tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60904833980201832602024-02-20T17:10:33.979-08:00Southern Family HistoryTo help people find their ancestors in the southern United States.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-29882242463019981632012-04-08T17:42:00.001-07:002012-04-08T17:42:41.206-07:00Project submitted<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A week ago Friday I submitted my four generation project for accreditation with <a href="http://icapgen.org/" target="_blank">ICAPGEN.</a> I have worked on the family lines I submitted off and on for the last 20 years. It is very satisfying to have the project at a place where it was ready to be submitted. If you're not familiar with the accreditation process, may I suggest that you go to their website and see what's involved. Everything has to be very well documented and cited.I'm hoping my report will pass on the first try but I know many have not done so and so I won't be too disappointed if it doesn't. I know I will be in good company. <br />
<br />
The fun part of my report is the information on the last generation where I could not find one piece of direct evidence to tie the three brothers who went to Henry County, Tennessee from Wake County, North Carolina. As a result, there is a large body of indirect evidence that was used to tie the families together. Among these were deed records, probate files, and marriage records. I even found evidence of a slave that was given to the wife of one of these brothers mentioned in both the father-in-law's will and in the estate inventories of my relative, his son-in-law. The will was made in Wake County. The probate of the son was in Henry County, Tennessee.<br />
<br />
I love genealogy and especially when you can put together a project like this. Wish me luck in passing the review of the report on the first try!</div>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-449755047848474172012-02-26T17:21:00.000-08:002012-02-26T17:21:26.840-08:00The Tennessee North Carolina Connection<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last week I had three three days to work on my Crowder family research. As part of the process of trying to receive <a href="http://www.icapgen.org/">Accreditation</a> as a professional genealogist, I am working on a four generation project about this family who lived in Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. The project as well as the accompanying report has to be well-documented and stand up to intense scrutiny. My problem has been how to prove that three Crowder brothers born around the turn of the 19th century in Wake County, North Carolina are the same three Crowder men who later live and die in Henry County, Tennessee?<br />
<br />
One obvious solution would be to find a deed record that said that Hardy, James, or Isaac Crowder, of Wake County, North Carolina had purchased land in Henry County, Tennessee but such a record does not exist.<br />
<br />
The next possible solution would be to find some sort of vital record such as a death certificate or a marriage record that would state where these men were from. A primary source record like this also has not been found but I did however find a cemetery record for Hardy that stated that his parents were Thomas Crowder and Fanny Rhodes and that he was born in North Carolina.This sounds great but no source is given for this information but it does form a start for the construction of an indirect evidence case.<br />
<br />
Census records for Hardy and Isaac who both lived past 1850 indicate that they were born in North Carolina. James did not live to see 1850. Land records show that Hardy and James both lived in the same area of Henry County, along the same watercourse. All three men were trustees for the Methodist Episcopal Church South which bought land to construct a house of worship to be built in their area of the county. So now we've got more evidence linking the three men together.<br />
<br />
The next searches involved court records, such as probate and civil cases, which found that Hardy Crowder was an administrator for the estate of James and if my memory is accurate, Isaac was involved in the probate of Hardy's estate. (I don't have the records in front of me right now to verify).<br />
<br />
It would seem we have a pretty good case for the three being brothers, or closely related. but how about connecting them back to the family in North Carolina. One of the men had a wife who was given a slave in her father's will. The name of this slave appears in the probate records of her Crowder husband. Another brother had a son who went all the way back to Wake County, North Carolina to marry his first cousin, the daughter of his uncle (brother's brother). This same couple was involved in land transactions in Henry County, Tennessee.<br />
<br />
All of these little pieces of evidence have helped to build an indirect evidence case for the three brothers from Wake County, North Carolina being the same three Crowder men who went to Henry County, Tennessee.<br />
<br /></div>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-32231425193570129322011-12-11T18:09:00.001-08:002011-12-11T18:13:16.500-08:00The Diary of a Southern Lady: Georgina Francis Barrett Devlin, 1852-1912Recently I had the opportunity to read excerpts from a diary written by Georgina Francis Barrett Devlin. She was born in 1852 and lived until 1912. In her diary she helps us readers to visualize what it was like to live in Mississippi during the Civil War and after its devastating effects on the South. We get glimpses of what it was like to be a woman during that time raising children and participating in the community. The diary was transcribed and edited by Katharine M. Jones and the author of the diary was her ancestor. If you’re a fan of history and have always wanted to travel back in time and see things first hand, I think this diary is the next best thing. Here’s a brief description by the publisher about the book.
