Lesson Learned (Again)

I'm in the process of filling in holes in my research by looking up census records. One of those holes was the 1940 census for my great-grandfather, Hiram Currey. It didn't really surprise me that I didn't have that record since he moved had moved quite a bit. However, I was surprised when I found the index record for him in the census on Ancestry.

Not only was he listed, but he is identified as 'father-in-law'. How did I miss that? Was he living with Aunt Myrtle? Since I already had my grandparent's record for the 1940 census, he couldn't be living with them. Or, could he?

 When I checked the page, he was the top entry on the page and there was a note that it was continued from the previous page.

Guess who I found on the previous page? My grandparents and family.

I had previously found them in the 1940 census. I obviously did not click to check the next page!

Lesson learned -- CLICK TO SEE THE NEXT PAGE (and the previous one)

SUCCESS! Retrieving Old Files

As I devote more time to genealogy, I'm also wanting to rescue the work I did for the Nemaha County Genealogical Society and add it to the re-created web site.

A lot of that work was done with Microsoft Works in the database portion of the software. Even though I had a current version of MS Works installed on my computer, I was not able to load these old files.

Thus, I was on a search for a way to get them open and export the data so it could be opened with today's software, namely Excel. I tried Zamzar and other cloud file conversion options. None of those I tried would convert the *.wdb files.

Thankfully, we haven't done a good job of discarding software because I found a copy of MS Works 7. I had to uninstall my current software in order to install version 7. I cringed a little when it said it required Internet Explorer 6 but, fortunately, the software installed without also installing IE6.

Armed with MS Works 7, I am now able to open those old *.wdb files. I've been able to save them as *.csv files which I can then open in Excel.

 

The only downside is that the column headings are not present. That's a simple problem to resolve by simply re-opening the file in MS Works to identify the headings.

A new column can be added to the top of the *.csv file where the headings can be inserted.

 Ironically, the *.wps files created at the same time won't open with MS Works 7. These can be opened in MS Word -- but some 'junk' comes along.

However, the files are fairly easy to clean up by simply deleting the 'junk'.

Now for the next software issue *.epd files -- EXPRESS PUBLISHER! I have a feeling this one will be more of a challenge.

My First Proof Argument

One of this week's 'Finally Get Organized' tasks involved sources, information and evidence. Ever since making the transition from PAF to The Master Genealogist, I've been working with sources. Although many of my source citations pre-date Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills, I have tried to document each piece of information tied to the individuals in my database.

I may also have written a 'genealogical proof argument' during the early days of my research when I wrote the post, 'Untangling the James Crawfords'. Even though I believe what I wrote about the various James Crawford families is accurate, I doubt it would stand up to today's standards.

Thus, when challenged to look at sources, information and evidence this week, I took that as a challenge to improve my skills in hopes of bringing them up to the levels of today's genealogical standards.

With that in mind, I elected to investigate a place instead of a person. The place, Elwood Cemetery (Elwood, Kansas), is tied to one of my ancestors, Albert Hutchinson, in that Find a Grave has Albert Hutchinson buried in this cemetery.

In two separate blog posts, Elwood Cemetery: What is the Evidence and Elwood, Kansas and the Mighty Mo, I believe I've compiled sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that there wasn't a cemetery on the north edge of Elwood, Kansas in 1896.

Honoring My Female Ancestors

One of this week's Finally Get Organized tasks was to celebrate women's history month by entering data for the female ancestors in the first four generations of my tree.

I'm very fortunate in that I know who all of these women are. Since family was important to both of my grandmothers, they kept almost anything related to the family. I was fortunate to be able to discuss these things with them -- even though I wish I had asked even more questions during their lifetimes.

Josie & Nellie Hammond

These women left a legacy that is hard to live up to.

