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FamilySearch Updates: US-Freedmen's Bureau Records for GA and KY

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


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

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

Buried Across the Ocean Before He Died: An Ancestry.com Leaf Plea

Ancestry.com's "hint" for my Conrad Haase who died in 1904 in Appanoose Township, Hancock County, Illinois, is a man who was buried in 1902 in Hannover.

Now that's a close match--buried across the Atlantic Ocean before he died.

In all honesty, I realize that Ancestry.com returns this as a "hint" because I could have the date and place of death incorrect.

And people can be buried in a location other the one where they died.

But...still. Can't they set the burial date of the hit to be after the death date I have in my database? Or at least not two years before?

I know that Ancestry.com doesn't listen to me, but here's another idea:

• let users customize their hints.

I'd like to be able to set the parameters on my hints--choosing how close a date had to be to qualify as a "hint," choosing how close a location had to be to be a hint.

Would I miss the occasional "right" person? Sure. 

But now I only use the hints to see how far off they are and make blog posts about it.

Certainly if they can create all those apps and all that fancy-schmancy DNA stuff they can figure out a way to let users customize the parameters on the leaf hints? 

Getting A Birth Range From the Ages

Ages given in any document can easily be incorrect. That doesn't mean they should not be analyzed.

The Civil War pension for Riley Rampley provides six ages for him at different times. I was curious just how consistent these ages were.

The six ages provided in the pension application are shown on the chart. The dates on which the ages were given range from 1886 through 1893.

Those ages were used to create a range of birth dates for each age. Then to see how consistent the birth date ranges were a timeline was created. The ages were not entirely consistent, but they were relatively close. Given that ages can easily be off by a year or two in any given record, this is not a surprise.

All of the ages given are consistent with a date of birth between July and October of 1835. That's not a wide range of dates. Riley's "known" date of birth of 25 August 1835 falls within that range.

Ages given for individuals will not always be consistent, but if you've got a person with varying ages such an analysis may be helpful in reaching a conclusion about when they probably were born.

And it may also help you to determine if one age is so far off from the others that it might have been a clear error.


The assumptions I made in this analysis were that:

• Riley knew his age
• Riley provided his age for all the documents in this study
• Riley was always able to remember his age

It's always a good idea to write down your assumptions when doing any analysis. You can't know which assumptions may not be valid later if you've not listed them.

FamilySearch Updates: TN Freedmen's Bureau Records, ND 1925 Census, OR County Records

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

Oregon, Yamhill County Records, 1857-1963

North Dakota, Census 1925

Michigan Obituaries, 1820-2006

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

The "Michigan Obituaries, 1820-2006," was updated a few days ago--it may not be all that different from the previous update.

Why Color Matters

Note: I'm beating the dead horse again on color images for those who are new readers to this blog.

There are many documents where grayscale images made at a high resolution are more than adequate for research and analysis purposes. Frequently color isn't really necessary in order to analyze a document completely.

Then there are documents like this which we're working on for an upcoming issue of Casefile Clues.

Having used a color scan of this document (shown in the illustration), I would not want to analyze it from a grayscale or black and white image. The color makes it much easier to see the at least five (and maybe six) different handwriting styles contained within this document.

Notating on a transcription when one handwriting starts and another one begins is important and can often be done more effectively from color images.  My transcription probably won't include notations about the color (I'm not going to worry about precisely what shade of red "Slade" is written in, but it will include annotations as to what information appears to be in the same hand. Color helps me analyze in situations like this.
 
And if we read Evidence Explained  and the BCG's  Genealogy Standards: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, isn't that a lot of what research is about?

Note: Many images at Ancestry.com and FamilySearch were made from microfilmed copies of records that were microfilmed in black and white. In some cases those originals were destroyed and are longer available. My plea for color images is for projects going forward--I'm not suggesting that completed projects be redone.

But I do wonder why color images weren't made in the first place in some of these cases.

Canadian Materials Updated/New on FamilySearch

The following databases are showing as new/updated on FamilySearch for Canada since our last update:

Nova Scotia Probate Records, 1760-1993

Canada, Marriages, 1661-1949

Canada, Births and Baptisms, 1661-1959

Canada Census, 1911

93 Issues of Casefile Clues for $25

I'm offering 93 issues of Casefile Clues for $25.

Casefile Clues contains analysis, interpretation and how-to advice based on original documents and families I've encountered in my own research. Clearly written, organized, down-to-earth, and practical, it contains deeper analysis of items that run through this blog.

