Does Ancestry.com Know About Decimals?

[this issue has been corrected as of 4 January 2013--see update]

[minor editing of this post at 12:15 PM central on 25 November]

Decimals matter. If you're not certain, ask your bank. They mattered to your ancestor too, especially if he bought and sold real estate.

The first screen shot in this blog post is of the results page for Clark Sargent's entry in the Illinois, Public Land Purchase Records, 1800-1990 database at Ancestry.com.

I thought that the price, total [paid], and acreage looked a little strange. First of all the price [per acre] and the acreage do not compute with the stated acreage of 4000 acres. It's also true that 4000 acres would encompass more than one section in a given Winnebago County township [sections are usually 640 acres]. Something is not right with these numbers.

This is a database that Ancestry.com pulled from another source--which is fine. The State of Illinois (actually the Illinois State Archives) maintains the website on which the state version of the database is maintained. Ancestry.com's "Source Information" is shown below.

Searching for Clark on the Illinois State Archives website's version of the database (titled: Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales) confirmed what I expected: the numbers on Ancestry.com were wrong.

There are decimals in the numbers that appeared to be "off." The acreage is 40.00 acres, the price is $1.25 an acre and the total price is $50.00. Those numbers all make more sense than the ones at Ancestry.com.

I guessed that this error did not just happen for Clark. I was right--the search results page at Ancestry.com's database showed the following for another person of interest: Andrew Trask.

Sure enough, those entries had the missing decimals in price, total, and acreage.

I use this database on the Illinois State Archives website regularly and rarely use it at Ancestry.com.  Otherwise I might have noticed it easier.

Lessons:

• Look at the original.
• Never assume an index is correct.
• Check the numbers to see if they "make sense."

Errors like this actually concern me on several levels. If something as simple as decimals can't be transferred over correctly, what else might be a little "off?"

All these search results screens are accurate as of 25 November 2012--1:00 AM CST.

The Ledger Entry for Rufus' Claim--and Clues to Comrades

In addition to the signed affidavits documenting Rufus D. Stephens' claim for his 1814 requisitioned horse, there is a ledge entry approving the claim.

"General Account of Claims for Compensation for Property Lost, Captured, or Destroyed by the Enemy, while in the Military Service of the United States during the late War with England."


Fixed number 2518, Rufus D.Stephens (attorney Claudius W. Boughton), whose claim was received on 3 June 1817 was from Ontario County, New York. Stephens claimed compensation for the loss of a horse while in the United States service. The amount of his claim was $80 and the proof was sufficient. Stephens' claim was approved on 3 June by Richard Bland Lee "C.C &C."

There is a notation that attorney Claudius W. Boughton received the $80 on 4 June.

There are two additional claims, both submitted and approved on 3 June, and paid on 4 June. Those men, James Spear and Erasmus T. Cammins, were also both from Ontario County, New York. They may have been comrades of Rufus given that the claims were filed simultaneously.


---------------
Source:
National Archives of the United States, Record Group 217, Entry 625, Volume 3, page 205.

The Donner Party In the Newspaper--Before It Went South

Did your ancestors respond to a call to travel? Advertisements often lured migrants, including this one published in a local paper by George Donner of Springfield, Illinois. The ad was written in 1846--a year later Donner's name would be associated with the ill-fated Donner Party.

Donner was advertising for men to join him on the trip to California--helping to haul his family and provisions to the west coast.

Date: Thursday, March 26, 1846  

Paper: Illinois Weekly State Journal (Springfield, IL)

--

obtained on 

    Genealogybank.com

After the family has started their trip, Mrs. Donner writes back to a friend in Springfield, Illinois. Mrs. Donner's letter to an unnamed friend is printed in it's entirety in the same paper as her husband's advertisement--only parts of it are included in this blog post:

Date: Thursday, July 23, 1846  

Paper: Illinois Weekly State Journal (Springfield, IL)

--

obtained on 

    Genealogybank.com

She continues, talking about some of the others who travel with the Donner party:

Date: Thursday, July 23, 1846  

Paper: Illinois Weekly State Journal (Springfield, IL)--

obtained on 

    Genealogybank.com

She ends the letter...

Date: Thursday, July 23, 1846  

Paper: Illinois Weekly State Journal (Springfield, IL)

--

obtained on 

    Genealogybank.com

Date: Thursday, August 13, 1846  

Paper: Illinois Weekly State Journal (Springfield, IL)

--

obtained on 

    Genealogybank.com

George Donner ends the letter by saying,"Our provisions are in good order and we feel satisfied with our preparations for the trip."

Little did he know.

[note--the book George Donner used as his guide can be viewed or downloaded here http://archive.org/details/emigrantsguideto04hast ]

An 1849 Letter in the Post Office

The United States Post Office didn't always bring letters to your home. This 1849 advertisement from a Springfield, Illinois, newspaper included the names of several area residents who had letters they could pick up in the post office.

