My Blog Has a New Home!

Courtesy of 1947Project

One of my goals for 2013 was to transfer the domain and content of my website to a new host.  That has been done, and now I can self-host my blog with WordPress.

I've been using Blogger for over 2 years and it has become like an old friend - glitches and all.  I will hate to go ... I also hate that my number of subscribers and followers will start back at zero.

But there comes a time in our lives when we have to move on, as hard as it is, because we are headed toward something better.

So, after today, my blog can be found here.

Thanks to everyone who has subscribed/followed me for the past 2 years - I certainly hope you'll come visit me at my new place!

~Jenny

P.S. I'll keep this blog active indefinitely in case cousins need to find me - but no new posts will appear after today.

Motivation Monday - 1st Month Goal Update

Wow - one month of 2013 already gone. How does that even happen??

After getting back into the post-holiday day-to-day schedule of my job, and recovering from being sick for an entire week, let's see how I'm doing with my 2013 goals so far:

Learn
1. Complete the NGS Home Study Course by June. This is by far my most important goal for this year.
Lesson 6 has been submitted and Lesson 7 is underway. I just have to find time to get to one of the local churches to do the hands-on survey so I can submit the lesson. Will need to complete through Lesson 10 by the end of February in order to stay on schedule.

2. Attend IGHR in June. I want to finish the NGS-HSC before I do this.
I got in!! I registered for Course 2 on January 22. 

3. Attend FGS in Ft. Wayne in August.
Registration doesn't open until some time in February. But I already have my hotel room reserved! (Fortunately, I'll have until July 1 to register with the earlybird discount).

4. Get into a ProGen Study Group by July.
I was informed that the waiting list is around 4 months right now, so I went ahead and put my name on the list. I received my confirmation email this past Wednesday. I'm already scared!

Research
5. Perform a census survey/census search for each direct-line individual on my tree through my 2nd great grandparents. (See this post for explanation)
I'm systematically working backwards through my pedigree chart, and so far I've done two. Good thing I gave myself a year to finish this one.

6. Obtain DNA tests for my maternal uncle, my maternal grandmother, and my father.

7. Double-check source citations in RootsMagic for accuracy. I'd like to get through my 2nd great grandparents on this one too.
I tried to work this one in with my census survey, but was quickly reminded that I really can't do more than one thing at a time.

Write
8. Blog at least twice per week. I've really fallen off on this and I want to get back on track.
Well, I only have 3 blog posts for January. I really need to stay on top of this.

9. Add 5 new ancestor biographies to my website and update WikiTree accordingly.

10. Contribute at least two articles to society quarterly.

Other
11. Transfer website and blog to new host. This will involve a complete redesign of my website, relinking of all my toolbox links, and transferring my blog to WordPress.
So far, so good. Domain transferred (as of January 1, mind you), and all pages have been transferred! Take a look here. I'm still having a very hard time letting go of my Blogger site and posting solely on my self-hosted WordPress site. For one thing, I can't easily change the color of my fonts, and that is kind of important for me. (So if anyone has any helpful hints, I'd love to hear them!)

12. Join APG - probably the Second Life chapter.
Done!  Now if I can just figure out how to resolve the scheduling conflict so I can attend the meetings in Second Life ...

13. Continue my indexing efforts for FamilySearch. I'd like to index a minimum of 100 records per month. (I know this seems low, but in light of goals #1-4, I'd like to actually be able to meet this!)
Hmm ... so far, NOT so good. I haven't indexed at all this month.

Do we share any ancestors? 

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

SNGF - The Super Bowl!

Randy Seaver is at it again with his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.  Here is the mission I've accepted - even though I'm a little late to the party:

1) What is your favorite National Football League team? Why are you a fan of this team? How long have you been a fan of your favorite team?

2) What is the genealogy of your favorite team? When did it start playing, what leagues has it played in?

3) Have you worked for the team in any capacity, or attended games? What is your best memory of your favorite team's history?

4) Predict the score of the Ravens-49ers game on Sunday.

Ok - for starters, I'm not really a fan of professional football on any level.  However, I grew up in Atlanta so I guess the Falcons would be my first choice.

But they're boring.

So I picked the St. Louis Rams.  They have quite a history!  They began in 1936 as part of the American Football League in Cleveland, Ohio.  They were called the Rams after Fordham University - as a tribute to the football players that came out of that university.   The following year, the Rams joined the National Football League.  In 1943, the team had to sit out the entire season because of a shortage of players during World War II.  In 1945, the Cleveland Rams won their first NFL Championship over the Washington Redskins.  That was their last year in Ohio.

In 1946, the team was relocated to Los Angeles.  The Rams were the first team to sign an African-American player - Kenny Washington - and ended racial segregation in the NFL.   In 1948, halfback Fred Gehrke painted horns on their helmets, and the professional helmet emblem was born!

The team made their home at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum until 1979, when they made their first appearance in the Super Bowl against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Unfortunately, they didn't win.  The following year, they relocated to Anaheim Stadium, just outside of Los Angeles, where they stayed from 1980 until 1994.

