Uncommon Roots

Afro-American Genealogical Society of Chicago Book Initiative

2009-09-12T07:58:00.002-05:00

Afro-American Genealogical Historical Society of Chicago presented info on the 30th Anniversary Heritage Book initiative at the APG conference.

Members and non-members are invited to submit multiple 500 word articles with photographs to be included in the upcoming publication honoring their Afro-American ancestors. For more information, see the society's website: http://www.aaghsc.org.

November 1, 2009 is the current deadline for submissions.

I am going to submit a few articles and see what happens!

Family Search Upgrades!

2009-09-12T07:45:00.000-05:00

The following was received from FamilySearch. Please address all inquiries to Support@FamilySearch.org.

3 September 2009

August was a banner month for FamilySearch Indexing. Twenty five (25) projects were completed and 19 new projects were added, including 10 international. A Swedish interface was also added to accommodate new Sweden church records projects. Completed projects will published at FamilySearch’s Record Search pilot for online viewing.

New Projects Added in August

· Argentina, Mendoza, San Juan—Censo 1869

· Canada, British Columbia—Deaths, 1872–1986

· Chile, Concepción—Registros Civiles, 1885–1903 [Parte 1]

· Mexico, DF—Registros Parroquiales, 1898–1933 [Parte 2]

· Mexico, Hidalgo—1930 Federal Censo

· Mexico, Jalisco—1930 Federal Censo

· Nicaragua, Managua—Registros Civiles, 1879–1984 [Parte 1]

· Sverige, Södermanland—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 1]

· Sverige, Uppsala—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 1]

· Sverige, Örebro—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 1]

· U.S., Arkansas—County Marriages, 1837–1957 [VII]

· U.S., Indiana, Benton County—Marriages, 1811–1959

· U.S., Indiana, Ohio County—Marriages, 1811–1959

· U.S., Iowa—1920 Federal Census

· U.S., Ohio—1920 Federal Census

· U.S., Texas—1920 Federal Census

· U.S., Utah, Salt Lake County—Birth Registers, 1890–1908

· U.S., West Virginia—1920 Federal Census

· U.S., Wisconsin—1920 Federal Census

Recently Completed Projects

(Note: Recently completed projects have been removed from the available online indexing batches and will now go through a final completion check process in preparation for future publication.)

· Argentina, Jujuy, Salta, Tucuman—1869 Censo

· Australia, NSW—Bounty Immigrants, 1828–1842

· Australia, Sydney—Cemetery Inscriptions, 1800–1960

· Belgique, Charleroi—Registres des Décès, 1851-1900

· Canadian 1861 Census

· Mexico, DF—Registros Parroquiales, 1886–1933 [Parte 1]

· Mexico, Yucatan—1930 Federal Censo

· Nicaragua, Managua—Registros Civiles, 1879–Present

· Perú, Lima—Registros Civiles, 1910–1930 [Parte 1]

· U.S.—Freedmen Marriages, 1861–1869

· U.S., Arkansas—County Marriages, 1837–1957 [IV]

· U.S., Arkansas—County Marriages, 1837–1957 [VI]

· U.S., Delaware—Birth Records, 1861–1922

· U.S., Georgia—Deaths, 1930

· U.S., Indiana, Adams County—Marriages, 1811–1959

· U.S., Minnesota—1885 State Census

· U.S., Oklahoma—1920 Federal Census

· U.S., Oregon—1920 Federal Census

· U.S., Pennsylvania—1920 Federal Census

· U.S., Tennessee—1920 Federal Census

· U.S., Utah, Salt Lake County—Death Certificates, 1940

· U.S., Virginia—1920 Federal Census

· U.S., Washington—1920 Federal Census

· U.S., Washington—County Marriages, 1858–1950

· U.S., Wyoming—1920 Federal Census

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Lowcountry Africana Announces New Florida State Coordinator

2009-08-21T14:50:00.004-05:00

I'm proud to announce that I have been selected as the State Coordinator for Florida for Lowcountryafricana.com, an amazing website that is collecting documents related to African-American heritage in the lowcountry (South Carolina, Georgia and Florida). As State Coordinator, I'll be able to help grow their data collection by coordinating the efforts for Florida. In addition, I'll be sharing tips and information about genealogy research in Florida. I will maintain this blog about general genealogy and African-American research, but the Lowcountry site will enable me to reach a wide audience interested in Florida research.

