Extracting the essential facts from a record without copying the document verbatim is a technique that genealogists commonly refer to as abstracting. Printed forms for abstracting pertinent records are commercially available. They may be useful, but many are not satisfactory because the documents themselves do not always conform to the format selected by the form designers.
Wills
- Citation - note county, will book #, beginning page number
- Testator's occupation, age, health, residence, etc.
- Abstract names of all people named and their relationship to testator
- Essentials of bequests, land descriptions, slaves, money, etc.
- Special explanations or restrictions, trustees, guardians, etc.
- Executor / executrix
- Witnesses, signatures or signed with X or mark
- Dates written and probated
- Inventory
- Sale bills
- Administrator bonds
- Final settlement
Deeds
- Citation - note county, deed book #, beginning page number
- Type of instrument - indenture, deed, bill of sale, contract, deed of trust, etc.
- Abstract names of all parties to the deed, occupation(s), grantee, grantor, borrower, lender, trustee, etc.
- Places of residence, parish, county, state of all involved
- Consideration - price paid or other terms
- Marginal notes, to whom and when the deed was delivered
- Land description, size, acreage, location, watercourses, roads, neighbors, plantation names
- Miscellaneous information - relationships, restrictions, graveyards, dowry, etc.
- Witnesses, signatures, marks
- Release of dower
- Affadavits by Justice of the Peace certifying a person's appearance in court
- Date deed written, recorded
American World War II Orphans Network. Have You Sent for These Basic Records?
Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) These records were created by the Mortuary Services which dealt with a war casualty's body and sending personal effects to the next of kin. They are especially useful if the personnel records were burned. If no body was recovered, there will be a report of the investigation. All mortuary records for World War II for all branches are kept at the Total Army Personnel Command (TAPC). Be sure to mention your relationship to the person who died and that you are requesting the records under the Freedom of Information Act.
Write for photocopy of record
National Archives of St. Louis, P.O. Box 37587, St. Louis, MO 63138
Email: STL.Archives@nara.govAmerican Battle Monuments Commission is in charge of burials in American Military Cemeteries overseas. 134,548 American servicemen were buried in these cemeteries. Over 78,000 whose remains were not recovered are listed on the Tablets of the Missing located at these cemeteries and on East Coast and West Coast Memorials in the U.S.
Bernau, C.A. Some Special Studies in Genealogy, 1908
Custom House Records - in theory, it should be an easy matter to find out who every immigrant was, for by law it was incumbent on one of the officers of every custom house to record details as to age, residence and trade of every emigrant. Early in the nineteenth century these books of registration and emigrants were ordered to be brought to London and deposited in the Customs House, but this building was burnt down in 1814 and the records destroyed.
Licenses to Pass Beyond the Seas - housed in the Exchequer's records, King's Remembrancer side. They are of great value as they give age, home, trade, and destination of the emigrant. In the early years of the emigration the licenses issued direct from the King, but in the fifth year of Charles I (1629/30) the power was delegated. Before the licence was granted, oaths had to be taken that the applicants were neither subsidy men nor nonconformists. For some reason not known to us at the present time, very few of the books in which the grants of the licenses were recorded have been preserved. Those that exist were printed by Hotten in his Original Lists of Emigrants but only as regards those who said they were going to America. It is a pity he did not include the others, as many who, for political reasons, could not obtain a licence to emigrate to America, were able to get a pass to visit such places as Leyden, Amsterdam or Rotterdam, and when once out of England, they could pass on to the New World. These licences are now being printed in the pages of the standard magazine of English genealogy called The Genealogist.
The author of this chapter has in his possession passenger lists for 1773, 1774 & 1775, containing details of emigration of nearly 6,000 persons, lists of Jacobite rebels transported after 1715 and 1745, lists of felons transported, and a very large general collection of connecting links for emigrants. It is stilled hoped that some other lists of emigrants may be found, and lately clues have come to light that other early lists do exist.
Calculating a Birthdate from Tombstone Information, The Hoosier Genealogist, nd
The following is offered as a simple method of calculating the date of a person's birth using the date of death and the age at death. This doesn't sound like a difficult task and it isn't if you keep a few rules of thumb in mind. It is just a matter of subtraction once the numbers are placed so that those with the greatest value are at the left. Suppose a child died at the age of 1 year, 3 months and 11 days; date of death is recorded as July 26, 1871. Your numbers would be arranged as follows:
year, month, & date of death 1871 - 7 - 26
subtract age -------------------------1 - 3 - 11
birthdate April 15, 1870------ 1870 - 4 - 15
Whenever it isn't a matter of simple arithmetic with the lower number smaller than the one it is being subtracted from, you must borrow from the number to the left. However, you must remember to change the month you are borrowing into days and the year you must borrow into months (12). The number of days would depend on the number of days in the preceding (30, 31, 28, or even 29 in the event of a leap-year February). If the child in the example above had died at age 1 year, 3 months, and 29 days, the calculations would appear as follows:
30 days of June were borrowed 1871 - 7 - 26 becomes 1871 - 6 - 56
subtract age -------------------------------------------------------1 - 3 - 29
birthdate March 27, 1870 -----------------------------------1870 - 3 - 27
This may not seem correct but look at it this way, if you did not begin numbering July at "1" again July 26th would be June 56. Suppose this child died at the age of 1 year, 9 months & 11 days. The example would now appear as follows:
12 months are borrowed from 1871 1871 - 7 - 26 becomes 1870 - 19 - 26
subtract age ------------------------------------------------------------1 - 09 - 11
birthdate October 15, 1869 --------------------------------------1869 - 10 - 15
Just for fun, let's try a more complex example. Suppose the person who died was 75 years, 6 months, and 21 days old when he died on the 1st of March in 1912.
12 months borrow from 1912, 29 days borrowed from leap year Feb:
1912 - 3 - 1 becomes 1911 - 14 - 30
subtract age -------------75 - 06 - 21
birthdate Aug. 9, 1836
Your calculations may not agree to the day with known birthdates because we have no way of being certain whether the person doing the original calculating used this method or one that assumed all months to contain 30 days. If the latter was the customs, your figures would be 1 (or 2) days off.
Chase, Douglas. Fifty Ways to Lose Your Kinfolk: Exploring Name Variations on the Internet, New England Ancestors, Winter 2006.
Nearly every serious pursuer of genealogy has, at one time or other, encountered the obstacle of kin who cannot be found, even when you know where they should be located. The westward expansion of the United States, partially fueled by immigrants from Europe, introduced new languages that intermixed with American local dialects and accents already jumbled by earlier migration. Record keepers and census takers, confronted with the mix of cultures and languages, did their best to write what they heard, without standardized spelling or penmanship. Some 19th century records were copied by clerks for either state or federal governments, and many town and county records have been transcribed for preservation. Sooner or later, most of the larger database resources used by genealogists are indexed or re-indexed to make them more Internet-friendly.