1982 turned out to be an especially bad year for the Rams.  The season was shortened by a strike, causing the Rams to have the worst record in the conference - and the Oakland Raiders moved into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, effectively cutting the Rams' fan base in half.  After another players' strike in 1987, the team hired replacement players (referred to as the Los Angeles Shams).  Even when the regulars returned after the strike, the team simply couldn't get it together.

In 1995, the team relocated to St. Louis.  Unfortunately, their record remained the worst in the conference until 1999, when the team achieved their first Super Bowl victory against the Tennessee Titans, in what some call "the best Super Bowl ever."

The team made another Super Bowl appearance in 2001, but lost to the New England Patriots.  It would be their last Super Bowl appearance to date.  Due to management issues, the death of the Rams' owner, sale of the team, and a couple of injury-laden seasons,  rebuilding the team to its former glory is a task that continues to date.

As part of their "genealogical story," I wanted to show the team's migration pattern:

Ok, so now I'm supposed to predict the score of today's Super Bowl.  My scientific analysis goes like this ... the Baltimore Ravens have better team colors (purple is my favorite), so I'm going to say the final score will be: Ravens - 33, 49ers -19.

Do we share any ancestors? 

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

It's a Major (Liebster Blog) Award!

I've been awarded the Liebster Blog Award! (Liebster means "favorite" or "dearest" in German, apparently) The premise behind this award is that when you are nominated, you are supposed to answer 11 questions about yourself (chosen by the person who nominated you), and then nominate 5 bloggers with less than 200 readers and provide 11 questions for them to answer.

Normally, I would ignore this request because (1) it's kind of like spam, and (2) I'm limited to 5 blogs and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by leaving them out (because I have WAY more than 5 favorite blogs)!

But since my dear friend Laura is the one who nominated me, I'll play along. Here are the answers to her questions:

1.) What is your favorite saying and where did you first hear it?
I don't really have a favorite one. I guess if I had to pick, it would be "Sometimes you just gotta say ... what the f***" - Joel Goodsen, Risky Business.

2.) Do you remember your first dress-up occasion? What did you wear and why?
The first time that I can remember getting all dressed up was for the Little Miss Valentine pageant at my elementary school. I was in first grade and all the other little girls were wearing cute poofy dresses with little hearts all over them. My dress? Navy blue with big white polka dots. I got first runner up - Little Miss LaBelle. (That was my elementary school). I got a trophy, a sash, and a tiara (see? I really do deserve to wear one!). I cried because I didn't get a goodie bag with candy in it. That was really all I wanted.

3.) Have you been affected by a natural disaster? What was your experience?
When I was in high school in Atlanta, we had a tornado warning and the school sent everyone home early. My sister didn't make it to the bus before it left and had to stay at the school. I was home alone. I prepared pillows, blankets, a radio, and a flashlight down in the room under the basement stairs where we kept all the home-canned food. I was waiting it out when I looked out the window and the sky was a greenish black color and it sounded like a jet was landing on the house. I ran downstairs and locked myself in that little room and didn't come out until I heard my parents come home.

4.) What do you see when you look out your kitchen window?
A giant oak tree and the back of my neighbor's house. Yep, they STILL have their porch light on (it has been glaring into my yard non-stop for the past year).

5.) Are you more comfortable speaking or writing and why?
Definitely writing. I tend to think better with my fingers for some reason.

6.) What did your childhood home look like?
It depends on which one we're talking about. There was an apartment and a house in Portland, Oregon. Then there was a 2-bedroom apartment in Marietta, Georgia. Then a 4-bedroom house in Atlanta. 

7.) Were you ever fired or laid-off? How did you deal with that situation?
Yes. I was laid off from two subsequent jobs when both companies were purchased by other companies. It actually turned out to be a positive thing for me because I got good severance packages with both, and I got a new job right away both times, which provided double paychecks for several weeks.

8.) Do you enjoy your birthdays or do you lament the passing of time?
My birthday is so close to Christmas that I really don't even pay attention to it anymore, mainly because no one else does.

9.) Which is your favorite holiday and why?
I don't really have one, but I have the most fun at Halloween.

10.) Growing up, what your favorite television or radio show?
I think my family can vouch for this ... Charlie's Angels. Who didn't want to be a Charlie's Angel?

11.) Different times of life are satisfying for different reasons; which has been the most satisfying for you and why?
I would have to say that the time since my daughter graduated from high school has been the most rewarding and satisfying for me. I've been able to focus on the things that I want to do with my life, and have succeeded in finishing my degree and am well on my way toward achieving my genealogy certification.

Now ... here are the 5 blogs I'm nominating:

Sweet Tea, Tart Lemons & Memories
A Southern Sleuth
Climbing My Family Tree
Documenting the Details
Nuts From the Family Tree

And the moment of truth ... the questions! (P.S. I totally stole these from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Man blog)

1. What is your favorite time of day and why?

2. How and when did you first discover your passion, whatever that passion is?

3. Hopefully, you’re familiar with The Breakfast Club for this question. When you were in high school, in which social group did you best fit?

