Tips – Page 26 – GenealogyAtHeart.com

Ancestry.com 30% Discount

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 14 Feb 2016

Did you know if you are an AARP member you can receive a 30% discount on your Ancestry.com membership? That’s a huge savings!

Last fall I received an over sized postcard in the mail from Ancestry.com informing me about the discount. I’m up for renewal soon so I called to have the offer applied. All I needed was my AARP number which, of course, I didn’t have in front of me. The Ancestry Customer Service Rep recommended I call back a day or two before the expiration of my current account so that I could take full advantage of the offer as it is applied immediately to the day you call. I won’t work if you call AFTER the renewal date. The offer is one time only and is applied as two six month concurrent memberships. Works for me!

Since this is a sizable savings for my most expensive genealogy membership I began looking around at my other organizations to see if they offered Ancestry.com discounts – checked Association of Professional Genealogists, National Genealogical Society, New England Historic and Genealogical Society, Florida State Genealogical Society, National Education Association and even Angie’s List. No one else had an offer. Usually when Ancestry runs a special it’s not applicable to current members so I was really pleased to be able to take advantage of the AARP offer. If you didn’t get the post card and you are an AARP member, call Ancestry.com when you receive your renewal email and tell them that you’d like the discount applied. All you need is your AARP number. Love those Senior Citizen privileges.

Evernote…Ever so helpful

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 4 Feb 2016.

Back from my trip and I’m happy to report the first two generations of my Kinship Determination Project (KDP) is in draft form. Do you use Evernote? I use it on my Kindle to take notes at meetings but I’ve never used it while researching or for any of my other portfolio requirements. Maybe because I do use it at my primary job I had little trouble working on the KDP using Evernote on my Kindle. Who would have thought?! So now I have another place to access the document. I figure I can review it during down times where ever I might be. It’s getting to be quite long at this point so I won’t be able to review all of it during say, a lunch break, but my latest plan is to look it over daily and then devote the weekends to moving forward. My goal is to have the complete rough draft – all 3 generations – by the end of February and use spring break to seek out the few remaining records I’d like to find. They may not exist but unless I seek them out in person I won’t know for sure. I wouldn’t be meeting the reasonably exhaustive search of the genealogical proof standard without knowing for sure!

I’m becoming so involved with the family I’m writing about I feel like I know them, even though I never met any of them and I’m not related to them. I’m looking forward to traipsing around in their footsteps when spring arrives. I would love to find a picture of generation 1 and 2. I have one of the couple in generation 3 but to find the trifecta, that would be awesome! I have a vision of what they looked like but who knows how accurate that can be.

Help! Need Ideas to Obtain Baptismal Records

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 30 Jan 2016.

I’ll be traveling for my primary job over the next few days so I decided to save my Kinship Determination Project (KDP) in several places – the cloud (I use Dropbox), a thumb drive, my desktop, my husband’s computer’s desktop, and a hard copy. Yes, I’m a little paranoid that my hard work will disappear!

This trip could not have come at a worse time as far as the KDP is concerned. I was really on a roll with it and then company arrived last Sunday so I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I wanted to do. Had a very busy week of classroom visits and meetings, took a webinar, and was fighting off a cold so the KDP was put on the back burner. I really don’t want another week to go by without progress on it so I thought maybe I could edit the hard copy on the plane and make an update via the cloud when I land.

I resolved a few confusions – the first had to do with a death certificate not matching a tombstone; the second was too many people with the same name in the same place at the same time but they were all of vastly different ages so that was a quick analysis, too.

I’ve gotten a lot of the first and second generation written but I’ve identified two areas I need to do more exhaustive research in – I need to find a deed and a will. Other than that, I’m feeling good about the records I’ve uncovered.

