Thankful Thursday: DAR-ing to Dig Up the Proof

Genealogy buffs and searchers of family history generally love to dig in the past.  Looking for the absolute definitive proof to prove a theory can be frustrating.  Finding the proof is thrilling.

Many thanks will go the ladies of the Daughters of the American Revolution as their new project on proving the past takes root.  The DAR has undertaken the task of reviewing the patriots whose either service,location or lineage has been questioned over the years.

These questions arose when an applicant tried to join the DAR using faulty information. The end result was the denial of the applicant or the patriot's line would be closed to future applicants.  Those of us who have run across some of these old closed lines have pulled our hair out in vain.  And, of course, there were those instances in the past when applicants were accepted in the DAR using bad information.  Now, those are the cases that can really get under the skin of dedicated, diligent family history researchers. 

I applaud the DAR for changing how applications were reviewed some 40 years ago.  They have worked hard to identify problems with the information being sent to them by unsuspecting applicants.

Today, I applaud the DAR for their new project they call the Cold Closed Cases Project.  Volunteers within the ranks of the DAR will be going back to take a look at these "questionable" patriot lines.  Analysis of the old records will be used to try and determine what caused these patriots' lines to be closed. 

Then, the fun begins.  These wonderful women volunteers will spend countless hours researching these old patriots using the technology of today to dig up the definitive proof of the service or lineage.  Hopefully, a new number of old patriot lines will be reopened for applicants.  To date, some two dozen patriots of the American Revolution can once again have their daughters enter the DAR.

Ahh, genealogy.  Ain't volunteers grand?

©2013 AS Eldredge

Motivation Monday: Let's Change the World, One Document at a Time

Remember the old slogans used in the past to start a movement?  Remember "Feed The World" or "Yes, We Can"?  Perhaps, now is the time to start changing the world of genealogy in how items are placed online.

Recently, I wrote about finding a new cousin only to see his family tree was what I had worked on with other cousins.  If you missed it, read it at http://genitalesga.blogspot.com/2012/08/thankful-thursday-seek-and-ye-shall.html . 

Have you ever wanted to reach out and strangle all the family seekers who just clone the information they see online?  I know I have.  I've been known to email folks who have taken my information or my writings and asked them to please, pretty please source their information.  Some have taken the hint and others have just ignored my pleas.

Many sites online do say they haven't documented the information found.  To me, that is like buying a house or car unseen.  How many people willingly do that? 

In writing the post on Seek and Ye Shall Find, Maybe, I was pleased to see the comments sent on this subject.  (A big thank you to those who sent them.)  One of the comments from Katherine suggested Ancestry and those other sites ask for sources.

I love the idea, but I'm not sure how it could work or if they are really interested in documentation.  It would be a big project for all family researchers to source the information.  Perhaps, there could be a separate tier for those genealogy buffs who are true researchers and document their information.  Maybe something like Family Trees Plus or Sourced Trees.  It shouldn't be too difficult to program a section for documentation or sources, especially for the old pictures.

Perhaps, we should start a ground movement to those sites who have genealogy information, like Ancestry or Find a Grave,  to create a separate tier.  Thoughts, anyone?

Ahh, genealogy.  As for me, I will look at the information placed online by others, but will only include it in my information if it has been sourced.  Or better yet, only if I can trace their sources.  Just call it being curious, or is it the scientist in me?

©2012 AS Eldredge

Thankful Thursday: Seek and Ye Shall Find, Maybe

Ever remember playing hide and seek as a child?  It appears to me that genealogy and searching for our beloved of old are similar to that favorite childhood game. Yesterday, after writing the post on Uncle Charles, I found the name of one of his children online.  There wasn't much information given other than the name and approximate year of death.  Holding my breath, I emailed the owner of the private tree and asked if she was the one for whom I was searching.

The reply came back later, and she was.  After eagerly accepting the invitation to view the private tree, I saw no new documentation.  I added a few pictures and obits to the tree and asked for any documentation.

My newly found cousin has informed me he received the maiden name of a grandma from his grandma which led him to the family tree that I assisted in putting together with another cousin.  And then, I see information which also appears to have come from yet another cousin who I assisted with her research.

While I am sure this is my guy, I am also disappointed not to have unearthed any more documentation.

So, I am thankful to make another connection to my great grandmother through her brother, but strangely disappointed that the research used is my own.

This seems to be a recurrent issue in the world of genealogy.  Family seekers sniff out the information on the internet without going through the extra work of documenting it on their own.  Of course, my big irk is when I see blogs I have written placed as comments on other people's trees with no acknowledgement as to the origin of the data.

Be a great family seeker.  Look at the internet information and use that to begin your search.  Use the information to go back and document everything you can.  Help fill in the gaps.  Make the corrections.  Credit the folks who provide information by using their url and name.  Love knowing you have family members to discover.

Ahh, genealogy.  Got to wonder how many people just clone the information and just don't care.  As for me, I try to document everything and love making connections to family of the past.  Who knows when a favorite recipe or story of old will come to light?  I have been fortunate over the years to have heard stories from cousins about my direct bloodline that help bring them to life.  That is my goal and the willingness to share stories of the shared past makes me thankful everyday.