• My mother left college when she got married but went back after I graduated from college to finish her degree.
• My mother's mother left the family farm and boarded in Yates Center so she could finish high school.
• My father's mother lost her mother at the age of 10 and was placed in a children's home for several years. She managed to keep track of her younger siblings who were placed in homes and made sure they knew about their family heritage.
• Two of my great-grandmothers migrated from the midwest (Illinois and Indiana) to Kansas as young girls.
  

Putting My Phone to Work

I've tried several scanning apps with my phone. Lately, I've been working with Photomyne. This app allowed me to quickly scan photos from an old photo album of my grandmothers.

The app did a good job capturing both the older black and white photos and 'newer' color photos.

I also used the Photo Transfer App to quickly move the photos off of my phone and into dropbox for use on my computer.


Even though this is a quick easy way to convert these photos to a digital format, there is a downside: all of my images are in jpeg format and not .tiff format.

Cemetery Bust

Spring break just started and it is gorgeous out! Since it was too nice to be stuck inside scanning, I decided to try and fulfill some photo requests at the Seneca City Cemetery.

Armed with a list of 16 requests from Find a Grave, I stopped by the City of Seneca office to pick up a cemetery map. From there, I went to the Seneca Free Public Library to check for lot numbers since some of the memorials were missing the lot number. [Nemaha County is very lucky since a native living in Ohio has indexed all of the cemeteries and placed copies of those indexes in the library.]

My quest for pictures started in the older part of the cemetery, looking for Ridgway stones in lot 180. Unfortunately, no stones remain in the area of this lot.

From there, I ventured to the Wells plot (lot 147) in search of Adolphus Wells (1832-1903). Several Wells family members are buried in this plot, but there isn't a stone for Adolphus.

While in the older part of the cemetery, I also looked for Sally Campbell (1842-1891). The index has her in lot 1890-4. However, there aren't that many lots in the cemetery. Assuming a typo, I figured it could be either lot 180 (the Ridgway plot) or lot 189 (or even 190). I didn't find a stone for a Sally Campbell in any of  those locations.

Next on my list was Naoma Hanes who was listed as Naoma Haines (b1842)  in lot 261-7. Again, I found no stone in the area of lot 261 for a Hanes or a Haines.

I then went in search of Joseph Ford (1840-1921) in lot 341. I found the Ford family plot but there wasn't a stone for a Joseph in that plot.

From the Ford plot, I ventured West to lot 269 in search of Victoria Pike (1872-1952). Again, there is no stone marking this grave.

My last search was for the Magees in lot 329. Even though most plots in this area have a large family stone, I could not find a Magee stone. Nor could I find individual stones for Thomas (1835-1915), Margaret (1836-1913) ir Iva (1870-1927) Magee.

While walking around, I did take pictures of some BLAND stones in hopes that I could connect them with my BLAND line that lived in Platte County, Missouri.

Even though taking pictures of stones proved to be a bust, it was a nice to be outdoors taking advantage of the great weather!

Finding Ways to Share

The tasks for Feb.28th thru March 5th centered around sharing -- sharing daily. I confess, I didn't meet the standard of daily sharing. However, I did get several family stories published on my blog.

My blog is the newest way in which I'm trying to share my research with my family. Over the years, I have shared my work in a variety of ways, including my Heartland Genealogy web site with my sourced genealogy. Other ways in which I have shared with my immediate family:

• Photo album of family pictures
• CD containing copies of pictures
• Scrapbook pages covering key events
• Shared pictures in a Google folder

This past summer, I started using Facebook groups to share photos. As I've been scanning the photo albums from both sides of my family, I've been able to make the digital copies of those photos available to distant cousins quickly and inexpensively.

I recently created a group for the alumni of the local high school. Since the yearbooks were recently scanned, those photos were added to the group. With Facebook, we've been able to make over 40 years of yearbooks available to members of the group.

Sharing stories and pictures online or in a digital format can be relatively quick, easy and inexpensive.  However, I have a concern about the longevity of this format. For this reason, I may end up creating a notebook of the family stories posted on my blog. Either way, I will continue sharing in the future.

Finally Get Organized