Counting down the days!

Even though I've had a long absence from writing, in no way have I stopped genealogy research.  And in a few weeks it will really kick into high gear when the 1940 census is finally released!  I have been waiting years for this!  It will finally answer some questions about an unknown branch of the family that people are hesitant to talk about (I'm thinking about unwed mothers and such).  And it made me think about what I'm leaving my descendants.  In 72 years, when the 2010 census will be released, what will they find about me?  By then, there will be the 1990, 2000, and 2010 census to use to find information about me.  What will they find?  I don't remember the 1990 census, and though I do remember the 2000 census, I was in college and I don't really know if my parents answered the questions and sent them back.  Knowing their track record of mailing things, I highly doubt that it was completed.  I finally got to complete my own census in 2010, but I did not answer every question on there.  In many ways, I feel some of the questions in the census are a little too personal, especially given the high rate of identity theft today.  I did not put my exact date of birth for that question, only the year I was born.  And I wrote "listed in the phone book" where they asked for the phone number - I don't really want an increase in telemarketing calls (I know they don't sell your information, but you never know if an unscrupulous worker will sell that information).  On one hand I hope that what I answered will help my descendants know more about me, but I do hope to leave more of a paper trail for them instead of only a census trail.  I find it annoying that other ancestors seem to be found only every ten years that a census was done.  And though the census contains so much information, it's the smaller details of their lives that I enjoy, such as a telephone book entry from 1870's Chicago, the mention as a lay founder of a church, or the fun social calendars from the 1940's mentioning that someone will be away visiting family for Christmas. 

But let the 1940 census countdown begin!  7 days to go!!!

Nancy Drew's Wrong Assumption

So sorry for the (long) delay in updating with a post.  Needless to say, tons of genealogy work, mistakes included, has gone on in the meantime. 

It always seems that during a Nancy Drew story, she never incorrectly assumes anything.  Her "who-did-it" assumptions always turn out correct.  I wish it was that way in genealogy.  When I last wrote, I was waiting for my great-great-grandfather's confederate pension application to travel all the way from Texas to Virginia.  I assumed that since his application was made in Texas, it meant that he had been in Texas during the war.  WRONG!  While waiting for the copy of his application, I spent some time researching the Civil War in Texas, particularly Matagorda County, which was where his application was made.  And though I did learn about what happened there, I was a good thousand miles away from where great-great-grandpa was.  When his application finally arrived, I was very surprised to learn that he had served in...Tennessee!  My jaw dropped open thinking of the incredible action he was a part of during that time.  And I had to roll my eyes when thinking that I had wasted my time with research on the assumption that he had served in Texas.

Since then, I have taken a more cautious approach to my genealogy research.  I do not start researching an area until I am absolutely certain that an ancestor was there at that time.  I liken this tactic to the way I approach a body of water.  Since I cannot swim, I never assume that it's not deep just because I can see the bottom.  In the same way, since I was not there when an ancestor was, I will never again assume that an ancestor lived in a place or took part in an event until I know for sure.

As a side note, Lewis' application did include many other details and did fill in the blanks between his time growing up in Kentucky and living in Texas.  Right now, his application is the gem of my genealogy collection.

Nancy Drew and the Missing Census Mystery

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.

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!

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.

Nanci Dru and the Misspelled Name

We all know how Nancy Drew spells her name.  Or do we?  What if you found "Nanci Dru" listed in the census instead of our known spelling?  Would it throw you for a loop?  Perplex you?  Or would you find it somewhat interesting?  Hopefully you would find it interesting, because you will come across many "misspelled" names in genealogy.  Remember, though, that the "correct" spelling of names did not really become important until this past century.  Most people could not read or write (check out some of your ancestors in the census and see if they could).  Some could not even speak English (again, if you have any immigrant relatives, see what their census information says).  Therefore, most names were written down the way they sounded.  And when you add in people of different parts of the country writing down the names they hear other people saying, you have the perfect recipe for "misspelled" names.

Some misspellings are just by one letter.  In the 1900 census, my husband's great-grandfather's family is listed as Burnett.  In 1910, an e was added to the end.  But in 1920, it was back to Burnett.  Other misspellings are downright crazy.  I know I've mentioned my husband's Polish side of the family.  Take the name Gonsiewski.  In 1910, it appears as Gonsiewski, but in 1930, we get Gasiewski.  The craziest is the name Bednarczyk.  In 1910, we have Brnardszyk!  A 1931 Syracuse City directory spelled the name as Bednarezwk!  But if you pronounced those different spellings with a Polish accent, they would all sound similar. 

So how would Nanci Dru go about finding her ancestors?  I think she would get creative and start misspelling all the names.  Type in the known spelling in a search box, then go back and try a "misspelled" name.  Change the y to an i, an ew to a u.  A name starts with an L?  Try searching with a P instead (this worked with another family name, Lara.  The L in the census is rather loopy-looking, like a P.  Because of this, it was indexed as Para instead).  If you have immigrants in your family, do a little research on the native spellings and pronunciations of that language.  That will help when you search for an anglicized form of the name.  And like Nancy Drew, keep investigating!

Nancy Drew and the case of the Kate Middletons

I saw an article a few days ago introducing other "Kate Middletons", those who are having a difficult time with using their given name right now because it's also the name of the future Princess of Wales.  It's a reminder that there will always be people with the same name, especially in family trees.  There is a wonderful legacy in passing on your name to one of your children.  But it can also create chaos in research, particularly if the family has an obsession with the same name.

My husband's mother's family is the perfect example of a naming obsession.  In fact, not just the family, but the entire Polish community of which they were a part.  Johns, Stanleys, Peters, and Marys all abound in the census records.  The only way to tell them apart is by their birthdays!  As I mentioned in my last post, you want to have a paper trail to prove your information about your relatives.  That paper trail is even more important when talking about relatives with the same name. 

Now most family trees only include direct ancestors.  Most others I know who research genealogy do not even include the siblings of an ancestor.  I beg to differ.  Though I do not include the children of those siblings, including the siblings of ancestors helps to correctly identify your direct ancestors, especially if it is family tradition to use the same names in each generation.  It will help to know if the document you are looking at pertains to John your great-grandfather, John your 2nd cousin twice removed, or an unrelated John.  Having the names and dates of siblings helps to identify your ancestor from among the unrelated people who have the same name.  Using siblings is the only way I have been able to correctly identify my great-great grandfather.  Another person with his same name was born 2 years after him in the same part of Kentucky.  Not only that, they appear in the same county in the census!  The only way to tell them apart was by using my knowledge of his siblings.  He was living with his sister at the time.  The other was living with his parents and a slew of siblings whose names did not match the names of my great-great grandfather's siblings.  How confusing! 

Besides helping identify the correct ancestor, sibling's names can also be used to find information about your ancestor.  There may be an obituary about a sibling that mentions your direct ancestor, or a sibling's will leaving something to your ancestor.  Google the sibling's name to see what come up.  But never underestimate the power of knowing the names of siblings!  They are an important piece of the puzzle identifying your ancestor from the other "Kate Middletons."