Loving this conference...don't know who is more impressive? Introducing Dick Eastman or sitting in the front row with Steve Morse!

Connie Reik's talk on the War of 1812 was dynamic! Lots of great links to find your 1812 soldier. I also enjoyed Jolene Mullin's talk on colonial records in CT (her two volume book is massive!) and Jean Nudd's presentation on records found in NARA. (I am a NARA groupie!)

NERGC Manchester

I love the NERGC! Today was Librarians' and Teachers' Day. Although the day focused upon librarians, the teachers also benefitted. I walked away with many project ideas for my class as well as ways to get the history of a location into the hands of students. The best idea was the biography report that encouraged students to research on their own and was based upon the Core Curriculum Standards.

Ironically the same advice Judy Russell gave last week on the Legacy Family Tree webinar was repeated today...going in and telling a librarian your entire genealogical background will get you the glazed deer in the headlight look. But focusing your  question to a specific topic or record group will get you the collection you need or the answers you seek.

And the speakers were knowledgeable and shared great tips. I didn't know about genealogy branches.com and look forward to exploring this site. I've read Lisa Alzo's  articles and enjoyed hearing her as a speaker. Michael Hall's presentation on the War of 1812 pension records was great as well as William Forsyth's Proquest presentation. Christine  Sharbrough was a riot and a genealogist's friend. Josh Taylor was great as usual and having lunch with Marianne Marcussen was delightful.

I am looking forward LTD in Providence in 2015.

Organizing Your Files

Have you backed up your files lately?
Attached to my laptop is a hard drive of files. I try to do a back up once a month...usually on my monthly birthday date. Fortunately I had a backup when my mother board died last year and only lost a few items.
Some people back up to the cloud. (I do have some of my favorite family photos there as well.) Some people do both. If you haven't backed up your files please do it and save yourself grief.
But what do you do when you have multiples of the same files? Or begin to organize it? My solution is KISS...keep it simply simple.
For example, I started with a file that says, "Our family." In it I have a folder for my daughter, one for my in laws, one for my family, and one for our home. Then I sort my pictures and files to the person that is associated with it. When my grandparent's family had material-such as a newspaper article found on the web or a photo a distant cousin gives you, I simple place it into which side of the family it belongs. My husband's Fehlauer family is placed with his family; each one of my siblings have their own folder. School and genealogy items have their own separate folder.
I will admit that I didn't always do this. But since I have been doing this it has been simply simple to find my photos and genealogy files a breeze.
Now I'm off to rename my photos-year, month, date, place and subject!

Cool stuff in Genealogy World

I just wanted to post a quick blog about three great places I have visited online in the last few weeks.

1. Maryland Archives...OMG! I hope more states follow their lead. Their online indexes are great!
2. Legacy Family Tree Webinars...I just saw the webinar on Youtube your Genealogy...Great ideas!
3. Family Search...the amount of information upload is fabulous.

Stay warm my New England friends!

Looking at the friends of the family

One of the best way to hurdle the brick walls in my research is to look at the family and friends of my ancestors. By looking at other family members you can find clues that may lead you on a path to where you want to go. Examining the neighbors, friends, and associates of a ancestor can also point the way as well as finding new areas of research. Here is an example of what I did with a will.

When Captain James Peters wrote his will in August of 1802, he was suffering from yellow fever. A huge epidemic swept through New York at that time and sadly, at the age 41 he was a victim of the disease. When his will was probated not once, not twice but four times, the original and copies of it were made. These copies had to be accurate because it was a legal document. The fact that he was a sea captain and was wealthy according to the standards at that time made his will an important business document.

According to his will his executors were William Seaton of New York City and John Woodward and Job Tabor of New London. William Seaton died in Italy shortly after leaving New York for a better climate. (Yes, he was  Mother Elizabeth Seaton's husband!) Job Tabor was forced into bankruptcy in 1804 and by 1806 had died. The surviving executor, John Woodward, advertised in both New London and New York City newspapers that he was the surviving executor of James Peters. He also died before the probate could be completed because by 1809 Guy Richards of New London had petition in New York City courts that he was guardian of Captain Peters' son, James, and asked to be named the executor of Captain Peters' will.

On my "to do" list, I still need to examine William Seaton's and John Woodward's wills. I did look at the bankruptcy records for Job Tabor (located in NARA in Waltham). On a hunch I decided to also look at Guy Richards' will and lo' and behold there was James Peters Junior listed. This lead me to other records in other locations including tracking down James Peters Junior's will in Philadelphia and discovering more records for me to examine.

