We reviewed a story about my great-great-grandfather Reuben Wesco. There is a lot of confusing information about his early life. His death certificate, obituary, and gravestone all say he was born in 1839. However, there are other records that show he was born in 1834 or 1835. To add to the confusion, his mother died when he was a baby and his father remarried very quickly. Depending on which date of birth is used, either woman could be his mother. Then his father died when he was about four years old. One more point of confusion is that he had two cousins who both lived in the area, were born about the same time, and both were named Reuben Wesco, after an uncle Reuben Wesco. All three of the Reubens also served in the civil war.
The question is how to figure out the correct information about my Reuben's date of birth, mother, and early childhood. Whenever we come upon a "brick wall" or difficult problem, the best way to figure out what to do next is to make a research plan. We talked about some of the steps we would need to take in order to resolve the questions about Reuben.
1 - Re-evaluate everything that has already been found. Lay out all the documents and pieces of information you already have - either by physically spreading it out and organizing it on a table or by doing the same on the computer, whichever works best for you. Look at every detail in each document to see if there are clues that you may have missed previously.
2 - Create a time line. We did time lines in this class several weeks ago. A time line will help us to see exactly what we have and where there are missing pieces or errors.
3 - Determine where to focus research. Based on those errors or missing pieces, formulate a plan about what needs to be done next. In this example, we decided that there were three areas that needed to be addressed next:
a. military service to see if those records shed further light on the problem. Since all three Reubens served in the civil war, we need to make sure we get the correct set of records, even if all three need to be sent for. Sometimes, there is birth information in military records. It would also be interesting to learn what he did during the war, which would help to fill out his life story.
b. birth information, particularly information about his mother and step-mother. By researching the women, we may find some additional clues about Reuben. We need something that clearly shows which is his birth mother. Since birth certificates are not available in 1835, we need to find other clues.
c. custody. Since both of his natural parents died when he was very young, learning who cared for him might help give clues as to his age, which would help to support the birth year. There are some court records already found that indicate that the stepmother was not given custody. That leads to some interesting questions and we would want the answers.
4 - Make a research plan. Decide exactly what steps need to be taken next in each of these areas. Some of the kinds of things that might be included would be:
a. Internet searches -
revisit the genealogy sites used previously to see if new collections are available or if something was missed;
additional sites to look at that have not been used previously, such as local historical or genealogical sites, online books, newspapers, etc;
different google criteria that might be used to search, including trying different search engines to see if different results are found
Descendancy research to see if there are descendants of the family still in the area who might be able to add information
b. On site visits -
court house (have a search list prepared so you know exactly what you are looking for)
local history or genealogy societies (many do not have their collections online and may have local experts who know lots of helpful things)
local libraries (often have local newspapers on microfilm, as well)
cemeteries
follow-up on any things you find, including visiting places where the ancestor may have lived
c. Visit the descendants found. They may have family stories, bibles, documents, etc., that they will share with you. You can use a portable scanner or your iPhone to take a picture of the document.
Every research plan will be a little different, but these ideas should help you figure out what needs to be done in your case. Make sure that everything is written out clearly and completely, so that you will not forget what you had in mind when you planned it out. Sometimes it may take years to complete all the possible research. By having the plans for each ancestor organized properly, it is easy to pull out some things to do when you get a chance to travel somewhere.
I would suggest using To Do lists. Have one for each ancestor and another for each geographical location. These are easy to do when kept on the computer. You can then easily pull up the list for a particular county, for instance, and see what ancestors have research plans prepared that need to be researched in that area. Pull up the ancestor research plan and you are all prepared to go!
REMINDER: This was the last class in this course. We will start a new class, probably in September. Watch the bulletin and Facebook to get exact information once it has been decided.
This has been a great class. I hope you have learned something of value. Our initial goals were:
1 - Submit names to the temple - CHECK
2 - Become acquainted with FamilySearch.org - CHECK
3 - Be a good steward of family history (correct & complete) - CHECK
4 - Tell the story - CHECK
5 - Catch the Vision! - CHECK, I hope!!!!
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Thursday, June 30, 2016
June 26, 2016 - Unexpected Finds!
Two stories from my own family history experiences today. Both are examples of how we can sometimes get the best help from unexpected sources.
First - One of my grandfathers was born in Sweden. Several years ago, a friend and her husband were serving as missionaries in Sweden. They met a woman who offered to help doing family history research. She told the woman about me and got contact information. I emailed a copy of my grandfather's family group sheet, showing him as a child. I thought I had that information correct, but thought she could help find the next generation back. She responded almost immediately saying that I was missing a child. Sure enough. She sent screen shots from the ArkivDigital, which is the Swedish data base. It turns out that my grandfather's oldest sister, Selma Karolina, had died at the age of 2, just before the birth of the next child. Her cause of death was a fever, probably scarlet fever. Because they went on to have nine more children, and because the loss of that first child was probably so difficult, it would appear that the younger children knew little about her.
I contacted a cousin who is also working on family history and asked if he was aware of the this child. He went through his "Swedish box" and found a handwritten note about a child that died, but did not know enough to have added it to his tree.
Now the family is complete. An unexpected offer of assistance from an unknown person in another country turned out to be the key to finding a lost child. On our next trip to the temple, my husband and I made sure this child was sealed to her parents.
