Brick Walls – Page 4 – GenealogyAtHeart.com

Knocking Down Nicknames

Knock, Knock
Who’s there?
Al
Al who?
Al give you a kiss if you help me break through this brick wall!

Yes, that is truly a dumb knock-knock joke but it makes me think of what I’d do if I was able to identify some folks by their given names.

Who’s Al? Is he Alvin, Albert, Alfie, Alexander, Alexa, Alfred or someone else entirely? Although Al typically is a male name, I’ve known a female that used it.

Why do we even use nicknames? Wickipedia states hypocoristic, a synonym of nickname, is an “affection between those in love or with a close emotional bond, compared with a term of endearment.”

I completely understand the use of endearments but nicknames cross over into the public realm and for genealogists, can be a nightmare! I speak for myself; Lori is my nickname. Why my parents didn’t place that name on my birth certificate I don’t understand. I asked! The response was, “I don’t know.” Geez. My formal name wasn’t a family name so there was no reason they couldn’t have. My mom said she was going to name me Patty, after her friend, but when I arrived I didn’t look like a Patty and my birth certificate name just came to her. Wonderful! She never could explain to me what a Patty looked like.

I seriously considered even getting my name legally changed a few years ago when government requirements tightened and I had difficulty proving who I was as none of my legal documents matched. Hubby goes by a nickname, too, but his official records all used the same name so he had no problem. He has successfully kept his nickname out of public records.

My problem began before I was out of diapers – my parents applied for a social security card for me using my nickname. I had no problem obtaining work (or paying social security all my working life!) under that name until 10 years ago when the laws changed for license renewal. To beat the system, I had to add “aka” on my bank accounts, mortgage and credit cards and place my birth certificate name on my official records. I’m so paranoid about being identified correctly that when I did my burial pre-planning a few months ago I made sure I included my given and nickname on the document. Problem was, my name is too long so I had to use whiteout and try again. Nothing like a genealogist messing up their own record!

Even though we took great pains to name our children so they wouldn’t have the nickname dilemma, nicknames are now back in vogue. Did you know there are online generators to help you select your own nickname? Who knew! Reasons for giving yourself a nickname are because you think your birth name is boring, there are too many people with your given name in your social group and you’re being confused, your name is too long or it’s difficult to pronounce. Some folks are even changing their names as they begin a new life experience. I can only imagine how much fun this will be for future genealogists to correctly identify individuals!

On the flip side, these sites could help you in figuring out the birth name of your brick wall person. Check these out if you’re stuck identifying someone in your family tree:

1001+ Cool Nicknames
The Origins of 10 Nicknames
Common Nicknames
800+ Nicknames
Nicknames for Boys
Vintage Nicknames for Girls

Test Driving MyHeritage.com and Making an Amazing Find!

I had a free account with MyHeritage but I was never a subscriber until recently when a 50% discount offer was made for members of the National Genealogical Society. I believe the discount is now offered for a limited time to everyone – check it out here. I decided to give it a try and I immediately scaled a brick wall on my Duer line that I’ve recently been researching. Here’s how I did it…

I downloaded my gedcom from Ancestry.com to my home computer and then uploaded to MyHeritage. My tree is large so I received an email from MyHeritage once it had been loaded and was ready to go. The following day I went on the site and it was easy to upload a site photo (I used my Genealogy At Heart logo that I keep jpg’d in Dropbox and my Google+ pic, added a blurb about what my research interests are and what I’m currently investigating. I happened to write that my brick wall was to determine the link between John Duer and his purported son, Thomas. Thomas died in 1829 intestate and John, in 1831, with a will that omitted Thomas, understandably since he was deceased, but did not include any of Thomas’ children. That wouldn’t have been odd, however, John did include a grandson who lived out of the Trumbull County, Ohio area, who was the son of one of John’s deceased daughters. Why include a grandson that lived in another state and not the grandchildren that lived next door? Hmm.

I have researched probate, land and court records, cemetery records, tried to find Bible and church records, obituaries, collateral lines, biographies, area histories, and contacted area genealogical societies and libraries but found nothing. The census and tax lists just aren’t helpful since they do not show relationships that far back.

I put the research aside for a month but it’s been gnawing at me. I originally made the connection of John and Thomas through the work of Edgar Duer Whitley, a gentleman who had found me on the internet 6 years ago from a Rootsweb posting I had made in the early 2000’s. My tree proved lineage to Thomas but I couldn’t go farther back. His tree showed lineage to Thomas’ son John who had a daughter, Maria, that I’m descended from. Edgar emailed me and kindly sent me an electronic copy of all his years of sleuthing. He never had a citation, though, of how Thomas and John were related. Shortly after he emailed me he no longer responded to my emails. He was quite up in age and I figured he was deceased. Thus, I couldn’t know how he knew that Thomas was the son of John.

