Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2021 i Family Tree

While the world keeps wrestling with the COVID-19 pandemic, another bug is sweeping the globe. Like COVID, this infection keeps you isolated in your home for hours—maybe even days—at a time, in an unending search for answers. You may not see friends and family for weeks, venturing out only for groceries and toilet paper. I’m talking, of course, about a malady much less serious than the coronavirus: the mystery bug. The mystery bug is contagious, and its symptoms may include compulsive searching and an overwhelming need to uncover truth about the past. You may have caught it from a school family tree project, or from hours listening to an aunt or grandparent. Or maybe adventure stories about fictional sleuths like Nancy Drew (see page 58) or Encyclopedia Brown drew you in.…

OVER A MILLION PAGES of National Archives Catalog content have been enhanced by volunteer “citizen archivists,” who tag, transcribe and comment on records to make them more discoverable. Between March and August 2020 (during pandemic stay-at-home orders), volunteer efforts soared, hastening the site from about 634,000 to a million enhanced pages. As of writing, record sets targeted for enhancement include: • the Nuremberg Trials• naturalization petitions• WWII diaries• Naval courts-martial (pictured)• the Pentagon Papers Learn more about volunteering at <www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist/missions> or explore site content at <www.archives.gov/research>. (At the latter, note the fairly new Record Group Explorer and Presidential Library Explorer.)…

1 Avoid smearing. Remember how, in grade school, your crayon drawings would smear or turn brittle and brown? Tools like graphite pencils, crayons, charcoal and chalk are portable and grant wide possibilities for color and shading. Unfortunately, these same features make such artwork more likely to smudge or smear than photographs or oil paints on canvas. Handle art as little as possible, and only by the edges. You should also avoid stacking pieces in such a way that invites abrasion or smearing, and don’t use modern fixative sprays. 2 Digitize your artwork. Reproduce prints to share with other family members. Note that the glass bed of your flatbed scanner can cause artwork to smear. For best results, use a digital camera or smartphone to snap the picture in natural light.…

Many things are said to be a “state of mind.” For genealogists seeking 19th-and early 20th-century ancestry in what was then the largest German Empire state of Prussia, “Prussian” is a kind of a state of mind. The term’s meaning differed greatly during the half-millennium in which the Hohenzollern family wielded power in Central Europe, many of its members crowned “Kings of Prussia.” For researchers with German ancestry, the word “Prussia” can be a stumper—and the fact that there’s no such political unit with that name in present-day Europe is just the conundrum’s starting point. Like the First Wave of German immigrants to Colonial America (who were often lumped together as “Palatines”), the Second Wave of German immigrants may have been grouped together as the overly broad term “Prussians.” The misleading…

My mother-in-law found a painting of her father as a young boy riding on a drag with his dad, hung in the office of a new doctor she went to see. The image was painted by a well-known artist in Kentucky as part of a series of “real life” paintings, and the doctor was [the artist’s] son.Pamela Wilkinson Edwards via Facebook I posted a query on a message board in 2000, and a distant cousin found it 10 years later. Our great-grandfathers were brothers.Joyce Thompson via Facebook A furniture store. I found my great-grandfather’s obit. The furniture stores used to sell the caskets. And they had kept records with obits of all that they had sold.Linda Woodworth via Facebook FOR ME IT WAS EBAY! I Googled my fifth-great-grandfather John Bromhall…

FRENCH GENEALOGY SUBSCRIPTION website Filae <www.filae.com>, which launched an English-language platform in 2019, continues to grow. Over 7 million users have registered; many have created searchable family trees. Public archives, local societies, specialty publishers and other partners have contributed more than 100 million images of historical record collections dating to the Napoleonic era. Among them are civil registrations of births, marriages, and deaths; censuses; 18th-century parish records; passenger lists; and military records. Free registered users may create a family tree, search record collections and view lists of search results. See an English-language FAQ for further information <assistance.filae.com/portal/en/kb/filae>.…

Family History on Display Over the years, I’ve acquired kitchen utensils from my mother, mother-in-law and both grandmothers. I have fond memories associated with many of them. To display these family homemaking heirlooms, I picked up this old wire basket for a few dollars at a yard sale. Then I carefully wired some of the items to the basket and hung it on the wall, making it into a nifty shelf ready to display the remaining items. Research Tip The free FamilySearch Wiki <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Main_Page> provides thousands of articles on a wide variety of genealogical topics. Experts from FamilySearch and the Family History Library not only supply this valuable information, but also update it regularly with links to new record collections. Use the Watchlist feature to keep up to date with…

Natalie Zett <zettancestry.wordpress.com> never felt she belonged anywhere, even among her family. That changed during the 1980s when the Cleveland native took a road trip. “The feeling started in Chicago,” she says. “The more I was in the Upper Midwest, the more I felt something pulling on my heart.” She moved to St. Paul, Minn. After her father passed away in 1996, Zett’s aunt sent her a family history book. “Maybe because of my loss, I was more open to the idea of family,” she recalls. She read the book, and learned from it that she had ancestors in Chicago. One story, in particular, moved Zett. In 1915, her Chicagoan grandmother gave her 19-year-old sister, Martha, a ticket to an excursion on Lake Michigan aboard the Eastland. But the trip…