With this story, we also took a minute to talk about working with foreign records. We looked at translate.google.com, which is an easy to use translation program. I have found it especially useful in figuring out the column headings on foreign documents. The translation is word for word, so sometimes long sentences or paragraphs can be confusing, as colloquialisms and nuances of meaning are not caught. It has been of huge help on many occasions.
Second - Many years ago, long before computers were around for genealogy work, I had sent to the city of Williamstown, Vermont, asking for any records on Jedediah Bacon. He was as far as I had gotten on that line. Normally, I would get a letter back saying they had found nothing or that they could send me a copy of what they found when they received a check for whatever amount they charged for such things. In this case, however, I received a big manila envelope. When I opened it, I found a letter from the woman who had done the search. She recognized the name I was working on and was a descendant of his brother. She sent a copy of a presentation that was made to the Williamstown Historical Society about the family. It was packed full of stories and genealogy that greatly expanded on what I already knew. Among other things, I learned about Jedediah's father Edmund, who was a Revolutionary War soldier. He is listed in the DAR database as a patriot. My first patriot connection!
To me, the remarkable thing was that this woman spent the extra time needed to make me a copy and to send it to me. This happened in mid-1970's and the presentation notes had been from 1952. She had to have searched through her files, or files at the library, to find it. I was extremely grateful.
We read a couple of the stories from the presentation. My favorite was about how the apple cider had turned hard over the winter when it froze and it had quite a "kick" when they drank it at the spring meeting.
Working on family history may seem like something we do on our own, but in reality, it is very much a cooperative venture. Without the help from other researchers, our journey would be so much harder. Be grateful for those times when you get to connect with such giving people. And be one of the givers yourself!
It makes the whole journey so much more joyful.
NOTE: Next Sunday, July 3rd, will be the final class. We will start a new class, probably in September. Anyone who wants to sit through it all again is welcome to do so. More information will be announced once everything is set.
First - One of my grandfathers was born in Sweden. Several years ago, a friend and her husband were serving as missionaries in Sweden. They met a woman who offered to help doing family history research. She told the woman about me and got contact information. I emailed a copy of my grandfather's family group sheet, showing him as a child. I thought I had that information correct, but thought she could help find the next generation back. She responded almost immediately saying that I was missing a child. Sure enough. She sent screen shots from the ArkivDigital, which is the Swedish data base. It turns out that my grandfather's oldest sister, Selma Karolina, had died at the age of 2, just before the birth of the next child. Her cause of death was a fever, probably scarlet fever. Because they went on to have nine more children, and because the loss of that first child was probably so difficult, it would appear that the younger children knew little about her.
I contacted a cousin who is also working on family history and asked if he was aware of the this child. He went through his "Swedish box" and found a handwritten note about a child that died, but did not know enough to have added it to his tree.
Now the family is complete. An unexpected offer of assistance from an unknown person in another country turned out to be the key to finding a lost child. On our next trip to the temple, my husband and I made sure this child was sealed to her parents.
With this story, we also took a minute to talk about working with foreign records. We looked at translate.google.com, which is an easy to use translation program. I have found it especially useful in figuring out the column headings on foreign documents. The translation is word for word, so sometimes long sentences or paragraphs can be confusing, as colloquialisms and nuances of meaning are not caught. It has been of huge help on many occasions.
Second - Many years ago, long before computers were around for genealogy work, I had sent to the city of Williamstown, Vermont, asking for any records on Jedediah Bacon. He was as far as I had gotten on that line. Normally, I would get a letter back saying they had found nothing or that they could send me a copy of what they found when they received a check for whatever amount they charged for such things. In this case, however, I received a big manila envelope. When I opened it, I found a letter from the woman who had done the search. She recognized the name I was working on and was a descendant of his brother. She sent a copy of a presentation that was made to the Williamstown Historical Society about the family. It was packed full of stories and genealogy that greatly expanded on what I already knew. Among other things, I learned about Jedediah's father Edmund, who was a Revolutionary War soldier. He is listed in the DAR database as a patriot. My first patriot connection!
To me, the remarkable thing was that this woman spent the extra time needed to make me a copy and to send it to me. This happened in mid-1970's and the presentation notes had been from 1952. She had to have searched through her files, or files at the library, to find it. I was extremely grateful.
We read a couple of the stories from the presentation. My favorite was about how the apple cider had turned hard over the winter when it froze and it had quite a "kick" when they drank it at the spring meeting.
Working on family history may seem like something we do on our own, but in reality, it is very much a cooperative venture. Without the help from other researchers, our journey would be so much harder. Be grateful for those times when you get to connect with such giving people. And be one of the givers yourself!
It makes the whole journey so much more joyful.
NOTE: Next Sunday, July 3rd, will be the final class. We will start a new class, probably in September. Anyone who wants to sit through it all again is welcome to do so. More information will be announced once everything is set.
Monday, June 20, 2016
June 19, 2016 - Newspapers
We started by answering a few questions today.
On FamilySearch, you can send a message to another contributor by clicking on their name on the person page of the individual you are working on. You can send a direct email, if their address shows up, or you can send a message through FS. FS will then message that person to let them know that they have a message on FS. To see if you have received any messages, check the message menu item at the top right of the page. Sometimes people just don't answer, but most of the time they do respond.