4. Where do you write your posts and why did you choose that place?

5. What always makes you laugh and why?

6. If you could appear on a televised talent show, what would your talent be?

7. Which flower reminds you of happiness?

8. What is your favorite book and why?

9. It’s important to eat your vegetables, but which vegetable do you always resist/avoid eating?

10. What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?

11. Who is the one celebrity, past or present, you would like to meet — and what would you ask that person?

Now I'm off to notify my nominees!

Do we share any ancestors? 

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

What's My Learning Style?

Last night I was playing catch up on my blog reading when I came across this post from Lorine over at Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.  This post from Midge over at the Granite In My Blood blog discusses Project-based learning versus Problem-based learning, and was the inspiration for Lorine to discover her learning style.

Incidentally, reading Lorine's post made me realize that for whatever reason I was not subscribed to Midge's blog - a problem that was immediately remedied. (Sorry, Midge!)

Well, thanks to Midge and Lorine, I had to find out for myself.  So I went and took this quiz.  Turns out, my learning style is pretty much all over the place.  Note the glaring absence of any Body-Kinesthetic learning.

Sadly, my research style is no different.  All. Over. The. Place. (but always in a chair!)

So what exactly are my strongest learning styles?  Linguistic tops the list at 67%.  What does this mean?  I learn best from written or spoken words.  Okay.  I can see that.  

The next strongest category is Logical-Mathematical.  Essentially, this means I "ask questions, find solutions, and reflect on the problem-solving process."  I guess.  I'm not really sure I spend time reflecting on the process ... I'm more likely to say "okay, solved that one. Next!"

What surprised me was the 56% in the Interpersonal category.  I never considered myself "in tune with the people around me and their motives, emotions, perspectives, and moods."  Never.  I mean, I've gotten pretty good at telling when my boss is ticked off, but that's mainly so I can just steer clear.

Midge also discusses "concrete sequential" and "abstract random" learning styles.  I'm not sure which of these I am, but I'm going to guess that it's concrete sequential - or maybe that's just what I'd like it to be - but it's probably like everything else: a mix of both.

In any case, thank you Midge and Lorine for guiding me toward this insight.  I hope to put this information to good use in helping me study the way my brain wants to, so I can finish my Home Study Course!

Incidentally, this topic goes hand-in-hand with DearMYRTLE's recent blog post about collaborative learning.  Conference planners and speakers may want to start taking a fresh look at their setups with the mindset that everyone learns differently - and plan accordingly.  

On a side note - the first thing on MY agenda would be tables in every conference room ... but maybe that's just me (I have a hard time taking notes on my iPad on my lap in a chair squished between two other people who are also trying to take notes).  What?  It's still about the learning, right?

Do we share any ancestors? 

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

My 2013 Genealogy Goals

2012 turned out to be quite a year!  I attended my first national genealogy conference (FGS) in August, which in turn motivated me to start working toward my certification.  I made several new friends and reconnected with many old friends at the conference too.  

I made it through the first 5 lessons of the NGS Home Study Course, so that's about 30% done.  I gave a presentation on social media to my genealogical society, and wrote two articles for the quarterly.  I was also tricked waterboarded elected as Secretary of my genealogical society for 2013.  Most importantly, I learned a LOT (genealogically speaking) about research, new resources, and citations.

Obviously, there is still much to learn, which brings me to my goals for 2013:

Learn
1. Complete the NGS Home Study Course by June.  This is by far my most important goal for this year.
2. Attend IGHR in June. I want to finish the NGS-HSC before I do this.
3. Attend FGS in Ft. Wayne in August.
4. Get into a ProGen Study Group by July.

Research
5. Perform a census survey/census search for each direct-line individual on my tree through my 2nd great grandparents.  (See this post for explanation)
6. Obtain DNA tests for my maternal uncle, my maternal grandmother, and my father.
7. Double-check source citations in RootsMagic for accuracy.  I'd like to get through my 2nd great grandparents on this one too.

Write
8. Blog at least twice per week.  I've really fallen off on this and I want to get back on track.
9. Add 5 new ancestor biographies to my website and update WikiTree accordingly.
10. Contribute at least two articles to society quarterly.

Other
11. Transfer website and blog to new host.  This will involve a complete redesign of my website, relinking of all my toolbox links, and transferring my blog to WordPress.
12. Join APG - probably the Second Life chapter.
13. Continue my indexing efforts for FamilySearch.  I'd like to index a minimum of 100 records per month.  (I know this seems low, but in light of goals #1-4, I'd like to actually be able to meet this!)

There.  Those are my 13 goals for 2013.  What goals do you hope to reach this year?

Do we share any ancestors? 

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

2012 Goals - The Moment of Truth

So here we are at the end of the year again ... and now I have to fess up as to whether I was able to accomplish the goals I set for myself in January.

1. Obtain the addresses, birth dates, and anniversary dates for all of my first cousins on both sides of my family … and names and birth dates of spouses and children. Oh and all my half siblings’ spouses and kids too.
I'm still missing 3 ... but I got the others!

