Introduction to Genealogy and Family Research

Tonight we begin Session II of the 5 week course "Introduction to Genealogy and Familly History".  Session I was a "full house" and Session II looks like it'll be the same.  The whole program is being conducted as a fundraiser for the First Church in Ludlow which is, appropriately enough, the first church that was established in the town of Ludlow in 1774. 

Ironically, the first minister of that congregation was Peletiah Chapin who, it turns out, is a 3rd cousin 6 times removed of mine.  That means our common ancestor is my 8th great grandfather, Samuel Chapin. Sign up for the class and you can learn how to make those calculations!!! Samuel Chapin was a Deacon who also happens to be one of the founders of Springfield, Massachusetts.  There's a statue representing him in downtown Springfield by renowned sculptor, Augustus St. Gudens, called "The Puritan".

 

We always have a bit of humor to get things started so I've planned to play a old song that was popular a few years ago: "I'm My Own Granpaw".  Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu_Y1wQ923g

Then we get down to business.  I fully expect to be able to find old records for everyone in the class: newspaper articles, vital records, military records, etc.  Last session, I found a newspaper article describing the great grandfather of one of the attendees who was arrested for starting a brawl at a wedding!  He popped the groom in the head with a beer bottle while accusing him of marrying a 13 year old girl.  Everyone in the brawl was arrested and fined $15 each.  The wedding was in 1913 but the woman whose ancestor was arrested couldn't tell me if the wedding actually took place....it wasn't any of her ancestors so we moved on!

There'll be plenty of stories this time around, I'm sure.  I'll post the interesting ones here over the next few weeks.

 

How do you spell "Chmolumsky"

A basic error by some family researchers is to insist that their family name is spelled one way and one way only.  My own ancestors found no less than 6 ways to spell Robison....Robertson, Robison, Robinson, Robson, Robrson (4th ggrandfather's gravestone), Roberson, Robeson...OK, that's 7.  And there's probably a few others that I've overlooked. 

Here's a blog from Megan Smolenyak (Did I spell that right?) that addresses this issue:

Click here: Megan Smolenyak: Unexpected Ways To Find Your Ancestors

 

 

The Battle and the Wedding!

Just heard about this!  There are battles going on here, canon are booming, muskets are firing, people are whooping....and that's all coming from the wedding party!  It seems an unlucky bride planned her reception here and was totaly unaware of this other battle thing going on...  Well, she'll have stories to tell her grandchildren!

But here's a picture of a happy family that PLANNED to come here today...

Battle of the Seven Pines

Well, I'm here at the reenactment of the Battle of Seven Pines.  I've never been to a reenactment before, so this will be a new experience for me.  A friend of mine puts this all together and invited me to be a sponsor.  So I've set up a booth for "Old Bones Genealogy" and we'll see what happens.

Ironically, one of the letters I have on display is from an ancestor who fought in the 6th Alabama and actually participated in the REAL Battle of the Seven Pines in Henrico County, Virginia in 1862.  It's quite a bit safer here at Look Park in Northampton, though.  I've met quite a few people already who are experts in the Civil War, the battles, the leaders, the soldiers.  In the next tent, there's a couple from Mississippi.  He was glad to hear that my paternal ancestors were from Alabama!!  He showed me his bill fold and stated, "This is how we keep our cash in Mississippi" then proceeded to flip through the tens and twenties and fives and ones....  He asked, "Notice anything about that cash?"  I had the right answer... I said, "Only the fives were upside down."  He smiled!  Now, wasn't that war about 150 years ago????

Here I am with my friend, Steve Raff (on the right), who along with his significant other, Deb alias "Private Auggie", put this entire production together.



The outfit was courtesy of Steve....gotta stay in character!

Ludlow Senior Center Presentation

Usually, I'm talking to people who are trying to find their ancestors both near and distant.  Usually, I'm encouraging them to seek out the older generations  in their families (before it's too late!) to get to the bottom of family stories, ask the right questions, seek out diaries, letters, photos...anything that may help shed light on what might prove to be a fascinating family history.

Today, I had the opportunity to talk to that generation, the older generation.  My message was largely, be cooperative!  Tell the stories....even it some of them make you uncomfortable!  You might be the only person that knows about Uncle Harry's first wife, the one that "no one talks about!"  I am somewhat fortunate in that the "treasures" that I've gleaned from my own family members are not only uniqie, but tell some very interesting stories themselves.  Today, I showed an article from the Springfield Union of January 4, 1887.  I found it at www.genealogybank.com. It describes a train wreck in the West Springfield, MA freight yard.  One man was killed, several injured and a great deal of the cargo was desctroyed in the resulting fire.  This incident is of particluar interest to me.  I have a letter about spoons.  Yes, spoons!  Auntie Perham (I haven't figured out who she is exactly, but that's another blog another day!) sent my Great Grandmother Tuggey a letter about spoons. I quote her here: "I sent you the spoons nearly two weeks since & I don’t hear anything  I think perhaps they were on the train that was smashed near Springfield."  She had shipped them "Express" with a value of $25.  So I'm not sure if she was worried about the spoons or any potential claim for a loss!  Otherwise, why would she have mentioned the insurance?

