Innholdsfortegnelse for March/April 2022 i Family Tree

“Just the facts, ma’am.” When learning about our ancestors, it can be tempting to focus only on the basic details of their lives: when they were born, where they lived in a census, when and to whom they got married, and when they died. But our duty is to preserve not just the facts of our ancestors’ lives, but also their stories—their successes, their failures, their personalities, and their challenges. To do that, we need to dig deeper into records and seek out additional resources. This issue will help you fill in those narrative gaps. Contributing Editor Sunny Jane Morton presents a guide (page 12) for researching family throughout the 1940s, providing all the context you’ll need about them ahead of the 1950 US census release in April. And Lisa…

Last fall, Sam Williams visited Halifax County, Va. “I had never been there, and in fact almost purposely ignored it,” he says. “I didn’t really feel a connection to the place, even though I had recent family lines from there.” While at the South Boston—Halifax County Museum of Fine Arts and History <www.sbhcmuseum.org>, Williams noticed photo albums labeled Adams family. “That’s a name on my mom’s side,” he says. “I opened one and immediately said, ‘Oh, I know who that is!’” In fact, Williams was staring at an original 1880s tintype of his great-grandfather’s grandparents, a copy of which he had seen online. Crisp but faded, the tintype still showed identifying details in the subject’s face. Even better, he found photos of his great-great-grandmother and her siblings—all labeled. “I saw…

“THERE IS A MYSTERIOUS CYCLE IN HUMAN EVENTS. To some generations, much is given. Of other generations, much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt alludes to “The Greatest Generation,” who lived through both the Great Depression and the incipient World War II, in an acceptance speech at the 1936 Democratic National Convention. We cover how to research your family in the 1940s—many of them members of the Greatest Generation, or their children—on page 12.…

ON TOP OF RHODE ISLAND’S STATEHOUSE IS A statue of the Independent Man, a symbol of the state’s spirit. But it’s the water—so important to the area’s settlement and development—that inspired Rhode Island’s nickname, the Ocean State. This smallest state in the Union is drivable from end to end in approximately an hour, and has hundreds of miles of coastline (despite most of the state not actually being an island). Don’t be fooled by Rhode Island’s tiny size—it has bountiful family history resources dating back to the early years of settlement. RHODE ISLAND: A HISTORY Rhode Island’s four main original towns—Providence, Warwick, Portsmouth and Newport—were settled between 1636 and 1642 by individuals seeking religious asylum from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, notably English Puritans Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson. The Great…

LIKE MANY STATES, PARTICULARLY IN THE SOUTH and West, Texas has been owned and settled by different nations—in addition to initially encompassing a much larger area than it does today. Genealogists with ancestors from lands that are (or were) in Texas can find a treasure trove of different record types in the Lone Star State to aid their research. BIG HISTORY Indigenous tribes, including the Apache, Comanche, Hasinai, Tonkawa, and Karankawa, were the first inhabitants of what is now Texas. In 1519, the Spanish arrived in what they called Texas (or Tejas) during their explorations to find a quicker trade route to the East Indies. Spain quickly claimed the land, but did not try to colonize the territory until 1689 when they discovered that the French had tried to establish…

Websites Ancestors From Norway <homepages.rootsweb.com/~norway> Arkivverket (National Archives of Norway) <www.arkivverket.no/en> Digitalarkivet <www.digitalarkivet.no/en> Norway Heritage: Passenger and Ships Lists <www.norwayheritage.com/ships> Norway’s Parishes <www.norwayparishes.com> Norwegian Genealogical Word List <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Norwegian_Genealogical_Word_List> Norwegian Historical Data Centre <www.rhd.uit.no/indexeng.html> Oluf Rygh: Norwegian Farm Names <www.dokpro.uio.no/rygh_ng/rygh_form.html> Parish Listing: Norway <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Parish_Listing_Norway> Societies, Libraries and Museums Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening (Norwegian Genealogical Society) <www.genealogi.no> Norwegian-American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library <www.nagcnl.org> Slekt og Data (Genealogy and Data/Genealogy Society of Norway) <www.slektogdata.no> Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum <www.vesterheim.org> Books The Family Tree Scandinavian Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Ancestors in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway by David A. Fryxell (Family Tree Books) Norway to America: A History of the Migration by Ingrid Semmingsen (University of Minnesota Press) The Promise of America: A History of the Norwegian-American People by Odd Sverre Lovoll…