To view the list of issue titles and topics from Volume 3, visit this page.

Give yourself a genealogy gift this holiday season: 93 issues of Casefile Clues for $25. The first 41 issues will be in your inbox within a day or so of your order.

Casefile Clues is sent as a PDF file.

You can learn more about Casefile Clues  here.

Aldrich the Attorney-in-Fact Gets Forty Acres

In "Did the Lawyer Use the Facts to Seize the Moment--And the Land?," we mentioned the fact that an attorney-in-fact for the heirs of a War of 1812 military veteran obtained federal land within close proximity to where the land for the heirs was located.

That raised the question of how he obtained the land.

He obtained it via a military warrant but, like many who obtained federal land through a military warrant, he was not the actual veteran. He purchased the rights to the warrant from the holder of the warrant--in this case the widow of the veteran.

Mary Spooner's husband's service allowed her to obtain a warrant for 40 acres of property in the federal domain as evidenced by the certificate from July of 1853. Mary was a resident of Washington, DC. at the time.

On the back of the warrant Mary Spooner has assigned all her rights in the warrant to Cyrus Aldrich.

It was this warrant, which had been assigned to him by Mary Spooner, that allowed Aldrich to obtain federal property. It seems reasonable that Aldrich noticed the land was available when he completed the Kiles' claim. How the Dixon, Illinois, resident obtained the warrant is another matter.

Since Aldrich had no direct connection to the Kile family--he appears to have specialized in handling land transactions at the Dixon, Illinois, land office--further research probably isn't necessary.

But these are still really interesting documents. Personally I only obtained it so it could be used as an illustration in a blog post and some lectures. I wouldn't normally obtain copies of these documents in similar situations as they aren't going to tell me any thing about the family of interest. Let's be honest, Aldrich was an attorney-in-fact for a ancestral family who probably never even saw or met him personally.

Aside from that transfer of the warrant can be a really good place to locate ancestral signatures. If I were a Spooner relative then this would have been a great find.

We've been discussing the Kile military bounty land materials in Casefile Clues.

Wen the Adens are Found

It is easy to see how this was indexed as "Habbe Wen" on Ancestry.com.

It's also easy to see how it can be read as Habbe Aden as well--which is what it actually is.

The Hermann arrived in New York City on 15 March 1869--apparently with several Ostfriesian individuals on board.

Habbe wasn't really the person of interest on this manifest--Johann Ufkes was as he's an actual ancestor. Ufkes and Aden's family were some of the immigrants on the Hermann who indicated a "last residence" of Holtrop, Germany.

Aden and his family and Ufkes settled originally in Hancock County, Illinois. They then headed to different counties in Nebraska in the early 1870s as evidenced by their homestead records. It's important to keep in mind that immigrants might have landed for a short time in one place, only to permanently settle elsewhere. Declarations of intention and naturalization records in the homestead applications of Ufkes and Aden document their short term stay in Illinois.

Ufkes abandoned his claim and returned to Illinois.  Aden didn't.

It always pays to search the entire manifest for other names and if you can't find the person of actual interest in a manifest, consider searching for some of their fellow immigrants. People didn't immigrate in a vacuum.

And that way you aren't searching for Habbe Wen.

A Realistic Genealogist's Wish List

Ancestry.com posted a graphic recently to their Facebook page:

I realize it's a wish list, but some of those things just are never going to happen. I also realize that the list was probably meant to be funny or silly, but...if I'm going to hope for things I'm going to hope for things that could potentially happen. I hate to set myself up to fail from the get go. Here's my version which hopefully is slightly more realistic:

I've always been of a mind that wishes themselves really don't get one too much of anywhere and that a good dose of healthy realism serves one well. 

Hoping to find things on Ebay...that's wishful thinking, but I have done it. The other items are all very realistic ways to work around the problems Ancestry.com was trying to address with their list.

There's nothing that can break every brick wall and, to be perfectly honest, not all brick walls can be broken down.

And that 1890 census that was burned? Sorry but no amount of wishing is making it come back.

But there are newspapers for several rural counties that I would dearly love to see digitized.

FamilySearch Updates: MI, OR, MN, NE, and DC Materials

The following databases are showing on FamilySearch as updated or new:

Michigan Obituaries, 1820-2006

Oregon, Yamhill County Records, 1857-1963

Minnesota, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1869-1940

Nebraska, State Census, 1885

District of Columbia Deaths, 1874-1959

Note: Nebraska State Census must be an update of sorts because it's showing as a viewed link for me. The others may be updates as well, but I don't have any personal interest in those time periods and locations.

