Friday Serendipity

 

**** Ever heard of “warnings out” when doing New England research? Quoting from an article by Cherry Fletcher Bamberg, in the NEHGS Register, Summer 2015: “The floating poor, unwelcome anywhere but the town in which they were born, left scant documentary record of their existence. They are often mentioned only in warnings out when the town council ordered that they leave town before becoming a burden on the tax rolls. As each town bore the responsibility of supporting its own poor, strangers without proper certificates from their own towns represented an undue drain on the chronically stressed town treasuries.” Have you found your ancestor on a “warned out” list??

 

**** Judy Russell has a terrific nearly daily blog. Last Friday (Oct 27) she posted a great bit about NARA, our National Archives. She reminds us that this repository of American history offers “a virtual cornucopia if information about records there, researching in person at its facilities, and about genealogical research in general.” Wanna know more? Click to www.YouTube.com then to the NARA channel, “Know Your Records.” There you’ll find 61 video-lessons listed, plenty enough for a couple of soon-to-come snow days.

 

**** Don’t most of us know about Internet Archive…. quoting from their website: “Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.” The news about Internet Archive is that now you can digitally borrow a book from this site! Say you’re looking for a family history, The Turners from Tennessee, and you finally find a copy on Internet Archive….. now you can borrow that book for up to 14 days for free.  Check it out.  (P.S. I made up that book.)

**** True serendipity: Did you know that brown chickens give brown eggs and white hens give white eggs. That’s the ONLY difference; there is no difference in nutrition, so I read.

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

TIP OF THE WEEK –
COURT RECORDS IN COLONIAL CONNECTICUT

If you have Connecticut ancestors, you are fortunate because there are plenty of early records available.

The Particular Court, sometimes called the Quarter Court because it was required to meet once every quarter, was an early court in Connecticut. A book, “Records of the Particular court of Connecticut, 1639-1663”, published by the Connecticut Historical Society is viewable and searchable at Hathi Trust Digital Library.  Go to :

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001643172

Click on the Full View. There’s a box for your search criteria and a FIND button right next to it, toward the top right corner. If you search for John Carrington or Mary Johnson, two unfortunates that were hung for witchcraft, you will find that wasn’t their only run-in with the law. They were also convicted of “bartering a gun to an Indian” and thievery, respectively.

Another resource, “Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 1636-1776” is a 15 volume digital set you can access online via the UConn website.

Go to :
http://lib.uconn.edu/find/collections/unique-collections/public-records-of-the-colony-of-connecticut-1636-1776/

Click on the volume you are interested in; they are in chronological order. Once the viewable and searchable PDF opens up, use the magnifying glass icon closest to the image of the book to “search inside” the book. Using John Carrington again,  I found that he was ordered to pay someone for his share of corn, and he was paid for building someone else a coffin.

Much of the proceedings have to do with property and money matters so there is a good chance you will find something in here that involves your ancestor. Happy hunting.

GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Wednesday Evening E-News

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s

Wednesday Evening

E-News

1 November 2017

For more information visit www.gfo.org, contact us at info@gfo.org, or call our library at 503-963-1932. We love hearing from you!

For a complete GFO CALENDAR click here.

Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider for November 2017, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy HERE. NOTE: The Insider issues are now located under the “Learn” > “Our Publications” menu at www.gfo.org.

Curious about the status of your GFO Membership?? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!

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Library Work Party, Sunday, Nov 5th, 9am – noon

Our fearless leader, Laurel Smith, has been working hard with our Library Committee to produce new labels for our books as part of the GFO’s recataloging project.

Now all we need is people to help stick the labels on the books! We have several boxes of books that aren’t currently on the shelves because they need their new labels. Come out this Sunday to help Laurel in this effort so we can get the books back where they belong, back on the shelves!!

***

“At some point, almost every genealogy researcher will hit the proverbial brick wall or dead end with one or many of their ancestors. Records appear to be missing, a maiden name seems impossible to find or you need to find ancestors in another country but don’t know where to look. The resources out there are many and varied. Sometimes all the options available can be downright overwhelming.”

JGSO’s meeting will be a helping hands workshop. You’re encouraged to bring a list of 3 or 5 of your most difficult brick-wall family history questions to the meeting on Sunday, Nov 12th at 10:30am at Congregation Ahavath Achim.