I would love to tell you that MyHeritage found the answer super quickly but that didn’t happen. I actually didn’t receive any Record or Smart Matches from them. I assume that’s because my uploaded tree is well sourced.

I decided to snoop around their Family Trees located under the Research category. I entered birth and death location and death year info for Thomas Duer. A number of trees popped up with displays similarly to Ancestry.com. I clicked on the first one and didn’t find anything exciting. The citations were all from Ancestry trees. Ugh!

Then things got interesting – I clicked on Thomas’ wife Hannah as the tree owner had her listed as Hannah Preston. I had her listed as Hannah Byrd. When I went to Hannah’s page I discovered that she had remarried to a James Preston in September 1831 in Trumbull County, Ohio. How had I missed that? Interestingly, here’s how the marriage license is written:

“Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013,” database with images, Family Search (https://familysearch.org: 21 Nov 2016), Trumbull>Marriage licenses 1828-1839 vol 2>image 55 of 181; county courthouses, Ohio.

Notice the right side records Hannah’s surname as “Dewer” but in the body of the text as “Duer.” The record is indexed by Dewer so I never found it. The tree owner had found it because he was descended from James Preston. Putting in “James Preston” in the FamilySearch.org search form would have brought it up.

How do I know that the Hannah Duer is the wife of Thomas. There was only one other Hannah Duer living in the country in 1831 and she was 10 years old, residing in Pennsylvania. My Hannah and James were both born in New Jersey in 1775. James’ first wife died in 1829 in childbirth with twins shortly after Hannah’s husband, Thomas, died. Both had young children in the home so it makes sense they would have blended their families.

I went back to Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org and Rootsweb’s World Connect Project, to see if other’s had this information. Nope! Only the one tree on MyHeritage. For me, this was definitely worth the price.

It looks like the marriage didn’t last long which could explain why no one else has the information on their trees. By 1840, James was living with the children from his first wife and Hannah was living with one of her children as the tick mark in the age category for a female most likely is for her. That age tick mark is lacking on James’ record. In 1850, the couple remained separated per the census records. Hannah’s tombstone notes her first husband’s name, Duer. James lies next to his first wife. It appears that this was a relationship that both sides wanted to forget. This could also explain why Hannah’s first husband’s purported father, John, omitted her from his will written in 1830. I’m now searching for a divorce record. This story just gets more interesting with every find! I’m very happy to have found this information that quickly with MyHeritage’s site. Once I’m done with my Duer’s I’ll be searching their site for other clues on additional lines. Happy Hunting!

Records Breadcrumb Trail May Lead to Wrong Conclusions

I’ve been researching my Duer line lately with the idea that I’ll write a Kinship Determination from where my line begins, with Maria Duer, my great great grandmother, to my gateway ancestor, Thomas Stone Duer.

I’ve blogged previously about the serendipitous events and detailed how history repeats itself (see Circular Migration Patterns-How History RepeatsItself, 30 May 2015). After discovering the connection, I’ve become more determined to learn about the Duer Family.

Maria left some wonderful records, however, they initially led me to a wrong conclusion. Years ago, I had found her obituary through the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center Obituary Index[1] but I couldn’t decipher it as it was in German and used Gothic script. Her daughter Emma’s death certificate stated Maria was born in Germany.[2] The obit and the daughter’s death certificate led me to believe that Maria was of German descent. By just looking at the surface, those two records reinforced what I already knew about my father’s long line of German ancestry; I had Leininger, Bollenbacher, Kuhn, Kable, and Kettering surnames sprinkled everywhere in my tree and all of them were German immigrants. No surprise that Maria Duer would have also been German. How wrong I was!

Maria was born in Mahoning, Ohio on 2 September 1833.[3] Adam Kuhn, Maria’s son with whom she resided at the time of her death and who was the neighbor of his sister, Emma, had served as Emma’s death certificate informant. It is understandable that Adam most likely identified himself with his father Henry Kuhn’s German heritage. German born Henry Kuhn was a prosperous citizen in Mercer County, Ohio and maintained a close connection with others who had immigrated from Germany. Henry and Maria had been married for 55 years so she, too, would have been known in the German community so her obituary in a German newspaper makes sense. After having the obituary translated, I learned that it never stated she was German but it did mention her German born husband. Daughter Emma died at age 50 after suffering long term physical abuse from her ex-husband of 25 years. Adam likely recalled his father’s birth place instead of his mother’s when he provided Emma’s death certificate information. In grief, he probably just made an error.

Census records, a second obituary in English, and a mug sheet entry all confirm Maria was born in Ohio and connect her to her parents, John and Mary Jane (Morrison) Duer. Maria Duer was once a brickwall ancestor but no longer! What a great lesson in making sure a reasonably exhaustive search was performed AND analysis of all the found records was done.