Read the full announcement.

Ancestry.com Member Connect

2009-07-29T23:00:00.003-05:00

Good idea...bad implementation. Anyone who's used Ancestry.com for more than one tree knows that Ancestry will list results from your other trees when you are searching on a person who exists in all of your trees. So, you'd think before they implement Member Connect, the new social networking feature, that they would correct this. I mean, I'm a programmer too...how hard is it to exclude results from trees associated with the same username as the one conducting the search? Apparently, it's really hard because they didn't fix it. Witness:

I log onto Ancestry.com and am excited to see that Member Connect has found one other person searching for Major Reddick and that person has records and timeline events. Great! I may have found a new cousin. Click....click through the "Welcome to Member Connect" intro...and there it is:
The other person searching for Major Reddick is ME! They gave me a result from my other tree...

Ancestry, get it together please....

BBC on African-American Genetic Genealogy

2009-07-01T17:37:00.002-05:00

via news.bbc.co.uk

The BBC has an article about Americans looking for their roots through their DNA. There is some criticism of how African Ancestry interprets their results. I used African DNA for my tests because African Ancestry was a bit expensive ($349).

The criticism of African Ancestry is not unwarranted. What I liked about African DNA was that they were very clear to state that maternal DNA CANNOT conclusively link you back to a tribe in Africa for several reasons. Chief among these reasons is that the database that your DNA is compared to comes from people who are "known" to be--or say they are--of a particular tribe or region that are living. It's simply not conclusive.

This is not to say that the information is not useful. It can give you some ideas, confirm some leads and even offer new leads. DNA doesn't stand alone, but it can be combined with thoughtful genealogical analysis to draw conclusions about ancestry.

I was particularly offended by the quote from Mr. Ofori Anor, Asante magazine editor, "African Americans just want to be able to say they were once kings and once ruled the world." That is simply not true. What African-Americans want is what was TAKEN from us: our history, our heritage and our culture. We want connections to understand how we came to be here. We want a better understanding of what our ancestors believed and what gave them the strength to survive the holocaust that was American slavery. It's a shame that Mr. Anor fails to grasp the power of knowing your roots.

Found via the The Genetic Genealogist

What event or person inspired you to start your genealogy research?

2009-05-24T12:21:00.002-05:00

Genea-Musings posted a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post asking the question: What event or person inspired you to start your genealogy research?

I started doing genealogical research on my family in my sophomore year in high school (1994). During the previous summer, I attended my paternal grandmother's family reunion where I had received a tree full of names. I wondered if anyone knew more about these people. What did they do? How did they meet? When I started school, my psychology teacher mentioned that she was into genealogy (I had no idea that's what this art/science was called) and she wanted to start a Genealogy Club. So, I gathered the names and recruited some folks and served as President for 2 years (until she left and we couldn't find an advisor).

I think what really hooked me was the trip to the National Archives. We didn't have the wealth of genealogical resources on the internet that we do now and I had no idea back then how fortunate I was to live 45 minutes away from the Archives (wish I lived there now...Houston is SO far). Anyway, I found my family names in the Archives and there, in the census, my first questions were answered: my great grandfather was a sharecropper. He couldn't read or write, but his grandson had a scholarship to a university and his great granddaughter would eventually go to MIT.

That trip was inspiring for me. I've been doing genealogical research ever since then. Every year, as more documents become available, I learn more and want to go out and find more. I've found cousins and documents that tell stories about my family that were long forgotten. In those stories, I see my past and my future.

Family Search Adds New Content

2009-05-17T09:54:00.004-05:00

I know it's been a while, but I got so excited about the new content at the Family Search Pilot Search website that I had to post.

