Adam Pollicino

REMEMBER THIS NUMBER    8870

This is not an error It is the number to remember when you want to find the birth date of someone when you only have the date of death and age.

How do you figure the birth date?

Suppose the person died May 6, 1889, at the age of 71 years, 7 months, 9 days.

1. Write the year, month, day as  18890506
2. Subtract the age at death             710709
3. This gives the figure                 18179797
4. Now subtract                                     8870
5. The result s                               18170927

Year 1817, 9th month (Sept), 27th day or 27 Sept, 1817

Source Platte Co, MO Historical/Genealogical Society

Read more here http://www.mayrand.org/birthday.html

By RACHEL L. SWARNS

Growing up, Khrys Vaughan always believed that she had inherited her looks and mannerisms from her father, and that her appreciation for tradition and old-fashioned gentility stemmed from her parents’ Southern roots. But those facets of her self-image crumbled when she was told, at age 42, that she had been adopted.

She began searching for her origins, only to find out that her adoption records had been sealed, a common practice in the 1960s. Then Mrs. Vaughan stumbled across an ad from a DNA testing company offering to help people who had been adopted find clues to their ancestry and connections to blood relatives.

About five weeks after shipping off two tiny vials of her cells from a swab of her cheek, Mrs. Vaughan received an e-mail informing her that her bloodlines extended to France, Romania and West Africa. She was also given the names and e-mail addresses of a dozen distant cousins. This month, she drove 208 miles from her hometown here to Evansville, Ind., to meet her third cousin, the first relative to respond to her e-mails. Mrs. Vaughan is black and her cousin is white, and they have yet to find their common ancestor. But Mrs. Vaughan says that does not matter.

“Somebody is related to me in this world,” she said. “Somebody out there has my blood. I can look at her and say, ‘This is my family.’ ”

A growing number of adoptees, now in the thousands, are turning to DNA testing companies in hopes of piecing together the puzzles of their beginnings. Some long to learn whether their family trees first bloomed in Ireland or Italy, Europe or South America. Others want to know whether they are genetically predisposed to developing diabetes,cancer or other diseases. Most adoptees are hungry for information that will lead to their birth parents, but some are also expanding their conception of family as they embrace a far-flung constellation of second, third and fourth cousins.

Some DNA testing companies have been stepping up their efforts to reach out to this community over the past several years, posting advertisements on adoption message boards and testimonials on their Web sites. Adoptees and some groups that serve them are also spreading the word. “There has never been a better time to establish your biological identity,” says the Web site of Adoption.com, which promotes its efforts to unite adoptees and blood relatives.

Genetic testing has surged in popularity over the last decade, as the cost of analyzing cell samples has dropped and as Americans have grown more interested in learning about their heritage. As a result, some companies have amassed enough DNA samples that they can offer to help adoptees identify their kin, bringing hope to people born in an era when adoption records were routinely sealed, leaving few paper trails to follow.

Several companies provide tests that can confirm whether adoptees are related to individuals they already know. Others cast a wider net by plugging DNA results into databases that contain tens of thousands of genetic samples, provided mostly by people searching for their ancestral roots. The tests detect genetic markers that reveal whether people share a common ancestor or relative.

Some experts on adoption and genetics have criticized ancestry and genealogy testing companies, saying they are, at times, connecting people whose genetic links are tenuous — in effect stretching the definition of a relative. Nevertheless, the growing popularity of the tests, combined with social media sites that connect people day to day, has given some adoptees a sense of family that feels tangible, intimate and immediate.

Within minutes of receiving the names of her distant relatives, Mrs. Vaughan, a freelance project manager, was admiring their photographs on Facebook. Another adoptee who found family through DNA testing, Kathy Borgmann, a 49-year-old corn farmer in New Palestine, Ind., exchanged e-mails with cousins who delighted her by saying, “Welcome to the family.”

Alan Bogner of Olympia, Wash., felt such kinship with his newly discovered second and third cousins that he attended their family reunion in Iowa. He learned, among other things, that many of them were also tall — he is 6-foot-5 — and that they shared his liberal politics.

“It sounds so baloney, but they’re just so much like me,” said Mr. Bogner, 54, who works for the governor’s office.

The tests have their limitations. The price of testing can range from $99 to more than $500, putting them out of reach for some people. Company officials also caution that it is much more common to find second and third cousins than birth parents or siblings. Neil Schwartzman of Montreal struck gold when his test connected him with his sister — “I was gob-smacked,” he recalled — but such cases are not typical.

Company officials say the odds are improving, though, as more people pay for tests and add their DNA to the pool of potential matches. Two testing companies — Family Tree DNA and 23andMe — have databases that contain samples from 350,000 and 125,000 people, respectively, and their executives say those numbers are rising. In recent years, about 9,000 of their customers have identified themselves as adoptees, company officials say, but they believe the actual number is larger since not everyone shares their reasons for testing.

Read the full article here

by Maureen Taylor 

Unique Ways to Record Your History

Don’t wait to start putting together your family story. Maureen Taylor shares how you can take advantage of unexpected opportunities to collect your family history and ways to record your family’s one-of-a-kind personality.

By following a few easy steps you can collect family memories at holidays and family reunions. Unfortunately, too many of us think that the right opportunity should be planned. However, if you try to wait for the perfect moment it may never happen. If you tarry too long, busy schedules and sudden illness can interfere. Instead, be prepared for those unexpected opportunities to collect your family history and traditions. A little preplanning can help you gather family history where and when it happens. The best way to start is to create a family history kit that you can carry with you or keep in your car when you visit with relatives. The following equipment can be held in a small storage container and will fit in even a small suitcase.

Family History Gathering Kit

• Pencils, notebook
• Pedigree charts
• Copies of an assortment of family photographs
• Camera with film
• Tape recorder

The contents of your kit can vary based on the materials you have on hand, as long as you have the essential tools to document your family history. For instance, pencils and a notebook are mainstays of genealogical research, but more computer-savvy individuals can use a handheld computer device to record information. The pedigree charts and photographs act as prompts when you are trying to encourage a reluctant relative to share their memories, and keeping a camera and a tape recorder handy helps preserve the details of the visit. Camcorders can be used, but it is usually not practical to carry one with you everywhere, while the new digital recorders that double as a still camera are nice, but expensive.

Now that you have the basic materials ready, follow these few steps to gather your family heritage in small, manageable pieces without becoming overwhelmed by the task

Write Down What You Know

The first step in any family history project is to record on a pedigree chart or family group sheet what you already know, including full names (maiden names), dates and places for births, marriages, and deaths. This outline of your known family history is a vital part of your collecting plan for the future. It provides you with a starting place.

Interview Relatives

Identify the individuals in your family that seem to know the most family history. Then either call them or send them a letter or e-mail to set up an appointment to talk. This may be a personal visit, a telephone interview, an e-mail interview, or maybe a plan to set some time aside at the next family event.

