Field Trip... What's New?

Yesterday, I decided to make a field trip to Hopkinsville (about 1.5 hours drive from my home) to check on some deed records in the courthouse.  I have made a lot of advances in my genealogical research knowledge about my family since the days that I spent hours and days at the Christian County Courthouse going through indexes and deed books.  I had been recently pairing up deeds... as in, when someone acquired property and then finally when it was passed on to someone else.  I noticed that I was missing one end of that equation or the other on far too many pieces of land for my family!  Thus the reason for the trip.  As I was going through the index books, I discovered some family connections that I did not know before.

While Wills & Probate Records are great for showing relationships, deeds often do the same, in fact, in some cases, deeds are another form of an estate settlement (Will) before the person dies!  Legal abstracts of land ownership are essential to ensure that property is free and clear of any legal rights of others.  The Christian County Clerks Office has the newer deed transactions computerized that you can track back seeing this abstract of previous ownership.  It can map out a wonderful picture of the history of that particular parcel of land and how it might have been sub-divided and merged together over time to the beginning of the county (1797 for this county).  Unfortunately, most do not go back more than about the 1940's for now, but it can help you work your way back on the computer and then through the deeds on your way back to when the person you are interested in acquired the land (and from whom).  Using this approach you will learn the facts behind an acquisition and disposal of the property in connection to the party you are researching.  It can provide you with a history surrounding the land and can provide relationships of the owners over time.

I began this quest in search of "Why is the West Cemetery deep in the middle of the woods, abandoned and mostly forgotten?"  I suspect the cemetery is on the property of the family of some of those buried there.  Who owned the land that this cemetery is located?  Why is access to the cemetery no longer in existence?  The cemetery seems to be only of West family members, perhaps 20 or less graves... it does have seven grave markers in reasonable shape with burials on the markers from 1875 to as late as 1934.  These dates are not all that old as cemeteries go.  Being exclusively family members, it suggests that this was not a church or even a community cemetery. This cemetery is not even on the topographic maps. I have lots of questions with no answers... yet!  Perhaps some of our readers can make a few suggestions to help me discover the story about this cemetery.

But this was not what I intended to share with everyone.  After the courthouse closed, I stopped by the public library a few blocks away.  I have not been here for a while - nice library!  They have some great new resources and records.  I only had about one hour before they closed, too.  I discovered a great, very large, wall-mounted, 1878 Farm Plat Map of the property owners of all of Christian County.  With my brand new Droid Razor cell phone camera, I took many photos of the map in the area of Wilson Precinct around Ovil, Kentucky where this cemetery and several others that my family are buried is located.  By the way, I took many photos at the courthouse of the deed records... a quick, inexpensive way to copy printed data.  The library now has most of the county's marriage records and lots of the deed records, wills & county court order books.  The library is open all day on Saturdays!  The courthouse is only open during the business week: Mon - Thurs 8AM-4PM, Fri 8AM-4:30PM.  Look for me in Hopkinsville at the library on Saturdays and in the courthouse on a few Mondays or Fridays (my days off from work).

A tip for all researchers, especially those of us that have been at this family history stuff for a while, is to go back to the places you have not been to for a number of years and see what is new.  More records are available & accessible than ever before, plus changes have been made due to advances in technology.  Plan for a field trip in the near future before it gets too cold or there are too many threats of snow or icy roads.

- Compiled by Indiana Bones

Jumping to Conclusions

“Do Not Let the Trash Can Get in Your Way!”

While working at a business recently, I went into a small room that had swinging doors. The entry way was partially blocked by a large plastic trash can. I moved it slightly and slipped past it pushing one of the doors into the small room. Within a few seconds I was heading out of the room, pushing the same door I went through before. It was blocked by the trash can. I reached through pushing the can back so I could open the door to get out. I just went through the same door seconds earlier, I thought how in the world did this can get in the way? Did someone come along and move it? My first, immediate thought was that someone must have moved it! So, what were the facts?

When I went into the room, I pushed the door in and away from the trash can that I had moved a little to get by it. Then as I was going out I pushed the door away from me toward the trash can. I had not moved the can far enough for the door to swing both ways. So, it turns out that I was the only one that moved the can. I had to laugh at my thought that someone moved the can in my way. It was a foolish conclusion based on circumstantial information.

