Alumni Newsletter Gives Graduation Date from 1940

The "Western Illinois State Teachers College Bulletin" from October of 1943 contained a reference to my great-aunt Margaret as a 1940 graduate who was teaching at the time in Bement, Illinois.

Western Illinois State Teacher's College Bulletin, Vol. 23, Number 3, October 1943. Obtained through the "WIU Bulletin Collection," digital image Carli Digital Collections (http://collections.carli.illinois.edu). 

 Ancestry.com's U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946  indicates that Anna M. Habben enlisted on 13 November 1942 in the Women's Army Corps as an inactive reserve. There is no doubt that this is the same person despite the fact that her name is listed as Anna M. Habben instead of Margaret Habben. The year of birth matches my Aunt Margaret and the occupation/education information is correct. The branch is also the branch of the service that my Aunt Margaret was known to have enlisted in and is what is shown on her tombstone in Idaho where she is buried with her husband.

What I do need to determine is when she was actually called up. The Bulletin indicates she was teaching Bement, Illinois, in the publication dated October of 1943. It could be simply that the information in the alumni publication was not current. 

There are some additional alumni references to Aunt Margaret and her picture appears in at least two of the yearbooks for Western Illinois State Teachers' College (now Western Illinois University). 

In a future blog post, we will have additional images and a few other details about Aunt Margaret's time at Western. We are also working on blog post about whether her name was Margaret or Anna--that one is slightly more complicated than her simply switching her first and middle names.

The online newsletters were helpful because lists of alumni are not currently publicly online for WIU.

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

End of Free 1st and 2nd Brick Wall Give-A-Way

Off and on for the past year, we've offered free downloads of the first and second installments in my "Brick Walls from A to Z" series. We're turning those coupons off as of 9:00 AM on 12 November. You don't have to play them immediately, but the download does need to take place by that time.

So if you've been waiting or have missed the offer before--now is your chance!

• The first "Brick Wall From A to Z" webinar--order for free here. 
• The second "Brick Wall From A to Z" webinar--order for free here.

Enjoy!

Riley's Military Stone Application

Ancestry.com's U.S. Headstone Applications, 1925-1963 is showing on their site (at least when this post was written) as being updated. One of my complaints about Ancestry.com is that what's been changed about a database is not always clear--is it better images, new index entries, or what? The "update" never makes it clear. 

I've used Ancestry.com's U.S. Headstone Applications, 1925-1963 on Ancestry.com before and I don't remember seeing color images--so I'm suspecting that's part of the "update." I'm not certain if every card has color images, but I noted one for my Civil War ancestor Riley Rampley. The two images contained in this post were apparently made from the same card. The red pencil marks, apparently made by someone in the War Department, were made to confirm Riley's service. 

Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications, 1925-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

I'll have to do a little work on Henry H. Kunz to determine exactly who he was. Riley's sister had descendants who were Kunzes, but I'm not certain if that's who this person is or not. He may also have been a local undertaker or something.

Comments...

One reason is that in some cases, the stone may no longer be in existence and this card may be the only record of the stone. Another is that the dates of application do not necessarily mean the veteran died during 1925-1963. Riley died in 1893--don't assume your ancestor who died before 1925 is not listed.

Obviously your ancestor who died after 1963 will not be listed.

You can search this database for yourself  on Ancestry.com as U.S. Headstone Applications, 1925-1963.

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

Aunt Margaret Teaching Home Economics in 1940

To be honest, I never thought too much about Aunt Margaret in the 1940 census (shown here as a 28-year old living with her parents Mimka and Tjode Habben in Prairie Township, Hancock County, Illinois). The enumeration lists her as absent ("ab") and shows the two youngest children still living at home, which I expected. Aunt Margaret's occupation is listed as a teacher.

If the occupation is correct and she was working, the question is where.

I think Google Books may have given me the answer. A search on http://books.google.com for "margaret habben" (without the quotes) resulted in several hits, including two (the last ones in the image below) which seem to indicate that a Margaret Habben was teaching in Pike County, Illinois. The images of the books are not online and it may take a little doing to locate a copy, but the snippets do provide clues:

• the first match indicates a Margaret Habben was teaching Home Economics somewhere in Illinois
• the second match indicates (apparently) that she is teaching in Griggsville.

