To Walk In Their Footsteps

Snapshot to the Past

2010-05-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

Many of you may know about the site that I'm about to talk about but many of you may not. If you have not heard of it or perhaps have never been there you are in for a real treat. The site that I am gonna talk about is a wonderful lil "town" called Ancestorville (www.ancestorville.com).

Ancestorville is a quaint internet town packed with wonderfully informative advice and information for the beginner genealogist to the more advanced. Their main focus is all types of antique photographs and hoping to reunit them with their families.

The site is filled with intriguing and helpful articles. Although there are a vast amount at this site, the ones in particular that I found extremely interesting were: Rewards of Merit Cards Victorian History Article, Tintype Photographs, and Ancestral Migration Family History Genealogy Article. They also have a wonderful nickname list for both boys and girls entitled: Genealogy: Victorian Female Girls Women's Names Nicknames, and Genealogy: Victorian Male Boys Baby Men's Nicknames Names.

Ancestorville has a 198 page online antique store. Some of their items include antique hand quilted squares, antique documents, CDV photos (you know the ones with the cardboard on the back?), antique trading cards, and tintype photos just to name a few. Their plentiful store is a "must see" on your tour through the town.

This intriguing site has over 4,000 lost family photos and 10,386 surnames to search through. Each item located on the site is for sale. So if you are lucky enough to find a picture or document of your ancestors, you will be able to purchase it for a nominal fee.

Debra Clifford, the self-proclaimed "town historian", is the owner and operator of Ancestorville. She is a charming and kindhearted lady and I appreciate sincerely all that she has done to help families, family historians and genealogists reunite with the photos of their past. I, personally, am very impressed with this site. There are no frills or fuss as with some of the other more complicated genealogy websites but instead, she has done a beautiful job creating a charming, user friendly, easy to navigate website that draws you back time and time again.

NEW Records Online!

2010-04-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

All,
It has been brought to my attention that the free LDS website has recently added new records-300 million!!

Go To:
http://search.labs.familysearch.org

Click on the "Search or Brows Our Records Collections"
Click on the "Browse Collection"
Find the location of interest and click!
Type in the individual you are searching and see if the records are there!
(Please note: the ones with the red asterisk are the new and updated records.)

I searched for two of my family members that previously had not been online and found them. However, they were simply the index--not the actual records--however, they were there!

If you would like to see the LDS record list please go to:
http://fsbeta.familysearch.org/s/collection/list

Happy Searching!

Finding Civil War Records

2010-04-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows that finding military records can be a bit of a challenge at times. For example, I knew that my great, great, great grandfather was a Union soldier, our family has a picture of him that has been passed down through the generations. But for years I had no luck in finding any information about his military career. Then one day, I stumbled onto a name very similar to his only to discover that he had enlisted under that incorrect spelling of his name and never bothered to have it corrected.

Recently I discovered a website: The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System-(also known as CWSSS) www.civilwar.nps.gov/cwss/
This site states that it has information on 6 million soldiers from 44 states and territories. After reviewing, I have found this site incredibly helpful, informative and very user friendly and would like to take a moment to share my findings with you.

When you are on the CWSSS homepage, you will see many different links including the following: Soldiers, Sailors, Regiments, Cemeteries, Battles, Prisoners, Medal of Honor, and National Parks lined up neatly on the right hand side. Although I cant discuss in depth each one of these links due to the amount of information each one holds, I would like to take a moment to discuss a few.

The "Soldiers" link will take you to a page where you can enter what information you know about your relative. If the individual is listed, the results will return with the soldiers name, the side they fought on, their function, and their regiments name. If you do not have this bit of information, and they are listed, this could make obtaining the pension/military records from the NARA much easier to locate.

If you have African-American ancestors who were sailors during the Civil War there is a wonderful link on CWSSS: "Sailors" which allows you to search by name for your relatives. If you simply want to scan the names listed, you can click on "Sailor Origins" located on the Sailors page which will take you to a world map. Simply clicking on the area of interest will show you a list of names available for that area plus a bit of information regarding the individual.

The "cemetery" listing is a bit limited. Currently it only includes records of Popular Grove National Cemetery at Petersburg National Battlefield. However, if you do have a relative buried in this cemetery, the site states that they also have images of the headstones which could be a tremendous help.

The "prisoners" link is also a bit limited. Currently there are only two prisons listed: Fort McHenry (Confederate) and Andersonville (Union). A brief yet thorough description is given of each prison which is quite insightful.

If your relative was held at Andersonville, you could find a vast amount of information including: side, unit, regiment, state, function, company, rank, type, capture date, capture site, alternate name, and remarks (which in some cases has the parole date and place listed). If you only know the state in which your relative served and are unsure if they were a prisoner at Andersonville, simply put in the state and scroll through the list of names available.

If your relative was housed at Fort McHenry, the information available is a bit different. If you do find your relative, the information that will appear may include all or some of the following: type of prioner, unit name, date of registration, date of disposition, place of disposition, historical notes. If you are unsure if your relative was a prisoner at Fort McHenry, simply click the option for "Prisoner of War" by clicking the down arrow key near the "name" option and scroll through the list of names available.

CWSSS also has a link to a "Medal of Honors" page. The CWSSS states that they have all the Medal of Honor winners listed--simply type in your relatives name or if you would rather scroll through the list of names, simply type in a state and click the search key.

Also on the homepage there is a link entitled: "Researchers Toolbox". By clicking on this, another page will appear with some information for obtaining records from the NARA. On this page, there is also a link called "State Archives". This will take you directly to the NARA website. There you will find a list of respositories that house Confederate pension records. The states listed are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. This can be extremely helpful if you are searching for your Confederate relatives.

As you navigate through the site, you will soon discover that there is a world of knowledge regarding the battles and soldiers listed on this site. There is simply too much for me to write all the details here on this one blog.

But as a final note, there is also a link on the homepage entitled: "The American Civil War". This site is absolutely incredible. It offers links to state by state databases where you can find photographs, information on battles, life during the Civil War, National Parks, etc. There is a vast amount of helpful information and is definitely worth taking a look at.

Almost everyone has a family member that fought or served in some way in the Civil War. Although some military records or copy requests may still be needed from the NARA or other state repositories, The Civil War Soldiers and Sailor System (www.civilwar.nps.gov/cwss/) and The American Civil War (http://cwar.nps.gov/civilwar/) are two incredible sites with a deep well of knowledge and information and are wonderful places to start!

Cutting Costs

2010-04-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows that reading is a real passion for me. I will read almost anything that I can get my hands on from books and magazines, to websites and blogs, to the back of a small picture or a tiny leaflet. It doesnt matter as long as its something I can learn and absorb. Well, like so many of us in todays world, I have come to feel the pinch in my wallet from the slowing economy. So that means I have to watch my genealogy research money even more closely. I mean, lets face it, in the here and now, we have to save every penny we can. Thats where "Google Books" (http://books.google.com) has really come to the rescue.

I'll be honest, until now, I never really thought much about Google Books. Like many, I used Google for the basic needs such as email, maps, or just a simple search engine. I never thought much about all the "other gadgets" it has to offer. I was rather content to do things the "old fashioned" way--go to the library or bookstore and physically pick up the book or magazine...sit down in a comfy chair and have a great read. Now dont get me wrong, my "Google Book curiosity" had gotten the better of me on more then one occasion but in all fairness...my visits to the site were usually a simple "look over" as I casually moved on to other things. I had a real hard time looking at a book electronically...it seemed so unnatural. Then one day I thought, "I'm gonna see what all the hype is about and give it a fair shake"...and it was that day that I became its biggest fan. My favorite fact of Google Books is that you can download books right to your computer (the ones that will allow you too), read them right online and save the space on your shelf and the leave the money in your wallet. Its absolutely wonderful for simple day to day reading but I have found that using Google Books for genealogy is the best reward.

I was looking for information on a great great uncle one day so I hopped onto Google Books and typed his name in the search. I was impressed when he showed up in a list of books. I didnt even know these books existed. I felt like I had stumbled on my own little "preview" of "forgotten books". As I browsed, I found a particular book that caught my interest and so I decided to take a peak. I got very excited as I waited for it to download onto my screen. When the book finally appeared...my heart sank...it was "limited view"...this was a problem. I sat there starring at my screen--frustrated--I was so close and yet so far away from whatever information was hiding behind that "limited view". Reluctantly, I checked out a few book sites to see how much the cost would be to actually purchase the book. Well, lets just say the price was a tad bit more then what I was willing to pay...I'm sure we have all been there. Well, I sat thinking for a moment--pondering what I was going to do...and then the little man in my head flipped on the light switch. I had an idea...I wrote down the book information, everything that was listed...including the page numbers and called the local library. I asked the librarian if she could get this book in through that wonderful and fabulous "interlibrary loan". Unable to know for sure, she took the books information and mine and said she would call me back. So I waited just a day or so and she called with the news. She said that book was not available to be shipped but that the librarians where the book was housed were willing to make photocopies of the pages I requested--FREE OF CHARGE--and she wanted to know if that was acceptable. Absolutely ecstatic, I immediately told her it was and to please proceed which she did. A few days later, I had my photocopies at no cost to me other then a bit of patience. The story from the book was full of information which has definitely helped and needless to say, I was extremely happy to receive it.

I sent a thank you to the librarian who was kind enough to hunt down the book to begin with and was told that in some cases, there might be a small fee attached to photocopies or a small shipping cost if the book (or books) are actually shipped to the library. I was informed that costs accured or not accured were dependent on the individual library so it might be wise for you to ask the cost prior to shipping a book or requesting copies.

The only regret I have is taking so long to seriously check out Google Books. I will be honest, I have plugged in a few names from my family tree and many of them dont show up but the ones that do...many of their stories offer so much detail about their life...its absolutely wonderful. Not only is there the possibility of finding information about your relatives, but Google Books offers many books to help you paint the picture of your relatives life...to fill in the gaps of what was going on during their time. I have found countless books about the history of England where my family is from and whatever books I havent been able to see due to "limited view", I have been able to request through interlibrary loan or have received photocopies of the articles/book pages at little or no cost to me. It is in my opinion, that Google Books is a great starting point for any genealogist or family historian...it definitely offers a little bit of something for almost everyone.

The Beginning

2010-04-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

Like most people interested in genealogy, I have a love of family, history and solving a good mystery. My journey down this present path began many years ago with the passing of my father. After we lost him, I decided to do a scrapbook in his honor. It was at that same time, that I decided to do one for my mom as well. Their books came together rather easily but I quickly discovered how much about them I didnt know. I sat looking at pictures that had names written at the top or on the back but I had no idea who they were or how they fit into our family and I wanted to know. So I began making phone calls, asking questions and documenting any little story anyone would tell me. I found that the more the puzzle took shape, the less pieces I seemed to have. This intrigued me. So there began my journey. Just like anyone new to genealogy, I immediately went to Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, Rootsweb...and the information started flowing in. For a while I seemed to be skipping along my merry path...adding a piece here and a piece there...quickly compiling my tree. I thought for sure I would have all my family history from both sides solved, written and understood in just a few months. Well, that was many, many...many years ago...and here I am...still searching.

The one person in my direct line that is the most intriguing and the most "found" is probably also the one who is the most elusive. I know that sounds like a total contradiction but I have found that statement to be the most accurate. He is my great great grandfather--loving father, brother, son, friend and physician. What makes him so interesting is that he seems to have simply disappeared from the world only when it comes to his profession. He has literally done a "Houdini". I have searched and searched for years to find any documents from schools, hospitals, family, friends...any of his old medical files...anything that I could hold and study and say, "This is my great great grandfathers document. He held this...he wrote that..." But as of the writing of this blog, I havent met lady luck just yet but I would like to believe that eventually our paths will cross...prehaps sooner rather than later.

You see, I recently found an article written in 1956 on GenealogyBank.com, by his daughter, posted in the Ohio Plain Dealer, regarding her father. The article was full of interesting tidbits that I never would have known but one piece of information stood out. She mentioned that her father had cared for 150 typhoid patients on Catawba Island and that all of them survived....ALL OF THEM. Until this piece of information, I had no idea my great great grandfather ever worked on Catawba Island. The article also stated that her father drove a horse drawn carriage to earn money for his medical school, that she had worked for the American Beauty factory in Kalamazoo MI at the tender age of 17 and was now the secretary, treasurer and a newspaper reporter for the Goodrich Golden Age Club. This small article was a goldmine! My heart raced! All I could think of was the records and possibilites!! There was so much that could be out there that I never once thought about or knew to think about. I immediately started on my hunt for information about Catawba Island, the Goodrich Golden Age Club and the American Beauty factory. I also started looking for information on what carriage companies were in business at the time he would have been studying to become a medical doctor. If I could hunt down these carraige companies I might be able to follow their path to where the employment records are now housed--that is if the records are still in existence. Even if the records were destroyed, the history of the company from books, maps, tax records...all of these things could offer a clue. I am still searching but each day, with each email response, with each phone call, I am one step closer to filling in the puzzle...to understanding my great great grandfathers life. At least now many new doors have opened and I can peer in to see whats on the other side...all thanks to one tiny article written 54 years ago!