In our genealogical research, we often do not find solid documented evidence; and we have to make reasonable conclusions based on circumstantial information that often leads to false assumptions and conclusions. This is also compounded when you want the evidence to prove these conclusions to be true facts! When we have only circumstantial evidence, we need to ask what are the facts? Then try to piece all of the evidence together to reach a reasonable conclusion. Accepting weak evidence for fact can cause you some serious stumbling blocks to go back in time about your family.

- Written by JGWest.

"Open letter to a Cousin"

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Dear Cousin,

A few pointers about family history research.   As you might know I have been learning about my family for over 50 years with the more serious (trained) researching beginning in 1978, providing me nearly 35 years of trial & error work and many workshops & seminars to learn about pitfalls to our research. Here are a few I have found: 1.) Always be like a detective wondering why, where, when, etc.; 2.) look for evidence that proves the facts you find; 3.) family members are good sources for general info, but their memories may not always be completely correct... the facts that they were given or discovered may not be correct; 4.) documents are not always completely accurate - many rely on informants with typos & miss-spellings; 5.) the census is a good source and gives a nice picture of a person's life & family since it is taken every 10 years, but, again relies on an informant and the census taker (both capable of errors, plus the difficulty with some census being able to read the handwriting or faded ink!). With the census a person's ages are not always about 10 years apart from one census to the next which means you need to treat the ages as being approximate ages and sort of averages out over several census reports. Always try to get at least 3 documents or sources to establish facts. It is important to cite your sources and where you can find them again! It is always a possibility that records are intentionally falsified to protect the innocent and/or guilty! Names are changed to start a new life.  Remember that names were recorded by others in records and according to how the recorder thought it should be spelled and over time the name's spelling would evolve to a different spelling.  Names often vary in spelling from generation to generation, from location to location and many times from individual to individual... look for all possible variants of how the name might be spelled.  Many times the name was spelled as it sounded (just think how accents might play into that problem!)  Avoid assuming that someone has died because you can no longer find any records about them... from experience these people have a tendency to show up 20, 30 or 40 years later!!! You can suggest that such and such happened, but avoid assuming that it is fact!  One final point... not everything written in stone is correct!  Grave markers are ordered by someone to mark the grave of themselves (before they die) or by another person taking that responsibility (usually after someone was buried - sometimes many years later!!!).  The information on it is subject to the knowledge of the person ordering the marker.  Do not rule out that the engraver may have made a mistake, as well.

I suspect that you are far enough along in learning about your family to know about much that I have said, but I hope it helps you to avoid some of the common problems with researching your family history.  All of us that are learning about our family history should try to avoid these common problems.  That includes me for sure!  Often the longer we are learning about our family lines, the more we tend to forget basic problems.  Sincerely, your cousin John

Readers, do you have some other common "pitfalls" to avoid?  Please share them with all of us!

- Written by JGWest

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

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Ok! I know...
you are asking what is this photo about?

During our last TSGS meeting, I was taking photos for the blog of different things going on during the meeting. While I was up front by Lyn Martin's desk at Willard Library taking a photo of those in attendance, I looked down and noticed this small stack of new booklets covering some 1700's court information from Maryland. Having several lines in Maryland in the 1700's I just took a photo of the books to remind me later that these will be on the shelves in the near future that I will look for!

My research tip is probably used by a lot of family historians these days with the great digital cameras available. The tip is to take photos with your digital cameras for info you might normally use a photocopier to save the information to bring home. Caution: remember that a camera flash may be distracting to other patrons in the library or courthouse.

Do you remember those old detective/spy TV shows where they would sneak into the records in some office in the dark and using their little spy camera to photograph the pertinent files and used later in court? We can do that, too... only during day time! Digital cameras can take hundreds of photos and you can check to see if you got a good image.

Happy spying...er... I mean documenting your research!

- JGWest

Find-A-Grave

I need to ask everyone, what has changed at Find-A-Grave site? Suddenly, I have had several emails from people who are interested in the family of a person that I have posted a memorial on that site. The nice thing is that most are cousins of mine interested in our common ancestors or family!

I am not sure what it is, but I like it!!!!! I guess it just might mean that people are using the site more to search for their family. And it shows that it is very worthwhile to help others find family member's grave & tombstones, especially for the ones that live a distance from where their family was buried.

