Snowed In : Tackling The Paper Pile

 

With the weather outside being a frightful -14 degrees with a -40 degree wind chill, going to work yesterday and today was not in the cards.  So, after snow blowing to make sure we could get out if we needed to, I decided to work on one of my genealogy goals for 2014 : tackling the paper pile.

I have a bad habit of making photocopies at libraries, courthouses, etc. and then letting them sit around and not getting them digitized or the data input into my genealogy database.  Because of this, I'm sure I've paid twice for information that I already had or perhaps have worked on a problem that the solution was available in the stacks of paper.

I also want to try to get this family information organized between my Rootsmagic database and my online Ancestry.com tree.  I would hate for some of this information to not be shared with others.  I'm at the age where I'm starting to realize my own mortality, and don't want to not pass on what I've found.

I spent most of yesterday and today scanning the files, working through the piles that had been previously sorted by maternal, paternal and other lines.  Slowly, but surely, my intention is to post the information to my blog, add it to the Ancestry tree, and then dispose of the paper.  I'm getting tired of being a packrat for paper.  Unless the document is an official copy of a birth certificate, I don't see the need to keep a copy. 

Disorganization Can Cost You Twice

Probably the only worse feeling than that you've overpaid for something is the feeling you get when you realize you've paid twice for the same thing.  In genealogy research, this seems to happen to me more frequently than I'd care to admit.  


Disorganization in research has caused me to pay for the same court record or obituary twice many times.  Just last week, while working at the Elwood Public Library, I decided I would try to complete some task from my "To-Do" files in my Rootmagic software.  Having already taken the time to identify individuals who had lived and died in the area, I thought that I had a pretty good idea of whom I needed to obtain obituary copies from the local newspaper.  After all, they were marked as "tasks" that still needed to be completed.


As I began to search for close relatives on the list, I realized that I didn't have copies of the obituaries of my maternal great-grandmother, June (DAVIS) LAMBERTSON and my 2nd-great grandmother Pearl (BEALS) LAMBERTSON.  After obtaining the microfilm reels and finding their obituaries, I noticed that they looked strangely familiar.  I was positive that I had already obtained these obituaries, yet they still appeared on my list of things "to-do."


I double-checked my database to make sure that I hadn't already entered the information, but it wasn't there.  So I paid for the obituaries and left.  When I got back home, a double-check indicated that I did already have these obituaries - they were in a pile of papers "to be filed" that had been obtained on a previous research jaunt.  By not checking the box on my genealogy database, I had paid twice for the same information.  Fortunately, in this case, the damage was minor - only $.10 per copy.  But I know there have been other times where I have paid over $1.00 per page for something I already had because I wasn't organized.


Lesson learned: when returning from a research trip, be sure to update you research log right away so that you don't go back and try to re-invent the wheel.

How many facts do you add to your Ancestry tree?

I'm sort of proud of the family tree I've been creating on Ancestry.com.  As I've written about before, I'm taking baby steps to ensure that I document and source as much information as possible.  In contrast to my tree on WorldConnect, which contains my entire GEDCOM database, with this tree I've just put out a "skeleton" of the family tree.  


Right now, I've been focusing on my maternal line, working with my grandparents and great-grandparents to be sure that I have all facts listed with source citations, and have been adding some photos and other media.  My intent is to slowly move back through each generation and add source information.  I understand this is Genealogy 101 but when you find yourself going back and re-examining your work with fresh eyes you begin to see things you've missed.


Question for those who use public trees on Ancestry, how many facts do you add to your trees?  Besides the birth, death, marriage and census information, do you add the "miscellaneous" facts such as draft registration, mentions in the newspaper, etc?  


I've finding that there is much information I either don't have sources for in my Rootsmagic database, or the sources are derivative and I need to seek out the original sources.  Too many items I thought I had scanned, I'm realizing that I hadn't, so that adds to my list of things to do.  Such fun!

