February 2022 – GenealogyAtHeart.com

Heirloom Preservation

I have been so busy the past week! My family and I attended an archaeology camp all week and today is my local genealogy society’s annual conference. I’m blogging today on a previously written article that an organization had no space for as a sidebar. Enjoy!

Without a doubt, heirlooms are loved. Some are valued because they are a tangible connection to a deceased loved one. To others, the object reflects a simpler time or awe that the item survived a specific event. Heirlooms are important to us because they belong to our personal past, marking our family’s social group and reminding us of those caring individuals who came before us. Holding a book that your grandfather used to read to you can ignite a sense of security. Using your great-grandmother’s recipe can provide your whole being comfort. Heirlooms deserve to be treasured!

Here’s how to keep your priceless object preserved for future generations:

Research the item:

Gather and place in chronological order all stories that have been written about the object. After reading each account, list discrepancies, noting who made the claim. Tales written closest to the time of the event may be slightly more accurate as memories can fade. Keep in mind that eyewitnesses aren’t always credible. A very young child may not understand the situation they are observing; an adult may embellish or fill in what they can’t clearly recall.
If no stories have been written, write it down! Ask family members for their memories; record or have them write down their version of the item’s history.
Research names, dates, and places associated with the item as you would while researching your family tree. Think of the heirloom as an extension of your family history.
Know that some items cannot be fully researched. My great grandmother’s hurricane lamp, purportedly bought in the summer of 1913 at Marshall Field’s in Chicago, had been passed to me with no receipt. I can pinpoint my family to Chicago, have personal knowledge that my grandmother shopped at the store and have the lamp appraised to identify a time range of its origin but it’s unlikely I will ever know for certain where the item was purchased.

Store your item safely:

Items last longer when stored in climate-controlled conditions that monitor temperature (60-70 degrees Fahrenheit) and humidity (not to exceed relative humidity of 75). In Florida, this likely means don’t store your precious belongings in your garage, attic or shed.
For paper, photographs, or fabrics, store items in acid free containers.
Use cotton gloves when handling items that may be damaged by skin oil, such as old photographs, film, or metal. For other items, make sure your hands are clean before touching.

Have an emergency plan:

List your most irreplaceable items and their location. In an emergency evacuation, your list will be invaluable in making sure you don’t forget a priceless item in your panic. Keep the list with your important papers that you would take with you so you can easily remember what to pack.
If your item is too bulky to take, have a backup plan to keep it as safe as possible. Place your smaller items in durable plastic storage containers. Wrap larger items in a waterproof tarp. Elevate objects to avoid flood damage. Place them along an inner wall away from windows and doors.
Make sure items you want passed to the next generation are identified. Keep a copy of your evacuation list with your will, noting the name of who you are bequeathing the object. An alternative is to place a label on the bottom of the object with the name of the original owner, year it was acquired if known and who you’d like the new owner to be. When your loved ones are cleaning up after you, they can easily identify a family memento from a tchotchke. In the meantime, your treasure can be kept in its usual location where you may continue to enjoy it.

Research Challenges and How to Overcome Them

I’m blogging a day early as I will be out of town giving a lecture tomorrow. Yep, back in person. With a Mask. Hooray!!

I’m reflecting today on what should have been simple research tasks locally that turned out to be anything but. I’m avoiding using specific names and places as I don’t want to cause further problems; I do think you need to be reminded, however, on how to get over, under, around, and through to discover your research goals.

My two research goals were: 1. Find the name of an individual who lived on a street in an unincorporated area of a county in the late 1990s. 2. Find living members of a pioneer family who once held the first bounty land in the area in the mid-1850s.

Here’s the backstory – in the late 1990’s I met a neighbor who told me a horrific tale about a local family. The tale has haunted me since and I was determined to now research it fully. Problem was, I couldn’t remember the neighbor’s name. I was hoping to discover that and see how that individual was connected to the event. That neighbor had told me the name of the family who had experienced the event and claimed they were descended from the first pioneer family in that location. A quick internet search showed me that was correct. Their last names are common, however, so finding a living family member in an area that had grown exponentially over the years wouldn’t be quick. The neighbor was elderly so I didn’t think I would be able to find her, 27 years after we had met.

