History is Genealogy, they are inextricable.
What our ancestors experienced and created, we live with.
The society we espouse today will affect our descendants.
Many have chosen to embrace hate and division, or at least tell themselves that what they are seeing are not those things.
The effect is the same.

November 6, 2024

I think the most hurtful thing is that so many “good people” have just ignored all of the teachings of their church or the secular rules of morality and ethics and have bamboozled themselves into believing that a lying, awful, divisive and hate-filled person is somehow our national savior.

My question, that I cannot answer, is “Are they still good people?” I have think so, but good people can be wrong. History has proven so time and time again.
I can and have disagreed with many people on various topics, but this has pushed well beyond the veil of my grace and I will have a hard time looking at some the same way.

In reality, most of my family’s lives will be the same.
Certain groups of people have it easier.
Women in NY still have rights.

There are so many others in other locations and/or with other backgrounds that will not have that.

Yet the followers and beneficiaries of ingrained societal privilege have concocted this fantasy that they have somehow been robbed of their rights and that the answer is to strip others of their own using some corrupted moral compass that has been viewed through the wrong end of a hateful telescope.

They think divisiveness breeds strength, when it just brings more divisiveness.

We are a nation mainly descended from immigrants, whose strength was cemented by the melding of our differences (as imperfect as that has been), the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” – but many have decided the door should not only be closed, but bolted and nailed.

To be clear, the current divisiveness is not solely of immigration and the opinions that fosters. That is but one bolt used to stitch whole cloth the tropes, scare tactics, and bullying designed to concentrate power through fear and cover the light of true equality, truth, and compassion.

In one of Lincoln’s most famous speeches he said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

But we can’t let that thought deter us or break our optimism. His speech ended with –

“Of strange, discordant, and even, hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought the battle through, under the constant hot fire of a disciplined, proud, and pampered enemy.

Did we brave all then, to falter now?—now—when that same enemy is wavering, dissevered and belligerent?

The result is not doubtful. We shall not fail—if we stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise councils may accelerate or mistakes delay it, but, sooner or later the victory is sure to come.”

So first, a sideline: One thing I found oddly intriguing was in some details of his detachment and pay records once he returned to the United States in 1919. There’s a section for “Clothing Settlements” that appears to be an accounting of uniform-related items (?) when the soldier is separated from active service. A couple of the lines have the US due $15.00 and $6.60 for something or other (I can’t really read what the notes say.) But, in one of the lines, under the “Balance Due Soldier” column is the figure ($10000.00) . What could THAT possibly be? Did he forget to return his wagon or truck?

Well, no matter I suppose. What I really wanted to focus on in this post was the introduction to a book of photos I found relating to the Meuse-Argonne area fight. In Pictures of the battlefront of the 324th infantry: Meuse-Argonne, November 9-11, 1918, company Chaplain T. G. Vickers returned to the area the year after the battle to take a large number of photos.

He also wrote what I find to be a very well-put sentiment on the need for men to stand up on the side of the Right* and that the men that have shared his terrible experience in this battle and the war overall will need to stand up and help steer the ship of the United States in a positive direction – while pointing out that the United States’ reaching a welcome and righteous destination is far from guaranteed.

(*Read “The Right” as the Honorable or Moral position, as opposed to a political standpoint is it is more often used today.)

I do not use this genealogy blog to espouse particular political agendas, but I do think his experiences make his perspective one worth listening to, and the strength of his words lingers in my mind as I think of our current events. Vickers says,

Such a body of men assembled for battle makes a serious situation for the enemy. Such a body of men scattered throughout the country in their homes and home communities makes a leavening element that will go a long way toward helping to make America an invincible force for right in the world, or a selfish, money-grabbing, power-drunk giant which will not only consume others, but must certainly come to destruction itself.