<br>
<br>
“In 1852 Georgina F. Devlin was a young English immigrant with two small children when she began to keep a record of her life. She continued until 1912, when she was a great grandmother living with her widowed daughter and her family. She noted both items of historic interest and of everyday happenings within her large family. She recorded the Civil War swirling around the home in Yazoo County, Mississippi, when she and the children hid in the woods and her husband's cotton was burned. She visited her brothers in Canada and saw the famous tight-rope walker "Blondin" cross Niagara Falls. She went from traveling in a stage coach, to riding on a streetcar, to riding in her son-in-law's automobile. This well footnoted diary will be of interest to anyone with a particularly interest in Southern history, the Civil War, and the developments of rural and small town life during this period.”
<br>
<br>
The book is available on Amazon. The title of the book is “The Diary of a Southern Lady: Georgina Francis Barrett Devlin, 1852-1912.” To read more about the book I suggest the following link:
<br>
<br>
<a href="https://www.createspace.com/3546438">
The Diary of a Southern Lady: Georgina Francis Barrett Devlin, 1852-1912</a>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-4937582206261671232011-09-18T20:03:00.000-07:002011-09-18T20:03:56.778-07:00Masonic death records!Who knew? I have been trying for several years now to locate the death date of my great grandfather in Arkansas. He died after the 1930 census but he is not listed in any of the Arkansas Death Indexes. I feel fairly confident that his death was never officially recorded in a death certificate. In an effort to exhaust all possible sources available to me here in Utah I came across a book in the <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/locations/saltlakecity-library">Family History Library</a> that had death records of Masons in Arkansas. The book is:
<br>
<br>
<i><a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/show?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fcatalog-search-api%3A8080%2Fwww-catalogapi-webservice%2Fitem%2F1047412">Masonic Death Records from the Grand Lodge of Arkansas</a></i> by Desmond Walls Allen.
<br>
<br>
The volume I looked at covered the years 1920 to 1940. Lo and behold there was the name of great grandfather listed as having died in 1938. I took a chance on this book because I had examined another book that covered deaths of Free Masons in Arkansas and found other family relatives listed. I never knew that the male members of this family were Masons. I have visited the <a href="http://gwmemorial.org/">George Washington Masonic Memorial</a> in Alexandria, Virginia and loved it. I didn't know at the time that my ancestors shared a love for this order just like many of the founding fathers of this nation.
<br>
<br>
It's so much fun to learn something new about your ancestors AND find an elusive record!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-86603660341767997572011-06-07T19:13:00.000-07:002011-06-07T19:13:48.028-07:00HuguenotsBefore I begin let me explain the lack of blog posts for a while. I put my house on the market and it sold really quickly and so I ended up having to move a lot sooner than I had planned. Things have now settled down somewhat so I guess I'll get back to blogging more regularly now. (I hope)<br />
<br />
A while back I blogged about a research problem I was working on that might need DNA to solve. Just as an update, I haven't been able to get any of the male descendants to agree to be tested but I haven't given up trying. <br />
<br />
I am now currently continuing work on this same research problem in an attempt to identify the origins of the immigrant who came to Virginia in the 1600s. Herein lies the Huguenot question. One of his known sons married a woman from a Huguenot family. The immigrant's family lived in the area near <a href="http://huguenot-manakin.org/">Manakintown</a> where Huguenots began to settle in 1700. Is it possible that the immigrant was also a Huguenot?<br />
<br />
One of the factors I looked at today was whether or not you had to be a British subject to receive headrights. Headrights was the right to free land based on the number of persons you brought into the Virginia Colony. You could receive it for yourself and for anyone else you might have brought with you. After reading this <a href="http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/va4_headrights.htm">article</a>, it would seem to me that anyone could receive headrights, British or not.<br />
<br />
Now my problem is proving or disproving he was Huguenot and if so how much time, if any, did he spend in England or Ireland before he came to Virginia. I found several instances of others with the same surname (which I can't share here because it's a client) who were Huguenots but I am still left with my mystery. <br />
<br />
A check of the DNA chart of the ancestors of those who have been tested doesn't show any connections to what I found today to be a known Huguenot line of the same surname. I guess more DNA test volunteers are needed. Who knows if this will get solved? We can only hope.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-1539564420326864302011-04-07T20:59:00.000-07:002011-04-07T20:59:43.830-07:00Ancestor or wannabe?Often times when doing genealogical research we get so excited when we find someone in a records whose name and location matches with known information about our ancestor that we just assume it's a match! Please beware! Just because the name's the same doesn't necessarily mean it's the right person.<br />
<br />
If the record you found your ancestor in has few clues to help confirm his identity without any lingering doubts, proceed with caution. Here are just a few tips:<br />
<br />
Do a survey of other records. How many other people are there with that name in the county or locality you're searching?<br />
<br />
Can you trace this person through other records to compile enough evidence to feel confident that you've got your man?<br />
<br />
Can this person sign his own name and perhaps your ancestor used a mark?<br />
<br />
