Ireland Research Hopes Revisited

My turn to blog is a wee bit after St Patrick's Day but the thought of researching the Irish ancestors is not bound by time.

My Irish quest has been begging to start for years. Recently due to a DNA find, I have been sent on a new Irish quest when an O'Toole turned up as an ancient DNA match for our Langley DNA project.
I have felt intimidated by the challenge of delving into the films on FamilySearch or Ireland, and just trying to sort out all the Michaels, Williams, and Margrets that I see when I go to FindMyPast or other Irish sites...words escape me. One thing I do know and follow is...the obvious search for our ancestors begins with a name, and, if you have it, a place. On the Hero's and my mom's side of the family there are many Irish names to look for.
There are some blogs and websites that specialize in Ireland research
Smallest Leaf is one of those. She has so much Irish information and many books listed on her blog. It is wonderful to stop by and browse. Click here to see her blog.
Another site I really like it Irish Genealogy Tool Kit.
I like these because I need someone to give me direction. I am so ingrained in United States research it will take some shift in my paradigms to hopefully finds some success in venturing into Ireland research.
What I have done so far...
I started making a note of all the names I was looking for, variants of the names, and places the names were found.  An example for the is : A Rootsweb site for Researching Irish Names. I searched for Magill from my mom's ancestors. They were adamant in the 1830's per a letter written by John Magill that their family was the only ones who spelled it that way.
"...I have been particular so that you may know if you meet with any person of the name of Magill you can tell whether they are your relation. I have seen several from Ireland that are no kin of mine. They spell their name McGill. They are generally native Irish and Roman Catholic. I recollect to have seen my grandfather's certificate from Ireland dated 1725. It was spelled Magill and all his descendants spell their names the same way. Any who do not are not of our kindred..."  Click here to read the rest of the transcribed letter.
My finding:
MacGiolla ancient of Magill,
Gill,
McGill
Turning to my Hero's Irish ancestors, I was able to glean the following for his known surnames.
Death certificates helped with clues as to where the places were correct.

O'Shaughnessy      
Sandys
FURLONG              Wexford
FURLONG              Wicklow
O'AHERN,               Cork
O'Echtighearn  
Ahern
O'DWYER              Tipperary
Dwyer                      Lemerick
Dyer                         Sligo
O'Breen  
O'Brien

I have toyed with learning Gaelic, but I haven't gotten that far yet.
Besides knowing the surname, I discovered that the old Irish had a naming pattern. Most but not all used it. The Irish Tool Kit website points out that in the 1700s and 1800s those that immigrated to America did use this...making it hard to sort out the descendants when 5 brother, in the same area named their sons in the same pattern (true experience). I have posted on the naming patterns before click here to read the post then click back to return.

I have ascribed to the method of looking to others who have already done research reading how to find records in Ireland, talking to people who have UK experience in searching, and utilizing the free course on FamilySearch.org. I take the time to watch videos by those who have done the walk such as David Rencher's videos Tips for Researching your Irish Ancestors. I HAVE to mention the FamilySearch.org's Irish Collection which includes images... Ireland Historical Records.

There is something so exciting in searching for families that have been apart for years and reuniting them. I love genealogy research and have been excited to share how to research and source with the upcoming generation to get them involved in their history to know their ancestors. So Far, it has been a positive experience for both generations. 😉

Stimulating Memory Sharing

Gathering memories was a frequent topic of several friends at the Family History Center I work at. There was much discussion trying to come up with the right formula for family responsiveness.

It is easy to say ask questions at reunions, family gatherings, visits 

with the older members of the family, but the results are not always what you had hoped for.

I have written several memories on my personal blog most in regards to holidays and many with recipes. It was all my memories. I had asked my husband’s twin to share memories and he would always say, “I don’t remember anything about growing up.” 😉 

Both you and I know that was true, he just wasn’t focused. To experiment, since I was one of the advisers on getting stories over the holidays, I decided to utilize my Facebook page to try and pull in cousins and siblings of my husband’s family to share some of their stories. It didn’t quite turn out the way I had thought, but it did turn out that I filled a need of the Hero’s cousins.