He goes on to say…

America needs manly, unafraid, unselfish men every- where as she needs nothing else.
Politics needs to be purged of its self-seeking, unscrupulous elements in order that our government may serve the ends for which it exists. It is imperative that there be born a feeling of brotherliness and co-operation among Capital, Labor and the Public. Wherever you look there is the same call for men who will do their work not only with an eye to their own rights, but also with due consideration for the other fellow.
Social life needs to be cleared of some of its dangers. In Church, in politics, in industry, in business, in the social fabric, in international matters, in everything there is the same urgent demand, nay, pressing necessity for men who have seen the value of Right, that they may decree by the irresistible force of their determined convictions that this country shall not become the victim of selfish or half-crazed men seeking to ram some pet scheme down the nation’s throat.
If we who fought in the Great War make up our minds that America shall go right she will go right, and no power can lead her astray. It is the man determined to live according to Truth and Right that must keep this land safe.

I strongly suggest you read his entire dedication and page through his photos and their captions.

But, Now for something completely different, and non-genealogy-ly: One of the other interests in my bag of, well, interests, is Disney.

I love the history of it, the creativity, theming, Imagi-engin-coolstuff-ineering. As such, I am a frequent flyer on the forums and chat over on the super-useful Touring Plans site, app, and community.

(I wish I were a more frequent visitor to Walt Disney World, but you know: MONEY, and I’m kinda attached to living in a house and eating food the rest of the year.)

If you haven’t heard of Touring Plans before, I highly suggest subscribing to their site if you are planning a trip to Disney World. For a measly $12 or so you can set up plans to very much minimize your waits in the park and provide all sorts of useful info.

Perhaps as useful as all of TP’s tools is the community in their forums and chat: you will not find a group more dedicated to helping others with the ins and outs of touring the parks. I have learned so much from everyone over the years. An even plus-ier plus is that the chat is often a hilarious place to be.

So, the reason for this post: in my years as a member of that community, I have put together spreadsheets for figuring out Disney Math such as if it is Worth It To Upgrade To A WDW Annual Pass (how is it NOT?)

I have also published maps for urgent care centers near WDW, outlet shops, and a tactic to get a good spot for watching the Happily Ever After fireworks in the Magic Kingdom without the complete inevitability of shoulder-based tiny humans blocking your view.

I have written stream of consciousness posts that ask such eternal questions as how a cast member (read: Disney employee) cleared a problem when we were Stuck at Tapstile and I use that post to add links to interesting articles on Disney-related tech.

At this point I think I need to launch my own Disney fan site. But until then I have created a page here to make things easier to find: “JJT’s Touring Plans Forum Posts and Maps Reference” has a compilation of links to all of my most frequently referenced posts. You can also find a link to said page by hovering your mouse over the Tools & Downloads menu above.

May The Mouse Be With You.

First, a TL;DR: Use the NYS Archives link I have listed below, enter a zip code, go to Ancestry New York page and search the records that are free to NYers with impunity.

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It is probably not news to genealogy folks who research that, as the New York State Archives site says, “Several New York repositories have formed a partnership with Ancestry.com to digitize family history records and make them available on line for free.”

For several months I have accessed those records on Ancestry, probably most often the 1915 and 1925 NY State censuses, plus some more fun ones like the Sing Sing Prison admittance records. The only trick was that these records are officially free to New York State residents, and once logged into Ancestry, so I would visit the URL http://www.ancestry.com/newyork, enter my NY zip code, and thus would get in.

However, back in 2014, after a year or two of use I found that the Ancestry page no longer contained the NY zip code field. While it is still a search page titled “New York State Records”, i you use that search form, and try to view the images without the old zip code field submission, it brings you to the ubiquitous “Choose a membership to get started” sign up page.

Annoyed by that at the time, a little follow up Googling brought me to a NYSED.gov Archives page that outlined the partnership. Thankfully, on that page the zip code form field existed and using it brought you to Ancestry’s “New York: Where History Goes on Record” page, where you can again search the records and click through the results to view the images. (You are still required to have at a free Ancestry login to view images.)

