Rootdig.com

Genealogybank suggestions and comments

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Sun, 11 May 2008 06:04:00 +0000

I really like Genealogy Bank and encourage those who do not have it to at least give it a try for a month. However, after having used it extensively tonight, I have the following suggestions:

Soundex searches
have the option to filter out "just one state"
allow us to track what results we have already seen
the ability to view more than five results at a time

Don't get me wrong, I've made some really neat discoveries on Genealogy Bank some of which I have already blogged about. Items have been located that I would never have found any other way, several of which suggest additional records. Consider trying Genealogy Bank for a month and see what you think. One month costs certainly costs less than a tank of gas!

Suing the Railroad in 1897 for Wrongful Death

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Sun, 11 May 2008 05:47:00 +0000

I knew cousin Frank Troutfetter was killed in a railroad accident in the 1890s, what I did not know was that his parents had sued the railroad for wrongful death. Now I have something else to look for. This was located on Genealogy Bank. They have apparently been adding newspapers recently as this reference was one I had not located when I had searched previously on the site a few months ago.

Paper: Colorado Springs Gazette, 18 November 1897.

Going to Butte, Montana-September 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Sun, 11 May 2008 05:24:00 +0000

I'll be making four presentations at the annual Montana State Genealogical Society Conference this upcoming September in Butte, Montana. The Society recently released a flyer on their website for those interested. I'm looking forward to my first trip to Montana.

My travel calendar is filling up for late 2008--we'll be posting additional engagements in Michigan and Iowa as details are finalized. There are still open dates in 2009 and those who would like to have an engaging, entertaining, and informative speaker at their next seminar are welcome to contact me for more information.

Newspaper Ads May Reveal Clues

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Sun, 11 May 2008 05:11:00 +0000

It seems like there's always something else about Philip Troutfetter I'm finding in a newspaper. This time it's not quite as scandalous as our previous findings, but it does provide a slight clue into his money lending activities before he left Colorado.

This reference was found on Genealogy Bank. I've found several other references to Philip Troutfetter there, but this one was a new one for me. Goes to show you that even the classified ads in a newspaper may yield clues. And it goes to show that OCR searches (such as the ones are at Genealogy Bank) can help a genealogist find things they never thought they would. Now I even have an address for him in 1897.

Date: 1897-05-23; Paper: The Colorado Springs Gazette

I always thought they were Short

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Tue, 06 May 2008 20:08:00 +0000

It seemed to me that most of my branch of the Trautvetter clan were not very tall. It appears now that I was mistaken. In looking at the Illinois "old men's draft" cards available on FamilySearch Labs, I found my great-grandfather's brother, Henry Trautvetter.

The first image here is the front of the card, providing information on his name, place of birth, and employer.

The back side of his card indicates he was 6 foot 4 inches tall---a height I was not expecting. I didn't think any older members of this family were that tall. And his weight was only 140 pounds. Thinking there might be an error and that he was actually 5 foot 4 inches tall, I decided to view his World War I draft card.

Sure enough, that card, while not providing a specific height, indicates he was "tall." The image at the bottom of this post is Uncle Henry's World War I draft card. It is a little difficult to see, but his height is marked in the upper left hand corner of the back of the card (right half of the image) as being tall. So the entry on the World War 2 draft card likely is not an error.

I won't comment on the fact that he only weighed 140 pounds....

Henry is a brother to George Adolph Trautvetter (1869-1934), my great-grandfather.

Stimulus Payment Link at the IRS

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:39:00 +0000

Ok, it has nothing to do with genealogy, but the IRS has posted a link on their site to determine how much the stimulus payment will be and approximately when you will get it.

Ancestry.com released some IRS records recently, generally from the Civil War era. Unless great-great-great-grandpa is still alive, he's not getting a stimulus payment---it would have to be one heck of a stimulus!

1898 German Directory

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:54:00 +0000

The actual title is Handels- und Gewerbe-Adressbuch der Provinz Hannover, des Grossherzogthums Oldenburg und des Freistaats Bremen, 1898 and it was recently released at Ancestry.com.

