Ephraim Puffer 1756 Inventory Transcription Part II

The second part of the transcription of the Ephraim Puffer estate from 1756.

Inventory of Estate of Ephraim Puffer, Middlesex County, Mass.,

Probate file 18232, filed by Mary Puffer in December 1756

one fire Lock	015	0	0
one Breaking hoe a broad hoe & one Steele Trap	003	0	0
Indoor moveables wearing apparel one pair of Boots & one pair of Shoes	005	10	6
Two Pair of Leather Breaches 2: 50s a pair	005	0	0
one Suit of wear apparel	014	10	0
one more Suit of Clothes at	005	0	0
one old Coat & Jacket	003	0	0
one Great Coat & a fine Shirt at	006	0	0
One Hat & Two woolling Shirts	004	0	0
[end of page]	577	2	0
One old Jacket& 4 old Caps	01	6	0
Five Pairs of Stockings 3 Tow Shirts	4	10	0
Two pair of Tow Breeches & one pair of mittens	0	10	0
one pair of Gloves	0	1	0
one Bed & beding	27	10	0
one Ditto	12	5	0
Ditto	17	5	0
Three bedsteads & 2 bed Cords	4	5	0
Three Handerchiefs & 11 Tow Sheets at 25s per Sheets	15	10	0
Three Cotton Sheets & 2 old woollen Sheets	7	7	6
Two old woolen Sheets one Suit of Curtains	4	5	0
Three Table Cloaths at 15s per Cloth	2	5	0
To Small Linnen	2	5	0

Inventory of Estate of Ephraim Puffer, Middlesex County, Mass.,

Probate file 18232, filed by Mary Puffer in December 1756

The only modification to this inventory was the addition of a table format. Comments or corrections are welcomed. 

A 1944 Letter to the Goggins in Warsaw, Illinois

I occasionally search the listings at  Ebay  for auction items from areas where I have family. Sometimes I stumble upon other items of historical or personal interest. Post cards are the main item I purchase that may contain family information on people to whom I am not related. After all, one has to simply draw a line somewhere when purchasing from online auction sites. 

However, this 1944 letter caught my eye and I made the minimum bid--with the hope that I could return it to a family member. I did not get caught up in the bidding. Apparently no one else did either.

I won the letter a few days ago and am waiting for the actual letter to arrive in the mail.

It was written to Mr. and Mrs. Leo Goggin in Warsaw, Illinois, from Private Edw. L. [Eck?]. At the time Edw. was apparently in Belgium.

When the item arrives, we'll have a longer post about it. I've not done any research at all on the individuals mentioned in the letter. 

FamilySearch Updates Ohio County Marriages 1789-1997

The following database is showing as being updated on FamilySearch:

Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997

Ephraim Puffer 1756 Inventory Transcription Part I

 The first part of the transcription of the Ephraim Puffer estate from 1756. 

Inventory of Estate of Ephraim Puffer, Middlesex County, Mass.,

Probate file 18232, filed by Mary Puffer in December 1756

A Inventory of the Real and Personal Estate of Ephraim Puffer of Stow Decd Intestate as Shewn to us by Mary Puffer Administratrix & approved by us the Subscribed this 14^th Day of December A. D. 1756 appraised in old Ten

Real Estate one Dwelling House with about one & half acres of Land with Som orcharding thereon	300	0	0
Quick Stock one yoak of oxen	050	0	0
one Horse at	050	0	0
one old Cow at	017	0	0
Two other Cows at 18 £ Each	536	0	0
Twelve Sheepe at 30.s per Head each	518	0	0
one small Calf at	005	0	0
Four Swine at 5 £ per Head	020	0	0
one Scip of bees	002	0	0
Husbandry Tools one old ax	000	9	0
One plow Irons at	002	5	8
Two iron fork at	001	3	0
Two sythes at	002	5	0
Old iron a Scrub Sythe & Fackling	001	5	0
one scyckle at	000	5	0
one yoak & irons at	001	0	0
Timber for one pair of Cart wheeles	004	0	0
one Set of Cart boxes & Cart hoops at	005	10	0

Inventory of Estate of Ephraim Puffer, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 18232, filed by Mary Puffer in December 1756

The only modification to this inventory was the addition of a table format. Comments or corrections are welcomed.

Part II will be here.