[1] “Maria Duer Kuhn,” obituary, Die Minter [Ohio] Post, 1 August 1913, page 1, col. 3.

[2] Ohio, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate, “Emma Landfair,” number 12296 (stamped, 21 February 1914.

[3] 1850 U.S. census, Killbuck, Holmes County, Ohio, population schedule, page 245 (handwritten) dwelling 557, family 572, Maria Duer; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing NARA microfilm publications M432_696.

1860 U.S. census, Liberty, Mercer County, Ohio, population schedule, page 141 (handwritten), dwelling 1008, family 1013, Henry and Maria Coon Jr.; Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing NARA microfilm publications M653_1009.

1870 U.S. census, Liberty, Mercer County, Ohio, population schedule, page 15 (handwritten) dwelling 55, family 58, Maria Kuhn; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing NARA microfilm publications M593.

1880 U.S. census, Liberty, Mercer County, Ohio, population schedule, page 7 (handwritten) dwelling 55, family 58, Maria Kuhn; Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing FHL microfilm 1255048; citing NARA microfilm publications T9_1048.

1900 U.S. census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio, population schedule, sheet 9 (handwritten) dwelling141, family176, Meriah Kuhn; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing NARA with no further information provided.

1910 U.S. census, Liberty, Mercer County, Ohio, population schedule, sheet 9 (handwritten) dwelling 320, family 278, Miria Kuhn; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing NARA microfilm publication T624_1214.

Ohio, Department of Health Division of Vital Statistics, death certificate, “Maria Kuhn,” state file number 41826, 22 July 1913.

“Marie Kuhn,” The Grim Reaper, The Celina [Ohio] Democrat, 25 July 1913, page 1, col. 4.

Compilers, A Portrait and Biographical Record of Mercer and Van Wert Counties, Ohio (Chicago,IL: A. W. Bowen & Co., 1896) 400-401; digital image, Google Books (https://books.google.com: accessed 16 October 2016).

Tips for Attending a Family History Day and What I Learned from Attendees

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 9 Oct 2016.

October is Family History Month and if you’re a newbie planning on attending a local event to get some genealogical assistance, I’ve got some recommendations to make your experience a happy one:

Bring what you know written down. Even better – bring how you know what you know! (Was it your parents who told you or did you find a record? It’s important to record where you got the information as you build your tree because trust me, before you know it you’ll have a lot of info and won’t remember where you got most of it!)
Have a specific question you’d like answered in mind. Specific is not, “I want to know everything about my mom’s family.” Specific is, “I’d like to find out when my great grandmother Elizabeth Smithson died.”
You probably have a lot of questions but rank them in order of your interest; it’s only fair as other people have questions, too, and are patiently waiting!
Prepare yourself for not immediately finding an answer – very little is online so it might take a phone call, email, letter or a visit to discover the answer you seek. You might not ever find what your looking for, either. Today an attendee demanded of one of my colleagues that he find an obituary from 1877 in a rural area of Pennsylvania. Checked the largest town newspapers online but couldn’t find one. He had checked several databases (Chronicling America, Newspapers.com, GenealogyBank, Ancestry) so I recommended calling the local history center and asking what papers were in existence then. The woman was not happy and demanded that someone find the obituary immediately. We couldn’t give her what she wanted so she left in a huff.
Remember to thank the researcher – they are volunteering their time and could be doing their own research instead of helping you with yours.

We had a nice turn out today at our county day and I met some incredibly wonderful folks with some very good questions and a few brick walls we were able to start tearing down. My three most memorable of the day involved:

A woman in her 70’s who’s parents in their 90’s were still alive and all of them decided it was time to write the family history. They were having trouble starting because they wanted “to do it right.” HINT: There is no one way to do genealogy and that’s one of the major pluses for me! I showed several formats – Case Studies, Proof Arguments, Kinship Determinations, and several lineage forms. If you’re putting off writing because you don’t know where to begin just begin with whoever your favorite individual is. You can ascend or descend from there. I understand that footnotes/endnotes are a pain but citations are critical. How is anyone going to know where you found that document unless you write it down?! The lady today didn’t like the look of footnotes; I explained why they are often used over endnotes – people tend to not think the citation is important so they save paper by not copying them. I recommended that she use page numbers that say 1 of X so if someone does make a copy in the future they’d know they might be missing the endnotes. I think the family just needed reassurance that their work was not going to be up for a Pulitzer Prize. It’s okay if you aren’t an author; it’s not ok to let all that research go to waste by not communicating in the best way you are able to for the next generation.
A lovely lady who wanted to know why her step-grandmother who she had never met was mean. What I loved about this woman was her matter of factness; she wasn’t emotional about the situation. Instead, she just wanted an explanation for why the older lady had been reportedly so miserable. I thought this was extremely interesting as most people don’t even fully research their blood relatives and here was someone who wanted to know about a step relative. I was able to find the woman’s death date in California and showed her the familysearch.org wiki so she can get further information about the many places out west the woman had lived. I also recommended she check out GoogleBooks and Hathi Trust for more information about events that were occurring at the time the grandma was residing in an area – like the dust bowl, for instance. I think that would have made me miserable! We were unable to find a marriage record or a death date for her grandfather but we did narrow down some cemeteries that she can contact to see if he is buried there. (Not on Find-a-grave, Billion Graves, etc.)
A woman who brought in the earliest photoshopped photo I’ve ever seen! Seriously, don’t know who or when it was done but some family member took a photo taken circa 1872 of a couple seated holding a baby and cut a photo of another baby out and pasted it over the woman’s lap. It was done fairly well, too. Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen! The family was afraid to remove the glued on kid, understandably, so I recommended taking it to a professional photographic restorer. For someone who just deleted all of her photos from her phone in error, I’m clearly the wrong person for the job! But the photoshopping brings up lots of interesting questions – why did someone do this? What’s underneath? Who did that? Who’s the baby? I have a tentative hypothesis that the family will have to pursue but my theory is this: Eleven months after the immigrant couple wed in Newark, New Jersey a male unnamed baby was born. The baby died 2 weeks later; he had been named Henry in the death records. The couple had another baby the following year. I suspect they had the first picture taken holding the dead baby as they looked miserable. Not having the money to sit for another photograph they had a picture of their second child taken and then wishing they had taken a photo when she was younger, cut it out and placed it over the original photo. The couple had 5 children, one every year, and then the father died. The mother died 2 years after him. The youngest two children were raised in an orphanage. Using GenWeb I was able to find where the orphanage records are housed. There was a memorial on find-a-grave for the couple but not for the baby. I recommended calling the cemetery to see if he was buried in plot 1 as the father was buried in plot 2 and the mom in plot 3. Hmm…who else could have been in plot 1 but the baby with no stone because they couldn’t afford one? Only way to find the answer is to make a call!

Happy Hunting!

Photographs Unveil Information in a New Light

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 16 Jun 2016.

I’ve had a very strange week – genealogywise! It started with this recent family photo tree purchase:

tree

I always wanted to place family photos on the wall in my office but I couldn’t decide which pictures to use or how to group them. I saw the photo tree concept online but the reviews weren’t good; some said it was difficult to put together and others complained it wouldn’t stay up on the wall. The trees were pricy, too, and I didn’t want to waste time and money on a product that would frustrate me.

A few weeks ago I found the tree pictured above offered through Books R Fun locally. The reasonable price and the easy directions worked for me! Within minutes I had the tree up and then it hit me – why not use couple photos. I could display more people that way and since my husband and I share an office, it would serve as a nice reminder of our many grandparents.

I didn’t think it was going to take me long to finish the project as I sort of knew which photos I would select. First problem I encountered was my photos were missing from Google Photos. I’ve blogged previously about how Google Picassa has morphed into Google Photos and I thought that I had successfully transferred all of them from one program to the other a few months ago. Evidently, most did not take. Please check if you did that, too, as it’s better to know now then when you need them.

No worries, I thought, I have them saved elsewhere. That’s when I realized the computer where I had saved them had bit the dust. I checked Dropbox; they weren’t there, either. I must have removed them when I reached the max allowable on my plan. They were on Ancestry.com but to have to go through the gallery to locate them would be time consuming. I have backups on cd but those were saved by family surnames and I would have had to keep flipping through the various cds to find what I wanted. I then remembered that I had installed Picassa on the desktop of an old laptop. Sure enough, there they all were! Since I had taken the time to place all the photos in albums it was a breeze to find what I was looking for quickly. I’m glad this happened now as I have since backed up the laptop pictures to 2 hard drives and again, to Google Photos. The $8.00 tree purchase saved me future grief!

Being a thrifty genealogist, I decided I wouldn’t print the photos to photographic paper until I had them perfect as most of the photos I selected didn’t fit easily into the frame size. I plan to make them real photos this weekend and add children of the couples to frames that will surround the tree.

As I was arranging and rearranging the photos on the tree itself I was startled to discover how much of a strong family resemblance my father-in-law had to his mother and grandmother! My husband bears a remarkable resemblance to his maternal grandfather who he never knew. I have seen these photos for most of my adult life; none were new to me. It wasn’t until I placed them in the tree that I noticed the similarities between individuals.

I’m not sure if it was because they were now almost all the same size, shape, and color, the angle on the wall or the proximity to each other. Looking at them from this perspective was nothing short of startling. I highly recommend trying this! You may discover things about your family in a completely different way.