My direct line ancestors were in the United States by 1898, but I did find a couple of uncles who remained in Germany in these directories. Some of the entries for Wrisse are shown in this post, Johann and Jurgen Goldenstein are brothers of my ancestor Focke Goldenstein.

Also shown in this post are some of the entries from Holtrop (the left hand column of page 1341). Eilt Ufkes was a brother to another ancestor, Johann Ufkes.

The images are searchable at Ancestry.com. Most of the entries have to be searched by last name only.

Trientje Eilts Post calligraphy

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:00:00 +0000

This is part of the inscription in a book that Trientje Eilts Post (1808-1877) made for her daughter Annebken Hinrichs. The book was given to Annebken in 1851 when the family was living in Holtrop, Ostfriesland, Germany.

The book is in the possession of a family member who graciously scanned the document and shared it with me. This is only a part of the inscription. There is a short verse and a date as well.

We will try and post a copy of the entire image to the site late, but the file size will have to be reduced first.

Still Room on 3rd annual Salt Lake City Family History Research Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:20:00 +0000

We still have a few openings on our 3rd annual genealogical research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. We stay at the Plaza, right next to the library and are in Salt Lake City for one week of non-stop research. We have a good time, but everyone is kept busy with research and organizing their family history. We are already using our members-only website to prepare and I give presentations and consultations while at the library.

For more information on our trip, visit our website at:

http://www.rootdig.com/slctrip.html

or email Michael at mjnrootdig@gmail.com

Annual Ft. Wayne, Indiana Genealogy Library Trip-May 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:17:00 +0000

There is still room in our annual Family History Research Trip to the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, beginning on May 28th and continuing through June 1st. The trip is sponsored by the St. Charles County [Missouri] Genealogical Society and St. Charles Community College .Those living in the greater metro St. Louis area can ride the bus. Those who wish to join us outside the greater St. Louis area can drive themselves (or fly) and pay a lower registration fee.

More information is available on our website at:

http://www.rootdig.com/acpltrip.html

Droin Collection At Ancestry.com

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:13:00 +0000

Ancestry.com recently released the Droin Collection on their website. The indexing is not yet complete, but the project is quite impressive and a nice addition for those with French-Canadian ties.

The image that is a part of this post comes from the Droin Collection and is the baptismal entry for Cesarie Robidoux. The entry is from St-Constant and is from the year 1827. Her parents are Alexis Robixoux and his wife Rosalie Rheume. Those wishing to use these records will need to brush up on their Latin. When time allows we will post a translation here on our site.

Cesarie is my wife's 3rd great-grandmother. Cesarie's family settled in Clinton County, New York where she died.

Getting Ready for OGS

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:01:00 +0000

I'll be making two presentations at the OGS Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Saturday 19 April.

Regular site visitors or readers of my Ancestry.com column are welcome to come up and introduce themselves.

The Census Taker Cometh

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:32:00 +0000

The Census Taker Cometh
(originally published at Ancestry.com in 2004)
It is June 3, 1860.

Anna Gufferman, who is twelve years old, sees a stranger approaching her small home. He looks reasonably dressed and does not appear to be carrying a weapon. Illinois is not as wild a place as Nebraska where her cousins live, but mother has warned her that one can never be too careful. She shoos her five younger siblings in the house as the man approaches.

He approaches the front yard and calls out for the man or the woman of the house and says he is here to ask questions for something called the “census.” Anna is wary of calling for her parents if there is no need. When Father and the boys are in the field, he does not like to be disturbed, not even if Grandfather comes. Mother is down at the creek by herself, having left Anna with the children. The weekly washing is one of the few times Mother does not have several small children underfoot, and Anna is hesitant to bother her if it is not absolutely necessary. Anna decides this “census” does not require her to disturb her parents. She tells the census taker that she is very familiar with the family and the goings on in the household. After all, she is twelve years old and responsible for several younger siblings.

The census taker asks Anna several questions, which she frankly thinks are none of his business. He tells her that the government needs to know this information and that it is important it be accurate. Anna does the best she can to answer his questions. He starts by asking her the names of her parents and her siblings.