New or Updated on FamilySearch: Panama Canal Zone Records, 1920 & 1940 Census, Honolulu Lists

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

United States, Panama Canal Zone, Employment Records and Sailing lists, 1905-1937

Hawaii, Honolulu Passenger Lists, 1900-1953

United States Census, 1920

United States Census, 1940

USGS Historical Topographical Maps

1933 USGS map of area northwest of Carthage, Illinois.
My father attended Young America School
and my grandmother attended Grapevine.

The United States Geological Survey has a really interesting website with interactive historical maps from their collection.

The image in this post is from the Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois, area--with the schools my father and grandmother attended.

I don't usually just post links, but this is a really interesting one.

Ephraim Puffer's 1756 Estate Inventory, Part VII

[we'll hopefully have an update with answers to this series after the entire inventory has been posted]

This is the last image from the Puffer inventory.

Inventory of Estate of Ephraim Puffer, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 18232, filed by Mary Puffer in December 1756

Links for German Interest Group In Whitewater

Here are the links that were mentioned in the presentations on Saturday, 12 July 2014:

• Abbreviations on FamilySearch 
• German Script Guide from LDS
• German Gazetteer Guide from FamilySearch
• 1883 atlas--direct link to PDF
• 
  

Ephraim Puffer's 1756 Estate Inventory, Part VI

[we'll hopefully have an update with answers to this series after the entire inventory has been posted]

This partial list makes a good point about going back and looking. When I made the image and underlined the yellow portion, I didn't immediately see what the intended item is. Looking at it again, it's pretty clear--at least to me.

Inventory of Estate of Ephraim Puffer, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 18232, filed by Mary Puffer in December 1756

FamilySearch Update: Cook County, Illinois Deaths

FamilySearch is indicating that the following database has been updated since our last posting:


 Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1922, 1959-1994 

Exactly what changes have been made I am not certain, but I think this database has been posted for a while. New users should read what this database includes and what it does not .

Updated How?

FamilySearch is indicating that their 1850 census has been updated.

Ancestry.com frequently mentions updates as well.

Apparently I am one of the few people who wonder:

"How?"

• Corrected images?
• Missing images uploaded?
• Place names changed or corrected?
• Transcription corrections?

We can prattle on all way about methods, sources, and citations, but do these changes mean that I need to search for my "missing 1850 people again" in the index or not?

There rarely is any way of knowing just what changes were made when a database has been updated. It is a waste of my time to search for my missing Iowa or Illinois people if the only changes were made to images from New York.

Would it be so hard to have a blog entry somewhere that simply said:

• Images for Clinton and Essex County, New York were corrected.
• Database transcription errors across the database were corrected.
• Missing images for Clinton County, Illinois, were uploaded.

Updated on FamilySearch: MS State Archives Materials and US 1850 Census

The following are showing as updated on FamilySearch since our last update (don't ask me "how" they are different---I don't know):

Mississippi, State Archives, Various Records, 1820-1951

United States Census, 1850

Ephraim Puffer's 1756 Estate Inventory, Part IV

[we'll hopefully have an update with answers to this series after the entire inventory has been posted]

Here are two more items marked from the estate of Ephraim Puffer in Middlesex County, Mass. in 1756.

Do you know what Tow Shirts, Tow Breeches, and Tow Sheets are?

Inventory of Estate of Ephraim Puffer, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 18232, filed by Mary Puffer in December 1756

Ephraim Puffer's 1756 Estate Inventory, Part III

[we'll hopefully have an update with answers to this series after the entire inventory has been posted]

Here are two more items marked from the estate of Ephraim Puffer in Middlesex County, Mass. in 1756.

I think I know what they are, but comments are appreciated.

Inventory of Estate of Ephraim Puffer, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 18232, filed by Mary Puffer in December 1756

This portion of the inventory doesn't provide any earth shattering details about Ephraim's life, but there's always an interesting slice of life hiding in these estate records.

FamilySearch Updates; WW2 Draft Cards and PA Probates

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

United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994

What Does the Index Index?

For years the main indexes genealogists used were census indexes. We were glad to have them.

In the old days....

Pre-1850 US census indexes were head of household indexes only--for reasons that should be pretty obvious.

Census indexes for 1850 censuses and after usually only included the head of household and anyone within the household with a different last name. That was it, but those were the only indexes we had. Genealogy speakers and writers would remind researchers about the pitfalls of these indexes. Search strategies were constructed accordingly.

Today....

There's full name indexes to census records--a great boon to genealogists. We have access to images of materials from across the planet right at our computer. Often there are indexes to these materials--and with indexes sometimes come problems. This concern isn't about spelling and transcription errors--althouth those are valid concerns.