One of the things that irritated me about the old Family Search is that they rarely had any unique content or content that I hadn't already paid for on Ancestry.com. Well, they've changed that with their new content. The content recently uploaded includes more data from death records than I've seen available anywhere else. I searched the Florida Death Records for my Reddick relatives, thinking I'd find the same information that I find on Ancestry: name, date, location. To my surprise, the records on FS have the key piece of info that helps me disambiguate the 3 Albert Reddicks I found on Ancestry: Parent Names. Also included is the cemetery name and burial place. With this new database, I've found at least 4 new records in the past 10 minutes alone.

The search interface is slick, fast and efficient. You can copy and paste the data onto your desktop in 2 clicks. I did notice a lot of spelling errors though. One way to improve the site would be to add in features to allow family members to correct some of those errors. As usual, you should search on various spellings of the names you're looking for to make up for human indexing errors.

Find the Florida Death Records and more new US records at the Family Search Pilot Site. AND, be sure to volunteer to help index records so that Family Search can put even more records online for us!

Happy searching!

Florida 1935 Census Alachua County Town Index by District

2008-11-12T14:17:00.010-06:00

The LDS Family History Search Pilot site has loads of scanned images that volunteers have yet to finish indexing. One of those is the Florida 1935 Census. The counties are divided into precincts, but there no indication of what towns are in each precinct until you open up the files and start looking.

I've been scouring the Alachua County portion looking for my ancestors and thought I'd share the index I created as I scanned.

1. Waldo
2.Lacross
3.Alachua
4. missing
5. missing
6. Newberry
7.Gainesville
8.Hawthorne
9. Island Grove/Lochloosa
10. Micanopy
11. Gainesville/Archer
12. Gainesville
13. Fairbanks
14.Hawthorne/Earlton/Melrose
15.Windsor/Rochelle/Route #2
16.missing
17.Hague
18.missing
19.Route #2/Orange Heights
20.High Springs/
21.missing
22.Campville
23.missing
24.Alachua/Bl??d
25.Gainesville
26.Gainesville/Brooker
27.Gainesville
28.Gainesville

Ancestry adds Dawes Rolls Indices

2008-10-31T17:47:00.004-05:00

For those who think they may have Native American ancestry, Ancestry.com has just added the indices to the Dawes Rolls:

US Native American Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914

U.S. Native American Application for Enrollment in Five Civilized Tribes, 1896

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database

2008-10-09T20:08:00.001-05:00

I'd heard about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database but didn't realize that it was available online. About.com's genealogy page tipped me to it and I can't wait to explore.

Enjoy! If I find anything, I'll let you know. I'll also add it to the resources and links.

New State Census Records on Family Search Pilot Site

2008-08-25T12:42:00.002-05:00

Imagine how excited I was to see this news come across one of the 5 million genealogy mailing lists I'm on:

Florida State Censuses from 1935 AND 1945 available on the new Family Search Pilot site (why not Beta?, it's so Web 2.0). Unfortunately, they haven't been indexed yet, but hey, there's images. I volunteer for the Family Search Indexing Project and the Ancestry Indexing Project (in beta), so as soon as I see this project come across the wires, I'll definitely be helping to index it.

Anyway, take a look here. Snazzy interface and it's pretty fast. I'm excited about finding something new about my ancestors just when I thought I'd hit a brick wall.

Happy searching!

World Archives Project Beta Begins

2008-07-17T15:08:00.002-05:00

The Ancestry Insider: World Archives Project Beta Begins

Census Record Pitfalls

2008-06-25T12:22:00.006-05:00

Baby's sick so I don't have much time to post...

Here's a quick link to Olive Tree Genealogy on the pitfalls of census research.

In Our Lifetime: Our First Black Nominee for President (Almost)

2008-06-03T20:40:00.007-05:00

In 1876 and 1880, my ancestors Major, Abraham, and Nelson Reddick (Republicans) went to the local general store to vote for U.S. Senator from the state of Florida. Years later, groups like the Ku Klux Klan would prevent them from voting and foment racism throughout the South. The Reddick men would be disenfranchised for the rest of their lives.