When I looked at myself, however, I was stunned. I don’t look like anyone! I blurted out that I must have been adopted but hubby pointed out that I have the original birth certificate and that there are photos of me in my mother’s arms in the hospital shortly after I was born. Mom clearly looked like she had been through labor! I knew I had my mom’s eyes and figured my hair was just a blend of both of my parents – my dad’s blonde and my mom’s dark brown. Looking at the photos I realized I had my paternal grandmother’s hair, my maternal grandmother and great grandmother’s nose and my paternal grandfather’s chin. Okay, so my dna is all mixed up – I am a true red blooded American mutt!

The photos didn’t just unveil family similarities; they also showed up some commonalities uniting all sides. I always thought my preference for pearls was a result of watching Leave It To Beaver as a child and channeling June Cleaver! Nope, in just about every photo a female is wearing pearls. I shared this insight with my daughter who just happened to be wearing pearls. Nice to know that trait got passed along to another generation.

I also discovered that one of the great great grandpas was wearing some type of insignia. I never noticed it before and it’s another mystery to solve. Taking a look back at your old photos may just lead you to more amazing family discoveries.

The Passionate Genealogist – Using Creativity to Climb Your Brickwalls!

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 10 Apr 2016.

Just back from a Learning and the Brain Conference in Orlando on imagination, curiosity and creativity. As genealogists we have passion which is the basis for all three, the drive that’s needed for success. After hearing the wonderful speakers from around the world I began to think that the application for genealogy can knock down our brick walls. Here’s how-

The beginning of imagination is dreaming. Our dream may be to discover who our several times great grandpa married or the reason our family moved to an area. It could be how our grandparents met or why we always have banana birthday cake. These thought provoking questions for people with passion to learn more about their ancestors lead to pursuing and seeking ways to find the answer to the question.

The posed research question you act upon is how you demonstrate your curiosity. One of the sessions had an interesting photo at the beginning – it showed square trees. The research question presented was where could you find square trees. I figured it was a trick question and immediately replied Lowes or Home Depot. Hint: That’s not the answer the presenter was looking for! How I formulated my response was by enlisting my background knowledge. My do-it-yourselfer hubby has had me assist with so many projects involving square wood if I lived in a large city my frame of reference may have been to expect that most trees grew in a square shape because that’s what I would be familiar with in the big box lumber department. I know that the trees in my neighborhood grown in somewhat of a round shape and that what we find in the store is processed lumber. Think how this applies to your research. Do you always rely on your same go to websites – the big names on the web to answer your research question? That’s not bad or wrong to do but there’s so much more that you’re missing. Those that want to REALLY know the answer would have their curiosity take them to some out of the box, unconventional places. I have found the answer to some of my research questions in odd places – on a microfilm in Salt Lake City of a book that exists in no library today, at a research facility in Boston that had a text that isn’t anywhere in the state the record was compiled from, on a CD created by a rural former church historian of the denomination’s newsletters, in a deed moved from the recorder’s office to an archive, in a letter stuck in a book on the shelf in our study. Those are just a few examples that pop into my brain that have happened to me in the last six months. None of those had anything to do with the major genealogical websites. Please do not think that I don’t value the information that’s now available on the web. I DO! I certainly don’t want to go back to those dark ages when information was difficult to obtain. I highly value and appreciate the big box genealogy sites. My point is that we need to remember it’s not the be all and end all. There is more – lots more – and your curiosity will propel you to find the more.

If you’re thinking, easy for her to say! I can’t afford, find the time, etc. etc. to go seek this information you’re wrong and doing your research a disservice. You don’t have to go to Salt Lake or Boston or even clean your house to find the letter in a book. You can use the technology that’s available to minimize the miles and bring the research to you. Use Worldcat if it’s available to have your library cooperative bring the material to you. Same with the microfilm – search Familysearch and order the film to be delivered to a closer site to your home. Yes, there is a fee but it’s minimal compared to cost involved if you don’t live in the Salt Lake City area. Aren’t sure how to find what you need? Call or visit your local library and they will help you. If they don’t, go to another. Don’t give up and don’t let negative people stand in your way.

How interesting is this! I’ve even mentioned big box sites to help you find the information you’re needing. You are bringing the knowledge closer to you. That’s why I believe genealogy is a study in patience. In this info overload world we so often expect the answer to arrive instantly on our phone, tablet or laptop. As the song says, “Waiting is the hardest part” but could also be the most important and relevant piece of your genealogical puzzle. While you’re waiting – go make yourself a nice cup of tea and dream some more, then act on that dream and the cycle continues.

See, when you’ve acted on your curiosity you’ve become creative. It was quite easy! We all have this ability we just have to practice it.

