French Canadians in Walla Walla area

On Thursday Margie Belden, Education Chair gave a talk on KONA radio Time Capsule about French-Canadian history particularly dealing with Frenchtown near Walla Walla.  The history of Frenchtown and the area goes back to the early 1800’s.  While doing her research for the talk Margie told me that she saw some French-Canadian surnames that might be distant cousins.  There is a Frenchtown Historic Site that is now open 8 miles west of Walla Walla on old Highway 12.  This is maintained by the Frenchtown Historical Foundation. 

Among things to see

Restoration of oldest existing cabin in Washington State Cabin was probably built for Pierre pambrun, chief trader at the Hudson’s Bay Co. at Fort Walla Walla in about 1837. Built as a peace offering for the Prince of the Cayuse village. Documentation from Narcissa Whitman dated 1844 and other independent documentation establish that the cabin was built on the Umatilla River in 1837 for Young Chief, another Cayuse headman

St Rose of Lima Mission Cemetery and associated markers

Interpretive shelter

Interpretive trails

The following timeline is from the Frenchtown Historical Foundation website

1818 – The Canadian Northwest Company establishes Fort Nez Perces at was now Wallula, this was the first trading post in the area.

1821 – The Canadian Northwest Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company merge and the trading post is rebuilt as Fort Walla Walla.

1824 - Near the mouth of Walla Walla River the first cabin was built by Joseph LaRocque and his wife Lizette Walla Walla.

1836 – The Whitmans establish mission; dozen of families were already living in the area.

1841-45 - The Oregon Trail emigrants begin parading through Frenchtown on their way to the south bank of Columbia River to Willamette Valley, OR

1847 - Catholic St. Anne Mission established on Umatilla River but vacated same year as Whitman massacre

1848-1850 - Cayuse Indian War

1853 - St Rose of the Cayouse Mission and Cemetery established on Yellowhawk Creek (in Walla Walla) but burned in 1855 during Yakama War.

1855 - 7-10 December: Battle of Walla Walla or The Battle of Frenchtown this was the longest battle in the history of the Washington Territory . 350 Oregon mounted volunteers versus 1000 Walla Walla, Cayuse, Palouse and Yakama warriors

Chief Peopeomoxmox tried to establish a truce but after battle was again begun, he and four others were executed

Cabins of Jean LaRocque and Louis Tellier were totally involved in the conflict

1859 - Indian lands opened to white settlement; Walla Walla established

1863 –Catholic Chapel erected in the area and a cemetery established

1870 - Log school house was built

1876-1893 - St Rose of Lima Mission Church and Cemetery (from river cemetery) were mainly French Canadian of the Hudson Bay Co., their Indian, French and Métis wives and their descendants

1912 - Final burial at Frenchtown cemetery

If you get a chance go see the Frenchtown Historic Site and learn more about Frenchtown at their web site. frenchtownpartners.org

Members Guided thru Google.com

Mikal McKinnon, our TCGS Past President, Assistant Family History Center Director and Washington State Genealogical Society President, took our TCGS members through a tour of Google.com. The outline for the class can be found online at:  https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Google_Commands:_How_to_Search_More_Effectively. This was the basis Mike used to help the TCGS members learn the ins and outs of searching with Google.  When I peeked in on the class, they were all glued to their monitors finding interesting things on their families.  The final tip was a place to have google help you search for your genealogy online: http://www.genealogy-search-help.com/.

I believe the final conclusion would be that everyone got something out of Mike’s presentation. I know of one person who was going home to continue her search. I’d bet the others were anxious to get home and continue their searches as well.

Thanks Mike for a great presentation. 

March’s Two Worthwhile Presentations

This month we were lucky to have two presentations by Renée Petersen, TCGS Monthly Bulletin Editor and the Director of the Kennewick Stake Family History Center.

At our general meeting, Renée showed us how we can enjoy quality education right in our homes. She explained that webinars and podcasts are available all over the internet, most of them for free. These webinars and podcasts generally are created by professional genealogists who tackle a different topic each month in the case of podcasts. One of the best known places to enjoy webinars is at Legacy Family Tree.

  The next opportunity we had to enjoy learning from Renée was the next Wednesday where she introduced us to the Family History Center Portals: subscription databases that are free to use at our local family history centers. Ancestry.com is amongst those databases and probably the most well-known; the others include 19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive, Alexander Street Press--The American Civil War, Find My Past, Fold3, Godfrey Memorial Library, Historic Maps, Paper Trail and more.

It was obvious that Renée had spent a good amount of time reviewing the databases before her presentation because she was well-informed about the databases and excited by the amount of information she had found and that got us excited too.

