Traveling Through Time

William Dollarhide

Saturday, September 12, William Dollarhide will be the speaker for the TriCity Genealogical Society seminar titled “Traveling Through Time.” The seminar will be held at the Reata Springs Baptist Church located at 2881 Leslie Road in Richland, Washington.

Many genealogists are familiar with the name Dollarhide, and there are obvious reasons. He has authored over 120 magazine articles and over 30 books. His book Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 is one of the top-5 best-selling genealogy books in America. He is also well known as a national speaker, speaking to genealogy audiences in more than 45 states. In addition to speaking at local and state level seminars and conferences he has instructed several classes at the national level in conferences sponsored by the National Genealogical Society and the Federation of Genealogical Societies. His credentials include honors of “Award of Merit” from the American Society of Genealogists and an “Award of Appreciation” from the National Genealogical Society along with many “Awards of Appreciation” from state level societies.

The TriCity Genealogical Society is honored to sponsor this seminar, in which William Dollarhide will focus on four lectures. The titles of these lectures are “Dollarhide’s Five Rules,” “American Migration Routes 1750-1800,” “Civil War Genealogy,” and “Finding Living Relatives Online.” A traveling bookstore containing many Dollarhide books will be available at the seminar.

Registration to the “Traveling Through Time” seminar is open to the public. The costs is $35.00 and includes lunch if submitted before August 15^th. To register, download a registration form from www.tricitygenealogicalsociety.org and send it to TriCity Genealogical Society, PO Box 1410, Richland WA 99352. For more information contact Susan Davis Faulkner at denmother4@hotmail.com or 509-554-1050.

June's Archived Document Contest Unanimous Winner

The month of June 2015 provided the Archived Document Contest with a wealth of information. We discovered more locations for important documents. We also enjoyed the stories that encouraged us to go beyond the Internet to find gems of our own family’s history.

In June we learned that Civil Servants, even when burdened with their own workload, can be a valuable connection. Margie Stein Beldin received information about her great grandparents’ marriage registration which also included her great great grandfathers’ name. This opened up a new generation of family information for her. We also got to mentally visit cemeteries and research libraries with Jan Norman as she told her story of finding letters between her third great grand uncle and his Civil War active military nephews. Marian Beecher Halverson and Susan Davis Faulkner shared additional stories of photographs and documents provided by family members. This reminded us of the vast amount of information contained in family collections.

Jan Norman and her cousin, Jim Cunningham

The Judging Panel voted unanimously that Jan Norman’s trip to the Working Man’s Institute and Library in New Harmony, Indiana walked away with the June prize for the Archived Document Contest. Jan Norman’s “feet on the ground” research provided incredible and personal information about her family in 1863. The letter that Jan submitted was full of details of what her ancestors experienced while fighting in the war.

Go to the TCGS Facebook page to read the entire letter.

Page Two of the Schnee Civil War Letter

Jan wins a one year subscription to Backblaze. Backblaze provides continual online backup service so Jan won’t have to stop her important work to save those valuable files.

July’s Archived Document Contest is currently underway. Upload a digital copy of a document you acquired in any method, other than downloading, to the TriCity Genealogical Society Facebook page to enter. July’s prize is a free registration to the Traveling Through Time Seminar scheduled for September 12, 2015 in Richland. William Dollarhide is the speaker. For more information on the seminar go to www.tricitygenealogicalsociety.org. To check out the current Facebook entries, or to enter, go to https://www.facebook.com/TriCityGenealogicalSociety

Photo by Roxanne Lowe

Here are some of the people from TCGS that attended the Washington State Genealogical Society conference in Ellensberg with speaker David Rencher.   L to R – a friend, Renee Petersen, Veronica Anguiano, Hank Jackel (standing), Margie Belden and Mary Ann Orton.

At this conference Veronica Anguiano and Margie Belden were awarded WSGS Recognition awards for which TCGS had nominated them.

