No Birth Place Really Given

The first image is the index database entry for Thomas Frame from   Ancestry.com's "U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992," who was naturalized in Cook County, Illniois, in 1873. This index entry indicates he was born in Ireland. The item from which this index entry was made (the black and white card below) does not indicate he was born in Ireland.

Instead it was created from an index card (shown below) that comes from National Archives Microfilm Serial Publication M1285 "Soundex Index to Naturalization Petitions for the United States District and Circuit Courts, Northern Distrit of Illinois and Immigration and Naturalization Service District 9, 1840-1950." The card actually indicates that the "country of birth or allegiance" was "Great Britian, Ireland." This does not equate to a country of birth of Ireland.

The index card is meant as a finding aid to the actual record of Thomas Frame's naturalization, not to replace it. Ancestry.com's "U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992" is an index that includes index entries.

Another problem here is that the information on the record was "massaged" to fit database fields in Ancestry.com's index. Information on original records should not be massaged to fit database entries.

I have seen a copy of Thomas' naturalization and have written about it for Casefile Clues. Thomas indicated he was a subject of Queen Victoria of Great Britian and Ireland, but he makes no statement about his specific place of birth.

1948 Voter's Registration Lists for the Henry Fecht Family

Voters' registrations lists are a wonderful source, particularly after women were given the right to vote.

If didn't already know of the connection between Henry, Catherine, Gloria, and James H.Fecht, this 1948 voter's registration list from Los Angeles, California, would have hinted at it. The four Fecht are all living at 11005 Hesby Street at the time of their registration. The roster does not indicate their relationship, but Henry and Catherine are husband and wife and Gloria and James are their children. The "R" after their names indicates that they are registered Republicans.

Los Angeles Precinct 2672 Register of Voters for 1948; digital image,   Ancestry.com, 20 January 2013

This 1948 register did indicate that the Fechts moved to California in time to register and appear on the 1948  Register of Voters. I'm not certain of just when they would have had to have registered in order to appear on that roster. In my case, pinpoining their migration that precisely is not necessary--so I'm not overly concerned about it. What was crucial was to know that the parents moved to California in addition to the children. These voter lists could be combined with city directories to provide a more detailed picture of the family as the directories would give ocupations.

In this case, it is easy to see that these individuals were living at the same address. In the cases of more common names, go through all the entries for a specific surname to determine if there are others living at the same address.

Henry, Catherine, and Gloria are living at 1944 East 70th Street in Chicago, Illinois, at the time of the 1940 Census. Son James is not enumerated with them--possibly due to his enlistment in the military. As we've seen in other posts, the Fechts were in Chicago for at least part of the duration of World War II.

Stay tuned...

Sam or Jane?

Some readers are familiar the Daily Genealogy Transcriber  another blog I write where daily handwriting samples are posted for followers/fans to try and interpret.

The specific source is usually not given and just a few details are provided so that readers are really seeing the image "cold." The site is not about citations and sourcing, but is about trying to read handwriting and to see how errors and other incorrect transcriptions get in indexes.

A few days ago, I posted an image that I knew was going to be transcribed several ways.

I told readers that the image was from a declaration of intent in 1913 from somewhere in Ohio. That was it. In reality, every piece of handwriting should be read in as much context as possible. However, our site attempts to mirror how many index entries get made: the indexer looks at each item individually, frequently out of context. It's not the way to transcribe, but it's the reality of how many indexes are created.

Before I comment further, let me state clearly that our goal at the Daily Genealogy Transcriber is to have as many submissions as we can get and that I encourage everyone to submit their entries. I view the Transcriber as a learning vehicle for all of us and have picked up a few interpretation tips myself. I don't post responses that make negative comments about other responses.

There is a chance for a little history lesson in this image though.

The year is 1913. It is the United States of America. In 1913, it was extremely rare for a woman to become a citizen--because the citizenship status of a woman was tied to her father or her husband. And for single women of the age of majority, the main reason for becoming a citizen did not matter in 1913.

That main reason: voting.

So the chance the first name is Jane is pretty remote.

I wish I had such an easy way to figure out the last name, but that's not as easy of a problem.

