Research Tips....The Never Ending Story!

Earlier today, I said to stay tuned for more tips.  Well, the Red Sox  are tied 4 - 4 with the Seattle Mariners in the 13th inning but here goes!

How do you spell Morrison?  One "R" or 2...One "S" or 2.

How do you spell Guenthner?  "Genthner" or "Gunthner" or... you get it, right?

My own paternal line is a prime example.  My 4th great grandfather used ROBISON, ROBINSON and ROBERTSON interchangeably. As a matter of fact, his grave marker reads "HESAKIAH ROBRSON"!

[caption id="attachment_1095" align="aligncenter" width="289"] Yet another way to spell Hezekiah Robinson[/caption]

I rest my case with this common research predicament: When it comes to how your ancestors spelled their name, be creative and take a second and third look at "creative" spelling.  Often you'll need to find several sources that you must use to compare and contrast while working to solve any contradictions in order to make a reasonable decision as to whether or not you have the right document or person.  It's a challenge!

So much for the family names.  Now, is it Michael P Flanagan?  Or Mike? Maybe it's Mickey?  And don't forget to take a close look at Patrick M Flanagan.   Or is it Paddy or Pat?  How the name appears depends on many factors.  The nature of the document: census, deed, death certificate, veterans pension application and the list goes on.  Other factors include the informant.  Rarely was a male head of household the informant in a census record.  They were, hopefully, either working or looking for work.

So who gave the information?  The wife?  One of the kids?  Even the neighbor!!  Enumerators were paid based on the number of names they recorded.  They were financially motivated to account for everyone and they used whatever means that were at their disposal to get the data.  If Mary referred to her husband for the past 30 years or so as Paddy, she may not have reported his "proper" name, Michael Patrick Flanagan.

See the challenge!  And these are common, easily pronounced and spelled northern European names.  How about German names, Polish names, Russian names.  How did it SOUND to the enumerator when he was interviewing a non-English speaking immigrant?  What he or she wrote is not necessarily a perfect transcription of what the name really is.  Is it Yacob, Jacob, John?  Is it Mordecai, Morrie or just Moe?

The lesson is to keep your eyes open and MAKE NO ASSUMPTIONS!  A friend of mine is challenged with the name KIELY.  Is it "KILEY", "KELLY", "KEILY" or "KIELEY"?  The answer is "YES"!!

As I mentioned earlier, my own paternal family name appears as ROBISON, ROBINSON or ROBERTSON within the very same family in many instances.  The previously mentioned Hezekiah was a veteran of the War of 1812 who died in 1852.  His widow, Tabitha, as well as all widows in former Confederate States were not allowed to apply for their pensions until 1878!  She was 86 years old by that time and, unfortunately , illiterate.  She had a formidable task to convince the War Department that her husband was at the same time, Robison, Robinson and Robertson as he appeared in various contemporary military records!  She finally received her incredibly small pension in 1881, 2 years before she died!

[caption id="attachment_1098" align="aligncenter" width="139"] One of the many rejections Tabitha received based on the "name issue". This one dated February 1879.[/caption]

Lest We Forget---May 22, 23 and 24, 1913 Alberta, Canada

Weather continues to be good and having work to do seems to be even better! Clem seems to be working harder and either doesn't have as mich time to write or is simply too tired!! The diary entries are much shorter.

Lest We Forget

Thursday, May 22, 1913

Weather fine and warm. The first day we worked nearly all day worked till 5 30 and came in and had supper

They stand and I play ball till bed time

[caption id="attachment_1089" align="aligncenter" width="236"] Moe work --- More ball[/caption]

Friday, May 23, 1913

Weather fine and warm.

We worked all day on bridges west of swift water

had a little game of quarter with Arban Archer [-?-] and Wil till bed.



Saturday, May 24, 1913

Weather a little colder and cloudier

worked on bridge west of Swift Water

butting in brices at west end till about three oclock and lazed around under thte bridge

Jackson came to the core and came out on the paycar

paycar came about 5 30

I did not get any of it.

[caption id="attachment_1091" align="aligncenter" width="238"] No pay this week!![/caption]

 

Comments are welcome!

More search tips and tricks later today...

Old Bones Genealogy and Family Research of New England

 

To share or not so share...

Since her subject is "To share or not to share..." so I thought it would be a good idea to do just that!   It's always good to share when you run across good advice. This blog is from Barbara Schmidt...

To share or not so share....

Coming up late today from Old Bones Genealogy, more of "Lest We Forget" from my grandfather's 1913 diary.  He continues to write about his experiences working on the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway which eventually became the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Also, I may have a few more tips and tricks for improving your genealogical search results.

Please "share" this and other Old Bones blog posts.  Comments and suggestions are welcome!