Veronica Anguiano 

Veronica was recognized for her outstanding efforts in the cataloging of historical documents of importance and value to researchers interested in Benton and Franklin Counties.

Veronica Anguaimo has been selected by the Tri-City Genealogical Society (TCGS) as their recipient of the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award. She was selected for her commitment to researching and sharing information, even outside her local Society.

Ms. Anguiano has distinguished herself in untiring support of the TCGS as its Research Chair and helping research Benton and Franklin county histories. Ms. Anguiano has responded willingly and efficiently to numerous requests for information from outside her local society.

Ms. Anguiano has become heavily involved in re-cataloging the TCGS library holdings so the holdings can be searched from the FamilySearch Library Catalog. As the holdings are re-cataloged, the new numbers are uploaded to the FamilySearch system, making them searchable from FamilySearch’s online site.

Ms. Anguaimo is a respected and diligent member of the TCGS, and richly deserves this recognition.

Margie Belden

 Margie was recognized for exceptional and consistent support of the goals and operation of the Tri-City Genealogical Society.

Margie Beldin has been selected by the Tri-City Genealogical Society (TCGS) as their recipient of the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award. She was selected for her dedicated, enthusiastic efforts to educate members of her local Society.

Ms. Beldin has distinguished herself in untiring support of the TCGS as its Education Chair for many years.  In that position, Ms. Beldin has made many classes on a wide variety of subjects available to the membership. Ms. Beldin has not only coordinated setting up classes and programs, she has taught numerous classes herself, as she actively increases her knowledge and capability through attendance at genealogical conferences and classes outside the TCGS. She is always willing to share the knowledge that she gets from these events.

Ms. Beldin is a valued and hard-working member of the TCGS, and richly deserves this recognition.

Benefits of Membership Explained by Kathy Weddle Sizer

Kathy Weddle Sizer, President of the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society, has been a member for

over 40 years. On June 10, 2015 she explained the benefits of society membership and active participation to those attending the TriCity Genealogical Society meeting. As with any other organization, club, or society, membership in a genealogical society can provide companionship which without effort leads to mentorship. Hiking can be done alone. It is not wise but it is possible. Someone that is interested in hiking would benefit by joining an organization where they can learn more about terrains, gear, and methods. The same is true for genealogy. It too can be done in solitude but the void created by solitary research can lead to innocent mistakes.

Kathy provided an example that was close to home. Her niece found Kathy’s grandmother’s name listed on the Social Security Death Index. Using the location of Kathy’s grandmother’s last benefit location as her place of death, she made a grave error. Kathy’s grandmother died in Union Gap but her last Social Security benefit was received in Cle Elum. Kathy’s niece innocently used the Cle Elum location as her place of death. This error is now available for others to copy from Ancestry.com Members Public Trees. Had Kathy’s niece attended meetings and interacted with other researchers she would have known that there can easily be a difference between the last benefit location and the death location. Kathy also pointed out that many errors like this are available to copy from various sites online and warned researchers about the fallacies available in online family trees.

Interacting with other researchers can help someone tear down brick walls. Many a seasoned genealogist is happy to share the methods that lead to their own personal victories that can also be repeated by researchers struggling to understand the best way to prove historical facts. There are also seasoned genealogists who focus on particular studies like medical information or military involvement. Kathy shared stores about adoption cases that were solved by following leads made available from other members or presentations at meetings.

There is strength in numbers. A society represents a group of people and through their efforts great repositories can be created. Kathy gave many examples of what can be found at the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society library but also provided personal stories of great discoveries she had experienced by researching at genealogical societies close to her ancestral homes.

Kathy summarized her presentation by saying, “My membership in my local society is the best gift I can give myself.” Kathy’s devotion to local societies was not only enthusiastically testified verbally but also visually. Even an arm in a sling didn’t hold her back from enjoying the TriCity Genealogical Society meeting.