FamilySearch is meant to be a tree used for research and sharing, so it is not necessary to have all information fully documented when adding to it. In fact, in many cases, the person may already be in the tree and just needs to be linked to your portion of the tree. When posting information that you are unsure of, there are some ways to indicate that. At the bottom of the Person page, there is a section to add notes. There is also an section to start a discussion. Both can be used to highlight undocumented information.
When merging or changing links, be specific in your message. This is especially important when two people have previously been incorrectly merged. Explain clearly why they are not the same person, so the next user will not repeat the error.
The Other Information section of the Person page is also a place to add extra details about the person. Click on the Add button to see a suggested list of types of items to add. You can also create your own by choosing Custom Event or Custom Fact. Having extra facts can help to clarify when two people have similar names or dates and yet are not the same person.
We spent our last few minutes talking about newspapers. There are several sites that have large collections of newspaper. Many of those sites are pay sites. But, even the big sites do not have every paper that is available online. We looked at two sites that can help us find smaller papers.
The first, smalltownpapers.com, was an example of how some sites have very small collections. But, if the paper you want is among them, it can be a goldmine.
TheAncestorHunt.com is a site that links to dozens of newspapers sites. It is an excellent source to find small town papers by category (Jewish, African American, etc.) and also by location. Make a choice (we used Iowa for our example) and you get a long list of papers and the links so they can be viewed online. We searched for the newspaper from the small town where I grew up, West Union, Fayette County: "rosemary nelson" (in quotes so both names would appear in the results) and chose the year 1957 to start. There were 66 results. The local paper included school news from every grade, scouts of all kinds, local sports, and every small piece of gossip (oops, wrong word- Ha) activities of interest (is that better?). We found my 10th birthday party listed, as an example.
These kinds of bits and pieces of information can really help fill in the story of our ancestors, as we learn some of the things they were doing. Have fun looking for some of your family stories!
On FamilySearch, you can send a message to another contributor by clicking on their name on the person page of the individual you are working on. You can send a direct email, if their address shows up, or you can send a message through FS. FS will then message that person to let them know that they have a message on FS. To see if you have received any messages, check the message menu item at the top right of the page. Sometimes people just don't answer, but most of the time they do respond.
FamilySearch is meant to be a tree used for research and sharing, so it is not necessary to have all information fully documented when adding to it. In fact, in many cases, the person may already be in the tree and just needs to be linked to your portion of the tree. When posting information that you are unsure of, there are some ways to indicate that. At the bottom of the Person page, there is a section to add notes. There is also an section to start a discussion. Both can be used to highlight undocumented information.
When merging or changing links, be specific in your message. This is especially important when two people have previously been incorrectly merged. Explain clearly why they are not the same person, so the next user will not repeat the error.
The Other Information section of the Person page is also a place to add extra details about the person. Click on the Add button to see a suggested list of types of items to add. You can also create your own by choosing Custom Event or Custom Fact. Having extra facts can help to clarify when two people have similar names or dates and yet are not the same person.
We spent our last few minutes talking about newspapers. There are several sites that have large collections of newspaper. Many of those sites are pay sites. But, even the big sites do not have every paper that is available online. We looked at two sites that can help us find smaller papers.
The first, smalltownpapers.com, was an example of how some sites have very small collections. But, if the paper you want is among them, it can be a goldmine.
TheAncestorHunt.com is a site that links to dozens of newspapers sites. It is an excellent source to find small town papers by category (Jewish, African American, etc.) and also by location. Make a choice (we used Iowa for our example) and you get a long list of papers and the links so they can be viewed online. We searched for the newspaper from the small town where I grew up, West Union, Fayette County: "rosemary nelson" (in quotes so both names would appear in the results) and chose the year 1957 to start. There were 66 results. The local paper included school news from every grade, scouts of all kinds, local sports, and every small piece of gossip (oops, wrong word- Ha) activities of interest (is that better?). We found my 10th birthday party listed, as an example.
These kinds of bits and pieces of information can really help fill in the story of our ancestors, as we learn some of the things they were doing. Have fun looking for some of your family stories!
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
June 12, 2016 - Henry Andrew Smith & Timelines
We finished the story of Henry Andrew Smith, my 2x great grandfather. He was born in Ohio, went to Pennsylvania at age 17 to learn to be a blacksmith, joined the army in Ohio, went to Kentucky for training, was discharged 3 weeks later, got married in Ohio, moved to Wisconsin, went to northeast Iowa to homestead, returned to Wisconsin, joined the army during Civil War, homesteaded in northwest Iowa when discharged, and lived there the rest of his life. Oops, so why is there a death certificate from Oregon?
In a local history book that was published in 1981 for the centennial of the town of Burt, it indicates that Henry is buried with his wife in a small township cemetery in Burt, Kossuth, Iowa. But, the death certificate says he is buried in Oregon. This really emphasizes the point that we need to look closely at all sources we find to determine if they are accurate. In this case, the story would have been as told by one of the descendants and, at best, a distant secondary source. The death certificate, on the other hand, is a primary record for his death, as it was created at the time the event occurred by the doctor who was present. There were a lot of things to look at on that certificate. The informant (the person giving the information to the clerk) was his daughter, with whom he was living at the time of his death. Her information about his birth and parents was second-hand, but was reliable, because of her close connection to Henry. In fact, all her information matches what had previously been found on other records. The death certificate also indicates that he was buried in Oregon. A little more digging produced a picture of the gravestone on Find-A-Grave, including the plaque about his Civil War service.