Is his occupation the same as your ancestor?<br />
<br />
Did he associate with other people known to associate with your family?<br />
<br />
These are just a few things to consider when you think you have your man. Is he really an ancestor or just a "wannabe!"Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-73294423636250637122011-03-13T20:27:00.000-07:002011-03-13T20:27:43.904-07:00DNA Might Solve This One?I recently worked on a client project that has been worked on by myself and others several different times. The family lived in colonial Virginia and they moved in and out of burned counties. I have gone through deeds, where available, and tracked their neighbors and associates as recommended by <a href="http://www.apgen.org/directory/search_detail.html?mbr_id=366">Elizabeth Shown Mills</a>. I have come to the conclusion that one of two men was the father and immigrant ancestor but the problem is which one.<br />
<br />
A will for candidate number one is non-existent. I haven't had the chance yet to search for the will of candidate number two but I'm sure I will in the future. This is a family that has been extensively researched by others. I have come to the conclusion that perhaps the only way to narrow this down might be a DNA test.<br />
<br />
There is a DNA group for this surname and my suspects are both in the same group. So I'm thinking that they might be brothers. I don't know that DNA testing would prove which of the two brothers it was but it will help to determine if I am on the right track in my thinking that one of them is the father of the ancestor.<br />
<br />
Have any of you had much experience or success in DNA testing? If so, I would love to hear from you.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-3391568867240659772011-02-25T21:28:00.000-08:002011-02-25T21:28:09.324-08:00Genealogy on televisionLike many of you who are interested in genealogy I am a big fan of the television program <a href="http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/">"Who Do You Think You Are?"</a> It is always fascinating to see people's reactions as they learn about their ancestors and the history that surrounded their lives.<br />
<br />
For someone who loves research in the south I was thrilled to be part of the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1834192/fullcredits#cast">team</a> that researched the ancestors of Tim McGraw. I spent hours going through land records in Missouri and Virginia working to help piece together Tim McGraw's ancestry. I can't tell you how thrilling it was to see some of the documents that I located initially on microfilm at the <a href="https://library.familysearch.org/centers/saltlakecity-library">Family History Library</a> be shown on camera.<br />
<br />
For those of you who prefer to see everyday people highlighted in a television program similar in format to "Who Do You Think You Are" I would recommend <a href="http://www.byutv.org/thegenerationsproject/">The Generations Project</a> produced by <a href="http://www.byub.org/">BYU Broadcasting</a>. I also had the opportunity to work on several episodes of this program which will be airing soon. <br />
<br />
Programs like these two encourage people to start thinking about their roots and what characteristics their ancestors might have had that have trickled down to them. I hope these types of programs will continue to be popular for a long time so many more will come to know and love family history as I do!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-23488537808958718562011-02-23T19:49:00.000-08:002011-02-23T19:49:54.774-08:00Mystery in MississippiI have been dealing with a tough research problem in Mississippi today. The husband came to Natchez, Mississippi between 1800 and 1810 but of course I've been asked to locate the parents of the wife. They married in 1810 and she was dead by 1820! They had two known children. Their son died at the Alamo and the name of his maternal grandfather, a Revolutionary War patriot who served at Valley Forge, is given in a short biographical sketch written about him. <br />
<br />
So great! You have the name of her father, what's the big deal? Well it's a common name and who's to say that it's even accurate. I guess it's a starting point. <br />
<br />
Let the hunt begin. <br />
<br />
There were seven men of that name listed on the <a href="http://valleyforgemusterroll.org/muster.asp">Muster Rolls</a> for Valley Forge. I've already eliminated one. Six more to go!<br />
<br />
Time to search Revolutionary War pension and service records. Wish me luck!!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-2562694290338217792010-12-11T22:17:00.000-08:002010-12-11T22:20:21.008-08:00Parishes of VirginiaI found a fun website tonight while doing some research in Virginia. This website shows all the parishes of Virginia, when they were formed, and which counties they served. I am adding it to my website list. I think it's awesome and I am very appreciative of the person who put it together. To check it out <a href="http://vagenweb.org/parishes.htm">click here</a>. It's part of the <a href="http://vagenweb.org/">Virginia GenWeb</a> pages. Enjoy!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-46842229310915642442010-11-28T18:49:00.000-08:002010-11-28T18:49:45.784-08:00Collaterals to the Rescue!So this week's post isn't so much about research in the southern United States except the family I was working on did come to Texas. They were German immigrants. I was having a hard time finding the origins of a couple who both came to Texas where they married about 1873. Death certificates weren't much help even though they both died in the 20th century. Apparently they never told their kids much about their lives in the old country because only the death certificate of the wife gave a surname for her father but no other information was supplied for either. Talk about frustration!!<br />
<br />
I found that the husband had petitioned for citizenship and so I sent to the District courthouse for copies of his records but to my dismay they didn't give any indication of his village back in Germany. It only gave a date of arrival in the United States. A search of passenger lists didn't turn up anyone with his name on a ship that came in that day. More frustration!!<br />
