Amanda's Athenæum

Canadian Ancestors

2013-07-01T18:58:00.000-04:00

Happy Canada Day! A few of my branches stopped in Canada on their way to Buffalo. Below are the generation that came to Canada through the generation that left.
1-Nicholas Eichhorn b. Cal 16 Jan 1799, , , , Germany, d. 28 Jul 1878, Welland,
Niagara, Ontario, Canada
+Dorothea Schneider b. , , , , Germany
|--1.1-Charles Herman Eichhorn b. 25 Dec 1848, , , Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,
|    Germany, d. 25 Feb 1907, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
    +Katherine WEIß b. 19 Apr 1849, Hohenstaufen, Donaukreis, Wûrttemberg,
     Germany, d. 9 Aug 1936, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
   |--1.1.1-William Fred Eichhorn b. 22 Jun 1874, Chippewa, Welland, Ontario,
   |    Canada, d. 9 Mar 1931, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
   |--1.1.2-Frederick William Eichhorn b. 14 Jul 1875, , , Ontario, Canada, d.
   |    9 Apr 1932, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
   |--1.1.3-George Eichhorn b. 30 Aug 1878, Niagara, Niagara, New York, USA, d.
   |    1928, (Cheektowaga, Erie, New York, USA)
   |--1.1.4-Eichhorn b. After 1878, d. Bef 1884
   |--1.1.5-Eichhorn b. After 1878, d. Bef 1884
   |--1.1.6-Clara Eichhorn b. 9 Aug 1884, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA, d. Aug
   |    1967, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
   |--1.1.7-Charles Eichhorn b. Abt 1888, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA, d. Btw
   |    1892 - 1900, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
   |--1.1.8-Marie Eichhorn b. 21 Dec 1891, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
--------------------------------
1-Charles Whitehead Jr. b. 10 Oct 1840, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England, d.
12 Oct 1902, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
+Mary Ann Hayman b. 11 Mar 1845, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England, d. 16 May
1877, Barton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
|--1.1-Benjamin Thomas Whitehead b. 31 Oct 1866, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent,
|    England, d. 11 Apr 1906, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
|--1.2-Joseph Whitehead b. 2 Nov 1869, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England, d. 4
|    Apr 1936, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
|--1.3-Charles William Whitehead b. 12 Jun 1872, Burlington, , Ontario, Canada,
|    d. 27 Dec 1927, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
|--1.4-Rosanna Whitehead b. 5 Jan 1875, Barton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada, d.
|    2 Dec 1924, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
------------------------------------
1-John William Sanderson b. Abt 1830, , , , England, d. 25 Feb 1905,
Burlington, Halton, Ontario, Canada
+Mary Alwood b. Abt 1833, d. 30 Sep 1903, Galt, Halton, Ontario, Canada
|--1.1-Gertrude Sanderson
|--1.2-Mary Jane Sanderson b. Abt 1864, Trafalgar, , Ontario, Canada
|--1.3-William H. Sanderson b. 1869, , , , Canada, d. 1946, (Hamilton,
|    Wentworth, Ontario, Canada)
|--1.4-Anna May SANDERSON b. 17 Jun 1871, Burlington, , Ontario, Canada, d. 29
|    Apr 1928, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
-------------------------------------

A New Leaf

2013-06-04T19:38:00.000-04:00

Introducing my son, Julian John, who was born Thursday night. It is impossible to describe the emotions I have regarding him. Putting him in my family tree software is amazing – I’m an ancestor!

NERGC 2013: Day 3

2013-04-21T04:29:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning meant the end of NERGC was near. I began with the New York track, starting with “But She Died in Upstate New York in the 1850s: How Can I Identify Her Parents?” By David Ouimette. New York state is not the easiest to research in. Vital records did not start until 1880, were not prevalent until the early 1900s and even though they are open to researchers, they are not available to browse, instead you have to fill out a form and hope.

This means that you need to use alternate records and get creative in your search. David discussed the importance of cluster genealogy, looking at neighbors, checking neighboring localities and going forward in order to go back, since you never know what information a descendent might have that can help you. My favorite thing he said, “the search for an individual is the search for the family” is one of the most important things to remember when conducting genealogical research. Even professional genealogists do not know everything. At the end of the session a woman in the audience asked if he had looked at a certain record set for his case study. Hopefully this new resource will help him in his search.

The second part of the NY track was “Spanning the Great New York Abyss: Connecting Generations When No Vital Records Exist” by Laura Murphy DeGrazia. Laura gave a lot of resources for NY researchers and I will write a post expanding on this later in the week.

