Eastham, MA – and being woefully unprepared.

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It has been a busy summer with both jobs and as such, my genealogical pursuits have been put on the back burner though they are almost constantly in my daydreams and thoughts and last weekend was no exception.

For the last five years, I have been volunteering as a photographer for the ‘3 Day, 50 Mile MS Challenge Walk.’ held the weekend after labor day, on Cape Cod. My Wife has now walked 2 of her last 8 years helping out, and we do so for her father who has Multiple Sclerosis.

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To my knowledge, my 9th great grandfather, John Young died in Eastham Massachusetts in 1690. He was born in England and married Abigail Howland in Plymouth. From there, 4 generations of Young’s’ had been born in Eastham before migrating to the Bar Harbor area of Maine. My Grandfather Merton finally returned the family to Cape Cod around 1935 after my Father had been born.

It just so happens that the midpoint of the second day of the walk is in, you guessed it, Eastham. I know very little about my Great Grandmothers from that time – and I would have liked to been able to do some on the ground digging however the much needed ‘rest’ after an event as such took precedence over anything. It also seems that my research pulled up that neither the library, or historical society itself was open on that Monday I had ‘free’.

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Really though, two main things were against me. The first is that I had not researched what resources were open this time of year and I may have been able to make a special appointment.  The Library was closed, as was the Historical Society and any of their assets.  I did not think to check the town hall and my brain could not think of anything else to check at the time.

Another item working against me was that the only information I had with me, was the online tree at Ancestry.com. While a good resource, I should have printed hard copies of some family record sheets. This would have helped me focus on names that I did know, and not the Snow’s, and Freeman’s, and Doane’s that I thought might be in the tree but… oh those names sound so familiar.

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For those of you with Cape Cod Ancestors, I would like to mention the site Cape Cod Gravestones – Gravestones Dated 1683 – 1880 or Later in Barnstable County, Massachusetts The site has, Forty Four Thousand Names with Gravestone Inscription Information, Four Thousand Color Photographs, One Hundred Thirty Five Old Burial Grounds, Forty Six Gravestone Carvers, Eight Hundred Colonial Epitaphs, Cemetery Survey Reference Sources, and more.

While the site does not have a search function, the following is taken from their home page:

If you want to search for a specific name on this large web site, go to the Google search engine at www.google.com. In the search box enter capecodgravestones+name. There should be no space before or after the + sign. For example, if you are searching for Marcy Freeman, enter in the search box capecodgravestones+Marcy+Freeman. The search result will be a listing of links to Marcy Freeman

At the end of the day all I can do is begin to plan next years trip, and assuming I can get the time to research, I will have what I need, and know where I can go to get it.

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Google Drive and Document Organization

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On my most recent project with Nathan Simmons, I wanted to explore a new (to me) method for keeping research.  I wanted something that I could use anywhere and anytime as my work schedule is a bit wonky. I also wanted the ability to have something that kept my genealogy information separate from other notes. Lastly, it needs to be easy to use else in the long run it will not get used.

My current solution of Google Drive is ugly though parts of it do work well.  Drive is great for storing files and I was keeping master ‘Sheets’ and ‘Docs’ (Google’s version of Microsoft Excel and Word) with notes and items. It works from my home, office and phone.  On the downside I made some of the research log sheets so crazy though that I felt I spent more time sorting than researching.

What I am keeping of this system though are the folders of images of documents, maps, and photographs. Within a master folder I have four main folders.  Documents, Photographs, Catalogs, and an Inbox.

The Documents folder is broken several sub folders such as Births, Census – US, Census – State, City Directories, Marriages, Newspapers, Obituaries, and more.  I do find that I need to add folders from time to time as needed.  Each file is named starting with the Surname followed by First name or head of household for certain documents.  I then add the birth year of the person and lastly the type of document (and a sequence number if there is more than one page to a record.)

YOUNG Leonard b1843 – Pension Record 01.jpg

The Census records are an exception to this naming convention.  For these I have chose to name them starting with the Year, Location, Family Surname, and Head of Household.