You might want to check out Find-A-Grave http://www.findagrave.com/

- Compiled by JGWest

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

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Every time I really want to break down one of my genealogy "brick walls," I think about doing "back-door" research. This is when you try to go around the "wall" instead of over or though it. Sometimes I call this "side-door" research. It is that day when I take time to see what I do not know about the person and the family. Generally, I notice that I have not checked into the siblings and their lives. Was Richard the older or the younger brother? If I check him out, I might learn that he is the older brother and he was born in a different location. By going through this "side-door" (via Richard & where he was born), I might find new clues to find out about their parents... my brick wall.

Since I have researched for a lot of years, there was a time that it was more expedient to just gather data on my direct line and just recording the minimum on the brothers & sisters. I am talking about the days before the Internet, Ancestry.com, Find-A-Grave, HeritageQuest, USGenWeb Project, Fold3, and the many, many more resources available on the Internet. Back then, I had to pay a small fee to get a microfilm of a census for a certain location that I thought my ancestors lived. When it came in, the library would call to say it was here - we had about 10-14 days to use the microfilm (only at the library - when it was open!) before it had to be sent back. It usually took several hours to browse through the microfilm looking for anyone that had the surname you were researching... all the while, the pages rolled by causing you to get sleepy. I hated it when I would dose off while continuing to crank the handle on the machine and then not know how much film I did not see!!! The Willard Library at that time was not open on Monday, so if you worked during the day - you only had the weekend and Tuesday night to go through your microfilm. The library had far less research books available, too... many without an index. All of this meant you had little time to get info on your direct line of ancestors, let alone the siblings.

What a difference having a computer to record your data and to be able to use the resources on the Internet. You still need to go to the library, to courthouses and other repositories, but you do not need to order microfilm anymore. Ancestry.com, Heritage Quest & others have posted the US Census and a lot of other actual records on the Internet. Most are not free, but it is searchable and nearly all of it is available!!! Too often we are not sure what county or even which state to find them in 1860, for example. Granted these searches often give you many more choices than you want, but the first ones are more likely to be the one.

I have always used the computer software called "Family Tree Maker" to record my database for my family history. It has a special feature that allows you to go online with a button to search all of Ancestry.com for each individual in your database - one person at a time. It is perfect for checking out the brothers & sisters that you have not had time to check before. The search engine uses all of the data concerning that individual that you have entered into FTM. In just a few clicks you are usually taken directly to the page in the census listing your family. and you can copy & paste it right into your FTM program. Ancestry also allows you to put your data onto their servers and when it discovers something about one of them, it puts a leaf by that person's box for you to explore what clues & documents that may relate to your research. Ancestry costs about $100 a year as a subscription and may not be what you want to do. But Google or Yahoo can help you find free sources for most of this data online.

Just remember that Friends and Family uses the back or side door to visit... start using that approach more in your family history research.

- Written by JGWest

Navigating Along the River - Research Tips

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It seems... that if we try to take shortcuts,

we often find obstacles or pitfalls in our path. At least that is what I generally end up with in my journey to discover my ancestors. We call these "brick walls" that become serious roadblocks in our genealogical research!

What happens is that we just tend to get in a rush to move back in time - we found the person we looked for many years and immediately wonder who are the parents. Off we go in hot pursuit of the next generation. OK, but wait, that is exactly what I do everytime. I know I should take time to attempt to lay down a solid foundation and learn everything I can about the person I just found instead of trying to quickly find the next generation, as if I thought the trail would get cold.

I have mentioned Lee Anne Flatt before. She was the one I have looked for since I first began my family history as a kid over 50 years ago. I did not know what her maiden name was until about 10 years ago - my grandmother was raised by her after both of her parents had died before Grandma was 2 years old and she said she could not remember much from when she was a little girl. However, her son Anderson Fowler Flatt died in 1951 in Wayne County, Michigan and the informant on his death certificate listed his mother's maiden name as Richardson! There are at least two good documents to get maiden names: marriage records and death certificates. I know she married David Flatt after 1860 and before 1866, but still have not found a marriage record. I could not find when or where Lee Anne had died. I did not want to take the time to trace down all of her kids to see if I could learn her maiden name... I was trying to take a shortcut by just looking wildly for information on Lee Anne. Finally, her maiden name came to me via a "new" cousin asking if I was related to her Anderson F. Flatt whose parents were David Flatt & Annie Lee Richardson!

Just recently, I decided to do my research like I should by laying that foundation before chasing after the shortcut (actually a wild goose chase!). I took one of Lee Anne/Annie's sons (Roe Tilden Flatt) and traced him from Christian County, Kentucky to Sumner County, Tennessee. His burial was posted on Find-A-Grave and right next to him was his mother, Annie Lee wife of David Flatt.

Just last week, I was checking out facts on another child Polly Flatt - who married William L. Crabtree in 1891 Christian Co., KY... my Grandma did tell me that part of the time as an orphan she lived with the Crabtree, as well as, Phipps & Flatt families. On Ancestry.com, the first of 821, 212 [possible] matching records was a digitalized photo of her official death certificate. She died on 16 Feb 1930 and her mother's maiden name was Richardson! To my surprise, my grandmother (Mrs. Viola West) was the informant!


Above is a copy of Polly Crabtree's death certificate (click on photo to enlarge the image): her father was David Flatt & mother's maiden name was Richardson with the informant being Mrs. Viola West [nee Phipps] of Hopkinsville, KY. Polly was buried in Dogwood Cemetery.

The Research Tip is to lay down a solid foundation before beating your head against a brick wall.

- Compiled by JGWest

"Darrah's Genealogical Seminar at Willard Library"

' Yesterday, I attended a genealogical seminar at Willard Library where a fellow Indiana Society SAR member, Ron Darrah, presented two programs on immigration routes into the Midwest & Indiana. He mentioned "National Roads" that made migration easier. He suggested reading William Dollarhide's "Map Guide to American Routes, 1735-1815" (published in 1997). Afterwards, I decided to check out this book of Dollarhide's (I have his U.S. Census book for 1790 to 1920 showing county changes). This is what I learned about one road that clearly links a strong probability of how my WEST family came to Granville Co., NC. During the decade of the 1740's, the water transportation routes were no longer adequate to gain access to new farming areas. The upgrading of trading trails to full-fledged roads for wagon traffic was necessary. Filling this need was the Upper Road which began at Fredericksburg, VA (on the King's Highway that continued along the coast line) and continued across Virginia to North Carolina, but lying west of the Fall Line Road. In the mid-1740's, the propriety governor of the Granville District began issuing land grants to Quakers, Scotch-Irish and others from the tidewater counties of NC & VA. From Fredericksburg, the general route of the Upper Road was west of present day Interstate 85... and then at the state line the road followed closely to Interstate 85 southwesterly to Charlotte, NC & into Spartanburg & Greenville, SC. In VA this road went through current counties of Caroline, Louisa, Amelia, Lunenburg & others right into Granville County, NC. For those of us who claim Thomas West, Sr. to be their ancestor (or apparent ancestor), all of the above just might be extremely important. Thomas West, Sr. born before 1718 and died in Chatham Co., NC in 1808 can first be found in Granville Co., NC in 1750 when his son, Ignatius, claims to be born there in 1750. There is no earlier record of Thomas prior to this date. There exists tax lists & deed records that establish Thomas in Granville Co. during the 1750's with several of his sons. At least some of this line of the WEST have connections to Quakers. Migration routes from VA would bring many farmers from the Louisa Co. area directly to Granville Co. Three children of William Meacham from VA. married offspring of Thomas West, Sr. including Ignatius and two daughters of Thomas West, Jr. Another family inter-marrying West family members was the Buckners who also migrated from Caroline Co., VA where the Meachams were from. Caroline County was south of Fredericksburg adjoining Hanover County which adjoins Louisa Co., VA. This all suggests that (possibly) Thomas West, Sr. migrated along the Upper Road from the Caroline/Hanover/Louisa County area of VA to Granville Co., NC between the 1740's to just before 1750! From y-DNA, we have learned that we have West family connections to Hanover & Louisa County areas. Further, it would seem that Thomas West, Sr. should be found in this Caroline/Hanover/Louisa County area of VA in the time frame of the 1730's thru 1740's. Sometime before 1739, Thomas became an adult; and, we know he was in Granville Co., NC by 1750 making a window of time of about 10 to 20 years! This information may be very helpful to many who might read this since this is how many that ended in Kentucky, Tennessee or Georgia migrated from Maryland,Virginia & the Carolinas. - Compiled by JGWest

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

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This is a post card with a photo of Evansville's St. Mary's Hospital submitted by TSGS member Claudia Gleason. She stated that this card was mailed 03 Feb 1910 (about 100 years ago!). Please click on the photo to get a larger image.
I may be using the modern campus at St. Mary's in the near future to have a pacemaker defibrillator installed to make sure my old engine is performing at maximum efficiency.

This reminds me of a good research tip to pass on. Since I judge the 4-H Genealogy project exhibits in several of the counties surrounding Evansville, I have discovered that many of the kids & their families do not think about where their family members were born or died. Taking Warrick and Posey counties as examples... at the time this postcard was created some people were being born or died at home, but as time went along more were going to the nearest hospital to have a baby or to get medical treatment and, hopefully, not to die. If they came to St. Mary's Hospital to give birth or died there, the place of the event would be in Vanderburgh County and that is where the event is recorded and certificates can be obtained. They may have been born and lived their entire life (and even buried) in Warrick or Posey County; however, their record of birth or death would be in Vanderburgh County.

Where there are rural counties surrounding a larger town or city... there may be only one hospital and that would be in the larger community. Check the county they lived in first. If you can not find a record of birth or death, check for a nearby county with a hospital. Also, consider this: your county may have had a hospital, but it was not the one your family would use. St. Mary's is a Catholic hospital, Deaconess is a Protestant one with Welborn being a Baptist hospital... religion affiliation might have played a factor, as well.

- Post card submitted by Claudia Gleason
- Article compiled by JGWest

Researchers: Please be Polite!

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As I go around to places looking for genealogical data, clues or general information... I am learning more & more that today's "researchers" are somewhat rude and argumentative to the people who are employed to maintain records and other information that help us build our family histories. Does it make sense to be difficult towards those who control access to what you want to find? Being considerate, nice & polite to people that you are requesting information seems to be a "no brainer" - however, many will demand information. If the information is not to their liking, they call the person (who is trying to help them): "liars," "lazy," "incompetent!" I heard one lady say that the clerk in the County Clerks Office was "stupid, if she thought that was correct!" "Researchers" insist that the spelling of a name is always spelled only one way... any other spelling should be corrected immediately - I hope everyone realizes that the way it is spelled in the record (right or wrong) is the way it must stay!

If anyone trying to discover their family history acts this way to those we ask to help us... it hurts the next person that is polite trying to get information. Most of these employees are working with a different agenda than us "genealogists" - their jobs are to maintain records not try to break down brick walls in our research or try to discern how our families existed. Most of these offices are understaffed and are very busy. Sometimes these employees are rude & grouchy when another "genealogists" comes in to bother them and keep them from getting their work done. If you try to be nice, cheerful, polite & considerate, that person just might be less inclined to be rude & grouchy.

Here is just a few thoughts on how you can get what you want and make the person who helped you glad to be of service to you. Try to contact the office in advance by mail, email or phone requesting information using as much info as you can to make the search easier for the clerk. Do your research first by checking what is available online, what is available in the office you are requesting info, etc. Remember to say "please" & "thank-you" - treat these people like friends, not servants!

If you are rude enough, you will likely get very little help. But, if you try to be considerate, you may get someone that leans over backwards to help you get more information that you really want to get!

- Written by JGWest

"How to Spot an Email Hoax!"

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As we travel along our journey to find our ancestors, most of us are going to begin using the Internet to help us make connections with distant relatives, find some documents/photos, read U.S. Census & other records published online. We will decide to subscribe to email lists, maybe get a paid subscription to Ancestry.com or some other commercial genealogical organization. We will often get involved with all sorts of things on the Internet: FaceBook, Twitter, Blogs, Websites... we may even volunteer to be a County Coordinator for the USGenWeb Project. We will begin to get quite a few emails daily including junk mail, generally called "spam." Sooner or later (mostly sooner), you will start getting messages from well meaning people warning you of the latest disasters which generally are mostly false if not totally untrue. You will get messages that urge you to forward whatever message to everyone in your mailbox... some will even state that good fortune or bad luck will happen if you send it off (or not forward it) within a short time span. Most if not all are hoaxes based on rumors or partial truth - often total falsehoods!

I found a nice short (about 2 minutes) video "How to Spot an Email Hoax!" by Jonathon E. Stewart http://video.about.com/urbanlegends/Spotting-E-mail-Hoaxes.htm?nl=1

This is on About.com: Urban Legends. Another great site to check possible hoaxes is Snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/

Before you forward a message to everyone you know... it might be wise to check and see if it is valid. There is nothing worse than one of your friends proving that you were a big, gullible fool passing on false information. Sadly, from then on you are guilty of spreading hoaxes. Remember to just think a little... if it sounds unbelievable, it probably is false! Most of these messages are designed to damage a person's reputation (usually for political purposes). It amazes me that too many genealogists will forward on these hoaxes without checking for documentation. There are a lot of family history hoaxes that you need to track down & prove or dis-prove before you pass it along to others. Your reputation hinges on passing along information that is as factual as reasonably expected... not just because you want it to be true or worse that you suspect it to not be true, but wish to pass it along anyway!