Reported Dead--He Lives

Date: Wednesday, May 6, 1942  

Paper: Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, WA)--obtained on Genealogybank.com 

I've written about James Fecht before who was believed killed in the Pacific during World War II only to be discovered alive and recuperating in a hospital. Apparently this picture was sent out over the wire services at the time and was taken by the US Navy.

I was tempted to "grab" the first picture I found of James, but I'm glad I didn't. There were several images posted of James in various newspapers, including one in a Maine newspaper with a French caption. Several of the images I located initially were not as crisp and nice as this one.

If you think an item may have appeared in several newspapers, it may be worth your time to look in more than one reference.

Retrouve in 1942

When searching old newspapers, particularly for stories that may have made the wire services, one should not ignore entries in foreign languages.

Date: Friday, May 22, 1942  

Paper: Justice de Biddeford (Biddeford, ME)--obtained on Genealogybank.com.  

Google Translate (combined with my paraphrasing of Google Translate's translation) indicates the caption indicates the mother of Henry Fecht of Chicago appears with her son, a sailor, that Uncle Sam had declared dead.

I almost ignored the French result--this family was not French and not live in Maine. However, news of Fecht's survival and his mother's unwillingness to admit he was deceased, made several newspapers at the time.

Only one little problem.

The "recovered sailor" was James Fecht. His mother was the wife of Henry Fecht, of Chicago, which is where the Fecht family had lived for some time before the war. Those little words like "mother" and "wife" can get confused. We've written about James before. There seems little doubt that the caption in the newspaper is simply incorrect. It seems highly unlikely that two "missing" soldiers in the South Pacific from Chicago with the last name of Fecht were found at the same time. It never hurts to double check a reference and the researcher is well advised to always keep in mind that a source could be wrong in one or more detail.

We've found an even nicer picture of James and his mother in another newspaper that we're hoping to use in a future post.

Going Forward

In further attempts to locate more on this incident, we are going to search for Chicago area newspapers, which may have included more detailed articles about the incident. I'm also going to see if there was any mention of this incident in newspapers from Hancock County, Illinois--where James' parents were originally from.

Fold3 SSDI and Other Searches Working

I've been told by my contact at Fold3.com that the problem with the Fold3 SSDI has been corrected. The searches that I had difficulty with earlier are now working.

Thanks to Fold3 for taking care of this.

The Digital Image Was Made From a Transcription

I've been using the Bureau of Land Management Tract books which recently were released online in digital format at FamilySearch. 

This "first page" to the tract book for the Indianapolis Land Office (Volume 1), indicated why all the entries looked surprisingly consistent even though the items took place over time.

The book was a copy.

According to the note on the "first page," the tract book was transcribed in 1924 and compared the original in by several individuals over time.

Always look at those "first pages" of any microfilm, digital image, or print materials to see if there are any comments or annotations.

They may be crucial to your research or at least explain why the handwriting is more consistent that you would expect. And, given that the digital image was made from a microfilmed copy of a transcribed copy of the original, we are looking at derivative material.

New On FamilySearch 15 January 2013

The following were released or updated on FamilySearch today 15 January 2013 (the date is actually 16 January on their website):

• California, Probate Estate Files,1833-1991
• Florida, Key West Passenger Lists, 1898-1920
• Louisiana, First Registration Draft Cards, 1940-1945
• Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003
• Ohio, Scioto County Recorder 1885-1887
• Ohio, Stark County Probate Records, 1886-1921
• Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1883-1945
• United States, Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, 1820-1908
• United States, Index to General Correspondence of the Pension Office, 1889-1904

Who Thought Seaton Lived in Congarees?

Estimating dates of residence in a location can be difficult. The earlier the time period, the more difficult it can be. One always has to be careful when using any piece of evidence and think about what it says and what it does not say.

This reference to Seaton Sledd comes from a 1788 South Carolina newspaper--he's got a letter at the post office. The notice indicates that unclaimed letters will be returned.

Friday, June 6, 1788  

Paper: City Gazette (Charleston, SC)--obtained on 

 Genealogybank.com

As I write this, I realize that this is not necessarily evidence that Seaton Sledd lived in "Congarees."