However, now in 2017 I found that the original NYS Archives page that contained the zip code form is gone – although I have found another different page that still contains the form.

So, once again: Here is the URL for the NYS Archives site:
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/research/how-to-video-ancestry

I think it is disappointing that this change occurred, since it makes original NY State landing page more of a funnel to the subscription page.

While the Ancestry page now says “For free access to New York records, start your search then click on your results. You will be prompted to “Create a Free Account.” DO NOT click on the “Subscribe” button or the “14-day Free Trial Offer” unless you are interested in access to all of Ancestry…” I don’t see any way to actually GET TO the free records. And I don’t really feel like creating a new free account to test it out.

More than a bit confusing.

For later reference – the old, now UNWORKING URL as of 11DEC2017 is: http://www.archives.nysed.gov/research/res_ancestry.shtml

I’ve posed this question in one of the Facebook groups dedicated to DNA and genealogy to see if anyone there had an opinion.

While looking at my latest GEDmatch results, I found a new match near the top of my results with an estimated distance of 3.9 generations between us. Still exciting to see that after all these years swimming in the genetic genealogy ponds. I have a few others of the same distance, but haven’t gotten anywhere with figuring out the shared ancestors with most. (Due to either lack of info far enough back, or just the usual non-response to any reaching out.)

But, something caught my eye on this match: the “Total cM” and “Largest cM” are both 68.3, so it is all in a single segment! Over 8,341 SNPs. Count ’em.

(By the way: this is using default search settings.)

So, I am now wondering: At what amount of shared cM does it become unusual for the entire match to be in a single segment?

Looking at all of my matches, I have:

• 1,301 matches that are in a single segment.
• 1,300 of those are at 32cM or below.

After that, way up at 68.3cM is my last single segment match.

Is the fact that it is one segment with that many cMs just chance, or is something else going on? It is more striking when you see a chart of all of my single segment matches.

Anyone have any ideas?

When checking my matches over on MyHeritage DNA, I found one recently that is estimated at the 3rd – 5th cousin level.

This match is from Norway. I am 50/50 Czech and Irish. While I understand those country-centric terms don’t accurately represent the mishmash of DNA we all carry, I have found that this match along with other matches from Norway have trees that go many generations back with clearly Norwegian names in them. (Go figure.)

So, OK, perhaps 5 or 6 generations ago someone from one of “my” countries headed up that way, or vice-versa and now I need to welcome my new Norwegian cousins and brush up on learning how to cook Kjøttkaker and Gravlaks. (Mmm, Gravlaks.) But, a couple of these Norwegian matches are in the 3rd to 5th cousin range, so you’d at least think we’d see some slightly similar locations on the map start to appear around the time our common ancestor would be. Nope.

But forget about all that – let’s look at the next thing that MyHeritage gives us for matches: Shared Ethnicities.

Now, I also understand that there is some algorithmic voodoo at play in mapping ethnicities. (By the way Algorithmic VooDoo is now my new band name.) Can one really attribute a particular snippet of DNA to a location absolutely? Eh, maybe in some cases, but overall I think they are smearing the lipstick a little broadly. In the case of this match, I found something else surprising.

Yet, there is not a single ethnicity that we share.
And now I am left wondering what I should do with all of these Gravlaks?

(By the way: That Iberian % doesn’t show up at all in my 23andme results, and on AncestryDNA I have 3% Iberian in the Low Confidence Region. One of my favorite regions, doncha know.)

The last few years have been relatively kind to Irish genealogy researchers – especially after the Catholic Parish Registers went online at the National Library or Ireland.

However, when you don’t have a specific location in Ireland to look for family (or even if you do) it can still be a frustrating and fruitless slog. And that’s on a good day.

At some point in every researcher’s work, they’ll find they need to cast a wider net to try and find more clues to work with. One terrific site to look for clues can be Find A Grave, regardless of the location in the world you need to look.

