Timelines and Clues

Timelines and Clues, do you use them?   Are you aware that a clue you are missing may show up in a time line?  Recently having seen a timeline of Scottish Lineage of people on the Crown, got the gears moving.
Friend and I had a long chat about that timeline. We both wished we had bought it. Even today when the speaker mentioned King James the 6th  of Scotland was King James the 1st for England.  Wait hold up you are 6th and 1st both, two countries, of course somewhat united.

So  if you have a fourth generation person missing, what have you plotted for finding the clues you need to locate that person?

Have you set it up in a graph of some type to show you have: either all or only one child, one parent or both, place where they lived, traveled from or to, when married, when child died, changed jobs or career's, cemetery data, obituaries, tombstone pictures, newspaper clippings about their life or any other pertinent information to help you locate answers.

Have you looked at the  various War Events for clues?  It seems many track the Rev War Veterans but few look for the War of 1812 or Mexican War or other skirmishes that took place in history. Why are we picking on only a couple of the incidents?

Also have you done any medical research? When was there plagues, or diseases running rampart to make living very slim?  Also are you tracking the length of life most members in the family lived during these time frames?

 Time lines can be made up regarding many things and serve for many reasons.

 What about a time line on the church records you hope to acquire or have? Or Vital Records that may not have existed to what is available?

 Wanting to know how a time line has helped you or made  you aware what you did not know you had missing?  Do not be shy speak up.

Year Half Way, How Goes the Research?

Would you believe the year is half way and the clock ticking towards the end of the year.  Did you get any of your plans started, any partially finished?  We all have good intentions but I suspect we need to regroup, re align and strengthen the grip and go forward.

Having started adding more resources to my tree, I am amazed at how much is done. But I am more sad at how  much there is yet to do.

The Beginners Class, having just finished for 15 people I stressed the need to Source your Information.  Sure I lost some in moves, but some I could have gotten at the time had I known Sourcing was going to be a key item.

With the year approaching the mid way point it is time to re evaluate your first of the year goals and see if your on target to finish on time.  Like making a timeline of what your accomplishments are going to be this year.

Also have you given thought to Holiday Gifts now so you are completed when that event comes into your realm?  Never to soon to start, whether it is a small story about an ancestor the younger ones are not familiar with or a larger folder with more information about the family with pictures to share.

Having just come from the Highland Games you may want to watch for an event that takes place in your community that would stress some of your past ethnicities for the family to become familiar with.
It was invigorating to see so  many of the young dressed and working and sharing about the past culture of their families.

There are German Festivals, Chinese Festivals, Japanese Festivals, Scot and Irish Festivals, African Festivities, all regions of the world if you watch are covered somewhere that would expose family to the events taken place in the past and shared and passed down to the future.

So this is like a warning light blinking in the night saying, Are you making the grade? Is the work getting accomplished you wished for, if not all, at least a good portion of it?

Do you set a Timeline for accomplishments?

Book Information for your Research in Pennsylvania and Elsewhere.

 While doing the Pennsylvania Research series many asked where the books could be located I used.. I was glad to find the answer while at the Jamboree in Burbank. Contact me for address.

 Yes, the Pennsylvania Series will be back but am waiting until fall to re start up the program.
 If you have a specific county you need help in do contact me. After 30 years of research in this great state I have some great resources and some that people forget about.

There are many good books written on various areas of the state and some general resource books that I use constantly.

Those whom attend my classes have heard of some. Ancestry put out some good books on general information for all regions in the states. The Source and Printed Sources both are good and I  hear  have been updated not to long ago.

I am a firm believer that everyone needs: The Handy Book for Genealogists; The Researchers Guide to American Genealogy by Greenwood; The Scholastic Atlas of the United States by David Rubel;
500 Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems by publishers of the Family Chronicle Magazine; and a  good book on Citing Sources.

 Citing Sources has been a big push the last ten years and much has been written and much has changed and is still changing. The book's by MILLS is the most popular but there are others not as technical as Mill's.  Yes, our data needs sourced but to what extent is up to you. If your after a lineage connection in a society you best adhere to the intense. If your putting together a family history collection of data, for family use it does not need to be as intense and later some one using it for more connections can add the intense data if needed.

Having read a report this last week that the sourcing pages were twice as long as the small article. That saddens me very much. We are making our selves out to be a people with either serious paranoia or liars and cheaters.

As I expand my research into European fields I find they source very different than we do. I am hoping that there is some day a cohesive form for sourcing data acceptable by all.

Each county has some great resource books for utilization.  Check out usgenweb.org and see what the various counties are showing for assistance and the books some of the assistants use.

 Hoping to start posting books to use for various counties as the counties are discussed. First will be the counties already covered that you may want to read at a library or check out if available to take home and enjoy.

War of 1812 Memories Created

The War of 1812 came so soon after our Independence, I am sure it evoked many hard harsh words for the families left in the old world. About the time some of the rifts could be breeched  we were in each others faces again.
Having many ancestors in the Rev War it must have chilled those living to the quick. Having two that I know of descendants in the War of 1812 makes me feel lucky in some ways, proud in others.

For Henry HUFFMAN later changed to HOFFMAN it surely was tough. He was born in 1803, his father served in the REV WAR along with many other family members. His Dad  Henry HUFFMAN ( REV WAR) died winter of  1811-12 Will probated Jan 1812. Six month later we are at war again. Henry is 9 years of age, adjusting to no father but many Uncles and Aunts near. He had 4 male brothers ranging in age from 18  to 15, 11 and 6 for siblings. Did Philip go to War  I do not know for sure?  Several sisters to keep them company.

Joseph Higgin's dcd 1840,  was old enough to fight and leave them home. His Daughter Elizabeth was born 1809 so she was a toddler running around with her siblings.  Did he go to War?

What about Christian PLANTS (PLANTZ) wife Catherine HAINES whom had son George?
His father was Leonhardt Plantz wife Margaretta.
George was born 1803 died 1887, did his father go to War?  George married Catherine STOLLAR, she born 1801 to Andrew STOLLAR and Rosanna EALY/ELY.   Did Andrew go to War or help the cause?
Catherine HAINES was the daughter of Josiah HAINES and Abigail RIDGEWAY. How were they affected.

Descendants of these people married into the DuVall/Duvall line. We know Alexander Duvall 2nd served in the REV WAR, he is DAR approved. What of his wife's family. The POWELL's, 5 brothers came west to Washington - Fayette County area with Alexander Duvall and others.

David Duvall being 20 did he serve? I have not found that Jacob served? John Duvall did he serve?
What about Lewis, Hiram and Eli?  Jacob and Eli are my direct ancestors. If they did not serve was it due to the stories there Father talked about from the Rev War, The Indian Wars and raids they endured?

What about the Richey Family in this area that married into the line, What of the Patterson line, Rev Joseph Patterson father of Jane Patterson who married Jacob Duvall.  Eli married Elizabeth Richey, Ritchie?

Now on to Dad's side of family: NOEL JONES listed in 1810 census with wife and son Noyes, is never seen again did he serve and is lost forever? What about any of Susan MADISON's family did they serve? What about Alfred and Addison JOHNSON's line? The BARTLETT line, the SWEET families, HAMMOND families, HAMMETT families what about them?

It seems the list goes on. I have YOUNG's from Me to ILL, FOULK/FOLK from PA we know John FOLK served in Rev War? Did any of his sons serve in War of 1812? We know MYERS served in Rev War, as father son team? Did any of their sons serve in War of 1812?

What of Hannah WRIGHT's family she married Abraham D YOUNG Sr in ME she was born 1781. I am sure she had siblings who may have served, What about the COOK's, from Mass to ME? Abigail married the JESSE WRIGHT. Their children are prime age for the War of 1812.
 