I first shared this…short post and a scrapbook page from the book… 

"Merry Christmas from the Ellsworth Domestic Goddesses.  Many years ago my oldest daughter put together a cook book of recipes from all the Older Ellsworth ladies back in 2001, the great grandmother, great aunt, grandmother, and aunts for Christmas. Kathleen and Ginny, I loved this picture of Mary with Mom. Two lovely Ellsworth ladies. Megan were there recipes from you and Laura in there? Love all ya'all. "

This was some of the responses:

Derrell Hankins: What a lovely idea! Wish I'd have thought of that... about 50 years ago! (not related on this side)

Kathleen Ellsworth Chelette: Thanks Fran 💕(The Hero's cousin, sister of Tom)

Fran Langley Ellsworth: You are welcome Kathleen Love ya

Barbara Thole Taylor: What a treasure! (not related on this side, but they are thinking of doing it for their family now.)

Ginny Ellsworth: Love it! Thanks, Fran! (daughter of Tom, a cousin. She has never seen these.)

Laura Wheatley-Hughes: Wonderful. Thanks for keeping memories alive (daughter of the Hero's sister)

Alta Turner: So cute!

Tom Ellsworth: Love to see the other recipes too! (the Hero's cousin)

Fran Langley Ellsworth” I am making a copy for Laura, will make one for you too.

Tom Ellsworth: Fran Langley Ellsworth Thank you!

Kathleen Ellsworth: Chelette Fran if you're making copies could I put my name in the bunch? Thanks

Fran Langley Ellsworth: Of course. You were in my thoughts. Didn't know if you had gotten one.  <3

Kathleen Ellsworth Chelette: Fran Langley Ellsworth thanks Fran you're an  😇.

This family has not been sharing for some time and now they had something they wanted to keep for a memory. I having 4 books made from mine and a barrier went down for sharing. Also, later my brother-in-law brought it up at a dinner with his sister and we discovered, she had found an original recipe that she had copied wrong for the book. This will be fixed now. 😊

This was the scrapbook page…very simple.

The second event was a “Blog Caroling” prompt from FooteNoteMaven.

I chose to do a cute song my husband had sang to our kids every Christmas. He loved it and after I posted the scrapbook page with the short post, I found my brother-in-law loved it too. When we had our dinner he began remembering all the fun songs they had sung at Christmas as kids and looked them up on YouTube. His sister added what she had remembered. 

This is the Scrapbook Page and the short post:

"When the Hero and I would talk about Christmas plays and our children were in the Church party Manger scenes, he would always break out in song about "The Angel in the Christmas Play". This Christmas song was written in 1949 by Spike Lee.  The Hero would have been about 3 when it first came out. 
Wonder if our children remember the song... Good question."

There were several other posts I made including old group photos of the family that stimulated conversations about when, where they were at the time of the photo and who was doing what at that time.  It was fun seeing the cousins come together across the miles, who have not been together for years, and engage each other with their thoughts as memories. That would not have happened if I had not reached out to them and had given them a visual stimulus.

This was my personal success story this year of extracting fun and personal stories from family. I hope you had a great experience too. 😊

Apologies and Reporting

I have been absent as of late. Not because I have lost my love and zeal for genealogy and blogging, rather, I have not learned to balance family and genealogy research.  It seems for me it is almost an all or nothing activity. I will share with you the past few months of my life. 

I worked with the Preserve the War of 1812 Pensions campaign for 3 years.  I loved the purpose and the activity of searching the files and finding living descendants.  When the funding was accomplished, my activity there was little needed, and I turned to other projects.

At the same time, my children decided they and their children needed equal time with me and this is a bit of my journey into creating family history with my grandchildren and as I have written about before, bridging the generations.

During the summer, we had our first family reunion.  This was important for those who could go because family had not gathered as a unit since my husband, their father, died in 2008.  All but two of 6 children could make it. The single son who was working and a daughter who was pregnant and expecting her 4^th child any minute.  There were 28 plus myself, who made it. Two grandchildren were working and could not attend. Since no one other than myself had ever visited the California family’s home, that was the focus. They planned 4 days of activities for the children and I was excited that they included some time for themselves. 

The trip started with my 20-year-old grandson and I leaving Texas and driving to Salt Lake to meet the Idaho family whose father was flying in. They needed to send one child with me as their car only seated 7 and they had 8 with dad. The connecting 3 different groups at the Salt Lake terminal was a story. The trip from Salt Lake to California and then back to Idaho was an awesome memory for my three grandchildren and me.

In California, we went to the Sequoia Forest, the beach, and learned about railroads going over the mountain grades. The young and new grandchildren were able to create relationships with the older ones. These are a couple of pictures from that family activity.

Once back at home, the two daughters in Texas decided since I had taken time from my genealogy activities for this, I must be up for grabs for activities at home. The Idaho daughter not to be out done scheduled every Monday in September for a Skype class on World War II ending in a lesson and stories about their great grandfather who served and I have written stories about him here.

The classes were successful, and one Texas grandson sat in on a lesson.  At the time I was not sure who was listening, but as the months go by, questions and statement tell me they were. One of the grandson’s chose to be his great grandfather for Halloween, dressed up like a WWII army soldier.  Cool right. History and family stories passed down two generations. I also helped with the Black Watch Costume and made the sporan for that grandchild. One is Pipi Longstocking and one is a Nerd... they LOVE reading. 

I went with another daughter to see the preview for Christmas lights at the Houston Zoo.  We took one of my other daughter’s children with us. There was fun, sharing, and memories made with young and old.

This week I went to a Civil War reenactment at the TexasLiendo plantation that served first as a Confederate headquarters, then when it fell, as a Union prison camp.

My grandson, who is 10, began trying to sort in his mind who and what generation of his family served in the Civil War. We had fun talking about both sides of the war and how he had those that served on both sides and one in the Confederacy that died in Savannah. His 3th great grandfather from Michigan served in the Michigan 3rd Cavalry Regiment from 03 Oct 1861. He was promoted to Full Qtr Master Serg on 19 Jan 1864 and mustered out on 12 Feb 1866 at San Antonio, TX.

We also visited a blacksmith tent and that gave us the opportunity to talk about his great great grandfather who was a blacksmith and we have his anvil.

So there you go, while I am AWOL occasionally, I am keeping the dream alive trying to share with the generations following, so the story is not forgotten.

Updates for Those Who Use FamilySearch

It has been a while since I have updated about the newest in FamilySearch. The developers and product managers have been moving so fast lately it has been hard to keep up.

They have a FamilySearch Channel on YouTube that keeps people abreast of changes and dreams for the website.

The other big changes have been on the Wiki.  They have done a series of upgrades. If you used to be a Wiki contributor, you may have to request editing rights.  There is a form on the pages to fill out if needed.  The FamilySearch Wiki is up to 84, 488 articles now. So much help is found here. put in a search term and see how many articles there are. FamilySearch has several pages on the Wiki of how to use FamilySearch. This is one such article on FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.
They use the Wiki to give instruction and tips on using Family Tree also. This is an example of the articles, it says "Attaching FamilySearch (FS) Records to Family Tree Using the Source Linker" but it is so much more. Click on the title to view.

A personal favorite is the FamilySearch.org/blog.  Just as we have a Worldwide collaborative genealogy blog, they have many guest posts who write about many different aspects of FamilySearch from Roots Tech (which by the way has opened registration for next February 2017. )  to what is the latest changes, Indexing, or someone's stories.

From the blog you can explore everything. I put a red square, or arrow where you can join in. The Search drop down will give you the Wiki. 

If you have not tried all aspects of FamilySearch then, please, jump right in and join the rest of us. There is laughter at stories on the Tree, tears and frustration learning to work hands on with others in the Tree, and shouts of joy at the new discoveries in the FamilySearch collections that are added faster than the indexers can keep up with. I have had many who have tried the Wiki and discovered a place to look for an ancestor which led to a break through.

FamilySearch is my passion, I hope you will love it too.

Philippine War Letter Home a Treasure Discovered

I was going through my mother's writing files, and was floored when I found a portion of a letter my grandfather Harry Ozro Whitson wrote home to his mother, sister, brother, and friends in Oklahoma from the Philippines during the war. There is only the first page and a fourth page, but the first has a drawing he made of his surroundings at the top.  It is priceless.  I asked my mother about it and if she had the other pages or knew who did. She (she suffers from dementia) said I didn't have it, you must have.  I knew it wasn't me, as I would never have laminated it.
This find was exciting.  I have already had one journey in finding my grandfather's experience during the Philippines War and wrote it here on my blog.

Harry O Whitson 

Company B picture location was not written on the back, just Spanish American War

This letter gave me first hand experience from him where he was and some of what he did, albeit it is only part of the story. These are the two pages of the letter.  I believe that he wrote on the back of the paper, but it is hard to tell since it is laminated together.

Letter from Harry O Whitson to his family in Oklahoma from the Philippines 1900 in possession of Fran Ellsworth 

Page 4 or flip side of above of Harry O Whitson's letter in possession of Fran Ellsworth

The hand drawn illustration on the first page.

I had downloaded GenScriber before for transcribing some wills and documents, so I dusted it off and began my hand at transcribing what my grandfather had written.  It was not easy and obviously as I worked I saw he didn't know how to spell many of the place names, I was able to figure it out, but I did not change anything as I was transcribing.  NOW, I have another reason for posting, hoping some of my eagle-eyed genfriends will see what I have missed and let me know. Crowd sourcing. (smiling) Those of you just starting, this is an awesome FamilySearch Wiki page that helps tremendously Transcribing Historical Documents (National Institute)

This is my attempt at transcribing the above letter.

Marinduquie, Santa Cruz, Oct the 28^th  9100

The 38^th, , U. S. V. Inf. Co. B

Dear friends Mother Sister Brother and friends one and all I will Try and let you know what we are dewing and have been for the last 30 days, We left the Luzon the 25^th of last month for this place for the purpose of recapturing the 29^th the 58 men and th?ec (their?) captors it was T. Co. who were captured they were about 12 miles from there quarters and they were very for st?f ok they would of never ben captured   We went through the country a cupel of times and they thought they had better turn them in so they turned them over to us they looked very hard for they they  had no shoes and but very little clothing of any kind

[page 2 and 3 are missing]

Page (4)And the seconday on water there were some sick boys  I enjoyed the trip very well myself the 27^th of Dec ? disembarked at Minalea and this 1th day of January 1900 We left Minalea and landed at [Supor… Brxny] there […one word…]first on the firing line  The 1^st of Jan  We started in the advance to the south line with 20,000 trops in the skurmish line through the rice fields We landed at Balangas Jan the 16^th  and stayed there until Sept the 25^th and then We left for Marinduque Island Santa cruz and there we are know but I do not think We shall stay here long  I will have to get ready for drill so long I will write some more to night good by

Using his letter, I searched on some of the old newspapers and found the press coverage of the same events and online I found, a wonderful webpage about the Philippine War from their perspective (always good to have). 

My grandfather's company was under Captain Anderson who was the first to go search for the captured men. From the accounts of the press it appears that it was not an easy task. This war was captioned later as the first Viet Nam.  

One of several newspaper articles I found.

The Inter Ocean
(Chicago, Illinois)17 Oct 1900, Wed • Page 3

  When searching the Newspapers on GenealogyBank.com, Newspapers.com, and ChroniclingAmerica.com, I first put  Marinduque insurgents and the date 1900.  The articles came right up.  My grandfather's account was as accurate as he accounted it. My quest for information was satisfied.
On a side note I discovered a short article about their clothing on GenealogyBank which really made sense. This is just a snippet.  Those guys must have been miserable when they first arrived.

This War was not covered greatly in my American History class. It was lumped in the Spanish American war that featured Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, so this has been a learning experience for me as well as a journey that has helped me know my grandfather a little better, probably better than my mother who was only 2 months old when he died.  See you all next month ~FranE

Reminiscing About Blogging

The reason I started my internet genealogy journey, was to blog my sweetheart's stories so my children would have them. I blogged Sentimental Sunday stories which I also called my Hero stories. I looked forward to that date with my blog every Sunday. Then I branched out in my posts as I found the group "GeneaBloggers" started by Thomas MacEntee, and a few special bloggers like Carol Stevens who has the blog Reflections From the Fence, FootnoteMaven, who at the time was doing themes of Carnival Of Genealogy, until her health became a challenge. Lisa of Smallest Leaf was also one who gave me encouragement. I loved the memes they had and the comradery. As with all things, many branched to another area, health issues, we lost a few, and I became involved deeper into my mission with FamilySearch, which I love, and soon, I found it hard to make that blog post more and more.

yes, I felt like I was running away. 

Today, I revisited my blog going back to the beginning and saw why I had loved it.  I wasn't trying to meet a standard or show I had an understanding of writing, genealogy, etc. I was just sharing and having fun.  Which unless you are a business and trying to show your professional side, that I believe is what it should be.  I am going to start making an effort to go back to my personal blogging and sharing with my family again.  I am not a professional and would hope that the blog would not be judged by such standards.
There are memes by Thomas...the Geneablogger Daily Prompts, Amy Crow has a 31 Days of Genealogy, Olive Tree still has a prompt Sharing Memories, Aine of BlueRaspberrySundays posts a prompt on Sundays. You can even find Family History Writing Prompts on Pinterest which is helpful for blogging if you think you are having a challenge with subject matter.
If you are like me, and see your posts have dwindled down over time, go back and see why you started, why you were excited.  It is almost like a marriage, you have to work at the relationship to keep it alive.  I have seen some move to a different server to perk up their blog; this I am not going to do as I have seen their pain as they went through that process.  I am looking to renew my blog relationship not start a new one. I digress. Use the memes again, post fun things as well as great finds.

