to leave no record unopened - and Poorhouse records may be just the resource you need to crash through your brick wall. My thanks to our CVGS colleague Penny for sending me the link to Linda's Poorhouse Story web site, and my compliments to Linda Crannell for doing such a wonderful job of sharing her story and compiling all of the great information.
Dear Genea-Man: How do I access this book?
Dear Genea-Man,
I understand the SLC FHL will not lend books. I don't think the Chula Vista Library would have the following book. How do I obtain an interlibrary loan (or find out if it is available re interlibrary loan)? John Mallet, the Huguenot, and Descendants. Author: Anna S. Mallett. Publication: Harrisburg Publishing Company, 1895.
Dear Colleague,
Just ten years ago, Inter-library loan was about your only option, it seemed. Now, there are more options, including:
1) Chula Vista Public Library has an Inter-library loan (ILL) service. You can find out which libraries hold a certain book by using http://worldcat.org/. Scroll down to the Search Box. You can input "john mallett" or "anna s mallett" and find matches for the book you want. Click on one of the matches, and you will get a list of libraries that have the book you want. You could print this off and take it to the CVPL and get an inter-library loan. I don't know what the ILL fee is now, but it's reasonable.
2) Another option is to check the LDS Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp. I chose an author search, and input "mallett" for the surname and "anna" for the given name in the search box. A page with a list of her single book - the one you want - came up. I clicked on the book title, and got a "Title Detail" page about the book, which is on the shelf at the FHL in Salt Lake City. They also have the book available for loan on a microfilm - click on the "View Film Notes" in the upper right hand corner. The film number for this book is FHL US/CAN Film 0,982,137 Item 3. You can print that page off (use the printable version link), and take it to the FHC down in Mission Valley and order the microfilm for $6.25 rental fee.
3) Some books in the FHLC are now available online. For the John Mallett book, there is a link on the "Title Detail" page that says "To view a digital version of this book, click here." If you click on this, it takes you to a book in the BYU Family History Archive at http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/FH16&CISOPTR=41480. This is a digitized version of this book, page by page. You can print the pages on your home printer, or save them to your computer, or just read them online.
4) If you want some pages from a database, book or microform at the LDS Family History Library, you can print out the form here and submit it by mail to the Family History Library. You will need specific pages, book call numbers, microform number and item, but it can be done for a price. Obviously, you can get many microforms at the FHC on rental and copy pages yourself, but for those resources not on microform, this service beats a trip to Salt Lake City. Thanks DearMYRTLE for the suggestion.
5) Google Books (http://books.google.com/ ) has only a "snippet" view of pages from this book. www.Ancestry.com has the complete book on their subscription side. There are other web sites with digitized out-of-copyright books on the Internet.
As we can see, there are several good choices that genealogy researchers can make to find published works, especially those published before 1923.
I understand the SLC FHL will not lend books. I don't think the Chula Vista Library would have the following book. How do I obtain an interlibrary loan (or find out if it is available re interlibrary loan)? John Mallet, the Huguenot, and Descendants. Author: Anna S. Mallett. Publication: Harrisburg Publishing Company, 1895.
Dear Colleague,
Just ten years ago, Inter-library loan was about your only option, it seemed. Now, there are more options, including:
1) Chula Vista Public Library has an Inter-library loan (ILL) service. You can find out which libraries hold a certain book by using http://worldcat.org/. Scroll down to the Search Box. You can input "john mallett" or "anna s mallett" and find matches for the book you want. Click on one of the matches, and you will get a list of libraries that have the book you want. You could print this off and take it to the CVPL and get an inter-library loan. I don't know what the ILL fee is now, but it's reasonable.
2) Another option is to check the LDS Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp. I chose an author search, and input "mallett" for the surname and "anna" for the given name in the search box. A page with a list of her single book - the one you want - came up. I clicked on the book title, and got a "Title Detail" page about the book, which is on the shelf at the FHL in Salt Lake City. They also have the book available for loan on a microfilm - click on the "View Film Notes" in the upper right hand corner. The film number for this book is FHL US/CAN Film 0,982,137 Item 3. You can print that page off (use the printable version link), and take it to the FHC down in Mission Valley and order the microfilm for $6.25 rental fee.
3) Some books in the FHLC are now available online. For the John Mallett book, there is a link on the "Title Detail" page that says "To view a digital version of this book, click here." If you click on this, it takes you to a book in the BYU Family History Archive at http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/FH16&CISOPTR=41480. This is a digitized version of this book, page by page. You can print the pages on your home printer, or save them to your computer, or just read them online.