And I'm wondering just what newspapers were published in Michigan in 1820, but that's a whole separate blog post (grin!).

About This Blog-December Reflections

Every year or so, I think about what I've blogged about and the purpose of this blog. Those who have followed for some time can probably just ignore this post.

I only blog about what interests me and families or people on which I am working. I don't post "all the genealogy news," because there are other sites that do that and I really don't want to create content that readers can get elsewhere. The only exception are the posts about what's "new/updated" on FamilySearch.

I don't include "correct, property formatted" citations in posts either. I know there are some that do and others who view it as a "must." I don't. However, I do include enough detail in the blog post so that someone who actually reads the post can easily determine where and how I located the information. It's my firm belief that genealogists need to be able to read, think critically and to analyze the information they encounter. If there's ever a time when a detail or two has been omitted and a reader would like more information about where something was located, I'm more than happy to provide that information or to update the post. Those who are bothered or offended by that approach can simply stop reading. I do include complete, property formatted citations in Casefile Clues. 

Because I only write about my children's ancestry, I do not research for others, period. I simply do not have time nor do I write about areas in which I have no interest or expertise. My children's ancestry, by ethnicity is:

• 1/4 Ostfriesian-from 19th Century immigrants
• 1/16 Irish-from 19th Century immigrants
• 1/16 Swedish-from 19th Century immigrants
• 1/16 Belgian-from 19th Century immigrants
• 1/16 English-from 19th Century immigrants
• 1/16 French-Canadian-from 19th Century immigrants
• 3/32 German-from 19th Century immigrants
• 1/32 Swiss-from 19th Century immigrants
• the rest?--various families from Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Tennessee that include Mayflower passengers and 16th century Virginia immigrants.
• And there's cousins who settled all over the United States and my wife has a step-great-grandfather who was a Greek immigrant to Chicago.

That's enough locations to keep me busy.

I don't write posts to generate lots of traffic, to boost my "clicks," or to try and engender popularity. I write about what I'm doing, what interests me, and my occasional frustrations. 

And sometimes I'm not always serious and am occasionally sarcastic. That's just the way I roll. 

And to those who read on a regular basis...thanks!  It is appreciated. 

Did They Know A Comment Was Made on Their Draft Card?

The instructions for these draft cards are probably online somewhere, but I'm not certain they would even answer the question I have. 

The World War I draft card for Bertus Ufkes of Cassia County, Idaho, is typical of cards for the era. Ufkes signed the front of the card and included an exemption request based upon his farm operation.

I've seen other World War I draft cards where an exemption from the draft was claimed based upon farm operation, a dependent parent, etc. It's not often where I see a registrar questioning the registrant's answer to question 12. 

The question I have is: did the registrant usually see the comment the registrar wrote down or did they only see the front of the card?

After all above their signature it does say "I affirm that I have verified above answers and that they are true."

CSI-Genealogy 2015

Registration for CSI-Genealogy 2015 on the campus of Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois continues. 

We are offering four classes:

• Advanced Methodology and Analysis
• Germanic Research Sources and Methods
• Refining Internet and Digital Skills for Genealogy
• The Advancing Genealogist: Research Standards, Tools, & Records

CSI-Genealogy is from 28 May 2015-1 June 2015 at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois.

Posted to Ancestry: Sweden, Indexed Birth Records, 1860-1941

This database, " Sweden, Indexed Birth Records, 1860-1941," is showing as "new/updated" on Ancestry.com. It may have been posted for a while, but the database is new to me, so we are mentioning it.

The entry below is from the births in 1867 for Tjärstad located in Östergötland, Sweden. It shows the 1867 birth for Samuel Otto who was born there on 17 September 1867 to Johan Sund and Anna Lisa Eriksdotter. 

I've used these records before on microfilm, but there is no doubt that the digital access is preferred. Searches can even be conducted using only the names of the parents.

Samuel's entry was indexed under the last name of Sund--which was his father's last name at the time he was born.  Samuel was an immigrant to Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois, where he used the last name of Johnson consistently.

When searching the Swedish records, one needs to be aware of the possibility that the last name "we have" for the person might not be the last name they were born with or the last name that appears in the index.

Given that Samuel's father's first name was Johan, a last name of Johnson for Samuel seems pretty reasonable.

One can even search based just upon the name of the parents or other parameters as shown in the image below:

I'm working on translating the headings and the entry. Readers are free to post comments to this post regarding the headings and the entry itself.

