Media Issues

Have you seen DearMyrtle's challenge?

When I first saw the challenge, I thought I should be in pretty good shape. After all, I scanned the family photos and attached them in my The Master Genealogist software several years ago. Since I've worked my way thru 5 generations of data review, I figured I should be set.

That was until yesterday when I was verifying descendants for a thru-lines DNA match on Ancestry. As I was working with a known first cousin twice removed, I decided to check FamilySearch to see if there were any additional sources attached to this cousin.

To my surprise, I found a slightly different set of parents than expected. I expected to find John Frederick Mentzer and Anna Wells Mentzer as the parents of a family of 8 children, including Mildred Mabel Mentzer. Instead, I found Fred Mentzer and Anna Wells Mentzer as the parents of one child, Mildred Mentzer. After digging thru my Mentzer records to verify that John and Anna did have a daughter named Mildred and that said daughter was married to a VanValkenburg, I merged Mildred and the two sets of parents.

Knowing that someone could object to this merger and undo the merge, I wanted to add supporting documentation to support the merge. Thus, I (thought I) added an image of the obituary for Fred Mentzer. The obituary clearly indicated that Fred Mentzer was also known as John Frederick Mentzer. It also listed the children and their residency at the time of Fred's death. I also added a page from a Woodson County Historical Society publication that included a picture of the family when the children were young and a list of the children and their spouses.

Since my attempt to create an image of the obituary from a PDF file, did not include the entire obituary that attempt was a failure. Thankfully, I discovered the problem and have since uploaded an image showing the entire obituary.

Working with Land Records

Have you discovered all of the resources available on the FamilySearch website? If so, then you know how they can provide that little 'nugget' of information that leads to major breakthroughs in one's genealogical research. If not, then you are missing out on some very valuable resources.

My favorite group of sources is the land records. As a U.S. researcher whose various family lines moved across the country, these records help me place someone in a specific time and place and sometimes help me connect family members.

When I login to FamilySearch (accounts are free), the menu gives me several options. The Wiki is a fantastic resource to learn about records available in a community. I often use the Wiki, but the Catalog is my 'go to' resource.

On the CATALOG screen, I type in the name of the county and then select the one I wish to work with from the suggested list.

FamilySearch Tree and Sources

What are your feelings regarding the FamilySearch tree? Do you dislike it because anyone can change anything? Or, do you like it because of the ability to collaborate?

Even though I get frustrated with unexplained changes that don't fit my conclusions, I like the FamilySearch tree. I like it because it is the one of the places where collaboration happens. When someone else makes a change to one of my ancestors that doesn't agree with my research, I see the opportunity to collaborate. When this happens, I will often add a discussion item either questioning the change or explaining my conclusion. I also use the messaging tool to contact the contributor and inquire about their sources and reasoning.

Locked FamilySearch Update

Are you using the county records on Family Search? If so, have you figured out the levels of access? Well, I thought I had until a couple of weeks ago. That's when I discovered a 4th level that isn't obvious from the icons.

In review, there are three icons that indicate where/how the microfilm records can be viewed. One of those is a microfilm reel.

The 'reel' icon indicates that the record was microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and is available for viewing at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

The second icon is the camera.

Connections

Do you have 'genealogy buddies' that you exchange research with? Do you write letters, post on mailing lists or message boards or in any other way make connections with others researching your family tree? Do you belong to a local, regional or national genealogy society?

If your answer to any of these questions is 'No' then I encourage you to write those letters, messages and posts and to join a local organization and meet their members. It has been my experience that some of my best breakthroughs have not come from my own isolated research, but from the help of others.

When I started researching my family, I was dependent on the U.S. mail to connect me with other researchers. Several times a year, a new edition of Everton's Genealogical Helper (searchable at MyHeritage) would arrive. I would sit and study that magazine looking for anyone researching any of my surnames. When found, I would send off a letter to see if we might connect. Occasionally, I would pay for my own 'advertisement' listing my surnames and locations. Either way, I waited anxiously for responses to those letters and advertisements.

When email entered the picture, mailing lists, such as those hosted by RootsWeb, became the 'go-to' resource for contacting other researchers. I could send my message to the list and wait to see if anyone would respond. Message boards on Genealogy.com and Ancestry.com entered the picture shortly after that and became a popular way to post queries seeking answers. Facebook groups seems to be replacing the message boards and mailing lists. Thankfully, Katherine Wilson maintains a list of these groups so that we can find them and connect with other genealogists.

The methods used to connect have changed over time, but the value of these connections hasn't.

