Heartland Genealogy

Do you ever find yourself looking for a picture of an individual in a group and not finding it? Or, do you struggle to find a digital image of a document that someone witnessed? I know I struggle with this issue. That's why Tony Proctor's presentation regarding indexing off file names during last Monday's session of Monday's with Myrt proved intriguing. ( Organizing More Resources ) Tony developed a simple program to attach a 'buddy file' to the image. As he was presenting, I kept thinking, about the time involved to add this information to each and every photograph. Then, Hilary commented that she has been using Tony's program to attach transcriptions to a digital image. With the transcription attached to the image, I would be able to search my files for a member of an ancestor's FAN club and find records they were mentioned in. That makes it worth the time to learn how to do this.

Mark your calendar for February 27th thru March 2nd and join me #NotAtRootsTech! This will be my third year of #NotAtRootsTech and I can't wait. Having been away from genealogy for several years, I was unaware of RootsTech when I returned to my genealogy. During my first year of retirement, I somehow learned about the RootsTech conference and its Live Stream schedule.

Do you include libraries and archives in your genealogy toolbox? For me, the use of a library or archive has always been part of my genealogy journey. Perhaps that is because I earned my Masters' in Library Science about the same time I started my genealogical journey. Even though my emphasis was in school librarianship, my graduate classes exposed me to some of the very same tools like NUCMC (National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections) that I would use for genealogical research.

  Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music): 1)  Using your ancestral lines, how far back in time can you go with two degrees of separation?  That means "you knew an ancestor, who knew another ancestor."  When was that second ancestor born? My first thought was that I knew my great-grandmother, Josie Crawford. Christmas 1953: Marcia, Winnie, Josie

Have you ever tripped over a county line? I mean, have you ever not considered a family in the neighboring county just because they are in the neighboring county? Well, I have -- for over thirty years. As I've written about before, I have two James Crawford families living in Preble County, Ohio. One is my ancestor and one is his neighbor. James Crawford of Preble County, Ohio My ancestor was married in Garrard County, Kentucky in 1799, while the other James was married in Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1793. For all these years, I've thought that the records for Lincoln County, Kentucky were in relation to the 'other' James while the records in Garrard and Madison counties were for my James.

Have you ever copied some text and images (photos) from one source to another expecting everything to transfer without issue only to discover the images didn't quite make the transition? That's what happened when I imported my WordPress blog content into Blogger. Instead of bringing the images along, the post links back to the images on WordPress. I noticed something was amiss when I tried to use the icons to change the justification of the image. When that wasn't working, I dived into the HTML side to discover the A HREF code linking to my WordPress blog.

Have you ever found something extremely beneficial via Google but have no idea how you knew to search for it? That was my case today as I learned to use a 'Jump Break'. I wanted to make my blog look similar to the ' Cleator ' template where only part of each post appears on the front page. The partial post contains a 'Read More' link at the bottom taking the reader to the entier post.

When working on your genealogy, have you ever used a piece of software or web site that didn't quite do what you expected. Then, when you go searching for an alternative find that the alternative is relatively expensive and you want to preserve your precious genealogy funds for something else. Well, that's the position I was in a couple of weeks ago with my WordPress blog. The one thing I wanted to include in a blog post either required HTML coding or a plug-in. The plug-in was easy to find - but, my WordPress blog doesn't allow plug-ins. In order for me to utilize plug-ins, I would have to upgrade my PERSONAL WordPress plan to a BUSINESS plan -- at a significant increase in cost.

Have you ever tried to copy a web site from one hosting service to another? If so, then you understand the desire to have an 'EASY' button. Without such an 'Easy' button, tedious time is needed to copy/paste the information and then clean up the HTML. That's where I was when considering moving my WordPress content to Blogger. I needed an 'EASY' button. After all, shouldn't I be able to EXPORT from WordPress and IMPORT into Blogger? That should be easy enough, right? I found the EXPORT link in WordPress setting when I opened SETTINGS and scrolled down.