Each transcription or manipulation all too often introduces new errors. The old AIS book index to the 1860 Vermont census correctly placed Joel Nason as head of household at West Windsor. As an extreme example of layers of mis-copying, due probably in part to difficult penmanship on the original census, a recent Internet-based every-name index to the same census resulted in Joel Nason becoming Jack Norom, and the given names of most of his children are equally mangled. Andrew Adams has misindexed as America Arendes.
Finding missing relatives often depends on using some imagination to conjure up variations on the surname, though even a very fertile imagination quite likely will not envision America Arendes when searching for Andrew Adams. The advent of internet websites devoted to genealogy offers a blessing and a curse.
One useful tool is the wildcard feature, in which a name is truncated and the missing letters replaced with an asterisk. For example, searching for William Nason using the query Wil* Nason will find the misspelled Willaim Nason; a search using the full name would not. This technique is particularly useful for longer names that have spelling variations - Willoughby, Willoby, Willaby, Wilobie - or compound names that may be run together by a recorder, such as Mary Etta becoming Marietta. The same procedure can be applied to surnames as well.
If you know someone should be in a given location, for example, and appears in the 1850 and 1870 census, but not in the 1860 index, try searching for all persons with that given name, leaving the surname box empty in the search engine, and check the results for spelling variations of the surname. Jonathan Noyes in one census may well have been indexed as Noyer or Nazer or some other corruption of the name in another.
Men being known by initials only was quite popular in the latter half of the 19th century. Biographical sketches of A.H. Nason and A.J. Nason provide names of parents, wives and children, but do not give either man's first and middle names. Thus, another search engine technique is to omit the given name, search a given locale for everyone of the particular surname, and look for the initials of the missing person.
Note also that some people will alternate between first and middle names. A young daughter named Eldora F. in one census, may well be in the next census as Fanny E. or Frances E. when she can express her own name preference.
A word of caution: supporting data should be used to confirm that the suspected identification error is, indeed, an error. Using the Nason surname as an example, there obviously are many valid Mason and Nixon families, as well as the less common Wason surname. Search results need to be analyzed carefully to ensure that the person found is indeed the right one.
Clunies, Sandra: Looking for the Light: Combining Web-Based Searches with Traditional Techniques, New England Ancestors, Holiday 2000
While many web searches can be printed and saved, it's still wise to keep a written log. Many traditional sources of library research are now also web-based. Examples include the LDS Family History Library catalog, the International Genealogical Index (IGI), the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) and the Periodical Source Index (PERSI).
RootsWeb:
Chase, Douglas. Fifty Ways to Lose Your Kinfolk: Exploring Name Variations on the Internet, New England Ancestors, Winter 2006.
Nearly every serious pursuer of genealogy has, at one time or other, encountered the obstacle of kin who cannot be found, even when you know where they should be located. The westward expansion of the United States, partially fueled by immigrants from Europe, introduced new languages that intermixed with American local dialects and accents already jumbled by earlier migration. Record keepers and census takers, confronted with the mix of cultures and languages, did their best to write what they heard, without standardized spelling or penmanship. Some 19th century records were copied by clerks for either state or federal governments, and many town and county records have been transcribed for preservation. Sooner or later, most of the larger database resources used by genealogists are indexed or re-indexed to make them more Internet-friendly.
Each transcription or manipulation all too often introduces new errors. The old AIS book index to the 1860 Vermont census correctly placed Joel Nason as head of household at West Windsor. As an extreme example of layers of mis-copying, due probably in part to difficult penmanship on the original census, a recent Internet-based every-name index to the same census resulted in Joel Nason becoming Jack Norom, and the given names of most of his children are equally mangled. Andrew Adams has misindexed as America Arendes.
Finding missing relatives often depends on using some imagination to conjure up variations on the surname, though even a very fertile imagination quite likely will not envision America Arendes when searching for Andrew Adams. The advent of internet websites devoted to genealogy offers a blessing and a curse.
One useful tool is the wildcard feature, in which a name is truncated and the missing letters replaced with an asterisk. For example, searching for William Nason using the query Wil* Nason will find the misspelled Willaim Nason; a search using the full name would not. This technique is particularly useful for longer names that have spelling variations - Willoughby, Willoby, Willaby, Wilobie - or compound names that may be run together by a recorder, such as Mary Etta becoming Marietta. The same procedure can be applied to surnames as well.
If you know someone should be in a given location, for example, and appears in the 1850 and 1870 census, but not in the 1860 index, try searching for all persons with that given name, leaving the surname box empty in the search engine, and check the results for spelling variations of the surname. Jonathan Noyes in one census may well have been indexed as Noyer or Nazer or some other corruption of the name in another.
Men being known by initials only was quite popular in the latter half of the 19th century. Biographical sketches of A.H. Nason and A.J. Nason provide names of parents, wives and children, but do not give either man's first and middle names. Thus, another search engine technique is to omit the given name, search a given locale for everyone of the particular surname, and look for the initials of the missing person.
Note also that some people will alternate between first and middle names. A young daughter named Eldora F. in one census, may well be in the next census as Fanny E. or Frances E. when she can express her own name preference.
A word of caution: supporting data should be used to confirm that the suspected identification error is, indeed, an error. Using the Nason surname as an example, there obviously are many valid Mason and Nixon families, as well as the less common Wason surname. Search results need to be analyzed carefully to ensure that the person found is indeed the right one.
Clunies, Sandra: Looking for the Light: Combining Web-Based Searches with Traditional Techniques, New England Ancestors, Holiday 2000
While many web searches can be printed and saved, it's still wise to keep a written log. Many traditional sources of library research are now also web-based. Examples include the LDS Family History Library catalog, the International Genealogical Index (IGI), the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) and the Periodical Source Index (PERSI).
RootsWeb:
- surname resources
- location resources
- links into USGenWeb - arranged by state and county, can have census, cemetery, obituaries, county histories, maps, etc.
Deetz, James. A Cognitive Historical Model for American Material Culture: 1620-1835, Historical Archaeology: A Guide to Substantive & Theoretical Contributions, Farmingdale, NY: Baywood Publishing Co., Inc., nd
I should like to present briefly some rather exciting developments in our project in historical archaeology primarily in the old Plimoth Colony area.
