RootDig.com

17 April 2007

Ft. Wayne Research Trip--Hotel Information

Just to remind you....the cost of the trip does not include the hotel. One version of our flyers seemed to indicate the hotel was included. It is not. Those arrangements need to be made separately. More information on our trip is at:
http://www.rootdig.com/acpltrip.html

Questions about the trip can be sent to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com. If I cannot answer them, I will forward them to someone who can.
Michael

15 April 2007

Still room on Ft. Wayne Trip--May 2007

There is still room on the trip I am working on with the St. Charles County (Missouri) Genealogical Society to the newly remodeled and improved Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana in May of 2007.

You don't have to live in the St. Charles/St.Louis area to join us. We have people who drive or fly to Ft. Wayne and meet us there (more information on the sliding fee scale is at http://www.rootdig.com/acpltrip.html).

This is our 9th annual trip and we always have a good time and the St. Charles group is a excellent bunch of people to work with. You don't have to be a member of the society to attend either.

I'm in the library the entire time it is open for the duration of our trip for consultations and to help you on the fly as needed. We have people attend who need little direction and people who are new to library research that feel they need some guidance. For those, I usually review their problem, give them "homework" and have them report back when they have done that. For others, a few quick suggestions are all they usually need.

For more information, visit our trip website at www.rootdig.com/acpltrip.html. We'd love to have you join us. Questions can also be emailed to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com

Still Room on Salt Lake City Trip--May 2007

We still have spaces on our genealogy research trip to Salt Lake City in May 2007.
I'll be there to help you with your research while at the library and problems/questions can be submitted to me before so we can have you ready to start researching when you arrive.
We don't just drop you off in the library to let you wander around and wonder what to do...we are there to help.
For more information on our trip, visit out site at http://www.rootdig.com/slctrip.html
or email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com
We'd love to have you join us.

DeedMapper Seminar in St. Charles, Missouri

Saturday afternoon I spent several hours making a computer presentation on using DeedMapper for genealogical research for the Genealogical Society in St. Charles, Missouri. Given the mathematical nature of plotting property in metes and bounds, I like showing how the program works and the ways of entering in property descriptions to have the maps automatically drawn and how to fit parcels together.

Drawing out estate partitions in metes and bounds states or land patents isn't super easy, but with a program like this it is not difficult at all. Fitting them together can sometimes be a challenge.

I've given the Deedmapper presentation as an all-day workshop in some locations. Email me (mjnrootdig@gmail.com) if you'd be interested in having me make the presentation for your group.

14 April 2007

St. Charles Links

World Connect
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com

Bureau of Land Management
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/Default.asp?

Land Records Library of Virginia
http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/land/

09 April 2007

DeedMapper and Preserving Information Workshop-St. Charles, MO 14 April

There are still openings in our workshops as of now.

Anyone who is stillinterested is welcome to join us, but please email the two individuals listed on our webpage to let us know you are coming.

The St. Charles County Genealogical Society and St. Charles Community College are co-sponsoring two half-day computer genealogy workshops inSt. Peters, Missouri, for the St. Charles County Genealogical Society on 14 April 2007. One session will be on preserving and publishing your research online and the afternoon session will be on usingDeedMapper to plat ancestral properties.

Sessions will be held in a computer lab and registrants will have acomputer to use during the applicable parts of our workshops.The workshop will be held at St. Charles Community College in St. Peters.More information on the workshop can be found athttp://www.rootdig.com/stchas2007.htm

Genealogy Cruises

Dick Eastman has been mentioning genealogy cruises on his blog and their apparent popularity.

I am afraid that I just don't understand the appeal. Opportunities for genealogical instruction are great, but I'm not convinced that the cruises are for everyone.

One draw of the land-based conferences is that I don't need an entire week or more of time off work to attend. In fact, I can even attend half of the conference if I so desire..and I can leave whenever I need to. This gives me great flexibility. I have too many obligations at home to be gone for over one week.

The exhibit hall is another huge draw for me as well. And personally, I would love to spend either a week in Richmond or in Ft. Wayne. There are excellent research facilities in both venues and Richmond offers a close proximity to a wonderful variety of historical sites for the genealogist who is not from the area.

And if I ever get to go on a cruise, I don't think I want to be attending lectures, classes, etc. every day while doing it. A vacation is supposed to be a time to "get away," not a time to "drag it with me." And I know me...the chance I go on a cruise is close to zero. If I get the time and the money, I'm visiting ancestral homelands in Europe--I'll leave the cruises to someone else.

Of course my opinion is biased. This is written by someone whose never been inside a casino or made the thirty mile trip to visit one of the Mississippi riverboat casinos either (nor have I ever bought a lottery ticket...)

06 April 2007

Surviving Four Husbands...

Wills can answer questions or raise them. Sarah Turberville's Orange County Will is one such document.

From Orange County, Virginia, Will book 2, pages 310-311:

In the Name of God Amen I Sarah Turbervile of Orange County in the Colony of Virginia . . . do make & Ordain this my last Will . . .
I give to my Son John Willis one Shilling sterling . . .
I give to my son William Willis Ten Shillings . . .
I give to my son Henry Wood Two pounds . . .
I give to my son David Hudson one Shilling sterling . . .
I give to my son Joshua Hudson one Shilling Sterling ....

and so it goes. The question is, how many times was Sarah married? And how many husbands did she outlive? The search for information on Sarah led me through several husbands and taught me about Virginia inheritance and probate settlement in the mid-18th century.