4) If you want some pages from a database, book or microform at the LDS Family History Library, you can print out the form here and submit it by mail to the Family History Library. You will need specific pages, book call numbers, microform number and item, but it can be done for a price. Obviously, you can get many microforms at the FHC on rental and copy pages yourself, but for those resources not on microform, this service beats a trip to Salt Lake City. Thanks DearMYRTLE for the suggestion.
5) Google Books (http://books.google.com/ ) has only a "snippet" view of pages from this book. www.Ancestry.com has the complete book on their subscription side. There are other web sites with digitized out-of-copyright books on the Internet.
As we can see, there are several good choices that genealogy researchers can make to find published works, especially those published before 1923.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
CVGS Holiday Luncheon on Monday 12/10
The Holiday Luncheon of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society is next Monday at the Chula Vista South Library. Here are the details:
Date: Monday, 10 December, 11 AM to 2 PM,
Location: Chula Vista South Branch Library (389 Orange Avenue, in Conference Room B):
Food: Turkey and ham entrees, and beverages, will be provided by the Society.
Potluck items should be brought according to last name:
* A to H: Entree accompaniments
* I to P: Salads
* Q to Z: Desserts
Please contact Susi (619-690-1188) to coordinate potluck items.
Gift Exchange: We will have a Christmas gift exchange by opportunity drawing. Bring wrapped gifts (up to $10 value) for the drawing.
Door Prize: There will be a door prize drawing.
Donations: Please bring groceries or unwrapped toys (infant to teenager) for donations to the Salvation Army.
Program: There will be member sharing about "Best Genealogy Stories, Trips & Finds of the Year"
We look forward to seeing all of our members at this gala event.
Date: Monday, 10 December, 11 AM to 2 PM,
Location: Chula Vista South Branch Library (389 Orange Avenue, in Conference Room B):
Food: Turkey and ham entrees, and beverages, will be provided by the Society.
Potluck items should be brought according to last name:
* A to H: Entree accompaniments
* I to P: Salads
* Q to Z: Desserts
Please contact Susi (619-690-1188) to coordinate potluck items.
Gift Exchange: We will have a Christmas gift exchange by opportunity drawing. Bring wrapped gifts (up to $10 value) for the drawing.
Door Prize: There will be a door prize drawing.
Donations: Please bring groceries or unwrapped toys (infant to teenager) for donations to the Salvation Army.
Program: There will be member sharing about "Best Genealogy Stories, Trips & Finds of the Year"
We look forward to seeing all of our members at this gala event.
Dear Genea-Man: What do those markings mean?
Dear Genea-Man, What do the handwritten markings mean on this passenger list? I'm interested in Alfred Wm. Wilson, line #16 on this list. There is a number 7-185009 and a date 10/24/41 marked on his line.
ANSWER: Genea-Man is not very experienced with passenger lists and naturalization records, but he has a very informative book on the subject.
Looking at the book "They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins" there is a section on page 161 about Certificates of Arrival. It says:
Looking at the book "They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins" there is a section on page 161 about Certificates of Arrival. It says:
"Probably the most common reentry annotations are related to an immigrant's first step toward naturalization. Verifying that all petitioners for naturalization were legally admitted immigrants was one of the reforms instituted by the Basic Naturalization Act of 1906. Smith further notes that
" 'under the 1906 statute, the naturalization procedure required a step whereby the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization checked ship manifests to verify the legal admission of every applicant for citizenship who had Declarations of Intention or Petitions to a naturalization court. On these forms, the immigrant named the port, date and ship of his or her arrival. Copies of the form were forwarded to the appropriate ports of entry to be checked by verification clerks who located the immigrants arrival record among their immigration manifests. If the record was found, INS issued a Certificate of Arrival and sent it back to the naturalization court.'
"Between 1906 and 1924, the certificate of arrival was a critical identifying factor connecting the immigrant to the port of arrival. Beginning 1 July 1924, the INS began collecting immigrant visas, which subsequently became the official arrival records. One could not be admitted without an immigrant visa, and only a permanent admission could be used to issue a Certificate of Arrival, which would support a naturalization. According to INS historian Smith, an immigrant visa leads to permanent admission, which leads to a certificate of arrival, which leads to naturalization. The alien's immigrant visa file then became the first place to search for proof of legal entry into the United States."
The above was obtained from
Loretta Dennis Szucs, "They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins," Ancestry Inc., 1998, page 161.
Loretta Dennis Szucs, "They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins," Ancestry Inc., 1998, page 161.
The passenger list image was obtained from
Manifest, S.S. Majestic, 25 November 1908, page 11, line 16, for Alfred Wm. Wilson (age 2), digital image, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: Year: 1908; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_1174; Image 11, Line: 16 (http://www.ancestry.com/, accessed 5 December 2007).