So after awhile of analyzing records I decided I needed a break and I took a look at a different line that I’ve hit a brick wall with. Last month I found the obituary and it wasn’t very helpful. I’m trying to identify parents but it didn’t mention them; neither did the death certificate or the cemetery records. The obit did say the individual was a lifelong member of a church so I decided to contact the church to see if they had a baptism record that might list the parents. It’s been 6 weeks and I’m getting a little frustrated. I’ve emailed, called (several times), written a letter, and posted on their Facebook page. I’m feeling like a pest but persistence pays so I’m not giving up yet. How hard can it be to look this up, especially since I gave them the date of birth, too! I offered to pay. I sent a stamped return receipt envelope. Still received nothing. I know no one that lives in the area that could go in person on my behalf. I contacted the library, museum and the local genealogy society to see if they had any ins with the church. Nada! If anyone has any brilliant ideas for me I’d appreciate hearing!

A New FAN Idea

Originally published on genealogyatheart.com on 17 Jan 2016.

FAN – Friends and Neighbors – of your ancestors is a tried and true way to help uncover brick walls. It didn’t dawn on me that checking out your current Friends and Neighbors can also help you connect with the past. In December, I was talking to my office mate about my genealogical plans for the holidays. She has no interest in genealogy but inherited from her grandmother all of the family heirlooms which she keeps in her garage. GASP! I almost had a heart attack when she told me she has an indentured servant record of an ancestor from the 1700’s in her garage, along with civil war letters and tintype photos. The look on my face must have said it all as she immediately told me I shouldn’t worry as she had “all that stuff in acid free folders and binders” in rubber totes. I mentioned no air conditioning, high humidity, bugs and rodents (hey, this is Florida and that is in everyone’s neighborhood!), not to mention dust, mold and temperature extremes. She decided she would spend a few minutes over the holidays cleaning out a closet to store these family treasures.

That evening, I got a text from her with several pictures of documents and a question about how she could find out the name of a man in a photo and how he was related to her. Since I didn’t get her a Christmas gift I told her I’d check it out. Three hours later I had discovered the man’s name, occupation, place of birth and sad tale of his daughter who had been the clue in identifying him. Still working on how she’s related to him and I suspect she isn’t. My present hypothesis is that she is related to the man’s daughter’s husband. They had no living children so the photo may have passed to the husband’s surviving family members.

Oddly, my husband’s got family with the same name in the same location at the same time with the same occupation and I bet I can tie everyone together. If so, this means that my husband is distantly related to my office mate. If not, their families were definitely neighbors.

We live in the Florida. The family I’m researching lived in New York in the 1800’s. My husband was born in Indiana and my office mate in Massachusetts. If she hadn’t mentioned the stash of heirlooms in her garage I would have never discovered a connection. Yes, the FAN method works but not the way I expected!

Genealogical Resolutions

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 3 Jan 2016.

Exercise, eat healthier, lose weight – nope, not for me! The time has come to resolve for 2016, that I will

diligently work on completing my Board of Certification of Genealogy portfolio and submit it before my deadline of October 24th.
in my free time (yeah, right) start downloading all of the scans I have placed on Ancestry.com so when I can no longer afford a subscription I won’t have lost anything. I foolishly saved everything to Ancestry without downloading a copy to my overworked laptop.
continue blogging twice a week.
plan my upcoming midwest research trip and find things that will interest hubby while I’m researching.
really, truly set up an office that is functional. I’ll be reclaiming the dining room table in the interim now that the holidays are over.
reread the genealogical bibles – the Genealogy Standards, Evidence Explained, BCG Skillbuilders, etc, to refresh the unfreshed mind.
fix my old citations in my family tree as they really were poorly done back in the day.
work on completing my e-book, Thanks to the Yanks. (Since part of this is included in my certification portfolio I’ll be unable to publish until after the process is completed but I can continue to work on it since I’ve changed directions from when I started)
continue taking webinars to refine my craft and
looking forward to attending conferences, especially the National Genealogy Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in May! Email me through my website if you plan on attending, too! (www.genealogyatheart.com)

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Finding Old Time Medical Records Can Be A Challenge

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 30 Dec 2015.

Don’t you hate it when you discover wrong info on the internet and have no way to correct it?! I’m sure the information was accurate once but it isn’t any longer. Now that Ancestry.com owns rootsweb they permit “view only” so no updates can be made. It’s nice that the old posts are still viewable but it wastes a lot of time if you follow the directions that are wrong.