1750 Thomas Walker explores Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap 1769 According to legend, Daniel Boone sees bluegrass from a distance atop Pilot Knob Trail 1774 James Harrod founds a permanent settlement at Harrodsburg 1794 Gen. “Mad Anthony” Wayne’s victory at Fallen Timbers, Ohio, ends Indian attacks in Kentucky 1811 The first steamboat on the Ohio River stops at Louisville 1836 The Kentucky Historical Society is established 1875 Aristides wins the inaugural Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs 1884 Hillerich & Bradsby, the maker of the Louisville Slugger bats, is founded in Louisville 1941 Mammoth Cave National Park is established 1944 The Tennessee Valley Authority completes the Kentucky Dam on the Tennessee River 1987 Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved tells the story of a Margaret Garner, an escaped slave from Kentucky…

1493 Christopher Columbus lands in Puerto Rico, dubbing it San Juan Bautista and claiming it for Spain 1510s Spain authorizes the importation of African slaves to the Antilles 1539 Construction begins on “Del Morro” citadel in San Juan; amendments continue for the next 200 years 1849 Manuel Alonso Pacheco publishes El Gíbaro, one of the first works to define Puerto Rican culture 1873 Slavery is abolished in Puerto Rico 1898 The United States wins the Spanish-American war and acquires Puerto Rico 1917 Puerto Ricans become US citizens by an act of Congress 1926 Puerto Rican historian Arturo Schomburg sells his collection of Black literature and history to the NYPL 1929 Women who can read and write are granted the right to vote; the literacy requirement is lifted in 1935 1952…

For more than 100 years, mystery books have ignited a love for problem-solving in children while also introducing them to the basics of genealogy research. An army of writers under pseudonyms penned popular series such as Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, injecting their stories with key skills used by family historians every day. The parallels are striking. Mystery-solving sleuths like Nancy Drew interview persons of interest, document findings, and analyze evidence to come to conclusions. They tap many of the same records and institutions as do genealogists: photographs, maps, newspapers, libraries and cemeteries. Their adventures are story-based and sometimes involve travel, interacting with people from around the world, and learning about the deceased. And, like genealogists, sleuths and the mystery novels about them are universal and have ongoing, multi-generational…

Maureen A. Taylor is the author of Family Photo Detective (Family Tree Books). 1 By the 1910s, studio photographs used protective and utilitarian sleeves that framed the picture—like this pale gray/green embossed enclosure—and were sturdy enough to stand alone. 2 On the back of the overleaf (not pictured) is the word “Diabolo,” which likely refers to the name of the paper manufacturer. (A diabolo is a juggling tool that consists of an axle and two cups.) Unfortunately, that’s the only marking on the photo—a photographer’s imprint would have given a clue to where the couple posed. 3 The woman wears a two-piece outfit, connected with a belt: a white full blouse, and a long skirt with pleats. She also has a tie with paisley pattern and a watch on a long…

“HISTORY REMEMBERS ONLY THE CELEBRATED. GENEALOGY REMEMBERS THEM ALL.” Laurence Overmire reflects on genealogy’s inclusive range of study in One Immigrant’s Legacy: The Overmyer Family in America, 1751–2009 (Indelible Mark Publishing). We at Family Tree Magazine share resources for finding all your ancestors—celebrated or not. Our tips for using Ancestry.com (page 18) and the US Social Security records issued to rich and poor alike (page 50) will help you get started.…

WHAT BETTER TIME than the New Year (when many resolve to eat more healthfully) to celebrate the crunchy, vinegar-y history of salads? The Burpee seed company’s 1894 invention of the durable, much-loved and-loathed iceberg lettuce (a staple for salads) was a giant step for a food that dates to Egyptian times. More recently, in 2015, lettuce even made the leap to outer space, with an orbital-grown salad served aboard the International Space Station. Ironically, the space-age greens were a variety of romaine—the first lettuce eaten by the pharaohs. “Salad days,” referring to a time of youthful inexperience, was coined by Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra. Cleopatra recalls her romance with Caesar in “my salad days/When I was green in judgment, cold in blood.” 1800 2680 B.C. Earliest evidence of lettuce cultivation,…

“I DON’T PROMISE TO FORGET THE MYSTERY, but I know I’ll have a marvelous time.” Teenage detective Nancy Drew shrugs off-her father’s request to set aside a case for the evening to enjoy a football game and dance in Nancy’s Mysterious Letter, the eighth book in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series. One Nancy Drew superfan shares what genealogists can learn from the long-running line of mystery novels on page 58, and you can do some sleuthing of your own using our tips for researching someone else’s genealogy (page 26).…