Date: Wednesday, May 2, 1849  

Paper: Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL)-

obtained on 

    Genealogybank.com

Recipients would be charted two cents per letter and had three months to claim the letter.  There are notations that some individuals had two letters waiting for them.

The person of interest was Abraham Chaney who is shown on the part of the list reproduced in the following image:

Date: Wednesday, May 2, 1849  

Paper: Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL)-

obtained on 

    Genealogybank.com

If I had not known when Abraham arrived in Illinois, this would have helped me to approximate that date.

One letter is listed as being for Jno Baird or Milas James. If one of those men had been the person of interest, this list would have indicated that they were associates. That clue might not be stated in other contemporary documents.

Baptist Priests? I Don't Think So

I know it is an index entry. But really, couldn't they have used "officiant" or something a little more accurate and all-encompassing when transcribing entries from the Indiana county marriages to create the "Indiana Marriages, 1811-1959," at FamilySearch?

This is the database entry for my ancestors, William Newman and Rebecca Tinsley, who were married in Rush County, Indiana.

The database term that was used to describe the person was "priest." It seems to this researcher that there are other, more generic terms that could have been used. There are many denominations that do not use the term priest to refer to their "leaders."

The Newmans were Baptists--Regular Baptists at that. The license refers to Jones as a minister.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the indexes on FamilySearch and the access they give us to indexes. I just wish that this description was a little more accurate--particularly because I know there are people who will not look at the original and will conclude that the Newmans were married by a priest, which they were not. And it's just one step from there to conclude that they were members of an entirely different denomination.

The record does not refer to Jones as a priest. The index should not either.

More on Inst. and Ult.

We mentioned the difference between "inst." and "ult" in an earlier post and newspaper articles that apparently had the two terms mixed up.

A search of newspapers for additional articles about the incident resulted in several hits which are shown in this screen shot from  Genealogybank.com .

Five of the results are shown. The word "inst." has been circled in those clippings where it appears. 

Partial screen shot of results from  Genealogybank.com 20 November 2012

The January references all refer to the event as being on the 2d "ult." Obviously if the items are in January editions of newspapers the actual incident could not have taken place in February. "Inst." refers to the present month--which is what both January items use.

The last match makes it easy to see how the confusion between "inst" and "ult" came into being in some of the references. The last match is shows a 7 January date--most likely indicating that the item was copied from a newspaper in Herkimer County, New York, on 7 January. In that original article "inst." would have made sense.

Be aware of the difference between these two words, but make certain that you apply a little common sense as well.

Rufus Stephens in War of 1812 Service Records

Continuing our work on Rufus D. Stephens, I decided to obtain the compiled service record cards for him from National Archives Microfilm Publication M602. These are online at Archive.org and were discussed briefly in a blog post at "Search Tip of the Day."

There are four cards for a Rufus Stephens--two for Rufus Stephens and two cards for Rufus D. Stephens. I'm going to have to do some work on these cards as I have a few questions about them that I am hoping to get answered.

The following images from National Archives Microfilm Publication M602, roll 198. They were obtained digitally on Archive.org (http://www.archive.org)

Stay tuned!

New On FamilySearch

New on FamilySearch 21 and 22 November (since our last update):

Louisiana, Second Registration Draft Cards, compiled 1948-1959	Browse Images
Idaho, Divorce Index, 1947-1961	38,625
Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959	2,067,319
Idaho, Lincoln County Records, 1886-1972	Browse Images
California, Probate Estate Files,1833-1991	Browse Images
New Jersey, Probate Records, 1678-1980	Browse Images

Ult. Verus Inst.---At Least I Think

Organizing what I've gotten on Rufus D. Stephens reminded me of the difference between "ult" and "inst." At least I thought I knew what the difference was between the two abbreviations that one encounters in items from the 19th century and beyond.

These two clippings located on Genealogybank.com discuss a manslaughter case in which Rufus was involved. I'm trying to "fix" the date of the event and that's where I noticed a problem. Both papers were printed in February and one refers to the event as the "2d ult." and another refers to it as the "2d inst."

6 February 1805--refers to the date as "2d ult."

Date: Wednesday, February 6, 1805  

Paper: Democrat (Boston, MA) 

obtained on 

   Genealogybank.com

14 February 1805-refers to the date as "2d inst."

Date: Thursday, February 14, 1805  

Paper: Northern Post (Salem, NY)-

obtained on 

   Genealogybank.com   

One of these has to be incorrect. The question is, "which one?"

ult. stands for the Latin "ultimo" meaning the preceding month.
inst. stands for "instant" meaning the current month.

We're working on a longer post explaining what I think happened.

[link to update]
------------------------------
Reminder--we don't include complete citations on blog posts--just our personal preference. Complete citations are always included in Casefile Clues or you can learn about citations in Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained. We always do include enough background information in blog posts that readers can find our original sources.If you think we don't, please fire off an email to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com

An 1811 Arrival for Rufus D. Stephens in Penfield, New York

There is a reference in an 1851 history to Rufus D. Stephens which indicates that he arrived in Penfield, New York in 1811. Attempts to document his movement need to use every source that can be located. This item was located by a search on Google Books.