This is a really helpful database for Swedish researchers.

Users of the database are reminded to check for completeness in the region of interest and be aware of spelling variations and transcription issues.

Ekke's Not Native Born

"...that I am over 21 twenty One year of age native born citizen of the United States."

Even though the writing was not the neatest, it was relatively easy to transcribe. Ekke Behrens indicated in an affidavit of 2 November 1886 that he was a native born citizen of the United States. There is just one problem.

Ekke was not a "native born citizen" of the United States. Census and other records indicate he was born in Germany and his homestead application even includes a naturalization record to prove his citizenship.

This is the only document in the entire homestead application for Ekke that uses the phrase "native born." It seems likely that the use of the phrase was simply an error.

Which is why one never wants to look at only one piece of information or record. Any one record can be wrong.

Source: This affidavit was obtained in Ekke Behrens' completed homestead file for the northwest quarter of section 8 in township 15 North 47 West in Cheyenne County, Nebraska.

FamilySearch Updates: OK, MI, and HI

The following US databases in FamilySearch  are showing as updated since our last post:

Hawaii, Obituaries Index, ca. 1980-present

Michigan Obituaries, 1820-2006

Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995

Comments in Ekke's Margin

An affidavit in the 1892 homestead application of Ekke Behrens of Weyerts, Nebraska, makes several good genealogical research points and was recently discovered in  the Nebraska homestead records on Ancestry.com.

There is a naturalization record for Ekke Behrens in the homestead application of Ekke Behrens and on the surface I thought it was the naturalization for Ekke the homestead applicant. Upon closer reading of this affidavit, it became clear that the naturalization was for Ekke's father Ekke and not for Ekke the applicant. 

It always pays to read the entire file of any record and not to make assumptions. In looking at the naturalization record contained in the file, I thought that the naturalization year of 1867 seemed a little "off" to have been for Ekke the homestead applicant. I made a note about the seeming inconsistency in the date of naturalization given Ekke the homesteader's age but thought that the 1867 date was probably a transcription error on the part of the clerk since the naturalization record in the homestead file was not the original record. 

But...

This notation on Ekke's final application for the homestead explained the age discrepancy. 

It would be easier if parents did not name children after themselves. 

We'll write about this application in more detail in an upcoming issue of Casefile Clues.

Stumbling Upon Lubbe and A Migration Chain

In all honesty, I stumbled upon this record.

I was searching for Lubbe Albers in the Nebraska homestead records on Ancestry.com. My searches for him were not going very well and I decided to simply search for homesteaders with the first name of Lubbe in the records.

After all, there shouldn't be too many of them. There weren't. One of the entries was for a Lubbe Aden. Being related to some members of the Aden family, I decided to quickly review Aden's homestead for any clues that might have bearing on my research-or just something that would strike my interest.

Aden completed a homestead in section 20 of Township 14 N Range 1 East in Butler County, Nebraska. At this point, I have no idea whether he remained there after obtaining the homestead or whether or not he is related to the Adens in which I have a peripheral interest.

However, in reviewing the documentation in his completed homestead file, I ran across a copy of his naturalization from 1871--in Hancock County, Illinois. That's where many of my Ostfriesian families settled at about the same time Aden was there naturalizing.

It doesn't mean that this Aden is connection to me. However, people did migration in clusters and chains. I also know that there are homestead claims that are incomplete and currently unindexed by name. I know that these unindexed incomplete claims can be located on the Bureau of Land Management tract books. I can't look at the tract books for the entire state of Nebraska.

But....

I can look at sections of the tract books for those areas of townships where I know that other Ostfriesians settled in hopes of locating a few of my "missing" people in those records. Since Aden was an Ostfriesian with a Hancock County, Illinois, connection who completed a homestead claim. there may be others Ostfriesians with Hancock County connections who at least started a claim in the same location as Aden. The tract books will tell me that and provide me with the names of those individuals. The incomplete homestead applications are not online, but I can obtain them from the National Archives. 

I can also search based upon locations in the database of these Nebraska homestead records on Ancestry.com.  The patents can be searched geographically at the Bureau of Land Management website.  Both of these sites only search for those individuals who completed the homestead process.

My Genealogy Search Tip of  the Day  contained links to the tract books and the tract book guide on FamilySearch ("Guide to the BLM Tract Books"). There is more about my webinar on using the BLM tract books here.

Holiday Webinar Sales

Give yourself the gift of genealogy education this holiday season.