A research plan helps you stay focused on accomplishing a specific objective—whether you’re researching your own family or someone else’s. Use this worksheet to map out the five key steps of a solid research plan that will save you time and produce concrete results: 1. Identify your objective. Be as specific as possible. 2. List known facts related to your objective. 3. Develop a working theory. 4. Note the sources that could provide the information you need. 5. Outline your strategy, listing the exact steps you need to take.…

Websites Cyndi’s List: Kentucky <cyndislist.com/us/ky> Kentucky Atlas and Gazetteer <www.kyatlas.com> Kentucky Digital Library <kdl.kyvl.org> Kentucky Genealogy <kentuckygenealogy.org> Kentucky GenWeb Project <www.kygenweb.net> Kentucky Historical Society <www.kyhistory.com/digital> Kentucky Virtual Library <www.kyvl.org> Publications Contested Borderland: The Civil War in Appalachian Kentucky and Virginia by Brian D. McKnight (University Press of Kentucky) The History of Kentucky by Thomas D. Clark (Jesse Stuart Foundation) Index to the 1810 Census of Kentucky by Ann T. Wagstaff(Clearfield Co.) Kentucky Ancestry: A Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research by Roseann Reinemuth Hogan (Ancestry) The Kentucky Encyclopedia by John E. Kleber (University Press of Kentucky) A New History of Kentucky by Lowell H. Harrison and James C. Klotter (University Press of Kentucky) Pioneer Families of Eastern and Southeastern Kentucky by William C.Kozee (Genealogical Publishing Co.) Archives & Organizations The…

Websites Caribbean Genealogy Research <candoo.com/genresources> Cyndi’s List: Puerto Rico <www.cyndislist.com/us/puerto-rico> FamilySearch Wiki: Puerto Rico <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Puerto_Rico_Genealogy> Genealogía Nuestra: Our Caribbean Genealogy <www.genealogianuestra.com> Genealogy of Puerto Rico Facebook Group (Genealogía de Puerto Rico) <www.facebook.com/groups/aidatorres> Publications History of Puerto Rico: A Panorama of Its People by Fernando Pico (Markus Wiener Publishers) Puerto Rico: A Political and Cultural History by Arturo Morales Carrion (W. W. Norton & Company) Puerto Rico Past and Present: An Encyclopedia by Serafin Mendez-Mendez with Ronald Fernandez (Greenwood Press) Sugar, Slavery, and Freedom in Nineteenth-Century Puerto Rico by Luis A. Figueroa (University of North Carolina Press) Archives & Organizations Archivo General de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico General Archive) <www.icp.pr.gov/archivo-general> Biblioteca Digital Puertorriqueña (Puerto Rican Digital Library) <upr.contentdm.oclc.org> The Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York <www.hispanicgenealogy.com> National Archives at New York…

2020 marked the 90th anniversary of the Nancy Drew Mystery Series debut, and Nancy continues to inspire. We can easily imagine how quickly Nancy would solve those Depression-and wartime-era mysteries with the cutting-edge tools available to genealogists today. Relevant in a modern way thanks to the CW Network’s “Nancy Drew” TV show, Nancy and her friends integrate modern-day mystery-solving techniques using the internet, cell phones, recording devices and DNA. Popular around the world, Nancy’s stories are sometimes directly translated into other languages. Elsewhere, book titles remain the same, but the content changes for cultural reasons. And Nancy’s name varies from place to place—just (unfortunately) like in genealogy. In German, Nancy is a law student named Susanne Langen. In France, Turkey and Vietnam, Nancy is called Alice. In Sweden, she is…

Q How do I find out more about the service records for Union soldiers during the Civil War? A Start by finding your ancestor in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database <www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm>, taking note of his state and unit number. Once you’ve learned the state from which an ancestor served, you may be able to find some Civil War records in state archives or databases. Subscribers to Fold3 <www.fold3.com>, which specializes in military records, can then use state and unit information to browse for a soldier’s compiled military service record (CMSR) and other documents. Although Fold3 has more Confederate than Union records, the site is still worth a look. Some Union records, when available, are scarcer, representing index cards rather than full files. These records can also be searched…

Q How can I convince my relative to take a DNA test? A Regardless of whether the DNA match you’re seeking is a known relative or a relative stranger, the process of educating and persuading others to test can be summed up in one word: possibility. First of all: There’s the possibility that the person you’re talking to might, in fact, be the only person in the whole world that carries just the right mix of genetics and genealogy to help you find out exactly what happened decades ago. Let them see that they represent a kind of historical record that actually can’t be found anywhere else on earth. And let them know that their DNA has been handed down generation after generation. And after all these years, we finally…

Thanks to modern technology, genealogists have access to hundreds (if not thousands) of applications and software programs that can aid in managing your genealogy research life. The table below shares some of the most useful tools, plus what they can accomplish, what devices they support, and how much they cost. *At time of writing, RootsMagic 8’s release was still pending. Purchase options may change when this new version is available.…