Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Tuesday's Tip~Gettin' By With Help from Our Friends~Eileen Souza


Today's tips come from Eileen A. Souza owner of  Old Bones Genealogy.

10 Tips for More Accurate Research

Genealogy is not something that can be done from start to finish in a weekend or even a year of weekends. It is, however, an enjoyable activity that is done by millions of people. While you enjoy doing your family research, I am sure you would like your family tree to be as accurate as possible. Here are 10 tips to avoid genealogy’s most common mistakes:
1. Talk to your family. You relatives know more about your family than the Internet. Write down what they know. More information acquired before hitting the Internet increases your chances of making good selections about what you add to your tree. And while you are doing that, you are helping to preserve their knowledge.

2. Use caution in your research. Genealogy records found online or elsewhere that are not original documents may have errors. Abstracting or transcribing old documents can introduce typos and other transcription errors. In the case of abstracting, there may be other important information on the original. Knowing whether family history books are accurate without proper citations (as footnotes or endnotes), can be difficult. It is important to try to use the original documents, if available.
3. Unless you have a very rare surname with a unique spelling, you will need to do more research to determine if you are actually related to another person with the same name.

4. While not impossible, it is unlikely that you are related to a Royal family since they tended to be inbred.

5. Another popular myth has immigrants’ names being changed at Ellis Island (or earlier officials). Your ancestor may have had their name slaughtered at the port of departure where the passenger list was created or they may have decided to become Americans by changing their name themselves, but it was not changed by officials at the port of entry.

6. Spelling was standardized in the US and UK during the 19th and 20th centuries. Yet today British English and American English still have dissimilar spelling standardization. Do not assume because it is not spelled the way you know it that it is not your line. Confirm a fact/relationship using more than just a name.

7. While sometimes you must guess, either keep your guesses in a separate tree and only move the fact into your real tree when it is no longer a guess or note that the fact is a guess. Otherwise, no one will have confidence in your research.

8. Everyone can make mistakes. Periodically check your data for these common errors: parents born before their children, people living more than 125 years and a child linked to more than one set of parents. Fix all the mistakes that you find as soon as you discover them. You want to avoid inadvertently tracing entire lines of people that have no relationship to you.

9. When using other people’s family tree data, it is safest to treat it as a clue and do further research. Even the best research may change if new data surfaces since the original data was uncovered.

10. Lastly, there is a principle in genealogy research known as a “reasonably exhaustive search”. This means that you must keep searching for all documents that may apply to the facts you are researching. All documents are not online. While new records are added frequently, if not daily, online records are still the tip of the iceberg. You need to extend your research to libraries, societies, archives and other repositories to ensure valid results.

Thanks for sharing your tips, Eileen! 


Bio



Eileen Souza, PLCGS, owner of Old Bones Genealogy, is a professional genealogist who specializes in Maryland research. She is president of the Carroll County Genealogical Society, a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society, the Maryland Genealogical Society and other local business and genealogical societies.
Eileen is a graduate of the National Institute of Genealogical Studies, earning a Professional Learning Certificate in Genealogical Studies; a graduate of the National Institute of Genealogical Research; and a graduate of the 18-month ProGen Study Group (for the book Professional Genealogy edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills).  
She is the author of Research in Carroll County, published in the August 2012 issue of the Maryland Genealogical Society Journal. Her presentations include “Getting Started with your Genealogy,” “Dig Up Your Ancestors Online,” “Finding Beaver Dam Levell” and “The ABCs of DNA for Genealogy.” 

What suggestions do you have to be more accurate with your genealogy research?
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,


Sunday, September 24, 2017

Celebration Sunday~Genealogy Happy Dance!

You know the dance. You know you've done it. The one every researcher does after finding something new. The one where you want to jump up and down and shout to everyone around that you found the document, contacted a cousin who has the family Bible, made a DNA connection or found a whole new branch to your tree. The one that is met with glazed stares and eye rolls.
                                                          Celebration Sunday is a place to share your discoveries. 
This is a weekly series to enable everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment. This can be done by scrolling down and adding your story to the comments section. You may also put a link to a blog post.



