Beginners’ Class: Birth Records

Wednesday evening’s TCGS Beginners’ Class described how vital records evolved into what we have today. Then a brief overview was given about birth records.

The information about birth records was given machine-gun style because of time and the amount of information to cover.

The handout is designed to allow attendees to retrace the steps used to create the presentation and find more information about the topic covered. 

Here is a link to the handout if you did not get one or if you would like the hotlinks provided in the handout: March: Beginners' Class Vital Records Handout

Next month we will be reviewing Marriage Records. This may take two meetings as there is a lot more information to cover with marriage records than there was with birth records.

Happy Hunting!

Selecting Records to Research

By TCGS Member, Connie Estep

John Covey taught the May genealogy class which covered selecting records for your search. The first step is choosing a category of sources. The two main types are original sources (examples: birth certificates, city indexes, census) and compiled sources (examples: published family histories, periodicals). John provided a four page handout with many examples of original and compiled records. Click here to download a copy of the handout.

The next decision is to select the type of record. The handout has a list of different kinds of information with the types of records to search. From these select specific records, as you review them, make your notes on a research log.

Reference to research logs has come up in several of these classes. You can find a sample log at www.byub.org/ancestors/charts/pdf/researchlog.pdf. This one may be printed and filled in. There are several plusses to keeping a log. Most importantly, the log documents the source of the information. If you do not find the information you searched for in a source it’s a good idea to record that on your log also. By referring to your research log you can save valuable time in selecting records you have not looked at before.

Documents have different kinds of data. Usually a document will give the location of the event it is documenting. Depending on the event other information may also be on the document. My birth certificate gives my parents’ names, occupations, birthplaces, how many children my mother had before me and a reference to how many previous children of hers had died.

When beginning my family history search I started with Yakima city directories because a number of my relatives arrived in Yakima in the early 1900s. This let me gather the easiest information first. I didn’t keep a log, just made a list of my “hits”. Later I had to go through them again as I didn’t remember which names I had searched for unsuccessfully. The second time I took photos of each page with hits, and made notes of people I searched for unsuccessfully for each directory.  

For me this provided a great overview, including where family members lived, their jobs (and often employers), the names of their spouses, and sometimes if they paid county taxes. Since the directories often included county listings as well, I could see the ones farming in nearby communities.

The last section of this class was reference tools; this is a great section to review.  Political boundaries can change. A person born in our area in 1888 would have been an Oregon Territory resident, since Washington State wasn’t established until the next year. County boundaries can change as population fills in; Benton County was made from pieces of Yakima and Klickitat Counties in 1905. Gazetteers can help you find such changes. There are many other types of references listed as well.

The Beginning Genealogy classes are scheduled through December (except July and August) before monthly TCGS general meetings from 6:15-6:45 p.m. This third class was attended by 32 people and continues with a well thought out research plan.

Don’t Pay Your 2016 Dues. Win Your Membership in the October Archived Document Contest.

Entries to the Archived Document Contest in September gave the Judges plenty to discuss. They enjoyed getting to know the individuals behind the documents that were offered.

Digital copies of a scrapbook were shared. These scrapbooks were created by a businessman in the early 20^th century. He collected poems that he enjoyed written by Whittier, Longfellow and Wordsworth. He also kept copies of his own poetry that had been published in local newspapers. The poetry showed a very special and unknown part of this man who was known as a businessman and Seattle politician. Typical genealogical records would have never been able to share the spiritual and sensitive side of this person, yet the scrapbook collection made it possible to get to know this side of him.

Typical genealogical records can provide insight into ancestral mysteries though. The Judges also got to review a digitized copy of a marriage certificate found at the Ellensburg library. In finding this certificate descendants discovered that their ancestor had married again after his wife had died. Not only had he remarried but he had married a woman with the same first name as his deceased wife. Without finding this marriage certificate it would have been easy to assume that his first wife had lived many years longer than she did since both women died with the same name.

After much discussion, and a lot of fun with various scenarios, the Judges decided that Mina Jo Payson was the winner of the September contest. Her document taught a very important lesson in allowing the documents to support our research. This was a difficult decision for the Judges, however, as they would love to see everyone find a scrapbook filled with items of importance to our ancestors.

This is for the documents contest. My brother came home from the library in Ellensburg and asked me if our great grandfather had a second wife. When I went up to the library, we looked for a marriage certificate and guess what? He married his housekeeper six years after his first wife, Sarah, died. Conveniently her first name was Sarah, too! This led to some more interesting discoveries about our family.

What have you discovered about your ancestor? Share a digital copy of a document on the TriCity Genealogical Society Facebook page. The document could have been found anywhere except the Internet. Explain where you found the document and how it ties into your family history research. Don’t pay your dues. Win your dues. The prize for the October Archived Document Contest is a 2016 Membership to the TriCity Genealogical Society

"Traveling Through Time" Hard to Sit Through

About 65 individuals had a difficult time sitting through the Traveling Through Time seminar with speaker William Dollarhide. Within minutes of his opening remarks there was a desire to leave the room and research.

The first session of the all-day seminar was titled “Dollarhide’s Five Rules – Essentials for

Successful Genealogical Research.” Rule number 1 was “Treat the brothers and sisters of your ancestors as equals.” With this rule Dollarhide encouraged everyone to obtain those important census records, vital records, and various historical documents on all collateral lines. He provided a great case study of locating his own Dollarhide Family Bible by following this rule. Most genealogists, he explained, focus so closely on their ancestral line that they overlook the very important clues that are available by examining records left behind by aunts, uncles, and cousins of every generation. With this he also told everyone that they had an awful lot of work to do. It was a difficult way to begin the day as we knew that we were only beginning to understand how little we had done.

In his second session Dollarhide taught about the American Migration Routes from 1750 to 1800. With easy delivery, as if he was explaining something very simple to an attentive child, he took us on a tour of how one road was built to lead to the need for another, or to connect an already important route. He explained that many of those same routes are still being used today and encouraged us to acquire a 1941 Rand McNally Road Atlas. The Interstate System was not developed until 1956 so many of the most used roads were built on historically proven routes developed over several hundreds of years of travel.

The Civil War created a massive amount of records, many are still available today. Not all of these were federal records either. In Dollarhide’s session titled “Genealogical Resources of the Civil War Era” he gave us information on where to look, both online and on microfilm at the Family History Library, for records created during this time.

The day ended with tools to find living people by using online resources. Dollarhide shared the story of his own research in the 1970s. City directories and telephone books were extremely important and he lived mere blocks away from the Pacific Bell Telephone Company. He spent weeks pouring through various telephone books in order to locate other people with the surname of Dollarhide. The Internet has provided many websites that have taken away the need for telephone books, yet the information is still available if a researcher knows where to look. He endorsed ZabaSearch.com as a free website that was worth a visit that would provide at least a 75% success rate. Pages of additional websites were also provided to help fill in the 25% gap of information.

The day was packed full with easy to understand methods and freely provided tools. Instead of rushing to research we stayed, partially because we were stunned with the amount of information that we were being given. The other reason we stayed is that the Reata Springs Baptist Church was a wonderful and comfortable venue. The salad and sandwich buffet, stocked by the church’s teens, made a perfect lunch which was enjoyed at round banquet tables decorated with interesting and beautiful historical artifacts. There were Door Prizes, a Silent Auction, and Show and Tell items that also kept our interest.

When we left we hit the digital highway to look for a variety of documents and information that we may have never really examined before listening to William Dollarhide. We may have even done a few ZabaSearch.com queries to find our long lost friends and tell them about our wonderful day at the Traveling Through Time seminar.

In March 2015 We Met The Archivist

Brigid Clift, Central Region Archivist for the Washington State Archives, provided a transparent view of her activities and responsibilities as the Archivist of government records last night to the TriCity Genealogical Society.

There are various reasons why government agency records need to be retained. Some retention schedules require that the records be held for 99 years or permanently! As the Archivist, Brigid answers many questions on how long records need to be kept. She also collects records from various agencies and takes them to the Central Region Branch of the Washington State Archives for storage. The Central Region Archives provides archival and records management services for Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Okanogan, and Yakima county government agencies. The facility is state-of-the-art and Brigid encouraged those planning on attending the 2015 Washington State Genealogical Society conference to tour the Archives while in Ellensburg.

Brigid shared copies of various types of records to provide an idea of what is available at the Archives. She encouraged genealogists to interact with her. A major function of her job is obtaining material. She does this with the desire to share what she has collected. She explained three ways that she shares information from the Archives; requests, visits, and volunteer interaction.

Look-ups and research requests can be sent to CEBranchArchives@sos.wa.gov. Brigid explained that she enjoys providing this type of service but encouraged some work on the part of the researcher before sending a request. Record groups descriptions, including date range and volume size, is available at www.sos.wa.gov/archives/archives_central.aspx. The most productive requests fit within the description of the record group. If a date in not known, a date range should be provided in the request.

Due to budget cuts the Central Region Archives has limited hours for visits. It is important to call or email before visiting to ensure that the archives are open and that someone is available to pull requested records. Brigid encouraged a review of the holdings before a visit. A review of the volume size gives the researcher information to plan how long their research efforts may take. Some record groups are indexed and some are not. This information is also available in the holdings list.

The Genealogical Society of Utah has recently scanned a large amount of images for the Central Region Archives. Volunteers can help with indexing these scanned images which is necessary before they become searchable online through the Digital Archives. To set up an account to help with this project go to scribe.digitalarchives.wa.gov or contact the Historical Records Project at hrp@sos.wa.gov for more information.

It was a treat to have Brigid speak at the TriCity Genealogical Society March meeting. We got to learn that Archivists are real people who love the records that they take care of and that they want to share these records. She represented the role of Archivist, of which there are many. Brigid reminded us that each state government and archive has its own way of conducting business.

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.