2. Attend at least five (5) Scanfests (or equivalent) this year - and actually scan stuff.
I completed all my photo scanning before September, so I didn't need to attend all 5 (see #3 below).

3. Scan and label at least 15 photos and/or negatives each week, or until they are done, whichever happens first.
This goal is complete.

4. Attend at least two (2) genealogy conferences.
I attended FGS in Birmingham in August, but wasn't able to get to the Family History Expo in Atlanta in November.  Instead, I started the NGS Home Study Course.

5. Give at least two (2) presentations to my genealogical society.
I only made one presentation, but submitted two articles for our quarterly - the first on employment records of our ancestors and the second on census records.

6. Index at least 200 records per month at FamilySearch Indexing.
My total for the year is 3,260, which is around 270 per month.  Of course, I really slacked off in the last few months.

7. Add at least five (5) individual ancestor stories to my website.
I almost managed to complete this goal!  I managed to get 5 ancestors in My Ancestor Spotlight series, but only got 4 of them on the website.  Clearly, I'll need to get the last one on there immediately.

8. Blog at least twice per week.
A grand total (not including this post) of 106 posts for the year, which comes to 2.03 posts per week.  I'll call that goal met!

9. Finish reading Greenwood's "The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy."
I finally finished reading the book!  The SecondLife Book Club didn't have presentations for 3 months; otherwise, we would have made it all the way through the book too.  Unfortunately, we still have 2 chapters left to discuss. 

10. Add at least three (3) website links per week to my online toolbox.
I met this goal a while back, and I've been doing pretty well at keeping my "pending" folder cleaned out.

So I completed 7 out of 10 goals, and sort of completed 2 of the last 3.  Not a bad year!

I haven't decided if I want to have specific goals for the entire year in 2013 or if I want to do monthly goals.  Maybe I'll do both - break my yearly goals down into monthly goals.  I just need to stay motivated and not feel overwhelmed.  I appreciate your thoughts on different approaches.

Do we share any ancestors? 

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Cookiepalooza 2.0

This year I decided to do things a little differently.  My sister had cookies that needed to be made, I had cookies to make ... and we both had Christmas cards to finish.  So when I heard her offer on Saturday morning to work together, I had to take it.  (Besides, her kitchen is bigger).

So a 2-hour drive later, and we were unpacking half my kitchen from my car and planning our attack.  There were several cookies that required making the dough, then chilling it before it could be worked into cookies.  Those went first.

After I got those out of the way, I started on the pizzelles.  I made these last year too.  This is the recipe that yields somewhere in the vicinity of 3000 cookies (or maybe it just seems that way).  I like to make it because it requires whiskey, but not a whole bottle.  See how that works?

In any case, the pizzelles were serving double duty this year because I was planning to make another kind of cookie using the pizzelles as a base ... but smaller.  So while the cookies were still warm and pliable, I used a round cookie cutter to turn them into 6 cookies.  Then I slathered some melted chocolate on them and sprinkled some toffee bits, creating these:

Because it was so late in the evening by the time I got to my sister's, I think those were the only cookies I finished on Saturday, but I can't even remember.  Everything's pretty much a blur.

We woke up early on Sunday, had coffee, and got started on the dough we had chilled the night before.  First up, another repeat from last year - Horseshoe Cookies (my personal favorite):

Clearly, there were more than just these - but they are fragile, and I didn't want to risk breaking any more than I had to.  What? I get to eat the broken ones!

Unfortunately, we did not anticipate the wear-and-tear on my sister's oven.  With all the opening and closing of the door, we apparently jiggled the screws on one side of the handle loose.  

We didn't let that stop us though ...

Next up was the Tea Time Toffees, one of my grandmother's recipes - and another one I made this year.  They turned out better this year - I didn't burn them.  And I made 2 batches, so I get to keep some! 

The next two cookies are also repeats from last year: peanut clusters and kiss cookies:

We stopped making cookies some time around 6 p.m. and gave ourselves 2 hours to work on our Christmas cards.  I left a little after 8 p.m. and made the 2-hour drive home.

When I woke up on Monday morning, my calves felt as if someone had given each of them a "code red*" during the night.  Do you know how hard it is to limp with BOTH legs?

Anyway, when I got home after work on Monday, I finished the last of the cookies.  These acorn cookies are some that I saw on Pinterest (courtesy of a share by Thomas MacEntee).  Unfortunately, mine don't look nearly as cute as the ones on Pinterest, but at least I finally made something I pinned!  

I think I was supposed to use mini chocolate chips on the top, but holy cow, I already looked like I rolled around in melted chocolate just using the regular sized ones.  There was chocolate on everything I was wearing, the furniture, and possibly even the cats (who were in the other room).  I will likely not be making these again.  And if I do - and I'm forced to use the tiny chips - I will be naked.  You've been warned.

I'm just glad everything turned out edible.  Merry Christmas!


*if you don't know what this means, watch the movie "A Few Good Men."