The conclusion was pretty obvious - he was buried in Oregon, where he had died while living with his daughter. Following up some of the other records, we discovered that he was living in Iowa with his daughter as late as 1910 census. He appears in the Iowa census in 1915. He died in Oregon in 1918, at age 89. Some further research is needed to determine when the daughter moved to Oregon. Is she in the 1915 Iowa census? Did she move and then bring him out to live with her? Did he go with her at the time she moved?
Using a timeline, it is much easier to see all the pieces of the information and to evaluate them relative to each other. I like using Excel to create my timelines. The columns were: age, event, date, location, source, notes. Every event was then listed in chronological order. Questions or problems were added in red on the next line. Excel makes it easy to add and/or delete lines and columns and to move things around, as needed. I print it out and then work with it. I can then go back in and make the changes that I have found.
The results:
1 - All the information was organized.
2 - Events were put into a graphic that were easier to evaluate.
3 - Errors were found.
4 - Missing pieces were noted.
5 - Conflicting information was obvious.
6 - The next steps in research became apparent.
7 - With everything organized and completed, the story is ready to be written.
Timelines are one of many ways to help organize and evaluate the information that you have found.
In a local history book that was published in 1981 for the centennial of the town of Burt, it indicates that Henry is buried with his wife in a small township cemetery in Burt, Kossuth, Iowa. But, the death certificate says he is buried in Oregon. This really emphasizes the point that we need to look closely at all sources we find to determine if they are accurate. In this case, the story would have been as told by one of the descendants and, at best, a distant secondary source. The death certificate, on the other hand, is a primary record for his death, as it was created at the time the event occurred by the doctor who was present. There were a lot of things to look at on that certificate. The informant (the person giving the information to the clerk) was his daughter, with whom he was living at the time of his death. Her information about his birth and parents was second-hand, but was reliable, because of her close connection to Henry. In fact, all her information matches what had previously been found on other records. The death certificate also indicates that he was buried in Oregon. A little more digging produced a picture of the gravestone on Find-A-Grave, including the plaque about his Civil War service.
The conclusion was pretty obvious - he was buried in Oregon, where he had died while living with his daughter. Following up some of the other records, we discovered that he was living in Iowa with his daughter as late as 1910 census. He appears in the Iowa census in 1915. He died in Oregon in 1918, at age 89. Some further research is needed to determine when the daughter moved to Oregon. Is she in the 1915 Iowa census? Did she move and then bring him out to live with her? Did he go with her at the time she moved?
Using a timeline, it is much easier to see all the pieces of the information and to evaluate them relative to each other. I like using Excel to create my timelines. The columns were: age, event, date, location, source, notes. Every event was then listed in chronological order. Questions or problems were added in red on the next line. Excel makes it easy to add and/or delete lines and columns and to move things around, as needed. I print it out and then work with it. I can then go back in and make the changes that I have found.
The results:
1 - All the information was organized.
2 - Events were put into a graphic that were easier to evaluate.
3 - Errors were found.
4 - Missing pieces were noted.
5 - Conflicting information was obvious.
6 - The next steps in research became apparent.
7 - With everything organized and completed, the story is ready to be written.
Timelines are one of many ways to help organize and evaluate the information that you have found.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
June 5, 2016 - Immigration, continued/Time Lines
We reviewed some of the things we talked about last week regarding my grandfather's immigration records. We need to be patient. Sometimes it takes a long time to find just what we are looking for. In the meantime, we take hints from everything we do find. There are times when putting the hints together will be the only way to tell the story.
I commented on how helpful the Danish American Genealogy Facebook group was, because they shared lots of information. I would eventually have figured it out myself, but their help made it so much easier. One of the students wanted to know what FB groups I followed. I will make a list at the end of the blog.
We discussed how, although most immigrants came through New York, there were many other ports that also were points of entry - Boston, Charleston, Baltimore, New Orleans, for example. There were also many who came in through Canada. Ellis Island was the second facility used for processing immigrants. Prior to that, Crystal Gardens was used. We also talked about how most name changes did not occur at Ellis Island (or other points of entry), because the process usually involved checking the names off the passenger list. Name changes were generally made later, either when other paperwork was done, or simply because the immigrant wanted a more American name. Remember, though, that each situation is unique.
We then moved on to our story for today. I shared the story of my 2x-great-grandfather Henry Andrew Smith. I had found a lot of records about him, including many census records, state census records, military records, land records, and others, even his story from a book. In fact, I had so many bits and pieces of information that it was hard to put them all together. So, I created a timeline. We will talk more next week about that. We ended the story with how, after living years in Iowa, he died in Oregon. Oregon? Yes. See you next week for the rest of that story!
Some of the FaceBook groups/pages that I follow:
GAA (Genealogy Addicts Anonymous)
Genealogy - Improving Your Searches
Genedocs Templates
31 Days to Better Genealogy
Dear Myrtle
The Organized Genealogist
Genealogy Tip of the Day
Genealogy - Cite Your Sources
I also follow several that are specific geographical sites - like Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Scandinavia, Midwest, Georgia, etc.