Now think about my goals and how you would quickly and ACCURATELY reach them. My thought for goal 1 was to locate City Directories. I first checked the public library, in person, for the area where the person had resided. They had no directories. I then went in person to the historical society who happens to be located within a block of where the individual I was seeking lived. They don’t have directories, either.

I also checked with the society about the pioneer family. One of the members knew of the goal 2 family and of the event that I was researching. Since it was the holidays it was suggested that we meet again in January.

As genealogists, we all know that names and places change over time. The location of the event occurred on an island that has since split in half and changed names and geographically, locations, as it has moved apart. The portion of the island where the event occurred has migrated north and is located across from the unincorporated area I visited. The unincorporated area was once incorporated but then unincorporated, thus changing its name several times. The bounty land was located today in the unincorporated area, too, but a city to the south now claims that the family was their first city inhabitants. Although the area is now well-populated, the city to the north of the incorporated area was at the time of the event, the largest city. Today, the largest city is the county seat located to the south of the city claiming the settler as their town founder.

I called the library for the city that claimed the pioneer family and was told they had no city directories for the unincorporated area. I checked the larger city to the north, they didn’t have the city directories, either. I looked online for the county seat’s library holdings and they did not have the city directories for the unincorporated area.

At the end of last month, I reconnected with the unincorporated historical society and was told they had looked but were unable to locate any members of the pioneering family remaining in the area. I had found some descendants through online family trees but they were not local and had no knowledge of the event. They also had no knowledge of any family member ever living on the street my neighbor lived on.

Meanwhile, I used newspapers and books to learn more about the tragedy. I found numerous accounts in the Tampa Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times. Tampa is in a neighboring county but had been the county where the event had occurred just a few years previously. St. Petersburg was a growing city well south of the event but was trying to become the regional powerhouse paper at the time. Neither newspaper exists today; they have combined and are now called the Tampa Bay Times.

When the event occurred there were many small local newspapers but the remaining issues are not available online. I put in requests with two other historical societies who have been known to have some issues. Nada.

I wrote the article with the information I had found. Like all stories, both newspaper accounts and the neighbor’s version of events vary.

Thursday, on a whim, I decided to stop at the city that claimed the pioneer’s library to check for myself that they didn’t have the City Directories. Imagine what I discovered. The information I was looking for was in a 1998 directory listed under the city that is the county seat. The clip is shown above.

As soon as I saw the page I quickly recognized the neighbor’s name. Internet research then unveiled that the neighbor’s husband had lived next door to the family in the 1940 US Federal census. The road both families lived on was the name of the pioneer and was the homestead land. I then looked for obituaries and discovered that descendants had left the area. Just tie this up and put a bow on it!

After the library visit, I decided to stop by that city’s historical society to see if they had any accounts of the event. I’m sad to say that the two folks on duty had no knowledge of local history. I was given the name of someone who supposedly knew all about the town’s past. I sent an email which was promptly responded to with complete misinformation. I knew it was wrong as I had already checked property records, published journals of a neighbor to the family who had been involved in the tragedy and census records.

I thanked the individual and shared the information I had found. Never got a response as I likely ticked the person off. That wasn’t my intention; I believe it’s important to find the documents, analyze them in comparison to everything found and then write up the findings for future folks so that history is not forgotten or rewritten by whatever the culture of the day believes.

So, my dear readers, the lessons learned are as follows:

You have to do boots on the ground research. Everything you’ve been unable to physically check out yourself during the pandemic you will need to verify in person as soon as you are able.
“Authorities” are not unless they can prove to you how they came to their conclusion. Don’t rely on what was told to you by an expert without evidence.
Widen your net and expand your geographic area to locate information. This was my first experience with researching an event on a land mass that had physically moved and I guess, with climate change, it won’t be my last.
Don’t give up! Somewhere is the information you seek. Persistence pays off.
Make sure you write up your findings for future generations.

Thinking About DNA Differently

Often we get stuck in a mindset, for better or worse. I had two DNA conversations this week that helped me broaden my thinking about DNA.