“Take advantage of this golden opportunity to get some one-on-one help, or make use of this groups’ collective knowledge to smash some of your brick walls to smithereens! Bring your research and family tree on a flash drive or on a laptop or tablet. Internet access will be available.”

***

Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell the queen, for goodness sake!!

We’re so close to hitting 1000 Likes on Facebook! Just four more to go.

Will you help us hit that magic mark?

But don’t stop there! A “Like” doesn’t guarantee you’ll see all our useful posts. Be sure to go to our page and click both “Follow” and “Like” to make sure you see us in your Facebook feed.

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3D-DNA-Wallpaper-HD

Click the image for a great flyer to share with family and friends!

Saturday, November 18th, 2 – 3pm

Speaker: Don Anderson

Paper & Spit: DNA + Genealogy, and How to Make That First Contact. Like many adoptees, Don Anderson wanted to know where he came from. His new book, Paper and Spit, chronicles his journey. Using both DNA and genealogy, Don finds not only the identity of his birth parents but also his true ethnic heritage.

This GenTalk will focus on using Don’s story to illustrate “What to say when making contact with new matches.” This can be one of the most delicate and challenging aspects of finding close relatives, or wanting to create a positive experience with new cousins. Discovering a new match is much like finding a fish at the end of your pole, and now you need to reel in the fish. There is a method – what you say and how you say it is important.

old-letters-1082299 960 720

Click the image for a colorful flyer to share. Invite your friends!

Saturday, December 16th, 2 – 3pm

Presenter: LauraDenise White, GFO’s resident archival consultant.

Get ready for the holidays with Personal Papers & Archiving! Learn how to not only preserve some of those family heirloom papers and photographs you know are just sitting in the attic and basement, but also see how you can put together wonderful family history gifts with these fabulous relics of the past. Learn how to weave the fabric of your family history into inspiring and lasting treasures.

Attendees are encouraged to bring in a sample of items of their very own to work on during this interactive session. Photographs and letters and diaries, oh my! Bring them on in! We’ll work on them together while discussing ways to keep them safe AND ways to share them with family and friends both far and near.

Interested? Well, you should be! These are all FREE events, completely open to the public. Help us get the word out! CLICK HERE for FLYERS

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This Week at the GFO…

desk-calendar-12992149

Go on! Click the calendar. I dare ya!!

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4th

Virginia Group 10am – noon

The Quakers – history, beliefs, and their lives in records
Presenter: Peggy Baldwin

The early Society of Friends, more informally known as Quakers, had a belief in the equality of all people who called on the Divine within. Their beliefs lead to a unique organizational structure of monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings that resulted in incredible records. We’ll discuss types of records, record repositories and websites, and how to effectively access the Quaker record holdings on Ancestry.com.

German Group 1 – 3pm

Speaker: Barbara Forster
Topic: writing family history and storybooks
Plus: time to view some of the books which we purchased, etc.

The German Interest Group was formed in the spring of 2011. It is intended to be a source of information and inspiration for anyone with German speaking ancestors. One goal is to provide information on a variety of topics related to Germanic history and migration. We also will provide time for members to share their research journeys and connect with others who may be researching the same region or time period.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5th

Manuscripts Work Party 9am – noon

Explore our manuscript, personal papers and Bible collection while we organize, scan and create finding aids. Drop by at the time that works for you. Questions? Send a note to manuscripts@gfo.org.

LABELS WORK PARTY!! 9am – noon

Come help the Library Committee put labels on books so we can get them back out to the shelves for our researchers! Come for as long or short as you can. We need all the hands and wonderful attentive minds and eyes we can get!

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6th

Free First Monday 9:30am – 5pm

That’s right! It’s the first Monday of the month again, and YOU know what THAT means!! The GFO Library is open and free to the public every first Monday of every month of every year (excepting major holidays, but then the library is usually free the next Monday). Come on by and bring a friend!

All of these events are FREE and open to the public.

Let’s Keep Indexing

The Washington State Genealogical Society thanks all who participated in our Digital Archives indexing effort throughout Family History Month (October). Whether you indexed one record or 1,000, each is appreciated and valued. So, let’s keep it up! There are still thousands of records to be indexed so a future researcher can benefit from your efforts.