There are several others, as well, but some are not as good as others. Lest it sound overwhelming, some do not have posts that often. Others I just skim very quickly to see if I might be interested. If so, I usually just Save that post and go back and look at it later. (Save a FB post by clicking on the down arrow at the top of the post box and click on Save Link. Saved is one of the menu options to the left side, so you can find them later.)
To find pages that are about what you are interested in, put the search criteria in the Search Facebook box at the top of the page and look at options. Some groups you just have to Like to be included, others require you to request to be part of the group. Some have gotten so large that they are not allowing new people to join. Don't worry about it, though, as there are plenty of other groups.
See everyone next week when we will solve the mystery of the ancestor who appeared to die in Oregon after living in Iowa until he was over 80 years old!
EDIT: I forgot the FaceBook page of the group that I am part of: Genealogy Study Group - Lawrenceville GA. We meet every 3rd Wednesday at 10:00 at the LDS Church on Sugarloaf Parkway. It is an open group - meaning anyone from the community is invited and there are no dues or membership fees.
I commented on how helpful the Danish American Genealogy Facebook group was, because they shared lots of information. I would eventually have figured it out myself, but their help made it so much easier. One of the students wanted to know what FB groups I followed. I will make a list at the end of the blog.
We discussed how, although most immigrants came through New York, there were many other ports that also were points of entry - Boston, Charleston, Baltimore, New Orleans, for example. There were also many who came in through Canada. Ellis Island was the second facility used for processing immigrants. Prior to that, Crystal Gardens was used. We also talked about how most name changes did not occur at Ellis Island (or other points of entry), because the process usually involved checking the names off the passenger list. Name changes were generally made later, either when other paperwork was done, or simply because the immigrant wanted a more American name. Remember, though, that each situation is unique.
We then moved on to our story for today. I shared the story of my 2x-great-grandfather Henry Andrew Smith. I had found a lot of records about him, including many census records, state census records, military records, land records, and others, even his story from a book. In fact, I had so many bits and pieces of information that it was hard to put them all together. So, I created a timeline. We will talk more next week about that. We ended the story with how, after living years in Iowa, he died in Oregon. Oregon? Yes. See you next week for the rest of that story!
Some of the FaceBook groups/pages that I follow:
GAA (Genealogy Addicts Anonymous)
Genealogy - Improving Your Searches
Genedocs Templates
31 Days to Better Genealogy
Dear Myrtle
The Organized Genealogist
Genealogy Tip of the Day
Genealogy - Cite Your Sources
I also follow several that are specific geographical sites - like Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Scandinavia, Midwest, Georgia, etc.
There are several others, as well, but some are not as good as others. Lest it sound overwhelming, some do not have posts that often. Others I just skim very quickly to see if I might be interested. If so, I usually just Save that post and go back and look at it later. (Save a FB post by clicking on the down arrow at the top of the post box and click on Save Link. Saved is one of the menu options to the left side, so you can find them later.)
To find pages that are about what you are interested in, put the search criteria in the Search Facebook box at the top of the page and look at options. Some groups you just have to Like to be included, others require you to request to be part of the group. Some have gotten so large that they are not allowing new people to join. Don't worry about it, though, as there are plenty of other groups.
See everyone next week when we will solve the mystery of the ancestor who appeared to die in Oregon after living in Iowa until he was over 80 years old!
EDIT: I forgot the FaceBook page of the group that I am part of: Genealogy Study Group - Lawrenceville GA. We meet every 3rd Wednesday at 10:00 at the LDS Church on Sugarloaf Parkway. It is an open group - meaning anyone from the community is invited and there are no dues or membership fees.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
May 29, 2016 - Immigration Story
Our lesson this week was based on a recent experience I had regarding one of my grandfathers. Iver William Nelson was about 9 years old when he emigrated from Denmark with his family about 1903. I had known the basics of their story for many years, based to a large degree on the story told by his youngest sister Camille to my uncle. I have a copy of that story.
Basically, the father came to Iowa in 1903 to see if it would be a place to bring his family. He had gone with enough money to return to Denmark, if it didn't turn out to be what he wanted. He decided to stay, so sent for his two oldest sons to come to help him get a home ready. He then sent for his wife and the six youngest children, including my grandfather. Finally, the two oldest sisters came. There are a number of stories about their experiences.
For several years, I have searched for the passenger lists that would have been used to let them enter the United States. I had found the father, the two oldest boys, and one of the daughters. However, I had never been able to find my grandfather, his mother, and five other siblings, who all traveled together.
While updating a tree on Ancestry.com, I discovered a new hint on my grandfather's page. It directed me to a website that contained something called the DDD Emigration List. As I looked at it, I could see that the whole family was listed, individually, but all in sequence. It appeared that it was a list of people who were leaving Denmark and had bought tickets. It was with the Copenhagen police. Name, age, where born, where resided, final destination, date, and name of ship were some of the information listed. I knew I had the right family, as names and ages all matched, plus they were going to Ogden, Iowa. There was not a way to print just the portion of the list that I wanted, so I did a copy and paste and saved it to Word. I also copied and pasted the name of the site so I could find it again, if needed.