<br />
I then turned my focus on the family of the wife. Because I knew her maiden name, I found references to a citizenship record for a male with the same surname in the same county as the ancestral couple. Once again the citizenship papers came back with no place of origin except Germany. It didn't even give an arrival date!! My next step was to go to the census and see if I could locate this man and see if I could tie him back to the wife.<br />
<br />
I traced him in several census records and located him with his widowed mother and several siblings. I then went to the passenger lists and found the ship they came in on but the ancestral wife I was hoping to find wasn't ever listed with the family but I didn't stop there. <br />
<br />
Since the family arrived before the 1870 census year. I searched for them in 1870. I found them, the mother and the children, listed with a man, the probable father. Also listed with the family in birth order as if she were a daughter was the female ancestor I was looking for!! What was also hopeful was that they were living just a few counties away from where she and her husband were living in 1880.<br />
<br />
To verify that this was probably her I looked for her future husband as they were known to have married in 1873. Lo and behold I found him in the same county as his future bride. I also found to my delight that there was another young man with the same last name also living in the same household. No they weren't living with parents but these two men were probably brothers who had come over together and were living as boarders. Now I can go back to passenger lists and see if I can find the two men coming over together. <br />
<br />
Oh and I forgot to mention that the passenger list for the mother who came over with her children gave a village name in Germany!! More future searches. It is interesting to think about this family. I'm wondering if the father and the other daughter, the ancestor, were already here when mom and the other children arrived or if they were missed on the passenger list. More mysteries to solve!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-66868868769729458232010-11-21T18:41:00.000-08:002010-11-21T18:41:09.498-08:00Tax ListsRecently I have been able to solve two pre-1850 research problems using tax lists in Virginia. If you're not familiar with them, I would encourage you to give them a try.<br />
<br />
Tax lists can help you link fathers, and sometimes mothers, to sons. Tax lists generally contain a list of every male, usually over the age of 21. These are the men who had to pay a poll tax. If the male was younger than the taxable age but over 16 then his father, or widowed mother, paid his poll tax but his name might not have been listed. By tracking all the males of your surname over various tax years you can tell when there were males in the household over 16 and when they came of age or moved out on their own and begin to pay their own taxes.<br />
<br />
Often relatives went to pay their taxes on the same day and so keep track of the dates they paid taxes if given. You may also find several men of the same surname listed next to each other on the tax list giving you an indication that they probably paid their taxes together when no date was given. <br />
<br />
Sometimes on rare occasions the tax list will give the father's name AND the names of his sons for whom he is paying a poll tax, but this is not very common. Another clue to look for, when given, is the names of the slaves that the owner is paying taxes on. Sometimes you can track a slave with an unusual name from a father to a son in the tax lists. <br />
<br />
You may also want to track their acreage and the location of their land if given. This is more common in Kentucky tax lists.<br />
<br />
For more information I suggest the following article from the Library of Virginia.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/rn3_persprop.pdf">Using Personal Property Tax Records in the Archives at the Library of Virginia</a>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-2391575813832267822010-11-07T20:13:00.001-08:002010-11-07T20:25:04.306-08:00BURNED COUNTIES!!!Recently I was given a family to research who had roots in Hanover County, Virginia. It is understatement to say that I was sorely disappointed to find it was a burned county! So what can you do with a burned county?<br /><br />Usually land records are a good bet because they are so important that they are usually always re-recorded. Unfortunately for Hanover County they begin too late for the family I was researching. The county was formed in 1720 and the earliest and best land records don't begin until 1782. You can easily miss at least one and maybe two generations during that time lapse!<br /><br />There are some early land records that have been extracted from land patents, parish vestry books, and other miscellaneous random records. In a case like this these are some of the best possibilities you can hope for. <br /><br />What about probate records you might ask? Well a burned county means a burned courthouse and that usually includes ALL the records that were stored at the courthouse. One little book of deeds, wills, and inventories exists for the years 1733-1735. Everything else starts in the 1780s. <br /><br />It was not a fun experience to research in Hanover County and to borrow from an old phrase from Mr. T. "I pity the fool who has ancestors from this county!"Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-14007436720872301112010-10-29T21:59:00.000-07:002010-10-29T22:09:51.124-07:00The Adventures of Preparing for AccreditationToday I met with my good friend Kelly Summers to go over my four generation project that I plan to use to begin the accreditation process. She gave me some very helpful tips on how to prepare my family group sheets and pedigree charts and present them in the best light for grading purposes. I feel like my four generation project is almost ready to go. It needs just a few modifications and a little bit more research.