 

Strategy to Make Searching a Little Easier

I thought about this today. I use this strategy almost automatically. It's very useful, especially on computers with a slow internet connection or the computer itself is simply running slow.

After you've done a search and have a list of results in front of you, the next step is to click on one of the links. Right?? WRONG!!!

Certainly you have to click on the link to see what you've found, but if you look at the result and it's less that what you need, you have to hit the back button and your search page has to reload. The time for the reload can be FRUSTRATING to say the least.

So....how about leaving the search results on one tab and opening the results in a new tab or even a new window. That preserves the search results so that if the link opens to a page you don't need, just delete it a your original results page is still there....no waiting.

Now I suppose you'll want me to tell you how to do this. Actually, there are 2 ways to open your new link in a new tab and 2 ways to open your new link in a new window. The first method is to RIGHT CLICK the link. A drop down menu will open and there are the 2 options: Open in a new TAB or Open in a new WINDOW. If the new TAB isn't what you want, delete it or keep it to compare with other results. Same with the new window. Either way, your search results ARE STILL THERE AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR IT TO POP UP AGAIN....because it never went anywhere!

That's the first way, and this all depends on how you use your keyboard. I always use SHIFT + Click to open the link in a new window or CTRL + Click to open in a new tab. There are reasons I use one or the other. If you're still reading....as I ramble along.... I'll use a new window when I want to just bounce from one window to the new window and back again. That's another trick: ALT + TAB will let you "scroll" through all your open windows. If there's only, then you'll be able to go easily from on to the other. If you have multiple windows open, it will flip you from the current window to the LAST WINDOW OPENED. If you watch your screen while holding ALT + TAB, you'll see all the open windows! Just keep the ALT key down and tap the TAB button to move through all the open screens. CTL + TAB will flip you through all the open tabs in order. Again, if you only have 2 tabs only, you'll just go from one back to the other over and over again depending on how many times you click TAB while holding the ALT key.

Either way, the goal was to preserve the results of your search so you don't have to re-load the search results page. If you get good at this, you'll save yourself incremental minutes over the course of days or weeks or months giving you more time to figure out what the names are on that ancient deed you found!!

Good grief, if you're still reading, congratulations!! I could go on all night....and I hope I got all of this right!!!

If you have any questions, comment on the blog (so others can see the question and the answer) or send an e-mail to dave@oldbones.co---

Visit Old Bones Genealogy and Family Research of New England at http://www.oldbones.co and remember to share the blog or tweet the blog or reblog the blog….Whatever it is that works toward spreading it around!! And if you do, thanks!

Lest We Forget---May 19, 20 and 21, 1913

Today, Clem gives us his semi-regular weather report. Seems to be a few great spring days this week.

Lest We Forget

Monday, May 19, 1913

Weather a little warmer and a little rain in the morning.

No work. Can't get west big slide at On [-?-] 31

This afternoon we got water for the cook.

After supper had a game of base ball till it started to rain.

[NOTE: The other day, I was going to comment that "baseball" was called "base ball" in the 19th century. Clem had used "baseball" and my comment was going to be that the combined words were already being used in 1913. Then, along comes my grandfather and honestly, I'm not sure if he used "base ball" because that's how it was spelled in 1913 or because, as we have seen, his spelling left a lot to be desired!
[caption id="attachment_1074" align="alignright" width="225"] Sunny and warm, a "big slide" and a little base ball![/caption]





Tuesday, May 20, 1913

Weather fine and warm

sun out nearly all day did nothing but sleep all morning

In the afternoon R Johnson and I played base ball for a while in the afternoon

After supper Gilbert and I went for a walk up on the hill

we took two guns with us but saw nothing

[caption id="attachment_1075" align="aligncenter" width="236"] Sleeping, base ball, walking and hunting...[/caption]

Wednesday, May 21, 1913

Weather fine and warm all day. Outfit left Yellowhead Pass at night

after dinner got to Lucerne at 1 30 fot to work at 2 oc

walk till 6 on bridge 1 mile from siding

after supper Alaban Fill [-?-] went to bridge to fish but got nothing

only fish about an hour

[caption id="attachment_1076" align="alignleft" width="232"] A little working...a little walking...a little fishing[/caption]

Short Google Tip

One of the advantages of using Google for genealogy research is its flexibility. Let's say you're looking for an ancestor who lived iin Albany, NY and then in Boston, MA. You also think they may have moved to Chicago at some point. In most search engines,this involves 3 separate searches: John Smith, Albany, New York; John Smith, Boston, Massachusetts; John Smith, Chicago, Illinois.

We talked in a previous post about the drop down menu that allows a single search in adjacent counties or states. That's obviously not going to work here as these 3 locations are far removed from one another.