We did a cute little exercise at one of the breakout sessions you can take part in. Go to Answer Garden and answer the question “What is creativity.” Your answer is right because there is no one right answer so don’t be afraid. You don’t have to sign in, give your email address, nada! Once you submit your answer you will get an interesting “art” piece. I printed it and have it on my workspace as a reminder to be creative.

Creativity is the quality of human existence that allows us to modify the environment to our needs to make something new and useful. It’s a mix of intuitive and rational factors. That’s why we use the Genealogical Proof Standard. We use our gut and our brain to analyze the findings and reach a conclusion. We may be right and we may be wrong but until a direct or negative piece of evidence is discovered to make us revisit our findings, our analysis stands.

Creativity is a process and like all processes, has several steps. Preparation is primary! If the problem is worth studying you need to have background information and that’s pulling together what you know. Your answer may be right there in front of you but was overlooked the first time you saw it. Here’s one of my “Oh, Duh!” moments – wanted to know where an adult child had moved and found it listed on a death certificate for the parent. Was there all the time but I failed to “see” it. Don’t reinvent the wheel! Collaborate with others who may have already discovered what you’re looking for. Email the person who posted that family tree and ask where they got their info. Sure they might have just copied someone else but they might not have. If you don’t ask you won’t know. Asking is free!

Now you’ve found some tidbit of a record and you don’t know how it fits. No worries, time for another cup of tea. You just need to reflect on the finding. It will allow your brain to storm! Hmm, maybe I should check this resource or that facility or ask that second cousin. Research shows brainstorming is best done alone; we are social creatures for the most part and even if we don’t want to believe it, social inhibitions often prevail in group think. There is a time for collaboration and a time for going solo. When you’ve got some brainstormed ideas it’s time to put it out there to the genealogical community and step back into collaboration. How can technology help you in preparation?! Use Google Docs to share your findings with the other researchers that are working on your same line. One of the presenters recommended Padlet which I haven’t tried yet but plan to. It looks like a thinking Pinterest and it’s free. I like free! You collaborate with whoever you select to be in your group. Wish I had known about this a few years back when I was working with several distant relatives to beat the clock to find a Revolutionary War participant so an elderly relative could join the DAR before she passed. We made it happen but this would have been so much better. Another awesome idea is to use a Web Whiteboard. A whiteboard has taken the place of blackboards in the classroom – no squeaky chalk and no dust. You don’t even need one in your office, you can draw, write or scribble on a virtual whiteboard to help you sort out the connection between those found documents. Symbaloo may be the answer you need to bookmark your favorite go to web sites. It’s a free social bookmarking cloud based service that allows you to surf your favorite website with an easy click AND download an ap so you can keep being productive when you’re waiting in line at the checkout or for an appointment.

Now that you’ve got many ideas to help you with your preparation you’re ready to move to the next stages of creativity: Incubation and Inspiration. I love incubation – it’s easy but we don’t do it enough. We just need to STOP and let our brain process what we’ve found. Go outside and smell the roses. Take a walk. Swim. Lay on the sofa. Wherever you love to hang, go there! Your brain is still working on solving but it needs to be left to do it without the pressure of hurry. It’ll come. Just wait. Patience again! My brain works in a weird way. My best solutions for my job as an educator comes when I’m stuck in traffic on the interstate after my 2^nd cup of coffee and old hard rock is playing on the radio. I see my destination off in the distance, Oz beckons me and Voila! The answer is there. So if you’re like me, you may have your incubation moment in an odd location but if it works, who cares because you’ve reached inspiration. The unconscious mind (incubation) has brought the solution to be recognized in your conscious mind (inspiration).

If you’re stuck in incubation here’s some ideas that might help you. Vocaroo is an online way to share voice messages over the web. For those of you who are auditory this may really be helpful. Say what you know into Vocaroo and then listen to what you said. That’s it. If you’re a visual learner you may want to Mindmap. Unfortunately, most mindmap sites are not free but you don’t need to purchase it – take a look at images on google and you’ll get the idea. Mindmap on paper or on the virtual whiteboard. Poplet is a free sight designed for schools that can help you with a downloadable ap so you can take it anywhere. Since you’re reading this blog you might be a blogger yourself. Blogging can also help your inspiration. You can keep your blog to yourself, include just a few or make it public. There are lots of blog sites but I like Google’s Blogger. I don’t want you to think you have to spend a lot of time on becoming creative. Use your smart phone clock timer to keep yourself in check. Don’t beat yourself up if the timer goes off and you’re not where you hoped to be. It’s okay, really.

The last parts of creativity are Verification – Implementation – Production. Test the ideas that inspired you. You’re that much closer to scaling your brick wall. Happy Hunting!