Do we share any ancestors? 

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Software Review: Evidentia

I've mentioned in some previous posts that I have been beta testing some new software lately.  The software is designed to supplement and complement your research - meaning you won't have to abandon your current genealogy program.  As a matter of fact, (as of this writing) this program won't even touch your current data.

The software is Evidentia.  It is designed to help you organize and analyze your research in such a way that it is easier to reach a "soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion." 

One thing that drew me to this software was the fact that it supported the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS).  This happens in several ways:
1. You cannot enter a claim without a source.
2. You cannot reach a conclusion without fully analyzing all of the evidence.
3. Provides an overview of all sources consulted for a particular claim, to determine if a reasonably exhaustive search has indeed been accomplished.
4. Complete and consistent source citations.

First Impressions:
I like the look and feel of it.  The colors are subtle (read: not annoying).  The layout itself is pretty simple, but in my opinion, it should be.  When you're working on proof arguments, the last thing you want is to be distracted by all the bells and whistles of your software.

Data Entry:
This is pretty intuitive, and there are plenty of tool tips to guide you if you need it.  

When you begin working with the program, the first thing you'll do is enter your sources.  Evidence Explained-based templates are provided for most common sources (I think there are around 170 templates).  You can also add your own customized source templates as well.

After you enter your source, you will add a citation with the details of your source (page number, etc.).  Then you begin adding "claims."  These are the assertions made by the particular source ("John Brown was age 22 in 1887").  You will attach the claim to a subject - your ancestor - and the claim type (birth, death, occupation, etc.).  Then you will select the quality of the information (primary, secondary, unknown).  (You will be amazed at the number of claims ONE source can make - I think I had around 35 claims for one census record).

Once you have your sources and claims entered, you can analyze your evidence by clicking on (appropriately named) "Analyze Evidence."  You are then asked to choose a subject and a claim type.  You do this by selecting from the drop-down menus.

All claims related to that subject and claim type are presented so they can be analyzed, which encourages you to weigh the evidence (or lack thereof), and identify and resolve any conflicts.  In some cases, it could lead you to realize that you've been looking at your data all wrong (I wouldn't know anything about this at all) and lead you in a completely different direction altogether.

After you have analyzed your claims, the summary window will unlock and allow you to write your evidence-based conclusion.

Now your proof report is ready to print.  Just select "Reports," choose which report you want to print, select your font, and click OK.  Voila!  The reports are consistent in their formatting and easy to read.  (This is not an actual proof report - it's just an example)

Drawbacks:
You can only print your reports in HTML.  That means you need to take the extra step to print to PDF in order to save it.  I'm hoping that sometime in the (very) near future, there will be other options for the reports.

You have to manually enter your sources.  The "clone" option is helpful, but ultimately it would be nice to just import them.  You can, however, copy/paste your source information directly from your genealogy program (as I do from RootsMagic).

The only other major issue I have with the sources at this time is that once you enter a source, then make a citation for it, any future citations for that source will not auto-fill the citation information (for example, if you have individuals listed in the 1880 Census in the same enumeration district but on several different pages).  You have to copy/paste and then edit.  I have logged this as an ongoing issue, and hopefully it will be addressed soon.

Conclusion:
After playing around with pretend data for a week or so, I started inputting my data for real (which led to a couple of pretty good blog posts).  It has been so much easier for me to see that I really haven't done a reasonably exhaustive search, but more importantly it has shown me how to really "listen" to my sources.  Turns out, they have quite a bit to say - and a lot that they don't say.  So, in my opinion, drawbacks aside, it is worth checking out.

Bottom Line:
Retail price is $24.99.  However, a little birdie told me that Evidentia will be released tomorrow (Monday, December 17) for download at an introductory price of $19.99.  So you'll want to get it before the price goes up.  If you're interested in purchasing it, you can get it here (affiliate link).

More Info:
The Evidentia website has a lot of videos and tutorials available to help you navigate through the program and answers some questions that are likely not addressed in this post.



**In the interest of full disclosure, I was provided a free license for the software in return for beta testing like a boss! (which means I broke it ... a lot)**
**no puppies were harmed in the writing of this post**

Do we share any ancestors? 
Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Will the Real Bernard Slowey Please Stand Up?

Working with the momentum from my "epiphany" the other day, I was trying to determine which Barney/Bernhard Slowey belonged with my family.  It has not been an easy road.

I started with my tried-and-true Excel spreadsheet.  I listed out the pertinent details that might differentiate the two men down the left side of the worksheet, then the sources from which I intended to extract the information.  Besides, I think better with a spreadsheet.

Because I had them both listed in the 1930 census, and technically I'm supposed to be working backward anyway, I figured I would go back to the 1940 and see what I could find.  I wasn't expecting to find the REAL Barney because he died on 12 April 1939 (according to his death certificate).

Unfortunately, 1940 was a bust.  As were 1920, 1910, etc.  I was only able to find duplicate Barneys in the 1930 census.  I found no Barneys in the 1880 and 1900 censuses at all.  I was beginning to think that Farney (faux + Barney) was part of an elaborate conspiracy to throw off my research (I'm still kind of leaning that way ...)