After lunch (and another volunteer lunch ticket collection), I attended the workshop “Baker's Dozen Steps to Writing Research Reports Workshop” by Elissa Scalise Powell. If you have the opportunity to take this workshop, do it. I wish someone had explained research reports to me like this when I was still a baby genealogist. Everyone should be writing research reports using the standards shown in the BCG manual. Elissa recommends having a template for these reports that you can fill in throughout your research process. This report should be the very first thing you do, prior to any research, for any question you have. The way she explained it made it seem so easy that of course you will always write a research report. My goal is to write and post these on my blog weekly, particularly showing the process of writing it throughout the next few weeks.

My last workshop of the conference was “My Grandmother was a Fascist: Alien Registration Files and Italian immigrant communities up to WWII” by Shellee A. Morehead. This session was actually useful to anyone with immigrant ancestors who did not get naturalized until after 1940. The Alien Registration Act of 1940 made every un-naturalized immigrant register on a yearly basis. To see if your ancestor has a file, go here.

The next NERGC conference will be in 2015 in Providence, Rhode Island. I can’t wait!

NERGC 2013: Day 2

2013-04-20T03:33:00.000-04:00

Day 2 at NERGC began with the “Evidence Analysis” workshop by Barbara Mathews. Barbara started by giving us a list of useful books, all of which I happily have in my genealogical library, that explain the terms used for evidence and sources. We also got a sneak peak at the new terms Tom Jones has put in his new book out in just a few weeks (have you pre-ordered yours yet?). She then discussed the importance of evaluating each source and the information found therein.

Next came my favorite part, discussing case studies. First we looked at one on straightforward information. This would be something such as looking at the parentage of your parent, where all of the documents match. Nice and simple, but you still want to write up a proof argument on it. Next we looked at one involving conflicting evidence, involving inferred relationships on early census records and secondary information from a death certificate. Worksheets such as census comparison charts helped us figure out who a person’s parents were.

Last she gave us a lot of documents to establish the correct parentage of Charles Goodrich. This was published in multiple printed genealogies, with differing results. We were put into groups and asked to come up with an answer and a reason why. I am happy to say I came up with the correct answer! It showed the importance of always going beyond printed genealogies to sources such as probate and vital records. When writing out a proof argument it is important that we not hide these types of conflicts, but instead discuss them and why we reached our conclusion. And as always, footnote, footnote, footnote.

After the workshop, I wandered to the blogger area in the expo center, which was sadly deserted. I then looked around the exhibits a bit and finally purchased The Journey Takers after about three years of meaning to, and There's a Map on My Lap!: All About Maps (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library), which is a great introduction to maps for children. I also got an amazing deal on the 2004 APG conference syllabus and the 2011 NGS conference syllabus. I can’t wait to read through them. Then I went to volunteer experience #1, collecting tickets for lunch.

My first afternoon workshop was “Should you believe your eyes? Sizing up Sources & Information” by Laura Murphy DeGrazia. The answer to this, of course, is no. It is important to look at who the informant is, the condition of the material, the purpose of the document, the context and procedure it was created with, the completeness of the information and the creator’s conventions, aka always read the introductory material, for each source you find. Once you have done this, you can compare and contrast all of the data you have and reconsider the relevance of each piece. I also volunteered for this session to check name badges and collect evaluation sheets. I highly recommend this very easy volunteer position, as you help conference organizers by doing a little extra work at a session you would attend anyway and you get entered to win some awesome prizes.

In what turned out to be my last workshop of the day, I went to “Digging Up the Dirt on Your Farmer” by Lori Thornton. Here I met Madaleine Laird, a new blogger who you should definitely check out! Lori gave us a multitude of sources to find information on your farmer. She is the one person who has more farmers in her family tree than I do (my ancestry has a random gardener and day laborers in it). Always look at the agricultural census if it is available, as well as tax, land and patent records.

After this I was pretty fried. I was going to go to the poster sessions, but an hour of standing wasn’t looking so good, so instead I came back to the hotel for a quick nap, which turned into my waking up halfway through the blogging special interest group I had planned to attend. At that point my husband and I went to grab dinner and then came back to relax and watch HGTV. Only one more day left at the conference!

NERGC 2013: Day 1

2013-04-18T18:02:00.000-04:00

At the end of the NERGC conference in 2011 I was fortunate enough to win a free registration to the 2013 conference in Manchester, New Hampshire, which began today. I unfortunately missed the opening session this morning as we arrived at our hotel at 3am this morning, but I attended 3 sessions today, as well as visiting the exhibition hall.

The first session was Colleen Fitzpatrick’s “The Dead Horse Investigation: Not Just the Facts, Ma'am.” Colleen showed how much information you can find to identify a photograph by looking at all the little details and using other sources, such as city directories and census records.