In August I tried to obtain records from a state hospital in Florida. I found the following links:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~chattahoochee/

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~chattahoochee/index12.html

Following directions from those sites, I wrote a letter in late August to the Health Information Manager as I figured the name given on the above link probably wasn’t accurate any longer. I included a copy of my driver’s license, the client’s driver’s license, and birth and death records to prove lineage to the individual I was trying to obtain information about.

On September 3rd I was contacted by an individual who said she was a volunteer and that she had the file on her desk but couldn’t send the contents until I submitted the following notarized statement from the client:

“I am the oldest living relative and heir-at-law and am giving permission to send the copy of my Great Grandmother, (insert the individual’s name here as I don’t have permission to use it in this blog), to: (My Name, My Address)”

Note: If you are requesting the information for your own use you can omit the giving permission portion. Client had to attest that I had permission to receive the records which is why the statement had to be included.

We were supposed to fax the notarized statement to a number given to me but the fax didn’t work so I called the number I had been contacted from but that number wasn’t working either so I mailed the notarized statement with a note explaining why I was unable to fax it.

I made a follow up call the following week to verify that the notarized copy was received because we have terrible mail service here. The phone number was working and the same volunteer told me it had been received and was pending approval by the Health Information Manager. This was new! Last time we spoke she never told me it had to be approved; I was led to believe that the file was found and as soon as the notarized permission was received it would be copied and sent.

A month passed and nothing was received so I called again. This time the phone was the fax and the fax was the phone! I spoke with the same volunteer who now said, “As an employee, this is my side job so I can only look for files when I’m caught up with my other duties.” I didn’t want to question her as to when she was hired as she had presented herself as a volunteer in our two previous phone calls, plus she had told me she had the file on her desk. She could give me no time frame as to when I might receive the information.

Another month passed so I wrote a letter asking if additional information was needed and this time, the fax worked (Yay!) I got a phone call back a few days later from the volunteer/employee saying how weird it was that the file had just been approved to send to me. She said she would mail it the following day.

On November 25 I received the “file.” Actually, it was a letter from the Health Information Manager apologizing for the delay in responding and mentioning that most of the records had been destroyed (how convenient) and that all they had was attached. It was a copy of an admission card and a ledger page on the day the patient arrived. The letter directed me to check the Florida State Archives as some records had been transferred there but there was no telling if this patient’s file was one of those records saved.

I contacted the state archivist by phone. What a delightful person! She told me that most records had been destroyed and that older records were “samplings” only. She said researching is “hit or miss” but she would see what she could find. Luckily for us, she was able to find, scan and email 10 pages of the initial admission document within an hour. (Cost is .25 per page).

A diligent genealogist uses reasonably exhaustive searches so I would recommend pursuing the path that I followed but be aware that it was MONTHS before I received the scant information. I think one of the genealogy standards ought to address patience! What I received was extremely valuable, though, and actually changed the direction of the research plan.

Due to the holiday, I’m again blogging early. Hope to resume my regular Sunday and Thursday blogs next week. Wishing a Happy New Year to you and your family!

Another Find Where It Shouldn’t Have Been!

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 26 Dec 2015.

Okay – here we go again! I found the missing information in a place that that was not anywhere close to where the ancestor had lived but ironically, was only 5 minutes from where I work.

Earlier this month I blogged about the importance of revisiting places previously checked as sometimes the needed information becomes available due to persistence. You can read that blog here – Why Persistence Pays in Hunting Records.

That blog was about my difficulty in obtaining a death records for my husband’s maternal great grandmother, Louise Carlson Johnson. I had a death year (1937) given to me by his mother but no proof of death. Previously, I had written to Lake County, Indiana where I assumed she had died, for a death certificate. They told me they didn’t have one. I then contacted the Gary Health Department thinking they may have some record but they said they had nothing on Louise. I contacted both hospitals in existence in Gary at the time of her death – Methodist Hospital (the Protestant hospital) and Mary Mercy (the Roman Catholic Hospital) but they couldn’t help me. I checked both hospitals because many of our Protestant relatives used Mercy Hospital as they had a very good staff back in the day. And seriously, when you’re in pain who cares who helps you!