I have EASTMAN, TROWBRIDGE, TRACY, SHARP, KEELER, THOMAS, & STODDARD.

John SCOTT b VA died KY served in REV WAR, what of his children for War of 1812. What of his wife's siblings LEWIS's, MURRY, MURRAY, MAURY, MORROW and TUTTLE, LANGDON, BRAMMER related kin?

I have a WARDEN that served from Ohio and died in IA/MO town. A Huffman that served in the War of 1812.  WARDEN was an GGGgrandfather. HUFFMAN a GGGUncle.

Have you looked at your ancestors and given credit where due? Did they serve in this War?

 I have a long way to go to fill out this answer on  my charts. Our neglected WAR VETERANS, almost like a more current war we fought in.

Find the Answer did they serve?

Jamboree Tidbits to Share

Jamboree has come and gone. I did try to acquire lots of good information to share with you all regarding various talks I attended.

The most exciting talk was JSTOR by D Joshua Taylor, "A Broader Context: Using STOR for Family History."
It is a Search Engine for researching : Periodicals, Magazines and Journals. It is generally found in any University Library, some College Libraries and some City Libraries. It is free to the user. The key is to get a pass to get into the University to use the library.  You also have to ask the Librarian for the code to use it.
I have been in the College at Southwestern, the Law Library down town years ago and one time into Northridges' Library. Wish I had knowledge of this then.

Then attending a class by  Michael John Neill, "Moving Mother's Inheritance--- an 18th Century Virginia Case Study.  His talk was very informative and I was able to follow and understand all he was discussing since I had already been exposed to some of the very same he was explaining. Virginia Laws changed quite frequently for property owners or potential owners. Marriage Laws did also which affected property ownership. It was a great presentation to learn how they maneuvered around the law.
It was also very time consuming and not a quick fix, it took more than 10 years.

I was able to attend the last of D Joshua Taylor's, "Printed Legends and Missing Footnotes: Dissecting Compiled Genealogies."   What a delight to see the TROWBRIDGE name on the screen. I have been going back and sourcing my TROWBRIDGE line and it seems we share kin, the same line. In so doing I found a discrepancy and have to resolve the situation. He was talking about the same discrepancy I found in February.  I suspicioned kinship when he mentioned SHARP in his research the day before but thought it was an awful long shot. But there it was names dates and data up on the screen. My Great Aunt, her son and her grandaughter did this work for LDS acceptance in the mid 50's and 60's.
It was shared with me in the early 1970's when I asked if they had any knowledge of the lineage.

It truly brings to fore that you have to recheck all those old written supposedly accepted lineages for yourself to be sure. Alas, I have the Richard HIGGIN's Line and Richard STOUT line to do the same thing.

Then I attended Barry J. Ewell's, "30 Second Genealogist...How to Find Genealogy Answers You Want to Know. It was informative and interesting.  Alas my 3 1/2 hours sleep the night before was catching me and I had trouble staying alert.

Sunday was spent repacking, checking out of the room and gathering the Roots Magic books for our members from Bruce B. Then attending Leland Meitzler's,"Germanic Research from the Prospective of a Long Term Genealogy Editor." Excellent talk and I think prospectives are many times more valuable than flat data.  I have to keep telling people Germany was not a state until the 1871.
 A.2. Previous History

It was a collective and non cooperative group of peoples for hundreds of years. I suspect the most put together was the Prussian Empire. But do read what that link says.

We boarded the train to come home and yesterday I received a call I had won, one of Megan's books in a raffle. O Yes, I spoke with her on Saturday as we were passing in a hall and there is hope of another
show but still be worked on.