<br /><br />The part of the application process I'm not excited about completing is the Experience Chart. It's hard to think back over the years I've been doing genealogy and calculate how much time I have spent in different record types. It sounds like a tedious job but I guess I'm going to do it!<br /><br />One of the other things I need to do is spend more time researching in the records of Kentucky, West Virginia, and South Carolina. I guess I may be working on another family line of mine that goes back to South Carolina to get more experience there. I left that line a while back because I just got too busy - life happened! Now it's time to return. Anyone have Kentucky or West Virginia ancestors they can share?<br /><br />If you want to learn more about the accreditation process, I recommend you visit the <a href="http://www.icapgen.org/icapgen/regions">ICAPGen</a> website. Wish me luck!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-32572748252408205262010-10-21T20:03:00.000-07:002010-10-21T20:08:21.631-07:00Free Land in FloridaI wrote this blog entry for the <a href="http://pricegen.com/blog/">Price and Associates</a> blog but I also wanted to share it here because it pertains to Southern States research.<br /><br />Recently while exploring the roots of a Spaniard who came to the southern United States in the early 1800s I came across a way for settlers to get land that I was unfamiliar with. The <a href="http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=005/llsl005.db&recNum=539">“Armed Occupation Act”</a> established in 1842 by the United States Congress. Its main purpose was to help get parts of Eastern Florida settled. It was like a homestead grant in that you had to prove that you were a resident of the state of Florida for at least five years. The settler was required to clear and cultivate at least five acres of the land in the first year and build a house to live in. The owner and his heirs were then required to live there for at least five years. The area to be settled was “south of the line dividing townships numbers nine and ten south, and east of the base line.” All who applied could get a quarter section of land, or 160 acres.<br /><br />As with a homestead grant you had to provide documents proving that you had met the requirements. These affidavits and letters are kept at the <a href="http://www.archives.gov/">National Archives</a> in Record Group 49. As of this writing I am eagerly awaiting copies of these documents in order to learn more about the Spaniard I mentioned previously.<br /><br />Copies of the permits are filmed and can be found both at the Florida State Archives and at the <a href="http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHL/frameset_library.asp">Family History Library</a> in Salt Lake. The records are called <a href="http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=540006&disp=Armed+occupation+act+settlers+records%2C">Armed Occupation Act Settlers Records</a>. If you have ancestors who may have lived in Florida you may want to consider checking them out.<br /><br />Source - A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 – 1875<br />Statutes at Large, 27th Congress, 2nd SessionDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-69972585089381965742010-10-10T17:25:00.000-07:002010-10-10T17:40:05.292-07:00Virginia GermansRecently I worked on a project that involved a family in Augusta County, Virginia. It turns out this family was part of a larger group of Germans who settled in the area from Pennsylvania. They got there around the end of the 1790s, maybe earlier, and ended up staying in the area for several generations.<br /><br />I was really pleased to find that these German settlers started a church in the area and there I found some wonderful records that actually gave me birth dates for children born in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It made me wish every area had been settled by religious Germans who believed in recording baptism and birth dates for all their children. <br /><br />Now let me just say however, that it would have been even nicer when the child's baptism was recorded that they ALWAYS recorded the names of both parents. It makes it a little difficult to figure out which children belong to the family you're researching when there were two men in the area with the same first and last name and the only parents' name listed on the baptism was that of the father. <br /><br />Learning about all the different records available for Virginia is one of the many things I hope to do as I work my way towards the accreditation process. I think I mentioned in a post from some time last year that I hoped to become accredited in the Mid-south region of the United States. After working two and sometimes three jobs at a time for the past year I have finally settled down to one full-time job and hope to pick up where my good intentions left off and continue the process. I think this blog can become a great vehicle for sharing what I learn and so I hope to do that on a more frequent basis. :-)Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-48869772942814112062010-05-08T18:50:00.000-07:002010-05-08T19:01:03.865-07:00Where can they be hiding?This week I had the opportunity to help an African-American woman look for her ancestors in the U.S. Federal Census. She was able to locate them in the 1930 census but couldn't find them in any other years. It seemed very odd to me because her ancestor had a very unique given name and a surname that seemed hard to misspell. I helped her look for a while. We tried wild card searches and birth year searches and just about every other trick we could think of with no luck!<br /><br />She ended up moving on to look at some films and when I had a few free minutes later in the afternoon I began searching again. This time. I searched for the names of the children and their birth years. In the 1920 census I didn't get any hits on the children until I dropped the surname as part of my search. I searched just in the parish I knew the family was living in and the first name and approximate birth year of the children one by one. Finally I hit the jackpot. It turned out that the census taker wrote down the father's surname as his given name and his given name as his surname. No wonder we couldn't find them!!<br /><br />Next I returned to the search in the 1910 census. This time I tried some of the same techniques that I used in the 1920 census search. I began with children's names. I also used a wildcard search for the surname omitting the last letter of the surname, which was Gary. It turns out that this time they had spelled the father's given name mostly correct but they had really butchered the last name. Instead of Gary it was Garregue! Since they were in what used to be French Louisiana the census taker had given the family a French-ified version of their surname. The mother's name was also changed from Mary to Marie. <br /><br />This whole incident just goes to show that you need to persistent in your census searches. Never give up!! Think creatively too! You never know how your ancestors might have been recorded. Consider given name searches, birth year searches, and always throw in some wild card characters if you have a name that could easily be misspelled!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-26881414667896854052010-04-11T18:53:00.000-07:002010-04-11T19:24:26.609-07:00SharecroppersA while back I was asked to try to locate proof that an African-American family was involved in sharecropping in Louisiana. My first inclination was to check the land records. I knew that I had seen crop contracts in Arkansas which indicated liens on crops planted to cover debts incurred in raising the crop. It seemed like a logical step to try to locate sharecropping contracts among the land records.<br /><br />After a careful search of the land records for Caldwell Parish, Louisiana where the family was known to have lived I came up empty. I found no such records among the deeds. Not quite sure where to go next I tried looking in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/091648968X/ref=nosim?tag=cyndislist-20&link_code=as2&creativeASIN=091648968X&creative=374929&camp=211189"> <i>Land and Property Research in the United States</i></a> by E. Wade Hone. I found no information to lead me to the possible location of sharecropping contracts.<br /><br />A fellow researcher I was working with on this project but who was involved in more of the historical context research suggested that I try Freedmen's Labor Contracts. A catalog entry was located in the <a href="http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp"> Family History Library Catalog</a> for the labor contracts for Caldwell Parish. These can be viewed at the <a href="http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHL/frameset_library.asp">Family History Library </a> in Salt Lake City or they are available through the <a href="http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/"> National Archives</a>.<br /><br />These records are not indexed but are filmed by parish. At the beginning of the section for each parish you will find a list of all the plantations where the contracts came from. In order to find the people you are looking for, you have to search each page. <br /><br />The header of the contract gives the contractual details of the agreement. Below the contract header you will find a list of all workers for whom the contract applies, giving their names and ages and in some cases, their occupations if it was something other than farmer. It was my experience that people were generally listed together as families much like a census although in very few records did the contract actually give relationships.<br /><br />When I got to the section for Caldwell Parish, you can imagine my delight when the family I was looking for was on the very first contract. Their wages according to the contract were to be 1/3 of the proceeds of the crop, after expenses. This was to be shared among all the people listed on the contract. As you can imagine, sharecropping was only one step above slavery. <br /><br />If you would like to learn more about sharecropping, I recommend <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/sharecrop/index.html"> Slave to Sharecropper </a> an informative website sponsored by PBS. The life of a sharecropper was tenuous at times. Everything hinged on getting a good crop in order to have a successful outcome. This was a transition from slavery to freedom that really had few of the markers we associate with liberty. I encourage you to learn more about this topic.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-22874073914184330472010-01-31T15:51:00.000-08:002010-01-31T16:17:20.414-08:00Confederate Pensions for African-AmericansThis past week has been an exciting one for the genealogical research project I am working on. I am in the process of tracing the roots of an African-American family. This has proven to be challenging and rewarding. One of the difficulties with the research has been locating the family after the Civil War in all census years. This problem has been compounded by the location where the family lived. They lived in several counties along the West Virginia - Virginia border. The counties are in the hills (coal mining country) and considered pretty rural. I think some members of the family may have been missed in the census due to the rural nature of the county and quite possibly their color.<br /><br />While searching for the family, I came across an obituary for what I believed was a great grandfather. It was not a surprise to me to find that the man had lived to be at least 114. The family has this tradition and firmly believe this to be the case. Many of the older family members recall having met the man. What did surprise me about the obituary was that it mentioned that the man had received a pension as a Confederate war veteran. Now I was concerned. Was this really the obituary for the man I was searching? Did African-Americans, who were also slaves, actually participate in the Civil War for the Confederacy? <br /><br />To my surprise the answer was yes!