My one big questions was about the name of the ship. It said Indirekte and I was almost positive that meant that they were not sailing directly from Denmark, but were taking another ship to reach another port, most likely Liverpool. I wanted to be sure, so I turned to my FaceBook page. One of the groups I follow is Danish American Genealogy. I posted a brief description of what I found, what I thought, and asked if I was correct. I got a ton of responses. Yes, it meant that they had sailed from Denmark, but did not go directly to the US.
I also learned that this was a registry that was required. Every one who purchased a ticket from an agent was listed with the Copenhagen police. The purpose was to keep the agents honest. There had been a problem previously with agents taking the money for tickets and then disappearing. The responses also indicated that the people did not necessarily sail from Copenhagen, but could have left from any Danish port. Someone asked where my people lived and I told them Herning, which is up in the peninsula area and quite a long ways from Copenhagen. That meant they probably traveled from Herning to Esbjerg and then sailed from there. Most likely, they would have sailed to Hull, which is near Liverpool. Several people gave me links to sites that covered lots of things related to my questions.
Eventually, since I now had exact information, I found them on the passenger lists at Ellis Island and Ancestry.com. I posted my success and several people posted more links and information, including about the ship they sailed on. There was even a link to another site that might help me find them on the ship that sailed from Esbjerg to Hull. Tons of information and tons of help. I follow a lot of genealogy pages and skim through them quickly, but sometimes I find a ton of information that I would have spent hours looking for. FB can be a great tool.
Following are some of the things we talked about in class, related to my story:
1 - Creating a GEDCOM file (I had created a new tree on Ancestry.com from a GEDCOM that I made from RootsMagic. That is what started this whole thing.)
From RootsMagic: File, Export, click what you want to be in the GEDCOM file, OK, Name and Save to your hard drive. You can then upload the file to a website or send it to someone else.
To create a new tree on Ancestry.com using a GEDcom: Trees, Create & Manage Trees, bottom of page to Upload a GEDCOM file, Browse to found the file on your hard drive, give it a name and description, accept Submission Agreement, Upload.
To create a new tree on Ancestry.com from FamilySearch: Trees, Import Tree from FamilySearch, sign in to FS, name the tree, indicate whether you want it public or private, Save. This GEDCOM will cover only five or six generations.
2 - ellisisland.org - (I went here to try to find the name of the ship and the date of arrival in NY.) This is a free website and has the names of the people who passed through Ellis Island. You can search by name, but since so many names are so common, you may get dozens of pages to look through. After trying several of the names from the DDD Emigration, I found one of the children. I could see the passenger list and the family was all there. I was also able to see the name of the ship and the date they arrived in New York. Because the names, ages, final destination, and person who would meet them all matched what I already knew, I am confident it is the correct family. I printed a copy of the passenger list, although it does not let you print a large copy. You can order one, if you want.
3 - Searching Ancestry.com for the passenger list - I had not been able to find the list based on the names, but now that I had the ship name and date of arrival, I was able to search differently. Search, Immigration & Travel, Passenger Lists (on the right, under Narrow by Category), New York Passenger Lists (under Featured Data Collections), and then under Browse the Collection, choose Date, year, month, day, ship. The passenger list for that ship that arrived in New York on that date will appear. I then had to look through each page until I found the family. To print the page, go to the tools symbol on right side (looks kind of like an X). Then Print, Entire Image, also click on source data, Continue, follow print page. You can also zoom in on the information you want to see better. Print again, only choose Print zoomed view. I always print the full page and the citation. I also printed a zoom of their names and also the section of the page that showed where they were going and who would meet them.
4 - Printing a picture of the ship - (Since I now knew the name of the ship, it seemed like a good idea!)
Search, Immigration & Travel, Ship Pictures and Description (under Narrow by Category), Passenger Ships and Images (under Featured Data Collections), first letter of ship name, choose ship name, choose date range for immigration, choose an image to print.
I barely got into this story. I wanted to share all the things that happened to them with their crossing.
Basically, the father came to Iowa in 1903 to see if it would be a place to bring his family. He had gone with enough money to return to Denmark, if it didn't turn out to be what he wanted. He decided to stay, so sent for his two oldest sons to come to help him get a home ready. He then sent for his wife and the six youngest children, including my grandfather. Finally, the two oldest sisters came. There are a number of stories about their experiences.
For several years, I have searched for the passenger lists that would have been used to let them enter the United States. I had found the father, the two oldest boys, and one of the daughters. However, I had never been able to find my grandfather, his mother, and five other siblings, who all traveled together.
While updating a tree on Ancestry.com, I discovered a new hint on my grandfather's page. It directed me to a website that contained something called the DDD Emigration List. As I looked at it, I could see that the whole family was listed, individually, but all in sequence. It appeared that it was a list of people who were leaving Denmark and had bought tickets. It was with the Copenhagen police. Name, age, where born, where resided, final destination, date, and name of ship were some of the information listed. I knew I had the right family, as names and ages all matched, plus they were going to Ogden, Iowa. There was not a way to print just the portion of the list that I wanted, so I did a copy and paste and saved it to Word. I also copied and pasted the name of the site so I could find it again, if needed.