Basically, the model here is one which considers certain aspects of general culture in space and time. It is a formulation of what happened in Plimoth particularly between 1635, when our documentary data begins and our archaeology effectively starts and ca. 1835. . . . this model here applies only to New England, Massachusetts Bay, and the Plimoth colonies. And it argues for three sequential cultural types or configurations, one following the other and each somewhat different from the other. The initial system in Massachusetts was that brought to the New World by Englishmen, and it most closely conformed to that which they practiced in their former homes. Since the population of early Massachusetts, particularly Plimoth, was not representative of contemporary English society in its entirety, their culture was also not totally representative. The life ways which were transported to New England in the early 17th century were basically those of the less prosperous steward, yeoman and husbandman. Deeply rooted in an earlier medieval tradition, the culture of the Puritan separatist colonist was conservative, potentially self-sufficient, and heavily shaped by religious attitude. Once established in the New World, this system underwent minor modification as a result of a somewhat different environment, but it continued relatively unchanged for a generation. This period I would date ca. 1620-1660.
The Puritan Revolution led to a dramatic reduction in immigration during the 1640s, creating depressed economic conditions, a shortage of imported goods, and a cultural isolation which led to a slow but steady divergence form the earlier yeoman life ways. This divergence was reinforced by the increased presence of individuals who had been born in the New World. From this semi-isolated society, a distinctive Anglo-American culture emerged; one probably less English than before, and less than it would become by the eve of the American Revolution. This second cultural system, ca. 1660-1760, was a typical folk culture marked by strong conservatism, resistance to change and regional variation. So strong was the conservative nature of this early folk culture that it continued relatively unchanged in the more isolated rural areas of New England until well past the middle of the 18th century.
The impact of the Renaissance in the form of the Georgian tradition was felt at different times in 18th century colonial America; earlier in the metropolitan centers - ca. 1700; later in the deep countryside - ca. 1760. And while buildings in the Georgian style began about the turn of the century in the more elite sectors of the society, for the purposes of the model in question the key element is that time when those cultural changes which the term "Georgian" denotes have an effect on the majority of society. Henry Glassie has argued that "Georgian" is far more than a stylistic category. Indeed, it can even apply to a distinctive Anglo-American mind set, characterized by symmetrical cognitive structures, homogeneity in the material culture, a progressive and innovative world view, and an insistence on order and balance that permeates all aspects of life from the decorative arts to the organization of space by society. Glassie has demonstrated elegantly how this particular cognitive system can affect everything from farm layout to carved chests. In three aspects, it contrasts sharply with the earlier medieval tradition. As opposed to the 18th century, I would suggest here that the yeoman and husbandman culture of New England in the 17th century was far more medieval than it was anything else. By the term medieval I mean a culture that was far more heterogeneous and symmetrical in its cognitive aspects and conservative outlook. Another way of viewing it would be an organic vs. mechanical system.
One also might say that the people were too poor to afford these things [decorative ceramics, furniture, etc. ]. It is very common to find a man with 50-100 acres of cultivation who didn't even own a bedstead. And this, of course, pertains to the way the culture weights value. The source of supply was at hand in nearby Boston, and we know that some people were obtaining it. In Plimoth one finds that a merchant who was poorer than a yeoman farmer might have had much more matched, structured material culture sets than the yeoman farmer. The farmer still had his mid emade up according to the older, medieval ancestry, and the merchant was more cosmopolitan and a part of a different social class.
. . . in architecture, the best example of the earliest houses is the Fairbanks House in Dedham. It is a medieval, lopsided building with curved wind braces and wings sticking out in every direction. But by about 1660, a regional diversification in architecture began in this country which does not compare to anything in contemporary England. This continued again through the relevant period. The Cape Cod salt box with central chimney, surviving clear into the early 19th century, is a very nice example of just this pattern. But the Georgian house style is one which is radically different and exhibits the same horizontal tendencies.
Deetz, James. In Small Things Forgotten: The Archaeology of Early American Life, Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1977.
Chapter Four - Remember Me as You Pass By
There is no better place in all of New England to stand face to face with the past than in the old burying grounds. They have not been significantly altered since the time of their use and row on row of stones, with grim death's-heads and hopeful cherubs carved on them, look out on us just as they did on the people of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. From the designs of these stones, and the way they vary in time and space, we may learn much.
Making use of the formal dimensions of gravestone art involves understanding the designs carved on the stones in terms of their symbolism and determining their makers. Probate records prove valuable, for it is through their use that the carvers of the stones have frequently been identified. A few stones were signed, and account books and diaries of the carvers occasionally make specific reference to stones that can be seen today in some burying ground.
Three basic designs were used by the stone carvers of New England between about 1680 and 1820. The earliest of the three is a winged death's head with blank eyes and a grinning visage. Earlier versions are quite ornate on occasion, but as time passed they became less elaborate. Sometime during the 18th century - the time varies according to location - the grim death's heads were replaced by a new design, the winged cherub. Toward the end of the 18th century the cherubs were replaced in turn by the third basic design, a willow tree overhanging a pedestaled urn. In addition to these basic designs, there was a wide variety of other motifs used, but in one way or another most were derivative of the early, death's-head motif. Such variation was typical or rural areas, and much of this local variation was a function of the relative isolation and the maintenance of traditional culture. IN the urban centers of New England, however, death's-heads, cherubs and urns were the carvers' main stock in trade.
Puritans are considered to have been iconophobic feeling that to portray a cherub would be to introduce the image of a heavenly being, which could lead to idolatry. The death's-head was a more earthly and neutral symbol, serving as a graphic reminder of death and resurrection.
During the Great Awakening, in the period from 1720s to the 1760s, revivalist preachers such as Jonathan Edwards preached a different approach to religion, in which the individual was personally involved with the supernatural. Such a view was more compatible with designs such as the cherub; it also freed the iconography of the gravestone from the rigid adherence to one symbol, the death's-head, and the trend everywhere involved a softening of this harsh symbolism.
It is at this point that the inscriptions on the stones become quite relevant. Each stone begins by describing the status of the deceased. Here lies . . . and Here lies buried . . . are typical early examples found on death's-heads on gravestones. Slowly these phrases were replaced by Here lies buried the Body . . . corruptible . . . what was mortal of . . . This slightly, but significantly different statement reflects a tendency to emphasize that only a part of the deceased remains. The soul, the incorruptible or immortal portion, has bone to its eternal reward. Such descriptive phrases are more frequently seen on stones decorated with cherubs. The epitaphs that appear on many stones also add credence to this explanation of change in form over time. Early epitaphs, with death's-head designs, stress decay and life's brevity:
My youthful mates both small and great
Come here and you may see
An awful sight, which is a type
Of which you soon must be
Epitaphs with cherub stones, on the other hand, tend to stress resurrection, and later, heavenly reward.