Winner of May's Archived Document Contest Announced

There were only a few submissions in May 2015 for the Archived Document Contest but these few entries provided wonderful lessons. Documents from the 1700s and the 1900s were located on microfilms available through the Family History Library. The documents on these microfilms containing important genealogical information were viewed in Salt Lake City and also at the Richland Family History Center. This proved to us that travel is not necessary when looking for un-digitized documents. Microfilms from the Family History Library can be brought to our neighborhood Family History Centers.

Ray Baalman is this month’s winner of the Archived Document Contest. He submitted two documents from 1700s France. More importantly he shared with us a very valuable lesson. “The important principle illustrated here is NEVER overlook the importance of witnesses at baptisms and marriages. They are often relatives and can give important clues about where to look next.” Ray illustrated this lesson by explaining that he found his seventh great grandmother recorded as the godmother of his fifth great grandmother on that grandmother’s marriage record.

Ray wins an annual subscription to Newspapers.com. With this subscription he will have access to over 3600 newspapers from the 1700s to the 2000s. There are currently 103,266,276 pages available for viewing through the every-word searchable databases. For more information about Newspapers.com go to www.newspapers.com or read their very entertaining blog titled Fishwrap at blog.newspapers.com

Below is Ray Baalman's submission including copies of the documents and a translation from French to English. 

Here is an entry for May's Archived Record Contest from Ray Baalman.

I am submitting two eighteenth-century documents I discovered on microfilms from the Family History Library and read at the Richland Family History Center. I am submitting both because they are related, and they point out an important principle of genealogical research. I am also appending a transcription and translation of the records since they are in French and a bit hard to read.

For many centuries, most of my French ancestors lived in or very nearby the town of Saint Avold in the east of France, not far from the German border. One of the more prominent members of the family, Christophe Margot, was a successful tanner, who lived and practiced his trade in the town of Saint Avold. I found his baptismal record in the parish register and nothing more until his first child was baptized when Christophe was 29 years old. I could not find Christophe’s marriage record.

After locating the baptismal records of all three of his children and studying them closely, I discovered that his second child (my fifth great-grandmother), who was baptized in 1721, had godparents who came from a different town (sarlouys on the record, now spelled Saarlouis) some 20 miles north of Saint Avold. I ordered the film for marriage records in Saarlouis (which was in France then, but is now in Germany) and found that the marriage had taken place there in 1717. The marriage record also proved that the godmother of my fifth great-grandmother was her grandmother, my seventh great.

The important principle illustrated here is NEVER overlook the importance of witnesses at baptisms and marriages. They are often relatives and can give important clues about where to look next.

May 2015 "Show and Tell" A Huge Success

In May 2015 those attending the TriCity Genealogical Society Meeting enjoyed a Show and Tell. Interaction provided a social aspect to exchanging research success stories and encouraging fresh ideas.

Tables were made available along the windowed wall and in the back of the Captain’s Table restaurant at the Clover Island Inn. These tables were soon filled with poster board displays, books, artifacts, photographs, and much more. After dinner and a quick Business Meeting the Program Chairperson, Barbara Christensen, explained that the only rule for the evening was that everyone had to get up from their chair and look at what had been put on display. Within minutes the room was full of enthusiastic conversation.

One of the most challenging aspects of a Show and Tell is how to focus research to emphasize one topic to share with a group. It was fascinating to see the variety of this focus from various members. One member built a family tree of the earliest known photograph of each of their ancestors. Another member focused on their lineage of military history. Yet another member proved an interesting point in history showing that their ancestor was an esteemed religious leader yet treated his slaves as property. Cherished artifacts, interesting reference material, and published works were also on display.

Comments from those that attended the meeting tell the story from their personal perspective. Dorothy Stamper McGhan shared, “This was a good meeting last night and I enjoyed it very much.  I feel I have met new friends.” Sandra Meacham Floberg won the big prize of the raffle and posted this on Facebook, “I want to thank the generous donor of the WSGS Conference Package which consisted of the conference registration fee and a credit card toward expenses. I won all of that for just $1! You could have been the winner if you had attended the TCGS meeting last night. It was an enjoyable evening of sharing some of our family histories and learning about current social media. If you didn't attend you missed a great time!”