I finally got my Grandad's picture of his Grandma Great Great to Maureen Taylor.  Ancestry scanned it and I gave her the thumb drive.  I spoke with Lisa Cooke about the great talks she presents on line.
Finally met Matt Olson of World Vital Records. Matt, I am awaiting a picture of us. We were part of the Longest Hangout on Google +  almost a year ago. Maybe a Reunion will be planned for us.
Had a nice talk with Thomas Kemp, Yes I will call you Tom.  Had a couple of chats with the NEHGS bunch, now to see if what they shared works. I sure hope so.  Met a few new people and missed a couple of the ones I normally chat with.  The delight was getting to share a hug with all of Leland M's family, even the baby; getting to meet Bruce B wife, and seeing some of my last year blogging friends.

Society Saturday, Organizing Your Research

This Saturday, Shirley Becker presented,"Organizing Your Research".
 It was a great topic to follow up on the Beginners Class I did the month of May for 15 people.

The posts on the topics are put out by Olive and Janice in a Quarterly bulletin.  You can always find the topics also on the Chula Vista Genealogical Society's web page.

Chula Vista Genealogical Society Home page

In the Beginners Class we started with the 5 Generation Chart and a Group Sheet.  Explaining the 5 Generation Chart starts with oneself.  I like to start a Group sheet with the Parent and self as the child.

Explaining you need a Group Sheet for every sibling on the first Group sheet. As one gathers documentation and papers to file, it was great to have this back up topic so soon.

Since Dad is descended from Carl Fremont. I can show you need a group sheet for each child.

This exception is if the child died young before marriage and no descendants.

Though to keep your record count straight you could do one up.

We need one for Nora, just like what was done for her parents.

Ditto for each child under Nora Jones.

Now your to Carl my Grandfather. After you have created your group sheets you continue to fill in the blanks of the names of the children for each person.

I think it important to have the three generations for later research purposes and some you learn later and may not have to start with. 

So the next group down would be  the children of these descendants.

1. Nora Jones descendant Mr. Roberts talks to me often. Helps fill in the blanks and put meat on the bones of the family story.

2. George Jones family I communicate with often and share information. I have met some of them

3  Alva Jones family I also communicate with, shared photos and data. 

4. Walter Jones family, I have met, talked and shared with.

5. LaMonte JONES family, I have met two of his sons, one in the 1950's and the other one in the 1990's.  We still communicate and it helps to fill in some of the blanks on the various pages you need to find clues for.

6. Carl Fremont is my Grandfather, Dad was  his first  born child. Of course I have the data on him and his children my Uncle and Aunts, cousins and even some friends.

Today Shirley talked of contacting and keeping the knowledge available of collateral kin, it is the link to the bread and butter of the missing. Also for basic research you do not need to do in depth research on all of them but your direct line. But do not loose touch with them for they may hold the key to a missing puzzle piece.

Direct Line is  you, your parent, grandparent, great grandparent, great great grands, etc.

Collateral is lines next to you but not your direct line.

When people pass on there is normally a distribution of their goods. When a genealogist or family historian has a blank space,(brick wall), you look for the families that may have gotten the clue you need to resolve your blank space. Inherited Items may be: Pictures, albums, letters, bible, stories,

quilts, table clothes, tools (clues to their trades), jewelry, furniture, &  recipe books ( love the recipe books for clues). I could write an entire story on the clues of them. 

Genealogy is like a jig saw puzzle it takes all those little pieces to find the total answer, if it can ever totally be found.

Shirley talked of keeping the surnames together and the subfiles within the files. As you can see from this chart above  you have JONES and other surnames but are subfiles of JONES because of being daughters.  

Some people color code, some do other methods but anything your comfortable with is what you should use.

The folders can be used also on your computer and in your genealogy program if you have one.

I hope you can attend one of our workshops and you can learn more of the great tips and hints on

how to keep track of your information, how to and where to store it for safe keeping.

She briefly touched on DropBox for storage and using a back up Cloud or drive for storage.

Thumb drives are good for small amounts and taking from activity to activity but for saving data you 

want to consider either cloud storage(off your computer) or a back up Drive with data put on it at least every couple days or daily.

Hope to see you at the next workshop.