My Happy Dance This Week:  
This week I had the opportunity to meet with some local genealogists and spend an hour and a half talking about genealogy! We shared our frustrations, suggested solutions and talked about amazing finds. What really had me dancing was when one of the ladies presented us with a handout she brought for each of us. She wanted us to have a copy since she felt it was an important resource. It turned out to be one I had given out during a presentation to the local genealogy club! It was a list of links to various newspaper research sites. Funny and encouraging at the same time. Maybe I am doing OK at presenting information people can use!  What had you dancing this week?


                                                                                     
                                                                        Share your discovery!
                                                                                   Let the dancing commence!


Share the fun! Click below to tweet this post! 



Looking forward to reading about your Happy Dance moment!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,



Thursday, September 21, 2017

Treasure Chest Thursday~Mattie's New Testament


Old Testament owned by Mattie Baker

One of the pleasures of seeking out ancestors is finding items they once held dear. Items that then become a treasure to you.
This New Testament was owned by my paternal great -great grandmother, Martha "Mattie" Victoria (Bradford) Baker (1862-1947).
It was discovered by my father in a box of items going to the trashcan after Mattie's daughter, my great aunt Kathryn Louise (Baker) Ryan passed away (1898-1987).

While Mattie used this book for worship, she also used it to keep things to save and remember. 

She signed her name, the date, and her location


Inside Cover

Included newspaper clippings

Poem about America


Pressed flowers                                               
Violet from a friend.


Flower picked at music teacher's house





Inserted obituaries

Obituaries of son George and sister- in- law Mary


Saved a Valentine from her granddaughter Ellen  


Front of Valentine
                          
                                       
                                                 

and the wedding announcement of grandaughter Lola.


Mattie dedicated her New Testament on the last page to her sister Esther who died in 1919. 


Family or personal Bibles are sought out for any information they may contain on vital statistics. They often are the only place where birth, marriage, and deaths are recorded. If you come across one belonging to your ancestor, don't make the mistake of only looking at the family register. Turn each page to uncover any hidden keepsakes. You never know what you may find.

What have you found in a family or personal book of scripture?

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,




Sunday, September 17, 2017

Celebration Sunday~Genealogy Happy Dance!

You know the dance. You know you've done it. The one every researcher does after finding something new. The one where you want to jump up and down and shout to everyone around that you found the document, contacted a cousin who has the family Bible, made a DNA connection or found a whole new branch to your tree. The one that is met with glazed stares and eye rolls.
                                                          Celebration Sunday is a place to share your discoveries. 
This is a weekly series to enable everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment. This can be done by scrolling down and adding your story to the comments section. You may also put a link to a blog post.



My Happy Dance This Week:  
First,  more than a happy dance, I am grateful for the safety of friends and family during Hurricane Irma this week. Several had damage to property but all came through unharmed. 
The second was the release of the long-awaited video of LeVar Burton's keynote address at RootsTech in February.  If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to take the time to do so.
It is inspiring.  You can watch it straight from the post I wrote about it by clicking on here.
So, how was your week? 


                                                                                     
                                                                        Share your discovery!
                                                                                   Let the dancing commence!


Share the fun! Click below to tweet this post! 



Looking forward to reading about your Happy Dance moment!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,


Saturday, September 16, 2017

Get Out Your Tissues and Get Comfortable. The Video We Have Been Waiting for Is Finally Here!


Listening to Levar Burton at RootsTech 2017



RootsTech 2017 was such a fun experience for me.
I learned during classes, met and made new friends, enjoyed parties and special events. The keynote speakers were inspiring.
Many of the presentations were videoed and placed on the RootsTech web page to view for free.

Except for one. The one that brought us all laughter and tears. The one we all were looking forward to watching again. To relive an amazing moment. To experience and share with others the moving words and emotion from LeVar Burton as he spoke about his mother, family stories, and his participation in Alex Haley's Roots.
It was Friday morning and LeVar was to kick off the first ever African Heritage Day held at this conference.
He had us laughing, crying and then sobbing as he was gifted with his family history courtesy of FamilySearch. We blogged about it, came home and told our family and friends how wonderful it was and recommended it as one to watch. But, sadly it wasn't available.