©AS Eldredge 2012

Dotting the I's, Crossing the T's and Reading Ye Olde Documents

True genealogy buffs know what it is like to struggle to read old documents.  Not only can the microfilm be scratched or faded, the writing can be akin to a different language.  I've seen "s" written as "f".  And the slant? Oh my, however did they read their own writing?

Just when you're ready to throw your hands up in the air and run out to purchase even more eye drops for the inevitable eye strain, there's hope in our wonderful age of technology.

Did you realize you can get rid of the neck cricks from angling your head to one side as you try to decipher the old handwriting?  Tis easy, I say.

Let's take this document as our example.

This is an 1852 affidavit of William Shaw providing details of Robert COLEMAN and his wife, Prudence.  The lovely widow Prudence had applied for a Revolutionary War pension and this document is part of the packet held by NARA.  You will note it's easier to make out some words if your squint and hold your head to the left.

Now, take a look after a little stroke of the keyboard.

The effect used on the document is found on Photoshop.  After opening Photoshop, go to image on the toolbar.  Go to "transform" in the drop down menu and choose "skew."  Then, grab the top of the document and head left until you are happy with the slant.  This is a great tool to use.  I image that other photo editing programs also allow for skewing.

What fun this is, and just think how much it will save you on eye drops and aspirin!

Ahh, genealogy. Reading old documents is a sure fire way to find your past, one skew at a time.


©2011 AS Eldredge

Madness Monday: Decorating the Tree with Borrowed Ornaments and Nuts

The holidays are here and our memories and houses are aglow with the traditions of our ancestors.  What do you do when an over eager family seeker decides to go nuts and publish undocumented lines as your blood?

Recently, a very nice lady contacted me through a documented cousin of mine and asked for some information on the family.  While she and I share no blood, her grandchild does have several drops of my blood flowing in his little veins.  The lady was excited to try and find information on the family so she could put a book together for the little guy.  Super, I thought.

Until I saw what she decided to publish.  She apparently looked at one census and found the name of a young lady (my great grandma) in question in a family and adopted that family as hers.  Arrrggghhh.  Another fairy tale!

She did not seek to try and verify the family as the right family for the young lady in question.  In fact, she chose the wrong family with the same surname living in the next county as mine.  Nope.  Sorry.  Wrong.

I sent her an email and suggested she look at the documentation for the family she chose as mine to see if she was really right.  When I was a newbie, I had looked at that family and found evidence they were not mine.  I used wills, family photos, family Bibles and land deeds to support what I found.

Unfortunately, that didn't set well with her fairy tale and she decided to ignore me.  Now, there's another line that will go on thinking they have blood they don't.

This is not uncommon as Ancestry allows anyone to post anything without documentation.  As I have said before, Ancestry trees are just fluff unless you can put some meat on those bones.

A professional genealogy buddy of mine recently commented on this very subject as another avid genealogy buff lamented on fact vs. fiction in trees.  With her kind permission, I have included her thoughts on the subject......

Being a professional genealogist,  I have dealt with this type of situation and it can be very touchy. You  do not want to discourage an exchange of genealogical information that  may be beneficial to you but, at the same time, you do not want to have your hard-earned research used in a errant way by
someone else.

Below is a list of suggestions to help weigh the merit of sharing your genealogical research with someone you don't really know.

    1. As  the requester, I feel the asking party must prove how they are     
related to me and I have to be satisfied that they are correct.  If  I have any
doubt of their motives, I discontinue contact.
    2. I do my own basic research on what they provide to see if I feel it is
correct.  Request a few of specific source/citations or a few copies of
original documents and see if you can  find that information yourself.  If     
they refuse or are not willing to provide a little bit of specific
documentation, I  discontinue contact.  If I find definite evidence that the     
requester is barking up the wrong tree, I will gladly send what I find     
source/citation, documents and all, so hopefully, they will take that and     
continue down the correct path.
    3. Put a copyright disclaimer on any information you send to someone
else.  This provides you with some protection if your research is used     
erroneously for profit without going through the proper procedures.  Many times
a copyright disclaimer will make the receiving party think twice about
using your information without your permission.
    4. Sometimes you have to be blunt.  If you feel the person's research
is wrong and they insist they are part of your tree, inform them of the
discrepancies you see in a generalized fashion, i.e. I do not have record
of my ancestor being in Ohio during that time frame or this ancestor  would
only have been 10 years old at that time so she is probably not the     
mother.  Ask them to prove you wrong.  If they are a true genealogist,
they will appreciate the truth.  And if it proves to be your missing link,
you will benefit.  But again,  use caution.   Make sure you see  good,
sound genealogy methods and documentation in their research.  If not, steer
clear.
    5. If someone tries to publish a genealogical work without
source/citations and original documents, no  editor worth their salt is
going to touch their project.  If they self-publish for profit and you  have
used the copyright disclaimer on your research, you could have an attorney go
after them.  If they self-publish for their own use, there isn't much
you can do.
    6. My final point is to be careful what genealogical information you
supply to someone else, even if you are related.  DO NOT ever give out or     
post personal information on living individuals.  There are persons out there
that have been victims of identity theft because an unaware relative posted
their personal information on the Internet in a family tree.