Find books in the FamilySearch Catalog <www.familysearch.org/search/catalog>. You can search for material using a place, surname, title, keyword, or more. Under Availability, select Any for all collections, or restrict results to only those materials that you can find online or in a Family History Center. Books with digital versions available will provide a link to images under their entry's Notes section. When viewing page images, you can use the toolbar to zoom in or out, toggle AI-generated text, or search for a word within the book. You can also download the book as a PDF or collection of JPGs. HeritageQuest Online This service <www.heritagequestonline.com>, available through subscribing libraries and powered by Ancestry.com, has 28,000 family and local history books. My ancestor William White lived in Cumberland County, Pa., in the…

1 Prep against deterioration. Handwritten recipes carefully copied onto whimsical recipe cards deserve to be preserved as much as any diary or journal. Most vintage recipe cards are typical mediumweight office index cards, either 3x5 inches or 4x6 inches in size. The card stock is usually inexpensive and likely somewhat acidic, meaning the paper itself will deteriorate over time. Food stains, oils, and frequent use can make the card even more fragile. Store and handle recipe cards like you would other paper objects: Avoid light, heat, moisture, pests, and handling. 2 Scan both sides of the card at 300 dpi resolution. Use a flatbed scanner or a smartphone scanning app such as Genius Scan <www.thegrizzlylabs.com/genius-scan> or TurboScan <www.turboscanapp.com>, both available for iOS and Android. 3 Share card scans digitally by…

1 Include middle name. Not all records have this information, but (when they do) this extra detail might help distinguish your Mary Elizabeth Smith from Mary Margaret Smith. If you’re lucky, your ancestor’s middle name might be more unusual than her last—particularly in communities that used a mother’s maiden name as the child’s middle name. 2 Filter by life events. Use relevant details like birth year to narrow your search and evaluate possible record matches. There may be thousands of Thomas Joneses, but there are significantly fewer Thomas Joneses who were born in Kentucky in 1880. 3 Search with relatives. A mention of a parent, sibling, spouse or child might help your ancestor stand out in records. (Hopefully, that relative had a more unusual name!) Also look for wider clusters…

I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE my family was then. On my first birthday, in March 1950, we moved into a larger home and my brother and I sold that house in 2010 after both of our parents died. I know where my grandparents lived at the time, too. But it will be fun to actually see it in the census!Linda Grissette via Facebook My parents were in Indiana and New York. My oldest brother and I were born in the ‘40s so we’ll be on the 1950 census! Can’t to see it!Beverly Duell-Moore via Facebook My family was in Cuba, and I have lots of pictures of them.Olga M. O’Farrill-Socarras via Facebook WE LIVED IN SYRACUSE, N.Y. My mother worked at Easy Washer, my father worked for Niagara Mohawk. I was…

FINDMYPAST <www.findmypast.com> released the 1921 Census for England and Wales on January 6. The 1921 census gives detailed information on more than 37 million people in England and Wales after the Great War and the Spanish flu epidemic. This census is useful for anyone tracing war brides from either World War; British Home Children from Canada and Australia; and the large number of post-WWI international migrants. Users need to pay to view record images or transcriptions, but in-person visitors to The National Archives at Kew and select “hubs” across England and Wales can access census images for free. Learn more at <www.findmypast.com/1921-census>. Sunny Jane Morton is a contributing editor for Family Tree Magazine, content manager at Your DNA Guide and industry expert on the giant genealogy websites.…

1524 According to legend, explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano compares an island in Narragansett Bay to Rhodes, inspiring the region’s name. 1636 Puritan Roger Williams, banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony on religious grounds, founds Providence 1644 Providence, Portsmouth and Newport unite into a single Rhode Island colony 1663 Rhode Island is granted a royal charter 1675 Metacomet (“King Philip”) leads an alliance of tribes in an armed conflict against European settlers. He’s killed in Bristol in 1676 1746 King George II intervenes in a border dispute between Rhode Island and Massachusetts 1790 Rhode Island is the 13th state to ratify the Constitution, the last of the original colonies to do so 1862 A Supreme Court ruling finally settles the Rhode Island-Massachusetts border, the last major change to Rhode Island county…

1519 Alonso Álvarez de Pineda, a Spanish explorer, claims Texas for Spain 1689 Spain begins to colonize Texas 1716 Spain establishes missions and presidios in earnest 1821 Mexico wins independence from Spain 1824 Stephen F. Austin’s “Old 300” settle in Texas, among the largest and most successful groups of US colonists 1836 The Republic of Texas is established 1845 Texas is admitted as the 28th state of the Union, triggering the Mexican-American War 1850 Texas cedes land to the US government, obtaining its modern borders 1861 Texas secedes from the Union during the Civil War; it’s readmitted in 1870 1931 Loving County is re-established in the last major change to Texas’ county boundaries…