Our $5 genealogy sales are running until 2 December! 

Don't wait! Download is immediate.

A Santa Claus Letter Documents a Birth Date

Digital image located on Genealogybank..

Evidence analysis is all about the perceived reliability of the source and the information it contains.

A six-year old knows when his birthday is. He knows it because he has been told it. While his knowledge of the precise date comes from what others have told him, his general idea of his age does not. If a child is around other children--as this one apparently is because he attends school--then he knows approximately how old he is from first hand experience. He knows he's older than any three or four year olds that he sees and he's also well-aware that he's not ten or eleven years old. James would provide primary information for his age based upon his first hand knowledge.

Because the statement made by James comes from a handwritten letter that was in a newspaper there is always the chance that an error snuck in. The word "six" is spelled out in James' letter as it appears typed in the newspaper and it is reasonable to conclude that he wrote it that way in his letter as well. If the number "7" had been used instead, the chance of a potential typographical or transcription error would have been higher.

Realistically speaking, there's a good chance that James was actually born on 1 November 1894. Hopefully a researcher doesn't have to use a letter to Santa Claus as a source, but it's always possible. Of course, it should be cited so that if more contemporary sources for James' birth are located, a proper analysis can be conducted.

James provides primary information for his age, but not for his date of birth based upon how he came to know both those pieces of information.

The letter is the newspaper is a derivative source. The original letter is the original source. Sources contain information.

And you thought Santa Claus letters were only for requesting genealogical presents for yourself?

Note:

The citation manual for genealogical research is Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace 2nd Edition. A shorter, less-detailed guide is the Bureau for the Certification of Genealogists'  Genealogy Standards: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition.  And there's always Casefile Clues--which is easy to read and understand and very practical.

My Blogs and Newsletters

The following are links to my blogs and newsletters:

• Genealogy Tip of the Day--one short daily genealogy-related research tip. This usually focuses on offline sources, methods, analysis, terms, and organization. Free.
• Casefile Clues--my PDF genealogy newsletter concentrating on genealogical sources, methodology and research. Subscription required.
• Genealogy Transcriber--not always every day, but a signature or piece of writing where readers are encouraged to try their hand at interpreting. Free.
• Genealogy Search Tip--periodic short tips for online searching or an occasional mention about a "new to me" website. Free.
• Michael's Blog Updates-sent roughly every week with a summary of the my more recent blog posts, updates to popular topics, news of research trips/seminars and more. Free.
• Rootdig.com-updates about research I'm doing, research frustrations, pitfalls, etc. Free.

Uriah by Any Other Name Would Still Uriah

Every so often I come across a transcription that reminds me that sometimes it is necessary to leave out first names (or last names) when querying databases.

Such is the case with an entry I discovered while searching the Nebraska homestead records on Ancestry.com. 

The entry for this 1887 land entry indicates the first name of the Wickiser claimant is "Neiah."

Upon closer inspection of the actual images, it's clear that the first name is not Neiah.

Instead it's Uriah.

I suppose that first letter could be misred as a "U."

But that "r" that's the second letter? How does one get an "e" out of that? That's almost a classic lower case cursive "r."

We won't start posting every transcrption error on Ancestry.com here. But occasionally, it helps all of us to remember that any name can be read and keyed into a database incorrectly sometimes so incorrectly that searching based upon that name is not really effective at all.

Documenting Migration in Homestead Files

Affidavits in virtually any record can contain unexpected clues. 

This 1887 statement made by Renke Kaiser in the homestead application of Jurgen T. Ehmen of Dawson County, Nebraska, documents how long the men have known each other. Kaiser indicates that he has known Ehmen for over twenty years and that Ehmen lived in Adams County, Illinois, until 1870 and then in Knox County, Illinois, until 1880 and then in Grand Island, Nebraska, until September of 1882 and then on his tract in Dawson County, Nebraska.

I knew Ehmen was in Adams County, Illinois, and eventually ended up in Dawson County, Nebraska, but was unaware of his residence in Knox County, Illinois. Hopefully Kaiser's testimony is accurate and his knowledge of the information firsthand. Some witnesses' answers to this question are vague and not as detailed as Kaiser's answer is. Kaiser also does not indicate whether or not he lived near Ehmen in these locations, only that he has known him for over twenty years.

Note: this image was taken from "Nebraska, Homestead, Records, 1861-1936."

Note 2: Ehmen is a first cousin of Focke Goldenstein, my ancestor who also homesteaded in Dawson County, Nebraska.