It is evidence that someone thought he lived in "Congarees." You don't write letters to yourself.

The reality is that Seaton probably did live where the letter indicates. But it is worth keeping in mind what a record or item says and what it does not say.

Especially if other evidence flies in the face of one piece of information.

What To Do in 2005..Err 2013.

[note--This is being republished from late 2004. The ideas are just as good now as they were then--none are suggesting you visit a certain website (which may now be defunct) and many you can do without spending money, which is even better.]


Things to do in 2005--and 2013!

The end of a year means another one is headed in. With that in mind, our last "Beyond the Index" column in 2004 contains a list of things to do in 2005.

Contact Offline Relatives

Recent work on two of my families has reminded me that a significant number of my relatives do not have e-mail or cannot be initially be contacted electronically. As several of these individuals may hold the key to additional generations of ancestry, they will have to be contacted. One of my goals in 2005 is to write letters to these individuals in an attempt to gain family history information. Are there relatives you have not contacted in your search for family history information? Are any of these relatives "offline?" Hesitating to contact them may result in them being permanently unavailable when you "get around to it."

Identify People in Pictures

This is something I almost always mention when giving a lecture or a workshop, because I believe it is one thing that almost every genealogist probably needs to do. Even though I have gone through my pictures many times, I still have a few pictures that include people who cannot be identified. My first priority in 2005 is to talk to those individuals who are most likely to know the people in the pictures. And of course, I will write on the cardboard backing of these photographs with a media that is archive safe, not a ball-point pen.

Tie up Loose Ends

I have several files, ancestors, and e-mails where a lead or a loose end has been left dangling. Life does get in the way. Before I forget completely or start work on additional projects, I will follow these leads. Who knows, perhaps the answers to my questions will lead to even more information than I expected?

Enter Data

There are stacks of copies and documents in my files that have yet to be entered into my computer database. I know there are few people in this situation (grin!). Before I spend hours or days accumulating new information it would be a good idea to incorporate this un-entered data into my computer files. In the case of some of the non-English speaking families I was working on, I have actually wasted time by not entering the data shortly after I obtained it. While working with the Swedish and Belgian records discussed in some of this year's earlier columns, I became reasonably adept at translating simple church records. I have lost that skill in the interim and will have to re-learn before entering the information into my database. Wasted time is lost time and we never get it back.

Write a Biography

While I have long known that this is an excellent organizational tool and a great way to share and preserve information, I have been lax in composing biographical information on my ancestors. To create less work and less confusion, the first biography will be for an ancestor I'm already working on. Starting an additional project will only mean one more thing that does not get finished!

Learn about the Language

Incorrect spellings of names and locations present a significant hindrance to the researcher. This problem is exacerbated when the ancestral family does not speak the language in which the records are written. I think there may be a few cases where I would have better chance of success if I were more familiar with how words were pronounced in the native language of my ancestors, particularly their names and the village or town in which they were born. Foreign language dictionaries and texts are one place to learn this information.

Read More Local and Regional History

Learning about the area where an ancestral family lives always offers the researcher insight into the day-to-day lives of our family members. This knowledge also can help to solve difficult research problems. One goal in 2005 is to read and learn more about some of the eras and locations in which my various families lived.

Review Old ProblemsRegular readers of the Ancestry Daily News [note-this is no longer published] know that I have a few old problems that have plagued me for years. As 2005 begins, I will look some of these problems. In certain cases it may be a good idea for me to restart my work on these lines, beginning from scratch as much as possible. If I have not already done so, I should consider creating chronologies, maps, and timelines for the people and families involved in these problems. I should reread research guides to the locations where these people lived and see if any new materials have been published or developed that might be applicable to the problem.

Stay Focused

Working on too many lines at one time will only confuse me. A better approach is to work on one location or ethnic group at a time. If I decide to focus on my wife's Swedish lineage, I would be better served by doing the Swedish data entry, the Swedish research, the reading about Swedish culture and history, and the learning about Swedish pronunciations at the same time. It can be terribly confusing working on several lines at the same time and the problem is only compounded when the families under study were living in different times in different places and speaking different languages.