After discovering that Louise was buried in Ridgelawn Cemetery in Lake County, Indiana I decided to write to Indianapolis (for my non US readers – that’s the capitol of Indiana) to see if they had the death record. Maybe it had been sent from the local to the state level. I received the response via snail mail on December 22– no record found. Geez!

The cemetery didn’t seem to be the kind of place that makes any exception to rules (see Ashes on the Doorstep for those places that do!) so I believe the death certificate was presented for burial. With that thought in mind I decided there was only two reasons that there was no death certificate in Lake County: 1) she had remarried and her name was no longer Johnson or 2) she died somewhere besides Lake County.

I checked Ancestry.com for City Directory information for Gary for 1937 and found her residing with one of her married daughters. Her name was still Johnson and she was listed as a widow. I wasn’t exactly sure when the City Directory was published but the chance of her marrying in the few months after it was published and before her death was remote as she had been a widow for 31 years. That meant she must have died out of the county.

Louise had 3 children – all married in 1937. She resided with daughter Elsie in Gary. Daughter Ruth lived nearby. Daughter Helen, however, was living in Porter County – the county next to Lake. Louise also had 10 step children and although I’ve been unable to trace many of them, some were also living in Porter County. From letters that I have it didn’t appear that Louise was close to most of the step children but the possibility existed that she may have been visiting one when she passed away. Porter County seemed the most viable place to look.

Searching online I could find no database for Porter County deaths. I had previously checked newspaper archives for the Vidette Messenger, the Valparaiso (Porter County seat) newspaper but found no obituary. I had also checked for an obituary in the Gary paper, The Post Tribune, previously but was unable to find a paper from that year as the paper had been sold a number of times and some years are missing in the archives. Of course, 1937 was one of those years!

I went to familysearch.org to check their catalog and discovered a book that might be helpful – Index to death records, Porter County, Indiana, 1931-1959. Right place, right years – could be helpful.

Checked Worldcat and found a copy locally so Wednesday morning I called the Genealogy Department at the Tampa Public Library and David not only found the book on the shelf, he did a lookup for me. Happy Holiday to me! Sure enough, Louise Johnson was listed in May 1937. Now I know where I can write for the death certificate!

Louise is the only recent relative that I don’t have parent information for so hopefully, the death certificate will give me a clue or two. Also, her dna is very interesting so I’d really like to find out more about her line.

Due to holiday closures David volunteered to scan and email the page to me. I attached it to the death certificate request to expedite it. Like the song says, “waiting is the hardest part!”

After I put the death certificate request in the mail I decided to just recheck newspaper archives and what wonders did I behold! Some kind folks have entered the obituary information for the Gary Post Tribune and now 1937 is available! I immediately requested a librarian to look it up. Keeping my fingers crossed that my youngest brick wall is about to be scaled.

12+ More Genealogical Gems to Use

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 20 Dec 2015.

Last post was my 12 most favorite free genealogy sites and today is my 12 favorite paid sites. I have placed these in alphabetical order and not by preference:

1. Ancestry.com – since they own just about everything in the genealogical world it’s very hard not to subscribe to them. I do have issues with their new website, phantom hints, relationship help that comes and goes, removal of records and not adding new databases but for now, I still use them. Just learned there is an AARP discount and I will be going after that when I renew in 2 months. Complete access is $389.00 per year. OUCH!

2, Association of Professional Genealogists – “an international organization dedicated to supporting those engaged in the business of genealogy through advocacy, collaboration, education, and the promotion of high ethical standards.” Subscribers are $45.00 annually, Professional Members $100.00. Well worth it for the webinars, journal and eNewsletter! Additionally, members get discounts to many paid sites.

3, Board for Certification of Genealogists – Even if you have no desire to become a Certified Genealogist this site is valuable! Check out the Skillbuilding, Work Samples and Genealogy Standards which are free. If you decide to become certified, the cost is $75.00 initially, followed by $300.00 when your portfolio is submitted (1 year deadline).

4. FindMyPast.com – Similar to Ancestry with different records. Cost varies depending on plan purchased. I got a year free due to being a member the National Genealogical Society but it would have cost me $99.95. Since I’ve had trouble uploading my tree I won’t be purchasing this anytime soon but it was nice for a year.