So I decided to kick Barney and Farney to the curb and concentrate on Fisabel (wife of Farney).

I found Fisabel on the 1940 census living with granddaughter Adella (daughter of Hans and Mary Hansen) in 1940.  She is listed as "single" and not "widowed," but Hans and Mary are next door, so I feel pretty confident she is "Fisabel."  Farney is not listed on the next page or anywhere nearby.  However, as luck would have it, Fisabel was chosen to answer the supplemental questions.  It turns out that she was married more than once, the first time at age 16.  She has had 12 children.  

I could not locate the REAL Isabel anywhere in 1940, although on the 1910 census, it does indicate that her marriage to Barney is her first, and they were married 32 years prior (in approximately 1878).

I found someone named Isabelle Slowey listed in the 1935 South Dakota state census (card no. 566).  Her maiden name is listed as McKethie (pretty close to McKeachie - and the same as Barney listed on his census card (no. 567)).  Honestly, I'm not sure anyone in the family knew how to spell her maiden name.

Isabelle's death certificate

Barney's death certificate

Barney's 1935 census card

But wait ... her address ... it's 112 West 5th.  In Yankton.  That's the same address (well - 5th vs. 6th) as Adella's family in 1940 and the address she and Farney shared with the Hansens in 1930!

1935 census card

Isabel Slowey's death certificate

1940 US census

A cunning, sadistic picture was beginning to emerge.  I think that Barney/Farney and Isabel/Fisabel (intentionally or not) found a flaw in the system.  The enumeration date for the Hansen address was 3 April.  The enumeration date for Barney/Isabel was 25 April.  I'm beginning to wonder if Farney/Fisabel were visiting the Hansens when the enumerator came by, and then by the time the enumerator got to their actual address, they were back home.  Of course, this is pure speculation on my part.  But it makes a little bit of sense because the inaccurate information provided by (probably) their son-in-law would not match what they told the enumerator themselves.

Obviously this is going to take a LOT of additional research, but now come the real questions.  Was Isabel really married before?  Why did she say it was her first marriage?  Did she really have 12 children?  Where are all these other children (I only show the couple had 7 children, but there IS an 11-year gap between the last two)? 

I'm beginning to understand how Barney and Isabelle both died from senility.

Do we share any ancestors? 

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Does This Count as an Epiphany?

So there I was, working on Lesson 5 of the Home Study Course, which is all about census records. Yawn ... I've been using census records for a long time and the references are a little outdated (they didn't even mention the 1940 census release - !!!), so I was reading the lesson and taking very few notes.

Then I got to the assignments. (Here's where the epiphany part gets a little murky)
The first assignment was to do a census research checklist. Essentially list out all the census years in which a particular ancestor could be found. Okay, I already do that, so that wasn't very hard. But then list out where you expect to find them (county, state, etc.), their approximate age, and the capacity in which you expect to find them (head of household, child of __, etc.). Well, that's new. So here are the results for one of my ancestors:

Wait ... I still haven't gotten to the epiphany part.

The next assignment was to do a census search report. Find the ancestor on the census, then do a search of the entire county for people of the same surname (or variations thereof), and transcribe the entries onto the appropriate blank census form, citing your sources, of course.

Usually, when I find someone in the census, I look a few pages forward and a few pages back - or sometimes I look through the entire enumeration district if it's not a gajillion pages - and see if I can find any other family members, making note of any surnames that look familiar (maybe the children of my ancestor married into these other families or something). But I never searched the entire county.

When I did the assignment (using the 1930 census), I found a lot of Sloweys in Yankton County, which I expected. However, there were a few that didn't ring any bells as being related. No shock there, right? Here's the rub: I stumbled upon a Bernhard Slowey (age 77) married to Isabel (age 75) listed in the same enumeration district as my ancestor, only about 8 pages later. It seems I stumbled upon my ancestor's uncle Bernard and his aunt Isabella! (insert happy dance here). 

But wait ... in the same county (different E.D.), I came across Barney Slowey (age 76) and Belle (age 76) listed as father- and mother-in-law of Hans Hansen. Well this is definitely a monkey wrench. The Hansen surname meant nothing to me, but Hans' wife's name is Mary and she is 47 years old. Turns out that Bernard and Isabella had a daughter named Mary in 1883, which would make her ... 47 years old. Hmm. The couple had been married since age 24, or 52 years. My Bernard and Isabella were married in 1878 - 52 years before. (Perhaps my happy dance was premature) Could this be my Bernard and Isabella? Clearly, this will require further research. 

Okay, here's the epiphany part (or my "light bulb" moment, as Oprah would say).

 

By searching the entire county where I discovered an ancestor on the census, I was able to find 8 other families with the same surname. I haven't figured out how (or if) they are all related to my Sloweys, but it sure will be a time-saver if I ever find out they should be added to my tree, because I'll already have the census searches done! 