Here cease thy tears, suppress thy fruitful mourn
his soul -- the immortal part -- has upward flown
On wings he soars his rapid way
to yon bright regions of eternal day
The final shift seen in gravestone design is to the urn-and-willow style. It is usually accompanied with a change in stone shape. While earlier stones have a round-shouldered outline, the later stones have square shoulders. Here lies the body of . . . is replaced by In Memory of . . . or Sacred to the Memory of . . . statements that have very different meaning from those used earlier. The earlier stones are markers, designating the location of the deceased -- at least in his mortal form. IN contrast, In Memory of . . . is a memorial statement, and stones of this later type could be erected even if the body of the deceased was not beneath. Many of the later urn-and-willow-decorated stones are in fact cenotaphs, erected to commemorate those buried elsewhere, as far distant as Africa, Batavia, and in one case -- in the Kingston, Massachusetts cemetery -- drowned at see, lat. 39 degrees north, long. 70 degrees west. The urn-and-willow is not a graphic representation of either the mortal component of the individual but, rather, a symbol of commemoration. This depersonalization is reflected in the more common theme of epitaphs found with the design. While the earlier themes still occurred, they were joined by another, one that simply lauded the individual in terms of his worldly achievements. These changes seem to indicate a secularization of the religion.
Sources:
- Forbes, Harriette. Gravestones of Early New England & the Men Who Made Them, 1653-1800, Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin, 1927
- Ludwig, Alan. Graven Images, Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1966
- Benes, Peter, Nathaniel Fuller, Stonecutter of Plympton, Massachusetts, Old Time New England Antiquaries, Vol. 60, No. 1, Boston, MA, 1969
Deetz, James. Late Man in North America: Archaeology of European Americans, Historical Archaeology: A Guide to Substantive & Theoretical Contributions, Farmingdale, NY: Baywood Publishing Co., Inc., nd
Archaeological investigations of seventeenth and early eighteenth century house sites in southeastern Massachusetts have been of considerable value to the reconstruction of Colonial Plymouth by Plimoth Plantation, an educational organization which is devoted to educating the public in Colonial culture through outdoor museum exhibits and research and publication. Many complex problems of detailed reconstruction of early seventeenth century households are solved through the study of documentary evidence, contemporary paintings, museum collections and excavation. Archaeological studies in the Plymouth area represent a long tradition.
The collections from most of these excavations [Aptucxet trading post 1920s, Kingston house 1930s, Winslow site, Plymouth 1940s, Bartlett, Bradford & Howland sites 1950s] are stored at Plimoth Plantation where they function as a valuable corpus of data on which to base details of architectural reconstruction and house furnishing. Whether the problem involves hinges, nails, window cames, pottery, glass or cutlery, there is usually a series of artifacts on which to base one's reconstruction or corroborate evidence from other sources. The collections are not only of the usual material culture inventory, but include extensive faunal samples, which will be of great value to the reconstruction of a mid-seventeenth century farm complex soon to be built on the plantation site. . . .
There are significant differences between the archaeological collections from Jamestown and Plymouth, although both colonies were drawing from the same larger pool of European materials. One striking difference is seen in the occurrence of forks and Chinese porcelain in a seventeenth century context at Jamestown, while both artifact types are totally lacking from contemporary Plymouth, a difference which probably reflects the difference between the socioeconomic backgrounds of the settlers in each case, with the Plymouth plantation deriving from a more humble background than that of Jamestown planters.
In both colonies, bricks used in construction exhibit the same trends in dimensional changes through the seventeenth century, even though there was little contact between the colonies of a type which would account for the similarity.
Gilbertson, Laurann. Using Clothing Styles to Date Photographs of Women, The Hoosier Genealogist, nd
Clothing can be a useful tool for determining the date of photographs because women's styles changed regularly and distinctly over time. Men's and children's clothing changed at a slower pace, so it is more difficult to use men and children to determine the date of a photo.
Fashion can be defined as "a prevailing style of dress." Although costume historian Joan Severa cautions that even very poor women were aware of fashion and did what they could to wear stylish clothes, generally speaking younger and more affluent women followed fashion more closely than older or less wealthy women. Many women wore outdated or simplified garments for house and farm work. In addition, older women sometimes remained in their favorite styles for many years. Therefore when more than one woman appears in a photograph, look at the fashion exhibited by the youngest adult women.
Whenever possible, use several criteria to narrow down or confirm a date derived by the prevailing style of dress. Notice hairstyles, shape of the neckline, placement of shoulder seams, sleeve and bodice shape, skirt cut and trim, and headwear or outerwear (if any). Even if the entire outfit is not visible, there will be a few fashion clues in almost every photograph with which to work
1860s - fashions were characterized by full round hoop skirts with skirt's fullness slowly moving to the back as the decade progressed. Dresses had a center front opening with slightly raised waist. A small white collar at the round neckline closed with a brooch. The shoulder seams were set low, below where the arm naturally bends. Sleeves were fullest at the elbow with cuffs or coat-style openings at the wrist. During the first few years of the decade sleeves were wide and bell-shaped with white undersleeves. Women wore their hair parted in the center, pulled back and caught with a hair net. Headwear included bonnets that sat back of the head. Outerwear was a shawl, hip-length jacket, or long cloak. Military influence was evident in Zouave jackets and Garibaldi blouses.
1870-1875 - Women wore a combination of bodice, draped-front overskirt and long full underskirt.
1875- the outfit was reduced to two pieces: skirt and long bodice. The sides of the skirt pulled in and back to accentuate a cascade of back detailing. Extreme back fullness was enhanced by a bustle, which started at the waist and slowly moved down to the knees, then disappeared about 1877. Dresses were decorated with self-fabric trim such as pleats, ruffles and shirring. The shoulder, and sleeves were looser and evenly shaped. Necklines were ornamented with scarves, cravats and black velvet ribbons. Hairstyles often had fullness on top or ringlets hanging below. Headwear was bonnets and hats. Outerwear consisted of shawls, wraps and boxy jackets.
1880s - by 1883 the bustle returned and remained until 1887. The bustle did not cascade from the waist as it had in the 1870s, instead it stuck straight out in back like a shelf. Dresses had less trim but sported asymmetrical swags over a pleated skirt. The bodice appeared very tightly fitted with narrow shoulder seams. Very tight sleeves ended just above the wrist bones. Bodices became shorter. Buttons were arranged down the front of the bodice in a single line, then a double line, and an asymmetrical placement later in the decade. Collars were low bands. The hair was pulled straight back into a bun and was often accompanied by frizzed bangs. High, narrow bonnets and a variety of brimmed hats were popular. Coats and jackets were worn for outerwear.