It is important to develop a list of questions based on the family history you already know so that you can focus the conversation. The answers will help you fill in the blanks on the family tree. For instance, ask for everyone’s full name including nicknames and maiden names. Make sure you try to either videotape or tape record these conversations so that you have an accurate record of their comments. An amazing amount of history is passed down orally through the generations. In some families it involves the immigration of the family to America while in others it can be simple things like a family recipe. Read The Importance of Oral Histories by Lyman Platt to learn more about why this is a primary step for genealogy research. For a sample list of questions and a guide to conducting interviews, check out Getting Nosy with Aunt Rosie.

Use Home Sources

Let family members know that you are interested in seeing the artifacts, photographs and documents that they have in their possession and hearing stories about those items. Artifacts have special meaning in most families, from the sampler passed down through several generations to the souvenir plate your grandparents bought on their honeymoon. You can use those materials to jog memories and direct conversations. A simple family photograph can lead a relative to recount memories about persons and events. Try questioning relatives about the existence of furniture, jewelry, photographs, documents and special linens. Most of what you’ll learn will not appear in any published family history and may not be verifiable, but it will be interesting and fun to hear.

Keep Track of Your Research

As you start to accumulate memories, be sure to keep track of all your sources and data. If you don’t already own a genealogical software package, now is the time. Not only do they help you organize your notes by creating family group sheets and charts, the programs also come equipped with extra features. For instance, many genealogical software packages such as Family Tree Maker allow you to add multimedia objects to your family group sheets so that sound and video can be incorporated into your family tree. The latest version of Family Tree Maker includes a publishing center that enables you to create a family web page directly from the program. As you start to gather stories, memories, artifacts and facts it is necessary to have complete contact or source data for them in case you need to refer to them again. It is very easy to forget who owned the quilt made by your great-great-grandmother or even who knew the details of the argument that divided siblings for several decades.

Acquire a New Hobby from a Family Member

Is there a member of your family that has a talent that has been in the family for several generations? A friend’s mother develops her own crochet patterns and creates beautiful items for special events like weddings and baptisms. A number of women who quilt pass this skill along to their daughters. Perhaps the men in your family share a common skill or interest. When you seek out memories, remember to document the talents and expertise of family members. In some families, trade secrets are the basis for a family business. My father learned his trade from his father and uncle who learned from their father who followed in the footsteps of his own father. Each generation inherited techniques and work methods.

Save a Tradition

Every family develops a set of traditions around certain holidays and family events. Are certain foods served? Is there a special series of events that occur at the same time each year? The next time you see a tradition being reenacted, step back and ask a series of questions. Find out why it is a tradition and who started it. Capture the memories on film or video as they are happening so that you can continue the practice. These traditions are clues to the history of your family. In the article The Ties that Bind, Dr. Susan Coady discusses why family traditions are important and how we developed them.

Take a Trip

Once you’ve accumulated material about the places your ancestors lived, it might be time to actually visit those locations to see relatives that still live in the area or find out more about your family’s time there. Most people think about overseas travel, but your family history may be in the United States. When you plan an itinerary, try to recreate the lives of your ancestors by walking in their footsteps. You can take an older or younger relative with you to explore. Be there while your relative rediscovers their old haunts and recounts long buried memories, or help a younger generation make new ones.

Pass on a Legacy

Now that you’ve worked hard to create a legacy for future generations, take time to put it all together so that your efforts won’t be wasted. Seek out family members willing to help you put together a family history, a heritage scrapbook or create a family web page. The final product is irrelevant as long as the memories you’ve gathered remain intact for others to enjoy.

As the family historian documenting each part of a family’s existence, take time to research the background of the stories, traditions and skills present in your family. Look behind the memories to see the historical trends and circumstances that led to their inception. You might be surprised at what you discover!

Read more here 

by David A. Fryxell

Take a Journey Through Ellis Island

Most Americans have at least one immigrant ancestor, and many of those came to the United States through Ellis Island. Family Tree Magazine editor David Fryxell fleshes out that basic fact with detailed experiences of actual people who arrived there, and what happened to them afterward.

Annie Moore was lucky.

Because the 15-year-old Irish girl was the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island, on Jan. 1, 1892, she was treated more like a celebrity than one of the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” described on the nearby Statue of Liberty. Fresh off the boat from County Cork, Annie entered America bearing a $10 gold coin from the state immigration commissioner.

The 12 million immigrants who came after her in the next 32 years enjoyed a less red-carpet introduction to America. Herded like animals, probed by doctors, interrogated, tested, sometimes separated from their families and even sent back where they’d come from, the “wretched refuse” of Europe’s teeming shores came to think of Ellis Island as “island of hope, island of tears.”

But they made it, most of them, following Annie Moore to the promised land and remaking America in their image. Today, more than 100 million Americans have at least one ancestor who came through Ellis Island.

Gauntlet to a New Land

For your immigrant ancestors, having their name on a ship’s manifest was the culmination of a dream — and often the beginning of a nightmare. A steerage ticket to America cost about $25, which might be two years’ wages. That bought a crowded, 3,000-mile voyage of two weeks to a month as human cargo, suffering seasickness and unsanitary conditions on a diet of thin soup and bread.

Harder still than the voyage was leaving behind everything and everyone you knew. Julia Gonipow, who emigrated from Lithuania in 1899, remembered, “The day I left home, my mother came with me to the railroad station. When we said goodbye, she said it was just like seeing me go into my casket. I never saw her again.”

But they said their goodbyes and endured the trip to reach, as one British cartoon put it, “the U.S. Ark of Refuge,” where they’d find “free education, free land, free speech, free ballot, free lunch.” They left behind joblessness and poverty, conscription and persecution. Though English, Irish, Germans and Scandinavians had led the migration to America for most of the 19^th century, by the time Ellis Island opened in 1892 immigrants from Italy, Russia and Austria-Hungary had joined the flood. By 1907, these three groups accounted for 75 percent of the traffic through Ellis Island.

On arrival, first- and second-class passengers were cleared onboard by immigration officials. Steerage passengers were hustled onto a ferry to Ellis Island. At its peak in 1907, Ellis Island was handling more than 11,000 immigrants a day.

Wearing numbered tags that matched a page of the ship’s manifest, the immigrants came up the steps from the pier into the ornate, red-brick and limestone, Beaux Arts main building. First stop was the Baggage Room. Here they could check their meager possessions, a sampling of which can be seen today in Ellis Island’s Treasures from Home exhibit: wool gloves from Norway, eyeglasses from Scotland, an apron from Romania, a ladies’ fan from Italy, a battered teddy bear that came to America from Switzerland with Gertrude Schneider, age 10.