For nearly 100 years after President Hayes removed federal troops from the South and allowed the disenfranchisement of Black voters, my ancestors--including my grandparents and my mother and father--fought to be able to have the right to vote and be treated equally in this country. Even after the Equal Rights Amendment passed, they had to fight against sneaky, underhanded tricks designed to stop them from voting.

Fast forward 30 years and my generation (Generation X/Y) has shown itself to be apathetic and uninvolved. It's as if we don't even know how hard people fought for our equality. But in 2008, my generation has stepped forward to make history and help make possible something that Major Reddick probably never imagined could happen: to elect the first Black nominee for President (almost). I say almost because it is possible that they could take it away from him in Denver, but I think they'd have L.A.-style riots on their hands if they do that (I'll have to post about that as a guest poster on the American Brotha political blog).

How does all this relate to genealogy? Well, besides the fact that my ancestors voted, there's the awesome power that genealogy has to help you find your place in history. Knowing that my great-great-great-great-grandfather and his sons travelled by wagon 15 miles to Gainesville to testify about their vote in the contested election shows how important it was to them to exercise that right. Imagine the stories your great-great-great-great-grandchildren will tell about your part in history. Now that story is a post for AFTER Obama wins in November.

OT: House is British?

2008-05-28T23:13:00.002-05:00

Totally off topic:

I'm a big fan of the show House, but I'm not into the celebrity gossip/news stuff. I'm watching Jay Leno and Hugh Laurie is on. The man is British! I had NO idea. It is so weird to watch House speaking with a sophisticated British accent. Guess I should have known since his name is Hugh...(it seems to be a popular name with the Brits).

Geni.com (FINALLY!) allows GEDCOM uploads

2008-05-25T12:26:00.006-05:00

Geni.com is a site that I live but rarely used because it didn't allow GEDCOM imports. Geni is a social networking themed genealogy site. GEDCOM files are the standard genealogy tree file. GEDCOM allows you to share your tree with others and move trees from program to program. When Geni.com started, I couldn't believe that they didn't allow GEDCOM uploads. They finally allow it, but there's one caveat: if you already have an account with Geni, you have to start a new account. They don't merge the two accounts and there is no way to upload the GEDCOM to your current account (probably because they didn't program it to ignor ancestors already in the tree and merge information).

Anyway, Geni.com is now worth checking out again and I'll have to do another review. Right off the bat, I'm having difficulty seeing if anyone on Geni is linked to me.

Enjoy!

Footnote.com Launches Interactive 1860 Census

2008-05-10T16:26:00.001-05:00

Finally, a reason to go back to Footnote.com. My ancestors aren't in this census, but his owners could be!

The following announcement was written by Footnote.com (8 May 2008):

FOOTNOTE.COM ADDS TO ITS LEADING CIVIL WAR COLLECTION BY LAUNCHING THE FIRST-EVER INTERACTIVE 1860 US CENSUS

Footnote.com’s innovative tools enable members to enrich the census records by adding photos, comments, and related documents to names featured on the records.

Lindon, UT – Today, Footnote.com announced the addition of the 1860 US Census to their Civil War Collection. As the largest online collection of original Civil War documents, this new addition to Footnote.com provides a snapshot of America before the bloodiest war in its history.
The 1860 US Census reveals many details about individuals at that time. What was their occupation? Where were they born? What was their marital status? Did they attend school? Could they read or write? Was your ancestor insane, idiotic, or a convict? The 1860 US Census will let you know.

“Is the 1860 US Census already on the internet? Yes,” says Russ Wilding, CEO of Footnote.com.

“But what makes the census different on Footnote is that these documents become interactive.”
Footnote.com has developed tools that enable visitors not only to find someone in the census, but also to enrich the records by adding photos, linking related documents, and contributing insights to any name on the record. “Now they’re not merely names on a document,” explains Russ Wilding. “They become people as the contributions start to tell a story about that person.”

This past March, Footnote.com released a similar project using the same technology with an interactive version of the Vietnam War Memorial. For each name on the Wall, a visitor can view military service information, attached photos and comments. The success of the project is overwhelming as priceless contributions are added to the Wall. Footnote expects similar results with the launch of the 1860 US Census.

At Footnote.com, it’s more than just looking at a historical document. History becomes a living subject on Footnote.com as documents from archives come together for the first time on the Internet. Visitors to Footnote.com can add their own contributions and upload their own shoeboxes of information. Letters, documents, and photos from the past create a view of history that few have seen before.

Every month, two million new documents are added to the site and over a million people visit the site. Footnote promises to continue to deliver new discoveries for those whose interests range from the serious historian to the casual visitor looking for something entertaining.

To view the Civil War Collection including the 1860 US Census, visit Footnote.com today.

About Footnote, Inc.

Footnote.com is a subscription website that features searchable original documents, providing users with an unaltered view of the events, places and people that shaped the American nation and the world. At Footnote.com, all are invited to come share, discuss, and collaborate on their discoveries with friends, family, and colleagues. For more information, visit www.footnote.com.

Family Search Indexing Adds Freedmen Records

2008-05-06T21:46:00.003-05:00

Family Search Indexing is a special project by the LDS Church in Utah (same folks who run Family Search). It allows you to help index records so that the Church can make the records searchable on the internet. This is a great way for you to give back and help others with their genealogical research.

I've indexed a few random census records, but the recently added Freedmen's Bureau Letters peaked my interest. While I've not found any of my ancestors in the Freedmen's Bureau records, you might find some of yours and help get records on the 'net faster.

Volunteer at familysearchindexing.org (it's free).

Myrtle Says Get a Second Life

2008-04-30T21:32:00.003-05:00

Alright, I'm a geek and heard about Second Life years ago, but it never peaked my interest. I contemplated joining when a professor suggested using it as an educational tool and including it in my Web 2.0 presentations that I do for the National Society of Black Engineers. Well, now I'm thinking about it again because Myrt, of Dear Myrtle, suggested that we join to participate in the genealogically focused groups and events. That sounds like an idea (mostly because I haven't found many fellow genealogists here in Houston).

I'll let you know what I think when I do it, but you can check out what Myrt thinks on her blog. It just seems so nerdy (and yes, I went to MIT, but this Second Life just seems beyond nerd to me). It could be because of that South Park World of Warcraft episode...

On Vacation

2008-04-05T09:11:00.000-05:00

I'm on vacation in Paris. See you next week!

PicBite Lets You Annotate Photos Easily

2008-03-28T10:50:00.004-05:00

Check out PicBite. You can annotate photos in less than 5 min. Picbite delivers 3 versions of your file along with different sizes.

I've used it so far to annotate census images and photos of family. Before this, I had to edit the photos in my graphics program. Here's a sample.

Only one problem: after annotating and clicking "Done", I sometimes get a "Page not found" error. But, I click re-load and my images are ready! Hopefully they'll fix that bug soon.

And it's free!

Genealogy 101: NARA Land Records

2008-03-28T08:22:00.004-05:00

What is a land record and why would you want it?

The National Archives holds many types of land records, including bounty lands and lands purchased through the Homestead Act. For many African-Americans, those Homestead Land records hold valuable nuggets of information about our ancestors.

What might you find in a land record?

Each land record contains the application for the land, including the name of the applicant, possibly his current residence, and the price paid for the land. For Homestead files, the record will also contain the affadavits of neighbors and the applicant detailing how long the applicant lived there, what improvements were made to the land and the relationship of those neighbors to the applicant.

For example, I discovered that my ancestor, Rinaldi Reddick, had planted 3 acres of corn, peas, and garden. He also built a two-room "box house." There's also a witness affadavit from a James Brown who claims to be Rinaldi's nephew. Have to investigate that. I found similar information for Major Reddick.

Hidden Treasures

I also found something really neat in Rinaldi's file: a letter from his son, Alberta B. Reddick. Alberta wrote to the government after Rinaldi died to inquire about the legal status of the land. Here I have:

A letter in my great-great-grandfather's handwriting.
Confirmation of his given name, which has been listed as Alford, Albert, and Albertus in the census.
His address. This led me to two other census records for him and the discovery of his second wife.
Confirmation that Rinaldi Reddick did not leave a will. Now I have to search probate records to see what happened to Rinaldi's 120 acres.
Confirmation that the A.B. Reddick I have seen in records is likely Alberta B. Reddick.
Confirmation that Alberta was the sixth child of Rinaldi and that all his younger siblings had died by 1942, the date of the letter.
Further evidence that Nallie Reddick and Rinaldi Reddick are the same person.