1850 – US, MA, Bristol, Dighton –  SIMMONS, Nathan.jpg

The Photographs folder is broken down by different families.  If the photo is of a person, each file is named by the Surname, First name, Year of Birth, description, and date of photo if known.  Similarly, if the photograph is of an item belonging to a person it gets the same naming treatment.  Exceptions to this might be if the picture is of a place where I will always try to begin the file name with the location.

YOUNG Leonard Ivy b1843 - Portrait with Abbie Maria (Pitts) and dog

Leonard Ivy Young and Abbie Maria (Pitts). Date and Location Unknown.

YOUNG Leonard Ivy b1843 – Portrait with Abbie Maria (Pitts) and dog

YOUNG David b1931 – Plane Crash Debris – 1970

Mount Desert Island Maine – Photograph of Mount Young – 2014

This whole system will not work without a list of the items however and that is what is in the Catalogs folder.  I have two spreadsheets, one for documents and another for photos.  The spreadsheets are a way for me to list additional information about each item such as the names of those listed on the document, where the document was originally found as well as a citation, if I have entered the item into Roots Magic or Ancestry, and any additional notes.

[Note – WordPress doesn’t really display tables such as this too well so I have to work this ‘sideways’ compared to what I am used to.  Normally my headers run across the top with each record on its own row.]

File Name – [The Name of the File]
Inbox – [More in a moment]
Folder – [The sub folder the file is in]
Doc Date – [The Date or year of the document]
Description – [Usually a brief description but I have been known to put full transcripts]
Names – [The names of the people in the document]
Source – [A High level look at where the item came from]
Link – [If found online where to find it again]
Citation – [The Source citation – I usually copy and paste from the website when I can ]
Roots Magic – [Has this been input into Roots Magic?]
Ancestry – [Has this been attached to someone in Ancestry]
Family Search – [Has this been attached to someone on Family Search]

Example:
File Name – 1850 – US, MA, Bristol, Dighton – SIMMONS, Nathan.jpg
Inbox – No
Folder – Census – US
Doc Date – 1850
Description – Census Record for Dighton MA
Names – Nathan Simmons, Nancy (Pierce), Albert
Source – FamilySearch.org
Link – https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD9N-G31
Citation – United States Census, 1850, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD9N-G31 : accessed 24 April 2016), Nathan Simmons, Dighton, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States; citing family 118, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
Roots Magic – Yes
Ancestry – No
Family Search – No

The photographs spreadsheet looks very similar.  I have kept the source and citation fields in case the photograph did not come from my collection.

The last Folder to talk about is the Inbox. This is loosely sorted collection of documents and images that I have not had the time to fully catalog yet.  I try to not let them stay in the inbox for too long and generally once I fill out a line item for it in the spreadsheet, I will move it out of the inbox.  An inbox is very useful to keep your research moving while you are on a roll and not break your pace but you need to remember to log your items.

This system has worked for me and I find I have to tweak it every now and again.  I have read that others organize first by surname and while I think that direction has a lot of merit, my thinking is that one document is more likely to have many names on it yet each document itself is generally only one type.  Take a marriage record for example.  At the minimum it would (should) have the Husband and Wife listed but many have the parents names as well.

In the next article in this series, I will introduce you to the next step in my (current) process – One Note by Microsoft – and how it has opened up a new door for me.

 

Old Colony History Museum, Taunton Massachusetts

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After attending the 2016 26th Annual Pro Video & Lighting Trade Show Thursday, Sue and I found ourselves 30 minutes North of Taunton MA, birthplace of my father and his father. I have many other ancestors from the neighboring towns in Bristol County as well. The Old Colony History Museum is the local historical society and sounds like a place we just had to explore.

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We were greeted by a wonderful woman who took us for a tour of their amazing collection as well as a bit of the history of the building.  Pro-Tip #1 – ask about the museum’s photography policy at the beginning of the tour and not at the end. I suppose that not taking photographs of every little thing did leave me less distracted.