<br /><br />Slaves were often pressed into service as body servants, hostlers, or horse handlers. The latter was the case for the service of the man I was looking for. I came across his pension application at the <a href="http://www.lva.virginia.gov/">Library of Virginia </a> website and found a wealth of information about him. The record gave the name of his master, his place of birth, and his age. It was even attested to by people who knew him in his hometown. Among these witnesses was his daughter-in-law. This was such an exciting find for me. I learned a lot from this experience. <br /><br />Yes! African-Americans could have been pressed into service for the Confederacy during the Civil War and some even received pensions for their service. One source indicated that there were as many as 400 in the state of Virgina. <br /><br />For more information about this topic see the following links:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1862/may/black-confederate-soldiers.htm"> Black Confederate Soldiers </a><br /><br /><a href="http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/articles/289/black-confederate-pensioners-after-the-civil-war"> Black Confederate Pensioners After The Civil War </a>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-47850863805301096342010-01-02T18:29:00.001-08:002010-01-02T18:44:35.098-08:00West Virginia Vital RecordsThanks to some other blogs that I follow I discovered that you can now find quite a few vital records online for the state of West Virginia. Their site <a href="http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/">West Virginia Vital Records</a> has birth records that start as early as 1790 in Monroe County while the majority begin in the mid 1850s. The last searchable year for births in most counties is 1908. Some marriage records start as early as 1780 and run through about 1970. Death records begin as early as 1836 in Greenbrier County with most beginning in the mid 1850s and ending about 1969.<br /><br />I have bookmarked this site on my computer and hope to make good use of it in any future research in the state of West Virginia. This site will also be added to my list of resources that I will take with me when I take the ICAPGen accreditation exam. <br /><br />You can learn about the latest in research resources and tips by following genealogy related blogs. This information came from <a href="http://www.genealogyblog.com/">Genealogy Blog</a> by Leland Meitzler<br /><br /><br />Happy hunting!!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-8427569196425100052009-10-24T20:38:00.000-07:002009-10-24T20:54:33.353-07:00State ArchivesAlthough I have had very little opportunity to visit a lot of state and local archives, I know that they have much to offer researchers. I recently worked on a case where checking the state archives website really paid off. The name I was looking for was pretty common so I didn't do a very thorough search of the <a href="http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp">Family History Library Catalog </a>for family histories for this family. I figured I would have to weed through a ton of them and it would waste a lot of valuable time for the client. Besides that, so many of them are not documented that it really wouldn't prove anything. <br /><br />The case I was working on was for a returning client and so I knew from my previous research that there was an item of interest at the <a href="http://sos.georgia.gov/Archives/">Georgia State Archives </a>that looked like it dealt with this family. I found this on an old catalog listing that had been microfilmed and was at the <a href="http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHL/frameset_library.asp">Family History Library</a>. Before preparing a letter to request copies of the desired document, I decided to check their online catalog to see if there were any other items that I should request. While there I found a book that seemed to be written about the family I was researching. I jotted down the name of the author and the title and did a quick check of the <a href="http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp">Family History Library Catalog </a>and lo and behold it was there. <br /><br />This family history book was a well-documented family history about the family. It was written by a guy with a Ph.D. and he cited throughout the book the documents he used to prove the lineage. It took the family back three more generations. I know my client will be happy. It was also a great book to read for those struggling to prove lineages during the 1700s. Because he cited his sources and his conclusions and discussed his methodology, I really learned a lot. <br /><br />It was a good research week!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-16332320772608741302009-10-11T17:20:00.000-07:002009-10-11T17:35:21.734-07:00Quakers in North CarolinaTis a gift to be simple. Tis a gift to be true.<br />Tis a gift to have Quakers as ancestors too!<br /><br />Sorry for the play on a traditional Shaker song but it seemed to fit. This past week I worked on a project where the maternal half of the family were Quakers. They came from North Carolina into Indiana in the early 1800s. It was such a wonderful thing to find them listed in Quaker records. The records were loaded with information.<br /><br />The marriage record gave the names of the parents of both the bride and the groom. It also included a list of 12 witnesses who had to vouch for the couple. The names of some of these people looked like they might have been relatives. It reminded me a little of looking at the godparents in christening records and trying to figure out how they were related. Birth records were also included that listed each child and their birth date. It was such a fun find. <br /><br />The records I looked at were originals on microfilm and they had ink blotches that made them at times unreadable but overall they were pretty good. I found some wonderful resources for the Quaker records in Indiana. Many of them have been extracted or abstracted and published in great volumes. What a quick way to do a radial search for ancestors that were Quakers in Indiana. <br /><br />Another type of Quaker records that would be useful are dismissal certificates. These were given to members as the moved out of an area to be presented to the congregation in their new area. This helps you to know exactly when the family left one area and arrived into another. Makes a great paper trail!!