James Pollard on GenealogyBank

I've been searching for Emma Sargent's five husbands at GenealogyBank. Emma was born in Canada (probably Ontario) about 1840, the daughter of Clark and Mary (Dingman) Sargent. You'd think with that many, there'd be something.

I did run across this little gem, but it really didn't provide any direct clues and I need to confirm there weren't other James Pollards in the immediate area. I know that Emma and her James Pollard were in the same area of Iowa that this clipping mentions.

Hopefully we'll have an update on Emma. I've written about her for Casefile Clues in the past.

GenealogyBank has an interesting collection of older newspapers. Like most commercial newspaper sites, the coverage is hit and miss in some cases.

What Software Do You Use?

I was asked this question at a recent seminar I gave.

The answer I gave was "none."

It was an honest answer. I don't like telling attendees I use something that I don't. I really don't use a genealogy database of my own all that much. There are times when I think I should and I have used one in the past. I know there are several very capable programs out there. Because of how I research and the fact that I am constantly researching something for the newsletter Casefile Clues, I haven't taken the time to perform data entry into an actual genealogy database in several years. However, that doesn't mean that I don't extract data and use a computer to sort and analyze it. I just don't use one of the traditional genealogy databases to do the work.

Why?

I tend to find genealogy databases limiting--at least for how I work. Most of the families I'm working on have numerous conflicting records, missing pieces, inconsistencies, etc. I like to perform analysis and write up as much as possible my thought process as I transcribe. For some, this would seem the ideal reason to use a database. For census records, I have charts I use to extract the data to assist with analysis. I have a variety of charts and tables I use.

Does this occasionally get repetitive? Yes sometimes it does. Could I better manage footnotes and sources? Yes.

But I like the freedom that a word processing document gives me. Would it be helpful to have a software program "generate" the text of a genealogy report from the information already entered in my database? Perhaps. But I'm not writing compiled genealogies of several generations. I don't want to write compiled genealogies. That simply is not my interest. My preference is to write about the analysis of records and what they say and where the research should continue. For me that helps me research and discover more information.

I realize this may sound like heresy, but I don't think it is the end of the world if you don't put all your information in a genealogy database. I've made significant discoveries in the last several months on my great-grandmother's parents who married in Iowa in 1870. They both were part of a migration path that began for both their families in New England in the early 1800s. In the process of that research, I've written up most of what I have found. I've incorporated tables and charts where necessary. I've used maps (both contemporary and modern). I've used record images obtained from a variety of sources. Putting this together in chronologies and writing up my process and reasoning so that it made sense to me (and to others) has been invaluable.

The process of that writing has given me a long list of things to do. That list is in a chart, with goals and priorities attached. I love to use charts and tables for those things (attendees at the recent Tennessee Genealogical Society seminar KNOW that I like tables and charts). I just don't have information put in a "genealogy database" per se. My "to do" list on the family is fairly long as it is and as I discover more and incorporate that into the material I already have, the list gets longer. Are there things I might notice if I used one of the main databases for the information? Perhaps. There might be a time when I start entering the information into a database.

But for now, I'm making enough discoveries and have enough analysis to keep me busy that I don't find the need to stop for data entry. Transcribing, analyzing, and explaining my rationale in my word processing documents on my family keeps me occupied enough.

And that's ok.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

As a reminder, I'll be speaking at the following venues this fall:

• Germantown, TN--Tennessee Genealogical Society--16 October 2010
• Redwood City, CA---San Mateo Genealogical Society--6 November 2010

Visit the links above for more information or contact me about setting up your own seminar.

Saturday Specials at Casefile Clues

We are offering two specials today on my weekly how-to newsletter, Casefile Clues. More information is located here:

http://blog.casefileclues.com/2010/09/saturday-specials-at-casefile-clues.html

Out on a Limb about Footnote.com and Ancestry.com

There is much lamenting the acquisition of Footnote.com by Ancestry.com.

Is it a monopoly? Let's see--I can obtain genealogical information at a variety of other sources. Much of what Ancestry.com/Footnote.com has is on microfilm from the National Archives. What they are digitizing will also be available on FamilySearch at no charge.