The first floor gallery and meeting room was much larger than we had expected I think.  Among the items on this floor there were a couple that stood out for me.  The first of which were several grandfathers clocks made in the area by local tradesmen.  They looked amazingly similar to one that stands in my Mothers house right now, handed down by my Grandfather, made by his cousin William Davis.  The other item, a writing desk, also bears a resemblance to a piece in the front hall of her house as well.

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Clock made by William M. Davis of Taunton, 1907. Photos by Claire Young

The second floor was simply amazing with what must have been thousands of objects to see and discover.  Everything from dolls to clothing to furniture.  Some amazing old photographs, cameras and paintings.  Taunton was home to many cast iron stove makers and several were also on display.  They had an old pump fire wagon, a descent sized multi harness loom, and a display of Native American finds.

Of the many items in this room though there was a lone daguerreotype of a steam engine from the late 1800’s.  My 2nd Great Grandfather Leonard Ivy Young used to work for the railroads in this area and of course this made me wonder if I was looking at something he himself had seen – or even worked on.

A separate room holds military artifacts and for my re-enactor friends several articles of clothing, hats and, accouterments.  Our tour guide told us an amazing story of a slave who fought with the Continental Army in the revolutionary war as a part of a cannon crew.  When he returned he was granted his freedom and gifted a cannon by General Washington himself or at least that is what the rumor and town lore told.  I learned more about Camp Myles Standish mentioned briefly in one of my Grandfather’s WW2 Greenland diaries.

Old Colony Historical Museum items

Sue managed to remember to take a couple of photographs before we left (with permission of course)

In the last room an amazing display of locally made silver goods. Among the normal items there was a silver handled and ebony sock darner, a small silver clad pencil, an elaborate silver and glass pickle jar and my favorite – the Ketchup, Mustard and Relish containers – appropriately etched just in case you forgot which was which.  One name stood out in this room, Albert Pitts, a local silversmith that I will have to keep in mind as my research continues.

The last stop on our tour took us into the William T. and Mary L. Hurley Library also located on the second floor.  Wow.  That’s all.  Wow.  Now, I know I didn’t come here prepared to do any research – nor did we have the time really however I will now offer out Pro-Tip #2.  Have a genealogical travel kit.  I’m not sure how – but I am going to get working on one.

From the Old Colony Historical Museum website about their library:

 Our research collection, which includes more than 7,000 volumes in our non-circulating library and over 400 linear feet of archival material, embraces a wide range of topics.

Some of the largest collections include:

Genealogy:
• Family histories (published and unpublished works)
• Family papers
• Diaries
• Unpublished manuscripts
• Cemetery gravestone transcriptions
• Local church and municipal records

Primary Records:
• Proprietors’ records for the Taunton region
• Military records and accounts from the 17th to 20th centuries
• Materials related to prominent local industries (textiles, machinery, locomotives, stoves, iron, pewter, silver, pottery, nails, tacks, bricks, shipbuilding, etc.)
• Collection of maritime records including diaries, papers, ships’ logs, etc.
• Account books of local merchants, businesses, and citizens
• Selected Bristol County Court records (17th to 20th centuries)
• Newspapers: Taunton Daily Gazette (1848-2001) on microfilm; other newspapers on microfilm and in bound copies as early as 1824

Published Records:
• Vital records for the Commonwealth of MA and the State of RI (prior to 1850)
• Maps and atlases for Taunton and Bristol County
• Taunton municipal records, dates vary (Fire Department, Police Department, Public Schools)
• Taunton City Directory, 1850 to 2002
• Yearbooks from Taunton High School (1891-1990, incomplete), Msgr. Coyle High School, Bishop Cassidy High School, St. Mary’s High School, St. Anthony Parish, St. Jaques Parish

I am looking forward to returning, taking some photographs, and of course delving into the library but first – I must prepare.

Our thanks again to the Old Colony History Museum for a wonderful afternoon.