When You Break The Microfilm Reader, It's Time To Go Home

Microfilm reader at Jay County Public Library

My first research trip of 2011 turned out to be a productive one.  I had planned a visit to the Jay County Public Library in Portland, Indiana in order to obtain copies of obituaries from the local newspaper.  Prior to my trip, I had created a "to-do list" using the features of my RootsMagic database.

Though my focus was going to be strictly on obituaries, I decided to contact the Jay County Historical Society via email to see if by chance someone could come in on Saturday and let us look around.  Normally, the museum is only opened through the week.  On my last research trip, the microfilm reader at the library stopped working, and I wanted to have a back up plan in case it was broken again.

My dad wanted to go with me on this trip, and I was excited to have him come along.  He's been getting interested in family history again, reading my blog daily, doing off site research and preparing mini-history books on our ancestors.  We met at 7 a.m. in the morning and headed out to Portland.

Arriving at the library, my cell phone rang and it was Tom Young from the Historical Society letting me know that he could open the museum for us and let us do some research.  We agreed to meet at 10 a.m., so that still gave dad and I a few hours at the library.

As I quickly began to scour the local newspapers, which stretch back into the 1880s, I was pleased with the rate of success.  At only $0.15 per copy, these obituaries are a bargain.  I only wish that the entire collection of these small town newspapers were online somewhere, such as Ancestry, so that I could do an every name search and locate tidbits of information about the daily lives of the families.  The society notes in the earlier newspapers are great sources of information.

Just before 10 a.m., we headed down the Historical Society, where we met Tom.  My dad and Tom graduated from Portland High School in the same class, and as we talked we also realized that we have a distant connection through the Haley-Easterday families.  Tom mentioned that he has read my blog, always nice to hear that as well.  Will have to see what more information I could share with Tom about the Haley and Easterday families.

I wanted to focus on the records of the township schools at the museum, and right away dad found a school photo from 1931-32 of Mt. Zion school in Noble Township that had included his mother, Ruth Pauline Haley.  Fortunately, someone had taken the time to identify each and every person in the photo.  Very serendipitous to find such a picture right off the bat.

We spent about two hours at the museum, where I obtained copies of anniversary notices from the local newspapers, recipes submitted by family members to locally-published cookbooks, funeral home records and marriage supplemental transcript records.  Someone had taken the time to print these from the courthouse and place them in binders at the Historical Society, giving me access to information that normally would have been locked up at the courthouse on a weekend.

It's easy to get so involved in your research that you forget to eat, but around noon we decided that we'd better not overstay our welcome with Tom. We thanked him for letting us research on Saturday, and headed to lunch for a sandwich.

After lunch, we called my aunt Juanita and uncle Harold, and found out they were home.  We were able to visit with them for a good couple of hours, sharing the information we had just discovered.  Dad gave Juanita a booklet he had put together on the Lemasters family, including records on our ancestors' Civil War service.  Harold and Juanita shared some memories about the members of the families in the obits I had discovered.  My cousin Mark and his wife and daughter showed up right as we were leaving, and it was good to see them again.  Dad told them about this blog, so hopefully they will check it out and see some of the information we've discovered.

Then it was back to the library for a couple more hours of research.  Dad was digging into the plat maps and the city directories while I was burning up the microfilm reader printing obituaries.  As in the morning, was able to make great headway.  Just around 4 p.m., however, the microfilm reader decided it was time to surrender.  The reel just refused to advance forward or backwards. That was my cue that it was time to call it a day.  After notifying the staff of the problems, we decided to pack it in and call it a day.

We called my uncle Paul and aunt Betty, found out they were home, and stopped by for a visit on the way out of town.  We again shared the research and gave them a copy of the family history dad had put together.  Uncle Paul remembered some stories and shared a few tidbits about the family members whose obituaries I had obtained.  Cousin Nancy stopped by and we found out she is getting married in June; also saw cousin Phil briefly.

It was a long day, but a good day from a research standpoint.  Now I just have to source the data, and will post copies of the obituaries on the blog.