So, what can you do? First, remember that you want to catch ALL the people named John Smith with any possible middle name or initial. We'll begin with "John * Smith".

Next in the string, we want to tell Google that we only want results that are pertinent to genealogy. Now our string looks like this:
"John * Smith" ~genealogy.

To narrow this search down to limit the results that mention Albany, Boston or Chicago, we don't have to do three individual searches and bounce back and forth between three different sets of results. That's where the operator "OR" comes in. Use "OR" in capital letters....that's important because that's what tells Google that you're looking for variable results. Your returns should include pages that includes those words: John [with anything in the middle but attached] Smith, related to genealogy and located in any of the three locations we indicated in the search string:

"John * Smith" ~genealogy +Boston OR Albany OR Chicago

Note that there is a "+" operator just before the three cities which touches the first word. But all the remaining words are separated by a single space.

Here's a list of results based on building this search:

John Smith (no quotation marks) 227,000,000 results

"John Smith" 22,600,000 (10% of original search)

"John * Smith" 7,160,000,000 (MUCH more because anything can occur between JOHN and SMITH...we haven't added ~genealogy yet)

"John * Smith" ~genealogy 203,000,000 results

"John * Smith" ~ genealogy +Boston OR Chicago OR Albany 135,000,000

Lots of different results! I suppose using a name like "John Smith" returns an enormous number of results simply because of the commonality of the name. If your ancestor is Abiah Makepeace (my 3rd cousin 8X removed), the results would, of course, be substantially smaller. I used the common name "John Smith" simply to better illustrate how dramatically the numbers can change. Note that when using "John * Smith", somewhere in the results you'll get a web page that contains the following line:

John Adams and his wife Abigail Smith

The first word is "JOHN" and the last word is "SMITH". We will get that returned in our results simply because Google did what we asked it to do. It found the word "JOHN" and the word "SMITH" and since the "*" was there, it didn't matter what was in the middle. To eliminate "Abigail," you could put -Abigail somewhere in your string.

Remember searching is not a SCIENCE, where 2 + 2 is always 4. It has to be...that's the science of mathematics. If "4" wasn't the answer, there'd be anarchy! Imagine what else could go wrong!!!

Searching can be better described as an ART. You modify, add, remove, edit and try, try, try until you get your results trimmed down to what you began looking for. And hopefully without eliminating results you want!

Good luck in your searching....more Google hints coming...

Visit Old Bones Genealogy and Family Research of New England at www.oldbones.co and remember to share the blog or tweet the blog or reblog the blog....Whatever it is that works toward spreading it around!! And if you do, thanks!

Lest We Forget --- May 16, 17 and 18, 1913

In the last "LEST WE FORGET" post, Clem had just gotten back to work. We pick up the posts on May 16th 1913:

LEST WE FORGET

Friday, May 16, 1913

Weather was wet and cold till 9 30

We work only thru his line

Track came in with all the tools and it stopped raining

it rained and snow of [sic] and on

all did not work work in the after noon.

Wrote 5 letters

one home to stat [-?-] Dad C. Gertrude and Ollie

[caption id="attachment_1064" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Rain...snow... Time to write some letters home![/caption]


Saturday, May 17, 1913

Weather fine and warm

We did work all morning

in the afternoon we went out and got a little water for the cook for tomorrow that took us about 1 hr.

Train was 5 mins ahead of time ttonight the first since we came up here

We went out after supper and played quater [-?-] till bed time

This afternoon I wrote two letters one to Agatha and one to C B Laclair

[NOTE: Agatha was Clem's older sister. He named his first daughter, my mother, Beatrice Agatha, obviously after his older sister.]

[caption id="attachment_1065" align="aligncenter" width="206"] Better weather, more work, but still time for 2 letters![/caption]


Sunday, May 18, 1913

Weather fine and warm.

I took a little walk about 2 miles in the morning

After dinner I took a walk about 4 miles

after supper we all went out a had a little sport jumping and baseball

[NOTE: The term "dinner" was specifically a reference to what we call "lunch" while "supper" is what we call either "supper" or "dinner."]

I wrote one letter to Maud [Clem's oldest sister] just in time to catch the train

[caption id="attachment_1066" align="aligncenter" width="230"] Dinner, supper, "sport jumping" and baseball[/caption]

DNA --- Getting Enough Bang for your Genealogical Buck

I've posted a few...make that VERY few...comments in the area of DNA and DNA testing. I have opinions (everybody's got 'em and well, you know the expression!) but what I lack is an understanding that's deep enough to offer advice. That aspect I'll leave to others.