My one big questions was about the name of the ship. It said Indirekte and I was almost positive that meant that they were not sailing directly from Denmark, but were taking another ship to reach another port, most likely Liverpool. I wanted to be sure, so I turned to my FaceBook page. One of the groups I follow is Danish American Genealogy. I posted a brief description of what I found, what I thought, and asked if I was correct. I got a ton of responses. Yes, it meant that they had sailed from Denmark, but did not go directly to the US.
I also learned that this was a registry that was required. Every one who purchased a ticket from an agent was listed with the Copenhagen police. The purpose was to keep the agents honest. There had been a problem previously with agents taking the money for tickets and then disappearing. The responses also indicated that the people did not necessarily sail from Copenhagen, but could have left from any Danish port. Someone asked where my people lived and I told them Herning, which is up in the peninsula area and quite a long ways from Copenhagen. That meant they probably traveled from Herning to Esbjerg and then sailed from there. Most likely, they would have sailed to Hull, which is near Liverpool. Several people gave me links to sites that covered lots of things related to my questions.
Eventually, since I now had exact information, I found them on the passenger lists at Ellis Island and Ancestry.com. I posted my success and several people posted more links and information, including about the ship they sailed on. There was even a link to another site that might help me find them on the ship that sailed from Esbjerg to Hull. Tons of information and tons of help. I follow a lot of genealogy pages and skim through them quickly, but sometimes I find a ton of information that I would have spent hours looking for. FB can be a great tool.
Following are some of the things we talked about in class, related to my story:
1 - Creating a GEDCOM file (I had created a new tree on Ancestry.com from a GEDCOM that I made from RootsMagic. That is what started this whole thing.)
From RootsMagic: File, Export, click what you want to be in the GEDCOM file, OK, Name and Save to your hard drive. You can then upload the file to a website or send it to someone else.
To create a new tree on Ancestry.com using a GEDcom: Trees, Create & Manage Trees, bottom of page to Upload a GEDCOM file, Browse to found the file on your hard drive, give it a name and description, accept Submission Agreement, Upload.
To create a new tree on Ancestry.com from FamilySearch: Trees, Import Tree from FamilySearch, sign in to FS, name the tree, indicate whether you want it public or private, Save. This GEDCOM will cover only five or six generations.
2 - ellisisland.org - (I went here to try to find the name of the ship and the date of arrival in NY.) This is a free website and has the names of the people who passed through Ellis Island. You can search by name, but since so many names are so common, you may get dozens of pages to look through. After trying several of the names from the DDD Emigration, I found one of the children. I could see the passenger list and the family was all there. I was also able to see the name of the ship and the date they arrived in New York. Because the names, ages, final destination, and person who would meet them all matched what I already knew, I am confident it is the correct family. I printed a copy of the passenger list, although it does not let you print a large copy. You can order one, if you want.
3 - Searching Ancestry.com for the passenger list - I had not been able to find the list based on the names, but now that I had the ship name and date of arrival, I was able to search differently. Search, Immigration & Travel, Passenger Lists (on the right, under Narrow by Category), New York Passenger Lists (under Featured Data Collections), and then under Browse the Collection, choose Date, year, month, day, ship. The passenger list for that ship that arrived in New York on that date will appear. I then had to look through each page until I found the family. To print the page, go to the tools symbol on right side (looks kind of like an X). Then Print, Entire Image, also click on source data, Continue, follow print page. You can also zoom in on the information you want to see better. Print again, only choose Print zoomed view. I always print the full page and the citation. I also printed a zoom of their names and also the section of the page that showed where they were going and who would meet them.
4 - Printing a picture of the ship - (Since I now knew the name of the ship, it seemed like a good idea!)
Search, Immigration & Travel, Ship Pictures and Description (under Narrow by Category), Passenger Ships and Images (under Featured Data Collections), first letter of ship name, choose ship name, choose date range for immigration, choose an image to print.
I barely got into this story. I wanted to share all the things that happened to them with their crossing.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
May 1, 2016 - Reserving Temple Ordinances
Today we worked on the temple ordinance process. There are several ways to find and reserve ordinances.
1 - From the Pedigree chart, look for green temple symbols. Those indicate that there is an ordinance that is ready to reserved for someone in that family. Click on the temple symbol, and it will open a box. An ordinance code in green means it is ready to be reserved. If it is a possible duplicate, there will be a message. Be sure to check the duplicates before reserving. Also, if the individual was born within the last 110 years, there will be a message. In order to reserve such an ordinance, you must have permission from an immediate family member.
2 - From the Person page, click on the Ordinance tab, under the name at the top of the page. I do this each time I finish working on a person. If there is temple ordinance work ready, I can reserve it right then.
3 - From the Pedigree chart, choose any ancestor. Those born in the early 1800's may be the most likely to have descendants who need ordinance work done. Click on the name you choose. Then click on Tree in the box that appears. That will put this person at the center of the pedigree chart. Then switch the pedigree view to descendancy, which is the fourth symbol. That opens a chart with the chosen individual at the top. His/her spouse and all the children will appear. Any individual with a gray arrow pointing to the right has more descendants. Go through the list, checking to the right column for a green temple. I find it easiest to go down the list one name at a time, opening the arrow to the right whenever it appears. That way I don't miss anyone.