And now? Issues that held it back before have now been resolved and 7 months later the video is up and available to everyone!


Click above to watch

So go grab some tissues, get comfortable in your favorite chair and click on the photo above to watch.
Then, to get the rest of the story, watch the YouTube video below. This news clip shares the emotions felt as LeVar was shown unknown information on some of his ancestors.



 You won't be the same afterward.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Helping you climb your family tree,



Sunday, September 3, 2017

This Week On My Family History Calendar

September 3-September 9




Sept. 4~
 Philip Roberts, III (1798-1852), my 4th great grandfather died 165 years ago in Columbia, Richland, South Carolina. He is buried in St. Westbury High Hill Cemetery in Richland County.
    

Headstone of Philip Roberts
St. Westbury High Hill Cemetery
Richland County, South Carolina
Sept. 9 ~
      Thomas J. McRady (1821-1896), my maternal 3rd great grandfather was born 196 years ago in South Carolina. He lived many years in the Sumter County area and may have been born in the area.

Thomas J. McRady
Headstone
Pisgah Baptist Church Cemetery
Pisgah Crossroads, Sumter, South Carolina
Who are you remembering this week?

Thanks so much for stopping by! 
Helping you climb your family tree,




Celebration Sunday~Genealogy Happy Dance!

You know the dance. You know you've done it. The one every researcher does after finding something new. The one where you want to jump up and down and shout to everyone around that you found the document, contacted a cousin who has the family Bible, made a DNA connection or found a whole new branch to your tree. The one that is met with glazed stares and eye rolls.
                                                          Celebration Sunday is a place to share your discoveries. 
This is a weekly series to enable everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment. This can be done by scrolling down and adding your story to the comments section. You may also put a link to a blog post.



My Happy Dance This Week:  
Not a big reason to celebrate this week just plugging along with some client work and a few upcoming projects. Happy Dance moments don't come around every week, so when they do it's a great reason to celebrate! Hope you had some moments to dance about this week!


                                                                                     
                                                                        Share your discovery!
                                                                                   Let the dancing commence!


Share the fun! Click below to tweet this post! 



Looking forward to reading about your Happy Dance moment!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Helping you climb your family tree,


Saturday, September 2, 2017

Randy's Saturday Night Genealogy Research Fun~Research Grief


Photo Credit: Made with free Pixabay creative license


This week's Saturday Night Research Fun challenge from Randy Seaver of the Genea Musings blog is- Research Grief. The question asked is "Which ancestor gives you the most researching grief"

A very easy question to answer for me.
It is my great great grandfather, Bertrand Campbell Price (1876-?).
You see, Cam, as he was known, is a mystery.
He disappeared one day and was never seen again.

There are several different stories floating around.


  • He was robbed and murdered.
  • He was killed by a storm and his body was not identified.
  • He went looking for work and was killed in a train accident.
  • He ran away with all the family money.
The last person who saw Cam Price seems to have been his son Frank.
 "He last saw him at a tent revival on Huger Street in Columbia.  He had on a new suit and he put down a handkerchief to sit on the rough plank seat.  Frank thinks his sister Beulah might have known something but she never told."
Cam's wife Bessie Mae went to court in 1932 to have her husband declared legally dead. She was successful and received money from his life insurance policy.

I have written about Cam before:
Fresh Start~Did He or Didn't He deals with the rumors surrounding Cam's disappearance.
Surprise!~Did She Know? Did daughter Beulah Mae know something as her brother Frank suspected?

AAAAHHH!!! Where did you go, Cam? Did you run off or did you go looking for a job? Were you the victim of a crime or storm? Were you on that train that crashed? 
There has to be something, somewhere to let me know. 
And? One day I will find it and you! 

So what about you? Which ancestor gives you the most grief?

Thanks so much for stopping by! 
Helping you climb your family tree,