When the pandemic hit Rosemont, Neb., schools were closed, public meetings were cancelled, and innkeeper Mrs. Cure began a daily disinfection routine at her bed and breakfast. After lunch was served and before the mail and guests arrived in the afternoon, the small town’s matriarch opened a closet, removed a container of chemicals, and “fumigated” the place until the building reeked and eyes watered. Townsfolk were overcome with the noxious fumes and fled the warmth of Mrs. Cure’s hearth, flocking on the snow-covered street outside her door. Rumors began to circulate that this is what Mrs. Cure secretly wanted but was too polite to request outright: for the townsfolk to stay out of her place until the risk of illness had passed. Her deviation from the community’s “neighborly expectations” edged…

Q Is it true that people always looked so grim in old photos because exposure times were so long and it was hard to keep smiling? A That may explain the grim faces in early daguerreotype images, which required exposures as long as 20 minutes. But by the 1850s and 1860s, photos could be snapped in a few seconds with the right lighting. Yet our ancestors posed mostly unsmiling even after the 1888 introduction of the Kodak box camera and the Brownie in 1900. Not until the 1920s and 1930s did smiling become the default portrait expression and cameras begin to capture casual, everyday life. A nontechnological reason for those serious faces might be our ancestors’ bad teeth. As Angus Trumble, author of A Brief History of the Smile (Basic…

Genealogy how-to downloads and videos, plus PDF back-issues of Family Tree Magazine <www.familytreemagazine.com/shop> Detailed online courses and webinars full of expert advice about key research subjects <www.familytreemagazine.com/course> Our members-only online library of genealogy instruction <www.familytreemagazine.com/product/website-vip> Free genealogy advice from host Lisa Louise Cooke and expert guests Apple Podcasts/Spotify/<www.familytreemagazine.com/podcasts> Subscribe to our free email newsletter for how-to articles. Daily and weekly options available <www.familytreemagazine.com/newsletter-signup> <www.facebook.com/familytreemagazine> @FamilyTreeMag Family Tree Magazine @familytreemag <www.youtube.com/user/familytreemagazine>…

Subscription website Ancestry.com has published “International Patents, 1890–2020” <www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62216>, a searchable registry of more than 123 million patent records. Patent documents may include the names of applicants and companies; patent status or application status; product descriptions; drawings and images (though these appear to be rare); summaries of claims; and dates of filing and publication. At left is Martha K. Hardwick’s handheld “Red Light, Green Light” game, for which I found a 1979 patent. Ancestry.com has two additional collections from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, one spanning 1790 to 1909 and the other for more-recent patents (since 1970). Don’t have an Ancestry.com subscription? Search databases directly on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website <www.uspto.gov/patents/search>.…

PRESERVING AND SHARING: Heirloom Gardening Spring is here, and that means it’s time to start sowing seeds in anticipation of warmer days. The home garden has played many roles throughout the generations of our families, providing sustenance and beauty (in the form of flowers). And during World Wars I and II, cultivating a “victory garden” was a form of patriotism. The image is of my great-grandmother Lenora Herring in her Ada, Okla., garden around 1950. This spring, I’m digging into old family photos and diaries to uncover my ancestors’ favorite fruits, veggies and flowers. Then I will turn to heirloom seed companies like Rare Seeds <www.rareseeds.com> and Seed Savers Exchange <www.seedsavers.org/heirloom-seeds> to find seeds of yesteryear that are being preserved today. RECENT READS: The Soul of the Family Tree Do…

Websites Cyndi’s List: Rhode Island <www.cyndislist.com/us/ri> FamilySearch Research Wiki: Rhode Island <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Rhode_Island,_United_States_Genealogy> Linkpendium: Rhode Island <www.linkpendium.com/ri-genealogy> One Rhode Island Family <www.onerhodeislandfamily.com> Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online (RIAMCO) <www.riamco.org> Rhode Island GenWeb <www.theusgenweb.org/rigenweb> Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission <rihistoriccemeteries.org> Rhode Island History Online Directory Initiative <www.rihs.org/rhodi> Publications Research in Rhode Island by Diane MacLean Boumenot and Maureen Alice Taylor (National Genealogical Society) Rhode Island Boundaries, 1636–1936 by John Hutchins Cady (Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission) Rhode Island in the American Revolution by Eric G. Grundset (National Society Daughters of the American Revolution) Rhode Island State Census for Genealogists by Diane Boumenot (Lost Leaves Press) Archives & Organizations National Archives at Boston <www.archives.gov/boston> Newport Historical Society <newporthistory.org> Providence City Archives <www.providenceri.gov/cityarchives> Rhode Island Genealogical Society <www.rigensoc.org> Rhode Island Historical Society <www.rihs.org>…