Do Something Non-Genealogical

There is a world outside of genealogy. Sometimes this world includes our living family members. Reading a non-genealogy book, keeping in touch with other family members, and pursuing non-genealogical activities will make your family history search seem like less of a job and reduce your "genealogy stress level." And the less stressed we are while researching, the more effective and the happier we are. And isn't that what it is all about!

Happy Hunting in 2005 [and in 2013!]

He Is a Good Neighbor

It is not often you find statements from an apparent divorce case published in a newspaper from 1814. It is even more unusual to find one of the published statements signed by a female.

That's exactly what I came across when I continued my search for Sledd references in the newspapers in  Genealogybank.com  This item, from a Richmond newspaper, references an apparent court case in Nottoway County, Virginia, in 1814. Apparently the wife of John A. Robertson accused him of various behaviors against her and their children.

Testimony in Robertson's support is given by several individuals, including John Sledd and his wife Sarah.

Date: Saturday, April 23, 1814  

Paper: Virginia Patriot (Richmond, VA) --obtained on 

 Genealogybank.com

The last name of Sledd is not very common. There are only two John Sledds in the 1810 Virginia Census--one in Amherst County (my ancestor and not the one providing testimony in 1814) and another in Powhaton County. There is also a John Sledge in Bedford County in 1810 as well. All of these locations are clustered. At this point, it seems probable that the John Sledd providing testimony in the court case is the one in 1810 in Powhatan, but more research needs to be done.

County Map of Virginia
obtained on http://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/general_ref/stco_outline/cen2k_pgsz/stco_VA.pdf

Of course, one must not get too focused on scandalous stories involving extended family members.

There are several other names mentioned in the news clipping, which was located online at  Genealogybank.com  My immediate step would be to search for those names in the 1810 census. It appears as if the statements might have been in response to some legal action filed against a John A. Robertson in Nottoway County, so a search for additional records should be started there. There may be additional information on the deponents in the court records and other names of people providing testimony. All of these names would help establish connections between the Sledds and others who knew or worked for the Robertson family.There may be more detailed testimony that provides more information about Sledd. His residence (at least county) may be given as a part of and statements he made out.

If Sledd did work as an overseer, it is possible that he worked as an overseer for other plantation owners as well and that he may have moved and could have lived in several counties.

We've blogged about Sledds in Virginia newspapers before--including an incident involving an unnamed Sledd man in Bedford County, Virginia who killed a slave in 1811.

An 1863 Horse Thief

James Rampley apparently had his horse stolen in in 1863. A notice was published in the Baltimore Sun on 27 February 1863--"Look our for a horse thief, with a dark by mare, four years old..."

Date: Friday, February 27, 1863  

Paper: Sun (Baltimore, MD)--obtained on 

 Genealogybank.com

James Rampley indicated that he lived near Parkton and that the horse was worth a reward of $25. Ads of this type may seem worthless, but this one does provide evidence that James living near Parkton in 1863 and that he was still alive. Depending upon the situation, that could be a big clue. And, if there were more than one James Rampley--the residence might have been even more helpful.

Newspaper notices of about anything can help in your research and just how helpful depends upon your probem. It's all about context.

Fortunately the relative was not the horse thief in this article located on  Genealogybank.com.

Can You Find Professor Emeritus

Before reading this post, remind yourself that the option to performing full-text searches is to search the material yourself, page by page. That's not usually an option.

A search on  Ancestry.com for the name Professor Emeritus will result in several hits. Of course, there is no person actually named Professor Emeritus, but because of how some printed materials available on  Ancestry.com are automatically read, the name comes up in search results.

This entry from the U. S., City Directories, 1821-1989 (Beta) is a case in point. It indicates that there is a reference for Professor Emeritus in the 1848 Syracuse, New York directory. It even indicates that there may be additional references to Professor in other  Ancestry.com databases.

A look at the actual reference makes it a little more clear why an automatic transcription process would locate Professor Emeritus in this directory-the underlined entry is the one to which the database entry above is referring.

• 

The Rev. John J. Brown may or may not appear in the index to this database at  Ancestry.com. Users of  Ancestry.com should keep in mind that some records are indexed automatically, particularly ones in print. If your ancestor's directory entry is atypical, he may not appear in the index while he does appear in the actual directory.