We’d like to know if you indexed any Digital Archives records during the month of October. Just leave a comment on this posting to let us know. Thanks for your continued efforts!

Lower Columbia Genealogical Society November Meeting

 

IMMIGRATION—MIGRATION:

WHY THEY LEFT, WHERE THEY WENT, AND WHAT IT CAN REVEAL ABOUT OUR ANCESTORS.

The November meeting is one you won’t want to miss. We are fortunate to have professional genealogist PAM VESTAL to speak about how our ancestors came to this country.

LOWER COLUMBIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~walcolgs/

SOMERSET RETIREMENT APARTMENTS

2025 TIBBETTS DRIVE, LONGVIEW

DINING ROOM 7:00 PM

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

Visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Free Access Native American Records at fold3

 


Free* Access to the Native American Collection

82 - Broken Arm, Ogalalla Sioux Do you have Native American ancestry? Or are you interested in Native American history? Then explore Fold3’s Native American Collection for free November 1-15.

Titles in this collection include:

    • Ratified Indian Treaties (1722-1869): Ratified treaties that occurred between the United States government and American Indian tribes. Also included are presidential proclamations, correspondence, and treaty negotiation expenses.
    • Indian Census Rolls (1885-1940): Census rolls submitted annually by agents or superintendents of Indian reservations as required by an 1884 Act of Congress. Only persons who maintained a formal affiliation with a tribe under Federal supervision are listed on these census rolls.
    • Dawes Packets: Applications between 1896 and 1914 from members of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes to establish eligibility for an allotment of land in return for abolishing their tribal governments and recognizing Federal law.
    • Dawes Enrollment Cards (1898-1914): Enrollment cards, also referred to as “census cards,” prepared by the staff of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, commonly known as the Dawes Commission. The cards record information provided by applications submitted by members of the same family group or household and include notations of the actions taken.
    • Eastern Cherokee Applications (1906-1909): Applications submitted for shares of the money that was appropriated for the Eastern Cherokee Indians by Congress on June 30, 1906.

Iroquois Indian tribe, 1914

  • Enrollment of Eastern Cherokee by Guion Miller (1908-1910): The Guion Miller Roll is perhaps the most important source for Cherokee genealogical research. There are an estimated 90,000 individual applicants from throughout North America included within this publication.
  • Cherokee Indian Agency, TN (1801-1835): The records of the agent of Indian Affairs in Tennessee, including correspondence, agency letter books, fiscal records, records of the Agent for the Department of War in Tennessee, records of the Agent for Cherokee Removal, and miscellaneous records.
  • Rinehart Photos – Native Americans (1898): Photographs of over 100 Native Americans taken by Frank A. Rinehart, a commercial photographer in Omaha, Nebraska. Rinehart was commissioned to photograph the 1898 Indian Congress, part of the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition.

Have you found an ancestor in Fold3’s Native American collection? Tell us about it! Or get started exploring the Native American Collection here.