Empty Envelopes Provide a Wealth of Genealogical Data

A FABULOUS FIND of 22 March 2016

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 5 March 2016.

A colleague of mine brought in a pile of old envelopes recently and asked me if they were important genealogically. The reason for the question is that the addressed envelopes contained no content. She assumed family had saved them because they were stamp collectors who hadn’t gotten around to removing the stamps.

My answer to her was a resounding YES! Those envelopes tell a story even though they are empty. I suggested she first put them in chronological order based on the postmark date, if any. Next she should try to match the envelopes to letters that she had found and store them together. Any remaining envelopes should be examined closely for information regarding:

Addressee
Sender
Postmark
Possible notations
Envelope condition
Handwriting
Type of writing utensil used
Cost of postage

Examining the addressee and sender aids in identifying relationships, although the type of relationship is still unknown. Definitely don’t assume the relationship was family! I have some old letters addressed to a grandfather that had the contents. He did not know the sender; the writer was inquiring about a device the grandfather was selling.

Carefully analyze who the envelope was addressed to. Was it to a Miss or Mrs.? Was a nickname used, such as Nelia for Cornelia? How was the last name spelled? That is extremely important if your family changed spelling. How I wish I had envelopes for my Koss family from the mid 1920’s. The name changed from Kos (in 1920) to Koss (in 1930) but when the change occurred I don’t know. An envelope could assist in narrowing down the date.

Look at the addressee’s residence – was it a rural route? a city? a county? If the postmark is illegible or missing that information could help identify the time period. Although the Rural Free Delivery (RFD) began in the late 1800’s it was not widespread. Prior to that, letters may have been addressed, for example, as Columbia County, New York. That’s a clue the resident lived outside of a town or city. If the envelope was dated, check the census to see if that address was also used for the individual. The 1940 census may show the person’s home address but the envelope could provide a clue as to where the individual was staying temporarily if they don’t match. My colleague recognized an address as belonging to her grandmother but the envelope was addressed to an unknown person at that address 20 years before her grandmother’s birth. Perhaps the home belonged to a family member that she was not aware of or perhaps the envelope was found after the grandmother moved in. I doubt the second explanation as that would not be a reason to keep an envelope with family records but who knows?! She was the stamp collector so maybe she saved it for the stamp. I recommended that a title search on the property be done to gain more information about the occupants.

I love postmarks because they often tell an interesting story. If the sender’s address was Connecticut and the addressee’s was New York but the postmark was California either the U.S. Post Office really messed up (which unfortunately happens frequently) or the sender was in California for business or pleasure when the letter was mailed. This could open up a whole new area to check for records!

My mom, a product of the Great Depression, always reused envelopes as scratch paper. Grocery lists, things to do, phone messages – check the envelope for any notations. Although you won’t for certain know who wrote the notes unless they’re signed or had such a unique handwriting that you can identify without a signature, you can gain insight on the day to day lives of the family that received the letter. One envelope my colleague had this notation printed in caps “BURN THIS AFTER READING.” Guess the receiver followed directions but we were dying to know what the contents had been.

Now look at the envelope itself. Is it stained? Is it brittle? Has the color aged? This lets you know the conditions that affected it since it was written. Perhaps the stain was from water – was it delivered in a rainstorm? Did it survive a sea voyage? Maybe a cup of tea was spilled on it as the contents were being read! You might never discover what really happened but it sure is fun to try.

I love handwriting, mainly because mine was always criticized while growing up. The style can give you much more information about the time period and the sender. Was it printed, cursive, Palmer, D’Nealian, or calligraphy? Is it legible or not? Perhaps the writer was in a hurry to mail the contents! Handwriting can also help you match the envelope to an individual if the sender did not include his/her name in the return address.

Writing utensils can also help you identify a time period. A ballpoint pen came into use in the late 1800’s. Prior to that fountain pens and dip pens were used. The color of the ink can give you even more clues – the dye or pigment used could be a regional product.

The postage price can help you determine the time period. Although we’re not talking about post cards I always think of them as “penny postcards” even though they now cost 35 cents to send. I don’t think they could be sent for a penny when I was a kid but that’s what my family called them and that’s how I still think of them. The art on the stamp also “may” disclose information about what was important to the sender – or not! A few years ago I became known as the “stamp girl” in my office as I would make several trips to the post office a week to mail packages my husband had sold on ebay because I was closer to the post office then he was. I would purchase stamps for coworkers on those trips. Some coworkers would request a certain type of stamp and others could care less. Although you might not find out for sure if the stamp conveyed a message from the sender it might. Remember the 1973 LOVE stamp? If the sender was breaking up with addressee I doubt that stamp would have been used.

Let me know if your envelope analysis unveils a genealogical gem!

Unique Picture Find To Try!

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 18 Feb 2016.