While I greatly enjoy genealogy, it is important to remember that it is a hobby. Ancestry.com is not controlling food, gas, housing, transportation or other prices. On the list of things in the United States that concern me the acquisition of Footnote.com pales in comparison to:

• the state of the American economy
• the access some Americans have to health care
• the security of our borders and our handling of illegal immigrants
  
• occasional safety concerns over our food supply
• general levels of American literacy

I don't have answers to those problems either and won't post any comments one way or the other about them here.

Personally if I'm going to spend any time fighting "injustice," there are greater things to concern myself with.

And for those who've complained about the acquisition, do you know how well your local library is funded and how local records in your own area are being preserved?

James Rampley Finds Horses in 1782

I've been doing some searches on Genealogy Bank today and have made a few new discoveries, one of which is on this page.

James Rampley apparently found some stray horses and advertised them in the 16 July 1782 Maryland Journal. While not a major genealogical revelation, it would confirm that James was living at a certain point in time if that were necessary. It also would make a lovely illustration in a family genealogy. I never thought I'd find my 5th great-grandfather's name in a newspaper.

Hopefully I'll find some things I can use in Casefile Clues. Genealogy Bank has a variety of newspapers on their site, even some older ones like this.

We'll be posting additional items as I find them.

Daily Genealogy Transcriber

I've been having a great deal of fun with the Daily Genealogy Transcriber which is hosted at blogspot at http://genealogytranscriber.blogspot.com. Every day I post a new signature or name from a document and encourage readers and viewers to interpret the name and post suggestions.

Then usually within twenty-four hours or so, I post the answer. Reading the interpretations others have of the names is extremely interesting and provides additional perspective on searching for these names in records.

The Daily Genealogy Transcriber is one of two "daily" sites that I host--the other is "Genealogy Tip of the Day" at http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com. Comments to this site have been disabled because I was getting too much spam. Both sites have fan pages on Facebook where viewers of the site can post comments, etc.

Tips and images for the transcriber site ususally come from things I am working on for Casefile Clues, my weekly subscription based how-to newsletter. The blog for Casefile Clues provides some ideas and suggestions there as well, but really is just the tip of the iceberg compared to what is in the newsletter.

Not everything in genealogyland can be free--we all have bills to pay. One viewer of the "Tip of the Day" site was bothered that the newsletter was occasionally mentioned. She was entitled to her opinion (as was the person who agreed with her), but the fact remains--if you give everything away for free, you're left a little short at the end of the month yourself. And the last time I checked, the plumber or electrician didn't come to my house for free.

I encourage site visitors to use the Tip of the Day site and the Genealogy Transcriber site to help develop their research skills--even if you don't subscribe to the newsletter (you can subscribe to the tips via an RSS feed without any charge). There's even some suggestions on the Casefile Clues blog that are helpful, even if you don't subscribe (we're working on including more Google Maps in our regular posts there).

There are ads on the Tip and Transcriber sites--in reality they don't provide any significant income. And I'm not one to overload sites with ads or spend hours writing posts that will generate high search engine rankings with little actual content. I'd rather the Tip and Transcriber sites help readers--that's the the real goal (and of course generate a subscriber or two to the newsletter).

The Casefile Clues site and blog is completely free of advertisements, affilitate links, etc. The only link to any subscription anything is for the newsletter. That way there is no preceived conflict of any sort. We also keep the price of a subscription to Casefile Clues as low as possible--there aren't other how-to magazines out there at $17 a year! Our overhead is low.

I'll be pretty blunt. I write Casefile Clues for myself with the kind of information and guidance I wish I had when I began my research. It seems like that has gotten a good response from readers and subscribers. I know I can't please everyone all the time--so I'm not trying.

ACPLmicrofilm at Archive.org

The Allen County Public Library continues to add microfilm to the Archive.org site

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=%28contributor%3A%28Allen%20County%20Public%20Library%20Genealogy%20Center%29%20AND%20collection%3Amicrofilm%20AND%20-collection%3A1*_census%29%20AND%20-mediatype%3Acollection&sort=-publicdate

Give it a look!

