Reporting Census Extraction Issue

Do you just rely on Ancestry's record information for census records prior to 1850? Or do you locate an extraction form for the census year to verify the interpretation of the check marks?

I have to admit that I often just use the information provided by Ancestry. I'm not sure why I decided to locate an extraction form and record the census information for myself today. However, I'm glad I did since I think the Ancestry record had one piece of information incorrect.

I was researching Isaac Crawford of Jefferson County, Indiana. I suspected he was living in Jefferson County in 1820 but hadn't obtained a census record to support that suspicion. So, I searched Ancestry and was able to locate a record for Isaac Crawford in Jefferson County, Indiana.

Vawter to Crawford Deed

Jennings County, Indiana
Deed record v. A Apr 1818-Nov 1828
Family Search Film 1305298 DGS 8059848

Book A
Page 115

J Vawter
to deed
James Crawford

Samuel Anderson Will

Madison County, Kentucky
Family Search
Mixed Probate Records, Vols. A-B 1787-1819
FS Film 183266 DGS 007553082

Will
Vol. A
page 351 (Image 184)

DNA and Descendancy Research

Do you try and connect with other genealogists to pick up tips and tricks? Living in rural America, I rely on connections over the Internet to pick up many of those tips and tricks. I've recently been watching one of the Barefoot Genealogists' recent videos: Making Discoveries with the New and Improved AncestryDNA Match 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.

Crawford to Rice Deed

Madison County Kentucky
Deed book B
page 269-270

page 269

Crawford to Rice

Backing Up Data

It's almost the first of the month - the time when many bloggers remind us to backup our genealogy data. Normally, I ignore those reminders. I ignore them because I feel like I have a good backup plan.

• I backup my RootsMagic database every time I close it after making any changes. (I change the name to add a character or two to reflect the time.)
• My genealogy files are stored on the hard drive of my computer and synced with Dropbox
• I use Second Copy to copy files (documents, pictures and music) to an external USB drive
• I use Backblaze to backup my files off site

Since I am backing up my files in multiple ways, I usually don't worry about the reminders. That was until this morning. When I sat down to my computer this morning, I had a BackBlaze warning that my files hadn't been backed up since May 22nd. 

So, how did my backup system fail? Two factors caused Backblaze to not be current: the weather and the loss of Internet connectivity.

Many would question how I could blame a Backblaze failure on the weather, but it is related. I try to shutdown my computer and unplug it during thunderstorms. Getting tired of this middle of the night task, I started shutting down my computer at bedtime when severe weather threatened. And we have had a lot of severe weather for the past 10 days. Since I have Backblaze and Second Copy set to run at night, neither was backing up my computer until I left it on last night.

Since we didn't have severe weather last night (thank you Lord), the backups should have run. Second Copy did run and the backup to the USB drive is current. However, Backblaze didn't run.

Backblaze couldn't run last night because our Internet was still down from a cut fiber line. Since the fiber line repair was completed this morning, our Internet is back. Thus, Backblaze should run tonight and everything will be backed up again.

The warning this morning reminded me to PAY ATTENTION to whether my backups complete as expected.