Compiled by Jackson and Sylvia Sonneborn, York, PA
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BULLETIN BOARDS TO JUMPSTART FAMILY HISTORY ENTHUSIASM
Phyliss Goodrich, one of the family history consultants on the FH consultant chat line, sent me photos of the bulletin boards that she has done to create some zest for family history in her ward. They are really remarkable. These are a few that Phyliss has created. You can copy one into a blank page, click on it till circles appear in the corners. Latch onto that and pull downward to stretch photo.
DEAD MEN DO TELL TALES
FAMILY HISTORY TREES
FAMILY HISTORY ENGLAND
FAMILY SEARCH ROLLOUT
FAMILY HISTORY GERMANY
Creator Phyliss Goodrich - [mailto:
DOING THE GRUNT WORK
Just as we enjoy our modern washing machine and would not want to go back to the drudgery of using a wringer washer and emptying wash tubs, many of us are spoiled by computer searches. It is very comfortable to search the “net” for possible contacts about your ancestor. Yet, some ancestors continue to elude. What then?
This article will give some suggestions of places that a family history researcher can look for original records or primary sources.
If you are seeking an adopted child, look for adoption records. Contact the agency in the state that handled the adoption for non-identifying information, like medical history. Register in state and national registries, join a support group, or hire a professional.
Check for family bibles and try to get the family history information copied, even if you must have the owner escort you to the printer. Check for clues like ball point pen to identify the writer and era of the entry.
Check birth records.These are available at the state’s Vital Records Office (vitalrec.com). Just Google the name.In Pennsylvania, the office is in New Castle, and the phone number is 724-656-3100.
Another good technique is to look for cemetery records, and this newsletter in the past has published a lot of good interment sites. You can do that online, but you can also go to the cemetery yourself and find ancestors’ graves. There may be an office on the premises with cemetery layout, or as we once found, 3x5” cards with all the information available.
One of the most valuable tools is the census record. These are available free at labs.familysearch.org under Records Search – at least the ones that church volunteers have indexed. Paid sub- scriptions, like Ancestry.com, also have census records available online. Sometimes there is a five-year census, like New York, and the easiest way to see those is to use a Latter-day Saint Family History Center.
We once were allowed to use church records in the little town of Frenchville, PA. They contained birth, death, and marriage info, generally with the parents’ names. We were able to get the vital statistics and also place the parties we were researching in families.
Court records are wonderful sources. The main problem is that there are too many records for a court house to handle, so they often develop an annex nearby. Usually other records will be in the court house, and you can find such things as wills and death records, marriage license applications and divorces, adoptions’ records, naturalization records, and information from court procedures.
Obituaries and other death records contain a lot of pertinent information for the researcher. Also, funeral homes record personal information. You can obtain useful information from death certificates.
Family reunions can be an opportunity to collect family group sheets. Generally, if you take these to your next reunion, you will be able to update current family information. If you are missing information about older ancestors, those attending the reunion may be glad to take the FGS home and fill it out and mail it to the person collecting the information.
Check for immigration records to learn when your ancestors arrived in a country. Footnote.com and Ellis Island are both sites where ship’s arrivals and passenger lists are recorded.Use state and national archives to find records. There are a number of very good lists of ships and immigrations records available. Use Olive Tree Genealogy or other sites. Google “immigration” to find other sites.
Several years ago I did research in the Pennsylvania Archives, and I was able to have a copy made of a map that showed where my Robinson ancestors lived before 1768 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. That was thrilling to see them close to the Colonel Morgan (of Morgantown, PA), where Patty Barefoot was the servant. William Robinson’s daughter Ruth married James Ross and had Rebecca Ross, who married Benjamin Barefoot. Thus I was able to see a possible connection of the Barefoots and Rosses. Going back that far makes it difficult to find records, and the land records were very helpful to me.
It was more common for most men to serve in the military in the 1700 and 1800’s than it is now, so military records can be a boon to genealogical research. Since the time of the world wars, men have also registered for the draft, Ancestry.com has many military records. You can also Google the war for records. And in large libraries, you will find listings of military in state records, now bound into books.
Naturalization records are available for states and territories from 1790 to the present. Footnote.com (free at Family History Centers) has many naturalization records. On these, if you can locate them for your ancestors, you will find a wealth of information, esp. the port of departure and the nationality of the person. These records often will allow you to “jump the pond” and find ancestors in other countries.