From the Baggage Room, the immigrants went up to the Registry Room, the great, two-story main hall with its vaulted, terra-cotta-tiled ceiling and American flags. Even as they mounted the stairs, Public Health Service doctors would be watching for signs of infirmity. In what became known as “the six-second physical,” the doctors scanned for ailments that might disqualify a newcomer. A chalk mark on the clothes identified those to be detained for further examination: “H” for heart problems, “L” for lameness, “E” for eye disease — particularly the highly contagious trachoma, which doctors checked for by turning the eyelid inside-out with a buttonhook.

Intelligence was tested, too. A typical question might be, “Would you wash stairs from the top down or from the bottom up?” — which once brought the sharp response, “I didn’t come to America to wash stairs.”

At the far end of the Registry Room waited the legal inspectors. Working with an army of interpreters, they tried to weed out anarchists, polygamists and immigrants unable to support themselves in their new land (“S.I. – L.P.C.,” these were coded: “special inquiry — likely to become a public charge”). About 10 percent of immigrants were held for a hearing; today, visitors to Ellis Island can relive this experience by serving as a mock hearing board, deciding an “immigrant’s” fate in a reenactment.

According to one of the most often-told tales about Ellis Island, the harried inspectors also changed immigrants’ names, through misspelling or simplification. But Sharon Carmack, author of the forthcoming A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Ethnic Ancestors (and a contributor to Family Tree Magazine), debunks this legend: “No evidence whatsoever exists to suggest this ever occurred, and I have challenged countless people who insist their ancestor’s name was changed on Ellis Island to provide me with proof. So far, no one has been able to. … Inspectors compared the names the immigrants told them against what was recorded on the passenger lists. These lists were created at the ports of departure. There was no reason to record or change anyone’s surname once they arrived. More likely, immigrants themselves changed their names after they settled in America to avoid prejudice and to blend more easily into American society.”

The average stay at Ellis Island was less than a day. Some, however, had to stay overnight in crowded dormitories, or were quarantined in the island’s hospital. Families got separated, and anxious parents might wait weeks to be reunited with their children. More than 3,500 immigrants died on Ellis Island, and more than 350 babies were born.

Ultimately, about two out of every hundred would-be new Americans were turned away. All immigrants’ steamship tickets, in a nice little subsidy for the steamship companies, were required to be for a round trip. A heartbroken handful completed the ticketed journey.

A Nation of Immigrants

Most who came to Ellis Island, however, went down from the Registry Room to the railroad ticket office and the free ferries to New York and New Jersey, to begin a new life. Immigrants bound for Manhattan met their relatives – many of whom they’d never seen — at the “kissing post.” Katherine Beychok, a Russian Jewish immigrant in 1910, remembered meeting her father for the first time: “I saw a man coming forward and he was so beautiful. … And I fell in love with him and he with me.”

Gaining entrance to America, another immigrant recalled, “was as if God’s great promise had been fulfilled.”

Once beyond the gateway of Ellis Island, though, immigrants found that life could be every bit as hard as it had been back home. An old Italian story posted in today’s Ellis Island museum puts it this way: “I came to America because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here, I found out three things: First, the streets were not paved with gold. Second, they weren’t paved at all. Third, I was expected to pave them.”

But pave them they did — and build our cities and make our laws and enrich our culture. Irving Berlin came through Ellis Island from Russia in 1893; Al Jolson, from Lithuania, in 1894. Knute Rockne arrived from Norway in 1893. Felix Frankfurter came from Austria in 1894, followed by Maria Von Trapp and family in 1938. Sol Hurok came from the Ukraine in 1906. Isaac Asimov came from Russia in 1923.

They gave America their children, too. For example, among the 600,000 names inscribed on Ellis Island’s American Immigrant Wall of Honor are the parents of one Francis Albert Sinatra.

“It touches a human chord in the great spirit of adventure,” says the foundation’s Stephen Briganti, “how these people made it possible for us to be Americans. They are our history.”

Immigrants entered through other ports, too — San Francisco, Boston, Baltimore and more. But the greatest influx during the greatest human migration in history came through Ellis Island. In 1903, for instance, 706,113 of the 951,227 immigrants began their American life at the Port of New York. And today, Ellis Island is the only national monument dedicated to the immigrant experience shared by so many of our ancestors.

In 1990, the Ellis Island Immigrant Museum opened in the former main building, restored at a cost of $170 million. You can retrace your ancestor’s footsteps and see how Ellis Island and U.S. immigration changed over the years. You can also hear more than 1,700 oral-history interviews of immigrants and former Ellis Island employees.

Soon, as part of the American Family Immigration History Center, you’ll be able to add your own memories and family treasures to Ellis Island. In phase two of the project, the Living Family Archive, visitors (both in person and via Internet) will be invited to contribute scanned copies of family documents, records and photos. These files will be stored for posterity along with the newly computerized ship passenger lists.

It’s all part of discovering and preserving our roots, which for so many of us run through this “island of hope, island of tears.” Like 15-year-old Annie Moore, who’s immortalized in a statue in Ellis Island’s museum, our ancestors sailed under the Statue of Liberty’s lamp and to this “golden door.” Most weren’t as lucky as Annie, and it was a long time before many of them would see a $10 gold piece.

But we’re all lucky that they came.

Read more here

By  Louise St. Denis

1. A few don’ts… Don’t create problems for yourself by making the same mistakes others have done before you. Constantly seek out information about your new hobby. You’ll save lots of time along the way if you know what to do and more importantly, what not to do…

2. Don’t worry about how far you can get, too many factors are involved. Everyone’s research is the same, but our backgrounds have different twists and turns. Some factors will deal with your own family’s history, other factors will deal with world events. Your persistence, your luck and the amount of time you can give your new hobby will all determine how far back you can go. If a sufficient amount of information has survived through the years, then your chances of filling in all the family branches are greater.

3. Don’t make any assumptions unless you can back them up with facts. Confirm your facts using a second source of information. Family stories are often exaggerated or embellished. The social standing of a family is often improved upon. Be aware of stories about Royal or Noble descent. Try to confirm all family stories with at least two sources.

4. You must always start from the known and find your way to the unknown. So begin by writing everything you know about yourself. This teaches you how to record information accurately and completely. Remember your descendants will use your information and you may not be around to explain your notes.

5. Decide who’s genealogy you want to complete. If you choose to research all your ancestors then your charts will start with yourself. But if you want to find just your father’s side of the family, you will want to start with your father as the main person.

6. Build a miniature tree. Take a large piece of paper (the back of an old poster is great) and write down all the names of family members you know. At the top write your name, to the right add your brothers & sisters since their family tree is the same as yours. To the left write down your spouse and children’s names.

On the next line, write down the name of your father and your mother. Next to these names indicate their brothers and sisters and their families (your aunts, uncles and cousins). Lower on the page, continue with the next generation, add your paternal and maternal grandparents, their children and families. If you know your great-grandparents list this fourth generation lower on your miniature family tree.

