FamilySearch: Yates County, NY Materials

The following database is showing as updated on FamilySearch

New York, Yates County, Swann Vital Records Collection, 1723-2009

Daily Genealogy Transcriber

One of the blogs I write is the Daily Genealogy Transcriber. On it, I try and post daily a signature or other piece of writing for readers to try and interpret.

The idea behind the Daily Genealogy Transcriber is to see how easy it can be to transcribe the same word or name in a variety of ways. Only a small part of the handwriting is posted. In the case of signatures, that may be all the writing the person did on that document as the clerk, notary, or lawyer wrote out the rest of the document. For this reason signatures can be especially challenging for genealogists to transcribe and why we tend to focus on those items.

The Daily Genealogy Transcriber also includes pieces of handwriting that is not someone's signature. In these cases, I try and post something that can easily be misinterpreted or viewed in several ways.

The purpose behind Daily Genealogy Transcriber is to get people to see how names and other items can be "wrong" in indexes in other finding aids.

And that never hurts.

A Meander Towards Leander

One has to be careful using names as hard evidence of a family connection.

But it certainly is tempting and it can give a researcher encouragement.

My elusive Benjamin Butler (born in New York State about 1819, died in Vernon County, Missouri after 1880) had children with probably two wives. One of the sons was named Landon or Leander. The name is not the most common of names during the time period when Benjamin's children were born.

I'm trying to determine the "family of origin" for Benjamin's first wife Margaret Stephens. The man who possibly is her father is a Rufus D. Stephens. This Rufus D. Stephens (born in 1773 in Connecticut) had several siblings, including a Leander [Marjean Holmes Workman, "Joshua Stephens/Stevens and Christiana Dutcher of Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 142, No. 2, April 2011, p. 95].

The fact that the Rufus had a brother Leander and that a man who may be Rufus's daughter had a son named Leander may be coincidental and nothing more.

Benjamin Butler cannot be found in the 1860 census and a better way to work through this possible Stephens connection would be to look at locations where Rufus's siblings (named in the article referenced above) were living in 1860 and look closely for Benjmain Butler there. Families tended to migrate in groups and since attempts to locate Benjamin near probable Butler relatives has not been successful it may be time to look and see if he migrated with possible relatives of his wife.

And that may even help me to tie into her family of origin.

Upgrade Skills with Our Webinars

With summer coming there’s no better time to increase your genealogical research skills. Our low-priced presentations can get you back on your research path.

Organizing Online Searches

When I search databases for more than five minutes, I stop and get organized. There's a lot to be said for that approach. This presentation demonstrated tried and true approaches that I actually use--not ones simply made up to make a "neat presentation."

This webinar presents suggestions for how to organize your online searches, including creating lists of search options, creating search logs that assist in problem-solving, and tracking negative results and eliminated matches to repeat viewing the same image over and over. Organized searches makes it possible to accurately problem-solve and allows others to provide constructive criticism. Also included is a discussion of when it may be time to stop.  Detailed handout included. Download is immediate.Order the presentation for immediate download here for $6.25.

Charts, Charts and More Charts

Readers of the newsletter know that I love charts--and I'm not talking about pedigree and family group charts. Instead I'm talking about charts that organize information you have in order to see what's missing, notice patterns, and organize your research. In this webinar, I talk about key elements to include in any chart, troubleshooting before you get started, brainstorming, and ways to get creative with your data. Geared towards advanced beginners and intermediate researchers. -add to cart.

Seeing the Patterns-Organizing Your Information

This lecture discusses the problem-solving process and a variety of ways to   organize your information with the intent of getting the research to notice overlooked clues, patterns, trends, and information. $8.50 includes handout and hour-long lecture. -add to cart.

Genealogy Fundamentals

These presentations cover basic topics in 20 minutes or less. Short and to the point. Topics include citations, wills, federal land records, and more. View the complete list here.

All Presentations

A list of over thirty how-to presentations on a variety of genealogical topics. All priced for under $8. View the complete list here.

This email can be viewed as a web page at:

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

Thanks!

And good luck with your own research.

Michael John Neill

Genealogy Tip of the Day

http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com

FamilySearch Updates: NH Marriages, NY Naturalization Index

The following databases are showing as updated on FamilySearch since our last update:

New Hampshire, Marriage Certificates, 1948-1959

New York, Naturalization Index, 1792-1906

How significant the changes are I do not know.