Professor Emeritus also appears in the "United States Obituary Collection" as well. The reason again is the automatic indexing process that is used to index these records. The locations mentioned in the obituary include some phrases that the process thought were locations, but apparently are not, such as "Mutual Economics" and "Over the Years."

The names of others mentioned in the obituary are somewhat closer, but any automatic process will have a few situations of this type.This obituary was actually for Jewell Rasumssen who is listed as an "other person mentioned in obituary."

A few general comments.

Index entries should not be any part of the user's transcription or use of this data. These entries are meant to be finding aids to, in these examples, city directories and obituaries. What the actual city directory and obituary say should be used in your genealogical material, not the index entry.

Any type of index created by an automated process is bound to have some errors of this type. The user should bear in mind that it is significantly cheaper to create indexes of this type than it is to have humans perform all the data entry. Indexes created by humans also contain errors.

We mention issues of this type not to bash Ancestry.com. We mention these errors so that users can be better informed and use  Ancestry.com more effectively in their searches. A knowledge of and an awarenessof pitfalls in indexes and finding aids allows users to create better search strategies in order to locate the information that  Ancestry.com has about their ancestors.

Thanks to reader CR for finding Professor Emeritus for me and passing him (or her) along.

New on FamilySearch 12 January 2013:

New on FamilySearch 12 January 2013:

• New York, Frank S. Rowland Church Register, 1889-1917
• Arkansas, Probate Records, 1817-1979

Join Michael at the Family History Library in Salt Lake-May 2013

We've set the dates for our 2013 Family History Research Trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City in May. Join us for a week of genealogical research in the world's largest genealogical library between 29 May and 5 June. Don't wait pre-register today for only $50. Balance of registration is due 1 April 2013. It is not too early to start planning for 2013. 

The complete registration price is $175--that's a bargain compared to other trips. This fee includes pre-trip planning assistance, morning presentations at 8:00 every day the library is open during our trip, onsite consultations, assistance in learning to use the equipment at the library, quick on the fly questions, and follow-up assistance as needed. 

Travel arrangements are on your own. We stay at the Salt Lake Plaza where we have  pre-tax rate of $90 a night. The Plaza is next door to the library--very convenient. 

Our research trip dates for 2013 are a starting on the 29th of May at 6:30 PM with a hotel check out date of 5 June 2013. Our registration price is $175 when not paid in full by 31 December 2012---with a deposit of $50. Deadline for registration is 15 April 2013 (refund if you cancel by 15 March 2013). We'll be posting additional details later this summer but that's pretty much the essence of the trip. Travel arrangements are not included.  Our group size has traditionally been small and we plan on keeping it that way.

It Was Not Mance After All

In "Is That Grandma or the Baby" we looked briefly at a census entry whose last entry was either for a 72 year old or a baby--depending upon how one read the numbers. My initial take on it is that the last entry is for a 1/12 month old. It may be another number in the numerator of the fraction, but the end result is that it looks to me like the last entry in that 1850 census enumeration is an infant under the age of 1--not a 72 year old.

However,  Ancestry.com' interprets lines 2-6 of that second entry as having the last name of "Mance." The household in 1850 has the following "Mance"

• David--aged 19
• Ann "Mance"--aged 17
• Mary--aged 13
• George--aged 11
• Emily--aged 6 or 4
• Amanda--under 1 year

 My guess--looking at the 1860 enumeration as shown below--is that "Mance" is "Marie/Maria" and is Ann'a middle name.

 Year: 1860; Census Place: District 9, Allegany, Maryland; Roll: M653_456; District 9, page 331, family/household 2374; digital image  Ancestry.com', 11 January 2013.

Don't ever take someone's analysis as the truth. Look and draw conclusions yourself.

Confusing Webinar Messages

The service I use to send out webinar emails has gone crazy today. Completely crazy.

My apologies to those who have received duplicate emails--some with garbled messages. This was not my intent.

If you were interested in the Google Books or Using Census at Ancestry.com presentations, this page has links that will process your order:

http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com/p/webinar-discounts.html

Now back to our regular programming.