This miniature tree is not fancy or artistic. It is completed to help you visualize where everybody fits in. Just add names; the factual information should be recorded in your genealogical diary.

7. Set up a filing system. You’ll be accumulating lots of documents and papers of all kinds. There are no rules to setting up a filing system, except that it must enable you to find what you want quickly and efficiently. Organize your files to enable you to track what you want.

8. Seek out family members, young and old, as well as family friends to get as much information as you can. Ask lots of questions, get answers to the Who, What, Where, When and Why of your family. Look through photo albums, the family Bible and all personal and vital records found in your family homes. Find as many clues as possible before you go searching in the outside world.

9. There are many outside sources available to help you conduct your research. You must be aware of what each has available in your area of research. Joining a genealogical society early on in your project will help you direct your efforts in the right direction. Make a point of writing to or visiting these different resources to see what’s available: Public Archives, Public Libraries, Genealogical and Historical Associations, Private Libraries and Associations, Family History Center of the LDS Church, Churches and Cemeteries

10. Finally, enjoy your new hobby, write a family history or produce a family video; hold a family reunion. Share your information with your new and extended family…

Read more here

Now That You’ve Found Them, How do You Keep Track of Them?

Five different types of files (proof, surname, portable, and computer) to help you get everything organized.

Finding ancestors and other relatives — that’s what genealogy is all about, right? And there is tons of information out there on all of them (even if some of them intentionally seem to have made it difficult for others to track them down!). The trick is, once you’ve learned something about an ancestor or relative, put that information into a readily-accessible, “user-friendly” form that will help you proceed to more research.

Here are some “tips and tricks” on organizing your research. Although these methods have been tried over many years of genealogical research, it is important to realize that not all methods work for everyone. Please think about how these ideas can help you in your research and organization. If you aren’t comfortable with a system, you won’t use it consistently and the whole purpose of using it in the first place is defeated before you even begin. Think about your habits and preferences as you adopt the methods that are appropriate for your purposes.

This system has been found to work best when all the pieces are combined — the proof files, surname files, the “portable” files, and computer files. When putting together your system (or revising your present system), please consider carefully before “skipping” any of these areas — I’ll explain the reasons as I go along.

1. Proof files. These are the originals (or master copies) of all the information you accumulate. Examples include birth certificates, marriage licenses, death certificates, photographs, copies of pages from secondary sources, correspondence, and so forth. These documents should never leave home!

1. Surname files. These are your working copies of the proof files, plus any notes on possible connections, ideas on which to follow up, and other similar things. These may go to the library or courthouse with you as needed.
2. Portable files. These contain the master information on ALL your ancestors and it goes with you all of the time. This should include copies of all your pedigree charts, family group sheets on all direct (or blood line) ancestors, and other quick-reference aids.
3. Computer files. These files include details and source information on all of the individuals you are researching — not just blood relations, but spouses, children, ancestors of in-laws, and other relatives. It may even include “possible” relations. This does not replace any of the other four files identified above! There are places you cannot take your computer (even a laptop). The proof files are the actual documents or copies. The surname files contain hard copies of the information in the proof files (more detail than you can put in the computer — and who would want to key in everything you find anyway?) The computer does, however, provide a valuable resource for sharing information, and for organizing data. It’s helpful in determining relationships — the connections can be made one by one and the computer will then show a graphic representation of the relationships. It’s also extremely helpful to be able to print out a family group sheet or pedigree chart (or better yet, a GEDCOM file) to share with a relative (or possible relative)

As you can see, each of these types of files has its own function; and used together they will keep your data in accessible, usable form!

Before beginning on the types of files, there are two overall bits of preparation you need to do:

• Prepare a pedigree chart (probably a “cascading” pedigree chart) showing all known ancestors. It is recommended you start with your children, so that you and your spouse do not have the same identification numbers for different ancestors.
• Number the ancestors according to the “ahnentafel” numbering system. The ahnentafel system, by its nature, provides a unique number for each individual ancestor, while allowing you to easily see where there are gaps in your information by seeing which numbers you have not assigned. (The first individual — I recommend your children as a group — is assigned #1. The father of each individual is double the child’s number, and the mother is one more than the father. So the father of person #1 is #2, and the mother of person #1 is #3.)

Once these tasks are completed, you’re ready to begin organizing your data.

Type I — Proof Files

The key to keeping your Proof Files organized is having a system for identifying each family group to keep the data separate but accessible. Keep these files by surname (for marriage records or information pertaining to the wife, try to keep two copies — one with her father’s family, one with her husband). If you find that a particular file is becoming too cramped, separate them by generation, labeling each file with the identification numbers of the parents (the ahnentafel numbers assigned above).

Also this file includes the abstracts of censuses, deeds, wills, and so forth that you have made. You should keep copies of the same documents in your Surname File.

Take care of your original proofs. Use good preservation methods for old documents and photos; handle them carefully; use acid-free paper on everything possible. Make copies of whatever material you think you may need to take along when researching. DO NOT take along your originals! You’ve heard people say, “I know where it came from, I can always request another copy.” But the horror stories pop up frequently of courthouses that have lost all the records from a particular period — or worse, a fire has destroyed everything; or laws change and those documents are no longer available to the public or for genealogical research! So even if you know where a document came from, and you have all of the information, you may not be able to get another copy. Keep your originals safe!

Type II — Surname Files

The Surname Files are your working files. These are arranged by surname so that you can take this file with you when you are researching a particular name. These files should each contain as much of the following as you have available for each surname:

Part I:

• an ancestral time line to ensure that your generations overlap properly, and to see at a glance which ancestors were living at any given time;
• pedigree charts for the surname; and
• a correspondence log and copies of correspondence.

Part II (beginning with the most recent generation in the front):

• a family group sheet with enough pages to include all children;
• a research record where have you checked and what have you found, so far;
• copies of material from Proof File; and
• generation dividers/notes.

These, then, are the files you take along to do your research, or in which you make notes of “things to do” or possible connections. Your originals are protected, but you have a handy reference available with all the detail on a given family.

Type III — Portable Files

When you are going to do research, you will want to take along your Surname Files for the family or families you’re planning to work on. But what if you find someone else for whom you don’t have a file with you? You may start out intending to research only one particular line, but discover that it seems like that family is “hiding” — or another family pops up where you weren’t expecting to find them! Without your Portable File, you may end up with files of research on individuals to whom you are not related! The names and places may be right, but the family turns out to be cousins or sometimes not related to you at all!

The purpose of the Portable File is to enable you to take enough information with you to be sure that the family you’ve found is one you’re looking for. It should include your pedigree charts, a location directory (so that you can double-check to see if you have ancestors in a particular town, county, or state for which you’ve found vital records), alphabetical listings of surnames of interest, family group sheets, and other notes.