Fun times at NARA Waltham

My frugal Yankee ancestors would be proud of me...my friend and one of my cohorts in genealogy adventures, Eileen, and I were able to get to Boston on a shoe string thanks to Amtrak. After snagging the great deal we arrived in Beantown with visions of ancestors dancing in our heads. We raced to the His. Gen. (A.K.A. New England Historic Genealogy Society) where we planned our researching hours and then trooped over to the NARA branch in Waltham.

I went to Waltham years ago and enjoyed my research visit at that time.I remembered that I broke through some of my brick walls looking at records housed there. Today was no different. What I  remembered from my previous visit were the people being fabulous, helpful, and kind. Today the people there were fabulous, helpful, and kind. From the two security guards who patiently went over the procedures and helped us get a taxi to the train station to the archivists themselves who assisted us in retrieving records-they were fantastic.

The big find of the day was discovering they had the original journals for the New London Custom House. These journals were the day to day records of the ships arriving (entering) and leaving (cleared) New London. The blotters, as they were called, gave information for ship captains, their boats, the type of boat, and what they were carrying. The blotters went from 1790 to 1797. There was a huge gap of  25 year before the records began again in 1821.

Nestled in this group of papers and journals were Records of Masters and Owners Oaths, Letters Received, and Vessel Enrollments. Each box had papers stuffed with information for people having business in New London from the late 1790s to the 20th century. The surprise of the day was discovering three crews lists that may not have been included in the microfilmed records. Another surprise was seeing early passenger records for New London. There were quite a few Irish listed in these records. Sadly it is not a complete holding. The folder I examined went from 1790 to 1821 and
contained about 20-30 papers.

All in all it was great visit.

The twists and turns of family trees

My husband states often my family tree isn't a tree but a family stick that doesn't branch. Sometimes his witty, sarcastic comments include ones like this one that my family tree isn't a tree but a family knots. My favorite one of all is that my family tree travels in circles. Sadly, I have to admit he is correct.

While preparing for a talk recently I decided to show the connection from my third grandfather, James Marthers, to his family. Grampa Jim didn't have a direct connection to his half siblings but lots of indirect connections. I couldn't find birth, marriage, and death documents that showed his connection to his mother, uncle, and grandparents. His wife, Harriet Miner/Minor, was the daughter of  James Miner and Hannah Rogers of eastern Connecticut and was pretty straight forward to trace. But Grampa Jim was tougher...he seemed to appeared out if nowhere.

After many years of searching, weighing the evidence, and looking at  land records, I finally was able to find his connection to his uncle, silversmith James Peters of Philadelphia. His uncle was the proverbial wealthy uncle who left Grampa Jim money. (The funniest part of this story was discovering some of the legal documents in Hartford and paying $.50 a page only to fork over $32 in  Philadelphia for the same five pages!) Regardless, I'm pretty certain I now know who his parents were.

But a little clue that I missed was already there in print. James Marthers' younger half sister listed her parents as Joseph Clifford and Fanny Harris. Her obituary stated this as well as the genealogy James Rogers of New London and his Descendants. Fanny Harris was her aunt..not her mother.

Returning to James Peter's will, he clearly states his sisters children, James Marthers and Francis Rogers, shall inherit from him. At first glance it could mean he had more than one sister. However, his only sister, Betsey, was the wife of James Mathers and married second, Joseph Clifford. It was James Peters himself whom married Fanny Harris, not Joseph Clifford. (No divorce here...Fanny Harris Peters died in the 1850s in Philadelphia.)

It is the Rogers Genealogy and the Miner Society that made me realize how important family connections are. Remember James Marthers married Harriet Miner. Did you notice that her mother was a Rogers? It seems that her nephew, Joseph Turner Rogers, married Francis Clifford, James Marthers' half sister.

Following the Harris tree back one more generation to Fanny Harris' mother, Elizabeth Miner, showed another connection to James Marthers. Yes, she was a relative of  Harriet Miner Marthers' father, James Miner. (Confused yet?)

Land records tied up the loose ends here. Records found in Connecticut, New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore alone didn't tell the story. But placed together it created the knot my husband chuckles about whenever family history is discussed. Does anyone have a pair of scissors I can borrow?