Don’t overlook newspapers. Most large libraries have them on microfilm, and many newspapers are producing online archives. Two of the most valuable records are the obituaries and the social news. Period newspapers can open up a comprehensive view of your ancestor – esp. if he ran for office, played a school sport, or held a prominent position in the community. Old newspapers can be a lot of fun to read.
High School yearbooks, usually available in the school’s library, can yield information for you to get to know your ancestor better. His graduation photo and information about him can give you insight into his interests and a visual of the person you are researching.
The Social Security Death Index can be very valuable for twentieth century ancestors. To be listed, they need to have participated, received benefits, or received a death benefit for the family.
Mentioned previously, wills and probate records are excellent sources, often found in the court house or in a library.
By all means, visit the court house and its annex, local historical society, family history center, cemetery, church offices, funeral offices, and public library in the city where you ancestor lived. Computers do not do everything! Often we genealogists have to perform the grunt work.
By Sylvia Sonneborn
Marriage Banns and Intentions
Church records often list the date on which a couple makes the announcement that they intend to marry. These are called marriage banns. In addition, you can find marriage intentions, which were non-religious public announcements of the couple's intention to marry. Don't misinterpret the dates of marriage banns and marriage intentions as the actual wedding date.
Source: "Tips for Reading Old Records: Dangerous Dates and Word Meanings" by Genealogy.com. Read the full article at: ing.html
Reading Old Handwriting
One of the most important fundamental principles in reading old handwriting is that it is always necessary to compare: compare and match unknown letters, characters, or doubtful words in the same document to determine if they are the same. Compare with words on the same page, and then look on the pages before and after the one in question. Compare with letters and words that are familiar to you.
Source: "Guidelines for Reading Old Documents" by Kip Sperry Read the full article at genealogy.com/genealogy/68_sperry.html
I Want!
I want ancestors with names like Rudimentary Montagnard or Melchizenick Steubenhoffman or Spetznatz Giafortoni, not William Brown or John Smith or Mary Abbott.
I want ancestors who could read and write, had their children baptized in a recognized house of worship, went to school, purchased land, left detailed wills, had their photos taken once a year, subsequently putting said pictures in elaborate isinglass frames annotated with calligraphic inscriptions, and carved valuable and informative inscriptions on their headstones.
I want relatives who religiously wrote in the family Bible, journalizing every little event and detailing the familial relationship of very visitor.
I want forebears who were wealthy enough to afford, and to keep for generations, the tribal homestead, and who left all the aforementioned pictures and diaries and journals intact in the library. But most of all, I want relatives ICAN FIND!
Thank you very much for this Barbara A. Brown.
SOMETHING TO DO THIS SUMMER – OR ANYTIME
6 June 2009 The Summer of Sleuthing kick-off event was held at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Available for the first time online, this fun event for all ages provides small family history challenges to accomplish over the summer months.It's a great way to get the whole family involved!Just follow this link to the family history activities page to get started.
This activity will get rid of the comments like…I’m bored. What’s there to do? It will help those Young Man attain their Genealogy Merit Badges, which EVERY Latter-day Saint YM should earn just because he IS a Latter-day Saint YM. It is one of the Three-Fold Mission of the Church.
BALTIMORE FAMILY HISTORY WORKSHOP – September 12, 8:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Click here to register –
FAMILYSEARCH - Research Wiki
Have you been on this site? You are missing some neat stuff.FamilySearch Wiki is a large, on-line library where you can find thousands of articles and how-to instructions about doing family history. To learn more about the Wiki, read Getting Started.
Civil War Rosters
Arranged by State - This is a directory of all Civil War Rosters and Muster Rolls found on the Internet.
Current Projects: Family History
Support - FamilySearch 'Alpha'
The church is starting a major renovation to theFamilySearch.org website. They have assigned the'Alpha' name to the project. They hope to make theFamilySearch site, a place where people can cometogether and work on their family history. Theyare building it on 'Labs' where you can monitortheir progress and give feedback as they go. Members can use the feedback link (upper rightcorner) to tell them what we think. We may accessthe site by putting our cursor on the hotlink belowand while holding down the control, key click theleft mouse button.