It's tax season again. I'm betting that unless one has a child applying for a college scholarship, most people haven't started their taxes yet. I know I haven't. I'd rather be spending my time researching. So why was I buried in tax information yesterday? Well, I was going back thru some old research in pre 1800 tax lists for Madison County, Kentucky. I've looked at the tax information before, but didn't have a good understanding of the various families to be able to identify the people listed.

Do you have documents in your genealogy files with incomplete citations. Congratulations if your answer was no! Unfortunately, I have documents with partial citations. One set of those documents is four marriage bonds involving Crawford family members from Kentucky in the 1790s. Mary Crawford consent to marry James Sellers given by Rebekah Crawford on 19 Dec 1791 in Lincoln County, Kentucky witnessed by James Crawford and Wm Sellers Bond of James Crawford and Nathan Douglas for the marriage of James Crawford to Martha Night on 12 Mar 1793 in Lincoln County, Kentucky. Consent for the marriage was given by John Goodpastor and witnessed by James Sellers and Samuel Sellers Consent of Rebekah Crawford for Sarah Crawford to marry William Sellers on 2 Feb 1796 in Lincoln County, KY witnessed by James Crawford and James Sellers Bond by James Crawford and James Sellers for the marriage of James Crawford and Sally Duggins on 12 Sept 1799 in Garrard County, Kentucky

Does your genealogy have a brick wall FAN club that involves several branches of the surname along with lots of same name issues? Well, the parents of my ancestor, James Crawford (1772-1854) has such a FAN club. While working with some other researchers from the FAN club, but unfortunately not my line, I created a 'traditional' time line outlining the information I had on the individuals in the FAN club.

I'm trying to use deeds to help separate information for two James Crawfords who resided in Preble County Ohio at the same time. They both owned parts of section 14, Township 7 North, Range 2 East. As discussed in my post, James Crawford of Preble County , I use the selling of the land to figure out which James Crawford owned the land. I also use their wife's name to help me keep them straight. James and Sally are my ancestors while James and Martha may or may not be related.

Do you ever go back to a source you've likely used before and discover a very tiny tidbit of information that changes one of your assumptions about an ancestor. Well, I did last night. I was browsing the Internet for Madison County, Kentucky resources while watching the webinar, Trails of Daniel Boone and Other Western Travelers by J. Mark Lowe. I came across the book, Glimpses of Historic Madison County, Kentucky on Internet Archive. When I searched the contents of the book for Crawford, I found a paragraph about Rev. James Crawford.

This week's #SaturdayNightGenealogyFun Challenge involves family photos. How many generations do you have photographs or portraits of your ancestors and descendants? It can be any line...it just can't be broken! When thinking about this, I realized that I have several generations of photos on my Crawford line. Nelson G. Crawford (1808-1864)

Do you belong to a Facebook group? Perhaps you’ve seen a post (or two or more) about getting ‘removed’ from the group if you don’t participate? I started seeing these posts yesterday and was concerned, not only about all the genealogy groups I belong to, but also about the family groups I administer. Since I was unsure what this meant as a group administrator, I did some research. The following articles helped me understand what is happening. Is Facebook Removing Inactive Members from Groups Facebook Updates Group Invites, Removing Ability to Automatically Add Members   I then turned to Facebook to see if I could figure out how this is affecting the family groups I administer. The first thing I saw when I went to one of those groups was an announcement from Facebook, “Changes to Your Members List.”

One of my brick walls is also one of my same name challenges. In her Jan. 16, 2019 podcast, Can You Identify Your Ancestor, Amy Johnson Crowe talks about finding information to make sure one is tracking the right person. I've used most of her tips in my research, but I have one case where almost all of the details are the same. James Crawford James Crawford Birth 1770 1772 Residence 1820 Preble County OH Preble County OH Marriage Year 1793 1799 Marriage Place Lincoln County KY Garrard County KY Occupation Farmer Farmer Wife's name Martha Sally The easiest way for me to distinguish these two men (and several other James Crawford) is by their wife's name. Since the wife's name often appears on a deed where land has been sold, I have used land records to help separate these two families.