The evening finally came to an end with several requests to make the Show and Tell an annual event. Barbara Christensen smiled, realizing that the evening had been a huge success and acknowledged that this would not be the last Show and Tell for the TriCity Genealogical Society.

Archived Document Contest April Winner Announced

The TriCity Genealogical Society’s Archived Document Contest began April 1. There were a total of six entries during the month. Facebook readers stood by with anticipation as entries were made from individuals who had found wonderful family gems off line. Four of the entries posted during the month were received from family members, one from a microfilm at the Family History Library, and another one by making a telephone call to the National Archives Branch in Boston.

Flavor of life unfolded before our eyes as we learned that succulent details of ancestors’ lives were available, but not in huge databases. We got to enjoy pages from a personal journal, a holiday card with an important announcement, and an article written by an 11 year old boy that was published in a national magazine. The information shared in these artifacts helped the researchers enjoy a more personal understanding of their ancestor.

We also got to enjoy the more standardized genealogical finds like naturalization declarations, citizenship applications, and newspaper clippings. The ones shared during the contest though were not digitized. Many times the researcher had to work a little harder to obtain the information they were seeking, but the rewards were well worth the exploration.

If the results from this month’s contest were going to recommend the repository with the best results, family members would win. This should encourage all of us to seek information from our own family member repositories. This contest however is for the best submitted document that was obtained in any fashion other than the Internet.

Our winner for the month of April is Margie Stein Beldin. The final step in Margie’s long adventure in obtaining the Naturalization Declaration of her 2^nd Great Grandfather was a phone call to the National Archives Branch in Boston. Margie wins a one year Premium Membership to Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems. You can get more information about this prize by going to www.GenealogyGems.com

Below is what Margie submitted about her amazing search for information and how she was able to obtain results.

” More than 15 years ago, I found the naturalization papers for my Irish gr gr grandfather, Frances McCue. However, it was impossible to decipher the name of the county he came from. I knew little about Irish research except that you had to know at least the county to begin researching in Ireland.

In 2001, I attended my first national conference, NGS-Portland. Wanting to know more about Irish research, I attended several presentations by Irish genealogists. Kyle Betit was one of them. I explained to him my dilemma and he offered to look at the naturalization document to see if he could decipher the place.

Before I turned to Kyle, however, I decided to try again on my own. The naturalization papers did show that Francis had filed his Declaration of Intent 24 June 1851. In 2002, I went to Boston for the first time and met a cousin, Patricia McHugh, who wanted to help me search for our Irish ancestor. She and I drove to Waltham to NARA-Boston to look through the books ourselves. However, we met with disappointment when we found a gap in the documents surrounding the time Francis would have filed his declaration. We left frustrated.

I then turned to Kyle who tried to read the county but could not decipher it. Pat even took a copy of the naturalization paper to Ireland on vacation. People there said the place had to be Lahinch. The problem was, Lahinch is not a county but a town. I didn’t buy that explanation at all.

In 2012, I was reading the Berkshire Genealogist, a publication of the Berkshire Family History Association. Their local librarian wrote about locating naturalization records. This led me to try once again to find the declaration of intent. I sent an email to NARA-Boston with a copy of what I did have and an explanation about not finding the declaration back in 2002.

Within days of my email I received the following email: “The declaration of intent for Francis McHugh has been located. We can provide a copy of the record for a fee of $7.50 per record...” Needless to say, I was on the phone in minutes reading them my credit card number. Within a few days, I received the declaration in the mail and there, in bold, legible handwriting, it said “County Leitrim, Ireland”. It was time to do the genealogy Happy Dance!

It only took 12 years+ and I still do not know the exact birth place of Francis McCue or if any of his family survived the famine besides him, but I’m one step closer. And, lucky for me, County Leitrim is one of the smaller counties.”