Next I went to “What Exactly is a "Reasonably Exhaustive Search"?” by Laura Murphy DeGrazia. While many genealogists know they are supposed to complete a reasonably exhaustive search, most do not know what that entails. Since each circumstance is different, there is no checklists or shortcuts, instead, we all need to learn how to conduct a reasonably exhaustive search from experience. She recommended reading as many journal articles as possible and studying the footnotes and sources used, as well as showing your work to experts at events such as the Ancestor Road Show at NERGC to learn more. Laura was a great speaker and one I will be adding to my “must see at conferences” list.

My last session today was by one of my favorite speakers, F. Warren Bittner, on “Complex Evidence: What it is, How it works, and Why it matters? (An example from NYC)”. According to Warren “the goal of family history is to establish identity” and if we cannot do this, all of our other goals are a waste. In order to truly establish identity you need to use complex evidence and analyze and compare all of your sources to create a written proof summary. The problem many genealogists have is that family tree software and charts make it seem that filling in dates and sources of each person is enough, when really that isn’t the point of genealogical research at all. You can have a birth, marriage and death date for John Smith, but they may be three different John Smiths, which is why the analysis is necessary. The presentation reminded me once again of the work I have to do with my research beyond proper sourcing and putting it in Legacy.

The society fair began at 5:15, followed by the exhibit hall opening at 6pm. Not having New England ancestry, there were not any societies I was interested in joining, although I was impressed by and interested in the Maine Old Cemetery Association and the work they do to preserve cemeteries. The exhibit hall was very full and it was a bit difficult to look at the booths. I bought New York State Censuses & Substitutes by William Dollarhide, which I am very excited to add to my genealogy library.

Tomorrow is a long day starting with a workshop on evidence analysis in the morning and ending with a blogging special interest group at night.

Motivation Monday: February 2013

2013-02-06T06:28:00.000-05:00

Weekly plans don't seem to work for me, so let's try monthly.

Write posts about my trip to Belgium & Luxembourg

Go to the library to check birth and death dates and places for the husband's family

Go to Binghamton and Utica/Rome areas to get said certificates

Organize surname and location blog categories

Continue inputting item

SNGF: Semi-Random Research

2013-01-13T15:35:00.000-05:00

Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun at Genea-Musings:

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:

1) We're going to do a little bit of Semi-Random Research tonight...

2) Go to your family tree database of choice (you know, like RootsMagic, Reunion, Ancestry Member Tree), and determine who the very last person on your list of names is.

3) What do you know about this person based on your research? It's OK to do more if you need to - in fact, it's encouraged!

4) How are you related to this person, and why is s/he in your family tree?

5) Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook Status post or Google+ Stream post.

The last person in my Legacy database is Henry Zwilling, my 4th great-grandfather, who was married to Anna Maria Gossman/Gassman and had at least one child, Elizabeth. In a somewhat unrelated note, this Elizabeth is probably one reason I have the middle name Elizabeth. She is my grandma's great-grandmother and I wonder if that is where her parents got her middle name (also Elizabeth).

And that is all the information I have...

So to Ancestry.com we go. Thanks to some enterprising relatives, there is quite a bit on Ancestry for Henry. He appears to have been born in the Alsace region of France around 1804. He emigrated to America and lived in Lancaster, Erie Co., NY, where he died in 1890.

There are the usual census and tax records and confused family trees. The most interesting are the scanned image of his citizenship document and the land ownership map.

Henry is on my "to research someday" list.

4 Year Blogiversary

2013-01-11T09:14:00.000-05:00

1/28/13

Motivational Monday: Belgium

2013-01-07T15:02:00.000-05:00

My 3rd great-grandmother, Catherine Scheer Kollin was born 14 July 1822 in Belgium. She married Jacob Kollin and died 21 Jan 1901 in Bennington Center, Wyoming, New York. I am visiting Belgium in a few weeks and was hoping to visit her home town, except that I have no idea how to do research on Belgium and I kind of forgot I wanted to research it when I booked my plane ticket 5 months ago, so it wasn't looking good. With some help from an Ancestry.com member tree and the website Messancy, I found her parents and place of birth, Messancy. Belgium. She also has ancestors who lived in Sprinkange, Luxembourg and Mondercange, Luxembourg. This week I need to look into these areas and plan a day trip there from Belgium.

I am tremendously close to finishing my sourcing from my Whitehead binder. I should be able to finish it by the end of Sunday.

I also need to work on organizing my blog categories. At the very least I would like to finish updating the surname category.

SNGF: Where Were They 100 Years Ago?

2013-01-05T14:49:00.000-05:00

From Randy at Genea-Musings:

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:

1) Determine where your ancestral families were on 1 January 1913 - 100 years ago.

2) List them, their family members, their birth years, and their residence location (as close as possible). Do you have a photograph of their residence from about that time, and does the residence still exist?

3) Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status or Google+ Stream post.

My great-great grandparents Joseph Acquard, Jr. (1855) and Mary Kollin (unknown) lived in Bennington Center, Wyoming, NY with their children including my great grandfather Florian (1899).

My great-great grandparents Franciszek Karpinski (1880) and Jozefa Szydlik (1886) were living with their daughter Genevieve in Buffalo, Erie, NY. It is possible their parents were living in Poland, but I have not done any research there yet.

My great-great grandparents George Nuwer (1869) and Anna Zeapfel (1874) were living with their children, including my great grandfather Albert (1906), at their house on Westwood in Alden, Erie, NY. I have photos of this home. I am not sure where George's mother, Elizabeth Nitcher (1843) was at this time.

Anna's parents, Joseph Zeapfel (1837) and Elizabeth Zwilling (1847) lived with some of their children in Lancaster, Erie, NY.

My great-great grandparents Marco Casillo (1868) and Caroline Izzo (1876) lived with their children, including my great grandfather Alfred Casell (1906), in Buffalo, Erie, NY.

My great-great grandparents William Eichhorn and Augusta Tross were also living in Buffalo, with their children including my great grandmother Lillian Eichhorn (1908). William's mother Catherine Weiss (1849) was also probably living in Buffalo at this time.

Augusta's mother, Maria Strassheim (1841) was living in Buffalo with her daughter Catherina's family.

My great-great grandparents Charles Whitehead (1872) and Anna Sanderson (1871) were living in Buffalo with their children including my great grandfather William (1896).

My great-great grandparents Jacob Gress (1869) and Elizabeth Fink (1867) were living with their children, including my great grandmother Vera (1900), in Buffalo.

Jacob's mother Sophia Passel (1849) was also living in Buffalo. She had a few boarders at this time.

Elizabeth's mother Barbara Fleeman (1846) was living in Buffalo with 2 of her children.

I do not have many photos of the homes of my ancestors. I now have a project for the next time I'm visiting Buffalo.

2013

2013-01-04T14:05:00.000-05:00

Hello little blog. I've missed you. 2012 turned out to be a pretty crazy year and I promise to update on that soon, but first I just want to say hi to all my readers out there. Thanks for sticking around.

My only resolution for 2013 is to get back into the hobbies that I most enjoy. Genealogy is near the top of that list and I have a few goals to go along with that.

Spend at least 1 hour a week on my genealogy, whether research or organization.

Read at least 1 genealogy book a month and post about it here.

Post at least 2 times a week on my blog about my exploits. These can be about genealogy, libraries, travel or just general updates on life.

Update/organize categories and pages on the blog.

I have been organizing my apartment and am shocked at the amount of genealogical research I have just sitting in boxes. Many boxes, in many rooms, full of glorious information that I couldn't find if my life depended on it and that is probably not in my genealogy program. So while new research is always my favorite thing to do, I think organizing the information I have into nice binders and source citations in Legacy is probably a better plan.

I'm looking forward to catching up on all my genealogy blogs in my Reader and finding new ones, too. Happy New Year!

RIP John Humphrey

2012-08-13T13:47:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago I took the German Genealogy course at GRIP with John Humphrey. He was an amazing teacher, very kind and I learned a lot from him. Today I have learned of his passing via the GRIP page on Facebook. Rest in peace, John.

(Further information will be provided on the IGHR website on Wednesday. I will update with a link).

Wedding Wednesday: Angelo Fantacone & Angiolina Basile

2012-08-01T16:10:00.000-04:00

(Register #89)

My mother-in-law is a recent genealogy-addict, which is very exciting to me. Yesterday we went to the Central Library’s Local History and Genealogy room to search the New York State Vital Records Index. Amazingly, we found ever date we were looking for. I then learned, after much confusion by clerks sending me every which way, that old marriage registers have been scanned in Syracuse and are available for free download in the basement of the County Clerk’s Office. This makes up for the crazy amount of money they charged me for death records next door at the Bureau of Vital Statistics.

My mother-in-law’s maternal grandparents, Angelo Fantacone and Angiolina Basile were married in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York 31 July 1905, which means we learned their wedding date on their 107th anniversary. I love genealogy serendipity like that

According to the record, Angelo Fantagone [sic] was 24, a carpenter living in Syracuse (I think he was actually in Cortland at this time) but born in Italy. His parents are Tomas Fantacone and Lodovica [possible sic for Ludovica] Libera and this is his first marriage. No witness is listed.

Angiolina Basile was 18, living in Syracuse and also born in Italy. Her parents are Michil [sic: Michale] and F. [Filomena] Fantagone [sic: Fantacone] and this is her first marriage. The marriage was performed by Rev. Frank Morassi.