Emporia Gazette Wednesday, July 18, 1984 page 2 column 4-5 Film E1506 KS State Historical Society

This weeks 'Saturday Night Genealogy Fun' challenge is to determine which ancestors were living 150 years ago (Jan 1869). In order to figure this out, I had to look at the data I had for each likely ancestor. Working from the pedigree view in Roots Magic, I clicked on each potential ancestor to open their data.

Do you have a family member who seems to be the one person who is always behind the camera? Growing up, that person was my grandmother. She had an 8mm camera and filmed almost every family event. Later, we would have a family ‘movie’ night to watch the new movies and re-watch the older ones. Well, my grandmother died over twenty years ago and the 8mm camera is ‘ancient’ technology. However, my brother has taken over the position as ‘family photographer’. Not only does he set up the camera to capture our family group pictures but he captures ordinary moments.  One of my favorite pictures is one he took during our family weekend at the lake of his wife and their grandchildren.

Have you ever watched a video of your local meteorologist giving a weather update? Or, have you watched a video of a news clip? What about a comedy monologue - have you ever watched any of those on YouTube? Or maybe, you’ve read a news article in your Facebook or Twitter feed? I know I have and I appreciate that I can. Unfortunately, we have become accustomed to viewing and reading content for free when none of it is free to produce. The same is true with local history and genealogy. We love locating free resources. But these free resources also have ‘production’ costs.  My local historical society recently discussed whether to continue paying to have images and other information from their collection hosted online by Past Perfect.

Have you ever found two men of the same name in the county records and tried to figure out which record is for which man. Most genealogists encounter this difficulty sometime in their research. I have several of those conflicts in my tree. However, my Hiram Currey same name challenge is an 'ultimate challenge'. My great-grandfather, Hiram M. Currey (of Dodge City, Kansas) was the son of Hiram M Currey and Angelina Jane Burke of Leavenworth, Kansas. I believe this Hiram M. Currey was the son of Hiram M. Currey of Peoria, Illinois and the grandson of Hiram M. Currey of Champaign County, Ohio. Thus, I have a potential of four generations of Hiram M Currey's with very little direct evidence tying them together. My research on this line began with Hiram M. Currey of Leavenworth. Hiram M. Currey married Angelina Burke in 1856 in Weston, Missouri. By 1860, they were living on the Kansas side of the border. Unfortunately, I haven't found any records in Platte County, Missou...

Source of Image: Ancestry.com.  Indiana, Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999  [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.[Image 528 of 819] Original data: Indiana County, District and Probate Courts. Probate Order Book Carroll County, Indiana Book 2 page 520 May Term 1848 — 3rd Day May 10 Austin C Sheets Administrator of the estate of Thomas M. Curry deceased vs Sarah C Sheets James B Curry Mary I Curry Elizabeth J Curry Easter A Curry Helen M Curry Caroline T Curry Application to sell land

     Frances Artlissa 'Artie' Ricketts was born on 7 Apr 1868 in Clinton, Indiana, United States. 1 – 13 She lived in Sugar Creek Township, Clinton, Indiana, United States on 1 Jul 1870. 14 Artlissa Rickets was listed on the 1870 census in the household of James Rickets. According to the census, she was two years old. She lived in Everett Township, Woodson, Kansas, United States on 1 Jul 1880. 15 Frances A Ricketts was listed on the 1880 census as the daughter of James M Ricketts. According to the census, she was twelve years old. Frances lived in Everett Township, Woodson, Kansas, United States on 1 Mar 1885. 16 Artlissa Ricketts was listed in the household of James M Ricketts on the 1885 Kansas census. According to the census, Artlissa was 16 years old.     Edward Grant Briles and Frances Artlissa 'Artie' Ricketts were married on 19 Feb 1890 in Woodson, Kansas, United States. 2 , 17 – 23 She was also known as Frances Artlissa 'Artie' Briles.