1890s - sleeves began to loosen at the shoulder, developing from a small puff at the top of the shoulder to mutton-leg sleeves and very large in mid-decade. Sleeves began to deflate after about 1896. The bodice, with slight fullness in front and taller collar, was now very short ending just at the waist. Outfits had decorated bodices and plain skirts. The bustle left, but a little back fullness remained for the first half of the decade. Skirts were gored (smooth over the hips with a full hem). This decade marked the beginning of separates and garments influenced by men's styles. The hair was pulled up, sometimes with a topknot, and short bangs were popular until 1896. Hats had medium brims and vertical decorations.
1900-1910 - An S shaped curve was achieved by a straight-front corset; extra rows of ruffles on undergarments gave women a pigeon-breasted look. Blouses showed some fullness in the upper sleeves, but after about 1905 the fullness slid down toward the forearm. Collars were quite high - up to the jawbone. Lightweight and light-colored fabrics were popular including white, lacy "lingerie" dresses or blouses. Skirts emphasized a curvy lower body and ended fluidly at or near the floor. Hairstyles were characterized by a great deal of fullness. The pompadour, named for hair piled on the top of the head with no part, was popular. In about 1907 a more tubular silhouette was introduced as a "princess dress." Although there was no distinct waistline, the collar, sleeves, and hair still followed the style of the decade. Footwear included buttoned and laced boots. A variety of suit jackets and coats were worn. Hats were large and horizontal with large trim.
1910-1920 - noticeable transitions. Within a given year there was an assortment of variations in cut, plus a range of decorative treatments. In the 1910s the prevailing silhouette was tubular. Long jackets were worn over long narrow skirts. A layered look became popular around mid-decade and hiplines flared with draped hangings. By World War I a square neckline was in and the waist became looser and started to sink. Lightweight fabrics and pale colors continued while dark wools became common suit material. New shorter lengths were seen for hems, necklines and sleeves. Hairstyles deflated but were still somewhat puffy and upswept. Hats were small but with strong brims. Laced shoes and boots were popular as were small pumps called slippers.
Google Alerts - notes from Salt Lake City meeting, 2006
- genealogy + surname - news & web daily or weekly
- surname + place - state, county, township or town
- site search - searches entire website not just a page - site: url#searchterm(s)
- search specific languages or countries - Erkmann + German + Germany
- use Google to search phone #s, addresses
- translate tool - type in any text to be translated
- cemeteries near town or state will get names and addresses
- genealogy near town, state - research places
+ = and operator
- = excludes
~ = synonyms
Gormley, Myra. On Evidence: Quality vs Quantity, The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, October 1997
Early on in your research someone may have advised that you need more than one piece of evidence to "prove" genealogical links. It appears that somewhere along the way, this basic advice to beginning genealogists has been transmogrified into three.
There is no magic in three pieces of evidence that agree on anything. They may be wrong or have been copied from each other. Few of us dare to question our sources' sources, but we should. Worst, we often are lazy and do not independently verify data now conveniently nestled in our genealogy software and stored on our hard drives.
Gather all of the evidence you can find. Next organize, analyze and weigh it - not by numbers, but by quality. Should you discover that most of your evidence is from secondary, unknown, or unverified sources, it would be wise to take a look at what primary record exists. You might have been barking up the wrong family tree.
Gormley, Myra. Our Ancestors Had a Name for It, The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, June 1997.
At some point in time, many genealogists discover that they have an illegitimate ancestor. Old parish registers are often the source of this information, and researchers will find that there are a variety of ways of expressing illegitimacy, some are in Latin.
- nomine ignoto - name unknown, means the father's name is unknown
- filius populi - means son of the people - generally in England when there were two possible fathers
- filius nullius - son of none
- et reputat(ur) - by repute - the father admitted paternity or it was proved in some other way
- et imputat de - mother names a father, but the father does not admit paternity
- ut fertur - as it is said, believe it if you like
- vocatus - called or known as the son of
- p(rae)dictus or dictus - the said, aforesaid man
A child with the father's surname followed by the mother's e.g. James Cox Jones is an indication of possible illegitimacy. It was done in the hope that should the couple marry, the mother's surname would be dropped. This naming convention is most used prior to 1840.
Since a bastard child was the responsibility of the parish where he or she was born, some parishes threw out any [unmarried] female who looked pregnant. Or they would often retain a local girl and her child, but send strangers back to their home parishes. The mother was forced, sometimes by whipping, to name the father. If she refused, she could be sent to prison.
Illinois State Genealogical Society. Newsletter, July/Aug. 1986
Occupations, some of which are surnames:
accomptant - accountant
almoner - giver of charity to the needy
amanuensis - secretary or stenographer
artificer - a soldier mechanic who does repairs
bluestocking - female writer
boniface - innkeeper
brazier - one who works with brass
brightsmith - metal worker
burgonmaster - mayor
caulker - one who filled up cracks (in ships or windows) or seams, to make them watertight, using tar or oakum-hemp fibre produced by taking old ropes apart
chandler - dealer or trader; one who makes or sells candles; retailer of grocers
chiffonier - wigmaker
colporteur - peddler of books
cooper - one who makes or repairs vessels formed of staves and hoops, as casks, barrels, tubs, etc.
clicker - the servant of a salesman who stood at the door to invite customers; one who received the matter in the galley from the compositors and arranged it in due form ready for printing; one who made eyelet holes in boots using a machine which made a clicking noise; one who cut out leather and allocated it to the workmen
costermonger - fruit or vegetable peddler
cordwainer - shoemaker, originally, any leather worker using leather from Cordova / Cordoba in Spain
crowner - coroner
currier - one who dresses the coat of a horse with a curry comb; one who tanned leather by incorporating oil or grease
docker - stevedore
dowser - one who finds water
draper - a dealer in dry goods
drayman - one who drives a long strong cart without fixed sides for carrying heavy loads a dray
dresser - surgeon's assistant in hospital
drover - one who drives cattle, sheep, etc. to market; dealer in cattle
duffer - peddler
factor - agent, commission merchant; one who acts or transacts business for another; Scottish: steward or bailiff of an estate
fell monger - one who removes hair or wool from hides in preparation for leather making
fuller - one who fulls woolen cloth; one who shrinks and thickens woolen cloth by moistening, heating and pressing; one who cleaned and finished cloth.
