Researching Darke County, Ohio

Last Sunday I spent the day in Darke County, Ohio, researching my genealogy and getting a history lesson from my dad.  After our day in Jay County on Saturday, we headed out to Greenville, Ohio on Sunday.  My plan was to visit the Garst Museum and their genealogical library which had been on my "to-do" list for quite some time.

As we crossed over the state line, dad shared a few stories about his high school and college days and 3.2 beer.  Ohio allowed 18 year-olds to drink 3.2 beer, and since Jay County was just a few miles away, it was common for them to come over to Ohio.  When we arrived in Greenville, we drove around a bit and located the Triangle bar, where dad and friends from Ball State came down to dance.  It was closed, being a Sunday, but it was interesting to hear dad open up a little bit about his youth.

The first place we visited in the area was the Webster Cemetery (aka Dutch) in Allen Township.  I had previously visited this cemetery two years ago with Eileen.  We quickly located the graves of Nathaniel Chew (1786-1866), dad's 3rd-great grandfather, and Caroline Bishop (Woolston) Chew (1826-1879), dad's 2nd-great grandmother and the first wife of Ezekiel Cooper Chew.  These tombstones had definitely weathered since my last visit.  Also in the plot was the infant Phillip D. Lemasters (1869-1869), the younger brother of dad's grandfather.

This cemetery lies on the Lightsville-Rossburg Road, and I later found out that the former Methodist Episcopal Church that sat there was torn down in the 1890s.  

Waiting for the museum to open, we had to make a lunch stop at Maid-Rite, a Greenville tradition.  We were the second and third customer of the day, some local beat us in the door to be the first customer of the day.

After a bit to eat, we stopped by a pioneer cemetery that we noticed as we were driving around looking for the Triangle bar.  The grave markers of several War of 1812 veterans and other pioneer citizens are preserved there as well as a small stockade.

Always the history teacher, dad took me down to the site of Fort Jefferson.  After visiting the site of Fort Recovery on Saturday and learning more about St. Clair's Defeat and the history of military operations in Ohio in the early 1790s.

And then, the researching began.  The museum opened at 1 p.m., and after paying the admission fee, which allows you to tour the museum and use the genealogy library, I was ready to dig in.  The nice volunteer pointed me in the direction of the surname files.  With over 5000 surnames in its files, the library has quite an extension collection.  Planning for the trip, I had printed off a list of individuals who resided in Darke County before 1930.  Some of my paternal ancestry was briefly in the county, but even on my maternal side there were some collateral relatives who lived in the county as well.

I had great success in the surname files on my maternal lines - the Groendykes and the Lambertsons, and found some information on the Hummel collateral line of my paternal side.  In addition, I was able to find some records from the atlas regarding where the land my Chew family held, and likely where my LeMaster family resided.  Because my families were only in the county for a short period of time, I didn't find much on them in the more general interest books.   We only spent about two hours there, as we were getting tired, but it was definitely worth it.  It will definitely be on my list of places to return again to research, as they had so many family files to research.

We also took the time to explore the museum, including the Annie Oakley collection, and I must say it is one of the nicer small museums I have been in.  Their collections on local history, examples of pioneer life, farming, racing, etc. is definitely worth stopping by to see.

I will be sharing more about what I've found in future posts.

Death Record : Alfred Haldeman, 1917, Morrow County, Ohio

"Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZVN-LZG : accessed 5 September 2015), Alfred Haldeman, 07 Mar 1917; citing Troy Twp., Morrow, Ohio, reference fn 20924; FHL microfilm 1,983,937.

Alfred Haldeman was my paternal 2nd-great granduncle by marriage, married to Susanna Jane Haley (1844-1899), the daughter of George J. and Rachel (Gary) Haley.  Working on updating Ohio death records at FamilySearch for my RootsMagic database, I realized that I didn't have his date of death.

Alfred was born March 15, 1844 in Ohio, according to his death certificate, the son of Christian and Susan (Brinkely) Haldeman.  He died March 7, 1917 in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio due to pulmonary tuberculosis.

The informant for the death certificate was his son, Harvey L. Haldeman, and Alfred was buried in the Haldeman Cemetery.  At the time of his death, he was listed as married, but I don't have a second marriage for him.

A search at FindAGrave located his memorial page, where it states that Alfred remarried to Mary Ann Stull on November 13, 1900 in Morrow County, Ohio.  Will have to search for this record as well.

Alfred and Susan (Haley) Haldeman were the parents of seven known children: Vera B., George Allen, Maude, Christian E., Vernon J., Frank J. and Harvey Levi.  I have not traced their descendants but need to do so as they might have photographs, etc. of the Haley side.

If you have any additional information or corrections or are related to this family, I would love to hear from you.

Geeking Out on Genetic Genealogy

Spent today combining my love of genealogy with interest in DNA by attending a great workshop put on by the Jay County Historical Society by Dr. Michael Lacopo.  Dr. Lacopo's presentation was split into two parts, with the introduction being hosted at the Jay County Public Library and the conclusion being held at the historical society.  Dad came with me, so I was able to spend some quality time with him as well and hear family history stories.

The fact that genetic genealogy has revolutionized genealogy research and brought about the marriage of science and family history is without dispute. Yet DNA testing is a tool that many have either not utilized or have been unsure of the science behind it.  You need not be "geeked out" on the science, but a basic understanding of the biology behind your chromosomes and genetic inheritance is essential to understanding how DNA testing can help with your research.

The presentation was well attended, with a diverse group of genealogists, some of whom had done DNA testing and others had not.  Dr. Lacopo did a good job of explaining the science behind DNA testing and what the various companies that provide the testing offer without losing the audience with the science.  Based on the question and answer period, he also did a good job of relating what types of genealogical problems that DNA test can and cannot solve.

Though I have already tested my DNA at two of the three major providers and was familiar with triangulation, I was able to glean some ideas from this presentation.

I was particularly interested to hear him describe his method's of using DNA testing to solve brick wall problems.  I was familiar with his blog, but it was nice to hear him in person.  I kept hoping I would recognize one of the family names he would mention.

The best quote I heard from him was the maxim that "human beings are not renewable resources" in relationship to the fact that we need to gather DNA from older living relatives now before they are gone.  Their DNA might hold the keys to unlocking family mysteries you are trying to solve.  Dr. Lacopo stressed that genetic genealogy is a numbers game, the more people with known relationships you have tested the better.

Key takeaways from the presentation were:

• DNA testing is a numbers game; the higher the % of matching DNA, the more definitive the relationship
• Size does matter; the larger the segment of DNA you share with a match, the more likely you received the segment from a common ancestor
• More is better; the more people you test with a known relationship the better
• Triangulate and map; once you identify your most recent common ancestor (MRCA) and confirm with another that match on a particular segment

Dr. Lacopo gave some tips regarding the numbers game of DNA testing - that any match over 0.3% is a big deal and that any matching segment longer than 10 cM (centimorgans) has a 99% change of being identical-by-descent, meaning a definite match.  He suggested that you focus on those matches rather than the smaller matches, even thought the DNA testing companies pull in results as low as 7 cM.

The presentation inspired me to work anew on my DNA genealogy, and strive to map out the research plan for the problems I want to solve and seek out cousins to have tested.  I have started compiling my own spreadsheets of DNA matches, and was impressed to see his color-coded DNA segments that he had identified as belonging to certain family names.

This was my first interaction with one of the "rock star" genealogists, and I must say that I was impressed.  I would highly recommend attending one of Dr. Lacopo's presentations if you have the opportunity, and this was a great program put on on by the historical society.

A bonus was that one of the members of the society brought their pedigree fan chart to the presentation and by glancing at it, I noticed we have several points of connection on my mother's side.  I handed him my business card and hope we can begin corresponding soon.