This record proves that I have the correct parents for Angiolina from passenger list records. It also gives the me the names of Angelo’s parents! Time to find the church Rev. Morassi worked at. [Edited to add: Wikipedia for the win: St. Peter's Italian Church].

GRIP: Final Thoughts

2012-07-30T03:07:00.000-04:00

After a weekend to decompress from GRIP, I wanted to put my thoughts in order.

Are Institutes Worth the Cost and Time: Beyond a doubt. In fact, I can’t wait to go back next year and am contemplating adding SLIG to my January plans. Institutes are a great way to look in depth at a topic that a typical lecture cannot do. Cost-wise, GRIP is an amazing deal. For under $700, I received one week of lectures, syllabus, room, board and an awesome polo shirt. This is probably one of the best values available in genealogical education.
The Best Part of GRIP: The people, just like at conferences. I met so many interesting people in class, at meals and as a roommate. The coursework is great, but the people you meet are even better.
What to do Next: Write research plans, order FHL microfilm and search the German newspapers of Buffalo. I also want to practice reading Gothic Script.
Adding on a Research Trip: Always a great idea if you can do it. Since I was driving past Eden, NY, where my Gress ancestors settled from Germany, I stopped by the library. They had a three volume history of Eden which included a few pages on the German migration there (apparently, most came from the Alsace-Lorraine region) and on which churches the German immigrants went to. I now have a much more specific list of churches to contact and great information for writing an immigrant profile.
Which Course Next Year: Can I take them all? Next year’s courses are:
- Intermediate Genealogy: Tools for Digging Deeper with Paula Stewart-Warren
- Skills for Proof with Dr. Thomas W. Jones
- Bridging the 1780-1840 Gap: From New England to the Midwest with D. Joshua Taylor
- Military Records: From Cradle to Grave with Craig R. Scott
- Your Immigrant Ancestors’ Stories: Writing a Quality Narrative with John P. Colletta
- Advanced Research Tools: Land Records with Rick and Pam Sayre
As you can see, these are some fantastic courses! I’m leaning toward the Immigrant Ancestor’s Stories or Land Records, but it is going to be a tough choice. Hopefully, I will see you there!

GRIP Day 5: Back to Reality

2012-07-27T07:26:00.000-04:00

My brain was pretty done after 12 hours of lectures and talking and learning yesterday. It is amazing how much information I have learned in such a short time. Today (Friday) I woke up ready to take in as much as possible on my last day here, which was a good thing, as the records discussed today should lead to much genealogical success.

Our first lesson today was on the German records held at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. These records, the Rasse und Siedlungs Hauptamt (RuSHA), were created in Germany by the SS in the 1930s and are full of Ahnentafel charts and other genealogical information. These charts can go back to the 1600s in some cases, but always until ancestors born by 1800. If you can find an ancestor or collateral relative, they will be tremendously useful to you.

I do not normally quote syllabus materials, as they are under copyright and one of the ways genealogists are able to make a living, but I feel that the following sentence about the SS records is important enough to break this rule; it is copyright of John T. Humphrey. “These records, the activities associated with these records and the reasons for their creation demonstrate the role of genealogy in establishing racist policies during a tragic era in Germany and they serve as a warning for generations in other countries yet to be born.”

I like to think that genealogists are less racist than others, as they see firsthand that everyone is connected/related, but as we can see, this is not always the case. These records are useful for many genealogists, but when searching for them, remember why they were made and have a moment of silence for the victims of the policies that created them.

Our second lesson was on researching Germans in American repositories and libraries, particularly the Library of Congress. The LoC has one of the largest German collections outside Germany. By searching their catalog, you can find lineage books, information created by state societies and other books of interest to German genealogy, such as Marion Dexter Learned’s “Manuscript Materials Relating to American History in German State Archives.” It is important to use both English and German spellings of items in order to see their full holdings. In addition to the LoC, it is important to check the Family History Library, university libraries and public libraries.

Our day ended with certificates, goodbyes and long trips home. Since one can never have to much genealogy, I am planning to stop in Eden, Erie, NY on my way to Buffalo to see what I can find on Joseph and Caroline Gress.

GRIP Day 4: So Many Sources, So Little Time

2012-07-27T04:30:00.000-04:00

Today (Thursday) John said that genealogists have 3 jobs:

To identify sources
To find the information about your family in those sources
Write up our findings (they are of no use in a notebook)

He made sure to give a multitude of sources for us to look for. Whether church records from the seventeenth century, compilations, maps or online databases, I now have dozens of items to look for while looking for my ancestors across the pond.

