RootDig.com

Doing Without Ancestry

2009-07-03T20:52:00.003-05:00

Warning--there is opinion in this posting.

My subscription to Ancestry.com lapsed a few months ago and I decided to just let it go until I really needed it either for my research or for an article. So far, I've found that I have enough information I have not organized as it is...so I've not re-upped my subscription.

I have hundreds of digital images from trips to Salt Lake and Ft. Wayne" that I really haven't analyzed enough or put in my database the way that I should. I even downloaded quite a few census images from Ancestry.com that I haven't done data entry on either. They are just siting there in folders, waiting. And writing "Casefile Clues" keeps me busy too. I'd rather write up and analyze the records I have instead of letting them sit "unanalyzed" and gather more to just have a bigger set of files and records that I have "collected." Each time I work up a column I realize that I have so many leads left dangling.

Someday I'll re-up my Ancestry.com subscription. But for now, I'm satisfied to synthesize what I have. And I've been getting copies of original courthouse and other records that have not been digitized. And to be honest, for the foreseeable future offline records are really where family historians should be spending at least 3/4 of their time, maybe more.

I'm not opposed to online records at all, but for the time being, www.archive.org, www.familysearch.org, and http://books.google.com and other sites are keeping me busy enough.

John Lake in 1855

2009-07-03T15:28:00.002-05:00

This is an image of the signature of John Lake, obtained from his BLM preemption claim of 1855. John's property was located in Chariton County, Missouri.

Ten years later, John was dead. Killed by bushwackers in his barn. This claim will be the focus of an upcoming "Casefile Clues" article in Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter Plus Edition.

Michael Jackson's Will and Genealogy

2009-07-02T22:41:00.002-05:00

Michael Jackson's will (or at least one of them) was admitted to probate recently and is on several websites for those who care to view it. Having taken a look at it, there are a few things I noticed that brought a few genealogical lessons to mind.

Things might be left out of the will--either intentionally or by accident. Jackson dumped his estate into a trust and the trust was not recorded (probably doesn't have to be is my guess). Does your ancestor's estate mention what happened to everything? I can think of several ancestral estate settlements where the real estate is inventoried, but then never mentioned again. If I had not gone to the actual land records, I would never have known how it was disposed of.

Jackson appointed his mother as guardian and if she could not act, then Diana Ross. While our ancestors probably didn't nominate celebrities as guardians for their children, names of guardians can be huge clues. In most cases our ancestors who had guardians probably had a step-parent, parent, uncle, aunt, or grandparent as a guardian. There are always exceptions.

In the copy of Jackson's will, the names of the witnesses have been blanked out. Hopefully that didn't happen on a copy of your ancestor's will. Witnesses could be people your ancestor knew or just people who happened to be in town "on business" the same day and were willing to sign a document as a witness.

Jackson's will was filed shortly after his death. State statute usually stipulates the deadline for submitting a will to probate. Thirty days is typical and admission of a will to probate can help a genealogist estimate when an ancestor died.

I have a relative whose husband died around 2:00 in the morning. As soon as the courthouse opened that same morning, she was there filing the will for record. But that is another story entirely.

Getting Occupational and Spousal Clues from an Estate

2009-07-02T15:33:00.000-05:00

Dick Eastman has posted my latest "Casefile Clues" column on his website.

"Getting Occupational and Spousal Clues from an Estate" discusses an estate settlement from the 1850s on Peter Bieger. Peter left few clues about his life, but his estate settlement provided more information than I expected.

This article is part of the "Plus" edition of the newsletter.

We are Networked on Facebook

2009-07-01T20:22:00.000-05:00

Rootdig.com is networked blog on Facebook.
Our page is:

http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/rootdig.com/

Join us and keep up with the latest postings.

Michael

Before You Buy that CD of Scanned Books on Ebay

2009-06-30T14:54:00.001-05:00

Just a heads up for those who use Ebay. There are many who sell CDs of historical books, county histories, atlases, etc. Make certain these are not available for free on www.archive.org, the BYU Historical Archives, etc. You can download from there and make your own CDs.

Save yourself some money.

Archive.org has Hobart's Biographies of Hancock County

2009-06-30T14:43:00.003-05:00

I am a big fan of Archive.org. I recently downloaded Hobart's 1908 set biographies for Hancock and Henderson Counties in Illinois. The PDF version makes for nice visuals, part of one is shown in this post.