Have you had a set of parents for an ancestor in your tree for years when you discover another researcher has a different set of parents? I recently made that discovery for my ancestor Sarah Rush Briles (KP93-T9C) on Family Search . Seeing this other set of parents made me question whether I had made a mistake. I knew that my old research included a transcription  of a petition for dower that was printed in The Genealogical Journal of Randolph County, NC (Vol 3, #4, pages 5-6) This transcript shows Sallie Rush as the plaintiff. Listed among the defendants is Alexander Briles and wife Sallie. The body of the petition identifies Sally Rush as the widow of Noah Rush deceased.

Saturday Night  Time for more  Genealogy Fun!   Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to: 1)  What was your best research achievement in 2018?  Tell us - show us a document, or tell us a story, or display a photograph.  Brag a bit!  You've earned it! 2)  We all have elusive ancestors.  What research problem do you want to work on in 2019?  Tell us where you want to research and what you hope to find. Well, it is actually Sunday afternoon, but I thought I'd accept the challenge. I think my best research achievement for 2018 would be finding evidence to support a story my grandmother Briles told me about her grandfather. According to my grandmother, her grandfather got involved in a creamery and 'lost his shirt'.  I wrote about finding newspaper articles about a court case referred to as the creamery mess  involving George Mentzer in my previous blog, Cream...

Have you ever heard anything that sounded too good to be true? Have you ever believed something to only find out that Snopes.com says it is false? I know I have -- both in my Facebook timeline and in my genealogy. Thus, when I saw that there were parents for my ancestor, James Crawford on Family Search, I so wanted to jump up and down with joy. Not only are the parents identified, but so are the siblings.

We often tend to remember major ' firsts ' in our lives: first date, first kiss, first car, first house, etc. Unfortunately, when it comes to genealogy, I don't remember the first ancestor I researched. However, I do remember other genealogy ' firsts '. My start in family history research began with a discussion in my grandmother's living room. She made the comment that she would like to know more about her grandmother, especially where she was buried. I don't remember much else from that initial visit. However, my memory says that after my visit with my grandmother in Dodge City, I traveled to Phillipsburg to visit my in-laws. During this visit, my mother-in-law became my first mentor. She explained how to create a pedigree chart and how to fill out a family group sheet.

During a recent visit with some old friends, the discussion turned to genealogy and DNA. Expecting an answer regarding ethnicity, they asked where my family comes from.  My immediate response was KENTUCKY. Perhaps this quick answer was due to my recent THOMPSON research in Ohio County, Kentucky. The more likely reason is that a lot of ancestral lines seem to go thru Kentucky. (or New York). My brother's migration map from his Ancestry DNA test illustrates our heritage.

Thanks to other geneabloggers, I have recorded statistics for both my RootsMagic tree and my Ancestry tree over the past year. Roots Magic Tree Heartland Genealogy Tree on Ancestry The numbers are 'nice' but for me to understand whether I have made progress, I have to compare them to where I was on January 1, 2018.

Nettie Adell Wells was born on 5 Feb 1873 in Woodson, Kansas, United States. 1 – 18 She lived in Liberty Township, Woodson, Kansas, United States on 1 Jul 1875. 19 She was found on the 1875 Kansas census as a 13 year old female and was listed as Nettie Wells. She lived in Liberty, Woodson, Kansas, USA on 1 Mar 1885. 20 Nettie Adell Wells and Charles Oliver Mentzer were married on 18 Oct 1893 in Yates Center, Woodson, Kansas, United States. 2 , 7 – 10 , 12 , 21 , 33 – 55 She lived in North Township, Woodson, Kansas, United States on 1 Jul 1895. 22 She was found on the 1895 Kansas census as a 21 year old female born IN who came to Kansas from Ind and was listed as L.O. Mentzer.