This has been my thoughts and I am sorry to use your time to help myself find what I have been missing. Hope it helps you.  

Family Associations

I am working on a project to identify and add Family Associations on a FamilySearch Wiki page Click here to view.  It would be awesome if it was found and added to by those organizations/associations that would like to find new members.  
The reason for the project is to support and encourage families to continue with their associations and organization.  
I have been saddened to find many associations struggling or not active any longer.  I would have to say though, I have also been a bit surprised that with the resurgence of interest in family history and family trees, that the associations have not been revitalized.  
The existence of family associations serve to bond families and assist, as well as facilitate collaboration of researching surnames. Sometimes a family will drift apart because of family disagreements, sometimes it was distances, and other times it was disinterest in making the effort on the part of one generation. Then a new generation will pop up that begins to wonder about their ancestors and who their family was or if anyone knew stories or had pictures of them.  
I had this experience.  My father's generation seemed to have the attitude, "let the dead bury the dead"... just take care of the living.  That translated into, I don't share stories about my life nor did I know anything about my grandparents, no one talked about them. 
One day, I decided I had enough, I needed to know about the family and better yet if there were any still living I needed to know them.  At the same time a cousin called and said we haven't seen each other in 30 years we need to visit.  Well... that was an invitation I was looking for.  We collaborated on research some, but it was another ten years before we were able to start reaching out to others.  I will say Facebook has been very helpful in the development of a loosely formed family group.  We formed a Family Group labeled the ancestor's name and emphasized we were searching for descendants. While we have not been able to make it to a formal organization yet, we have found and pulled three generations of descendants from all six of the children of my great grandfather and five of the eight children of my grandparents.

Benedict and Sarah Jane Hankins Langley family portrait.

The young adults are hungry for the information, but don't seem to be either willing or comfortable sharing their questions or memories.  They want to sit back and watch, in our case that semi works because the rift in the family left a void, and just developing personal relationships and a sense of family seem to be the order of the day.  My cousin and I are hoping to develop something that will last after we are gone.  Which takes me back to my project...
The early developers of  many Associations had hoped they were building a lasting organization, only to find there weren't any young adults willing to spend the extra time in making the organizations last and the older ones were not able to travel to reunions or meetings to continue to work together.  I know of a few that are struggling to continue but have and air of quiet desperation.
When I come across a healthy Family Association I want to cheer and do a happy dance.  It always feels like the family had over come that pain and challenge of when the pioneers had moved away to come back together, and there is a mother in heaven doing a happy dance.  
I have up to this point worked on mostly United States organizations, but I am now trying to identify international and foreign association / organizations, because the possibilities of families reuniting and learning as well as bonding are great.
If you know of an association and it is not on the pages, it is a wiki, you can add to it.  
'Til next month... Did your family have a reunion,or at least a get together?  Know of any associations... can always use help. 

Indexing a Great "Give Back"

The fun of being a collaborative blogger, is sometimes you overlap with another blogger. DearMyrt shared about the Worldwide Indexing Event That FamilySearch Indexing had from the 7th to the 14th. 

As you know, I love FamilySearch and I serve as a FamilySearch missionary. For me, Indexing is exciting because the end result is the growth of Historical Records which help many around the world. I thought I would remind everyone did Indexing is a continuing project. There are quiet millions of records to be indexed. Here is a sampling of the new World Wide projects thathave been added: 
New Indexing Projects Added
Norge-Tinglysningskort, 1640-1903
Canada, Manitoba Probate Records, 1871-1930
Germany, Baden, Ettenheim Church book duplicates, 1804-1870
Germany, Baden, Gengenbach Church book duplicates, 1804-1870
Nicaragua Registro Civil, Nacimientos, 1879-2012 [Parte A]
This is a list of projects available listed A - Z:   Find a Project
FamilySearch Indexing published the results of the Worldwide Indexing Event: 

PDF Image link

The results were a little short of the goal, but progress was made.  

If you participated, they have a badge to put on your blog... 

or you could print and put in your office.   I got mine.