One of the nice things that I can do on this site is a full text search. I found references to several relatives that I would not have found using only the book's index. The full text search is great. One reference was to a cousin of my great-great-grandfather who lived with another cousin of my great-great-grandfather--contained in a biography of the cousin's in-laws.

One thing I didn't notice on the site were too many old county plat books. That was what got me looking at the site initially today, until I got sidetracked.

The person shown in this image is John Habben--my great-great-grandfather.

Check out those "etal" deeds

2009-06-30T10:59:00.002-05:00

When searching through land records it always pays to look completely at those deeds that include "Et Al" along with the initial seller. That means there are others on the deed and those kind of records have a fair chance of involving the settlement of an estate.

That's exactly what was going on when this deed was drawn up in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1906. Turns out that Louise Myers is George's aunt and his siblings are also listed as grantors on this deed.

Deed Indexes in Public Land States

2009-06-30T08:43:00.002-05:00

This is part of a deed from 1920 in Hancock County, Illinois.

It makes an excellent point of why it is important to search for the names of all relatives and not just the direct line. George and Ida Trautvetter are my great-great-grandparents. This deed is part of the settlement of his father's estate. Had I not looked for the last names of his siblings I would have overlooked it. Because the deed lists Louisa Mundy first, that is how it appears in the grantor index. Deeds with multiple grantors (as many "heirship" deeds are) are typically only indexed by the name of the first grantor.

This deed comes from Hancock County, Illinois Deed Book 177, page 579. More discussion of this record will appear in an upcoming "Casefile Clues" column in Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.

Extra Early Bird Deadline for Family History Library Research Trip May-June 2010

2009-06-29T13:09:00.002-05:00

We have extended our early early bird Salt Lake City Genealogy Library research trip deadline until 30 June 2009. More information on the extra early price is available here.

Fritz or Fred?

2009-06-28T18:37:00.002-05:00

This is a partial list of the expenses in the accounting of the guardianship of Ommo Fooken, etal, in Hancock County Circuit Court in 1917. The documents were really copied because I needed a sample to show my trip attendees how to use the digital scanner while at the Family History Library last May.

I'm glad now that I scanned the documents. The last line on this image indicated that the guardian bought two bushels of clover seed from my great-grandfather, styled as Fritz J. Ufkes. I knew he went by Fritz as a youth, but figured by this point in time (he was married and had a child by the date of this document) he would be shown as Fred. Actually in an entry from 1918, he is styled as Fred Ufkes when he is paid $9 on Feburuary 28, 1918 for hauling sand for a dam that was built on the Fooken farm.

His brother Eielt was the guardian of the Fooken children. Their mother was Lena Ufkes one of Fred and Eielt's two sisters. Lena and her husband Poppo died while the children were small.

You Are Always Going to Forget Something

2009-06-28T18:26:00.002-05:00

My list for the next trip to Salt Lake keeps growing.

What I thought was going to be a short project keeps growing. The probate records of John Micahel Trautvetter (died in Hancock County, Illinois in 1917) mention a mortgage on his farm and the approval of interest payments on the mortgage. The probate records make no mention of paying off the mortgage and any such payments are not included in the estate's accountings.

I thought land records would answer my question and they partially did. Turns out I also need the guardianship records for four of John's grandchildren and that may only answer another part of the question. These grandchildren were orphaned when their parents died in the Flu epidemic of 1918, less than a year after their grandfather Trautvetter died.

An upcoming column in "Casefile Clues" in Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (paid edition) will discuss the records and proces used to see what happened to John's farm after his death.

William Frame born 1816 in Lancashire

2009-06-25T12:48:00.003-05:00

I found this christening entry while I was in Salt Lake, using the IGI as my search tool.

This William Frame was born in 1816 and christened on July 21, 1816 at St. John's Church, Old Haymarket, Liverpool. The parents are John and Rebecca Frame who appear later in County Cumberland, The John and Rebecca Frame in County Cumberland appear to be the parents of Robert Frame who lived in Cumberland from at least 1841 until his death in the 1860s. Robert is known to be my wife's ancestor.

Robert Frame was born in Spain ca. 1814 (but is always indicated as a British subject) and I was hoping that the occupation of John would indicate he was in the service, which would explain a son being born overseas, but that did not happen. A brief history of the church located online gave me a few additional clues which I can follow.

I'll be updating readers of this in an upcoming "Casefile Clues" column. Stay tuned. Suggestions are welcomed---I need them.