A technique I’ve used there when there is no memorial for the specific people I’m looking for is to simply check all of the cemeteries in the area for people of the same surname. If you are looking for cemeteries in the United States, you can use their Browse Cemeteries by US County page, first select a state and then select a county and Voila! a nice listing of all the cemeteries for you to look through.

However, if you want to do the same thing for Non-US cemeteries, there is no ability in the form to select a county (or whatever subdivision that country uses.) So, you end up with a giant list of all cemeteries in that country sorted alphabetically. In Ireland, that means you have 3,820 results to go through!

Sure, the cemetery entries do list the county they reside in, but At 20 results per page, that is 191 pages of clickety-clicking. So, I looked for a better way.

Wanting to find all of the cemeteries listed in Find A Grave in County Offaly, I Googled “findagrave cemetery offaly“. In the results you’ll see links to many individual cemeteries in Offaly, which is great. But will you find all of them? You’ll also see at the top of the results one that starts with “1 to 20 – Find A Grave” – Hmm. That looks like a listing, doesn’t it? And sure enough it is a list of ALL the cemeteries in Offaly.

But, what about all of the other counties? One could perform the same Google search for each county, but I noticed there might be an easier way.

If you look at the URL in the address bar, a pattern emerges. There are 3 parts of it that look like location fields: CScntry, CSst, and CScnty.

In this example, one can guess that “country” 35 is Ireland, “state” 1222 is Offaly and “county” is not used. So, it appears they haven’t entered any county fields in the FaG database, which explains the lack of ability to select it on the search page.

So, I asks myself, what will happen if I, say, change 1222 to 1221. Well, 1221 gets you County Monaghan!

So, as a public service to all of you who have actually read to the bottom of this post, I have a gift. I have worked my way back and forth to find all of the Republic of Ireland codes on Find A Grave and created direct links to them. As one might expect – the county IDs are numbered in order relating to their alphabetic order – EXCEPT looks like someone made a mistake and entered Laois and Leitrim out of order.

I have not found a method to determine the URL for Northern Ireland counties – yet.

Below is a table with links to the cemeteries of each county in the Republic of Ireland on Find A Grave. Enjoy!

While paging through the Baptisms, Marriages, Burials 1785-1824 records for St. George Church I did find another Grandy marriage for a woman that could potentially be a sister of the person I am researching. During this process, I read through the usual sets of general BMD records, with most being cursory entries with a name and date, at best.

If you really want to gain an understanding of an area at a certain time, reading through all of the entries tracing lives and deaths is a very helpful and interesting method of doing so. However, it can also often be a sad endeavor.

In the course of paging through the entries of people who were European emigrants and their children, I also found regular entries interspersed for “negro” adults being baptized, as well as children with only mothers being named.

Then I read an unusually long and detailed entry. The priest obviously thought this event warranted more detail, as you can see from the outrage in his entry:

“Sept 15th 1792

Buried Diana Bastian a Negro Girl belonging to Abraham Cuyler Esq in the 15th year of her Age, She was Deluded and ruined (^at government ???) by George More Esq. the Naval Officer and one of Govr. Macarmick’s Counsel by whom she was pregnant with Twins and delivered off but one of them; She most earnestly implored the favor of Mr. More’s Brother, [the local] Justice to be admitted to her oath, concerning her pregnancy by him; but was refused that with every other assistance by him or them.”

Digging a bit more, I see I am not the first to have noticed the entry as it is mentioned in a few papers posted online such as “The Struggle over Slavery in the Maritime Colonies“. (Also, this biography of Abraham Cuyler is less than flattering.)

Despite the event having occurred 225 years ago, one can’t help but feel terrible for this poor girl’s circumstance and add our own outrage to the treatment those in power subjected her to.

Once again I’ve found that even individual records not directly related to those you research can provide dimension to the lives of our ancestors by helping depict the social and political climate of a particular time and the hardships some or all endured.