Now I just have to get started on all the other ancestors in all the other censuses (censi?) ... and find somewhere to keep all these blasted transcribed pages.

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Anatomy of a Death Certificate (or ... more confessions of an Intermediate Genealogy Noob)

Ahh, the death certificate.  So much information in such a small amount of space.  Some of it is even reliable!

I'm going to share two examples.  The first might be one of the most accurate death certificates in my possession.  The second is definitely the least accurate.  Still, there is a lot of information in both that can be used.

I encourage you to take a look at Elizabeth Shown Mills' explanation of sources, evidence, and proof here.  (Take a minute to look at all of her QuickLessons while you're there - they are invaluable!)  These death certificates are considered to be original sources with both primary and secondary information.

According to this death certificate, my great grandfather, Thomas Patrick Slowey, died on March 14, 1963 after suffering from a myocardial infarction (heart attack) for 30 minutes.  Fortunately, this certificate is quite detailed as far as time of death and the doctor provided an actual time of death instead of just a date.  Thomas died at 3:50 p.m.

This information is considered reliable, since it was the attending physician who provided it at or near the time of death.  Of course, not ALL the information on this certificate is reliable.  Of course, I can't be certain who provided the personal information about Thomas, but I'm pretty sure that he lived at 812 Douglas Avenue longer than "minutes," as it shows in #1(c).  With the exception of that little morsel, the rest of the information given on the certificate is correct.

Noob alert:  When you are reviewing a death certificate (or any research document), always read and re-read and then read it again.  If you look over on the right hand side - yep, right there under the cause of death - it says that an autopsy was performed.  I've had this death certificate for over a year and I didn't even notice this until a few days ago.  I will try to obtain the autopsy report (if it still exists) to see if it contains any other useful information.

So ultimately, what sort of assertions does this death certificate actually make?
1. Thomas died on March 14, 1963 at 3:50 p.m. 
2. Thomas' cause of death was cardiac standstill due to myocardial infarction lasting 1/2 hour due to coronary atherosclerosis lasting over 2 years.
3. Thomas suffered a myocardial infarction in October 1960.
4. Thomas was born on December 29, 1895 in South Dakota, and he was 67 years old when he died.
5. Thomas died in Yankton, Yankton Co., South Dakota, at Sacred Heart Hospital.
6. Thomas' residence at the time of his death was 812 Douglas Avenue in Yankton.
7. Thomas' occupation was a foreman at the stockyards.
8. Thomas' parents were John Slowey and Theresa Burns.
9. Thomas was married and his wife was Anna Huber Slowey.
10. Thomas was buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery on March 18, 1963 in Yankton, South Dakota.
11. Thomas was never in the military.

You may have heard me cursing talking about this next death certificate.  It is for my great great grandmother, Eliza Bourke Lanctot.

As before, the doctor supplied the information regarding the time of death and cause of death.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of conflicting information on this one.  Her date of birth is given as February 2, 1859.  However, if we subtract her "age" (70 years, 10 months, 20 days) from the date of death (December 22, 1930), her birth date is calculated as February 2, 1860.  Which is correct?  Where did the information come from?

This is where the REAL errors begin.  Her son, Art Lanctot, was the informant.  He must have been very confused and/or grief-stricken (or both) at the time.  He listed Eliza's mother as "Eliza Bourke" and her father as "Zenophile."  That's all well and good except that those are HIS parents, not Eliza's, which does not help me in the least when it comes to finding Eliza's parents.  So pretty much every detail that Art Lanctot provided has an underlying question mark.

However, there are still some assertions made by the document that must be taken into account:

1. Eliza died at 1:00 a.m. on December 22, 1930 in Armour, Douglas, South Dakota from lobar pneumonia with contributing factors of senility and obesity.
2. Eliza was a proprietor of a hotel.
3. Eliza may have been born on February 2, 1859 or 1860 in Michigan.
4. Eliza was a widow at the time of her death.
5. Eliza was buried on December 24, 1930 in Armour, South Dakota.

Now I can take the assertions made by each of these documents and plug them into their related proof arguments.  This is when the information becomes evidence (direct or indirect), and it can be evaluated accordingly in context with other evidence.

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

The Genealogy Department at the Chattanooga Library

As my assignment for Lesson 4 of the NGS Home Study Course, I was required to do a survey of genealogy offerings at my local library.  Because I live in one of the only places in the U.S. where I have no research, I've never really checked out my local library.  I was pleasantly surprised.

The full name of the library is actually the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library.  I shortened it, for obvious reasons.  In any case, it's located in downtown Chattanooga, only a few blocks from my office.

Fortunately, my library is open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.  I was there for about 3 hours, actively identifying the genealogical holdings, and still didn't see everything.

The department is divided into three main sections.  The first section, with approximately 4000 linear feet of shelves at one end of the floor, contains the Federal Documents Depository Collection.  The second section at the opposite end of the floor, with another 4000 linear feet of shelves, holds family histories, individual histories, bound genealogy periodicals, 3 rows of Civil War materials, and 8 rows of locality histories from all over the United States and the world.  There are 9 rows dedicated to Tennessee/Chattanooga historical works.  Roughly 300 linear feet are devoted to family histories.  You can find the microfilm cabinets and readers, study tables, computer stations, and the reference desk in the middle section.