“It is a good thing my parents are not here,” Anna thinks to herself. While her English is rudimentary, it is considerably better than the handful of words her parents have managed to learn. Determined to impress the census man with her knowledge of English, she indicates that her parents are not Hinrich and Anneke Gufferman, but that they are rather Henry and Ann. Her other siblings all have names more German sounding than Anna's. She decides to provide the census taker with English versions of their names, just as she did with those of her parents.

Anna is not quite certain how old her parents and her siblings are, but the man seems to insist on knowing their age precisely. Their christening names and dates of birth would be in the family bible, but Mother would fly into an absolute rage if Anna got the bible herself and began leafing through it. Deciding it was not worth the risk of her mother catching her in the act, Anna guesses as to the age of her parents. Despite her uncertainty, she speaks clearly and distinctly to convince the census man that she knows the ages precisely. He seems pleased to get the information.

He then asks where her parents were born. Anna knows they were born in Germany and were married there. Those questions are easy. The census man then asks where she and her siblings were born. These questions are not so easy. She cannot remember which of her older brothers were born in Germany and which ones were born in Illinois. She remembers that her parents lived for a while in Ohio before coming to Illinois. And frankly, she is getting tired of all the questions. Consequently she tells the census taker that her two older brothers were born in Germany, the next was born in Ohio and that all the remaining children were born in Illinois.

Anna decides to give hurried answers to the rest of the census man's questions. He has taken time away from her chores and Mother will not be happy if the morning tasks are not done when she returns. Occasionally impatient with Anna's delayed answers, the census man seems pleased when Anna begins answering the questions more quickly. Eager to please and knowing she should return to her chores, Anna speedily answers the remaining questions, paying little concern to the accuracy of her answers.

It is June 25, 1880.

The census taker arrives at the home of Hinrich and Anneke Gufferman. It is a different place than his fellow enumerator encountered in 1860. Hinrich and Anneke have two children at home, the youngest son who helps his father farm and a daughter who works as a hired girl for a Swedish couple up the road. There is still plenty of work for Anneke to perform around the house, but no longer meeting the needs of twelve children makes her life less harried than it was before.

Anneke invites the census taker into her kitchen and after he indicates some of the information he needs, she goes and gets the family bible, which contains the names and dates of birth for her husband and her children. She opens the bible to the appropriate page and tells the census taker there is the information. The entries are written in Hinrich's bold, clean script and the census taker only has difficulty in reading the name of the youngest daughter Trientje, which he copies down as Fruita. Otherwise the odd-sounding names are easy to read and the census taker simply copies them into his record.

There are additional questions and Anneke provides the answers as best she can. In Germany, her husband was a day laborer and had moved several times looking for work. When asked where her husband's parents were born she is not certain; Hinrich's mother died when he was a baby and the father had died shortly after their marriage. Anneke told him the parents were born in Germany. Anneke was not certain of her father's place of birth, either. He had died before her birth and had been a soldier. Anneke had been named for her father's mother, with a first name that was unusual for the area of Germany where she was from. Thinking her father was Dutch, she told the census taker that her father was born in Holland. But she was not really certain.

It is June 16, 1900.

The census taker comes to the door of Hinrich Gufferman. It has been a month since his beloved Anneke has died. Hinrich does not know the census taker. He swears at him in German in a booming voice and the enumerator senses that he will get no answers. Gufferman's son Johann lives a few miles up the road, fortunately in the same township. The son had told the census taker that Hinrich was taking the death very badly and was only speaking to a few family members. Johann told the census taker to come back if information was needed on the father. It looked like the enumerator would have to take Johann up on his offer.

Ever wondered why some census entries look like creative accounting? Have you ever thought about what actually transpired when the census taker arrived at your ancestor's home?
------------
requests to reprint/publish can be directed to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com
Thanks.
Michael

Footnote workshop in St. Charles 12 April-openings

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:50:00 +0000

There is still room in my workshop on using Footnote.com on 12 April 2008 at the community college in St. Peters, Missouri (suburban St. Louis). Attendees will have access to the site for the duration of the workshop and there will be time for searching and self-discovery.

Registration is limited. Please contact me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com if you wish to register as we are getting very close to the dateand I will forward your email to the representative from the St. Charles County [Missouri] Genealogical Society which is co-sponsoring the workshop with St. Charles Community College. We want to make certain everyone who registers has a spot and a computer wn which to use.