Old Colony History Museum
66 Church Green
Taunton, Massachusetts 02780

Open Tuesday – Saturday
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

508-822-1622

www.oldcolonyhistorymuseum.org

 

 

American Canadian Genealogical Society Spring Conference

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Last weekend Sue and I attended the ACGS Spring Conference in Manchester NH and had a fantastic time.  The 5 different speakers presented on:

Each presenter was full of information and very knowledgeable on their repositories even though the woman from the Manchester Public Library was new to the position.

Of the items that the presenters discussed, there were a few items that stuck out for me.

Manchester NH was built by, and around the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company.  As such, the Manchester Historical Society is the repository for their records including Employee Files which can include some interesting additions for your Manchester ancestor.

Included are accounting records, engineering reports, correspondence, production records, and fabric sample books, as well as documentation for the locomotives and steam fire engines produced by the Amoskeag Machine Shop.  Beginning in 1911, there are employment cards for each person who worked in the mills which provide information about the person’s age, address, and job.  – from http://www.manchesterhistoric.org/

This collection sounds amazing and how I wish I had ancestors from Manchester so I could make use of them.

Child laborers at Amoskeag Manufacturing in Manchester (1909)

Child laborers at Amoskeag Manufacturing in Manchester (1909) – Hine, Lewis. 6 A.M. Going to Work in Amoskeag Mfg. Co. Manchester, N.H. Digital image. National Archives Catalog. NARA, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. .

The ‘NH Room’ at the Manchester City Library includes many resources including Census Materials, Local histories, New Hampshire Regimental Histories and the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution.

 

The NH Vital Records and State Archives took a tag team approach to their presentation.  Vital records are open to the public and you can obtain those for Birth, Marriage, Death and Divorce.  Birth records are available up until today’s date – 1916, while the other categories you can obtain up to 1966.

The Archives also holds the NH Association Test – Sate Papers vol 30.

In 1776, at the outset of the American Revolution, the New Hampshire Committee of Safety directed that all males over the age of twenty-one sign the Association Test–a kind of loyalty oath to the Patriot cause. In effect this resulted in a unique census of the adult male population inasmuch as the names of both signers and non-signers were recorded, and it is the most comprehensive list of New Hampshire residents available before the Census of 1790. Previously available in two separate, unindexed booklets, the present publication has placed all the names–well over 9,000–in one alphabetical sequence to enable the researcher to find a person and his town of residence at a glance. – Description from Ancestry.com [Link]

These papers will become important for Sue’s research – but that’s for another day.

Janine Penfield of the ACGS talked about Liniage Societies and the DAR in particular but also briefly reviewed La Société des Filles du roi et soldats du Carignan [Link] and the more local Piscataqua Pioneers [Link].  She reviewed the benefits of joining a society, the basic requirements to join, and lastly spoke regarding French Canadian Soldiers in the Revolutionary war of which the 2nd Canadian Regiment was one of them [Link]

Ooh Look, Squirrel!   Looking over the Archives website just now though they have also made available 40 Volumes of the Sate Papers as PDF files as well as an Index File at http://sos.nh.gov/Papers.aspx.  A look through the index and a trip down the rabbit hole led me to page 32 of Volume 39…

NH State Papers, Vol 39, Page 32

Sue’s family has a Mark Noble or two, could this be one of them? From the NH State Papers, Vol 39, Page 32 – NH State Archives.

I have yet to download the remaining volumes which also list a Mark Noble… I probably shouldn’t look for Moses either… Oh well, so much for a nap.

As a sidebar for this free conference it was suggested that you bring a friend – so we did and I dragged Dick Gagnon, the Access Nashua Station Manager and long time member of the ACGS (and my boss) back out of the shadows to attend.  He hates me now for pulling him back into the Rabbit Hole of Genealogy but wait until I can talk about the project that he picked back up.

Thanks again to the American Canadian Genealogical Society for putting on such a great conference and I can not wait until the next one.