We began the day looking at maps and gazetteers. In German research, the Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs is the most important gazetteer in German research. There is a “how to” book by Wendy K. Uncapher that is very useful.

Our second session was on sources of information in Germany. Published sources from Germany are much more accessible than archives in Germany. It is important to look for civil records (especially family registers for those from Württemberg), land records, and house books, among others.

After lunch we discussed how to find your ancestors in those published records. Although there will always be transcription and translation errors, these are still great sources to use. Make sure to check the US first, both the Family History Center and WorldCat, before heading to Germany to look for them.

Our last course was on finding German ancestors on the internet. John said that the internet has revolutionized the way we go about researching. One of the most important things to remember in searching is to use German key words as well as English. You can also search through Google.de for more German language hits.

Our evening sessions began with a Q & A with the instructors. My favorite line from the entire week was when Josh Taylor was discussing Who Do You Think You Are? and mentioned that he had told producers “I don’t do southern Indian princesses.” An amusing line with an important point: every genealogist has a different area of expertise; one does not have to know everything.

Our second session was by the creator/director of the Photo Antiquities Museum in Pittsburg. He went through the history of photography complete with examples that he passed around. He was tremendously passionate about the subject, which made the presentation even better to watch. I look forward to visiting his museum in the future.

Only 1 day left!

GRIP Day 3: The Center of the Labyrinth

2012-07-26T04:18:00.000-04:00

‘

Wednesday means we are halfway through the Institute, which is pretty hard to believe. Our morning session was on the Pennsylvania Germans. Although I do not have Pennsylvania ancestry, many of the records discussed would be useful to any research. In the end, it is all about the research strategies and methodologies you use. The second session continued this theme with case studies of immigrants to the area.

After some excellent discussion at lunch (where I met Karen of Karen’s Genealogy Oasis blog), we came back to “Finding Places of Origin in Germany.” Although I have a few ancestral villages, I do not have them for most of my German immigrant ancestors. John reiterated that whole family genealogy (aka cluster genealogy or FAN research) is tremendously important in these cases. Newspapers, particularly German language newspapers, can be very useful in this. Even if you have the obituary from an English language newspaper, which is often just a short death notice, find the obituary in the newspaper of their native language for more information.

Continuing to the last session of the day, we learned about “Typefaces: Published Sources and German-American Newspapers.” Finding those newspapers mentioned above takes work, as does being able to read them. After learning German Gothic script yesterday, learning Fraktur, which is the typeface German newspapers use, was much easier. Since it is typed, it is always the same, plus, you can cheat with it using a word program with the typeface installed. Newspapers can also be used to bring your family history to life through items such as society notices, weather and passenger ship advertisements. The advertisements shown were fantastic. Check out the Library of Congress Chronicling America site.

After class we went to work on our “homework” deciphering an obituary typed in Fraktur. It is much easier to decipher with 4 sets of eyes and a little help from a paper dictionary and the Leo online dictionary. Then came dinner with more lively discussion, followed by reading the BCG certification examples. I know I can get to that level someday, but I am definitely not anywhere close yet!

A few of us then went to explore the grounds of the college. First we hiked to the cemetery, which is lovely. I will post on that Tuesday. From there we went to the labyrinth, which according to the brochure is part of the Keams Spirituality Center. Although I have always wanted to, I have never walked a labyrinth before. What an amazing experience! One which I plan to repeat in the future. The image above is of the center of the labyrinth. I have to say that I am much more a fan of this than corn mazes. There is a distinct path; it may be long and winding, but eventually you reach the center. You can then take that relaxation/reflection/knowledge and head out, onto other paths. In many ways GRIP is like that path. We are given a roadmap toward the knowledge, rather than having to wander around aimlessly. We stay in the center of knowledge for a while and then head out on our own following the recommendations given.

Tomorrow we look at maps and gazetteers, explore sources of information in Germany, learn about published sources in the US and then find our German ancestors on the internet. I see lots of note taking in my future!

GRIP: Day 2

2012-07-24T17:50:00.000-04:00

Another early start today (Tuesday) for breakfast and catching up online. Our first session today was on German church records. John discussed how church records brought the common man out of obscurity. Prior to these, you can only research nobility or the winners of history. With local parish records, every person has a name and a spot in the past. These are the records that will help you put together families and the joining of families (through marriage). They are the most important record group for German research.

After our church record introduction it was time to learn to read said records. The Germans used Gothic script, which is what has kept me from ordering parish records from the villages I have identified as my ancestral home. After a couple hours of reading words and paragraphs with his Gothic script font, I was a parish reading rock star. Then came the copies of actual parish registers after lunch and it was like I had never seen these characters before. As with anything, this will be a skill I learn in a slow and steady manner. I intend to practice as much as possible on films from the FHL when I get back to Syracuse.