Our feedback support will be much appreciated bythose trying to bring us new and better researchproducts.
BING?
Bing is Microsoft's effort to compete with
Google Search. What is Bing? Bing was designed to be a brandnew search experience.
Bing claims to be a richer experience: It isInnovation and may make searching the Webbetter. Bing is a multimedia web searchexperience. Try it and take a look at some of thegreat features you can experience. Then watchtheir site and stay up-to-date for details of new
search features as they are launched.
The Bingsearch experience will just keep getting better!Bing has a different look and feel: Bing's newfeatures help you find what you're looking formore quickly and easily. Plus, its eye-catchingvisual imagery and more intuitive layout makethe search experience a lot more enjoyable.
Windows Internet Explorer 8 for MSN is nowfaster, easier and safer than ever. IE8accelerators - let you quickly search or translatea word, or map a location, all without leavingyour web page in Bing. Search your favoriteresources and save many clicks.
It is different; take a look and try it out! I'msure they would like some feedback from you.
Bookmark an Individual in NFS
Have you ever wished you didn't have to navigate your whole pedigree each time you wanted a specific individual you work with frequently? With the individual in the primary position in new FamilySearch, click Favorites (Internet Explorer) or Book Marks (Firefox), then click Add to Favorites (or Bookmarks) and enter a name such as "nFS-Bill Jones". Click Add. The next time you want to use new FamilySearch, select the "Favorite" or "Bookmark" you created in your browser. Sign in and new FamilySearch takes you directly to that person (rather than to your own record).
Question:
Using PAF 5.2, when I go to file, then print reports, then select books, then open in Microsoft word 2000, the portraits in PAF were automatically included. However, after I upgraded to 2007, the pictures are not included. Have you seen this before?
Answer:
Try changing the view to the Print or Web layout view. Word 2007 does not automatically display graphics unless they are formatted "in line with text.” You can force them to display by choosing the Print or Web layout view. Or you could reformat all the individual pictures to "in line with text.”
Discover what indexes and records you can use online
More and more information is becoming available online (either free or fee-based), which can save a trip to the library. In some cases, the actual records you wish to use may not be online, but even if indexes to those records are online, you can save time by doing a little digging at home first and then making more effective use of your on-site time.
Source: Time-Saving Tips for Genealogists by Michael John Neill,genealogy.com/genealogy/66_neill.html
Begin today to write and keep records of all the important things in your own lives and also the lives of your antecedents…Your own private journal should record the way you face up to challenges that beset you. No one is commonplace…Your own journal,like most others, will tell of problems as old as the world and how you dealt with them.
Spencer W. Kimball
SYLVIA’S GENEALOGY CORNER
Month after month, I keep having fun with collaboration. This month I received an e-mail from a state of Delaware employee. I am not certain where she found my name, but she was inquiring about what information I have on the Cauffiel Family of Delaware. Perhaps she picked up my name on Dead Fred or Familyoldphotos. Or she might have googled Cauffiel and found me on the Barefoot blog.Anyway, she was inquiring about a Dan Cauffiel and his wife who moved from my hometown area of Cambria County, PA, to Wilmlington, Delaware. I had the basic information on my computer.
Dan Cauffiel was the son of Daniel Maddox Cauffiel and Mary Hammer. Mary is the daughter of my third great-grandmother Elizabeth Barefoot, who married Solomon Nunemaker Hammer. So it is a line that is connected but not closely related. My great-great grandfather is Mary’s brother.
Since I was asked, I decided to do some research on Dan Cauffiel, Jr., and I became fascinated with his story. While the family was still in the Johnstown, PA, area, Dan went to work for the DuPont Family. First they sent him to Alabama to help lay railroad track. Then they sent him to Death Valley to buy land that had Borax. Dan was a realtor.
Finally, the DuPonts opened a black powder (dynamite) factory in Wilmington, Delaware, and they hired Dan Cauffiel to move his family there to continue to represent them in the acquisition of additional properties. The Cauffiels had two homes there. One was permanent; the other was a summer home in an area which is now a state park.
The Cauffiel’s had a beautiful daughter named Luella, who helped to take care of her younger siblings. She never married and lived to be 103 years old. I keep a lovely picture of her on my wall, just because she is such a pretty lady.