Thanks to Renée for a great introduction to the Family History Center Portals and to the Richland Family History Center for allowing us to use the Computer Hall for our hands-on classes.

"Leaving a Legacy" Class Success

Once again, Susan Faulkner shows us why we are so lucky to have her as one of our members. Susan's TCGS' Members' Only class, Leaving a Legacy, was not only well organized and interesting but a real hands-on class even though we were not sitting in front of computers (well, most of us were not!)

Nice things were heard from the 13 people who showed up to learn how they could write their own legacy so their grandchildren and beyond could know something about life in the 20th-21st centuries. No one walked away without learning something about setting writing goals, learning their writing styles, or even learning where to find the best "free" pens in the Tri-Cities.

We have more great classes coming up. Next month, Renée Petersen, TCGS' Monthly Update Editor and Kennewick Family History Center Director, will be showing how valuable the local Family History Center Portal is to our research (and it's FREE!)

For other upcoming classes, please sign onto the TCGS website at: http://www.tricitygenealogicalsociety.org/wiki/doku.php then click on Education > Classes.

Brick Wall Headache Relief

I probably learn more about how to research my family’s history by chit-chatting with genealogy friends than any other method. I love hearing their success stories, but I get much more out of hearing about their search struggles. Each step along their journey is important to me. As I listen to them explain their adventures I learn about techniques they have tried, and new repositories they have explored. Many times their stories are mere vents of frustration but usually there are juicy gems embedded along their journey’s path.

Tonight at the TriCity Genealogical Society meeting I was entertained and educated by two very dear friends, Sandra Floberg and Bob DeLorenzo. Janet McKinnon introduced Sandra as our “Southern Lady”, so she was given the opportunity to speak first, allowing our “Italian Gentleman”, Bob DeLorenzo, to wrap up the evening.

Sandra has been one of those close genealogy friends that I have the honor of interacting with quite frequently. I was not at all surprised that she was going to talk about her John Worth Meacham – again.  Her presentation started with the general list of questions that all genealogists should ask when they begin their hunt for information. She then proceeded to explain what she had done to try to unravel her quagmire of Meachams and Worths that all enjoyed the same naming patterns and had adopted the name of John Worth Meacham for generations, overlapping not only generations within their own family but also generations of neighboring John Worth Meachams.

Sandra shared how she had finally explored the use of DNA testing, and had taken results from other companies to combine the results into Family Tree DNA ( http://www.familytreedna.com/ ). She explained how hopeful she had been that by using yet another company to match results she might gain answers to questions she had worked on for so many years.

As a friend, and as an attendee at the TriCity Genealogical Society meeting, I was shocked when Sandra shared that even with DNA testing she was not able to determine the parentage of John Worth Meacham. She admitted that there was not yet enough DNA samples, and that she would have to walk away from her chase. Not only was I shocked, but I was saddened. Now what would she possibly have to share with her genealogy friends? I felt as if I was experiencing the death of a decade.

What transpired next shook my world and was a true revelation. Sandra shared a census record showing her John Worth Meacham and his wife, Elizabeth Allen, which also held clues for Sandra to begin researching Elizabeth Allen’s lineage. For years she had worked on John Worth Meacham, but when she finally walked away from that particular chase and began working on his wife’s lineage the doors started to open.

Sandra has found a new peace. She is comfortable waiting for answers on her John Worth Meacham. By following his wife’s lineage she has been able to add two more Revolutionary Patriots to her family tree. That is a pretty amazing accomplishment and a big bonus as she serves as Regent for the Kennewick Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Bob DeLorenzo then got up to speak. I love listening to Bob’s comfortable speaking style and was so glad he had agreed to speak at tonight’s meeting.

Bob began by giving an introduction to the Mayflower Society. He explained a little about their history and read the Mayflower Compact. He then shared the story of how he and his deceased wife, Nancy, got involved with genealogy and Nancy’s desire to join the Mayflower Society.

After joining the Mayflower Society, Nancy decided that she wanted to prove that she had another lineage that was connected to the Mayflower, to Pilgrim Francis Eaton. When Nancy and Bob started digging through the Silver Books, which are books full of information about Mayflower descendants, they found the initials n.f.r. after Francis Eaton's descendant Sarah Ramsdell, which stands for "no further records"!!  Nancy had an ancestor named Sarah Ramsdell, and she was persuaded that her Sarah Ramsdell was the same person as Francis Eaton's descendant with that name, but how could she prove it?