There are 2 experts to whom I have no qualms whatsoever sending anyone with an interest in this area. The first I've spoken of recently and that would be Roberta Estes. Her expertise is, perhaps, second to none. Here's her blog in case it needs repeating:

http://dna-explained.com/

The other is "The Legal Genealogist." Judy G. Russell is a Certified Genealogist and a Certified Genealogical Lecturer with a law degree. I've participated in a number of her webinars (always worth the time) and listened to her in person (Always worth the time). She speaks in a broad range of genealogical topics with style, expertise and a witty, clever, humorous style. At any rate, here's her latest blog from "The Legal Genealogist" with an update on the value of various DNA testing companies:

http://tinyurl.com/mbtpl8k ( I used "TinyURL.com" to shorten a 192 letter long URL!)

Both of these experts are well worth following and well worth the time!

And don't forget http://www.oldbones.co" title="Old Bones Genealogy and Family Research of New England


By the way, I tried to use the WORDPRESS "link" feature, but it doesn't seem to want to cooperate today! If you received multiple notice for this blog, I apologize.... Another technology melt-down...what a surprise!!

Google Search: Using + , - , * and ? in genealogy searches

OK, let's continue the search for the mysterious John Smith. The previous hint initially found 228 million entries for the simple search for John Smith. That's a few more than anyone would be prepared to search through page by page. The we pared that down using "John Smith" and further by using "John Smith ~genealogy.

So here's the problem with "John Smith". If John is out there on the internet with either a middle initial or a full middle name, this simple search for "John Smith" with question marks isn't going to work to find them.

What do we do? The * and ? and other search tools are called "operators". The * ~ and ? are all operators as well as + and -.

If John MIGHT have a middle name, here's what you do: "John * Smith" ~genealogy. That search will return 208,000 responses, more that the 111,000 when we used only "John Smith". Why? Because the additional returns added all the entries that include something in between "John" and "Smith" in addition to "John Smith". Of course, I continued to add ~genealogy to keep the search focused on genealogy based search results.

I recommend using the * for a few reasons, even if you are 100000% sure that John's middle name was Morris. Why? Because in searching, you're subjected to how the indexing was done. Did the census taker hear "Morris" or "Norris". Or maybe the census worker got it right but the person who indexed the file read it wrong. Or it might even have been wrong in the first place. John Morris Smith more than likely isn't the person who told the census taker "John Morris Smith". Someone in the household or even a neighbor might have given the name as "John Alan Smith". It happens ALL THE TIME!!!

For those reasons and more, be aware that you're probably right... Let's say that John Morris Smith is, without even a shadow of a doubt, absolutely, positively your ancestor's correct name. You just can't be sure with how it was recorded then re-recorded then transcribed then indexed and then whatever!

Next, we'll start using the + and the - operators. Let's say you're ancestor was a pilot. You want to find the entries for the web sites about John Smith who was a pilot and not any others. Easy! Just add +pilot to your search. That way, the word pilot HAS to be in the web site somewhere. That doesn't mean you'll find John Smith the pilot, it just means that you're going to find all the web sites that mention John Smith AND mentions the word pilot. It's just a way to narrow your search to John Smith the pilot.

What about the - operator? A quick example is Abraham Lincoln. Try a search for "Abraham Lincoln" with the quotation marks. You should get about 44,200,000 returns. If you add the operator -president outside of the quotation marks, you'll reduce your returns to 27,400,000.

I'm using EXTREME examples here to show the dramatic differences when adding operators. The differences in your searches most likely won't be quite so profound, but should help you drill down to the person or persons or whatever data you're searching for.

Next we'll add a few more helpful hints such as OR and a few other quick tricks...

Stay tuned.

Family Tree DNA Levels the Playing Field...Sort Of

The article linked below is authored by blogger, scientist and DNA expert, Roberta Estes. If you have any interest at all in DNA, you should follow her blog. She writes in simple, down to earth language with a bit of humor and the complete understanding that her audience is largely composed of people like me who want to know the subject but don't necessarily want a PhD in DNA research!! It's easy to skim the articles and by-pass anything that looks too much like biology homework!!

Family Tree DNA Levels the Playing Field...Sort Of.

Google for Genealogy Research? You're Kidding!!

This is the reaction I get when I bring up this subject in a class... "I can use Google to do my research?" I spend one full session on "tips and tricks" when using Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org and yes, Google during my "GENEALOGY and FAMILY RESEARCH" courses!

Usually, the first reaction is "I tried it and I get way too many returns. Most of it doesn't have anything to do with genealogy!" Well, first, Google doesn't "read" the words. It uses algorithms to predict what you're looking for and what it will give you based on zillions of previous searches. So, the first thing you'll want to do if you're searching for a particular name in Google and you want the returns to be genealogical in nature, there's a very easy way to make sure of that. Take a look to the left of the the numeral "1" on your keyboard. There's a " ` " symbol and, when using the shift key, a " ~ " symbol. The squiggly line is called a "tilde". And what it does is tell Google to restrict returns that will bring you data that is genealogical in nature. That little gizmo combined with quotation marks will tremendously pare down your returns.