Family Search Pilot Site Adds a Scattering of Illinois Probate Records

There are a scattering of unindexed Illinois probate records on the Pilot Family Search site. They include materials from the counties of:

• Alexander
• Coles
• Effingham
• Gallatin
• Hamilton
• Hancock
• LaSalle
• Logan
• Madison
• Massac
• Piatt
• Pope
• Rock Island
• Shelby
• White
• Whiteside

Labor Day Sale On Casefile Clues

Through tomorrow, we are running a Labor Day Sale on my newsletter Casefile Clues. A year of issues for $14.50--that's a 15% savings. Check it out at
http://blog.casefileclues.com/2010/09/labor-day-special-on-casefile-clues.html

Demographics of Genealogists

Interesting posts by a variety of bloggers on what the "true" demographics of genealogists are.



I have some thoughts, but I'm not certain I'm right. I'm not really certain anyone is. What I do wonder is if anyone does know, are they going to really share this information? Personally, if I knew, I'd try and use that information to maximize my market share or niche of the market. I'm always a little skeptical of anyone who says they know the "real inside" answers and then shares those answers with the masses. But that's just me.

Court Records Hawkins County, Tennessee 1788-1801

Used CD (actually used once)--Court Records of Hawkins County, Tennessee, 1788-1801, by DMK Heritage, ISBN 1933268-78-6. $20, plus shipping. Email me for details.

More Items from the Western Illinois University Sequel

This image comes from the 1930 Western Illinois University Sequel, page 132. This is the volleyball team.

In the back, 4th from the left is "M. Habben."

I think I know who this is, but will ask for some ideas first and will post a followup.

Again, I'm playing with CARLI Digital Collections http://collections.carli.illinois.edu

Academic Collections at Libraries

While attending a session at our annual fall faculty workshop, I ran across this picture of Lester Rampley from the 1926 Western Illinois Univeristy Sequel. This picture was on page 57.

Lester was a cousin of Fannie Rampley Neill, my great-grandmother and was a minister.

Might have more discoveries to post from this database, CARLI Digital Collections (Digital archives from Illinois facilities).

So don't forget that your local library may have access to databases that could help your research.

Casefile Clues--Not at FGS Discount-$15 a year

Genealogists are gathering this week for the annual FGS conference, but some of us are still researching at home.

Because all of us can't get to the conference to see the vendor hall, Casefile Clues (weekly how-to newsletter) is offering blog readers a discount on the annual newsletter, which one subscriber called a regular "conference lecture in her email."

$15 gets you a year of Casefile Clues--visit this link to make secure payment. This offer ends Saturday, the same day as the conference--considering taking advantage of it now--before you forget.

Thanks!

And now, I'll get back to work myself!

Why Books Are Still Great!

I had downloaded digital copies of this book a couple of times, so my seeing it at the Allen County Public Library recently on my group trip was not necessarily going to be completely new to me. While digital copies of books are great, I wanted see an actual copy and make a few quick copies while I had it in my possession--paper sometimes is just easier for me to use.

Imagine my surprise when I opened it and discovered that the library's copy had been autographed by the author! William Aaron Sargent would be a very distant relative, but my digital copies had no such inscription. I didn't take my camera, but fortunately Wanda (one of my trip goers) had her camera and she snapped some shots of it for me.

There is even a note that the library (or someone) later paid $18.50 for the book.

The Sargent genealogy begins with William, the immigrant from England to Massachusetts and continues down until 1895. Unfortunately my great-great-grandfather is only listed as "son" for his father--which is part of what delayed my ability to use the book.

Now that I've broken through on my New England lines maybe I'll make similar discoveries next year on my group trip to Ft. Wayne. I'll be writing in more detail about my research for my newsletter, Casefile Clues.

Sometimes it is still nice to have the actual book!

An Alienist?

I'm working on some papers from an insanity case for a relative for an upcoming issue of Casefile Clues.

When reading the letterhead on a letter contained in the file, I came across a title I had never heard of before: Alienist.

Simply put, it's an obselete term for a doctor who dealt with mental disorders. This is fitting for a doctor who was on the board of adminstration for the Illinois State Hospitals, which concentrated on patients who had been adjudged to be insane.

The term really had nothing direct to do with my research, but was an interesting short diversion.

What's Wrong with This Picture?

I'm working on this family for an upcoming issue of Casefile Clues. This 1860 census enumeration comes from Macon County, Missouri. There has got to be something wrong with it.

Any ideas what?

We'll have the answer in an upcoming issue.