SSDI Has One or No Matches at Fold3.com--Which Is It?

Update (2:58 pm Central--11 January 2013): Fold3.com is aware of this issue and the development team is working on it. I don't think they have a dartboard with my picture on it (grin!) 

-----------------------------------------
[original post]
Hopefully I'm am doing something wrong.

I have searched for my grandfather in the version of the Social Security Death Index that appears on Fold3.com.

I used Internet Explorer:

I used Google Chrome:

Both times I received interesting results--1 Match is indicated in the gray area and yet it says "No Matches found for john ufkes."

Mark me down as confused.

There are actually four John Ufkeses in the Social Security Death Index (using the one at GenealogyBank -but other versions also give individuals dying in the following years:

• 2006
• 2003
• 2000
• 1967

The last three are all first cousins--but the SSDI won't tell you that!

Hopefully someone can point me out on what is up with the SSDI at Fold3.com. Try it yourself and let me know if you have any thoughts. 

Is That Grandma or the Baby?

This 1850 census entry from Allegany County, Maryland, is split over two census pages. The enumeration for the household headed by John Fletcher indicates the dwelling number is 2620 and the family number is 2658.

1850 U. S. Census, Allegany County, Maryland, district 9, page 375 (upper left), John Fletcher household, dwelling 2620, family 2658 [continued on next page]; digital image at  Ancestry.com. 

The enumerator apparently corrected the dwelling and household numbers for the household members who appear on the subsequent page, writing them over as 2620 and 2658 to indicate they should appear as being in the household headed by John Fletcher and that they were not their own separate household.

I'm not certain about the relationship among the various members of this household. That's not the point of this post--but it is a concern. However, that's not my immediate question.

How old is the Amanda who is listed last in the household? Ancestry.com transcribed the age as 72. I'm thinking that the age is the fractional part of a year with 12 written as the denominator.

For those who understandably need the full image, click on the image below to pull up the full page few of this census record.

Here is  Ancestry.com's database transcription of this entry:

Always look at the image. I'm thinking that's not Grandma. It's the baby.

Harry Shipe in the SSDI--Four Databases--Three Results

The "Social Security Death Index" often confuses researchers.  The confusion usually centers on someone who is not in the database that "should" be.

In the case of Harry Shipe that is not the problem. He is in the database.

Brief Background

The actual file used to create the several renderings of "Social Security Death Index" is the "Death Master File" maintained by the Social Security Administration. This file contains the zip code of last residence of the deceased and the zip code where the last benefit (if any) was sent for the deceased. It includes also the date of birth and date of death. Not every dead person who had a social security number is in the file. It is only those deaths that were reported to the Social Security Administration. The details we will not go into here. Fairly simple stuff most of the time.

Except apparently for Harry Shipe.

Harry Shipe died in Illinois in December of 1979. He was a a first cousin of my Grandmother Neill. The fact that Harry is a grandson of Ira Sargent should have been a clue that there'd be something interesting in researching him. And there was. 

The dates of birth (5 May 1898) and death (December 1979) are the same for Harry in all three databases. The other information is slightly different as can be seen in the screen shots of the results.

Ancestry.com

 Ancestry.com 's results screen for Harry Shipe is shown here:

GenealogyBank

The result from Genealogybank.com  is shown here:

FamilySearch

The database result for Harry Shipe from FamilySearch is shown here:

NEHGS

Thanks to Randy Seaver!


NEHGS American Ancestors has:

HARRY SHIPE
Birth date: May 5, 1898.
Death date: Dec, 1979.
SSN: 351-32-6319.
State Issued: IL.
Residence location: Sutter, Illinois, 62373.
Residence county: Hancock.
Payment location: MENDON, Illinois, 62351.
Payment county: ADAMS

It may help to see the results in a chart:

Website	Last Residence Zip	Last Residence Location	Last Benefit Zip	Last Benefit Location
Ancestry.com	62373	Sutter, Hancock, Illinois	62351	Mendon, Adams, Illinois
GenealogyBank	62373	Sutter, Hancock, Illinois	62373	Mendon/Tioga; Adams, Illinois [sic]
FamilySearch	62373	Sutter, Hancock, Illinois	Not given	Not given
NEHGS	62373	Sutter, Illinois	62351	Mendon, Illinois

From the United States Postal Service website:

• 62351--is Mendon, Illinois and Tioga, Illinois.
• 62373--is Sutter, Illinois.