Followup work needs to be done as snippets of material can easily be interpreted incorrectly, but the clues are pretty significant. A search of the 1940 census for Pike County failed to locate any Margaret Habben and the name's not very common. 

Getting the books is next on my list. 

Ancestry.com's Working on it and Why I Looked

In my blog post "Color Me Confused," I mentioned search results on the immigration databases at Ancestry.com that are working in a way that is inconsistent with what one would expect. Ancestry.com is aware of the problem, have reproduced it themselves (it wasn't just me), and is working the root issue.

The search I was conducting was not merely academic. Virtually every search that gives me issues (and there are more than do not than do), comes from actual people on which I'm working.

Sophia Trautvetter and her husband and children immigrated to the United States in 1853--landing in Baltimore, Maryland, and settling in Rocky Run Township, Hancock County, Illinois.

So why was looking for Sophia in a passenger list in the 1870s?

Because I cannot find her in the 1870 census and because her husband is known to have returned to Germany where he died in 1871. I don't know when he returned, but I do now that he and Sophia sold their real estate in Illinois in the late 1860s.

Her husband's German death record indicates that he was back in Germany due to marital problems. I had always assumed that Sophia stayed in the United States where she is buried. But my inability to find her in the 1870 census has made me wonder if she didn't return herself at least for a short time. Extensive searching for her in 1870 has not located her. She is buried near her son John and it would be reasonable that if she were in the United States in 1870 she (at the age of approximately 62) would have been living near her children (who all lived within several miles of each other).

So, until the search at Ancestry.com is working my search for Sophia in a passenger list will have to be put off. If she could be located, it would answer some questions, but it's not really all that pressing at this point.

And, without any details, I'm certainly not manually searching passenger manifests. I am not that curious.

Two Stones for Aunt Margaret

My great-aunt, Margaret Hutchison died in 1990 in Illinois and is buried in Malta, Idaho. Her tombstones have been photographed and placed on  FindAGrave.

Before I use those images in any soft of blog post, I'm waiting to get permission from the photographers to use the images in the post. Of course, I can use the images in my personal research, but that's different from making a blog post about them.

Upon closer inspection, the year of birth is incorrect on both of Aunt Margaret's stones. Evidence closer to her date of birth, particularly census and her enlistment records in World War 2 are consistent with a 1910 year of birth.

And her name on one stone is Anna M. and on the other stone it is Margaret A. There's a reason for that, too. Both the date of her birth and her name will be the focus of a future blog post--stay tuned.

It's All Home Made Here

All content on the Rootdig.com blog and my other blogs is all home made, right from my own keyboard. I don't plagiarize the material of others and ask permission before using images and other materials. It's our "home made" pledge.

All the content on this blog has been created by me.  Errors, typos, and all.

I don't copy other people's content--it's illegal,  it's immoral, and it's against the law. Copying content from others devalues their work and  limits the ability of the creator of  a work to earn what they can from that work. Typically those who blatantly violate the copyright of others are simply too lazy or too incompetent to create their own work. Of course people of that ilk usually don't care about the person from whom they are copying.

Using the material of others as your own is not flattery-it's theft. If you want to flatter the author, write them a nice note.

I work diligently to create my own content and honor the copyright of others because it is the right thing to do. I know that there are many others out there in "genealogyland" who also work hard to create their own unique content.

They deserve our respect and consideration. Creating original content is not always easy. Some of us might not always agree with each other, but we realize that if someone violates one of us in this fashion, they could just as easily violate all of us.

This blog is all homemade, warts and all. And we like it that way--and we thank you for your support!

[10 December 2012--update--bloggers--Considering taking the "it's home made here" pledge on your own blog. Let's take a stand in support of our copyright and the copyright of others And, after all, we all know that "home made" is better than "store bought."]