Let me explain. If you put the name, John Smith in the Google search box you;ll get 228 million returns, give or take 100,000 or so! The good news is you found something. The bad news is that many of the pages will have the WORD "John" on the page or at the site somewhere and the WORD "Smith" somewhere. And not necessarily together. You might see John McGuire in one spot and Madeleine Smith in another far removed from John McGuire and certainly not the people you were researching.

Step one is to put the name in quotation marks. "John Smith" will return "John" right next to "Smith" on the page.

Step two is to add the tilde like this: "John Smith" ~genealogy.

That little strategy returns a "mere" 728,000, a FAR cry for 228,000,000. And so it begins. But wait---There's more!! Now you can begin to use the "+" operator. That bit and a word about middle initials, "*" and "?" I'll talk about tomorrow.

If any of these hints have helped you, please "Follow" and share.... Thanks!

Census Records---Check the Neighborhood!

When you have found a relative on a particular page of a census, it's worth a few extra minutes to check a few pages before and after the page you've found. Very often, family members lived nearby. Adult children might be living near their parents. Or the in-laws... especially if your ancestor married "the girl next door"!

Watching a family "grow up" in succeeding census records can verify names, ages or potential relationships. For example, parents with 6 or 7 children in the 1860 census may only have 3 or 4 of those children still in the household in 1870. A quick check of the neighborhood could provide you with newly married adult children who may have children of their own still living nearby. After all, there are 10 years between census records and a lot can happen!

All of this could help build your family tree and fill in the blanks.

Lest We Forget---May 13, 14 and 15, 1913

BACK TO WORK!! I think that getting back to some hard manual labor after several days of "relaxing" may have caused a few aches and pains. As you can probably tell, there are more illegible words here than usual.

If you can figure out the questionable parts of the entries, let me know! I could use the help...

Lest We Forget

Tuesday, May 13, 1913

All night on the train did not sleep

arr at the pass at 11 30 had dinner [-?-] gang Jackson gang and went out to work in the afternoon

work all after noon in a little rain and now [-?-] and had a [-?-] of quarter after supper with W. H.

Went to bed at 9 oc.

very tired



Wednesday, May 14, 1913

Got up at 6 oc and weather fine sunshine

went to breakfast and then it started to snow

snow and rain of [sic] and on all day a little cold all day

My first hole day on the job

work went fine

a good bunch of lads

We worked on the bridge East Yellow head





Thursday, May 15, 1913

Weather fine and a little warmer worked on the bridge east of here all day.

Had a little snow and rain this afternoon

Saw St J Mac [-?-] this evening on the passover going east was not talking to him.

[caption id="attachment_1031" align="aligncenter" width="215"] Clem must have been exhausted after getting back to work---Handwriting is small and he didn't fill the page as usual.[/caption]

Genealogy Research Hints

Tomorrow, I have session 3 of 6 sessions of research instruction in Agawam, MA. One of the first hints I like to share in any of these classes is this: When you begin a search in any genealogy search engine be it Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, Mocavo.com put in as little information as possible. That usually gives me FAR more results than I need. The point is, I get results! Try "John Smith". That's it, just "John Smith." You should get 4,730,931 returns at Ancestry.com... and you need just one of them!

Now I can start whittling those results with dates, locations, family members or other identification but only ONE term at a time. With regard to dates, I always start out with +/- 10 years... It sometimes takes quite a while to maneuver your way around the huge number of returns you may end up with, but it's a whole lot better than stuffing every bit of data you know (which, in the end may prove to be wrong) and coming up with nothing.

Ancestry has a neat trick. When you put in a location, for example, there's a drop down menu beneath the box where you can select from an interesting list of options. "County/Adjacent County" is VERY useful when the county you think your ancestor lived in doesn't yield any results. They may never have moved! Instead, the county lines may have moved. Over the years, hundreds of towns and counties have been formed from a "parent" town or county. Give it a shot....you'll find it very convenient more than you think!

More Grand Trunk Pacific and Yellowhead Pass Photos

Here are a few of the photos that I've posted before, but since the diary seems to be mentioning some of these events, I'm putting them up again. Comments are welcome!!



[caption id="attachment_343" align="aligncenter" width="188"] Clem is above the sign wearing a hat[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_379" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Some of these men must be the "Steve" or the "Cullerne" referenced in the diary[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_479" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Modern day Entwistle, AB, the Diamond Capital of Canada[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_621" align="aligncenter" width="170"] Jordan Spreader, possibley very much like the one used in construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad[/caption]

Lest We Forget May 10, 11 and 12, 1913 and Yellowhead Pass

Clem gets some good news later this weekend, late though it is!