At any rate, no one needs to worry about the spoons...I brought them with me to the presentation to show everyone how sometimes a few things in that old box in the attic can tell an interesting story: The article about the wreck, the letter from Auntie Perham and the velvet lined box of spoons.  I think it makes a great little family story!

[caption id="attachment_260" align="alignnone" width="243"] Shipped to Enfield, Massachusetts from Oswego, New York in 1887[/caption]

Hitchcock Free Academy

This starts out with some friends of ours asking us to head up to Brimfield, MA to a concert on the village green. The "FLAMINGOS" were playing music from the 40's, 50's and 60's. The Flamingos, you should know, is a band of women...about 14, I think... who mostly play horns: clarinet, trombone, sax... Great show! The weather was perfect and we all had a great time.

During the intermission, a woman with a very official look about her, took the mike and thanked everyone for coming and spoke of other programs that were coming to Brimfield.  And that got me thinking: “I’ve got a program I could bring to Brimfield!”

So when the show got started again and she returned to her seat, I decided to approach her and introduce myself.   As it turns out, she’s the Executive Director of the Hitchcock Free Academy!  I asked her, “Would you have any interest in having me conduct a class on genealogy and family research?”  I was pleasantly surprised at her reaction which was basically “Yes”….

So, we talked about what I had been doing in Springfield, Chicopee and Ludlow which, I explained could be tailored for whatever the folks in the Brimfield area might enjoy.  She explained what the academy was all about.  Here’s their mission statement directly from their web site: Mission: Hitchcock Free Academy is working to enrich the lives of our community members by providing educational, recreational, and cultural programs to residents of all ages from Brimfield, Holland, Sturbridge, Wales, and the surrounding communities.

After that conversation and another on the phone a day or so later, we decided that a program consisting of 4 classes could be run in October.  We’re shooting for a late afternoon session and another early in the evening.   Whether we run 1 a day or 2 would depend entirely on the response from the community.

But here’s the part that I find most interesting: I visited their web site and learned that the Academy had been originally established by a local businessman named Samuel Austin Hitchcock in 1855.  Well, I have plenty of HITCHCOCKs in my ancestry which intrigued me.  After a little research, it turns out that Samuel Austin Hitchcock (1794-1873) is a 4^th cousin 4 times removed.  Our common ancestor is John Calvin Hitchcock (1642-1711).   Who knows who else I’ll find in Brimfield!  I just may end up with more cousins right there in one of the classes!

Almost forgot...Here's a link to a video that will tell you all about the Academy and what they do....it's really nothing short of incredible for a small New England town in central Massachusetts! Click here for the video of Hitchcock Free Academy.

bogus e-mails, spam and various other nefarious internet activity!

For those who've attended my classes, you'll know that in spite of the subject matter (genealogy) I always include some cursory mention of internet security, especially with regard to e-mail.  Here's a great article from Leo Notenboom who writes a column about all things related to computers and the internet: Ask Leo

This article has to do with passwords...How to create them...How to remember them...  It's not very technical so it's easy to understand as are most of Leo's articles.  As a matter of fact, you might consider subscribing.  The article also has links to other articles he's written about password security and other issues.

He's got great credentials in that he was a Microsoft programmer for many years.  That alone gives him the scoop on many of our challenges with our computers, software, hardware, etc.  He's also been writing these helpfull articles for about 9 or 10 years.

So, I suggest you take a look and I'm sure there'll be something helpful here for everybody.

When it comes to passwords, I usually put the sites I like to use into my favorites.  When I add a site that is password protected, I change the name of the site by right clicking the name, then I click "RENAME" from the dropdown menu.  Now you're going to think that I just type in the password to make it easy, right?  WRONG!!  I type in a password hint.  I'm never sure of what can be hacked and since a "FAVORITES" list lives in a file somewhere, that, too, can be hacked.  So, the "real" password is never there, but enough info so that I can figure out what it really is.  Hey, it works for me!!

Introduction to Genealogy Sessions will continue at First Church in Ludlow

The fundraiser for the First Church in Ludlow that just completed was a very successful program. I believe that all the participants learned at least something and most picked up a lot of information regarding doing their own family research.  In some cases, the participants have asked me to help them along, which is, of course, my business!!

We covered a great many topics from simply getting started.  How?  Just write what you know.  The easiest tool to keep track of that data is a pedigree chart.  You start with yourself and build generations back as far as you know.  Names, dates, births, marriages, deaths, locations….whatever you can remember.

Then the verification process begins.  Did Uncle Fred come to the United States in 1893 or 1898?  Was great grandma married once, twice…or three times!!

In a nutshell, we filled 5 weeks with an enormous amount of information.  Everyone took notes and everyone left with more than they expected, I believe, because I tried my best to give everyone their own packets consisting of their own family’s census records, draft registration cards, birth, marriage and death records…whatever relevant documents I could find pertaining to each person.

So, now we begin again.  I’ve requested the opportunity to conduct another series of classes and the Church has given me the green light.

Who do you know that would be interested in spending about an hour and a half on Monday nights to learn about becoming a genealogical detective?

Contact me directly at dave@oldbones.co or check out the web site at www.oldbones.co.