Finds from the visit to the Jay County Public Library:

• Information regarding the 1949 polio epidemic in Portland, something I want to document as it affected my family
• Obituary of Patty Lou LeMaster, age 12, from the November 1, 1945 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Maxine Elizabeth LeMaster, age 10, from the April 4, 1931 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• LeMaster, Sr., age 77, from the January 14, 1980 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Clarence Harrison LeMaster, age 75, from the November 29, 1963 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Elvin Cooper LeMaster, age 87, from the May 17, 2000 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Garth Luman LeMaster, Sr., age 76, from the February 6, 1998 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Bertha A. (LeMasters) Hercules, age 69, from the January 2, 1962 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of John Leland LeMaster, Jr., age 50, from the March 28, 1973 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of William A. LeMaster, age 54, from the October 16, 1978 edition of The Commerical-Review.
• Obituary of Roger A. LeMaster, age 45, from the March 6, 1972 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Bertha (LeMasters) Yaeger, age 47, from the March 17, 1922 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Beulah S. (LeMasters) Rockwell, from the July 18, 1940 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Catherine Elizabeth (Lemasters) Wehrly, from the December 26, 1911 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Ralph V. LeMaster, age 73, from the February 1, 1996 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Floyd LeMasters, Sr., from the February 12, 1982 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Mary Elsie (LeMasters) Atkinson, age 70, from the June 5, 1942 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Ord Otterbein LeMasters, from the September 15, 1937 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Rachel (Lemasters) Cunningham, from the March 12, 1913 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Maude (LeMasters) Phillips, from the September 16, 1968 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Matthias Jefferson Atkinson, age 59, from the August 25, 1923 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Ferry Mae (Bickel) LeMaster, age 86, from the July 21, 1978 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Ora Lee (Brady) LeMaster, age 87, from the April 16, 2008 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Clara L. (Burkey) LeMaster, age 90, from the October 31, 1985 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Dr. William Anderson Chew, from the January 7, 1914 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Carrie V. (Haley) Thornburg, age 98, from the August 6, 2003 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Obituary of Larry LeMaster, age 24, from the February 28, 1974 edition of The Commercial-Review.
• Wedding announcement of Ora Lee Brady and Garth L. LeMaster from the May 11, 1942 edition of The Commercial-Review.

Finds from the visit to the Jay County Historical Society:

• Photograph of my grandmother, Ruth Pauline Haley, int he Mt. Zion School of Noble Township, 1931-32.
• Funeral record of Frank Haley, August 1, 1937 from the Baird Funeral Home.
• Marriage supplemental record of Pearl M. Metzner to Edward H. Baumgartner from June 2, 1915.
• Marriage supplemental record of Archibald E. Chew from October 27, 1909.
• Marriage supplemental record of Mamie Petry from October 12, 1907.
• 45th Anniversary announcement of Mr. and Mrs. Lisle Wehrly, from April 1, 1969.
• 50th Anniversary announcement of Mr. and Mrs. Vern Haley, from March 3, 1966.
• LeMaster entries in the 1927 Jay County Directory
• LeMaster entries in the 1941 Portland, Indiana City Directory
• LeMaster entries in the 1949 Portland, Indiana City Directory

I'm looking forward to planning out my next research trip.  

Buggies & Wagons: Follow-Up

As a follow-up to my previous post regarding Beals & Hinshaw: Buggies & Wagons, I contacted the Hinshaw Family Association and received this response:

Travis:

That Hinshaw who was apparently a partner with Nathan Thomas Beals was Amos S. Hinshaw (1839-1930), son of Stephen Hinshaw (and, although we don't know with certainty what his full middle name was, one could guess that it was probably Stephen): 

  http://www.rawbw.com/~hinshaw/cgi-bin/id?329 

Amos S. Hinshaw indeed did live in Westfield, and was a member of Westfield Monthly Meeting.  And he was shown in the 1900 census with occupation "carriage builder", and in 1910 as "mechanic, carriage shop".