The library receives roughly 31 genealogy periodicals, including the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record.  If you are a member of the library, you can access Ancestry, HeritageQuest, Fold3, Sanborn Maps, WorldVitalRecords, and GenealogyBank through the library's computers.  You can also access all of these (except Ancestry) remotely.

The library has an extensive collection of local newspapers on microfilm. The smaller newspapers that would eventually merge to create the Chattanooga Times Free Press go all the way back to February 1873. They also have the New York Times on microfilm (which is handy if you don't want to pay for your article - you can get the citation from the website and go to the library and look it up).

They also have TONS of microfilm that aren't newspapers.  I think I stopped counting when I got to around the 30th filing cabinet.  They have 11 microfilm readers, 2 are equipped to print to paper.  There are also 2 digital microfilm scanners.

They also have an extensive manuscript collection with materials that date back to the 17th century.  The most impressive thing (to me, anyway) is that the library maintains an obituary index for the Chattanooga Times Free Press.  The index is updated each day by the staff directly from the newspaper.  They do this specifically for the genealogical value, according to one of the reference librarians.

During my adventures in the stacks, I realized that my library has more available to research than just local materials.  I found family histories from everywhere - including some in South Dakota and Indiana (where the majority of my U.S. research is centered).  So just because you don't live where you have research, don't think you can't still find something at your local library!

(and, in case you're wondering, the staff are incredibly patient and helpful.  Trust me.  I put them to the test.  They don't have a "no-fly" list for the library do they?)

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Anatomy of a Census Record (or Confessions of an Intermediate Genealogy Noob)

I've been doing some beta testing for a new software product that (for now) shall remain nameless (until I get permission to blab).  In any case, this certain software requires that I enter my sources (with citations) and then enter all of the individual fact claims for each person on each source.  Ultimately, this is going to help me with my proof arguments for ... well, everything.

I had barely gotten started when I had to stop and ask myself, "have I really thought about the individual claims made in every source I have?"  Nope.  Do those sources really make the claims I think they make, or do I see them because that's I want the source to tell me?  Hmm ... good question.  Let's take a look.

I'll start with a census record, since that's pretty much the first thing I look for when trying to flesh out a family.

This is the 1870 U.S. Census record for Saunders County, Nebraska.

You can see that it lists the Bourke household about halfway down the page.  My great great grandmother, Eliza Bourke, is highlighted.

The first thing to note is that (unlike the 1940 census) the person providing the information to the enumerator is not indicated.  Therefore, right off the bat, we can't say whether the information is reliable.  We'll put that aside for now.

It clearly shows that Eliza is 9 years old at the time of the census.  Nice!  A clue to her birth date.  But ... when was the census taken?  There is no date at the top of the page.  Fortunately, I referred to my source citation and went back to the source, kept going backwards page by page until I found a date.  Unfortunately, it was on the very first page.

So Eliza was 9 years old on the 6th or 7th of August, 1870.  This places her birth date between August 7-8, 1860 and August 5-6, 1861.  Here's the big question: Does the census record tell me that? Or is it merely inferred?  Technically it is inferred.  It's still evidence for "When was Eliza Bourke born?" (because you can't have evidence without first having a question), but in this case the evidence is indirect.

The next major fact is that Eliza was born in Illinois.  This is direct evidence for the question "Where was Eliza Bourke born?"  Pretty straightforward.  Not very precise, but it will do for now.

Now comes the hard part.  Does this record tell me that Louis Bourke and Mary Bourke are Eliza's parents?  It does not.  What it does tell me is that Eliza was living in the same household as Louis and Mary Bourke and supposedly shared the same last name as Louis and Mary Bourke.  It also tells me that both Eliza's father and mother are of foreign birth (as are Louis and Mary).  We could infer that Louis and Mary are Eliza's parents, but that would be risky, as there simply isn't enough evidence to make that connection.  We can't even say for sure that Louis and Mary are married.  They might be brother and sister or cousins or any other relation - or no relation at all.

The bottom line is that this 1870 census record is helpful for clues, but not much more.  The only "facts" I can really take away are that Eliza was born in Illinois, that she did not attend school within the year, and she can read and write - and that's without taking the reliability of the information into account.  The one thing I can count on from this record is that Eliza Bourke was in Township 14, Range 9 of Saunders County, Nebraska between August 6 and 7, 1870.

In the grand scheme of things, it's not much, and at first it seemed like my "reasonably exhaustive" search would quickly become an unreasonably exhausting search.  Fortunately, subsequent census records contain a little more information that I can (and will) use to help make these connections.

Between my NGS Home Study Course and the beta testing for this yet-unidentified software, I am looking at my research in a whole new way ... and that's turning out to be a very good thing!

Do we share any ancestors?

Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com