Updated on FamilySearch-Iowa Births

The following database is showing as updated on FamilySearch since our last update:

Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935

Georgia Deaths Updated at FamilySearch

This database is showing as updated at FamilySearch since our last posting:

Georgia, Deaths, 1928-1930

My Spreadsheet of Immigrants

It has been a while since I posted this challenge to readers: Make a chart with all your immigrant ancestors, including as many details of their entry as known.

I've had some success in locating a few more of my "pond-crossers," so I've posted the chart again. This is not a five-minute activity for some of us, but I think it's well worth the effort as it gets as gaps and omissions we may have in our research.


 

Have any readers made headway on their list of immigrants?

Updated On FamilySearch: Washington State County Records

The following database is showing as updated on FamilySearch since our last post:

Washington, County Records, 1803-2009

A Picture of Aunt Lucinda--the Shaker With Descendants

This is the first time I have ever found a relative's photograph in an archival collection in any library. And a wonderful picture it is. It can be very easy to overlook special collections at regional, college, and university libraries in our ancestral search. Any archival collection has the potential to contain material on a relative, but the chance is increased when our relative was a member of a unique group--in this case a Shaker.

The original copy of this photograph is in the Shaker Collection at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Lucinda joined the Shaker community in Enfield, New Hampshire in the 1840s and remained their until her death. 

The name on the back of the photograph is "Lucinda Furnum." Based upon the reasonableness of the variation and census records, I'm fairly certain this picture is the Lucinda (Sargent) Fairman who was born in Leicester, Vermont, the daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Gibson) Sargent.

What I am not certain of is when the picture was taken. I also need to find out of there is any significance to a Shaker to what she is wearing.

The image posted as a part of this blog post has been created from the front and back of the actual image by using a digital version of the photograph obtained on the Hamilton College Library website. It is a great little find.

Samuel and Sarah (Gibson) Sargent are my 4th great-grandparents.

Updated on FamilySearch: Wisconsin and Hamilton County, Ohio Materials

The following are showing as new or updated since our last FamilySearch post:

Wisconsin, Probate Estate Files, 1848-1948

Ohio, Hamilton County Records, 1791-1994

The Only Stone Left Standing

[this post was posted to my Casefile Clues blog some time ago and we're reposting it here since Shakers have been a recent topic of discussion]

This "find" found me thanks to my earlier blog post on Lucinda (Sargent) Fairman. 


Work on Lucinda, who lived in a Shaker community in Enfield, New Hampshire, has taken a back seat to other things. However, a contributor to FindAgrave recently photographed her tombstone in the Shaker Cemetery in Enfield, New Hampshire. According to the information on the cemetery on Findagrave, Lucinda's stone is the only one remaining. It's not often I get that lucky--over 300 burials and the only stone left is the one I actually need. 


This photograph of her stone was taken by Nicole S Vecchi and is used here with her permission.   

The Findagrave entry can be viewed here. 


Hopefully we'll have periodic updates on Lucinda and her life in the Shaker community.

Lucinda is a sister to Clark Sargent--my 3rd great-grandfather.

Shakers Can Have Descendants

Ancestry.com recently released a set of databases concentrating on Quakers. Their marketing materials included an ad indicating that there were millions of Americans who descend from Quakers. While I can't verify the "millions" statement (no one really can), I have no reason to doubt it. As marketing material goes it's not as "out there" as some statements one sees in advertisements.

At this point in my research, I don't have any Quaker ancestors. But the ad got me to thinking. I do have a relative (Lucinda [Sargent] Fairman) who was a Shaker. The only reason I connect the two denominations is because their names rhyme. And in a moment of silliness, I hoped that Ancestry.com wouldn't include a similar ad for a collection of Shaker materials:

It's a joke and if you're not seeing it then there is something you don't know about the Shakers.

Shakers did not believe in reproducing, which is why they died out. It's difficult to keep a religion going when the adherents are not creating a new pool of potential members.

But there are individuals who have Shaker ancestors. My ancestor's sister was a Shaker and she has descendants. That's because she joined a Shaker community in New England after she and her husband had two children. The sister of my ancestor stayed in the Shaker community until her death. Her sons left upon reaching adulthood, married and had families of their own.

So Shakers can have descendants.

But probably not as many as Quakers.