As to his relationship to Nathan Thomas Beals:  inconsequential.  Westfield was a small town in 1893, and there was a tight and close Quaker community - Amos and Nathan might have come together in partnership for reasons other than any genealogical relationship.  However, probably coincidentally, Amos was 3rd cousin once removed to Solomon Hinshaw, who married Nathan's sister Elizabeth.

Regards,

Jan Hinshaw

The Hinshaw Family Association

http://www.rawbw.com/~hinshaw

P.S.: I hope you don't mind, but I liked the "Beals & Hinshaw" scan you referenced, so I copied the image and added it to Amos Hinshaw's page (credited to you of course).

Incidentally, I did perform a relationship search through my Rootsmagic database, and found that Nathan Thomas BEALS and Amos S. HINSHAW were indeed first cousins, once removed - through Charles and Hannah (PIGGOTT) DAVIS.

Making progress

I updated my GEDCOM today at Rootsweb, as part of an attempt to maintain a backup of my data.  Sometimes I forget to update that database at least once per month.


Yesterday, I spent the evening sorting through a pile of genealogy notes that I had stuffed into a manilla file folder.  The file folder was bursting at the seems because there were so many pages.  A lot of these were print outs of emails, websites, etc. that I had visited as far back as 2007!  As I started reading them and extracting the information into my Rootsmagic database, I was embarrassed to discover that some information I had recently been looking for had already been in my hands for 3 years.  Bad genealogist!  


Making progress is like eating an elephant, you have to do it "one bite at a time".

Civil War Pension Index Card: William F. METZNER

Was finally able to get images to download from Footnote.com, perhaps my vent of frustration helped?  Nah.

This is the Civil War Pension Index card for William F. METZNER, my paternal 2nd-great granduncle.  This card was indexed at Footnote.com as William T. METZNER.  As you can see by the cursive script, sometimes "Fs" and "Ts" can appear similar.

The cool find for me on this card was that it gives his exact date of death and the location.  Although I probably had this fact somewhere, I only had the year in my Rootsmagic database.  Bryant, Indiana is in Jay County, where William and his wife Mary lived for a number of years.

I believe that I may have his Civil War pension in my files, will have to scan it and make sure I glean all the information that I can from it.  William was a private in Company E., 89th Regiment Indiana Infantry.

William was born January 6, 1844 in Licking County, Ohio, the son of John and Catherine (YOUNG) METZNER.  He was the brother of my ancestor, John Adam METZNER.  William married December 8, 1867 in Jay County, Indiana to Mary Ann HALEY, daughter of Sebastian and Lydia A. (RADER) HALEY.  They had eight children: John W., Irvin G., Amanda A., Pearl M., Barb M., Laura Belle, Lydia J., and Louetta Jane.  William's occupation was listed as farmer and furniture dealer in the census records.

Sometimes an error isn't an error

One of the great things about RootsMagic is the ability to do a 'problem search' in my database. One of the bad things about the search is that my database seems to have too many errors. While some of them are from times when I've imported data from others, there are some that are there because I've created typos or just haven't been thorough in my research.

In trying to catch some of the errors, I ran the report to show those individuals in the database who died with an age greater than 100 years. The first individual listed was William Applegate, who showed at age 105 at death. I had his date of birth as circa 1733 in Burlington County, New Jersey and his death as circa 1838 in Corydon, Indiana. My sources for both of these loose dates were from "A history of Adams County, Ohio.." as below:

 

Granted, this may not be the best source, but it is a source nonetheless.  Will have to continue to look into old William to see if he really was 105 years of age, but for now, will ignore this supposed error in my RootsMagic database.

William is not a blood relative, but his daughter, Catherine, married Robert WRIGHT, my maternal 6th-great granduncle.  Apparently, the Wrights and the Applegates migrated together into the Brown County, Ohio area in the early 1800s.  More to research.