The locations are pulled from the zip codes. The last residence is consistent. It is the last benefit that is somewhat confusing.  I am not understanding why the zip codes are different in the different databases. I understand that the database provides a last residence zipcode and a last benefit zipcode.  I am working on getting an answer to why the difference. Stay tuned--when (and if) I have an answer we'll post an update.

Oh, why didn't I mention Fold3?

Stay tuned for that as well.

Direction Going Forward

We have received some good comments behind the scenes about the blog and going forward into 2013--thanks.

Based upon those, we're going to keep the webinar announcements here to a minimum--email casefileclues@gmail.com if you would like to be on that list. We do have to pay the bills (grin!).

That said...

Ads for "offers," sales on genealogical databases, equipment sales, will not be used as blog posts. I don't like to weed through those and I know that readers don't either. So we don't. We may prattle on about Rufus D. Stephens in upstate New York pre-1850, the nuances of the Social Security Death Index, but I'm not going to blog about how you should buy the latest gizmo that you simply cannot "do" genealogical research without.

We are also not going to discuss what I broadly call "genealogical politics." There are other blogs that discuss these topics (including what genealogical societies should "do" or "not do," what the role of professional genealogical organizations should be, what it "means" to be a genealogist, what a professional is, etc.) I have enough of these sort of conversations at work, so I'm not going to have them here--that sort of verbiage you will have to read elsewhere.

And sometimes blog posts may seem disjointed and we may leave you hanging on a certain person or problem for a while.

That's because many of the research based posts are written as I'm researching--usually as a way to keep me focused and organize my thoughts. So--sometimes I don't know the answers yet.

A Rough Rider Administrates

We have discussed Rough Rider Heye Albers before, but a search on

 

 Genealogybank.com for him located an additional reference from 1922, long after his time as a Rough Rider was over.


His name appears in a legal notice when he was apparently appointed the administrator of the estate of Carolina Johes in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

Date: Wednesday, December 27, 1922  

Paper: Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, NM) --obtained on 

 

 Genealogybank.com

From this, we know that Jones left no valid will and that she was dead by 11 January of 1922. That's about all we can safely infer from the document. This is one nice thing about newspapers being indexed--items of this type appear on full text searches. Otherwise locating Heye as the administrator would be difficult because indexes we currently have to records of this type only index the name of the deceased individual whose estate is being settled.

Probably the easiest thing to do would be to attempt to locate Carolina Jones in the 1920 census. Of course, records of her estate settlement would also be helpful, but they do not have to indicate whether or not there is any relationship between Heye Albers and Carolina Jones.

Don't ignore those legal notices when searching the newspapers at 

 

 Genealogybank.com. 

New On FamilySearch 9 January 2013

New on FamilySearch today:

• Washington, County Naturalization Records, 1850-1982
• United States, General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934--indexed

Ira Sargent Breaks His Hip in 1911

Even seemingly meaningless clippings like this reference to a broken hip can be useful.

The Quincy Daily Journal;

Date: Jul 25, 1911;

Section: None;

Page: 7

;digital

 image Quincy [Illinois] Public Library website, http://www.quincylibrary.org, obtained 9 January 2013.

The Quincy Daily Journal;

 Date: Jul 25, 1911;

 Section: None;

 Page: 7

;digital 

This item tells me several things--that my ancestor was institutionalized at the Bartonville Hospital and that he was alive on 25 July 1911. If this event had happened before vital registration, the date may have been more significant. And, if these hospital records are closed, sealed, or not extant, this clipping provides evidence of Ira's institutionalization.

Newspaper clippings may make mention of items that are in closed "public" records. Is there a chance that something that's in a closed or non-extant record is mentioned in a newspaper that you can access?

Updated on FamilySearch 8 January 2013

The following items were listed as being updated on FamilySearch on 8 January 2013:

• United States, Index to Indian Wars Pension Files, 1892-1926
• United States, Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files