After dinner tonight, I purchased my pile of books which will make for some interesting reading for German research and narrative writing. Then I headed to Rick and Pamela Boyer Sayre’s lecture on Google Earth for Genealogists: The Sequel. This was one of the lectures I was not able to attend at the NGS conference, so it was nice to have a second chance. I am amazed by all that you can create with Google Earth and all of the ways it can help in your research. I have to admit that it is not a program I use frequently, but I will be ordering some introductory books on it when I get home. The Sayre’s will be teaching a course on advanced land records at the 2013 GRIP which I am told is fantastic. Deciding which course to take next year is going to be tough.

The lecture ended at 8:30 and after dropping off my belongings I took a walk around campus. La Roche is a beautiful campus surrounded by the woods. They have large statues of the Stations of the Cross that lead down a gravel path toward the woods which ends at a cemetery. Since it was late, I did not make it all the way to the cemetery, but I plan on wandering around it tomorrow. Only a genealogical institute would have attendees excited by a cemetery on the grounds.

Our lectures Wednesday will be the Pennsylvania Germans, finding places of origin in Germany and typefaces, published sources and German-American newspapers. At night there is a public lecture on Pennsylvania Research, which I may not attend due to my lack of Pennsylvanian ancestry. I do have a great-great uncle who randomly got married in Scranton, however, so maybe they can tell me why (he and his wife were from and living in Buffalo).

Get a GRIP on German Genealogy: Days 0-1

2012-07-24T03:33:00.000-04:00

I arrived at the La Roche College campus Sunday afternoon for the inaugural Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburg where I am taking the German Genealogical Research track with John T. Humphrey.

After registration (where we received our course notebook and GRIP polo shirt) and unloading my car, we had a simple buffet dinner and a welcome to the institute. Then it was back to the room to begin reading Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff, followed by an early bedtime.

Monday began with an early breakfast and then off to class. We began with participant introductions and it was interesting to hear the variety of reasons people were taking the course. We were then given an introduction of the course and a background of Germans in the US. My biggest takeaways from the morning sessions was that genealogy is local, both in the US and in Germany and to find a document that your ancestor has signed, as it will give you their German surname. This is a tactic that I imagine would work for any immigrant ancestor.

After lunch we were taught German language skills for genealogist and a primer on German history. The language skills were similar to what I had learned in my German course in Hamburg. The German history was interesting, particularly since it made me look at Germany differently, as Germany didn’t exist as a country in 1871. He also said that jobs can be as important as surnames for German research, as they tended to be the same through the generations, even in the US.

After class ended, we had some downtime, then dinner and browsing through the books brought by Maia’s Books. At 7:30, there was a public lecture by Pam Stone Eagleson on Telling the Tales: Writing the Family Narrative. This was the type of lecture that you wish lasted longer than the one hour provided. Pam showed her writing process, particularly how to add historical to your research to create a story. After her workshop, I want to write, write, write (hence this blog post).

Tomorrow will be church records and handwriting skills, which is rather daunting and one of the main reasons I took this course.

Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum

2012-06-25T11:12:00.000-04:00

Image from the Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum site

Yesterday, my husband surprised me with a trip to the Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum, which is located in Sodus Bay, on Lake Ontario. The lighthouse was originally built in 1824, but had to be rebuilt in 1871. It became a museum in 1984.

The museum showed this history of the lighthouse, talked about Sodus Bay in the War of 1812 (every building except one was burnt down by the British), and showed beach fashion over the past 150 years. Included with admission is a guided tour and this was one of the best tour guides I have ever had. After the tour we walked to the top of the lighthouse which gives a great view of Sodus Bay. In the gift shop, I purchased a Lighthouse Passport and got my first stamp. I'm looking forward to visiting other lighthouses in the future.

After out tour ended, we wandered around the grounds a bit and looked at Lake Ontario. Unfortunately, it started to rain, so we were not able to explore as much as we had wanted. We then drove around the town a bit and headed home, stopping at a farm stand along the way.

If you are in the area, I definitely recommend checking out the museum.

New York Indexed in 1940 Census at Ancestry.com

2012-06-06T06:22:00.000-04:00

New York is now indexed for the 1940 census at Ancestry.com!

From Ancetsry’s webpage about this: “From upstate to downtown, New York was a busy place in 1940. The 11th state was number one in population with 13 million people. The eyes of the world were watching, too, as the World’s Fair landed here in 1939, and planes were landing at the new LaGuardia Field. What were your Empire State relatives up to in 1940?”

I know how I’ll be spending my Wednesday!