FamilySearchIndexing on Facebook

Giving Back is a fundamental thing we genealogists like to do. Those in the past helped us so much that it feels good knowing you have helped someone too. As I said,  Indexing is an ongoing project please continue to help if you were part of the #FuelTheFine or join with us if you have not tried. Warning... It is addictive. Here is your starting link. Start Indexing

'Til Next Month... Fran Ellsworth

Write Your Own Stories

I have been pondering how to write this blog post for several weeks. It is with great hope that the spirit of the post will speak to you.
I have blogged in the past about writing our ancestors stories to make them people and not just names. This time I want to focus on writing our personal stories, some think in terms of personal history, or journals.  I am simply going to put it in terms that most of us cringe... write about yourself. You can tell why you did something or why you felt some way better than another will be able to interpret your motives, etc after you are gone.
So, today I am going to write a little about myself and some of the events and people that had a great influence on me; helping to make me who I am.
I had many events in my younger years that, when I reflected as an older person, I can see why I act the way I do.
When I was 3, my father lost his leg above the knee in a logging accident. I won't go into the story, but you can read it here on my blog. His attitude of not giving in to the circumstances and striving to be better, shaped my way of handling crisis situations and challenges in life.

A picture of my mom and dad and I that was used in a State wide promotion of  handicap people overcoming. 

When I reached 5, my mother and dad decided for my mother to go back to college.  She had been waiting tables to assist with the cost of living because my dad was still recovering. She went away for a week at a time, working for an elderly lady to pay for her schooling and to cover her room and board. From this I took away doing what it cost to take care of your family.  This helped me many years later when my husband had to work far from home for an extended length of time.

My father's mother came to live with us off and on while I was growing up.

Lenorah Gildon Langley

Every day she read the bible and devotionals that someone gave her.  She attended church when she could, because my mom was Methodist and she was Church of Christ, so my dad would just lay low for no conflict.  I learned from her the value of having a spiritual side to your life for balance.

My mom's mom did not live with us, but she did visit.  She had had arthritis all her life. She had 13 children, and raised 6 of them and 2 grandchildren alone after her husband died of cancer. She earned a living, sewed, and was a supporter of her church circles.

Matilda Roberts Whitson and Cecil Whitson grandson

 She had a sense of humor too. She became an ideal person to me of how to face life, if you're given lemons.

Both of my grandfathers had died before I was born.  My grandmothers never remarried.  They helped their children when and how they could.  My life has been similar. My husband died at 62.  I am content as a widow, neither of my grandmothers had complained, why should I. My time is spent serving my six children, 25 grandchildren, and the genealogy community at large.

Love of genealogy was not something that came from any influence of my family. However, the desire for stories and encouraging others to grab family stories came from dealing with my dad's family who was closed mouthed, and never spoke of family or their ancestors.
These are examples of  a few of the people and moments that have influenced my life, and now you know more about me probably than my children.

I am writing my stories on FamilySearch Memories. After I am gone, they will be able to see my stories that I have written for them and my grandchildren (on FamilySearch only that attached to the deceased is visible.)

See you next month... 

New Indexing Project Challenge...Gift of Love...African American Freedmen's Bureau Records

Today in celebration of the Juneteenth, there was a special news event announcing the Freedmen's Bureau Project. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.  Specifically it dates back to 1865. It was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. It was the end of southern resistance to President Lincoln’s proclamation. It is a Holiday in Texas commemorated every year.

Reproduction of the Emancipation Proclamation at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio from Wikipedia

If you do not have a good understanding of what the African American Freedmen's Bureau Records are the FamilySearch Wiki page will give you a greater understanding of what records are involved. At the end of the page are some great links to give you further information.

FamilySearch International, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro­-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), and the California African American Museum are partnering to make the images available, and free for anyone to view and search.  The main focus at present is for volunteer indexers to join the effort to get the records indexed in record time.  Would you like to help?  Go to the Afro­-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) website and click on the image of Juneteenth, or go to The Freedmen’s Bureau Project and click on the volunteer now button.

Volunteer Now page for the project.

This comes at a time that the United States needs a healing element of love. The gift of volunteering to make these records searchable will be just that a labor of love.  All help will be greatly appreciated,
See you next month. 