glazier - window glassman
goaler - jailer
hatcheler - one who combed out or carded flax
hind - farm laborer
hooper - one who made hoops for casks
hostler - groom who takes care of horses, especially at an inn
husbandman - farmer; one who plows and cultivates
journeyman - one who served his apprenticeship and mastered his craft; properly, one no longer bound to serve for years but hired from day to day
joyner / joiner - carpenter
leech - physician
manciple - steward
mantua maker - dressmaker
minmaster - one who issued local currency
patten maker - maker of a clog shod with an iron ring
peregrinator - itinerant wanderer
peruker/peruke maker - wigmaker
pettifogger - shyster lawyer
plumber - one who applied sheet lead for roofing & set lead frames for plain or stained glass window
plumbum worker - plumber
rattlewatch - town watchman
saddler - one that makes, repairs or sells saddles or other furnishings for horses
sawbones - physician
sawyer - one who saws, a logger, timberman
scribler - a minor or worthless author
scrivener - professional or public copyist or writer; notary public
scrutiner - election judge
shrieve - sheriff
slopseller - seller of ready-made clothes in a slop shop
snobscat - one who repaired shoes
sorter - tailor
stuff gownsman - junior barrister / lawyer
supercargo - officer on merchant ship who is in charge of cargo & the commercial concerns of the ship
tanner - one who tans hides
tapley - one who puts the tap in an ale cask
teamster - one who drives a team for hauling
tide waiter - customs inspector
tipstaff - policeman
turner - one who forms articles with a lathe
victualler - keeper of a restaurant or tavern; one that provisions an army, navy or ship with food
vulcan - blacksmith
wagoner - teamster not for hire
wainwright - wagon maker
waiter - customs officer or tide waiter; one who waited on the tide to collect duty or goods brought in
waterman - boatman who piles for hire
webster - operator of looms
wharfinger - owner of a wharf
wheelwright - one who made or repaired wheels, wheeled carriages etc.
whitesmith - tinsmith; worker of iron who finishes or polishes the work
whitewing - street sweeper
wright - workman, especially a construction worker
yeoman - a farmer who owns his own land
Little, Barbara Vines. In This Issue: Follow the Money, Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 39, No. 2.
Family historians are detectives and like "real-life" detectives find it profitable to follow the money. Most of today's family historians realize that keeping records is important to maintaining family history; however, many more keep a record of their expenditures than of their daily activities. So it was with our ancestors.
"Nicholas Meriwether's Mountain Tract" is about making money. In order to understand the numerous events involved in the acquisition of his ancestor's tract of land, the author found himself studying the laws governing the land patent process and the people involved in regulating it. This is a lesson we all learn - unless we understand both the law governing a process and the people involved, we may easily jump to the wrong conclusions about an event and end up following a false trail.
A county court frequently heard disputes involving money - most were suits for debts, but there were also disputes over ownership, compensation and inheritance. All of these detailed events in people's lives - from them we learn when people died, when they remarried, who were orphans, how people were related and when property was bought, sold or stolen. The trail of money frequently led through the county court.
Inheritance is almost always about money - and wills detailing the disposition of property to family members are a much sought-after genealogical item. Burned record county researchers occasionally discover a copy of a no longer extant will in a chancery suit in another county (or state).
"Captain Francis Taylor's Military Accounts" is all about money; he systematically recorded the debits and credits of his men providing us with a list of their names and their dates of service based on his payroll notations. We also learn of family relationships and deaths as well as gain information about the items they purchased.
Following the money, or more accurately following the records generated because of money will frequently provide the researcher with information found nowhere else - information that ranges from specific relationships and dates of births, deaths and marriages to details of what was purchased for daily living. All things that help us recreate our family stories.
Little, Barbara Vines. Look Over Papers Out of Old Trunk, Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 38, No. 4.
A penciled note on the back of one of the items from the Crenshaw and Miller papers, "Look over papers out of old trunk," is one many of us have made either mentally or in writing. It may be a trunk, it may be our files - but, if we don't do it, someone else will and that someone may choose to discard them rather than take the time to go through them.
The keeping of records isn't always deliberate; sometimes they're simply allowed to remain in a trunk, an attic, a closet, a backroom, but at some point they're either discarded or deposited for safekeeping where others can access them. Those that don't survive should teach us a lesson - leaving things to chance is not wise. Making provisions for the care and maintenance of our records and family treasures now - while we can - is something we owe ourselves and our posterity.
McClure, Rhonda. Thinking Outside the Box: The Strength of Computer Searches for Genealogists, New England Ancestors, Spring 2007
Thinking outside the box - this catch phrase of the new millennium should be embraced by genealogists and incorporated into their research. For genealogists generally, this phrase means being creative in one's research. For the computer genealogist, the phrase means being creative in online research.
The internet is a constantly-changing library - new information is added and older information changed or removed altogether.
- Never dismiss anything
- Always print out what you find, when you find it - or download it, or copy it
Too often we look at just the first ten or so hits in a general search engine result list, but the top few hits may not be the best for our research. Genealogical searches are not always the most popular, and therefore often appear on page 4, 5 or 20 of the results.
If you haven't been searching the web very thoroughly, you might want to begin by creating a research log. This log will help you better evaluate the sites as you use the Internet. Columns for your log should include:
- Date
- Title of Website
- URL - uniform resource locator, web address
- Results
- Some method of noting that you saved information from a site
- Search string used
If you create this log in your word processing program or excel spreadsheet, keep that program open as you work through a list of results. Copying and pasting the URL ensures that you will always have the correct website address.
Another benefit of keeping such a log is the ability to search the file to see if you have already visited a site and what information you discovered. Check back on websites periodically as they can be updated or changed at anytime.
Changeability is also why you should print any information at the time you find it, especially if citing that webpage. The printout provides hard copy to compare to the website in the future.
Be creative in your searches - First become familiar with one major general search engine. Learn all the quirks of that site.
- Google Cheat Sheet
- Creativity - search for sites updated since your last search
- Search without names, enter date of birth, place of birth, place of death - see who else is around
- Bing
- Yahoo
- Ask.com
- Excite
- Lycos
Pence, Richard. Which Jacob Pence? A Case Study in Documenting Identity, National Genealogical Society Quarterly, nd
Sometime in 1928 a headstone, furnished by the US War Department in commemoration of the Revolutionary War service of Lieutenant Jacob Pence, was unveiled and placed on the grave of one Jacob Pence in the family cemetery on Indian Creek, Monroe County, West Virginia. An early 20th century compilation on WV Revolutionary heroes says:
Settled with his brother, Valentine, in [present] Rockingham County, Virginia, prior to 1747. Served in the Augusta County, Virginia, militia under Captain William Nall from September 10, 1774, until the end of the Revolution. Was at the Battle of Point Pleasant, and his Revolutionary service is accepted under Nat. No. DAR 175459. After the Revolution he moved to Bath County, then to Callaghan's Station and to Monroe County. He was born 1742 and died in 1819. He married Elizabeth Trust in 1762Circa 1833 73-year old John Young filed for pension in Augusta Co., Virginia stating he was born in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania 1760, moved to Augusta Co. at age 4, enlisted under Captain All [sic], who raised a company of volunteers to repel Indians. Under Lt. Jacob Pence he marched to the South Fork of the Potomac, thence over the waters of the Monongalia and built a fort at Hacker Creek.