 

Video

Episode 3 – The Family History Center

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A couple of months back I had the pleasure of interviewing the former, and current directors of the Nashua, NH Family History Center.  It took some time for us to connect and on the day of taping here in the studio – we had a power outage.

Well, not wanting to be held back by this Brick Wall – we grabbed a location kit and drove across town to the Family History Center itself and had a chat about the resources that they have to offer, research tips, and stories to help inspire you.

The Family History Center in Nashua is located at:
110 Concord Street
Nashua NH 03064

Links Discussed in this Episode:
www.FamilySearch.org
www.FamilySearch.org/Wiki

Nashua FHC on Facebook – [Link]
Nashua FHC on the Family Search Wiki – [Link]

www.LDS.org

Aside

27 Apr 2016 – Using FamilySearch Workshop

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The Family History Center in Nashua, NH is holding a workshop on Wednesday, April 27 from 7pm to 8:30pm on how to use your Family Search Account.

They will cover the basics of;

1. Logging in
2. Navigating Your Family Tree and its various views
3. The “Memories” tab
4. The “Search” tab and best practices for its use
5. “Tree Connect” to add sources to your ancestors’ records from the internet
6. Printing documents from FamilySearch

The Family History Center is located in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
110 Concord Street, Nashua, NH

I am going to try to attend as I do have a few questions regarding using their online family tree.  I do hope to see you there!

 

ACGS Spring Conference

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Tomorrow Sue and I will be headed off to the American-Canadian Genealogical Society’s annual Spring Conference in Manchester, NH.  I have copied the event announcement from their website below.

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The start of Sue's application to join
La Société des Filles du roi.

For those of you keeping track, Sue has ancestors from New France and a Connection to the Filles du roi – The Kings Daughter’s.  My Canadian ancestry however is from Nova Scotia by way of England and Scotland.

We will be sure to report back on our trip and keep an eye on our Facebook page because you never know what trouble we may find and if you are attending… be sure to look for us and say hello!

American-Canadian Genealogical Society Annual Spring Conference

April 23, 2016
8:00AM-4PM

8:00-9:00 AM Registration – FREE Bring a friend!
Coffee, pastries, and fruit will be available during the registration period.
50-50 Raffle

Class schedule:

9:00-10:20 AM
Jeffrey Barraclough -Manchester Historic Association
Resources available at MHA Research Center for genealogical research, including
Manchester City Directories, the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company’s employee
records, and the Manchester School registers collection.
Eileen Reddy – Manchester City Library – Special Collection NH Room
An overview of the NH Room at Manchester City Library and its resources for genealogical
research including newspapers, Vital Records, and census information.

10:30-11:50 AM
Brian Burford – New Hampshire Archive
Deborah Moore – New Hampshire Vital Records
Genealogical information available in the state of New Hampshire.

12:00-1:00 PM      Lunch
For your convenience, we are offering a bagged lunch for $10. You may still bring your own
or go out if you wish. Download the Order Form for the Box Lunch here.

1:00-2:00 PM    Lineage Societies for French-Canadians
Janine Penfield – ACGS
Lineage Societies for French-Canadians
Our North American ancestors did not enjoy the same boundaries we know today, and when French-
Canadians found themselves in positions to choose sides they did. Mayflower Descendants and other
Colonial societies aren’t the only ones to enjoy Founding Fathers and Mothers to celebrate. North
American history provides a complex cast of characters in our trees. Learn how American history can
help you find a lineage society – confirmation in proving your line and finding distant cousins.
Daughters of the American Revolution, La Société des Filles du roi, and Piscataqua Pioneers will be
presented.

Status

Editing Away on Episode 3

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Just a quick follow up tonight.  A while back I had the pleasure of interviewing four wonderful people involved with Nashua’s Family History Center.  We had scheduled to do this in the studio and with about 5 minutes prior to them arriving, we lost power throughout the area due to an accident.  Not letting that get us down, we quickly packed a location kit and drove across town to the Family History Center itself to shoot what I am sure, is a much stronger piece than had we done it at the station.  Everything for a reason.

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Well life got in the way but tonight I was able to make significant headway on the project and soon I will be happy to announce that this episode will be ready.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the Nashua Family History Center on their Facebook page [Link] or their page on the Family Search Wiki [Link]

Brick Walls – aka 'The Dead End'

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With another busy work project behind me, I had the pleasure of getting out in the world and attending two genealogy talks this week.  One was on DNA and will be the topic of a future post as I need to let the information settle in.

The other talk was “Strategies For Tackling Your Genealogy Brickwall” by Jake Fletcher of the popular blog – Travelogues of a Genealogist (link).  The talk was a part of the Chelmsford (MA) Genealogy Club.

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Over the hour, Jake discussed his go to methods for trying to break down a brick wall including reviewing your documentation with a fresh set of eyes after a while to Researching their occupation, to knowing the geography of a region as county lines often changed.

Another area to look at; Cluster and FAN research – Family/Friends, Associates and Neighbors.  Look at those around your ancestor, their neighbors in city directories, witnesses to records such as land deeds and probate items.  Jake even suggested documenting the names of neighbors five pages before and after their name on a census record to get a better understanding of people they may know and bump into.  Perhaps the close friend who was witness to a marriage had the favor returned by the ancestor you are looking for which could open up a new hint to move on.

He also suggested the use of a research log or journal. As you do your searching, list what you search for, where you search for it, what keywords you may have used and what you found.  You may have found nothing for that matter, and you should list that as well.  Sometimes nothing is the same as finding something – but that is a topic for  a different day.

His Log includes columns for Date, Repository / Website, Title of Collection, Keyword Search, and Results.   I have tried this in the past and I will tell you it is hard to do.  When you do the searches, you need to break from the results and record what you have, and if your anything like me you want to just keep on clicking to see what that record looks like.  I use spreadsheets on  google drive for this purpose but I do think, I want to switch to a paper one to log notes and then transcribe it at a later time.

I also think that the term brick wall can be scary.  Walls keep people from passing.  It is that simple.  Don’t ever give up though.  Genealogy can be like a maze – there is bound to be a way to get through it and some may harder than others, and who knows what the next left turn will bring.

My Hungarian ancestry for instance.  The records have always been there at the Family History Center on microfilm but they were just that far out of reach at the time.  Now, with several of them online and better access to the Family History Center [and more knowledge of]  I am able to travel down that path as far as it will take me.I am fortunate that I don’t (yet) have anything I would consider a brick wall.  While I do have several unfinished ends, I don’t feel that I have researched any of them well enough to place them into that category.  Perhaps though that is what makes it a brick wall in the first place?  Something that gets in the way of your research to make you move on to something seemingly ‘simpler’.

For now though, I will continue to consider my Brick Walls to be nothing more than a bump in the road – some which may be nothing more than a spring pothole.

The Chelmsford Genealogy club meets the first Tuesday of the month at the Chelmsford Library, 25 Boston Road, Chelmsford MA.  Their Next meeting will feature Rhonda R McLure speaking on New England Research. (Link)(Facebook)

The Search for the Grave of Moses Noble

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On Friday I had the honor of presenting to the Hudson, NH Genealogy Club, our search for the Grave of Moses Noble of Berwick, Maine.  This talk covered how Sue and I went about our search, using Google Earth and Google Maps, the advantages to speaking with local residents, and some ideas to help record information when you do find something, even if it is not what you were looking for.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Once I finish editing the interview with the Family History Center, I will record this talk in front of the camera to make the next episode.

Some of the links mentioned in the talk (in no particular order) include:

I was also going to upload the power point presentation as a whole but without context I am not sure it will hold up on its own.  Best wait for the episode!

The Hudson Genealogy Club meets the Second Friday of the month from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm at the  Rodgers Memorial Library in Hudson, NH. – http://rodgerslibrary.org/