2011 Research Trip to the Allen County Public Library

We just completed our 2010 trip and have set the dates for our 2011 trip: 3 August -7 August 2011

We are headed to the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne in August 2011! Our trip dates are arrive on 3 August (check in to hotel, meet at 6:30 in hotel, and receive library orientation at 7:00). Trip participants will check out of hotel the morning of 7 August 2011-Sunday.

A more detailed brochure will be posted later--this gives you the basic information about our trip.

We have a group rate at the Ft. Wayne Hilton, you can have up to four guests per room ($99). You will need to request the Rootdig.com rate--which we will link to when the website has been set up. The Ft. Wayne Hilton is conveniently located to the library and is where we will have morning meetings from 8:00 a.m. until 8:45 a.m.--the library opens at 9:00 a.m. You can call the hotel to make reservations and we'll have a direct link to our group rate as soon as I can get it up. You do NOT have to stay at the Hilton and can stay at other hotels/motels in the area--that is up to you. The Hilton is convenient if you want to walk back during the time we are in the library.

What we'll do:

• Michael will make morning presentations Thursday-Saturday.
• Michael is in library from open to close--except for lunch/dinner
• Every attendee gets at least one 30 minute consultation with Michael and more as time allows
• Michael is available for "drop-in" consultations when he's in library and not with another person
• Trip participants can email Michael questions, etc. before the trip and we'll encourage everyone to get ready as much as possible before the trip actually starts
• A private trip website where members can post questions about the trip, their research, etc. We'll also post files there to help attendees with their research and with preparation for the trip.
• Assistance with pre-trip planning (through the website listed above and through email).
• Trip participants are encouraged to send problems to Michael BEFORE the trip actually starts.

Our trip would start at 7:00 p.m. with an orientation on Wednesday night. Early arrivals could easily go to the library before that or meet with me if I'm able to arrive early. We would have all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the library with a Sunday morning hotel checkout. Participants who were fairly close could check out of the hotel on Saturday if they desired. There would be a Dutch-treal meal Friday night after the library closes.

$125 is the complete registration fee (payment can be made here via PayPal). Refunds (less $30 administrative fee) can be had for those make full payment and who cancel before 31 July 2011. You can also hold your spot by making a deposit payment of $50 . Those who would like to pay by check can do so by sending me an email to make arrangements. A registration packet will be emailed to those who register. Any questions about the trip can be emailed to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com.

Trip participants are responsible for:

• making their own travel arrangements to Ft. Wayne
• paying for their own meals, etc.
• making their own hotel arrangements and paying for hotel accomodations
• paying for their own copies

More later as a few details are ironed out, but this is the essence of it. Registration will be limited to 20.

Checking the Original Reveals Errors

I'm working on a list of siblings for my Clark Sargent for an upcoming issue of Casefile Clues--in an attempt to cement the relationships and determine other things about the family.

While completing census work, I located brother Amos Sargent in Potsdam, New York, in 1850. While waiting for the census image to load, I was reading the transcription that appears beneath the image on Ancestry.com. It's small on the image shown here, but the transcription lists an Alonzo Sargent and I wondered who he was. Turns out he really wasn't Alonzo Sargent, but was Alonzo Page--a hired hand or something most likely.

Always pays to read the actual image!

Signatures Moving

Our genealogy signatures/names transcriptions have been moved and will be posted daily via this site:

http://genealogytranscriber.blogspot.com/

This separates the name entries out for those who are interested and makes it easier to see the older ones. Also makes it easier for us to create the fan page on Facebook.

May 2011 Research Trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake

We are now accepting registrants in our May 2011 Family History Research Trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake.

http://rootdig.blogspot.com/2010/06/reserve-spot-in-my-2011-family-history.html contains more details about our trip. Email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com with questions.

$50 will hold your spot!

Discounted room rates are available and we stay right next door at the Plaza--very convenient!

Can You Read It?

This is a signature from a 1880 era pension application for a Civil War veteran in Iowa. This is the signature of the husband of a deponent in the case.

What do you think the name is?

I'll post the answer in a few days.

Can You Read It?

This signature comes from an 1880 era Civil War pension application in Iowa. This testimony was given by the ex-wife of the veteran.

If you think you know what this name is, post a reply.

We'll post the answer in a few days.

Can You Read It?

This is a signature of a likely Virginia native born in the 1780s who was living in Kentucky in the 1850s.

We'll post the answer in a few days.