12/20/There are 2 references to Jacob Pence:
DAR records contain contradictory data:
- Ensign Jacob Penee [sic] served in Captain William Nall's company on 10 September 1774.
- Lt. Jacob Pence was a member of William All's company in 1775 (1777?) when marched to Hackett's Creek, where it garrisoned for three months.
Additional application papers:
- Jacob Pence b. 12/20/1730, d. 2/1800, md. Catherine Persinger, soldier in Virginia
- Jacob Pence Jr. b. ca. 1742, d. 1819 md. Elizabeth Trustler, private in Virginia
Jacob Pence, soldier b. 12/20/1730, Frankfort, Germany, d. 2/1800 Augusta Co., VA md. Catherine Persinger, 1763 (DAR National Number 495694)
Private Jacob Pence b. 1742, d. 1819 Monroe Co., WV, md. Elizabeth Trustler (DAR #150954)Finally, this preliminary survey of secondary sources uncovered one other relevant assertion. According to the standard history of Monroe County, Jacob & Valentine Pence settled in present Rockingham County, VA ca. 1747. "A son of one of these," the author says, was Jacob Pence, who died in Monroe Co., ca. 1819.
The foregoing reference offer numerous inconsistencies and contradictions as to Jacob's birth date, which Jacob was in service and whom he married. All points are garbled, nevertheless, when considered together these stories present what would ordinarily be considered a plausible justification for the marker on the grave of Jacob Pence in Monroe Co. The problem is that almost none of the information is true.
Jacob is a common given name in the Pence family, a situation that prevails in many families. As is almost always the case when identity problems exist, a study had to be made of all Pences of Augusta and Rockingham Counties. This search revealed conclusively that Jacob Pence of Monroe County could not have served in the Revolutionary War.
Jacob Pence (1) did settle in Augusta County by 1747. The earliest apparent mention of him is in connection with the building of a road that year. However, he died in Augusta CO., in late 1750 or early 1750/51 leaving a will proved before 2/27/1750/51, on which date his brother Valentine gave bond as executor.
Jacob Pence (2) son of Jacob (1) died 2/1800. He was not of age in 1750 (according to his father's will) and apparently was not of age in 1762, although he was close to adulthood. In February 1763 Jacob (2) was sued by Jacob Persinger (var. Parsinger, Passinger; the second husband of Catherine, widow of Jacob (1)) on behalf of Persinger's minor daughter, also named Catherine. A breach of promise was alleged. No record of a marriage b/t Jacob (2) and Catherine (2) has been found. However, it is known that they had at least two children: Anna Maria & George b. 1763 and 1764. The English translation of the original German baptismal entries identifies the mother Catherine as the wife of Jacob and states that she was nee Persinger.
Therefore Jacob (2) was not born in 1730, but was born ca. 1742. He did form a union with Catherine (2) Persinger and most likely was Revolutionary War veteran. Since he died in Feb. 1800, he was not the Jacob who died in Monroe Co. in 1819.
Valentine (1) Pence, brother of Jacob (1) also had a son Jacob (3). This Jacob was born ca. 1744. Jacob (3) md. Catherine daughter of George Henry Barger, place unknown and died 11/19/1802 in Cabarrus County, NC. This Jacob was apparently in Mecklenburg Co., NC in 1774 when he (as Jacob Benz) and George Barger were helping to build the so-called Organ Church and he is there in the 1790 census to form Cabarrus County, since he appears on the 1800 census of the new county. This rules him out as the Revolutionary veteran.
There is no other Jacob Pence of the right age in the records of either Augusta or Rockingham Counties. If Jacob Pence of Monroe County was not the veteran, if he was not "Jacob Pence, Sr." or if he was not the son of either Jacob or Valentine, who was he?
This writer believes him to have been a son of Jacob (2), grandson of Jacob (1). This conclusion is based upon several major considerations and the usually risky premise that all other Jacob Pences are accounted for. If this proves to be incorrect, there is no other evidence of the fate of Jacob (4).
DAR applications list eight children of the Monroe County Jacob (4) born between 1800 and 1816. A Jacob Pence md. Elizabeth Trustler in Botetourt Co., VA 4/15/1799 as Jacob Pence and Elizabeth Triser. Two deeds subsequently filed in Alleghany Co., VA (formed from Botetourt) indicate that Jacob (4) of Monroe County is the same as the Jacob who married in Botetourt.
Since Jacob (4) Pence of Monroe Co. appears to have been the right age to have been the son of Jacob (2) and since there is a strong tradition that the Jacob of Monroe was from the Rockingham Co., area of Virginia, information that was sought to support or negate these contentions. The major clue came from the will of Jacob (4). In it he said that he wanted his son Peter George Washington Pence to go to Peter Pence of Botetourt Co. to learn the tanning business. This Peter has been identified as a son of Jacob (2). Peter married Elizabeth Hinton 10/30/1801 in Rockingham Co. and before 1810 the couple migrated to Botetourt where Peter was a tanner.
If Jacob (4) was indeed son of Jacob (2) he could not have been the Revolutionary war veteran. As previously cited Jacob (2) md. Catherine Persinger (2) ca. 1763 and the first 2 children were born in 1763 and 1764 which would make Jacob (4) born after 1765 and he probably had four older siblings pushing his birth year to ca. 1770. It is improbable that he went marching off to Point Pleasant with Captain Nall at the age of 4.
This who-was-it exercise demonstrates a too-common mistake in genealogical research: assuming that persons with the same name are the same person.
Ratcliffe, Clyde. Your Ancestor by Any Other Name, The Virginia Genealogical Society Newsletter, December 1997
Before I became immersed in the world of genealogy, I thought my family name was Ratcliffe. Much to my surprise I have learned that this is not true. It should really be R(a/o)(d/t)(c)l(i/y)f(f)(e) since I have found it spelled in all of these different combinations. Before researching a new family, it is always wise to compile a list of the number of different ways a given name can be spelled or misspelled.
Surname - a good example of how a spelling can change occurred in my mother's family name - Chewning. The name was spelled Chowning but pronounced Chewning. Three brothers settled in three counties. The original county branch maintains the Chowning spelling, the other two were changed probably due to phonetic spellings by clerks who didn't know the family well.
First name - In early Virginia many parents followed the custom of their southern England homeland by giving their children the names of their parents (i.e. the children's grandparents) before using their own names as is more customary today. Children were also named for favorite aunts, uncles, cousins, or prominent people in the community outside the family. Sometimes a child is named after a deceased sibling.
Middle name - did not become prevalent until the middle-to-last half of the 19th century. When it appears it can often provide a clue to the mother's maiden name or the name of either parent's maternal ancestors. The researcher should always take note of surnames used as first and middle names.