5. Fold3.com – an ancestry.com owned site, currently I’m not a member but I join periodically. For military history it’s a must have. If you’re an ancestry member it’s currently $39.95 a year – half the regular price. So maybe, I’ll upgrade….

6. JStor – is a digital library with books and journals (about 1700) that are intellectual in nature. Many libraries and educational institutions are members so check out if you get an alumni password. If not, some access is free (but not much) and you can purchase an article if you have to, cost varies.

7. New England Historicand Genealogical Society – the database, AmericanAncestors.org is free, however, if you are planning to visit the library in Boston, it is not free. This is a nonprofit organization that also offers research assistance (for an additional fee but discounted), an awesome magazine, journal, weekly email update and seminars. Well worth it for $89.95 a year.

8. National Genealogical Society – the journal, the magazine, the conference, the discounts, the store – wow, that’s a lot of genealogy goodness. Annual membership is $65.00.

9, Radaris – the place to find the living! “Radaris is a universal people directory and an information indexing system about people.” Trying to find long lost cousin Joe – this site will help. If you just want a report it will cost .95. Premium memberships can cost up to $49.95 per MONTH. I only purchase a report if I’m desperate as I usually can find people through other methods – Facebook, Linkedin, etc.

10, Spokeo – a more inexpensive way to find the missing – A 6 month membership is $4.95 per month. They do offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee that I’ve never tried so I can’t attest to what that offer is. I don’t currently belong to this, either, but I’ve gleaned info from this site to help me locate free information in the past.

11 Your Local Genealogy Society – because you need to hang out with people who get excited about your finds. Mine offers trainings and research help for novices. Cost is $17.00 a year.

12. Your State Genealogy Society – or whichever state your ancestors’ resided. My state offers a wonderful journal, newsletter, links to sites around my state, posting for help and webinars. For $25.00 a year it’s the best deal around!

Bonus – The sites mentioned above are not the only for pay genealogy sites around but the ones I use the most. Every couple of years I join newspaperarchive.com but until they add some new newspapers, I’ve maxed them out. I would highly recommend them, though, if you haven’t ever been a member.

Yikes! I totaled the amount and I’ve spent $776.85 this year. Guess when I retire Ancestry will be accessed only from the library.

Twelve+ Genealogy Gems for a Whole Year of Fun!

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 16 Dec 2015.

I’ve been asked lately by colleagues and students what are some of my favorite genealogy sites so in keeping with the holidays (and having the 12 Days of Christmas stuck in my head!) here are my favorite free go to sites for quick genealogy answers. They are listed in alphabetical order because they are all valuable in their own way. I’ve also included the sites’ own description, when available:

AncestorCloud – “is a community that connects family researchers with willing helpers and professional genealogists. Connect with helpers to pick up records, take local photographs, translate documents, help with research questions or conduct custom research. It’s free to join and post a request. Connect with researchers in over 52 countries”. I have never been contacted to provide research assistance so I can’t vouch for how that works but I did post a request for help that was picked up by a genealogist in Croatia. AncestorCloud acts as an intermediary so I never communicated directly with the researcher. She did provide valuable assistance in how to locate my maternal great grandmother’s gravesite, The process isn’t anywhere online so the information was extremely valuable to me. I had tried Find-A-Grave and Billion Graves but no one ever responded. I volunteered to pay the researcher $25.00 US dollars for her help – that was my choice. If you are going to hire someone the price is negotiated before hand. Additionally, AncestorCloud emails helpful genealogical articles.
Crestleaf – “is for people who want to preserve their family’s legacy in a chronological timeline and digital archive for both current and future generations to enjoy.” I don’t use Crestleaf as an archive. Instead, I scroll to the bottom of the page and check the All Surname search. You can also browse by state or decade. The absolute best part of Crestleaf, though, is the weekly emailed Genealogy Tips and News. One of my favorite reads!
Cyndi’s List -“A comprehensive, categorized & cross-referenced list of links that point you to genealogical research sites online.” Cyndi has been a wonderful resource for me for a long time! Amazing that her links always work and are current.
Family Search – “Search for a deceased ancestor in historical records to uncover vital information from their life.” Besides searching records, check out the genealogies (that may be inaccurate so look for citations), catalog, books and the wiki. I love the wiki and find it’s extremely useful if I need information about a region that I’m don’t typically research. The only cost is if you want to view microfilm that hasn’t been placed online. You can order and have it sent to a local Family History Center to view.
Find-A-Grave – “Find the graves of ancestors, create virtual memorials, add ‘virtual flowers’ and a note to a loved one’s grave” It’s owned by Ancestry.com but remains free.
Billion Graves – “Collect photos of the headstones in your local cemetery with our iPhone/Android camera app. Then upload the mapped-out photos here. Transcribe information from uploaded headstone photos – then descendants everywhere can easily search for their ancestors. Search for your ancestors’ graves using our easy search. You can access their headstone records, photos of headstones, and accurate locations of all the graves.” (Both Find-a-Grave and Billion Graves have helped me find children that may have been born and died in between census years)
Geneabloggers – “The ultimate site for your genealogy blog – an online community created by Thomas MacEntee”. There’s alot of blogs here but the features I like the most are Tom’s genealogy special offers and his webinars (which have a nominal charge). Subscribe for free to Geneabloggers and you’ll receive emails with give aways (such as genealogy e-books), discounts and helpful hints.
Genealogy in Time (online) Magazine -“We have the tools and resources to help you discover your ancestors for free. Let us help you find your story”. There’s also a search engine, rare book search and the magazine includes new records placed online each week.
Geneanet News – “More than 1.5 billion indexed individuals The Genealogy Library gives access to hundreds of thousands documents indexed for genealogy research.” They will email you periodically any surname updates you’ve identified to follow.
Genealogy News – Every Sunday, I receive this awesome newsletter filled with links of recent genealogy news from Genealogy Today LLC. Love to read it with my morning coffee as it often gives me ideas that I use to plan my research for the upcoming week.
Legacy Family Tree – “Genealogy News, Legacy tricks and technology tips”. Some webinars are not free but many are. The Standard Edition of Legacy is free to download if you want to save your tree to your hard drive, desktop or cloud. If you do use their tree, you can also subscribe free to their techie list and you’ll get emails with updates and hints. They’re also on Facebook.
Rootsweb – A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away… no, not Star Wars, I’m referring to circa 2000 before Ancestry.com owned everything – Rootsweb was the most awesome site in the genealogy universe. I still use it although it’s not current and it’s now owned by Ancestry. It remains free, however, and if I’m stuck I use the site to see if someone has created a tree in the past that may be helpful.

Next time I’ll write about my favorite NON FREE sites. Happy Hunting!

Playing With Names – Wildcard Searching and Other Methods to Discover Your Family

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 13 Dec 2015

Just read a helpful blog about how to use wildcards when researching online. You can read it here. I have to admit that I’m not very good at using wildcards or identifying the many, varied and unusual ways my ancestors spelled their names. I think that many of my brick walls could could tumbling down if I took the time to use the wildcard search approach.

Another method I’ve used was just plain dumb luck but it taught me a very simple way that I’ve used since. I once had a dead end on my paternal grandmother’s line. A distant family member thought my 2nd great grandmother’s name was Maria Dure. I searched and searched for years and found nada! It never dawned on me that I had two of the letters reversed in the last name. Duh, DURE should have been DUER. I would love to take credit for that discovery but alas, wasn’t me who figured this out. I’m not sure how the gentleman found me but I received an email asking me about by DUER connection. I responded I didn’t see any Duer’s in my tree. The writer than let me know he suspected my Maria Dure was a long lost line he was pursuing. He knew his missing Maria had married an immigrant named Kuhn and sure enough, once I began looking for Maria under Duer the whole line fell into place! He was kind enough to send me his years of Duer research and they are just a fun family to learn about. (Well, probably getting kicked out of England wasn’t exactly fun, nor later being shunned or having to payoff an indenture in the Caribbean but you understand what I mean)

Last technique I’ve used is adding or removing an ending. My Koss’ are really Kos. Have found documents with both names so it pays to play with the last name.

Sorry this is so short but I’m recuperating from jet lag! Once my head clears I’m going to take my own advice and play with my Bird or is it Byrd?! or Berd or Burd line. Happy Hunting!