Next Year, I Resolve To....Part 2

...still organize my files.

I'm determined that I am going to do this.  I know I say this all the time, but I'm actually going to do it this year.

One of the fun things about my genealogy hobby is I'm not only working on my adoptive family, but my birth family AND my husband's adoptive family.  He's not made the jump to find his birth family yet.  I don't know if he will.  I keep telling him that my experience with my birth family is not the norm.  We've been in touch since 1992 and have a wonderful relationship.

So, what is my major plan for organization, you ask?  I know that I will be all over the place, working on three families at once, but what I've decided to do is begin at the A's.  As I work on each family, I WILL document each and every fact I find.  I will print off each census, fact, etc I find and organize it - first with the main family the ancestor comes from, as far as I have it documented and then work my way down the line.

As the research is being done, I'm going to keep a running list of questions/brick walls/undocumented dates and places.  Hopefully, this discipline will help me keep on track and not need the genealogy ritalin I seem to need. 

I also WILL get to the Kentucky State Archives in the coming year.  I've made so many plans to go, but have always had to cancel my plans, even if I was only 60 miles away from them.  But, before I do, I have to have my list of questions/brick walls/undocumented dates and places.  If I walk in there unprepared, it will be a case of shiny object syndrome.  My eyes will glaze over, I'll start to shake and will only be able to stammer one or two names!

Lastly, I will seriously look into becoming a certified genealogist.  I have absolutely no idea what all is entailed, but after 20 some-odd years, I think it's about time.

What are your genealogy plans for the New Year?

Next Year, I Resolve to....

... organize my files.

Alright, now that you've stopped laughing, continue reading.

For anyone who's worked on genealogy even the least amount of time knows what a funny statement this is.  You know, in genealogy, there is so much to do.  It's much more than find names and dates.  As we do this maddening hobby of ours, we become hand-writing experts, paralegals, map specialists, minor (or major) historians, land/title experts just to name a few.

I look at the various stacks of research papers and record books I have in my genealogy office.  Then I look up at the gallery of my ancestors' photos I have on my wall behind my monitor.  They gaze down at me disapprovingly, as if to say, "We're not going to share what we know until you clean this mess up!"

I've recently come into possession of well over 200 photos from my adoptive father's side of the family.  I need to scan those, but whenever I get ready to do this, I think, "Well, I'd want to upload those to the website...but I don't have this person entered on the website yet."  So, I'll go to enter them, then I end up going over census reports on the internet...then I see an ad to click here....and I end up playing something on Pogo.com.  Is there such a thing as genealogy ritalin?

Do I start with the families that I don't have much information on?  Do I start with the three-inch file I have on my Hoover family?  Do I just just build a bonfire and chuck everything into it?  No, don't worry, that was just a bad joke.

And while we're talking about ancestors withholding information - I'm so ready for a break in some of my brick walls.  There are so many that just seem to have sprung up from the mountains in Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina.  I feel as if I'm whittling away at the bricks with a plastic spoon.

Anyway, enough of my blathering - I have files to organize!

Dear Genealogy Santa....

It's me, Jen.  How are you?  I am fine.  I had surgery about a month ago, so I haven't been able to update my blog.  I hope that everyone at the North Pole is doing ok.  I bet it's really busy up there.

I've been pretty good this year.  I've done alot of photography cataloging of cemeteries and working with Find-A-Grave.  I even was tapped as a special teacher at a middle school for one day.  I taught about how you can find history in non-traditional ways.  Those kids were great!  They're going to send me their projects once done.  By the way, if you get their letters, I recommend they all get what they want.  Not a lump of coal in the bunch!

Anyway, here's my list:

• A genealogy peon - I really need one of these!  I've got so much data entry to do.  I'm trying to source all my information.  I know we're supposed to do that when we're doing data entry, but...well...you know I'm really bad about that.  I've also got alot of pictures with my adoptive family.  I need to scan them and identify them.  I don't know who most of these are!
• A genealogy program that is perfect - There are so many out there.  You'd think that there'd be one that is a combo of all the best points and none of the bad.  Could you get Research and Development on this?  I'd be glad to beta test it before you put it into distribution.  Shoot me an email and we'll talk.
• A battering ram - I've got so many brick walls right now.  I sit and look at them and know that the answers are out there somewhere.  I just need a few chinks in the bricks.  If possible, I would like it to be purple with blingly decorations.  Hey!  A girl's gotta be stylish!
• Last, but certainly not least, bring all my brick wall ancestors to me for one night of conversation.  I know that's a pretty stiff request, but you're Genealogy Santa!  There are so many things I have to ask them.  I know this conflicts with the battering ram, but I'd really like both.  I'd also like the chance to ask about daily life, military life, feuds, etc. 

I'll make sure that I'll have milk and cookies out for you.  They'll be next to the tree in the den.  I figure that will be easier since that tree is closer to my computers and scanner. 

Love and have a safe trip,

Jen

PS - I'll have reindeer chow out as well.