New or Updated or on FamilySearch-WA County Mateials and NY Published Passenger Lists

The following are showing as new or updated on FamilySearch:

Washington, County Records, 1803-2009

New York, Book Indexes to Passenger Lists, 1906-1942

A Citation Question-Separate Publications Bound Together

Digital images are great, but sometimes they create slight confusion when crafting a citation from them.

I located a reference in a Depression era state university report to my grandmother's sister. Apparently putting her name on the list of students of junior standing was done prematurely. My aunt wasn't the only one in this situation and it's not clear if she didn't make sufficient progress that semester due to academic problems, financial problems or something else. It's very possible that money temporarily ran out, although she did eventually graduate.

I'm trying to craft a reasonable citation before I put the image on the blog. While I don't cite in proper format here, I do need to include all essential details of where the document was located. I located it on Mocavo.com and Mocavo.com's "publication" of this report appears to have been a digital copy of a bound volume of reports from several years housed in a university library. 

I might not have realized this if I had simply copied the image with Aunt Margaret's name and stopped. The fact that her reference was on page 8 and the image number from the Mocavo.com publication was over 800 should have been a clue that I was looking at either a serial publication or a bound copy of several individual items. People wonder why scanning covers of books is necessary. Materials like this make it clear.

It was clear to me that the cover was not the original, but rather was the result of items that had been sent by the university to the bindery to be bound for better preservation. 

But this brings me back to the original question: "What do I need in this citation?"

While I haven't crafted the citation yet, I think it needs to include more than just the reference to the publication name that Mocavo.com has given to this bound item. Websites come and go. My citation needs to include:

• the website-Mocavo.com, date of access, and the publication name Mocavo.com assigned to this publication.
• reference to the university library that houses the original from which the digital image was made.
• complete name and date of original publication.
• Title, author, etc.
• Specific report which mentions the individual in question--that's necessary as it gets to which state school she attended and helps others find this publication if the original bound one cannot be found.

Some may say that the university library portion of this reference is not necessary if the complete date and place of original publication is provided. Perhaps. But it makes it easier for someone else (or me) to later locate the original if necessary. 

Stay tuned. Aunt Margaret's "change" in classification has created a few issues for me. It probably created a few issues for her as well, but I don't have any first hand knowledge of those.

New Webinars End of April-Land and Court Records and Illinois Research

Illinois Research-rescheduled due to recording difficulties

Geared towards advanced beginners and intermediate researchers, it focuses on local records, what makes Illinois different, and larger statewide facilities. Handout included.

29 April 2014—9 PM Eastern-8 PM Central-6 PM Pacific Register .

Court Records-Pig Blood In the Snow

If searching and using court records has confused you, this presentation will help you break through those barriers that may be hindering your research. This session will include an overview of local court record structure in the United States, how records are organized and how they can be searched, and effective research strategies in these records. There is a good chance that your ancestor interacted with a local court in his area. Don’t miss out on these records. And---we’ll show you why this lecture has the subtitle “Pig Blood In the Snow.” Handout included.

30 April 2014—8 PM Eastern-7 PM Central-5 PM Pacific Register 

Land Records

If you have avoided land records because searching, finding, and interpreting them has confused them, you may be missing out on good genealogical information. This presentation will discuss the elements of a land deed, how land records usually are organized in the United States and how to effectively and accurately interpret these records. This session is geared towards the advanced beginner or intermediate researcher. Handout included.

1 May 2014—9 PM Eastern-8 PM Central-6 PM Pacific Register

Email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com with questions or registration difficulties. 

This page is http://rootdig.blogspot.com/2014/04/new-webinars-end-of-april.html

FamilySearch: IL Naturalization Petitions; IN Marriages; NH Marriages

The following databases are showing as having been updated since our last posting:

Illinois, Northern District Petitions for Naturalization, 1906-1991

Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959

New Hampshire, Marriage Certificates, 1948-1959

FamilySearch: MD and DE Freedmen's Bureau Records and DE Vitals

These databases are showing as new or updated since our last posting:

Maryland and Delaware, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872

Delaware Vital Records, 1680-1971

Henry Miller Enumerated in 1880 Dead and Alive

Millers can be difficult to find. My Henry Miller is no exception to that rule. Trying to find Henry in the 1860 through 1880 federal census schedules lead to an interesting discovery in the 1880 enumeration.