First, I’ve had one of those weeks where everything tech-wise decided to stop operating. Consequently, I spent time on the phone with an IT person who was trying to get an account to accept my password. In the course of our conversation, he asked me what my business was about and as I described what a genealogist does, he said I had reminded him that he needed to upload his DNA results for his primary care physician. Wow, I hadn’t realized that primary care doctors were now taking results from the big DNA organizations!

Now for the divergent thinking part of the story – I asked where he tested and he said 23andMe; he that he was SHOCKED that they knew of his close relationship with his aunt. She was his FAVORITE relative and they shared interests and food preferences. He had no idea that the company would understand how close emotionally he felt to her.

I paused to find the right words. I explained they didn’t know how he felt but they knew how her genes compared to his genes and the “close” relationship meant genetically and not emotionally.

The following day a couple brought their adorable mutt into our local historical society for a tour. Yes, leashed behaved pets are allowed. This was the cutest pup I’ve ever seen. A colleague asked if they knew what breeds he was and the response surprised me – they had his DNA done and he was schnauzer, poodle, shih tzu, and shepherd. I’ve been dogless for a few years now; I had no idea you could have your dog tested.

DNA sure has come a long way in a short time!

Genealogy Education

The weather outside appears to be frightful for much of the U.S. and parts of Europe, so my dear readers, nothing like cozying up with your tech device and working your brain muscles to learn additional tips and tricks genealogy-wise.

I live in an area that has the largest Greek population outside of Greece; if you don’t and are of Greek heritage you might think your ancestor hunt is a dead end. Think again! Last weekend the Tarpon Springs Public Library held its 2nd Greek Genealogy Conference. No worries that you missed it – it’s available, handouts and all, on YouTube.

I have to share this story from Tuesday. . . I volunteer at my local hospital which is in the process of renovating. There is a very calming beach scene mural that was placed on the wall in the family waiting area. A woman got off the elevator and gasped. I asked if I could help and she just stared, pointing at the mural. She replied, “That’s the view from my home in Greece!” She then showed me a pic her husband had texted her that morning of the snowfall. Yep, same buildings as in the mural with a light dusting of snow. Definitely a small world and I love how she educated me about the mural that has no identifier as to where it was located.

The National Genealogical Conference registration is now open with a DISCOUNT for their May 24-28, 2002 Family History Conference in Sacramento, California. Your options are to select in-person, virtual, or on-demand so you can view lectures later in the summer. Check out their catalog here. I’m thrilled that there are options available as I love attending but am not yet comfortable with traveling there in May.

MyHeritage.com has introduced a 40 lesson Intro to Genealogy course that takes about 5 hours to complete; you don’t have to do it in one sitting. I haven’t taken it myself but as soon as I’m done with my scanning project (sigh) I plan to take a look at it.

Speaking of scanning, I had two wonderful comments to my last week’s blog that I need to share. Bob recommended that I also save my digitized photos to an external hard drive. He is so right! Randy reminded me that MyHeritage.com has awesome photo software to enhance your old photos. It also just happens to be free through tomorrow. Check it out here if you’re not a member. Thanks, Randy, I sadly discovered my wedding album is fading. Luckily, I did scan those photos years ago but I do have some other photos that could use a facelift. I plan on using those features once I’m done.

MyHeritage has also had some changes to how you can view their historical records, now in a table view. Check out their blog article about it.

Let’s not forget that we, as a genealogy community, are great sources of educating each other. I was contacted on Ancestry.com by my 7th great step-cousin last week on my Hollingshead line. We were discussing her 7th great-grandmother’s will and I shared how surprised I originally was when I saw she had bequeathed her slaves to one of her children. Step-mom lived in New Jersey from about 1720 to 1771. Cousin recommended a good read that her local genealogical society had recommended when she shared the will with them. It’s available on Amazon and I selected the Kindle download for Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills If These Stones Could Talk: African American Presence in the Hopewell Valley, Sourland Mountain and the Surrounding Regions of New Jersey. It is a fascinating read and timely for Black History Month!