There's another issue with indexes that some sites don't make clear-especially when one set of records is indexed one way and another set of records on the same website is indexed in a different way.

Some indexes are full name indexes to every name appearing on every page and others are not and only index the names of the principals involved. Full name indexes are difficult to compile.I'm not complaining about the fact that many indexes are not full name indexes. I understand the reasons behind only indexing the names of the main people.

The problem?

Sometimes the website makes the type of indexing clear and sometimes it does not.

Knowing if the index is to every name or only to "main names" impacts how I use the database. It effects how I search. Fold3.com, as an example, has an every name index to Revolutionary War pensions, but the homestead applications only index the applicants. I  understand why not every name is indexed and frankly I'm glad to have the materials to where they can be accessed. I'm not complaining about the decision to index only the main names.

I just wish websites would make their indexing procedure clear. I should not have to ferret out whether the index is every name or not.

Ancestry.com recently released a set of Revolutionary War pension applications and records.

Is the index only to the pensioners or is it to everyone?

I certainly can't tell from their "Source" and "About" information.

Can't they just tell us what the index indexes?

FamilySearch Update: Alabama Freedmen's Bureau Records

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

Alabama, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872

A Postcard From Trinity Lutheran Church

This is a postcard with a picture of Trinity Lutheran Church in Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois, that I recently purchased from a buyer on Ebay.

The quick genealogy lesson here is that after looking at it upon receipt it dawned on me:

My family was probably not attending the church when this postcard was printed and mailed.

My Habben great-grandparents, Tjode and Mimka Habben were probably still attending the Zion Lutheran Church in Carthage as it did not disband until the early 1920s. My Ufkes great-grandparents, Tena and Fred Ufkes, were probably still attending Immanuel Lutheran Church near Basco as they did not transfer their membership to Trinity until the early 1920s. 

But it still got me to thinking--when was the post card sent?

There are some clues as to when this could have been taken and mailed. We'll let readers post some suggestions and have a followup to come.

A Wish for FamilySearch

I really appreciate the material that FamilySearch has placed on their site.

But as indicated in this image, it would be helpful to users if there was a little more transparency when databases have been updated. Ohio has many counties and each these counties has many varying types of probate records.

Determining what is "new" versus what is not is difficult.

Red Cross Service in World War I

If your relative served in the American Red Cross in the early 20th century, Ancestry.com has a gem of a database: American Red Cross Nurse Files, 1916-1959." These employment files contain a variety of personal information on individuals (mostly women) who served in the Red Cross (as nurses) during this time period.

I discovered over a year ago that one of my relatives appeared in this set of records. Veta Blanche Markley was a rural Illinois native whose career path was significantly different than that of her immediate family. Veta worked for the Red Cross in World War I, serving in Italy. She later worked for the Veteran's Administration in various US military hospitals through the close of World War II.

Her file (which we've written about briefly before) contains over fifty pages, including several letters she wrote and the original handwritten essay that was a part of her original application..

The image in this post indicates she was headed to Italy in 1918 for an indefinite period of time and would be paid $50.00 per month. Additional paperwork in the file indicated that this money was to be sent to her mother.

Original data: Historical Nurse Files, Compiled ca. 1916–ca. 1959. Series number A1 27140, textual materials, 101 boxes. Records of the American National Red Cross, 1881–2008. National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland.

Veta was the daughter of Laura (Rampley) Markley. Laura was a sister of my great-grandmother, Fannie (Rampley) Neill.

As we approach the 100th anniversary of events that precipitated World War I, don't forget those female relatives who may have been involved in the war as well--either directly or indirectly.

FamilySearch Updates Ohio Probate Records

This database is showing as updated since our last FamilySearch update:

Ohio, Probate Records, 1789-1996

FamilySearch: Obituaries from Ohio and Germans from Russia

New or updated on FamilySearch since our last update:

Ohio, Crawford County Obituaries, 1860-2004

United States, Obituaries, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1899-2012

2015 Genealogy Institute in Illinois

We are excited to announce the dates of our first 4.5 day genealogy institute to be held in Galesburg, Illinois, on the campus of Carl Sandburg College--28 May - 1 June 2015. Please mark your calendars. 

General information is on our site at:

http://www.sandburggenealogy.com

We will have four tracks of lectures by nationally known genealogists focusing on methodology, sources, and applications. Details will be forthcoming.

Michael