Bob shared how he and Nancy had used logic to determine that Sarah and her sister Lydia, (who also had n.f.r. after her name in the Silver Book), and their mother, had moved to a neighboring town after the death of Sarah's (and Lydia's) father, Thomas.  There were no records to prove this move, but logically it could be explained. This was presented to the Mayflower Society, but Nancy’s supplemental application for Francis Eaton was denied. This was heart breaking, but Bob acknowledged that the denial was proper since there were no documents to prove their theory that Nancy's Sarah Ramsdell, and Francis Eaton's descendant, Sarah Ramsdell, were the same person.

After Nancy’s death Bob continues to work on proving Sarah (and Lydia) Ramsdell, and their mother, relocated, and he hopes that the documentation to prove his logical explanation will lay in records left my Sarah and Lydia's mother’s employer, a judge. He has searched probate records and now plans on looking for personal memoirs or social history left by the judge’s family.

A startling discovery was shared about an heirloom spinning wheel that is showcased in the DeLorenzo home. The spinning wheel has been appraised by professionals. It is in great condition for its age, however its age has not been determined. While researching probate records Bob came upon a Last Will and Testament dated before the Revolutionary War. In the Will one of the daughters was listed as not being left anything, but not being overlooked either. She had been given a spinning wheel before the Will was written. By finding this probate record, Bob was able to date the spinning wheel that sits in his living room to a preRevolutionary War timeframe.

I left the meeting feeling appreciative of the gems Sandra and Bob freely gave. No longer will I beat my head against my own brick wall, but rather look at how my brick wall ancestor integrates in his wife’s family documents. By doing this maybe I can find a couple more Revolutionary War patriots, or even my own Mayflower connection.

TCGS November General Meeting–Our Social Event of the Year!

The November meeting is one of the most fun meetings because not only do we get to meet, we get to eat! We are also kicking off our 2014 Membership campaign, so bring a friend, your appetite and join us at:

6pm, Wednesday, November 13th
Isla Bonita Mexican Dining
1524 Jadwin Avenue
Richland

Click for website to download a $2 off Coupon!

Our TCGS President, John Covey, has some great things planned for the meeting: a surprise involving “Family History Treasures” recently found at the Richland FamilySearch Center; introduction to our New Members’ Welcome activities; presentation of a series of “Hand's-on Computer” classes especially for TCGS members; and more—too much to publish here.

Come enjoy an evening with your genealogy friends and learn what the TCGS Board has planned for 2014!

"Become a Better Genealogist" Part 2

On May 8th the members of the TriCity Genealogical Society finally got to enjoy the sequel to January’s topic “Become a Better Genealogist”. Margie Beldin, as the TriCity Genealogical Society Education Chairperson, didn’t disappoint those that waited for the conclusion of her first presentation.

I personally appreciated Margie’s idea of a Genealogy Toolbox. Margie opened her toolbox and showed us some fascinating tools that will help us be better genealogists. Her toolbox was full of Internet links, library book call numbers, and electronic documents organized in an easy to find fashion that could be used to research family history. She encouraged everyone to create their own toolbox and fill it with the tools that she shared. She also taught us how to pack our toolbox for easy transportation by introducing the idea of online cloud storage.

Another juicy tidbit that I’ve munched on since Margie’s presentation was a principle I had never heard of before, but could immediately accept. This was the principle of Occam’s Razor. The Skeptic’s Dictionary at skepdic.com defines Occam’s Razor as “plurality should not be posited without necessity”. Margie broke this down for us and explained it simply. Our ancestors typically took the easiest path to go from one point of their life to the next.

The FAN Principle as introduced to the genealogical arena by Elizabeth Shown Mills is another principle that Margie shared. The FAN Principle encourages family history researchers to investigate the lives of Friends/Family, Acquaintances, and Neighbors to enhance our research on our ancestors. No one, not even our ancestors, lived in a glass bubble.

Margie wrapped these ideas, and more, into the Genealogical Proof Standard. By using this standard we can analyze data that we collect.

1. Reasonably exhaustive search

2. Complete and accurate citation of sources

3. Analysis and correlation of the collected information

4. Resolution of conflicting evidence

5. Soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion

After giving us these important theories, principles, and standards to consider, Margie encouraged everyone to evaluate, record, and write our findings.

Does that sound like a “packed full of information” presentation? It was. Not a person in the room was able to leave without tucking something away in their pocket for further investigation later. We had so much to ponder. Margie delivered all of this with class and poise that has been developed over years of providing information packed presentations. When I left the presentation I felt that I had truly experienced a treat and was encouraged to become a better genealogist.