Original Records Are Always the Best

I finally came to the place in my tree while cleaning up, that made me acknowledged that for years I had let stand another person's research that was based on an abstracted record.  It was time to search for the records that the other person had abstracted.  This was not new to me.  I had done this with my Hero's line and discovered an abstracted record in respected published book had left out a child entirely.
The search in the probate records on FamilySearch was a bust.  The records did not go back far enough.  I then turned to the FamilySearch Wiki , search for my county and state, which helped me find there was a searchable database for the county. Had I gone there first, I might not have found it as it is not intuitive to discover... The area of records is under holdings... I did find the probate indices and searched. They were there, the two men who died within months of each other and the focus of my research.  They had come to Madison County, Mississippi Territory as Squatters apparently as one shows up in the 1809 Mississippi Territory Squatter's Census.  The hash marks with him indicate the other man and his family in the household.

I ordered the files, and lo and behold, the previous abstracts did have some relationships incorrect. Yep, the original is ALWAYS best!  My problem now is to try and figure out the relationships.  On the 1809 Squatter's Census the dates are not helpful as to if it would brother or father and son relationship as, it just lists 21 and up.  They died in late 1814 and early 1815.  I always love it when more information flows in, but wish some could have been definitive.
What I did learn was some of the life style and crops they must have grown.  They did not have slaves, so they must have done most of their work as a family.  Which is pretty much the way the Mississippi Territory Squatters were described.There was a Flax Spinning Wheel for sale, and cloth. I gather they grew the flax, spun it into cloth.

One of the women in the file had made a coat. It apparently was for the burial of the one who is thought to be the older of the two men. So they must have also made clothing for others. There were also, sheep, wool, and cotton mentioned. They purchased a 5 gal jug of whisky for use as  the property was being sold.

They apparently were not teetotalers and knew how to loosen people up, ;-)  or all were friends and it was a type of social.  Maybe someone has a better understanding of the people of that time.  I love reading Judy Russell's, The Legal Genealogist, blog posting.  They have broadened my look as I search through the files.  If you haven't subscribed to her posts, it is not too late.
I am now digging into Mississippi Territory and Georgia Territory records in the hopes to discover something to clarify the relationships.  Another researcher has found a family they think could be this one in South Carolina.  Deed Records, here I come.
This post has really served as a thinking ground for me as I am trying to sort out what I have found.  Maybe you have suggestions or it will help you in your journey too.
See you next month!

Painting a Portrait with Words

This week at the Family History Center, I was visiting with a man who was saying he had 24 years of letters his mother had written his wife and his father's journals.  He said he had gleaned some interesting things from them but many of the letters or journals were just mundane things of life like ironing, fixing the mower, things not of interest.
Oh wow, what a picture of the life those mundane things can paint.
I will take some examples from my family using those examples he had given and paint a picture of my grandmother, my father-in-law, and mother-in-law.
My grandmother, I have said before, was a remarkable woman.  She raise 13 children of her own and 2 grandchildren.  She had a pension from her husband's military service of 5 dollars to sustain the 6 left at home and the 2 grandchildren.

1930 photo held by Fran Ellsworth

In order to make ends meet, she washed and ironed for the families who either had enough money to not want to do it themselves or they worked and needed someone else to do that job.  [My grandchildren really are pretty clueless about ironing today. They have fabrics that don't need ironing, or the parents take the clothing to the Cleaners so "they will be done right." This is a side of life they can learn about.]  My grandmother had degenerative arthritis.  Her bones in her ankles and feet slowly an painfully degenerated. When she died, the doctor couldn't believe she was still walking. It was on these feet and legs that she would stand for hours washing, no washers like we have today, and iron to earn a small amount of money to make a living.

Vintage Embroider design

That is devotion and character of never giving in or up to circumstances.  I guess she was a person who lived the saying of when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Mundane jobs, but heroic attitudes.
My father-in-law had grown up in a family who worked.  His mother was an executive secretary and his father was an oil company executive.  They hired everything done.  While my father-in-law was not opposed to work, that is some interesting stories, he never learned to fix a mower, fix plumbing, or fix a car.

Phillip Martin Clip Art

His son as a matter of recourse, felt this left him wanting, and spent many hours learning on his own how to be self sustaining, without having to hire help.  Fixing a lawn mower, is pretty unexciting, but it illustrates that the person is mechanically inclined and spent time learning about machines as well as they are self sufficient.  Great character.
The interesting thing about my mother-in-law was she understood that her husband loved eating and he loved interesting flavors.  She would always have a large meal for him when he got home.