Jon and Kate + 8 and Genealogy

2009-06-25T08:07:00.003-05:00

I've already had enough of Jon and Kate+8. Or is it Kate+8-Jon? Or Jon+8-Kate? I'm not certain where the "-" sign goes, but I don't think it really matters anymore. Regardless of where you put the minus sign, there's more than enough negativity.

But the "he said," "she said" and their upcoming divorce does have some relevance for genealogists.

One must always take divorce records with a grain of salt, sometimes with a shaker. This from a descendant of a woman who was divorced twice from the same man. Barbara Haase divorced Conrad Haase in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1872. They married again and he divorced her in 1884. In the 1872 divorce, her petition complained of his behavior. In the 1884 divorce, his petition complained of her her behavior. There was no response from the other party in either divorce.

Where was the truth? Somewhere in between--which is where it usually is.

In the 1884 divorce, a son testified. He indicated that mother and father both were sometimes difficult to get along with. Frankly, I'm glad the "whole" story is not in their divorce record. Some things are better left unknown.

The good news is that when your ancestor gets divorced it generated a record. Just keep in mind that the records left behind may not tell the whole story and that every statement is always told from someone's perspective.

It is worth noting too that divorce was not as uncommon as people think in the 19th century. A lot of things were not as uncommon as people think. Court records are full of these kinds of stories--search them. The real difference was that most of these "scandals" were not talked about like they are today.

I'm not certain "Conrad+Barbara+6" would have made a good reality show, but it might make for an interesting genealogy lecture.

Oh, and I do have a set of multiple births in my family. My great-aunt had triplets in the 1950s, the old-fashioned way. Identical ones and no one knew about the multiple births until the day of their arrival. Now that's a surprise--with no reality show residuals and no disposable diapers.

Marriage Bond from New Brunswick

2009-06-23T12:47:00.002-05:00

The number of leads on which I have not followed up just amazes me sometimes. This image is from a 1865 marriage bond in St. John, New Brunswick for my great-great-grandparents, Samuel and Annie Murphy Neill.

I made a digital copy of it a few years ago on an earlier trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake. While reviewing my files today I realized I never followed up on the record and located the actual church records. I am working on those and will post an update as soon as I have one. The bond was dated 8 Nov 1865 and the couple were married the next day. Both were living in Simonds Parish.

Michael's "page" on Facebook

2009-06-22T14:27:00.001-05:00

I just set my "username" on Facebook. For those who are interested, it is

http://www.facebook.com/rootdig/

BYU Conference on Family History Schedule Online

2009-06-22T13:58:00.002-05:00

I will be making four presentations at the 2009 BYU Conference on Family History at the end of July.

The complete schedule can be viewed online (PDF version). There are four registration options listed on the conference website.

My four lectures will be:

Establishing Your Own Migration Trail
100 Acres, a Mortgage, and Three Sisters
Pig Blood in the Snow: Court Records Can Solve Problems
From New Jersey to Ohio - Establishing an Early 19th Century Migration Trail

Hope to see some readers of the blog and "Casefile Clues" there.

Genealogy App for Blackberry

2009-06-22T13:36:00.002-05:00

My searches all come up for naught. I would love to have a genealogy application that would run on my Blackberry. I know I can create a "website" and store that on my phone's memory card and browse that, but I would much rather have an actual application that would at least allow me to browse a GEDCOM file on my Blackberry.

Readers who have ideas are welcome to post them.

Signature of John Lake--Missouri-1855

2009-06-22T12:41:00.003-05:00

This signature is from John Lake, written in 1855 when he was completing his preemption claim in Chariton County, Missouri. John died in the mid-1860s and this document is one of the few I have that provides his signature. Really kind of neat as the family has no pictures of this Kentucky native.

John is my wife's great-great-grandfather. I'm working on a column on John's federal land file for an upcoming "Casefile Clues" column for Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.

Google searches for John are always difficult, considering the nature of his last name.

World War II Draft Registration Card

2009-06-22T12:30:00.002-05:00

This is my grandfather's World War Two Draft Registration Card.

This record will be discussed in an upcoming column of "Casefile Clues" which appears in the paid version of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.

There is information on obtaining copies of Selective Service Records on their website. You can obtain these records on individuals who are deceased. You just need to show proof that they are dead.