Tuesday’s Tip: A Rose by Any Other Name

2012-06-05T15:26:00.000-04:00

Having a hard time finding a person in an index that you just know must be there? For women, make sure you always check their maiden name (particularly in passenger lists) or Mrs. Husband’s Full Name. For birth records, always try “male” or “female” last name, as many infants were not named prior to leaving the hospital.

Amanuensis Monday: Barbara Fleeman Probate (Part 1)

2012-06-04T13:26:00.000-04:00

I have found many probate packets for my ancestors over the years, most all small, just a will and a few pages of information from the Surrogate’s Court. One probate packet that surprised me was that of my 4th great-grandmother, Barbara (Griss) Fleeman, who died 1 October 1870. At 37 pages long, this packet includes legal proceedings that occurred for 3 years after Barbara’s death. Written mostly in not-always-easy-to-read longhand, I will be transcribing a couple pages a week over the next couple months. Italics are used to differentiate handwritten items. Items in brackets are asides written by me.

Erie County, SS. - To Jacob Sumers + Henry A. Swartz

By virtue of the power and authority given to me, I do hereby appoint you appraisers of the personal property of Barbara Fleeman late of the City of Buffalo deceased.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereto set my hand and seal of office, this 12th day of June 1872. [Signature Unreadable] Surrogate.

Erie County, SS. – I Jacob Somers and I, Henry A Swartz do solemnly swear that I will truly, honestly and impartially appraise the personal property of Barbara Fleeman deceased, which shall be exhibited to me, according to the best of my knowledge and ability.

Sworn to this 1st day of July 1872, before me} H A Swartz [Signature] Jacob Somers [Signature] Edward Edge [Signature] Commissioner of Deeds for Buffalo

STATE OF NEW YORK, Erie County.}SS. I, Adam Fleeman Administrator of Barbara Fleeman deceased, do swear that the following Inventory is in all respects just and true; that it contains a true statement of all the personal property of the said deceased which has come to my knowledge, and particularly of money, bank bills, and other circulating medium, belonging to the said deceased, and of all just claims of the said deceased against me, according to the best of my knowledge.

Sworn before me, this 1st day of July 1872} Adam Fleeman [Signature] Edward Edge [Signature] Com of Deeds for Buffalo

A True and Perfect Inventory of goods, chattels, and credits of Barbara Fleeman deceased, made on the 1 day of July 1872, by Adam Fleeman Administrator &c., of deceased, with the aid of Jacob Somers and H.A. Swartz appraisers, duly appointed by the Surrogate' of the Count of Erie,

Articles for the Widow and Minor Children, set apart without appraisal, pursuant to the Revised Statutes: None

[Page 2]

In addition to above, we do inventory, appraise and set apart for the use of the Widow and Minor Children of said deceased, the following articles of property, ($150 in amount,) pursuant to the Statute of 1842, viz: None

We further certify that upon inquiry we could not find any personally property to appraise

Adam Fleeman [Signature]

H A Swartz [Signature]

Jacob Somers [Signature]

Source: Erie, New York, Probate Files, 7035, Barbara Fleeman; Erie County Probate Court, Buffalo.

Motivational Monday: June

2012-06-04T12:43:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe we are at the halfway point of the year already. After hearing Elizabeth Shown Mills speak at NGS, I am focusing the majority of my time putting sources into my updated RootsMagic database. Although most items are sources in my Legacy database, not everything is and there is almost no document transcription or comments on the validity of the document/information. As such, I am trying to create a main database that will include all of this information and have decided that RootsMagic 5 is the best program for this.

Research:

Main focus: Sophia Possehl research strategy
Secondary focus: Continue basic search for the husband’s family (Ancestry, FamilySearch, etc.)
Search for tombstones for my husband’s family in the Utica area

Organization:

Put all Whitehead family sources into RootsMagic. All sources must be fully documented, transcribed and with comments as needed.
Dedicate one shelf on our bookcase to my genealogy notebooks

Education:

Watch all RootsMagic webinars of interest
Read the 4 genealogy books I have out from the library
Continue reading and taking notes on the NGS syllabus
Attend 3 CLRC library/archives workshops

Misc.

Post at least twice per week on this blog
Complete at least 3 Find-A-Grave cemetery requests

Wordless Wednesday: The Frisco Club, Buffalo

2012-05-30T15:25:00.000-04:00

The Frisco Club, Buffalo, NY. Marked are Elizabeth (Fink) Gress with her children Chester and May. In the background are the words “Blackrock Market.”

“Lois – Grandma at the Frisco club, she help the boys – Chester, Walter + Howard. they belonged to it + the mother’s always helped. I was about 14 years old, thought you might like it.” Assuming this was written by May, the photo is from approximately 1904.

Photo scanned from original owned by my great Aunt Lois 25 May 2009.