Constructing Database Searches: A Short Course

Constructing Database Searches:

A Short Course

With Michael John Neill

(scroll down for specific schedule)

Typing names into search boxes does not solve all your genealogical problems. We will see how to construct searches, organize searches, and problem-solve and troubleshoot when individuals are not located easily. Our discussion will concentrate on those instances when people are difficult to find. We will not be concerned with "easy" searches. We will use FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, and other databases. The only fee-based database that will be used will be Ancestry.com and attendees must have their own access to Ancestry.com as it is NOT provided in your course registration. The course will consist of three lectures (topics and schedule below), problem assignments, virtual follow-up discussions, group discussion board interaction, and student submission of work (optional). There is no assigned grade—you get from this what you put into it. Students will also be able to share their work and ideas with other students.

Our lectures will be somewhat different--we will go through specific examples and situations and explain the different types of searches, wildcard, Boolean, string-based, etc. within the context of an example. That may seem like "diving in," but people tend to learn best by just doing. There will be reference information provided and time for discussion and commentary in the followup sessions and bulletin board interaction.

Citation of sources is important, but lectures will not focus on citation theory.

Students will need to choose someone they cannot find in a US Federal census and two other online databases (free ones).

Course registration is only $30. Class size is limited to 30 to encourage group interaction. Attendees will need to register by 8 PM Central Time on 30 November 2012. Class starts on 1 December 2012. Registration is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis only.

• Assignment/Study 1—Organizing Your Searches--The basics of any search strategy is search-tracking and organization. We'll see why when you are stuck most of your work is done away from the website. Students will then create search strategies based upon their own problems. 
• Assignment/Study 2—Troubleshooting & Determining Best Options--We will discuss ways to tweak your search based upon unsuccessful results, ways to get around incomplete or missing "help," pages, and determining what other databases contain the same information. We will also discuss when a manual search of the records may be necessary.
• Assignment/Study 3— Discussion and Analysis of Student Problems--We will look at all (or most) student problems that were submitted, concentrating on those that highlight problem areas or situations not already discussed in detail.

Lectures will be recorded for those who are unable to attend or have audio/video issues.

Lectures and discussions will be via GotoMeeting.

Want to register—Registration is only $30 and can be done using your PayPal account or a major credit card (just process your order as a PayPal “guest.”).Click here to register. Email Michael at mjnrootdig@gmail.com with questions.

  

Schedule

	December 2012
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
						1 lecture 1 PM Central
2	3	4 followup discussion 8 PM Central	5	6	7	8 lecture  1 PM Central
9	10	11 followup discussion 8 PM Central	12	13	14	15 lecture  1 PM Central
16	17	18 followup discussion  8 PM Centra	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

Burial State Does Not Equal Death State

I finally found my Aunt Margaret in the U. S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2006 database at Ancestry.com. It took some doing and originally I was not certain why. The first image is the entry from the database for Aunt Margaret--who died in Quincy, Illinois, at the veterans' home there. 

On a whim, I decided to "merge" the information from the burial index into my tree entry for Aunt Margaret.

Here's where I saw a problem--and likely why I could not find her in the database too easily.

Ancestry.com wants me to use Idaho as her place of death--because that's where she is buried.

The problem is that she did not die in Idaho. Apparently Ancestry.com is pulling the state of burial and assuming that it is the state of death.

I don't think one can assume that. Why can't Ancestry.com simply pull the cemetery as the place of burial?

Am I missing something on this one too?

When Could They Vote?

After an earlier post about when a person's ancestors could vote, I decided to create a little spreadsheet of my ancestors and when they could vote. Right now it's in progress, but it is an interesting little project.

This is in progress--but is embedded as a spreadsheet from Google docs, so when I update it there, it will be updated here.

Have you thought about it?

More Restrictions Means More Matches?

Color me confused.

I am trying to determine if Sophia Trautvetter immigrated to the United States in the early 1870s. A search for individuals in Ancestry's "Immigration & Travel" databases resulted in over 14,500 hits as of today. That's more than I care to go through, but I was able to perform this wildcard search.

So, I decided to add part of Sophia's last name to my search. This should restrict the search more and reduce the number of results--hopefully to something more manageable than 14,500.

Apparently not.

Ancestry.com's search interface apparently decided that there were too many matches now. I'm confused as I thought that this search (with a last name added) would be MORE restrictive than the one with just the first name.