In 1860, Henry and his wife, Geske Catherine Miller, are enumerated in Brown County, Illinois, with their daughter Anke and her husband Henrich Adams. The adults in the enumeration are all indicated as having been born in Hanover. The women, at least on this census page, are enumerated as "Mrs. FirstInitial Lastname."

The Millers cannot be located in 1870. I'm still working on locating that enumeration, but quick approaches have not been successful and a detailed study and search via the family structure may be necessary. The Millers probably are still living with the Adams family, although is possible that they are living with or near their other married daughter, Heipke Mueller Dirks in Adams County, Illinois.

In 1880, Henry Miller is indicated as being a father-in-law in the household of Henry Adams in Brown County, Illinois. Except the entry for the 81-year old is crossed off  on the census sheet which is dated 12 June 1880. The instructions indicated that only people living in the household on 1 June 1880 should be listed.

Apparently that's why Henry's name is crossed out--he's dead. The 1880 Mortality Schedule for Pea Ridge Township, Brown County, Illinois, indicated that Henry died in March of 1880.

So why was he listed as being in the household of his son-in-law on 1 June.

The only explanation is that someone was confused or misunderstood the instructions. Henry cannot have died in March of 1880 and been alive on 1 June 1880.

The other name crossed out on the same census page in the household before the Adamses is Henry Harberts. The 1880 mortality schedule indicates he died in August of 1879 making his listing in the 1880 population schedule all the more confusing as more time has elapsed.

Which makes me wonder, was the census taker confused? Is it possible that Germans being enumerated did not speak adequate English and that the census taker simply did not understand them?

I started this census search with the hope of finding the Millers in an actual passenger list. The 1880 mortality schedule and Henry's enumeration while dead, got me slightly distracted.

The mortality reference indicated that Henry had lived for 22 years in the county where he died. That may come in helpful locating a passenger manifest entry--assuming it is correct.

Stay tuned.

Freedmen's Bureau Records on FamilySearch: North Carolina and Virginia

The following databases are showing as new or updated since our last update:

North Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Records, 1863-1872

Virginia, Freedmen's Bureau Letters or Correspondence, 1865-1872

The More Specific I Am the More Hits I Get

Again, I am confused by Ancestry.com's search. 

Ok, I'm not really confused. I know it's not working the way it is supposed to and I'm irritated. I love the wildcard options we have, but there's simply something about the search algorithm (or at least the error message) that is incorrect. 

It was fairly simple. I wanted to search for Johann(es) Grass who is believed to have made the trip from Germany to the United States in the 1880s. I'm not exactly certain of the year, but the Ostfriesen native appears as a sponsor for a grandchild in Illinois in the 1880s. Those details formed the basis of my search. 

Not certain of what port Johann would have used for his arrival, I chose to search all of the "Immigration & Travel" records at Ancestry.com by searching as shown below.

There were only 132 hits. This is not so many that I cannot go through all of them, but I decided that since Johann was around 1815, I would refine my search to concentrate on immigrants of that age.

And so I added 1815 (plus or minus ten years) to my search.That should give me fewer hits and make it easier to concentrate on those items that match my more narrow search.

Except I got "Too many matches."

How can there be too many matches? I've refined my search even more than it was originally constructed.

This search is more narrow than the one that resulted in 132 hits. I should have obtained fewer than 132 hits.

How can less than 132  be "too many?"

This is not the first time I have received results of this type.

I don't want to be told to "refine" my search--that's what I did.

I don't want to be told to search specific databases--after all, we're told now that "broad" and "global" searches are the way to go. That's how searchers get a more "positive user experience." I have a "positive user experience" when search responds in a way that makes sense.

There is no reason why this search should return "too many hits."

My problem with this is two-fold:

• There simply are not too many hits to display them.
• If Ancestry.com cannot get this search to work the way that it should, are there other searches (ones that don't give errors) that might not be working correctly? It makes me wonder if I'm missing results (and maybe there were "other" Bernards on my search from yesterday that simply didn't show up). My conclusion that I had "my" Bernard yesterday was partially based on what search results were returned to me by the search at Ancestry.com. 

Many of us make conclusions based upon search results at various sites. We may not want to admit it, but we do....especially when we are looking for a needle in a haystack and don't have any other contextual names upon which to draw conclusions. That's the case with Bernard--he traveled alone. 

