"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.

Become a Better Genealogist

Last evening, at the monthly meeting of the Tri-City Genealogical Society, the members learned about the Genealogical Proof Standard as well as how to improve their research methods through education. Here are some of the websites that can be accessed to enhance what was presented last evening.

Examples of Case studies and proof arguments which model the Genealogical Proof Standard
http://www.bcgcertification.org/skillbuilders/worksamples.html
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Choosing the Best Continuing Education Opportunities
http://broadcast.lds.org/elearning/FHD/Community/en/APG/Choosing_the_Best_Continuing_Education_Opportunities/Player.html

The presentation was actually a prelude to one coming in May that will explain how to implement the Genealogical Proof Standard by creating a work plan based on the Research Process, write Research Notes and complete the project by writing a Research Report.

Part 2 of last night’s presentation will be given on May 8th.

Scanning Tip

I just read my Internet Genealogy/Family Chronicle Newsletter Vol 2 #1 (29 Nov 2012: Moorshead Magazines Ltd.) online and found this wonderful scanning tip:

Scanning Tip

Scanning lots of documents for your family history project? If so, scan them in gray scale, not color, and use a low-resolution of 72 dots per inch. This will save space and make your scans go faster.

However, if you are scanning images for the purpose of creating a report, or publishing a family history, then scanning in color or gray scale at 300 dots per inch resolution, will give you the best quality.

Scanning has become so popular for saving documents that we find in books and online. We save them to our genealogy programs but, the question is always, what scale should I use? For reprints, as suggested above, we need to use a higher resolution, but that also takes up hard drive space. Copies of censuses, city directories, maps, pension records, etc. can be rescanned later if needed for publication, so save that space on your hard drive and start scanning smaller.

History of Vital Records

Ever wonder why we have birth, marriage and death records? Last night we found out when Susan Faulkner gave her presentation for the monthly TCGS meeting. It has been said, that to truly understand the information we learn from records, we need to know why they were created. The answer to that was loud and clear last night when Susan explained why and how vital records were started.

While I have always understood why church records were recorded, I had never thought about the origin of vital records – Statistics! Surprising? for me it was. It was purely because things were happening to the population that could not be explained. By statistically studying the effects on the whole population, patterns emerged which allowed the government to help solve or at least be aware of problems, such as health trends. Death records especially provided excellent information on why people were dying when the causes of the death were compared to others nearby as well as nationwide.

Sadly, vital record collection, in spite of knowing the reasons for collecting the information, was not begun throughout the United States successfully until 1933. Today both genealogists, statisticians, and many others know the value of recording vital events in our society, but this is definitely a 20th century accomplishment.

Susan quoted, “National statistics of death and birth were achieved only within the present generation, after two centuries [200 years!] of intermittent struggle and building. [emphasis added]”¹

So the next time you find a vital record for your ancestor, thank those who championed the collecting of this information, such as John of Gaunt, Edmund Halley (of Halley’s Comet fame), Oliver Cromwell and the English, Lemuel Shattuck of Massachusetts and many others who brought modern record keeping to the United States.

If you missed Susan’s excellent presentation, some of her information can be found in Val D. Greenwood’s book, A Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000), 203-232.

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¹ Oveta Culp Hobby and Leonard A Scheele in their report titled “Vital Statistics of the United States, Volume 1” dated 1950.