More information is available here:
http://www.rootdig.com/stchas2008.htm

But please contact me if you would like to come and have not yet signed up.

Omaha workshop attendees--land record handout

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:19:00 +0000

The handout from Saturday's session on land records at the Greater Omaha Genealogical Society's annual conference had some page layout issues. Those who need a "clean" copy of the handout can send me an email and I'll tell them where it is located on the web. As "proof" you attended, please tell me how many display screens were in our room ;-)

I enjoyed the conference in Omaha and hope attendees did as well.

Michael

Links and Information from Omaha Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Witter's German-English Primer

LDS Research Guides the "G" section

Main Family Hisory Site
http://www.familysearch.org/

Mailing Lists at Rootsweb.com
http://lists.rootsweb.com/

World Connect
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/

Translators online
http://babelfish.altavista.com/

BYU Library Book Images and search interface.
http://www.lib.byu.edu/fhc/Footnote-there are some free things

http://www.footnote.com/
Social Security Death Index at Rootsweb
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/

USGENWEB
http://www.usgenweb.com/

WorldVitalRecords.comNew databases are free for 10 days—some things are free for good.
http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/

Genealogy BankYou can see snippets of some newspaper items at no charge

Genealogy Bank

Books at Google

http://books.google.com/
WorldCat

http://www.worldcat.org/

Family Search Labs
http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html

I didn't mention the American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/

If I forgot something or there are questions, post a response or email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com

A Rose by any other name...

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:43:00 +0000

An attendee in a workshop came up to me during a break and asked why I had listed my great-grandmother by her name of Fannie in my genealogical database instead of Francis. After all, her real name was probably Francis and that is how I should list her in my database. I think they were hoping to catch a mistake.

And while I may have mistakes in my genealogical database, this entry was intentional.

Francis Iona Rampley was born in May of 1883 near Breckendridge, Hancock County, Illinois. That is what is on her birth certificate. However...

Virtually every other record lists her as Fannie.

The 1900 census entry in Walker Township, Hancock County, Illinois (shown here) lists her as "Fany." Here she is listed with her widowed mother, Nancy Rampley, and several of her siblings.

The 1910 census lists her as "Frances" but the 1920 and 1930 list her as Fannie.

She used Fannie on her marriage license in 1903, when she signed her name several times in her husband's estate settlement papers, and she is listed in the Social Security Death Index as Fannie Neill (the one who died in 1965).

And that's what she had put on her tombstone.

All of which are good enough for me.

I do make a note in my genealogical database indicating which records list Francis. However, the name I choose to use as her "main" name in my database is Fannie.

I am on the flip side of this myself. I have never used the name "Mike." Nothing wrong with it, but I choose not to use it. I was never called Mike growing up and have never signed it or written it anywhere. And I have been known to ignore people who refer to me by that name. Personally, I think the name by which one is called is a personal choice. To assume someone wants to be called something else is a very personal affront and assumes a level of familarity with the person that is not necessarily true. So if any of my descendants enter my name in their database as "Mike" I'm try and find some way from the afterlife to change it.

European Quick Links

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:49:00 +0000

Every so often, I discover something that I put on my website for a lecture or a conference and immediately forget about. I hate to rattle off lists of websites in a lecture and many times make a website so attendees can use it instead of manually typing in links.

A while back I gave a lecture on "European Research Online." It was necessarily broad. The links we used are here for those who are inclined. Please let me know (mjnrootdig@gmail.com) if any are bad--I checked most, but one or two bad ones might have slipped through.

Can You Read it? One more from the same guy

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:38:00 +0000

This is from the same person as the previous post.

Just to give a comparison.

Can You Read it?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:34:00 +0000

It has been a while since we have posted one of these. This comes from an 1870 era set of estate papers in Illinois. The writer was a German native, born in the 1820s. Go ahead and post a guess.

Suggestion for GenealogyBank

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:17:00 +0000

I like using Genealogy Bank, but I do have a few suggestions:

1) I would like to be able to view more than five hits on one page.