In this one they are camping out. Photo held by Fran Ellsworth

They would sit and visit about what happened during the day, and enjoyed the intimate relationship of a couple who shared daily activities of when they were apart as well as challenges and triumphs of life. These actions are what kept a marriage together for 60 years. This is what teaches grandchildren the ingredients it takes to make a good marriage; communication and sharing.
My point in this post is don't throw out the daily lives searching for the exciting. The exciting things are of great interest catchers, but the daily life is what shows what a person is made of. Using those activities paints mental pictures, such as a man and wife sitting across from each other and talking, working out challenges, or planning the future.  This is what can take the place of lack of pictures or lack of ever having met that person, word pictures.

Build your ancestors from the facts found.  What do you know about the vocation of farmer in the 1800s.  You might find they were store clerk, maybe they were found on a census in a poor house.  What happened to bring them there.  So many possibilities are found for stories of them just in looking in places and times they lived in.  Janet Few had some great ideas in her post this month. Funny that we were on the same page.
Keep writing the stories. Bring each of those ancestors to life with morals to their stories for your posterity.  You can do it, and there are many who are doing it.  Join their ranks.
See you next month.

A Little Irish Fun

Since it is March and I am posting close to St. Patrick’s Day, I will talk about the search for my Irish family ancestry.

My mother's father and grandmother had died by the time my mother was two months old.  Her mom, a mother of 13, had her hands full raising the six left at home, so there wasn't much sharing of family history. Because of the dire circumstances her mom had to contend with, she had never known any of her father’s family.

I started my research on her father’s mother with just the fact his mother's maiden name was Magill. I was intrigued.  I easily found the book Magill Family Record written by Robert Magill, but could not find a tangible connection to my Magill family.  A cousin of my mother, a Ralph Magill, let me know that Elizabeth Jane Magill was married to Joseph Lester Magill.  He also sent me a copy of a letter he had received from a Magill saying he was related.  I studied the Dear Caleb letter.  I believe every Magill in America has read it. I was sent in all directions to research from the letter, but Caleb was not directly related to my Joseph L Magill in Clark County, Illinois. By process of elimination and places, and times, I finally decided upon the parents for my ancestor Joseph Lester Magill who had died in the 1840's.  

1. I knew he was born in Tennessee from the census's that I found Elizabeth in.  I found a Charles Magill married an Elizabeth Lester in Oct 24 1796.  This became my logical focus. Then I began the search for proofs I needed to have to make it so.  

2. I went to Ancient Irish naming patterns. Irish Naming Patterns, gives a basic pattern as listed below, although depending on circumstances these would sometimes vary. 

Oldest son named after the Father's father

2nd son named after the Mother's father

3rd son named after the Father

4th son named after the Father's oldest brother

Oldest daughter named after the Mother's mother

2nd daughter named after the Father's mother

3rd daughter named after the Mother

4th daughter named after the Mother's oldest sister

3. Joseph Lester Magill's apparent oldest son who appeared on the 1850 census was named after him.  The Daughter Elizabeth Jane could be after either the mother of John or Sarah.  They were both Elizabeth.

The apparent second son was John Davidson Magill which was the  name of Sarah's oldest brother.  Joseph Lester was also the name of Elizabeth Lester Magill's oldest brother.    Still, to prove this, I needed a Charles and an Archibald. As Joseph’s father was thought to be Charles Magill and Sarah’s father was Archibald Davidson. If they were born before 1850 and died I was up a creek without a paddle unless I could find family evidence.  It was about this time my mother's cousin finally broke down and sent me copies of the family bible. 

 

Marriages Sheet from Joseph Lester Magill Jr's bible

Deaths Sheet from Joseph Lester Magill Jr.'s bible

There was a Charles Andrew Magill first born, and a William Archibald the second born.  I knew I had my family.  I had a probate of when Joseph died in 1844 that named a William Magill along with John Davidson as executors.  William turned out to be Joseph's older brother.  

Then a "distant" cousin researching Charles Magill in Sullivan, Indiana found the land records that involved the heirs of Charles Magill.  My great grandmother was named with her brothers as heirs of Joseph Lester Magill, son of Charles Magill. 

BLM-GLO Image of Charles Magill land patent

BLM-GLO summary

I still wonder what happened that the first two sons died as toddlers, and what happened to Joseph. That will be a different search.

Now you have the story of the method I used to pull my Irish family together… I know, I know, I have not really crossed the pond, but it is known that the father of Charles Magill goes back to William Magill who is spoken of the Chronicles of the Scots-Irish Settlement in Virginia.  So, I claim Irish heritage even if it was only for a 100 years between Scotland and America. J  

Happy Belated St Patrick’s Day!