Manifest, S.S. Majestic, 25 November 1908, page 11, line 16, for Alfred Wm. Wilson (age 2), digital image, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: Year: 1908; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_1174; Image 11, Line: 16 (http://www.ancestry.com/, accessed 5 December 2007).
Consequently, I think that there is an excellent chance that Alfred Wm. Wilson's Certificate of Arrival was number 7-185009, and that it was signed on 24 October 1941. There is probably a naturalization record for him (and his parents) in a court house someplace near where he lived in the 1940's.
This is a good lesson for all of us who haven't done much immigration and naturalization research. I learned something! I'm going to use this as a show and tell at the next CVGS Research Group meeting.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
What Genealogy books should you own?
George G. Morgan answered that question in his column on the 24/7 Family History Circle blog. It is an excellent list. I have some of them, and have read the others at the library.
However, I would add a number of books to this list:
* Ancestry's Concise Genealogical Dictionary, compiled by Maurine & Glen Harris.
* Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, by Christine Rose.
* Producing a Quality Family History by Patricia Law Hatcher.
Of course, everybody's tastes vary, but these are indispensable to me.
Many of these books are on the shelf in the Family History Collection at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.
However, I would add a number of books to this list:
* Ancestry's Concise Genealogical Dictionary, compiled by Maurine & Glen Harris.
* Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, by Christine Rose.
* Producing a Quality Family History by Patricia Law Hatcher.
Of course, everybody's tastes vary, but these are indispensable to me.
Many of these books are on the shelf in the Family History Collection at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
CVGS Events for December 2007
The Chula Vista Genealogical Society events for December 2007 include:
** Monday, December 10, 11 AM to 2 PM, at the Chula Vista South Branch Library (389 Orange Avenue, in Conference Room B):
* This will be our annual Holiday Luncheon (food service starts at 11:30 AM). Turkey and ham entrees, and beverages, will be provided by the Society. Potluck items should be brought according to last name:
A to H: Entree accompaniments
I to P: Salads
Q to Z: Desserts
Please contact Susi (619-690-1188) to coordinate potluck items.
* We will have a Christmas gift exchange by opportunity drawing. Bring wrapped gifts (up to $10 value) for the drawing.
* There will be a door prize drawing.
* Please bring groceries or unwrapped toys (infant to teenager) for donations ot the Salvation Army.
* There will be member sharing about "Best Genealogy Stories, Trips & Finds of the Year"
We look forward to seeing all of our members at this gala event.
** There will be no CVGS Computer Group in December.
** There will be no CVGS Research Group in December.
On Monday morning (10 AM to noon) - December 3 at the Civic Center Branch library - Dearl Glenn and probably John Finch will be at the table by the Family Research section of the Chula Vista Civic Center Library ready to help people with their research, discuss a problem or success, or just tell stories.
The Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library will be closed from Monday, December 10 to Sunday, January 6 for refurbishment. The library hours may change and might affect CVGS Program and meeting days and times in January. We will post dates and times in early January.
We welcome guests and visitors to our CVGS programs and events - if you are in the Chula Vista area and want to attend our events - please come and introduce yourselves. If you have questions, please email Randy at rjseaver(at)cox.net or phone 619-422-3397.
** Monday, December 10, 11 AM to 2 PM, at the Chula Vista South Branch Library (389 Orange Avenue, in Conference Room B):
* This will be our annual Holiday Luncheon (food service starts at 11:30 AM). Turkey and ham entrees, and beverages, will be provided by the Society. Potluck items should be brought according to last name:
A to H: Entree accompaniments
I to P: Salads
Q to Z: Desserts
Please contact Susi (619-690-1188) to coordinate potluck items.
* We will have a Christmas gift exchange by opportunity drawing. Bring wrapped gifts (up to $10 value) for the drawing.
* There will be a door prize drawing.
* Please bring groceries or unwrapped toys (infant to teenager) for donations ot the Salvation Army.
* There will be member sharing about "Best Genealogy Stories, Trips & Finds of the Year"
We look forward to seeing all of our members at this gala event.
** There will be no CVGS Computer Group in December.
** There will be no CVGS Research Group in December.
On Monday morning (10 AM to noon) - December 3 at the Civic Center Branch library - Dearl Glenn and probably John Finch will be at the table by the Family Research section of the Chula Vista Civic Center Library ready to help people with their research, discuss a problem or success, or just tell stories.
The Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library will be closed from Monday, December 10 to Sunday, January 6 for refurbishment. The library hours may change and might affect CVGS Program and meeting days and times in January. We will post dates and times in early January.
We welcome guests and visitors to our CVGS programs and events - if you are in the Chula Vista area and want to attend our events - please come and introduce yourselves. If you have questions, please email Randy at rjseaver(at)cox.net or phone 619-422-3397.
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