The family group sheets should contain the basic information (birth, marriage, death, burial) with dates and places. It’s easier if everything is cross-referenced by both surnames (husband and wife), so if you run across information on a Susie BEEDLEBUB, you don’t have to remember who she married to find her — she’s right there in the Bs, along with all her BEEDLEBUB ancestors.

Type IV — Computer Files

It seems everyone is getting on the bandwagon to do everything on the computer. I’m no exception! I don’t write if I don’t have to. Here are some of the advantages and capabilities of recording your genealogy on the computer:

First, the Good News!

• There are computer programs for every budget, from Brother’s Keeper which is available on most bulletin boards, to Personal Ancestral File (from the LDS) for about $35, to Roots IV for several hundred dollars. Some programs will do everything but the research for you, so you just need to decide what you want. Key things to watch for include the abilities to:
  • expand to accommodate your family (we thought a few hundred would be more than enough — we’re up to over 10,000 individuals in our database, and it continues growing nearly every day!); and
  • import and export GEDCOM files, which will make your life much more pleasant when you wish to upgrade to another program, share information with a friend or relative, or submit information to the LDS for their database.
• Most computer programs will print various reports and charts, some of which are absolutely gorgeous and others of which are simply functional. This capability will save you time in preparing to exchange with others who do not have computer capabilities — however, be sure to check the print quality and remember that the output from some printers will fade over time. You want to be sure others will be able to read it next year (sometimes fading print is worse than none at all).
• Remember that when you are taking information from documents to put into your computer program, you need to organize it and reference the sources for EVERYTHING! On paper documents, the reader can often see the source indicated (or know that it’s a photocopy of a birth certificate). In your computer program, you must spell that out so later you will know quickly from where the information came.

Now, a few cautions I’d like to point out about genealogy on the computer.

• Think about your descendants. You get very excited when you find something your ancestors wrote — throw a little crumb to your descendants by leaving them written genealogical records of some sort.
• Will anyone be able to read your computer files in 50 years if they find the disks (or even the computer) in the attic? If your files don’t go directly to someone who protects them and maintains them, will they be of any use later on (or will anyone even know they’re there).
• When you print your data, what kind of printer, ink and paper are you using? A dot matrix printer ink fades in just a few months — it will be totally worthless in a few years. Laser printers are better, but are you using acid-free paper?

All-in-All…

By using this “four-pronged” approach to organizing your records, you will have the data you need, where you need it, when you need it. Establish a sequence of handling new data — for example, update your Portable File, then Computer File, then Surname File, then file appropriate records in the Proof File. Stay with this system, and all your records will stay in sync, making them more valuable to you, and allowing you to use your limited genealogy research time more efficiently!

Read more here

by Kathleen W. Hinckley, CGRS

What You’ll Find in Genealogy Magazines

Are you a typical genealogist with boxes or file cabinets bulging with census records, deeds, and marriage certificates? You probably have some military pension files and a collection of flowery obituaries. Perhaps you found some long-lost cousins and have pages and pages of correspondence and photocopies of documents from shared research.

But if you are a typical genealogist, you also want more! You want the maiden name of your great-grandmother. You want to know exactly when your immigrant ancestor arrived in the United States. Or maybe you cannot figure out where your great-great-grandparents married.

The answers to your genealogical puzzles may be buried in periodicals. Have you looked? If not, you are missing a gold mine of information.

Why are Periodicals Important to Research?

Indexes and Abstracts

Periodicals (a.k.a. journals, newsletters, magazines, and quarterlies) are filled with indexes or extracts of every type of record imaginable, such as cemetery inscriptions, baptisms, naturalization records, and homestead applications. These periodicals, usually published by local genealogical societies, provide a constant stream of newly indexed resource material.

Compiled Genealogies and Corrections

Some journals, such as The American Genealogist (a.k.a. TAG) and the New England Historical & Genealogical Register focus on publishing compiled genealogies of families, or correcting previously published family histories. For example, the 75th anniversary issue of TAG (July 1997) includes an article titled “Margery (Maude) Fisher, Quaker Immigrant to Delaware: A Correction of Her Lineage” by Charles M. Hansen, FASG. Margery Maude was born in 1671 and married Thomas Fisher in 1692 in Lewes, Delaware. The incorrect lineage of Margery (Maude) Fisher was published in Count d’Angerville’s Living Descendants of Blood Royal, 5 vols., (London: 1959-73, 1:46-47) and again in Gary Boyd Roberts’s The Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants, (Baltimore: 1993), 180. If you are a descendant of Margery (Maude) Fisher, this article will be critical to your research.

Methodology Articles

The National Genealogical Society Quarterly is well-known for its research methodology articles. Case studies teach readers how to analyze and correlate research to solve brick wall problems. For example, Margaret R. Amundson’s article “The Taliaferro-French Connection: Using Deeds to Prove Marriages and Parentage” (Vol. 83 No 3, September 1995) describes how she used deeds to prove the marriage between Robert Taliaferro (1688-1736) of Essex County, Virginia, and Margaret French (ca. 1690-1724) of adjacent Richmond County.

General How-To Articles

Many periodicals, such as Heritage Quest, publish articles of general interest. Their September/October 1997 issue, for example, includes John Philip Colletta’s article on U.S. passport applications, and Desmond Walls Allen’s discussion of World War I draft registration records.

John Kennedy’s article “Take Care of Pieces of Family History” in the September/October 1996 issue of Family Chronicle tells how to preserve family documents and photographs.

Queries and Book Reviews

The Genealogical Helper is best known for publishing queries from genealogists who want to connect with others researching the same family. Queries are published by other journals too, and success stories abound on how cousins find cousins.

Book reviews may seem like an unimportant or boring item in journals, but they inform us of new products or books on the market. Critical reviews also teach us standards and how to evaluate the quality of publications.

How Do I Find These Periodicals? They’re Not in the Grocery or Book Store!

Periodicals are published by every type of genealogical society ranging from the local group of ten members, to national societies with membership in the thousands. They are published throughout the world by family associations, hereditary societies, and individuals.

And, yes, they will not be found in the magazine section of the grocery store or book store. To find a periodical, you must first find the society or organization that covers your area of interest. The quickest method to find out if there is a genealogical society in the research area of your interest, is to study the Federation of Genealogical Societies Membership Directory. Information is provided on over 500 genealogical and historical societies and family associations.

Online web site directories, such as Helpful Web Sites, will guide you to publishers of genealogical magazines. Some of the sites offer online indexes to their journal and/or feature articles from their magazine. Although there are hundreds of sites, there are hundreds more that are not online yet. A visit to your nearest public library with a genealogy collection will introduce you to the variety of periodicals within the genealogical field.