LEST WE FORGET

Saturday, May 10, 1913

Weather fine and warm

first summer weather we have had in Edmonton.

I did not receive the pass yet I guess there is nothing doing

I did nothing but hang around town

Harry did not come in yet




Sunday, May 11, 1913

Ah Ah good news

this morning A E Came in and told me the job was good. Pass was sent on Tues but did not reach here over to come down tomorrow

A. E. gave me one in case the other one does not come.

A. E. left on the 10 oc train with Harry MacC.





Monday, May 12, 1913

Weather fine and warm I started about 10 oclock to get ready for to go to Yellowhead Pass

start on a bridge gang

after dinner I went with Dank MacDonald to see if he could not get on a bridge gang or the C. M but no chance

we cane back and I bough [sic] all the things I wanted and left for Yellowhead Pass



Below is a photo taken around 1950, many years after my grandfather's time with the Grand Trunk Pacific. There is at least one picture from his album that I'll post tomorrow that might very well be the bridge this train is crossing. Yellowhead Pass is on the border of Alberta and British Columbia. I also have a picture I'll post tomorrow of the crew standing around a large "billboard" somewhere in Jasper Park, the location of Yellowhead Pass.

[caption id="attachment_1020" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Courtesy of the British Columbia Archives Collection, Image H-02911[/caption]

Lest We Forget, Wednesday, May 7, 8 and 9, 1913

Cold? In early May? That's what Clem reports!

The "Merry Widow"?? See the entry for the 9th. It's an opera as far as I know... I never figured my grandfather as a fan!



LEST WE FORGET

Wednesday, May 7, 1913

Weather as cold as ever. K & J went out to ath. [?] Landing this morning to work in the E.D.B.C.

Then left at 9 30 I am left all alone in the city.

I met J

Wake at 8 30 we put in the evening together









Thursday, May 8, 1913

Weather much colder

I did not hear from BB yet St J did not come in.

I did nothing but hang around town all day J McD stay with all night last night

I did not see him tonight









Friday, May 9, 1913

Weather a little warmer today

I was alone all day

This evening I went to the Empire to see Marry [sic] Widow

good show

got back at 11 oclock

Massachusetts Genealogical Council

"The Massachusetts Genealogical Council (MGC) is an umbrella organization representing genealogists, historical researchers, and all those concerned about records preservation and open access to public records."

Karen and I participated in the annual meeting of the MGC yesterday, Saturday, July 20, 2013. We actually had a pretty good time with the help of VERY effective air conditioning at the Hogan Center on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. The featured speaker was a nationally known lawyer/genealogist, Judy G. Russell, CG, CGL owner of "The Legal Genealogist". You can find her at The Legal Genealogist

Judy presented 3 programs through the course of the day. She's far from boring! Intelligent and very knowledgeable in the field of genealogy, the first program was "Breaking Through the 20th Century Brick Wall---Building a Family Through Circumstantial Evidence." Great stuff! She pointed out a number of time saving strategies that could help just about anyone who has hit their genealogical "brick wall."

Second, she presented How Knowing the Law Makes Us Better Genealogists." She strongly advises checking the laws in the state in which you're researching. For example, based on her experience in one particular town clerk's office, she brought copies of the legislation that allowed public access. The town clerk stated emphatically, "You can't see that. It's the law." She immediately pulled out "the law" and asked to be shown which part of "the law" prevented her from doing her research. It took about a half hour of the clerk and her staff studying Judy's copies, but she ultimately prevailed.

Finally, she presented "No Person Shall...Gallop Horses in the Streets: Using Court Records to Tell the Story of Our Ancestor's Lives." Among all the information she provided, here's a bit of interesting data: So, you think that checking the voter's list in the early 1800's Virginia for a female ancestor is a waste of time? Believe it or not, sometime between 1805 and 1807, the Virginia legislature allowed it!! It wasn't long before they legislated against it, but it happened.

We also heard from Kimberly Toney representing the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester. They are the repository foor an amazing amount of early American history in the form of millions of documents, books, leaflets and loose paper from "first contact" to about 1876. Worth a look!

Great program, great venue (it was actually TOO cold!!) and great to see a number of people that I usually only communicate with in blogs, webinars and other internet venues.

We took the scenic drive home and stopped at the "Steaming Tender" in Palmer, Mass for dinner. All in all, a long but productive day.

Lest We Forget, May 4, 5 and 6, 1913

Lots going on that's kept me from getting caught up. I should be able to get a few of these up today,

LEST WE FORGET

Sunday, May 4, 1913

Weather fine a little cold. We did not get up till 11 30. K & J came over and made me get up we were out all afternoon looking the town over.

I took the 10 oc train out for Edson

I went to see about a job tere.