Hope this helps,
Pam Nixon

Whispers From The Past
Family History Research Service
Westland, PA  15378-0008



Ahh, genealogy.  Sometimes, you just have some nuts on the tree with your beautiful ornaments.

©2010 AS Eldredge

My Ancestors Fought for America's Freedom. Have You Found Yours Yet?

July 4th. The day of America's proclaimed independence from the tyranny of England's rule. The day of our birthday. Celebrate the dreams of our founders.

I saw the following article on Eastman's genealogy newsletter and thought you'd enjoy seeing it. I will, however, make a couple of observations on it since my household are both members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution.

The lineage books referenced are a good starting place. Back in the early days of the DAR, people didn't move as far from their roots, so everyone "knew" who their people were. Documentation proving lineage was sometimes quite lacking. Since the internet has come around, the DAR does not always accept those old applications as valid proof. The best way to see if your ancestor is still approved by the DAR is to contact the DAR and ask for a patriot lookup. Volunteers are happy to assist you in your quest to prove your lineage. Many lines have to be reproven. With diligence, it can be done. Recently, my DAR chapter just found the missing proof for a lady- after a 2 1/2 year search.

The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.

Revolutionary Roots

Did your ancestors fight in the American Revolution 233 years ago? Thousands of men answered the call to arms in 1776. These thousands probably have many millions of descendants today. Many Americans can find a Revolutionary War veteran in the family tree if they expend a bit of time and effort. Luckily, there are a number of online and offline sources to help you in that search.

Finding Revolutionary ancestors isn’t much different than finding anyone else in your family tree. You always start with yourself and then work your way back, one generation at a time. You can search the online databases as well as the traditional resources, such as census records, vital records, and especially, Revolutionary War pension applications. However, you should be aware of several unique sources of records that contain information about Revolutionary War soldiers.

One excellent tutorial to read is "Finding Your Patriot: Basic Sources for Starting Revolutionary War Research" by Curt B. Witcher, available on Ancestry.com (without subscription) at: http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/1561.asp.

Once you have learned the basics of Revolutionary War records, you will want to search the Lineage Books of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). In order to join the Society, members have to prove their descent from an ancestor who aided the American cause in the Revolutionary War. The DAR have spent hundreds of thousands of hours compiling Patriot Index lists of Revolutionary War ancestors of DAR members. The DAR Lineage Books are available online to Ancestry.com members at: http://www.ancestry.com/search/DB.aspx?dbid=3174. (This database is available to Ancestry.com paid subscribers; an Ancestry.com user ID and password are required.) The same information is available in printed DAR Lineage Books, available at most large genealogy libraries.

The DAR was founded in 1890. Early application papers supply the applicant’s maiden name, husband’s name, applicant’s birthplace (but not the birth date), parents’ names, chain of ancestors and their spouses leading back to the Revolutionary War, and discussion of patriot’s service and sources for his/her service. Note that the chain of ancestors is only from parent to child and does not show all children born to parents.

Later papers give much more information. In the chain of ancestors: birth, marriage, and death dates and places. In the applicant’s section: birth date and birthplace, marriage date, spouse’s information (name, birth date, birthplace, date of death or divorce). Space for multiple spouses is provided. The applicant must also supply data on the patriot’s marriages, children, and children’s spouses.

Keep in mind that the DAR Lineage Books contain the lineage of accepted members. While these books often provide great clues about the lineage of American patriots, the lineages they provide are often undocumented. As with any undocumented secondary source, all aspects should be documented with further research. Also remember that they do not list all the Revolutionary War soldiers. These books only list those who were identified as ancestors of DAR members.

More information about the many services of the Daughters of the American Revolution may be found at: http://www.dar.org. However, you will not find online databases at that site.

The records of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) are another great resource. Their records are available online and on CD-ROM. The online database has over 230,000 records of patriots whose gravesites have been located or whose service has been documented by a descendant who joined the Sons of the American Revolution.

The SAR online database provides information about Revolutionary War soldiers, sailors, and others, but does not provide information about their descendants. It is up to you to build a family tree in the traditional manner to prove your descent from the listed patriot.

NOTE: Much of the data was reported to the Revolutionary War Graves Committee without citing any primary documents as evidence of service. As with genealogy information found anywhere else, you need to independently verify the information provided.

To access the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution online database, go to http://www.rsar.org/rosters/findpatr.htm.

Finally, never overlook the best source of information: your family. Are you attending a family gathering this Fourth of July? If so, ask your relatives, especially your older relatives. They may know some family stories that you have not heard before. Keep in mind that many family stories have a mixture of truth and fiction interwoven in them, but they are always worth verifying. Who knows? Your aunt or uncle just may be able to provide a clue that helps you find information that previously eluded you.