Researching Periodicals

The largest and best-known index to periodicals is the Periodical Source Index, known as PERSI. This resource, created by the Allen County Public Library and available on CD-ROM, indexes over 5,000 different periodicals published in the United States and Canada over the past 200 years. Every article can be searched by locality (both state and county), publication date, family name(s), and article subject.

We should begin our research with PERSI, but not stop with PERSI. There are limits to PERSI because only the article titles were indexed. If the article was an abstract of probate records, only the name of the county and record type will be indexed. But if you examine the full index to the periodical that published the probate records, all the names will be indexed.

The problem comes in finding indexes to the periodicals. Until the era of CD-ROMs, we had to rely on publishers creating cumulative indexes. In the “old days” we used Jacobus’s Index to Genealogical Periodicals (an index to 91 periodicals published between 1932 and 1953), or the Genealogical Periodical Annual Indexes (known as the GPAI) that began in 1962. Or we examined annual indexes published by genealogical societies, a painstakingly long research process.

A couple of years ago, the New England Historic Genealogical Society published theRegister, 1847-1994 on CD. The Register is the oldest continuous publication by a genealogical society. If you have colonial New England ancestry, the odds are excellent that you’ll find references to your family in this publication.

A brief exploration of the Internet unveiled the following Web sites that have information about their periodicals and/or indexes to their periodicals. You may find many other such Web sites in your own explorations.

• Avotaynu, the international review of Jewish genealogy, publishes on subjects of interest to genealogists of Jewish and Central and Eastern European ancestry. Last year, the company put the first 12 volumes of the publication on CD-ROM using the Folio^® search engine. Users can search for words and combination of words and the software locates occurrences (hits) displaying the complete article on the computer screen. The user can then print a copy of the article. For example, a search for the surname Fischbein identifies two articles in which the name appears — Fall 1994 and Winter 1995 issues. The town of Lublin, Poland is identified with 58 hits.
• The Record, is the second-oldest genealogical journal in the United States. Articles focus on families that lived in New York prior to 1900, as well as abstracts or indexes to original New York records such as church registers and tax rolls.
• FEEFHS Internet Journal — East European Genealogy Ala Carte There are several full-text articles at this Web site such as “Researching the People From ‘No Mans Land’ — The Carpatho-Rusyns of Austria-Hungary” by Thomas A. Peters.

Research Tips for Searching in Periodicals

• Index Types — Utilize every available index type because none of them provide 100% of what you need. Use PERSI for general surname, locality, and subject searches; use CD-ROMs issued by publications for detailed surname searches; and use the annual index provided by the publication for topics not included in PERSI or CD-ROMs.
• Surname Searches — Prepare a list of spelling variations to use with every search. Include surnames of collaterals.
• Locality Searches — Search by town, township, county, or state; province, district, country.
• Subject Searches — Prepare a list of subjects unique to your family. For example, Methodists, gold rush, slaves, or Black Hawk War.
• Research Log — Maintain a record of the title and date of periodicals searched, plus research results.
• When you find a reference in an index and do not have access to the periodical, you have four options:
  • Write directly to the society that published the periodical, assuming they still exist. Give them a donation for photocopying the article for you;
  • Determine if the periodical is available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. If it has been microfilmed, you can order the film through a local Family History Center. If not, hire a professional genealogist in Salt Lake City to make a photocopy;
  • If the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana has the periodical, they have a service to photocopy articles. Visit their Web site for details.
  • Ask your librarian if back issues of the periodical have been published on CD. We will be seeing more and more periodical collections in this format.

Researching with periodicals is never-ending because new material is published every day. For example, an article may appear in next month’s NGSQ that will name your family. Or maybe the headstones from a small, rural cemetery were recently transcribed and will be published later this year.

That is why we never give up. There is always another record or another periodical to examine in hope of finding our elusive ancestors. And when you DO figure out one of your genealogical puzzles, write an article about it and submit it to your favorite magazine. Your contribution may help another genealogist solve their own puzzle!

Read more here

by Donna Przecha

First Steps in Foreign Research

You have just leapt “The Pond” in your research, having found that a grandparent or great-grandparent is not only from a foreign country, but one whose language you do not know. Don’t think that your personal research has ended and you must employ a professional. Even though you don’t know a word of the applicable foreign language, it isn’t that difficult to do research in French, German, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, Polish, etc.

My boss recently asked me to help her with her genealogy. I always like a new challenge and especially enjoy the beginning research of a family tree, so I eagerly agreed. I have worked with American, English, Irish, Canadian, African-American, French, German, Polish and Eastern European Jewish research, but must confess I did utter a small cry of dismay when she said her father was of Hungarian descent. Not only Hungarian, but from a village that is now in Romania! However, I was not discouraged because I have found there are basic approaches to most research which work with most American and European records.

Ancestral Village

The first essential step is locating the village the ancestor came from. A detailed account of how to do this is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that this information almost always comes from a U.S. source — either family papers, letters, photographs or public records such as Social Security applications, ships’ passengers’ lists, censuses (rarely), death certificates, obituaries, etc. When you do find a village name, you need to keep in mind that it may be misspelled, the spelling may have been correct at the time but has since changed or the immigrant used the name of a larger town nearby rather than the exact village. Please take a look at the immigrant research lessons available at this Web site.

FamilySearch

With or without a village, the first step should always be the IGI and Ancestral File. You might get lucky and find work already done. While your ancestor probably won’t be there, you may find the surname which will give valuable clues as to the region where the name is found. If you don’t look, you might want to kick yourself several months down the road if you find the information was already in FamilySearch!

My look in the IGI told me that the surname, which I had never heard, was fairly common in Hungary, but I found nothing from the village I sought.

Gazetteers and Maps

When you have located the correct village, you need to familiarize yourself with it. A good place to start is a detailed map and a good gazetteer which will probably be your first “foreign language” book. Since a gazetteer is primarily a list of location names, it should be fairly easy to use.

Your local Family History Center is a good place to start in locating the materials that you need. In 1986, the Family History Library compiled a list of 100 frequently used reference sources. The list was updated in 1988 and a second list was added in 1989. The microfiche collections were offered to all Family History Centers at a very reasonable cost so many centers have these sets. These include many detailed gazetteers and postal guides for European countries. My local center had a gazetteer which listed present and former Hungarian towns and included the German, Hungarian and Romanian names. Since so many European villages were under the rule of more than one country and used more than one language in the course of time, it is important to have all versions of the name. The Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) is a good source of variant names, as it lists towns for which the library has records under all names and countries by which they have been known. However, the catalog only includes places for which they have records, not all towns.

A gazetteer will list a village by name and give some information about its size and what larger political division covers it. It may also list the churches, the nearest railroad and other helpful information. A detailed map makes it easy to locate the surrounding villages where records might also be found.

Since the spelling that came down through the family may not be correct, you will probably have to learn about several villages. Because English does not use accent marks, we tend to consider them unimportant and ignore them. You cannot do this because, in many cases, what to us is an accented letter is actually considered a different letter entirely in a foreign language. For example, an e with an accent may be a completely different letter from a plain e. So, if you are looking for a town beginning with “Kéb” it may come after a town beginning “Kez.”

Hungarian has nine accented letters that are considered different letters and appear in a different place in the alphabet. It also has seven combinations which are considered separate letters — “gy,” “sz” and “ty” to name a few. A gazetteer written for Americans may ignore these differences but one written in the native language may have a completely different alphabetical list of names. The use of accented letters and combinations occurs in the majority of European languages, not just Hungarian.

World Wide Web

A ramble through the World Wide Web has the potential of turning up all sorts of helpful information, but there is no consistency as to what type of information might be posted. Just using a search engine won’t dig out all the little hidden gems. You have to go to sites the search engine turns up, then follow links to other sites. (Be sure to bookmark as you go as you will soon forget how you got there!)

History

It is also important to learn about the history of the area. You may find that although your ancestors were Hungarian, they lived in a area that had been settled by Germans and the population was largely German. You may also find that with changing borders you will need to look in the archives of more than one country. For example, many parish records from towns in the Gdansk area of Poland are in the archives in Augsburg, Germany. You may also learn that people who emigrated from this particular area usually went via Hamburg or Rotterdam or Liverpool. You may learn about areas with names you had never heard before — Galicia, Banat, Sub-Carpathian Ukraine, Transylvania, Ruthenia — not to mention the many kingdoms, duchies, etc. of Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

Many special-interest organizations and researchers have posted detailed area information on the Internet. This is a great timesaver, because you would need to read many books in a university library to find this knowledge yourself. In most cases you can also subscribe to lists that specialize in your area. I have found that lists can be extremely helpful and you can meet some very knowledgeable people on-line who can provide information and guidance you won’t find in any library.

Be sure to look for lists that are specific. For example, a list devoted just to the Banat will likely be more helpful than one covering a broader area such as Eastern Europe. Similarly, one specializing in Alsace will probably be more productive than one for France or Europe. Some small areas have very active lists whereas others may have almost no traffic. Subscribe for a while and post a question or two and you may be surprised at what you learn. I am constantly amazed at the number of very smart people who seem to read lists on a daily basis and are always willing to respond to simple or complex questions. Lists of lists can be found at http://www.rootsweb.com/~maillist and as a category under the geographical area on Cyndi’s List at http://www.cyndislist.com.

Research Guides and Word Lists

The Family History Library has Research Guides to many foreign countries and they are well worth the small cost. A guide lists the basic records so that you can immediately become aware of records that are unique to your particular country. Most Family History Centers have paper copies of these guides. These guides are also available on CD-ROM, called Family History SourceGuide (see http://www.familysearch.org).

The Library also produces word lists for many foreign countries (also on the SourceGuide). A list gives you the essential words relating to genealogy — mother, father, baptized, town, etc. Many European villages have nearby village by the same name, but preceded by “Upper” or “Lower” — for example, lower is “unter” in German, “bas” in French and “also” in Hungarian. In a gazetteer, a village may only be listed under its main name and by looking for one of the above descriptive words you will miss it. From a word list you can learn these descriptive words and be able to identify the significant part of a village name.

Foreign Records

Once you have the spelling figured out and have identified the village, there is a very good chance that the Family History Library actually has parish records from this village and you can order the film through your local Family History Center.

Armed with a word list, reading the local records is actually not that difficult. If you are looking at parish records, you will soon be able to identify the words for baptized, married and buried to get you to the correct books. If different types of records are mixed in one book, you will be able to pick out the record type by recognizing significant words such as date, name, mother, father, godparent, buried, bride, groom, etc. Some parish records are arranged in columns so you only need to identify the heading in the columns. You also do not have to read each record. You will be looking for a certain surname and you can skip over those that don’t apply. If you are looking at civil registration records, they will probably use a standard format or printed form so it is easy to identify the location on the record where you need to look for the names.

Handwriting

Handwriting can be a bigger problem than foreign words. Reading some old English wills can be more difficult than French vital records on pre-printed forms or German parish records arranged in neat columns. However, with a little practice you can decipher it. Pick out the words you can read and note how the particular letters are formed. Once you can identify unusual letters or combinations, then you can begin to decipher other words.

There are some handbooks which help you to identify different scripts. German handwriting can be extremely difficult, but with a little practice and help from handbooks, you will be able to make out enough words and names to find the records that apply to your family. After you have found the records and have translated the significant parts, you might want to turn them over to a translator for the parts you cannot understand. Some church records include extra important information such as names of surviving family members or cause of death.

Once you begin to be able to read the foreign records, it is a good idea to continue working with them and not put them aside for later research. The ability to recognize the words will leave you quite quickly, and if you let this new skill lie dormant for a while, you will have to go through the whole painful process from the beginning.

Information by Mail

Writing to the local parish church might bring results, although older records may have been transferred to a central archive. When writing, be sure to enclose an addressed envelope and two international reply coupons (available at any post office) to prepay the reply. (U.S. stamps are useless in a foreign country.) Postage is expensive and you probably won’t receive an answer unless you pay for return postage. If you are going to do a lot of writing you might see if you can buy foreign stamps through an organization dedicated to genealogy in that area. While you should not send large amounts of money through the mail, note that a small check can cost more than it is worth to be changed into local money. Instead, a U.S. $5.00 bill may bring very good results, as this can be exchanged more easily.

Professional Researchers

After you have identified the village and found pertinent church and vital records, you might find it worthwhile to employ a professional researcher for further in-depth work. Once you go beyond standard vital and parish records, you will probably become involved in books, wills and other documents that contain a lot more text rather than fill-in forms or columns. Then an understanding of grammar and different meanings of words becomes significant and a simple word list will not be sufficient. However, you will have saved a lot of money by doing the basic research and will be able to spend your funds on more significant research.

I prefer to send out specific, small requests initially. If you give researchers free rein, they might spend time looking at records you have already looked at or don’t even want examined. After a couple of specific requests, you will have a better idea of how productive this resource might be and how competent your researcher is. If you initially authorize a large amount of money, they might use it up examining every possible record even though it seems pretty obvious there is nothing relevant there.

For example, if parish records are not available at the Family History Library, you might authorize a search of one parish for the years 1830-1850 looking for the birth of Johann Muller, then deaths between 1830 and 1860 for Georg Muller or all Muller marriages between 1820 and 1850 with a maximum cost specified. Be sure to request a list of all sources checked. Even if nothing was found, you will know not to look (or pay to have someone look) at these sources again in the future.

Go Ahead — Make the Leap!

There is no set of rules on exactly how to proceed with European research. Each area is different and will require different techniques. If you learn the history of the area, remember that spelling isn’t always exact, get a word list and look at the available records, you will probably go further than you ever imagined even though you “don’t know the language.”