Free Family Search November Webinars

Free Family History Library Classes and Webinars for November 2017

The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, has announced its free family history classes and webinars for November 2017. Participants can attend in person or online.
New classes include how-to research Swiss, Norwegian, Canadian, and immigration records. There are also classes on the FamilySearch Family Tree, using the FamilySearch Catalog effectively, learning how to index in much-needed foreign languages such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and French, and searching specific sources for other countries. Some classes are also in Spanish. See the full schedule below. Mark your calendars for events you want to join so you don’t forget.
Online classes are noted on the schedule as webinars. Webinar attendees need to click the link next to the class title at the scheduled date and time to attend the class online. Those attending in person simply go to the room noted. Invite your family and friends. All class times are in Mountain Standard Time (MST).
If you are unable to attend classes in person or online, most sessions are recorded and can be viewed later online at your convenience. To access these, go to the archive for Family History Library classes and webinars.
DATE / TIME
CLASS (SKILL LEVEL)
WEBINAR | ROOM
Thursday, November 2, 11:00 a.m.
Exploring Death Notices in Norway (Beginner)
Saturday, November 4 , 1:00 p.m.
Árbol Familiar para principiantes (Beginner)
Monday, November 6, 10:00 a.m.
Using the FamilySearch Catalog Effectively (Beginner)
Monday, November 6, 11:00 a.m.
Exploring Emigration Records in Norway—Finding Place of Origin (Beginner)
Monday, November 6, 1:00 p.m.
Beginning Swiss Research (Beginner)
Tuesday, November 7, 10:00 a.m.
Overview of FamilySearch (Beginner)
Thursday November 9, 9:00 a.m.
Immigration and Canadian Border Crossing (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 11:00 a.m.
Swiss Census Records (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 12:30 p.m.
French Language Indexing (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 12:30 p.m.
Italian Language Indexing (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 1:00 p.m.
Reivers and Relatives: Ancestors Along the Anglo-Scottish Border (Intermediate)
Thursday, November 9, 2:30 p.m.
Portuguese Language Indexing (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 2:30 p.m.
Spanish Language Indexing (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 4:30 p.m.
Web Indexing Training (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 6:30 p.m.
Leadership Indexing Training (1½ hours) (Beginner)
MF A
Monday, November 13, 10:00 a.m.
Using the FamilySearch Catalog Effectively (Beginner)
Tuesday, November 14, 10:00 a.m.
Starting FamilyTree: Navigating, Adding, Standardizing and Printing (Beginner)
Tuesday, November 14, 1:00 p.m.
England Case Study and Research Strategy (Intermediate)
Wednesday, November 15, 10:00 a.m.
Dutch Language Indexing (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 16, 11:00 a.m.
United States Census Records (Beginner)
Thursday, November 16, 1:00 p.m.
Lost in London! Tracing Elusive Ancestry in London and Other Big Cities (Intermediate)
Saturday, November 18, 1:00 p.m.
Getting Started in Mexico? Why You Should Try Ancestry.com (Beginner)
Monday, November 20, 10:00 a.m.
Using the FamilySearch Catalog Effectively (Beginner)
Tuesday, November 21, 10:00 a.m.
Staring Family Tree: Preserving Memories Using Photos and Documents (Beginner)
Wednesday, November 29, 10:00 a.m.
Web Indexing Training (1½ hours) (Beginner)

Tuesday Trivia

Read a most interesting article in the November Smithsonian Magazine all about the so-called Spanish Flu of 1918. The author, John M. Barry, has spent years researching this topic and now believes this pandemic started in southwest Kansas, Haskell County to be exact, in January 1918. Several Haskell County men who’d been exposed went to Camp Funston in central Kansas and within two weeks, 1100 soldiers at this huge Army training camp were admitted to the hospital. Then, likely carrying the disease, infected men were shipped overseas…… to France and then Spain, where it spread among all soldiers like wildfire. In the end, this disease killed between 50 and 100 million people before running its course. Some 670,000 died in the U.S. (And to die from this influenza was a horrible death. If you dare, Google a picture of a lung from a deceased influenza victim.)
 
Think about your male ancestors, aged 17-45, in 1917. Were they in a place and situation that they might have become infected? (You’re here; they didn’t die, eh?) And what about your ancestor’s family? My grandfather had enlisted in Michigan in late 1917 and was at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center (north of Chicago) and the war was over before he finished his training. How lucky he was, and I am, that he survived.

Monday’s Mystery

Big congrats to Cheri Sanders who was the first to say (regarding last week’s cloud pix) that the top one were Washington clouds. Also Roy Ruthford was second (and last) to correctly guess. Way to go, guys.

Here’s this week’s mystery…..the question and the answer. The above photo comes thanks to The Yakima Herald-Republic newspaper. The story, back on 22 Sep 2017, concerned the mystery of this beautiful stone fireplace that sits on the Central Washington State Fairgrounds. Seeing the story, a reader furnished the answer.

Seems that in 1932 a church was founded on the site, holding services in a log cabin with a big stone fireplace. The cabin is long gone (burned down in 1933 resulting from “a roaring fire”) but the stone fireplace has stood as a mystery almost 70 years.

Have you ever spotted that old stone fireplace on the Fairgrounds and gave it a second thought?? Or have you ever spotted anywhere something man-made and wondered about the story it might tell?