Monday, May 5, 1913

Arrived at Edson at 4 oc did no get up till 9 oc then up to Harry's office and art and I had breakfast together

Did nothing but hang around town all day

in the even[ing] Walton Art and I went to the show

I saw Brough about about a job

I will not know till Thurs.

[illegible]


Tuesday, May 6, 1913

I took the 1 30 train for Ed. this morning landed in Ed. at 8 oc

found K & J in bed after a big time last night

They met Jimie McDonald and had a wild time

They did not work today cause we together all day

Lest We Forget May 1, 2 and 3, 1913

Just a reminder as these diary posts go up to the blog. The diary was written during the year 1913, one hundred years ago. Since this is the 100th "anniversary" of the diary, I wanted to post one a day as the year went on. But, as always happens, life gets in the way! That's not necessarily a bad thing, but life does get in the way!

At any rate, I wanted everyone to also understand that Clem's handwriting and spelling skills leave a lot to be desired. There are many words that I try to figure out based on context. I'm probably right about half the time. As to various locations, I frequently resort to Google or Google maps. Also, this is a "transcription" meaning that I try to stick to "WYSIWYG" or "What you see is what you get". I write what he wrote, what I see on the pages, warts and all! Capitalization, punctuation...who needs it!

I've found a few pictures that are in the public domain which means I can save them to my hard drive and post them. I haven't found a picture of 1913 Edmonton, but 2013 is a large, major, thriving city in Alberta. What would Clem think of it today? For that matter what would anyone from the early 20th century think of flat screen TV's, smartphones, hybrid cars. Actually, when you think about it, you could buy and electric car in 1913...

Back to the diary. Here are 3 more days in May of 1913.

Thursday, May 1, 1913

Donald and I did not get up till 10 30 this morning. We met K & J at 12 00 had dinner. Donald bought a ticket for Moose Jaw he is going down to work on the CPR
he left at 10 oc to night we all went to [-?-] to see him off

Friday, May 2, 1913

I was al (sic) alone in town to day K & J were working all day. I met Henry at 11 oc this morning. he left town tonight but coming back sunday I may get work then
weather fine and warm

Saturday, May 3, 1913

Weather cold with a little snow fall in the afternoon
K & J work in the morning but lazed of this afternoon.
We three play pool all afternoon.
There was nothing this evening so we went home early
I met Jim and Donald from Lancaster tonight.

[caption id="attachment_985" align="aligncenter" width="228"] Thursday, May 1, 1913
Still nothing going on![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_986" align="aligncenter" width="239"] Friday, May 2, 1913[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_987" align="aligncenter" width="220"] Saturday, May 3, 1913[/caption]

More Grand Trunk Pacific Photos -- 1913

I'd really like to be able to give you a description of the exact location of these photos or even better, who's in them... But it's all a mystery! All I know is that they came from my grandfather's album of his days working with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in Western Canada in 1913. I never heard of any stories from any family members, so I'm pretty lucky to at least have the album and the diary!

Agawam and Chicopee Classes

Thursday was the first day for the Agawam Library Adult Program in Genealogy and, I forgot, this was also the first day in Chicopee for another genealogy class. Agawam is my own program but the Chicopee class is one where I assist another genealogist named Alan Horbal from North Adams, Mass. His class is about the basics but he ties in extensive training in using web sites.

Here's the room before everyone showed up

[caption id="attachment_980" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Agawam Public Library Community Room[/caption]

There were about 25 people in the Agawam class which started out with some technical meltdowns. Usually, I 'd just connect a cable to a projector mounted in the ceiling. But this morning, their cable caused the power point to display in pink.... Pink! Since I usually have my own projector, I brought that in and plugged it in with the same cable. Still pink... When I switched to my own cable, everything worked out fine. Small panic but we worked it out.

As usual in a group this large, there's a good mix of people with some experience and people who are just getting stated. It seemed that everyone stayed pretty interested right up to the end. The usual 30 minute Q&A lasted about 45 minutes, so that was a good sign that things were working out pretty well.

Next week we get into census records, vital records, soundex, a short lesson in using www.familysearch.org and a brief Pedigree Chart workshop.

Just 5 more weeks in Agawam and then I'll bring a somewhat shortened version of the same program to Palmer, Brimfield, Wilbraham and again in Chicopee.

Lest We Forget April 29 and 30, 1913

These days must have been tough on Clem and the other Grand Truck guys. I can just imagine what it must have been like for him; 2,000 miles from home, no work, no income... At least it was getting warmer! He's given us enough weather reports, that's for sure.