All that in one letter!

If you'd like to order land records, first find the patent that describes the land. You can search land patents on Ancestry.com (you can soundex search there) or go to the source: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/. Once you've got the description, head over to NARA's Order Online Area, register, and order. Happy hunting!

Reviewed: GenealogyBank.com

2008-03-27T22:04:00.005-05:00

Previously, I posted a letter I'd written to the Genealogy Guys about how happy I was to find information on GenealogyBank.com. Now, for a review of the site.

Grade: B

Great resources, but some improvements would make for a better user experience and a more useful genealogical resource.

Pros:

Nice interface. The scanned images are really clear and the site is fast.
Varied selection. I like that it includes newspapers and documents that you can't find anywhere else. Seems like they add new stuff at least once a month.
Relatively low cost. Take advantage of the 9.95 introductory month and then cancel if you aren't finding a lot of stuff.
You can save the documents you find to your computer.

Cons:

It's not free.
There's no social aspect. I would love to take the features of Footnote.com and integrate them here. There's no annotating or correcting or connecting to others who found your document interesting.
No soundex searching. Huh? It's a genealogy site without soundex, go figure...
Search is based on optical character recognition (OCR), so you might miss some items and catch some items unrelated.
Search is limited. You can't search for the exact name. If you put in a first and last name it really does a "near" search instead of an exact search.
You can only save documents page by page. If I find a 50 page biography of my ancestor, I have to download each page individually, then re-combine the PDF's into a file with Adobe Acrobat 7.0.
You can't save to the site. The weirdest thing about this site is that you can't save anything under your profile. You can't save searches, you can't save links to documents...nothing. So, once you find what you want, there's no need to come back to the site unless they add a collection you think you might be interested in. Ancestry keeps you coming back by letting you save and build a "self" on their site.

Slave Research: Drayton Family launches Lowcountry Africana Website

2008-03-27T21:53:00.006-05:00

I'm excited because they cover states where I have ancestors. Maybe I'll get lucky?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2008
Contact: Toni Carrier, 813-246-2201

Results of Groundbreaking Slave Genealogy Research to be Released March 29, 2008 With Lowcountry Africana Website Launch

The results of groundbreaking genealogical research to reconstruct family lineages of enslaved communities on Drayton family plantations in the United States and Barbados will be released Saturday, March 29 with the launch of the Lowcountry Africana website (http://www.lowcountryafricana.com/).

The yearlong project, sponsored by the Magnolia Plantation Foundation of Charleston, South Carolina, has focused on gathering, compiling and interpreting records from all known Drayton family plantations. The Draytons held plantations in Barbados, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Texas.

Researchers from the University of South Florida Africana Heritage Project and descendants of former Drayton family slaves worked together to rediscover the scattered document trail which may reveal the family and cultural heritage of many thousands of African Americans living today. Drayton Hall Plantation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who hold the Drayton family papers, were major partners in the research.

Because Charleston was a major port of entry and a hub for the international and domestic slave trade, African Americans throughout the United States may discover their families’ roots among the records to be released March 29.

No former slaveholding family has ever funded such research in their plantation records to rediscover the names and life stories of former slaves. “This is a wonderful example of enlightened stewardship,” said Toni Carrier, director of the USF Africana Heritage Project. “The Drayton family is taking an unflinching look at its history; a history shared by the hundreds of Africans and African Americans who lived and worked on Drayton family plantations. This research demonstrates, in a remarkable way, that we have nothing to fear from bringing this painful history out into the light.”

In addition to sponsoring this groundbreaking research, the Magnolia Plantation Foundation has also funded the development of the Lowcountry Africana website, which will be an enduring archive for those researching African American genealogy, history and culture in the Lowcountry Southeast. The project will continue to gather and interpret records for the former rice-growing areas of the coastal Southeast, which gave rise to the rich Gullah-Geechee cultural heritage.