I've not been getting any answers from Ancestry.com to my posts about their searches, but we can always hope.

Meanwhile I'm off to review 14,500 matches in an attempt to find Sophia. Maybe I should just view the manifests one at a time the old fashioned way.

Might be easier.

Has She Voted in Every Election or Not?

The website for the Quincy, Illinois Herald-Whig, contains the following

"Quincy voter Sally Gerding has a theory on how to decide which candidate to cast a ballot for in a presidential election. "Vote for the one you would feel most comfortable buying a used car from," said the 69-year-old Gerding, who has voted every year since she was 18. "

If the person is 69-years old, she would have been born in approximately 1943. This would have made her 18 around 1961. The amendment to the United States constitution giving 18 year olds the right to vote was in 1971.

Am I missing something? Were there differences for voting in local elections? Or is something else wrong?

Main page--http://www.whig.com/10:40 AM 6 November 2012

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For the genealogy fans out there who think every post needs to have a genealogy connection. Well--is it possible that your relative got a little mixed up on details?

A Voting Exercise for Genealogists

Unless you've under a rock, you should know that today is election day for blog readers in the United States.

This blog post is a little different and is just to get readers thinking. I'm not even going to really post any answers--rather, we'll just ask questions.

Do you know when your ancestor got the right to vote? 

• Was it when he turned 21?
• Was it when he turned 18?
• Did he never get the right to vote?
• Was it when he became a citizen?

Do you know when your ancestor became a citizen?

• Was it when he was born?
• Was it when her father naturalized?
• Was it when she got married?
• Was it when she naturalized?
• Did he never become a citizen?

Of course, gender and race are tied to these questions as well. Your ancestor's gender was fixed. Your ancestor's race might not have been so "fixed," depending on the time period, location, etc. For some ancestors, the answers to these questions may not be straight forward.

She who refuses to learn history might as well quit genealogy and take up another hobby.

My Blogs

For those who are new:

I currently write and maintain the following blogs:

• Genealogy Tip of the Day  http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com/
• Genealogy Transcriber http://genealogytranscriber.blogspot.com
• Search Tip of the Day  http://genealogysearchtip.blogspot.com/
• Casefile Clues Blog http://blog.casefileclues.com

Viewing or subscribing to the above blogs are free.

Organization of Information Course Correction

Some have had difficulty registering for my "Organization of Information" course--we've fixed the problem and registrations should process correctly now. Thanks!

Crossing Pond Part 2 Webinar Released

I just finished giving and recording my "Crossing the Pond Part 2" webinar. 

This presentation discusses several passenger list entries from 1850-1910 with an interpretation and analysis of them, discussion of how to maneuver through the manifest images at Ancestry.com, using and finding the National Archives finding aids for these materials, searching for them on Archive.org (when available), and more.

Presented in a down-to-earth fashion, this presentation provides ideas and suggestions for using United States passenger lists during this time period. This presentation does not focus on how to search the indexes, but assumes that those searches have already been conducted. 

This presentation can be ordered at our introductory rate of $4 via this link.

A complete list of genealogical webinars is here:
http://rootdig.blogspot.com/2012/08/updated-list-of-genealogy-webinars.html

If you registered for this presentation and did not receive the link for a recording, please email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com

Thanks.

Cyndi's List

I've known Cyndi Howells of Cyndislist since she was one page. I'm proud to say that. I count Cyndi among my personal friends.

Several days ago, Cyndi let several of us know that someone had apparently taken her website (along with another website of links) and appropriated it for themselves with a little tweaking. Emphasis on the word "little." This person, who shall remain nameless, apparently forgot that genealogists are used to conducting an exhaustive search and amassing evidence. We may disagree about how to create citations and whether or not the citation police actually exist, but we're on the same page when it comes to copyright.

Copyright violation is illegal and it is wrong.  It's that simple. Facts cannot be copyrighted. Websites are not simple statements of facts--at least not Cyndislist. Entire websites such as Cyndislist (http://www.cyndislist.com) can be copyrighted (and usually are). Even short blog posts are subject to the copyright protection afforded the author. Copyright encourages the development of new material.