Rootstelevision.com - There's Always Something On

In the Geneablogger's group I belong to on Facebook, there's a different challenge every week.  This week's challenge was to go Rootstelevision.com and browse through the videos there.  I've never been to this site before, but what a treasure!  There are so many videos on such a variety of subjects.

I've written on the subject of serendipity before.  There have been so many times that either by coincidence or fate I've found clues or actual evidence about my family.  In fact, it happened so often that I even found a book about it - "Psychic Roots - Serendipity & Intuition in Genealogy" by Henry Z Jones.

As I visited Rootstelevision.com, one of the videos was an older English lady talking about her own odd experience.  I thought I'd look for more so I typed in "psychic roots".  What did I find, but a five part interview with Hank Jones!  As I listened to the third part of the interview, I heard him talking about something that happened to me!  As many times as I've heard others tell their stories, it still gives me a smile to know that the Old Ones reach out to everyone.  They may not do it constantly, but when they do want to be found, they'll give us hints.

If there's a subject dealing with genealogy, Rootwebtelevision.com has it!  Check it out today.

Searching the DAR

This week's challenge was to visit the Daughters of the American Revolution's site.  Explore, search, look for the Patriot that's in your own line.

I've got several Revolutionary War veterans in my line.  Nicholas Houk, Major Jonathan Tipton, John McQueen, George Proctor and others, but how did I miss this site?

First, with the regards to the past actions of the DAR, no, I don't agree with positions they've taken.  However, if we are going to be honest, how many groups, organizations, etc. have spotless reputations?  What was acceptable even fifty years ago is abhorrent today.  I'm not making any excuses or anyone, but am being realistic.

As for this challenge, I was excited to give it a try.

Let's look at Nicholas Houk.  From the research I've done, Nicholas was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  The family had migrated down through Virginia and settled in North Carolina for a while before moving again to Kentucky.  Nicholas and some of his family rest in the Hiatt Cemetery that's located in the Renfro Valley area of Rockcastle County, Kentucky.  According to his headstone, he served as a private on the North Carolina line.

I went to the online search section of the DAR site - http://www.dar.org/library/online_research.cfm - and put Nicholas' name in.  I found that he is listed with the surname of Houck, not Houk.  The only birth date information I'd seen was 1740 on his headstone.  The information on the website showed Nov 1738.  That's something interesting that I'll need to check into.  I also found an exact death date - 6 Aug 1840.  I don't recall seeing that before either.

The next thing I found was his pension number - SR5257.  I also saw where Nicholas was pensioned, but his wife's request had been denied as she wasn't able to prove the marriage.

As you see on the marker, the only information on his service was "NC Line".  I didn't know where he enlisted, but found Burke County, NC listed.  I knew they'd lived in that area of North Carolina, but never knew time lines.  I also was able to find the name of one of his commanding officers.

The last thing I found were 10 applications to the DAR under Nicholas' lineage.  Each one had an abbreviated lineage for each applicant, with the applicant's name withheld. I'm definitely going back to throughly investigate each one.  Perhaps I can find some holes in the brick walls in this family.

Trying various spellings, I then looked for John McQueen and George Proctor.  I didn't find any applications under their names.  I was slightly surprised there wasn't one for John as it seems most of East Kentucky is descended through him!  As for George Proctor, the link between him and the Rockcastle County Kentucky Proctors is tentative still.  We know it's there, but we just can't quite prove it yet.

As for my final test, Major Jonathan yielded the most applicants.  Unfortunately, only two of them were through my line.  Again, his birth and death dates are listed.  All three wives are there.  His commanding officers are as well.  I found that he'd enlisted in Washington County, North Carolina.  Now, that's something new.  What in the world was he doing all the way in that part of the state when all knowledge of him at that time was along the Appalachians, especially in the northeast tip of present-day Tennessee!  As with all other things genealogical, it seems that answers always give you more questions.

I will be spending more time at this site.  I suggest that if you have a Revolutionary War Veteran in your line, you do as well.  You never know what...or who you are going to find!

Patents

As genealogists in the “Internet Age”, we have many different tools we can use from the comfort of our home.

Patents and Trademarks are an interesting area of research that can bring surprises about your ancestors.

In the GeneaBlog group, there are many different topics thrown out there to give genealogists/bloggers ideas.  This week, in the 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy series, the challenge was given to visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office web site (http://www.uspto.gov/) or Google Patent Search (http://www.google.com/patents?hl=en).  The exercise during this series isn’t so much to do research, but to become aware of what’s out there.

Well, I found what was out there.  Patent 1214144 exactly.  My grandfather, William Birdle Elam, filed an application on May 1, 1916.  The official patent was granted on Jan. 30, 1917 for “new and useful Improvements in Steering Devices for Automobiles.”  Exactly what this was flew in one ear and other the other, but I thought this was interesting.

How many times have we seen something and thought, “I could have figure out how to do that”?  Take a look at these sites – maybe your ancestor did already.