While there is always the possibility that his year of arrival is off, it will be assumed to be correct unless information to the contrary can be located. There are other who settled in the area as well and it is possible that they shared a common "point of origin" with Rufus.

This is the only mention of him in the book:

part of page 525 discussing the town of Penfield, New York.

Those interested in the entire book can view it here--it may start with the cover--a lovely shade of gray:


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Reminder--we don't include complete citations on blog posts--just our personal preference. Complete citations are always included in Casefile Clues or you can learn about citations in Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained. We always do include enough background information in blog posts that readers can find our original sources.If you think we don't, please fire off an email to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com

Indexes Point, But You Have to Look

I'm working on my Rufus D. Stephens "map," and in so doing I was reminded of the importance of taking a look at the actual record.

The census indexes at  Ancestry.com  indicate that there are two Rufus Stevens/Stephens in New York State in 1810. At least the number of matches is not unmanageable. Of course, there could be other Rufuses with a totally mangled last name (due to a combination of enumerator and transcriber issues), but I'm going to limit myself to those that I find in indexes at this point. My research notes indicate what types of database searches were done.

The index entry and preview for the Rufus Stephens in Lewis County shows:

The actual image shows one additional clue:

1810 U.S. Census-Lewis County, New York, page 117 (handwritten--bottom right)

The "Jr." after his name is significant. Whether it means that his father was named Rufus or that there was another Rufus in the same general area is not yet known. Despite my uncertainty at this point about what the "Jr." means, it does mean something. It is up to me to figure that out and it would not have been noticed if I had not looked at the actual image.

And it's also up to me to look at the original record so that clues of this type are not overlooked. Brick walls are sometimes the result of not looking deeply enough. Looking at the actual record is not an advanced search approach.

Don't blame Ancestry.com for this--indexes are finding aids for the census. They are not replacements.

New on FamilySearch

New on FamilySearch as of 21 November 2012:

United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918	13,420,151
Maine, County Probate Records, 1760-1979	Browse Images
Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935	2,013,193
New Jersey, Probate Records, 1678-1980	Browse Images
Montana, Granite County Records, 1865-2009	Browse Images
Virginia, Isle of Wight County Records, 1647-1917	Browse Images

Dots for Time and Places for Rufus

It is easy to get excited when searching for a "new" potential ancestor. It is also easy to get confused as well.

I've been working on Rufus D. Stephens and I've located several different references to him in several different records which I've mentioned here before.

It is now time to stop.

At this point, I am going to get myself some maps and put "dots" and "years" of where and when Rufus appears in different records. I need to make certain that I have the same Rufus in all these records (or be as certain as I can be) and also make certain that I'm not overlooking specific clues.

And, I need to remind myself that my real person of interest is the Rufus D. Stephens shown in this 1850 census enumeration in St. Clair County, Michigan. Benjamin Butler is the known ancestor and Margaret his wife was a Stephens before her marriage and it is believed that Rufus is her father. Research on Rufus is being conducted to determine if he is connected to the Butler family. The proximity of the Butler and Stephens families in the 1850 census is the motivation for the search.

1850 US Census, St. Clair County, Port Huron, page 201. from Ancestry.com 

Have to keep that in mind while researching Rufus.

New On FamilySearch

The following have a release date of 19 November 2012 on FamilySearch

Title	Records
Oregon, Marion County Records, 1849-1976	Browse Images
Maine, Death Index, 1960-1996	401,960
New Hampshire, County Probate Estate Files, 1769-1936	Browse Images
Maryland, Register of Wills Books, 1629-1983	Browse Images
New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973	Browse Images
Washington, County Probate Records, 1853-1929	Browse Images
Maine, Marriage Index,1892-1966, 1977-1996	857,131
Ohio, Jefferson County Court Records, 1797-1940	Browse Images

A Citation for the Rufus Stephens Horse Claim

Earlier, I posted an image of part of a claim for a War of 1812 era claim for a "drafted horse" that was made by Rufus Stephens.

There was no real citation along with the image. Since I received no email about it, I'm concluding that either the citation police do not exist or no one really reads my blog.

The document image is reproduced here again:

The researcher who usually obtains NARA documents for me always includes a citation as a part of the file of copies or images. This is greatly appreciated. It's excellent to share NARA documents so that researchers and the general public can be aware of them, but images sans citations is not the way to go. And, in case anyone wonders, I've used the citation (written by her) with her permission.

Is this in "proper form?" No--for reasons that I have discussed before and are included at the end of this post.

I was negligent in the original post on this image. Shouldn't let my excitement cause me to neglect citations.

------------------------------
Reminder--we don't include complete citations on blog posts--just our personal preference. Complete citations are always included in Casefile Clues or you can learn about citations in Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained. We always do include enough background information in blog posts that readers can find our original sources.If you think we don't, please fire off an email to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com