Ever long for a picture of your great great grandparents? You’ve dug through your grandparents attic, asked your great aunts and uncles, scowered the internet and came up with nothing! Frustrating, certainly, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

I was able to find a picture this week by simply contacting the church that was named in the ancestor’s obituary and asking if they had a record of her. Within 3 days I had received a note from the pastor who had asked the church historian to scan a copy of the couple’s church registration card and several group photos for church organizations the wife had been a member of. How cool is that!

I had the obituary for some time and just rereading it sent off a light bulb to see if the church where she was a member for 60 years was still in existence. I wasn’t counting on a response, as you know from previous blogs, I’ve been unsuccessful before with obtaining church records but this time was different.

Now that I know what she looks like I’m looking through old family photos that I have with many unidentified people as I suspect she is in there. That may lead me to a picture of her husband who was camera shy at church!

Help! Need Ideas to Obtain Baptismal Records

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 30 Jan 2016.

I’ll be traveling for my primary job over the next few days so I decided to save my Kinship Determination Project (KDP) in several places – the cloud (I use Dropbox), a thumb drive, my desktop, my husband’s computer’s desktop, and a hard copy. Yes, I’m a little paranoid that my hard work will disappear!

This trip could not have come at a worse time as far as the KDP is concerned. I was really on a roll with it and then company arrived last Sunday so I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I wanted to do. Had a very busy week of classroom visits and meetings, took a webinar, and was fighting off a cold so the KDP was put on the back burner. I really don’t want another week to go by without progress on it so I thought maybe I could edit the hard copy on the plane and make an update via the cloud when I land.

I resolved a few confusions – the first had to do with a death certificate not matching a tombstone; the second was too many people with the same name in the same place at the same time but they were all of vastly different ages so that was a quick analysis, too.

I’ve gotten a lot of the first and second generation written but I’ve identified two areas I need to do more exhaustive research in – I need to find a deed and a will. Other than that, I’m feeling good about the records I’ve uncovered.

So after awhile of analyzing records I decided I needed a break and I took a look at a different line that I’ve hit a brick wall with. Last month I found the obituary and it wasn’t very helpful. I’m trying to identify parents but it didn’t mention them; neither did the death certificate or the cemetery records. The obit did say the individual was a lifelong member of a church so I decided to contact the church to see if they had a baptism record that might list the parents. It’s been 6 weeks and I’m getting a little frustrated. I’ve emailed, called (several times), written a letter, and posted on their Facebook page. I’m feeling like a pest but persistence pays so I’m not giving up yet. How hard can it be to look this up, especially since I gave them the date of birth, too! I offered to pay. I sent a stamped return receipt envelope. Still received nothing. I know no one that lives in the area that could go in person on my behalf. I contacted the library, museum and the local genealogy society to see if they had any ins with the church. Nada! If anyone has any brilliant ideas for me I’d appreciate hearing!

A New FAN Idea

Originally published on genealogyatheart.com on 17 Jan 2016.

FAN – Friends and Neighbors – of your ancestors is a tried and true way to help uncover brick walls. It didn’t dawn on me that checking out your current Friends and Neighbors can also help you connect with the past. In December, I was talking to my office mate about my genealogical plans for the holidays. She has no interest in genealogy but inherited from her grandmother all of the family heirlooms which she keeps in her garage. GASP! I almost had a heart attack when she told me she has an indentured servant record of an ancestor from the 1700’s in her garage, along with civil war letters and tintype photos. The look on my face must have said it all as she immediately told me I shouldn’t worry as she had “all that stuff in acid free folders and binders” in rubber totes. I mentioned no air conditioning, high humidity, bugs and rodents (hey, this is Florida and that is in everyone’s neighborhood!), not to mention dust, mold and temperature extremes. She decided she would spend a few minutes over the holidays cleaning out a closet to store these family treasures.

That evening, I got a text from her with several pictures of documents and a question about how she could find out the name of a man in a photo and how he was related to her. Since I didn’t get her a Christmas gift I told her I’d check it out. Three hours later I had discovered the man’s name, occupation, place of birth and sad tale of his daughter who had been the clue in identifying him. Still working on how she’s related to him and I suspect she isn’t. My present hypothesis is that she is related to the man’s daughter’s husband. They had no living children so the photo may have passed to the husband’s surviving family members.

Oddly, my husband’s got family with the same name in the same location at the same time with the same occupation and I bet I can tie everyone together. If so, this means that my husband is distantly related to my office mate. If not, their families were definitely neighbors.

We live in the Florida. The family I’m researching lived in New York in the 1800’s. My husband was born in Indiana and my office mate in Massachusetts. If she hadn’t mentioned the stash of heirlooms in her garage I would have never discovered a connection. Yes, the FAN method works but not the way I expected!