Called name - nicknames and the use of interchangeable names. Within a document a person may appear as Sarah and Sally. It is always a good idea to keep handy a reference list of male and female nicknames.
Suffix - Don't fall into the Jr/Sr trap. Junior meant younger, not son of and Senior meant elder, not father of. A person could begin life as a junior and end his life as a senior as those older than himself passed away and he aged. It is also used for women.
Indices - indexers sometimes make mistakes in reading handwriting, typing, etc.
Resources:
- Smith, Elsdon. American Surnames, Chilton Book Company, 1969
- Rose, Christine. Nicknames: Past & Present, 1991
Reik, Connie. Connecticut at Your Fingertips, New England Ancestors, Fall 2006
- Connecticut Bibliography
- Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut
- Connecticut History Online
- Connecticut History Illustrated
- Map & Geographic Information Center (MAGIC)
Reik, Connie. Using the National Park Service Websites for Genealogy & Family History, New England Ancestors, Fall 2007
Genealogists may not associate the National Park Service with family history, but its websites provide unexpected resources for the savvy researcher. The marvelous Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System website includes a searchable name database of 6.3 million soldiers and 18,000 African American sailors. It gives regiment and company as well some prisoners of war. Since this article was written the site has grown to include civilians - politicians, spies, activists and others. The site also provides historic photographs.
Sheppard, Walter. What Proves a Lineage? Acceptable Standards of Evidence, View One, National Genealogical Society Quarterly, nd
It is an unfortunate fact that many people who have become interested in genealogy . . . have never had the opportunity to learn exactly what constitutes real proof of filiation. All too often, tradition (or remembrances of the past in statements made by the elderly) or printed volumes of county histories and genealogies (usually published with absolutely no citations) are accepted at face value, with no real effort made to find supporting contemporary evidence.
Exactly what is evidence?
- Contemporary evidence - record made by a person at a time close to that at which the recorded event occurred - birth, baptism, marriage, divorce, death or burial record; court proceedings, passenger manifests; wills; estates; diaries; pension files; membership lists.
- Direct evidence - primary source records listed above in as far as they make certain statements of fact with the specific purpose of proving those facts. The original and photocopies of the documents are included.
- Secondary evidence - a copy of the above in an abstract, transcription or published volume, etc. where there is a possibility of the introduction of an error. This is the evidence most susceptible to challenge. Such material cannot be considered reliable unless the source of each statement of fact (date, place, filiation, personal detail, etc. ) is cited so it can be checked.
The Preponderance of the Evidence - when direct evidence is lacking, but there is contemporary, primary evidence of a number of related matters all pointing in the same direction, and the evidence so accumulated leaves no doubt in the reader's mind that only one reasonable conclusion can be drawn from it.
Biased Evidence - some types of evidence can be categorized as both direct and primary, yet the reliability of individual statements therein must still be assessed. Autobiographies are an excellent example. In evaluating the reliability of such documents, individual statements of fact have to be considered differently, with the element of bias being weighed as well.
Hereditary Society Pedigrees as Evidence - such works should never be cited as evidence, nor should material in them be used in that manner until the alleged facts have been independently verified through primary evidence.
Acceptable Forms of Evidence for Lineage Applications:
- Bible records - Bible kept by parents when a child is born, not Bible records copied from one Bible to the next over time.
- Census - all information should be considered approximate, some are not true
- Town records & files of local historians - vital records should be checked against other data, they may have been recorded weeks or months after the event.
- Birth certificates - no longer considered 100% so famous reliable. In cases of adoption, many states reissue a birth certificate showing the adoptive parents as birth parents.
Taylor, Maureen. Finding Manuscripts Online, New England Ancestors, Summer 2002
Have you ever wondered if your ancestors left any written record? At one point looking for manuscripts involved hours of checking indexes, but online offerings have streamlined the process. Before you start looking it helps to understand the basic vocabulary used by archivists and librarians.
Inventory - historical background on the subject of the papers, significant material in the collection, list of folder titles and sometimes related collections in the same repository.
Provenance - information on past owners of the materials
Record Group - a group of related records based on provenance. Some archives keep manuscripts and photographs in a record group, but that is not the case in all repositories.
Try everything you can think of and keep good research records. Before you sit down to search for material, make a list of what you want to look for, with subcategories. If you're searching for a single person, in addition to looking specifically for him or her, input general search terms as well.
- surname
- locations associated with family
- military regiments, wars, battles
- occupations
Your goal is to attempt to find everything associated with your ancestors - diaries, letters, family papers and even artifacts.
Try entering your ancestor's name into a search engine like Google and see what turns up.
Try entering your surname and the word family - "Lathrop Family" or "Lathrop family manuscripts"
Library of Congress National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) - directory of manuscript archives in the United States and overviews of their holdings.
eBay - search for family treasures
Check genealogy message boards to see if family papers are in private hands.
Taylor, Maureen. Historical Societies: A Guide to Online Research, New England Ancestors, Winter 2001
Every week the New England Historic Genealogical Society receives at least a couple hundred emails from individuals seeking assistance in their family history research. This pattern is repeated in historical societies throughout the country as genealogists use email as a quick and convenient alternative to letter writing. The general impression is that email gets a speedier response than sending a request via regular mail. In fact, while email is a great tool, the sheer abundance of inquiries makes it difficult for historical societies to keep up with the volume of requests. Staff members try to meet the demand for assistance, but they need your help.
Be understanding - rather than expecting an answer in a record amount of time (b/c the internet is faster), understand that historical societies are struggling with the increase in requests. Many are understaffed.
Remember Your Letter-Writing Skills - Just b/c email is less formal than letter writing, doesn't mean you don't have to pay attention to details. A person that expects (and often receives) an answer to an email sends a well-constructed and thoughtful message. Make sure your inquiry includes the following:
- your name, first and last
- name of the person(s) you are researching
- when the person(s) lived, at least an approximate birth, death and marriage dates will be helpful
- where the person(s) lived
- the exact information you are looking for and why
- a list of sources already consulted - keeps you from getting info you already have and wasting researchers time
- regular mailing address and telephone number - speeds up process for receiving photocopies, etc.
- thank you - always express gratitude for their time in working on your research project
Make Appropriate Inquires - do a little research before sending request - does this historical society, archives, library actually have the type of records you need?
Taylor, Maureen. Photo Sharing: What Genealogists Need to Know, New England Ancestors, Holiday 2002
Ancientfaces.com - images of famous and not people can search by type, event, location, time period
Ancestors Lost & Found - you can post unidentified photos here and search through photos others have posted as well as memorabilia, Bible records or other items.
Dead Fred - search through thousands of photos
Notebook - General Stuff No. 2, Part 2
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