Access to the entire content of the Lowcountry Africana website will always be free. The website will feature a searchable database of primary historical documents, book and multimedia excerpts, a research library with articles of interest to genealogists and scholars, information on key archives and websites with significant holdings pertaining to the Lowcountry Southeast, and a members area where readers can keep a research journal and bookmark links.

The Lowcountry Africana website development has been a collaborative effort of the USF Africana Heritage Project and WeRelate.org http://www.werelate.org/, a free public-service wiki for genealogy sponsored by the Foundation for On-Line Genealogy, Inc. in partnership with the Allen County Public Library. WeRelate.org is the world’s largest genealogy wiki, with pages for more than 1,500,000 people and growing. “We are honored to be a part of this exciting effort to make records documenting the history of African Americans freely available to all,” said Dallan Quass, President of the Foundation for On-Line Genealogy.

WeRelate.org has customized its family tree software for African American genealogy by adding events and document categories that are relevant for research in plantation and other Antebellum records. Readers will be able to navigate seamlessly between Lowcountry Africana and WeRelate, where the lineages of known descendants of Drayton family freedmen will be posted. In addition, many of the original document images will be hosted at WeRelate.org.

The major Internet archives Footnote.com and GenealogyBank.com have contributed many document images to the Drayton family research presentation, and to the Lowcountry Africana website. The March 29 launch event at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina will include a commemoration ceremony to honor those once enslaved on Drayton family plantations. The Lowcountry Africana website will be live at http://www.lowcountryafricana.com/ Saturday morning, March 29, 2008.

For more information about the Lowcountry Africana website, please contact Toni Carrier at 813-246-2201 or email to toni@africanaheritage.com.

For more information about Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, please contact Jane Taylor Knight at 843-571-1266, or visit the Magnolia Plantation website at http://www.magnoliaplantation.com/

All the Wrong (or Right?) Information

2008-03-27T20:50:00.003-05:00

One of the problems we face doing genealogical research is getting the facts straight. It's one thing to have names, but it's another thing to use primary and secondary sources to determine facts like birthdate, death date, and place of birth.

As you find your ancestors in the census, you'll discover that they may have birthdates that vary within a range as large as 10 years!

For example, my ancestor, Nelson Reddick is listed with the following different birth years:

1853 (1870 Census)
1846 (1880 Census)
1847 (1900 Census)
1850 (1910 Census)
1852 (1920 Census)

And, your ancestors may name two or three different states as their birth location. This is typical for early African-American records for many reasons:

1. Slaves often didn't know their birth date or where they were born, just the season in which they were born.
2. Many families didn't keep baptism and christening records.
3. Birth certificates weren't required in many states until the early 1900's or later, so folks may not have been sure of their exact birthdate.
4. Sometimes, the family wasn't there to give the census taker information, so he gathered that information from neighbors. That information could be very wrong.

So, given all these dates and no birth certificates or church records available, how does you determine the date your ancestor was born? Answering this question was important to me because the dates I had on the census didn't mesh well with the oral history passed down through my family. I was wondering if the children's names had been mixed up in the passing down of the story.

My thought was to assume that the sources with earlier dates are most reliable. I asked Lisa over at Genealogy Gems for help (via Facebook). Here's her answer:

Hi Aisha, I'm finally getting caught up after being at the Family History Expo in Utah, and want to get back to you on your question.

I'm with you on this question. I would give more weight to the sources that are closest to the actual event. And the fact that the source was likely the mother is even more compelling. While I have found that the oral history stories in my family have all had a grain of truth to them, I've certainly come across children getting mixed up. I think that is likely your case.

That being said, you may never get a final answer on this question. Until you find a rock solid source, you will always want to note the discrepancies. And I am not an expert on African-American research, so there may very well be other avenues to pursue that I'm not aware of.

Drop me a line when your podcast and blog are up and running. I'd like to follow your work.

All the best,
Lisa Cooke
http://www.genealogygems.tv/

So, based on Lisa's advice, I will likely list Nelson's birthdate as 1853, with a footnote stating the discrepencies.