2) I would like a way to "omit" one state from my list of results, particularly in the newspapers. This would greatly facilitate my use of the site, particularly when I have already been through all the Minnesota hits for a certain surname and have eliminated them from consideration.

Going through hits that I know I don't need takes up way to much time in some cases. I can search for a specific state, but sometimes out of state newspapers picked up items and by searching for only one state, I may miss what I am looking for.

Update: A response to this message (privately) indicated that number 1 is in the works and number 2 is not on the agenda right now, but improvements to the search are being made in that direction. (THANKS!)

Using Genealogy for Passwords

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:21:00 +0000

Most of have too many passwords. Sometimes we even are forced to change passwords periodically and unable to "reuse" passwords for a specific amount of time. Colleagues at work have suggested using a word and a number after the word, incrementing the number by one each time. Great idea. Not.

If I can't remember whether I used bubbagum12 or bubbagum13 and I enter in the wrong one too many times, I get kicked out.

I designed a different system. I use initials (or names) of relatives and their year of birth. This works better for me as I "know" from memory the name of each ancestor through my great-grandparents with their year of birth. Then my challenge question is simply "so and so" and I know what it means.

For those who say that others might be able to figure it out based upon the challenge question, that is taken care of too. I have "nicknames" for each grandparent that no would (other than my parents) would know. My challenge question is not "Grandma Neill," but rather "Grandma Goose" (not her real nickname), or "Grandma Goose's mother." Then I know to whom I was referring and I can enter the appropriate password.

I just got sick and tired of making up arbitrary passwords I could never remember.

Michael's Speaking Schedule 2008 and 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:14:00 +0000

I am currently working on my speaking schedule for 2009 and the remainder of 2008. It is best to arrange dates as early as possible to provide flexibility.

I would be happy to discuss the possibility of coming to present to your genealogy group or club for their workshop or seminar. Genealogy workshops and seminars are great ways for members of your group to enhance their research skills and network with other genealogists. There is a world away from the computer.

For more information on speaking availability, fees, expenses, and opportunities, send an email to me at michaeln2@winco.net. Please indicate the potential date of the seminar, typical format, and general audience level. We can go from there.

Lectures are informative, relaxed, and fun.

Topics can be arranged and new lectures can be developed upon request.

I have presented over fifty all-day workshops across the United States on a wide variety of genealogy and computer genealogy topics. Some have been hands on all day workshops on Ancestry.com, Genline, Family Tree Maker. Others have been more traditional days of lectures and presentations on a wide variety of topics. I have lectured for small and large groups including NGS and FGS conferences.

A list of incomplete topics is available at http://www.rootdig.com/topics.html.
Most upcoming engagements are listed at http://www.rootdig.com/labels/speaking.html

Are You Looking in Surrounding Counties?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael John Neill) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:05:00 +0000

I stumbled upon it to be honest.

The Hannibal (Missouri) Public Library has digital images of many county and city directories on their website. While I have no family in that area, I made an interesting discovery. The 1892-1893 directory, actually Stone's Tri-County Directory for 1892-93, is one of the items included on their site. It includes Adams County, Illinois, right across the river and where I do have ancestors. The directories are searchable as well--a nice feature.

It always pays to check out surrounding counties for information that may be relevant to your search, even if your ancestors never lived in those counties and even if those counties cross rivers or state lines.

[the first screen shot shows part of the directory for Golden, Illinois, in Adams County].

Keep in mind that some names may be spelled incorrectly in the directory, which makes searching even more difficult. The partial image here (also from Golden) shows several names, including Ulfert Idens, which should actually be Ulfert Ideus.

The towns are organized alphabetically; I did not notice a table of contents. A little more searching located the entries for Coatsburgh, where I located my 3rd great-grandfather Bernard Dirks.

The Dirks entry got me to wondering about the numbers after the names. I knew they were not section numbers--the numbers only were 1, 2, and 3.

A little more searching led me to the list of abbreviations, something that one needs to look for in any directory of any kind.

The list of abbreviations told me that the 1 after my ancestor's name indicated he owned his farm. The list of abbreviations is included at the end of this post. This directory is really neat and those with Hannibal ancestors will find many more on this site. I was happy to find just one!