Websites Cyndi’s List: Texas <www.cyndislist.com/us/tx> FamilySearch Research Wiki: Texas <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Texas,_United_States_Genealogy> Linkpendium: Texas <www.linkpendium.com/tx-genealogy> Portal to Texas History <texashistory.unt.edu> Texas USGenWeb Archives <usgwarchives.net/tx/txfiles.htm> TXGenWeb Project <www.txgenweb.org> Publications Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas by Stephen Harrigan (University of Texas Press) The Evolution of a State, Or, Recollections of Old Texas Days by Noah Smithwick (University of Texas Press) Heritage Magazine <texashistory.unt.edu/explore/collections/TXHM> Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans by T.R. Fehrenbach (Open Road Media) Texas State Historical Association: Publications <www.tshaonline.org/publications> Texian Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolutionby Stephen L. Hardin (University of Texas Press) Archives & Organizations Briscoe Center for American History <www.briscoecenter.org> National Archives at Fort Worth <www.archives.gov/fort-worth> Texas General Land Office <www.glo.texas.gov> Texas State Historical Association <www.tshaonline.org> Texas State Library and Archives Commission <www.tsl.texas.gov>…

793 The Viking Age begins, beginning centuries of Norse raids and colonization. 872 According to tradition, King Harald Fairhair unites Norway. 1002 Vikings under Leif Eriksson briefly settle in North America (“Vinland”). 1015 Saint Olaf (“the eternal king of Norway”) is credited with bringing Christianity to Norway. 1397 The Kalmar Union unites Norway with Sweden and Denmark. 1537 The Protestant Reformation arrives in Norway; the new Lutheran Church of Norway secedes from the Roman Catholic Church. 1660 The modern borders of Norway, Denmark and Sweden are established at the Treaty of Copenhagen. 1814 Denmark cedes Norway to Sweden. 1825 The sloop Restauration (the “Norwegian Mayflower”) leaves Stavanger bound for New York City. 1866 A famine strikes Scandinavia, spurring immigration. 1880s The “Great Migration” from Scandinavia to America reaches its peak.…

1 Blogger <www.blogger.com> You’ll just need a Google account to create your own website and blog on this free, easy-to-use platform. From a blog, you can easily share family history stories with accompanying documents and pictures. Link to your tree on another website or, if you have a tree on WikiTree <www.wikitree.com>, you can embed it in your Blogger site. 2 MyHeritage <www.myheritage.com> Family websites are a perk for all users at this genealogy subscription website. Users get a unique, shareable URL with a customizable home page to share with relatives, who don’t need a subscription. Trees are embedded in family websites; get started at <www.myheritage.com/page/free-family-websites>. 3 Weebly <www.weebly.com> This popular platform offers fewer options than comparable websites, making it a no-fuss site for absolute beginners that still offers flexibility.…

1 Experiment with name-matching search filters. Ancestry.com, Findmypast and MyHeritage each offer additional search options that broaden or narrow the scope of name searches. You can instruct the engine to include only results that match your search term exactly, or results that are phonetically similar to your terms. These can be useful if you’re not certain of a surname’s spelling in a record, or for identifying multiple records of the same person that might spell a name differently: • Ancestry.com: “Sounds like” covers phonetically similar names, while “Similar” encompasses names that are spelling variants. “Soundex” (more on this below) covers spelling variants identified by that system. • Findmypast: “Name variants” is a built-in feature that identifies possible misspellings or common nicknames. • MyHeritage: “Match similar names” under Advanced Search has…

1 Search around your female ancestor. Look for her marriage certificate using her husband’s name, and check her children’s birth, baptism, marriage and death certificates for any mention of a maiden name. Likewise, search obituaries and probate records of her relatives (especially parents and siblings) for clues. And find her in pre-marriage census records using her father’s name or that of any brothers. 2 Look for in-laws in census records. Pay special attention to any relative in a census record who has a different surname from the rest of the family they’re living with. Women may have lived with their sibling or parents after being widowed or divorced. Or if a man is head of household and you see someone in the family listed as his mother- or father-in-law, that…