<br /><br />One of the keys to locating the records is to figure out what Monthly Meetinghouse might have been close to their home. A good map of the county for the time and a knowledge, through land records, where exactly your ancestors lived would be quite helpful. When in doubt, however, search all the records for the county that are available. =)<br /><br />Wouldn't it be great if we all had a little Quaker blood?Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-1757468998712492152009-10-03T20:51:00.000-07:002009-10-03T21:19:22.892-07:00North Carolina ArchivesThis week as part of the learning process I am looking up the major repositories for the mid-South region. I decided to start with North Carolina. One of the cases I am working on is in North Carolina and so it seemed like a logical place to start. It doesn't hurt that some of my ancestors came from there as well. You may have seen some of these in previous blog entries but it doesn't hurt to repeat them. It will help me learning process. <br /><br />So let's start out with the <a href="http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/default.htm"> North Carolina State Archives </a>. If you go to the home page and then click on "State Archives" you will be taken to a page where you can access the <a href="http://www.archives.ncdcr.gov/FindingAids/co_guide.pdf"> "Guide to the Research Materials in the North Carolina State Archives" </a>. Or you can just click on the link I have set up here. There are a lot of good things listed available both on microfilm and in boxes and folders. I think it would be great to visit there someday.<br /><br />Another good place to visit would be the <a href="http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/genealogy/index.html"> State Library of North Carolina </a> They have a nice listing of links. One that caught my eye was <a href="http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/genealogy/tncounties.html"> TN Counties (formerly in NC) </a>. Some of my ancestors went from North Carolina to Tennessee and there is a map showing which areas were formerly North Carolina and the corresponding counties they became when Tennessee became a state. <br /><br />The Family History Library's <a href="http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/RG/images/31070_North_Carolina.pdf"> Research Outline </a> for the state of North Carolina recommends the <a href="http://www.lib.unc.edu/"> University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library </a>. They seem to have some interesting items for southern history research. A good site to know if you're writing a history about your family from North Carolina and want to get some historical background.<br /><br />The best repository for searching in North Carolina however, is not in North Carolina. The <a href="www.familysearch.org"> Family History Library </a> of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have one of the largest collections of microfilmed records from the state of North Carolina. On the shelves on the third floor you can find a book <a href="http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/RG/frameset_rg.asp?Dest=G1&Aid=&Gid=&Lid=&Sid=&Did=&Juris1=&Event=&Year=&Gloss=&Sub=&Tab=&Entry=&Guide=North_Carolina.ASP"> The Historical Records of North Carolina </a> by Charles Christopher Crittenden. This three volume set gives background on each of the counties and a listing of their inventories.<br /><br />If you know of any others, please leave me a comment so I can update this list.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-60727969535076360122009-09-22T19:45:00.000-07:002009-09-22T20:01:38.743-07:00ICAPGenIt's been a while since I wrote a new blog post. I have been mulling an idea around in my head and have now finally decided to act on it. I am currently working as a self-employed genealogy researcher. I do family history research for several firms in the Salt Lake City area. One of my goals is to become an accredited genealogist. I thought it would be fun to chronicle my progress and my preparations towards submitting my application to become an AG (accredited genealogist). The accreditation basically tells the world that you have highly specialized skills for researching in the geographic area you are accredited in. ICAPGen stands for the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists.<br /><br />I have decided to begin the process by trying to attain accreditation through ICAPGen in the Mid-South region of the United States. So what states does that cover? Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Missouri, South Carolina, and West Virginia. To learn more about the accreditation process, please go to the <a href="http://icapgen.org/index.html"> ICAPGen </a> website. <br /><br />It won't be easy but it will be wonderful to prepare and learn all about the records and resources available for researchers in these states. I am using as my guide the book "Becoming An Accredited Genealogist: Plus 100 Tips to Ensure Your Success" by Karen Clifford. In this book the author outlines the accreditation process and includes practice test questions and activities designed to help you prepare.<br /><br />I invite you to join me on a genealogical adventure as I prepare to take the AG exams. So where does the blog fit in? I will be recording the activities and preparations that I go through on my to preparing for the exam in my blog.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6090483398020183260.post-72510632542732268192009-08-03T19:47:00.000-07:002009-08-03T19:51:50.912-07:00Links to Census Power PointsRecently I had the opportunity to teach a couple of classes on how to use the US census. My students asked for copies of the slides of my presentations and so here is the link to get to them. <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/crowdergenealogy/Home/research-helps">My Research Helps Page</a><br /><br />You will find two attachments at the bottom of the page. One is for the US Census. The other gives examples of some foreign censuses.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835415008423012906noreply@blogger.com0