One of my first 'genealogy buddies' was Walter Salts of Warren County, Indiana. My Crawford family migrated from Warren County to Dodge City, Kansas. Thus, I had Crawford and Foster ties in Warren County. I would send Walter a question and he would send me back a packet of information that usually involved at least a few newspaper clippings.

I 'met' another genealogy buddy thru e-mail. Sandy Kuchenreuther was researching her Currey family in Oregon and Washington. I was researching my ancestor, Hiram Currey of Leavenworth and trying to prove that he was the grandson of Hiram M. Currey, treasurer of Ohio in 1819. Thus, I was trying to prove my way into Sandy's family. Anytime we would find something, we would share it. I remember our emails back and forth over an obituary claiming her relative was buried in Oregon. We both tried to track down the burial location to no avail -- until one of us realized that there was an Oregon, Missouri. Once we made that connection, it was simple to find the burial and lots more information on that branch of the family.

I will be spending tomorrow with several of my genealogy buddies at the Topeka Genealogical Society. Each month, TGS hosts a DNA and a Brick Wall study group. Not only can I learn from the presentations but I can learn from the conversations. It is these conversations that spur me on to look for new resources or new genealogy buddies.

My participation in these study groups provided the incentive to apply for a 'Brick Wall' Consultation at the recent TGS conference and to register for that conference. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have been selected for one of four 'Brick Wall' Consultations.

Since applying for this consultation, I have been reviewing my research, searching for more documents and evaluating my findings. From this process, I have a new theory that I might have SELLERS ancestry. During my consultation last Friday, I was encouraged to continue this review process and expand it. I was also encouraged to reach out to other researchers, make connections and collaborate.

On Friday evening, I started applying some of the suggestions from my consultation. As I was doing this, I kept thinking about my new SELLERS theory. Remembering that I had met a TGS member in the past who was a SELLERS descendant, I decided to try and find her research. When I found her son's tree on Ancestry, I was amazed to see that their Sellers brick wall ancestor died in Warren County, Indiana - the same county my Crawford family migrated to Kansas from.

Since I knew that this Sellers descendant was attending the TGS Conference, I decided to visit with him on Saturday. Even though neither one of us can connect our research to the other's, I learned something very valuable from him. He told me where the Walter Salts collection of papers is housed!

During the final session of the conference, Michael J. Hall reviewed several of the features of Family Search. One of those features was the Family Search Community, which I need to investigate further.

Based on the recommendations from my consultation with Michael J. Hall and my experiences this weekend, I am going to do more to CONNECT and COLLABORATE by

• Sending emails to local libraries, historical and genealogical societies to see if they have any letters, diaries or other sources to help me in my Crawford research
• Submitting queries to Ancestry Message boards and the FamilySearch Community Groups
• Contacting other researchers 
• Maintaining current memberships in genealogical societies and possibly join other societies in the communities where I am researching

I'm looking forward to making new CONNECTIONS. 

Won't you join me?

PRIVILEGED!

I had the privilege of doing a brick wall consultation with Michael J.Hall, Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer at Family Search this afternoon as part of the Topeka Genealogical Society Conference!

I submitted my research for the parents of James Crawford of Preble County, Ohio and the associated same name issues as my brick wall.

The primary suggestion Mr. Hall had was to use "indirect evidence". Other suggestions included

Identifying Parents

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.

Is It Fake News?

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.

Tax Roles

I've been trying to learn more about my ancestor, John Thompson (1797-1857) in hopes of identifying his parents. He married Sarah Iglehart in 1820 in Ohio County, Kentucky. Thus, I wanted to learn more about any Thompsons in Ohio County, Kentucky around the time of this marriage.

Fortunately, the Ohio County, Kentucky Tax Books, 1799-1875 are available for viewing on Family Search. Even though these images aren't indexed, it was fairly easy to find the images for the 'T' portion of the alphabet. (Note: I also recorded information for the Igleharts while viewing this resource.)

I found a John Thompson listed in 1820. This John Thompson was over 21 and owned a horse.

Never Finished Pt 2

A comment was made on me previous post about sourcing. I totally agree that if I only count well-documented ancestors, then my % decreases drastically. I recently discovered the ability of the Fan Chart on the Family Search tree to display status of sourcing.

Thompson Deeds

As mentioned in a previous post, my John Thompson ancestor and another John Thompson of a similar age are both living in Warrick County, Indiana at the same time. I'm hoping that land records for Warrick County, Indiana will help me separate these two families. Buried in my paper files were some notes I took from the deed index books for Warrick County. Since there are additional notes in the margins of these notes, I'm assuming I looked at the deeds while on a research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake.