I read a Nancy Drew this past week: The Hidden Window Mystery. This coming weekend is a Nancy Drew convention in Charlottesville. This group chooses a location each year from a book. The Hidden Window Mystery takes place in, of all places, almost my backyard! My husband and I had a good laugh when one of the characters states that "the head of the university art department might help us. I'll call him." [Andy's office is a part of the fine arts department, hence our laughter.] But while reading this book (I should say re-reading, since I did read it about 18 year ago, and it's probably with all my other Nancy Drew books still at my parent's house), I was struck by the thought that the mystery solved never starts out on the same path where it ends up. And it's just like genealogy!
This week, I spent some time trying to find my great-great grandfather, Lewis Carlton Allen, in the 1870 and 1880 census. I have the 1850 and 1860 census for him. He lived in Kentucky then. The 1890 census is non-existent (destroyed in a fire), and I have the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 census when he lived in Texas. I had always been told that he was in the Civil War and fought for the Confederacy, though I didn't know where. In the Texas State Archives, I found an index for the Confederate pension applications that includes his application and his wife's widow application. Though I do not have a copy of the application (I made a request for copies from the Archives yesterday, so I should get them soon), this index said his service was in Matagorda County, Texas! That's on the coast near Galveston! How did he end up in Texas soon after he appeared in the 1860 census in Kentucky? After a quick search of the 1870 and 1880 census in Texas, I still cannot find him!
My next step in the search was to look at his siblings. All of them stayed either in Kentucky or another bordering state. Lewis seems to be the only one to "leave the nest" and go so far away. I found his older brother Jasper (older by about 14 years) in the 1870 census in Kentucky with his wife, Hulda, and family. Since I was on a Civil War trail, I decided to see if there were any military records for Jasper. To my surprise, I found records for Jasper, but not quite what I expected. Jasper fought for the Union in Kentucky! Kentucky was a border state and it was here that "brother truly fought against brother." Another brother, William G., also fought for the Union in Illinois!
Now here is another interesting aspect: their great-grandfather, Ananias Allen, owned 4 slaves in 1790, then 1 slave in 1830. Other family members (cousins, uncles) owned a few slaves. But by the time you get to the 1850's, I haven't found any immediate family members who owned slaves. Could this be the reason that Lewis left Kentucky shortly after the 1860 census? Was there a difference of opinions over slavery in his family? I will probably never know. But I began my Nancy Drew family sleuthing trying to solve one mystery, and ended up solving another instead. Hopefully when I receive Lewis' Confederate Pension Application soon, it will shed more light on his whereabouts during his years missing from the census record.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Nancy Drew and the Many-Angled Mystery
Nancy Drew always seems so thorough in solving her mysteries. She looks at every angle of the situation. We should do the same with genealogy.
I know many people are satisfied with simply having the names and dates of ancestors. Not me! I want to discover and know every aspect about them and know what shaped them. Finding this information will take all of you inner Nancy Drew-like sleuthing skills.
For example, one ancestor, John Beasley, was born 14 Feb 1813 in Georgia. Many genealogists would record this birth date and move on to find other information. But I want to dig deeper and find other angles at which to view him. First, what was happening in the world in 1813? The U.S. had only been its own country for about 35 years! I know he was born in Georgia, though I haven't found any evidence of where in Georgia. If I go on the assumption of who many family trees have as his father (though no paper trail has been found yet to prove his father), his "father" is shown as being married in 1811 in Morgan, Georgia. Where is this in Georgia? What is this area like? Doing research on Georgia history, I find that this area of Georgia was created from Creek Indian lands acquired in 1814 in the Treaty of Fort Jackson. That would mean that if John Beasley was born in that area in 1813, technically, he was born on Indian lands. What were those living conditions like? What exactly was happening in this area between Indians, settlers, and the U.S. government?
As I find out more information about John Beasley, more questions of this type desire to be answered. In the 1840 census, he appears in Stoddard Co., Missouri. What was that area like at the time? What would have prompted him to settle there? Did he make any stops on the way to Missouri? Later, he moved to Texas. Again, why? What were conditions like there? What was going on in the world during this period of history?
I think any genealogist who truly wants to understand their family roots will ask these types of questions and will try to view their ancestors from every possible angle, not just the names and dates. The easiest place to start this type of sleuthing is with a notebook and computer (Nancy had her notebook and blue car - but with today's gas prices, the computer is cheaper!). In your notebook, write down the questions you have about your ancestor and where they lived. Then start to Google. Or if you live in the same area as your ancestor, take a trip to your local library. Many public libraries have reading rooms filled with local history resources. A large university library may have many state-level historical resources. As you look at all the angles of your ancestor, remember to provide documentation and always have a paper trail for your claims. Nancy Drew would do nothing less!
I know many people are satisfied with simply having the names and dates of ancestors. Not me! I want to discover and know every aspect about them and know what shaped them. Finding this information will take all of you inner Nancy Drew-like sleuthing skills.
For example, one ancestor, John Beasley, was born 14 Feb 1813 in Georgia. Many genealogists would record this birth date and move on to find other information. But I want to dig deeper and find other angles at which to view him. First, what was happening in the world in 1813? The U.S. had only been its own country for about 35 years! I know he was born in Georgia, though I haven't found any evidence of where in Georgia. If I go on the assumption of who many family trees have as his father (though no paper trail has been found yet to prove his father), his "father" is shown as being married in 1811 in Morgan, Georgia. Where is this in Georgia? What is this area like? Doing research on Georgia history, I find that this area of Georgia was created from Creek Indian lands acquired in 1814 in the Treaty of Fort Jackson. That would mean that if John Beasley was born in that area in 1813, technically, he was born on Indian lands. What were those living conditions like? What exactly was happening in this area between Indians, settlers, and the U.S. government?
As I find out more information about John Beasley, more questions of this type desire to be answered. In the 1840 census, he appears in Stoddard Co., Missouri. What was that area like at the time? What would have prompted him to settle there? Did he make any stops on the way to Missouri? Later, he moved to Texas. Again, why? What were conditions like there? What was going on in the world during this period of history?
I think any genealogist who truly wants to understand their family roots will ask these types of questions and will try to view their ancestors from every possible angle, not just the names and dates. The easiest place to start this type of sleuthing is with a notebook and computer (Nancy had her notebook and blue car - but with today's gas prices, the computer is cheaper!). In your notebook, write down the questions you have about your ancestor and where they lived. Then start to Google. Or if you live in the same area as your ancestor, take a trip to your local library. Many public libraries have reading rooms filled with local history resources. A large university library may have many state-level historical resources. As you look at all the angles of your ancestor, remember to provide documentation and always have a paper trail for your claims. Nancy Drew would do nothing less!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Nancy Drew and Her Back-up Crew
In every Nancy Drew story, Nancy always had her "back-up crew" with her. George and Bess always seemed to be with Nancy for every adventure, though I primarily remember them as being the brawn of the bunch. Nancy was the brains. It was Nancy who put the pieces of the puzzle together to solve the mystery. George and Bess were along for the ride, and perhaps to undo the ropes around Nancy when the bad guys tied her up.
When you research your family tree, you are Nancy Drew. You are the one gathering all the information and putting all the pieces together. But, you cannot forget your back-up crew. Your crew consists of relatives who may know family stories or can verify facts. It also consists of other genealogists who very willingly serve as your back-up when the going gets tough (though I don't think they will literally untie the ropes if you are ever in that type of situation). There are many times when I have come to what I think is a dead-end in my research, only to have another genealogist find a document that will help me continue.
When I began researching the Polish side of the family, I found many dead-ends. I was unfamiliar with immigration documents and resources. One day, I posted a general message about an ancestor on a message board. It was a truly horrible message - something along the lines of "Looking for XX (18xx-19xx), married YY, etc." And I posted it in a general Poland message board instead of the area they came from (which I didn't know). Fortunately, the back-up crew came to my rescue. A nice gentleman found immigration documents telling from where the family came (these documents were right under my nose, by the way). He emailed me copies of all the documents he found, and even included a map of Poland with the city they came from circled!
Recently, I posted another message about another Polish relative. I had a suspicion that I knew who her parents were, but I did not have any proof that they were (remember the "burden of proof"?). By posting this message, another woman helped me by finding the parent's obituary, naming his daughter as the relative I had posted about. She also found other obituaries for that family. Turns out, she has a subscription to a newspaper archive website, which is why I was unable to find any obituaries for the family in my own searches. She emailed me a copy of the obituaries for my files.
My back-up crew came to my rescue in my family tree mystery. I now have some more puzzle pieces that I can put together and continue on in my search. But just as I have a back-up crew, so must I be a part of a back-up crew for another researcher. I must also be on the lookout for other genealogists who are "tied-up" in a dead end and help them "undo the rope." If a researcher is looking for someone who would go to the county courthouse to get a copy of a record, I need to answer the call. Or if I have access to a resource that another researcher does not have access to, I need to willingly offer my services to find that information for them. It's all part of the genealogy search: sometimes being a Nancy, other times being a George or Bess.
When you research your family tree, you are Nancy Drew. You are the one gathering all the information and putting all the pieces together. But, you cannot forget your back-up crew. Your crew consists of relatives who may know family stories or can verify facts. It also consists of other genealogists who very willingly serve as your back-up when the going gets tough (though I don't think they will literally untie the ropes if you are ever in that type of situation). There are many times when I have come to what I think is a dead-end in my research, only to have another genealogist find a document that will help me continue.
When I began researching the Polish side of the family, I found many dead-ends. I was unfamiliar with immigration documents and resources. One day, I posted a general message about an ancestor on a message board. It was a truly horrible message - something along the lines of "Looking for XX (18xx-19xx), married YY, etc." And I posted it in a general Poland message board instead of the area they came from (which I didn't know). Fortunately, the back-up crew came to my rescue. A nice gentleman found immigration documents telling from where the family came (these documents were right under my nose, by the way). He emailed me copies of all the documents he found, and even included a map of Poland with the city they came from circled!
Recently, I posted another message about another Polish relative. I had a suspicion that I knew who her parents were, but I did not have any proof that they were (remember the "burden of proof"?). By posting this message, another woman helped me by finding the parent's obituary, naming his daughter as the relative I had posted about. She also found other obituaries for that family. Turns out, she has a subscription to a newspaper archive website, which is why I was unable to find any obituaries for the family in my own searches. She emailed me a copy of the obituaries for my files.
My back-up crew came to my rescue in my family tree mystery. I now have some more puzzle pieces that I can put together and continue on in my search. But just as I have a back-up crew, so must I be a part of a back-up crew for another researcher. I must also be on the lookout for other genealogists who are "tied-up" in a dead end and help them "undo the rope." If a researcher is looking for someone who would go to the county courthouse to get a copy of a record, I need to answer the call. Or if I have access to a resource that another researcher does not have access to, I need to willingly offer my services to find that information for them. It's all part of the genealogy search: sometimes being a Nancy, other times being a George or Bess.
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