It's St. Joseph, not St. Joseph's

Just spent some time cleaning up my Rootsmagic database.  Seems that even though I'm a native Hoosier, I've managed to manage the name of the county that South Bend lies within.  The correct name of the county is St. Joseph, not St. Joseph's, which is apparently the way I had it spelled in several entries.

One of the features I like about Rootsmagic is the ability to search through all the data using the Rootsmagic Explorer.  Just search for any fact place that contains the search string you need and you're off to the races.

 

Consistency in Place Names

One of the things that I've been doing recently with my database is trying to structure my place name list in a more consistent manner. In the past, I've always used the two character postal codes used here in the U.S. for state names, such as IN for Indiana. However, I've recently decided that I like the look and feel of writing out my place names : Indiana, USA. So, I've been working for several weeks off and on behind the scenes to update my place names in RootsMagic.

Most of my database is from the United States, and the lines that do stretch into Europe are not fleshed out enough to be of any consequence. By writing out the place names, I will avoid the confusion of such abbreviations as AK (is it Arkansas or Alaska?) and possibly make it easier for search engines to find my data. Once I've updated them all, I will resubmit a new GEDCOM to WorldConnect to see how the database looks.

I have used the country abbreviation, USA, for all events that have taken place in the United States since it was formed, in areas that have always been part of the country. For example, events that occurred in the 13 original colonies or in those states that later became part of the Confederacy, I have just left as they are : Virginia or New York. Later, I hope to be able to go back and look at key facts in these places and on an individual basis give them more detail, i.e. Massachusetts Bay Colony or New Sweden, dependant on the historical time frame.

RootsMagic gives you the option of placing longitude and latitude for each place name. Eventually, I may give that information for places that are used repeatedly in my data. RootsMagic also gives you plenty of room to write a descriptive field about the place, which will come in handy to give the details of the history of how counties, states, etc. were formed.

Perhaps this is just my fancy, but how do others handle their place names?

Initial Conversion Experiences with RootsMagic

Having recently converted from FamilyTreeMaker to RootsMagic, I must say that I have been overwhelmed and pleasantly pleased with the experience. As previously noted, I had been using FTM since the mid-1990s when I obtained my first PC. Although I had only upgraded to FTM 6.0, I was still pleased with the database and it meet my needs. With each new upgrade to FTM, I hesitated to spend money going after minor tweaks to the program and/or additional 'bells and whistles' that I did not need. It was not until reading about the reviews of the new FTM 2008 that I decided to investigate upgrading my genealogical software and after doing so, I decided that FTM would not be the way to go. I am so glad that I found RootsMagic.

The database converted my FTM file into RootsMagic with ease, and I immediately set about looking at the various reports and charts. There are so many ways to 'tweak' the data, that I can tell that I am going to love using this program for a long time. Over the past few days I have been modifying some information in my database, correcting known problems, and adding a few 'to-do' list items.

I would recommend this program to anyone who is serious about doing family history research just for the powerful source wizard alone. Already I have been able to use it to create source data for census records, etc. and found that in just a few quick steps, I had a source that was standardized along the lines of Elizabeth Shown Mills work "Evidence..." The family view in RootsMagic has allowed me to notice missing pieces of data in my research, and I've already created a few 'to-do' lists for my next research trip. The merge option was easy to use, and I found a few individuals that needed to be merged together. I have even played with the error reports and will slowly be correcting or ignoring potential errors that the program finds.

I can't praise this program enough! It is an easy to use and powerful database, with so many options and discoveries that await. It's hard to stay focused and realize that I have to go to work each day and not just stay at home and look at my family history in a new light.

Switching to RootsMagic

I've taken the plunge and have updated my genealogy software to RootsMagic 3. Previously, I have been using Family Tree Maker version 6.0. Over the years I've avoided updating and buying the seemingly endless updates and 'new versions' of FTM that seemed to grow like weeds.

So far, I am impressed by the ease in which I could import my data into RootsMagic. The source wizard is an easy interface to use, and I'm having fun playing with my database to see how new reports will look.