I just wish Ancestry.com could make this search work the way it should work. 

I don't need smart phone apps. I don't need the ability to research at 3 a.m. on my cell phone in my bed when I'm half asleep. I don't need to know where my DNA was 2,000 years ago.

And I don't need lectures on Boolean searching--which is what I got from a staffer a few years ago. I have a master's degree in mathematics--I understand Boolean logic, ands, inclusive ors, exclusive ors, nested searches, order of operations, etc. etc. 

I just need this damned search to work. 

FamilySearch: Freedmen's Bureau Records (MD, DE, TX), IN Marriages, Naturalizations (NY and RI)

FamilySearch indicated the following databases are new or updated since our last posting:

New York, Naturalization Index, 1792-1906

Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959

Ohio, Cuyahoga County Probate Files, 1813-1931

Rhode Island, District Court Naturalization Indexes, 1906-1991

Maryland and Delaware, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872

Massachusetts, Boston Crew Lists, 1917-1943

Texas, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1870

After Thirty Years I Have Found Bernard

I've searched for my mother's immigrant ancestors in passenger manifests for over thirty years. All of her families immigrated to the United States from Ostfriesland, Germany between the 1850s and 1883. Most of them have been found on passengers lists arriving through either New York or New Orleans.

Today I think I've located another one: Bernard Dirks. Bernard was a native of Etzel, Ostfriesland, Germany who settled near Coatsburg in Adams County, Illinois, where he died in the 1910s. I really didn't "need" his passenger list, as his origins in Germany have been well documented. But it was a missing piece of the puzzle and one never knows what additional information may surface on a manifest.

Bernard's two census enumerations where immigration information is provided both indicate an arrival year of 1852:

• 1910  US Federal Census, Honey Creek Township, Enumeration District 12, sheet 4B
• 1900 US Federal Census, Honey Creek Township, Enumeration District 109, Sheet 6B

The consistency suggests that the same person provided the same information--it's not a guarantee that the year is correct. But at least the years are consistent.

After some additional time spent with wildcard searching at Ancestry.com I discovered a "Bernard Dirks" having arrived in New York in July of 1852. This was the only reasonably close match that I was able to locate performing a wildcard search with vowels replaced by wildcard operators.

Family tradition (from Altje Goldenstein Worthington, grand-daughter of Bernard) was that he landed in New York, worked there a few years and came to Illinois. I am uncertain of how true that is as very few Ostfriesens spent time in New York State upon immigrating during the time period that Bernard arrived.

I'm as certain as I can be at this point that this is the entry for "my Bernard." It is known that he immigrated before he married and, to date, no relatives of his have been located in the United States so his arriving without other Dirkses isn't unusual. 

War of 1812 Warrants on BLM Site--A Suggestion

[note: this post is not meant to be a comprehensive discussion of these records]

Researchers sometimes forget about the War of 1812 and the military benefits later provided to its veterans and widows. The majority of benefits for War of 1812 service took the form of land warrants which were good for a specific quantity of land in areas still owned by the federal government.

The bulk of these warrants were given in the 1850s, stemming from legislation during that time. The warrrant image in this post was created from the surrendered warrant of Clara Lake and was based upon her husband's service in the War of 1812 from Virginia.

One quick (but not full-proof) way to locate these warrants is through the Bureau of Land Management website. When searching for these warrants on the site, make certain you search for warrants (I leave the patents unchecked as that's for the person who actually settled the property which may or may not have been the veteran/widow and which may "clutter" my search results). 

Make certain you have the location set to "any." The warrants are tied in the database to the location where the property was patented (actually settled). That location may have nothing to do with where the veteran served from during the war or lived at during the warrant application.

Richard Lake and his wife Clara lived in Virginia and Kentucky. The property was eventually patented in Iowa by the person who purchased the warrant. If I had ignored the result because the Lakes never lived in Iowa, I would have missed the reference.

And when there is a patent on the BLM site based up on a military warrant, there are two things at the National Archives that you want to obtain copies of:

• the application for the warrant
• the surrendered warrant

The application tends to have more detailed information on service and life after the service, but the surrendered warrant can have clues as a well. 

And for people who lived during this era, we need all the clues we can get. 

Updated on FamilySearch: Boston Taxes from 19th Century

These are showing as updated since our last update:


Massachusetts, Boston Tax Records, 1822-1918