Articles about Sarah on our site:

The Oftmarried Sarah
Rushing Around to Figure Sarah Out
The Reality of Sarah's Realty

Sarah is my ancestor. She's also the ancestor of a well-known radio personality who shall remain anonymous.

President Madison in 1820

Residing in Orange County, Virginia, former president James Madison had his name underlined and commented on to make him easier to find.

Those who want to see the entire entry can search the 1820 at Ancestry.com. His name is spelled correctly in the index.

If you don't have a subscription to Ancestry.com, you can read our suggestions for a 14 day free trial here.

Working with pre and post 1850 census records

We recently posted an article about my work on a family in the 1820 through the 1860 census, determining what the records said and what they did not say. In a future posting, we'll look at how this analysis compared with additional records.

05 April 2007

Samuel Morse in 1860

The man credited with developing Morse code is shown as a 69 year old "professor" in this 1860 census enumeration from New York City. He has several other family members living with him, including one who is termed an idiot.

You can search the 1860 Census at Ancestry.com for your relative---who may or may not have been listed as an idiot. If you don't have a subscription, you can read our suggestions for a 14 day free trial here.

1860 Census Belle Starr

She's not really named Belle Starr--although that would have made her easier to find in the census.

Her real name is Myra Shirley as shown here in the 1860 census in Carthage, Missouri.

Search the 1860 Census at Ancestry.com for your relative---whose name hopefully is known to you. If you don't have a subscription, you can read our suggestions for a 14 day free trial here.

Free Genealogy

Like a sine curve which repeatedly rises and falls, there is always a discussion that genealogy should be free and that companies should not charge for what one can get for "free" elsewhere. Ever been to an airport? Right next to the drinking fountain they sell bottles of water for $2.50. I don't see any picket signs. I don't see any protestors. Where is the outcry? There is never discussion that they should not sell water when one can get it for free.

I can go down to the library and get census on microfilm. Free. Just gotta haul my butt down there when it is open and wait for a machine. And hope they have the census for that county 600 miles from here.

Frankly, I'm more concerned about the health care crisis and general literacy levels in this country than I am the "free genealogy crisis."

I choose to pay to have access to the indexed census in my home rather than go to the library. I love libraries, but I don't always have time to get there. Someone wants to index records, digitize them and charge for access. Getting paid for work, or should they work for free? Tell that to the company holding your mortgage.

Well, they charge for water to come into my home and heaven knows I NEED water a lot more than I need genealogy data. I can survive for years without an indexed census. I can't live very long without water. Of course, I can always go down the creek with my bucket. That's free...as long as I don't get caught trespassing.

And to be honest anyone who is on one of the many genealogy mailing lists might be surprised about how much help they will be able to get for free. More help and assistance right in their own home than we would have dreamed up twenty years ago.

Michael

04 April 2007

Google ads on our site--more McCain ads

I'm always a little bit curious about the banner ads from google that appear on our site. An ad for John McCain appeared again on the very bottom of our main page. This is the second time I've seen a McCain ad on our site. In fact, his ads are the only political ads I've seen on our site. Not really genealogy news, but I wonder what demographics about my site visitors or text on my pages made them think it was worth placing the ad. Back to genealogy work...I'll keep looking for the dead..whether they were voters or not!

What is that Name?

This is an ancestor of mine in the 1920 census. This censustaker had wonderful penmanship. We'll allow reader comments on this name and the name of her son below. It took me a while to find this great-great-great-grandmother in 1920. In fact, I only have two great-great-great-grandparents alive in 1920 and both were deceased by the 1930 enumeration.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1901

The image on the right shows Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the 1901 United Kingdom census living in Sussex. The Scottish native is listed as a physician.

The 1901 England Census can be searched at Ancestry.com.

1901 Census--Virginia Woolf

She wasn't always Virginia Woolf...in 1901, she is enumerated with her father as Adeline Virginia Stephen with her widowed father in London.

The 1901 England Censu is available at Ancestry.com

Claude Monet in 1901

The image on the right is part of the 1901 census entry for artist Claude Monet. The French-born artist is living in England in 1901.

The 1901 England Census can be searched at Ancestry.com.

Searching the Census the Old Fashioned Way

Let's face it. Sometimes the index does not work and a manual search of the census is necessary. Some names are impossible to read or simply get transcribed in such a way that wildcard and soundex searches are not effective. This was the case with my search Panagiotis Verikios in Chicago--the index just did not locate him. The details of the search , Panning For Panagiotis can be found on our site.

A $31.44 Inheritance

In the 1950s, my grandmother inherited $31.44 from a relative, Anna Haase. The estate settlement of Miss Haase points to the importance of tracking down such records for relatives who die with enough property to probate and no descendants of their own. The article I wrote on the estate settlement and estate records in general may be worth a look if the only wills/probates you have searched for have been for your own direct line ancestors.

A $31.44 Inheritance explains how Grandma's $31.44 inheritance was determined and how intestate probate cases in these situations usually work.

Famous People in the 1930 Census

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

From their Mouth to your Screen

Have you ever really thought about how that word got from your ancestor's mouth to your computer screen? There are many steps from the time your ancestor said his name until the index entry appears on your at-home terminal. Each step has the potential to create an error or "brick wall."

From Their Mouth to Your Computer Screen was posted a while back on our site, but it's comments on how your ancestor's name gets into a database are still valid and worth thinking about.