4 - I reserve most of my temple ordinances from RootsMagic. Go to File, then FamilySearch Central, then log in to FS from the page that opens. Choose the option for names of people who are ready for temple ordinances. A list of names appears on the left of the screen. Click on the name to be checked. FS info appears on the right and RM info on left. You can see if the ordinances have been completed and move the information to RM. Or you reserve them by checking the ordinances and then the Reserve box.
Regardless of how you find the names to be reserved, there are some important rules to follow.
1 - Any one born within the last 110 years must have permission from immediate family. Immediate family is defined as spouse, parents, children, or siblings. Notice that is not grandchildren or nieces and nephews.
2 - You must be related to the individual you are requesting. In other words, you have added them to your tree. The only exception is if you are sure they belong in your tree, but you have not found the link yet. For instance, you visit a cemetery and find a family plot. There are a couple of gravestones there with the same family name, but you do not know how they fit in the family. You may go ahead and do their work. However, you cannot just walk around the cemetery and gather random names to do.
3 - You may not do famous people or Jewish holocaust victims or survivors, unless you are the immediate family.
4 - Always make sure you have checked for duplicates before reserving any ordinance work. We do not want to repeat work that has already been done.
We also talked about the Temple Tab at the top of the page, to the far right. This tab only appears in accounts for LDS members. It is where all your reserved names are kept so you can get the work completed. There are five categories.
1 - All Reserved. This lists every name you have reserved.
2 - Not Printed. This lists all the names that have been reserved, but have not yet been printed. When you are ready to print them, just follow the instructions. You can now print the cards at home.
3 - Printed. These are the names that have been printed and you are in the process of completing.
4 - Shared. These are the names that you have shared with another person or with the temple.
5 - Opportunities. This shows a list of people, back to your great-great grandparents, who are ready for temple ordinance work to be reserved.
As soon as work is done at the temple, your lists will be updated with the date an ordinance is completed. Once all the work is done, the name will drop out of your Temple lists.
I will be out of town next week, so there will not be a class. We will be back again on the 15th.
1 - From the Pedigree chart, look for green temple symbols. Those indicate that there is an ordinance that is ready to reserved for someone in that family. Click on the temple symbol, and it will open a box. An ordinance code in green means it is ready to be reserved. If it is a possible duplicate, there will be a message. Be sure to check the duplicates before reserving. Also, if the individual was born within the last 110 years, there will be a message. In order to reserve such an ordinance, you must have permission from an immediate family member.
2 - From the Person page, click on the Ordinance tab, under the name at the top of the page. I do this each time I finish working on a person. If there is temple ordinance work ready, I can reserve it right then.
3 - From the Pedigree chart, choose any ancestor. Those born in the early 1800's may be the most likely to have descendants who need ordinance work done. Click on the name you choose. Then click on Tree in the box that appears. That will put this person at the center of the pedigree chart. Then switch the pedigree view to descendancy, which is the fourth symbol. That opens a chart with the chosen individual at the top. His/her spouse and all the children will appear. Any individual with a gray arrow pointing to the right has more descendants. Go through the list, checking to the right column for a green temple. I find it easiest to go down the list one name at a time, opening the arrow to the right whenever it appears. That way I don't miss anyone.
4 - I reserve most of my temple ordinances from RootsMagic. Go to File, then FamilySearch Central, then log in to FS from the page that opens. Choose the option for names of people who are ready for temple ordinances. A list of names appears on the left of the screen. Click on the name to be checked. FS info appears on the right and RM info on left. You can see if the ordinances have been completed and move the information to RM. Or you reserve them by checking the ordinances and then the Reserve box.
Regardless of how you find the names to be reserved, there are some important rules to follow.
1 - Any one born within the last 110 years must have permission from immediate family. Immediate family is defined as spouse, parents, children, or siblings. Notice that is not grandchildren or nieces and nephews.
2 - You must be related to the individual you are requesting. In other words, you have added them to your tree. The only exception is if you are sure they belong in your tree, but you have not found the link yet. For instance, you visit a cemetery and find a family plot. There are a couple of gravestones there with the same family name, but you do not know how they fit in the family. You may go ahead and do their work. However, you cannot just walk around the cemetery and gather random names to do.
3 - You may not do famous people or Jewish holocaust victims or survivors, unless you are the immediate family.
4 - Always make sure you have checked for duplicates before reserving any ordinance work. We do not want to repeat work that has already been done.
We also talked about the Temple Tab at the top of the page, to the far right. This tab only appears in accounts for LDS members. It is where all your reserved names are kept so you can get the work completed. There are five categories.
1 - All Reserved. This lists every name you have reserved.
2 - Not Printed. This lists all the names that have been reserved, but have not yet been printed. When you are ready to print them, just follow the instructions. You can now print the cards at home.
3 - Printed. These are the names that have been printed and you are in the process of completing.
4 - Shared. These are the names that you have shared with another person or with the temple.
5 - Opportunities. This shows a list of people, back to your great-great grandparents, who are ready for temple ordinance work to be reserved.
As soon as work is done at the temple, your lists will be updated with the date an ordinance is completed. Once all the work is done, the name will drop out of your Temple lists.
I will be out of town next week, so there will not be a class. We will be back again on the 15th.
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