There's a simple way to avoid copyright violation. Create your own stuff. Do your own work. Hell, that sounds about like the way we were told do to things in third grade.

That's what Cyndi did and that's what I do too. We'd be better off if the rest of the world did as well.

Go Cyndi!

Organizing Genealogical Information: A Short Course

Organizing Genealogical Information:

A Short Course

With Michael John Neill

(scroll down for specific schedule)

Organizing information is an important part of genealogical research—perhaps more important than the actual research. This short course (only 4 sessions) is intended to provide the students with exposure to a variety of ways to organize information with an emphasis on problem-solving. The course will consist of four lectures (topics and schedule below), problem assignments, virtual follow-up discussions, group discussion board interaction, and student submission of work (optional). There is no assigned grade—you get from this what you put into it. Students will also be able to share their work and ideas with other students.

Citation of sources is important, but lectures will not focus on citation theory.

Course registration is only $30 for this trial run of the course. Class size is limited to 30 to encourage group interaction (and pay for our Gotomeeting subscription). Attendees will need to register by 8 AM Central Time on 5 November 2012. Class starts on 6 November 2012.You can register through 7 November and the first session will be sent to you as a recorded lecture.

• Assignment/Study 1—Charts, Charts, and More Charts (we will discuss a variety of charts and table to organize your information and your searches—all students work on same problem
• Assignment/Study 2—4 Step Research Process (we will discuss a four-step process to research organization)—pick your own problem
• Assignment/Study 3— Constructing Families from pre-1850 Census (discuss of how to ascertain family structure from pre-1850 US census records)---all work on same problem
• Assignment/Study 4— Problem Solving Chart (problem-solving techniques not discussed in previous lectures)– pick your own problem

Lectures will be recorded for those who are unable to attend or have audio/video issues.

Lectures and discussions will be via GotoMeeting.

Registration is closed.

  

Schedule

November

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 2:30 Central—lecture and problem handout 7 8 2:30 Central-virtual discussion 9 10 11 12 13 2:30 Central--lecture 14 15 2:30 Central-virtual discussion 16 17 18 19 20 2:30 Central--lecture 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 2:30 Central-virtual discussion 28 29 2:30 Central--lecture 30

December

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 2:30 Central-virtual discussion 5 6 2:30 Central-wrap up discussion 7 8

Who Riley Rampley Was and Was Not

I've been hoping the tree at Ancestry.com would be corrected, but so far it has not been and the submitter has not contacted me. The confusion has me irritated to the point I've been compelled to post this commentary. I'll have a more detailed post with sources, but I feel compelled to get the corrected information on my blog (even though it is in numerous locations elsewhere).

Riley Rampley was born on 25 August 1835 in Coshocton County, Ohio, the son of James and Elizabeth (Chaney) Rampley. He had a brother, James Rampley, born in the same county. The Rampley family immigrated to Illinois in 1847, settling in the eastern part of Hancock County, Illinois, in 1849. Both Riley and James served in the Civil War (as did their brother John).

The confusing part of this is that Riley and James Rampley (the brothers) married first cousins. Riley's wife was Nancy Jane Newman. James' wife was Nancy Elizabeth Newman. The Nancys were natives of Indiana. Nancy Jane was the daughter of William Newman. Nancy Elizabeth was the daughter of Edward Newman. William and Edward Newman were natives of the Bourbon/Fleming County area of Kentucky and the sons of Augusta and Melinda (Sledd) Newman. Augusta died in 1861 in White County, Indiana.

This picture below is of Riley Rampley. It is NOT James Rampley. This picture of Riley was obtained from the late Rose (Walker) Ufkes, granddaughter of Riley Rampley and this scanned image was made from my copy of Rose Ufkes' picture of Riley. Rose Ufkes was a first cousin to my grandfather, Cecil Neill. Both were grandchildren of Riley Rampley.

Riley Rampley--taken sometime before his death in 1893.

Riley's brother James was NOT named James Riley Rampley. This picture is Riley. Riley died in Walker Township, Hancock County, Illinois.

This scan has appeared on my site for nearly ten years. No one has ever asked me permission to use it anywhere. The usage of it does not bother me as much as the fact that it's been linked to the wrong person.