Special Extra Early Discount for Rootdig 2010 Trip to Salt Lake

2009-06-22T11:37:00.003-05:00

We are offering a $25 discount on the complete price on our 2010 Salt Lake Research Trip for those who make their deposit by 30 June 2009. The complete registration price for those registering by this date will be $175. The balance of the fee is due in December, just the deposit is necessary by 30 June. The deposit is $50.

There is more information about the trip on our site at http://www.rootdig.com/slctrip.html

This discount won't be posted on those pages, email Michael at mjnrootdig@gmail.com for a registration brochure with the discounted price or questions.

Thanks!

Casefile Clues for Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

2009-06-20T11:08:00.002-05:00

Some readers of my blog know about my weekly column "Casefile Clues" for Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (Plus Edition). Eastman's "Plus Edition" has a nominal charge and provides you with access to the free and the premium content with no ads on the pages. Eastman's helps me keep up on what is new in genealogy and comes out daily. Subscribers addresses are not used for spam and you are not automatically subscribed like you are with somethings.

I know this because I got my mother a short subscription to EOGN for her birthday so she read the columns without me having to send them to her. She was not autosubscribed and hasn't been getting "extra" messages--she would have told me if she had. Subscribers get a daily email with article titles and links to the articles.

Casefile Clues contains articles about original records from a variety of locations and about how those records were located, analyzed, and used for further research. I only write about my research of my children's ancestry, but that covers most states east of the Mississippi and six countries in Europe---which is enough! The intent of Casefile Clues is to help you with your research by giving you ideas and exposing you to records you might not have thought to look for.

I enjoy writing my Casefile Clues column and hearing from readers. Each column runs at least 1200 words and is geared towards all levels of researchers. Suggestions for future columns are welcome and can be submitted to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com.

Those who have not seen Eastman's Free Edition of the newsletter can view it here.

Sit Down and Organize

2009-06-20T10:51:00.002-05:00

I made significant headway on my wife's ancestors from County Cumberland in England while I was at the Family History Library in Salt Lake with my group last month. Some of the finds I have been posting on the website--at least the things that fall into the category of "neat" (which is not really too well-defined, but I know it when I see it.

I have even made contact with two distant cousins working on one of the same families--one cousin in the UK and another in Australia. That falls into the category of "neat" too.

The one thing I have not done is to organize what I have found and entered the information into my files. While at the library, I took notes of what I did, or scanned enough information so that I could follow my line of reasoning. What I should have done was started the data entry as soon as I got home from Salt Lake. I can still pretty much retrace my steps, but the longer it is from the time I found it, the more likely it is that I won't remember what I did.

So for now, instead of trying to find more information, I need to organize and put together what I have. Those who subscribe to Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and read my "Casefile Clues" column will read about my work in the Cumberland records as I organize what I have. Writing is a great way to help me to organize and put together my materials.

There is another reason to organize my material. I'll be presenting at the BYU Genealogy Conference at the end of July and am hoping to sneak in a little time at the Family History Library on Saturday. I can't effectively get more information if I don't organize what I already have.

The Pre-emption Claim for John Lake

2009-06-17T22:23:00.002-05:00

I wrote about the land patent for John Lake in Chariton County, Missouri, that indicates he filed a pre-emption claim. The researcher I hired to get the claim found it and it is on its way to me. Fortunately there are two affidavits in the file, including information about John's house. I will be posting more details when the claim gets here.

Need A Genealogy Speaker in 2009 or 2010?

2009-06-17T22:10:00.000-05:00

I am currently working on my speaking schedule for 2009 and 2010. It is best to arrange dates as early as possible to provide flexibility.I would be happy to discuss the possibility of coming to present to your genealogy group or club for their workshop or seminar.Genealogy workshops and seminars are great ways for members of your group to enhance their research skills and network with other genealogists. There is a world away from the computer.

For more information on speaking availability, fees, expenses, and opportunities, send an email to me at michaeln2@winco.net. Please indicate the potential date of the seminar, typical format, and general audience level. We can go from there.

Lectures are informative, relaxed, and fun.Topics can be arranged and new lectures can be developed upon request.I have presented over fifty all-day workshops across the United States on a wide variety of genealogy and computer genealogy topics. Some have been hands on all day workshops on Ancestry.com, Genline, Family Tree Maker.

Others have been more traditional days of lectures and presentations on a wide variety of topics.I have lectured for small and large groups including NGS and FGS conferences.A list of incomplete topics is available at http://www.rootdig.com/topics.html. Most upcoming engagements are listed at http://www.rootdig.com/labels/speaking.html