Let's see what's going on in the last 2 days of April:

Lest We Forget

Tuesday, April 29, 1913

Weather fine and warm this evening was a little colder with a little wind.
I went over to the Edmont Hotel to see if I could get this man but he was not there
K & J did not work this afternoon
Donald came to town this morning
He stayed with me

Wednesday, April 30, 1913

Weather was very cold no sun all day a little rain fall and snow
Had word from A. E. and there was nothing doing I had a letter from Gertrude Purcell

[caption id="attachment_974" align="alignleft" width="231"] Quiet days in Edmonton![/caption]

Genealogy and Family Research - Agawam Public Library

Today I'm taking Old Bones Genealogy and Family Research of New England to day 1 of "Genealogy and Family Research", a course I'm conducting at the Agawam Public Library (APL) in Agawam, MA.

[Under the category of useless information, you need to know that Agawam has the first ZIP code in continental US, 01001. OK, back to genealogy.]

The Adult Programming Coordinator at APL contacted the Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society (WMGS) to find someone who could put together a genealogy program for the library. I'm a member and the Treasurer of WMGS so this one was an easy referral! They were pretty much wide open as to the content and requested 6 sessions, one per week. No problem. I have many presentations prepared for a variety of venues from single "lectures" to 3, 4, 5 and now 6 week programs. Some have been relatively small groups while others have consisted of up to 60 participants. Large groups are actually less fun than the smaller, more intimate groups. We all have fun and learn alot anyway.

The Agawam program will be quickly followed up with a 4 week program at the Wilbraham Public Library and 2 5-week programs at the Yellow House Community Center for Learning in Palmer, MA. I've been asked back to the Hitchcock Free Academy in Brimfield, MA in the fall. Ironically, one of my ancestors founded the Hitchcock Free Academy in 1849. He was a wealthy businessman who was interested in the education of the children in his home town who otherwise might not get a chance to go to school for very long. I have to tell you, though...It's no longer free!

Finally, I'll be using the program to run a fund raiser for the First Church in Ludlow which is in, well, Ludlow, MA. This will be the 4th fundraiser I've done for them. Again, I have an ancestor associated with this organization. My 4th cousin 6 times removed was the first minister there. According to the history of the congregation, they began conducting services in the homes of the membership back in 1774.

There's more, but I'll have to wait and post later...Class starts at 10 AM!

Visit www.oldbones.co

Also, I've taken to using dave@oldbones.info as so many people thought I had left of the "m" on the email address. It all has to do with what the domain cost me way back when: oldbones.com was $4500 while oldbones.co was free...

Lest We Forget April 25, 26, 27 and 28, 1913

Not much going on these days. It seems that work has run out for now and some of the men had to go out and look for jobs to keep themselves busy and make some money. The tone is almost a little depressing. At least Clem was not the only one in this position.

LEST WE FORGET

Friday, April 25, 1913

This morning Kenzie and Johnson went out to 21st (?) to see about some work. I was in town all day. I went to see Bille Callaghan and met Young Brady from Lancaster

Saturday, April 26, 1913

Weather very cold in Edmonton. I did nothing but walk around town all morning. I went over to Edmonton to look for a fellow to see if I could get work but there was nothing doing.

Sunday, April 27, 1913

Weather about the same with a little sun shine
A.E. came in this morning K.J & I met him on the corner of 1st and Jan (?)
we all romed (sic) around all day. A E was to go out tonight but he did not go.

Monday, April 28, 1913

I was in town with A E all day
J & K went out to work we all had dinner to gather
A E went to Edson tonight
Weather fine and warm
I went to aslo [a show?] with A. E. P. Pelsen

Photos from Clem Dickson's Grand Trunk Pacific Album

Unfortunately, there are no notes to go with these pictures and they are GLUED into the pages of the album. So I can't even see if he wrote on the backs of any of them. And that's why some are shown 4 to a page...I don't want to just rip them out.

I can identify my grandfather, Clem Dickson, in some of them. He is always pictured wearing hat but I don't see him in any of these. In one of the shots, he's reading the paper and in others he's standing with his co-workers. Tomorrow, I'll post the one showing the bear that they chained to a large crate. The camp "mascot" maybe??

Here are 4 of the 22 which I'll post over the next few days.

Lest We Forget April 22, 23 and 24, 1913

Lest We Forget

Tuesday, April 22, 1913

Weather very wind (sic) with a little rain
it was bad to work with the sand blowing
did not go out all day

Wednesday, April 23, 1913

This morning Cull came at 6 ocl and told me I had just a hour to get ready to go with Franks outfit to the brand.
In the hour I had my time and ready for Edmonton
arr Ed. at 5 30 and got a room [Clora st.]

Thursday, April 24, 1913 [NOTE: 65 years later, my first son, Matthew, was born!!]

All day in town with Johnson and Kenzie both broke
we [past?] around all day the evening we went to a show call the Prince of Pilsum [?] a very good play