Read more here

Figuring Out Family Relationships

If someone walked up to you and said “Howdy, I’m your third cousin, twice removed,” would you have any idea what they meant? Most people have a good understanding of basic relationship words such as “mother,” “father,” “aunt,” “uncle,” “brother,” and “sister.” But what about the relationship terms that we don’t use in everyday speech? Terms like “second cousin” and “first cousin, once removed”? We don’t tend to speak about our relationships in such exact terms (“cousin” seems good enough when you are introducing one person to another), so most of us aren’t familiar with what these words mean.

Relationship Terms

Sometimes, especially when working on your family history, it’s handy to know how to describe your family relationships more exactly. The definitions below should help you out.

Cousin (a.k.a “first cousin”)

Your first cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.

Second Cousin

Your second cousins are the people in your family who have the same great-grandparents as you., but not the same grandparents.

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cousins

Your third cousins have the same great-great-grandparents, fourth cousins have the same great-great-great-grandparents, and so on.

Removed

When the word “removed” is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations younger than your grandparents), so the word “removed” is not used to describe your relationship.

The words “once removed” mean that there is a difference of one generation. For example, your mother’s first cousin is your first cousin, once removed. This is because your mother’s first cousin is one generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations younger than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals “once removed.”

Twice removed means that there is a two-generation difference. You are two generations younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, so you and your grandmother’s first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.

Relationship Charts Simplify Everything

Now that you have an idea of what these different words mean, take a look at the chart below. It’s called a relationship chart, and it can help you figure out how different people in your family are related. It’s much simpler than it looks, just follow the instructions.

Instructions for Using a Relationship Chart

1. Pick two people in your family and figure out which ancestor they have in common. For example, if you chose yourself and a cousin, you would have a grandparent in common.
2. Look at the top row of the chart and find the first person’s relationship to the common ancestor.
3. Look at the far left column of the chart and find the second person’s relationship to the common ancestor.
4. Determine where the row and column containing those two relationships meet.

Just When You Thought You Had it

When you are working with older records, be aware that the meaning of the word “cousin,” along with the meanings of other relationship terms, have changed over time. The Glossary section of the Learning Center can help you with any confusing relationship terms, including those in Latin.

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Where Does the Time Go?

If you’ve ever looked at records that were created several decades ago, particularly before the turn of the century, you know that they aren’t always easy to understand. Handwriting styles were different and people weren’t always particular about spelling and punctuation. You’ll even find that the boundaries of countries, states, and counties changed, so that your ancestors’ records could be in different offices even though the family never moved! In the first part of our series, we’ll look at issues you might find with dates, and also how the meanings of relationship words may have changed.

Dangerous Dates

Calendar Switch and Double Dates
Beginning in 45 B.C., many parts of the world used the Julian calendar to mark the passage of time. By the Julian calendar, March 25 was the first day of the year and each year was 365 days and 6 hours long. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII determined that the Julian calendar was incorrect: each day was just a little bit too long and the human calendar wasn’t keeping up with nature’s calendar. To solve the problem, Pope Gregory XIII created what is known as the Gregorian calendar. This new calendar changed the first day of the year to January 1 and also jumped ahead by 10 days to make up for the lost time.

The practice of double dating resulted from the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Not all countries and people accepted this new calendar at the same time. England and the American colonies didn’t officially accept it until 1752. Before that date, the government observed March 25 as the first of the year, but most of the population observed January 1 as the first of the year. For this reason, many people wrote dates falling between January 1 and March 25 with both years, as in the following examples.

By the time England and the colonies adopted the new calendar, the discrepancy between the calendars was eleven days. To resolve the discrepancy, the government ordered that September 2, 1752 be followed by September 14, 1752. Some people also added 11 days to their birth dates (a fact which is not noted on their birth certificates). You should also watch for dates that are recorded as double dates even after all calendars had officially switched. People sometimes accidentally wrote double dates.

Marriage Banns and Intentions
Church records often list the date on which a couple makes the announcement that they intend to marry. These are called marriage banns. In addition, you can find marriage intentions, which were non-religious public announcements of the couple’s intention to marry. Don’t misinterpret the dates of marriage banns and marriage intentions as the actual wedding date.

Death and Burial Dates
Church and cemetery records often contain the date of the funeral in addition to the date of death. Don’t confuse the burial date with the date of death.

Date Formats
When you look at records from other countries, you should be aware of the date format that they use. In the United States, we normally write dates with the month first, the day second, and the year last. For example, we write October 15, 1970 as 10/15/70. However, many other countries reverse the order of the month and day. They write October 15, 1970 as 15/10/70. Since there are only twelve months in the year it is often easy to tell which date format was used because one of the first two numbers is greater than twelve, as in the example above.

If neither of the first two dates is greater than twelve, it is harder to tell which format was used. For example, April 3, 1970 can be written as both 4/3/70 and 3/4/70. If you run into this problem, take a few moments to look at other dates in that group of records. You should eventually run across a date where one of the first two numbers is greater than twelve, and then you’ll know the answer to your question.

Wily Words

Some of today’s most familiar words had different meanings previously, and the change in meaning quite often occurred in words referring to social relationships. For example, the word “cousin” often meant niece or nephew; and the title “Mrs.” could show high social status, not necessarily marital status. There are a few other relationship terms that you should look out for:

• The terms “niece” and “nephew” spring from Latin words which meant “granddaughter” and “grandson,” so you may find them used in that context.
• When we use the words “junior” and “senior,” we normally think of a father and son relationship. However, in the past, these words were used much more liberally and could refer to an uncle and nephew, or even to two people with the same name who were unrelated.
• The words “brother” and “sister” also were used in different ways. Members of the same church often referred to each other as brothers and sisters, and a married couple would refer to their brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law just as brothers and sisters.
• If you see “good brother” or “good sister,” the creator of the document wasn’t playing favorites. It’s just another way of saying “brother-in-law” or “sister-in-law.” You might also come across “good son” or “good daughter” which are “son-in-law” and “daughter-in-law.”
• The term “in-law” can also cause problems. In the past, “in-law” relationships could be either step relationships or the regular in-law relationship that we think of today.
• An “infant” didn’t necessarily refer to a babe-in-arms. In many cases, this meant that the person in question was a person under legal age.

Misunderstanding and misinterpreting these terms can really twist the branches of your family tree, so when you’re reading older records it is important to be cautious. When it is possible, verify information with other records. This is the best way to make sure that you have the correct information. In addition, look at the rest of the language in the document. The more arcane terms and spellings you find, the more careful you should be.

There’s More to Come!

Stay tuned for future installments of this series, when we’ll cover handwriting, spelling, and boundary changes. The more you know, the easier it will be to climb your family tree.

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