-Compiled by JGWest

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

Recently, Cyndi Howells of Cyndi's List stated on FaceBook: "I might end up sounding like a broken record here. But my initial tips on working your ancestors are: 1) get *all* possible records for each ancestor. 2) create a timeline for each ancestor that shows date-by-date what you know from your research. 3) map your ancestors--getting a geographical perspective is so important. 4) know the history of the time and place in which your ancestor lived." [This is used here with permission.] This is about the simpliest and best advice or tip I have seen in all of my genealogical researching over the last 50 years! Although this looks and seems simple it is not simple to do, but is essential to help prevent "brick walls" or "barking up the wrong tree!" The only thing that I might add to this would be to maintain "family group sheets" to help you keep up with family relationships as you research.

In 1996, I remember corresponding with Cyndi when she was just getting her list going good. She said that she hoped that everyone would be patient with her to get new links online since she was basically just an everyday housewife with children. As time went on Cyndi became a celebrity, author, lecturer, speaker appearing in magazines and TV. Cyndi's List is incredible and one of the most important "favorites link" of all for genealogists (and historians) to use daily! Here is the link to her site: http://www.cyndislist.com/

Cyndi's List is a free service to genealogists to help us find online resources and information. As her site states ~ "Your genealogy starting point online for more than a decade!" There are 280,000 plus links in over 180 categories. She is constantly updating links as quickly as they are broken and adding new links as they are found or reported. Thanks Cyndi Howells for all that you have done!

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

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Spelling in Research Records

Yesterday we got a new 1 year old Westie by the name of "Ollie" (picture below). I have a grand daughter by the name of "Halle" same name as Halle Berry, the singer. I have the same problem that my father had with certain words, names and pronouncing some words with additional letters added. For example: "wash" is "warsher" as in warsh your hands, warsh cloth & warsher machine. I try to get the "r" out of that word, but I generally do not succeed! Back to names, I have had a very hard time saying "Halle"... I want to say "Holle." Now we have a "Ollie" that I want to say "Allie" - I can not win!!!

Oliver Glen Monty (Ollie for short)

Back when Census takers or county clerks were recording information, they had some of these quirks, too, as Dad & I, but probably much worse. They usually tried to spell the name as it was pronounced. If people talked with accents or just plain did not talk clearly, especially with some chewing tobacco or "snuff" in their mouth, it was difficult for the recorder of the name to spell it correctly. A name like "Woodis" easily becomes "Wootes" with names like "Phipps" being "Fips" - "Cruse" = "Crews" or "Kruze!" I have corresponded with many people who would not accept my "Ferguson" because their family always spelled the name "Fergason" or "Furgason" etc. But, the name was generally spelled out by someone else in the records not by the family. Many families adopted a certain spelling of their name mostly in just the last 100 years or so. Which means that two brothers might adopt a different variation of the name (especially if they lived a distance from each other)... are they any less related as brothers - I think not!

Expect names to be sometimes significantly different than you might normally expect. I try to list all of the variations I find for a name and try to think of others. For the name Woodis: Wootis, Wootes, Wootas, Woottis, Woottes, Woottas, Wooddis, Wooddes, Woodes, Woods, Wooddus, Woodus, Wooddas, Woodas, Whoulduss, Woodduss, etc., etc. I have over 50 variations of this name not counting obvious, careless mis-spellings. For several years, I looked for my Amos Phipps in the 1820 U.S. Census Records and could not find him. I found him by accident while looking for some of my Flatt ancestors, he was listed as "Amus Fips!"

Just keep in mind that if they should be there and you can not find them... it might be that the name is spelled a lot differently than you normally search for.

- Written by JGWest

STAYING AFLOAT in the GENE POOL -Genetic DNA News

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Perspective

At our TSGS monthly meeting last Tuesday night, Larry Goss made a report about having all put the last 2 issues of the Tri-State Packet on a CD. I asked a somewhat dumb question as to how many issues he had on that CD with his reply: “all of them!” After the laughter subsided, I mentioned that the day had been unlucky for me and jokingly stated that Larry was just adding to it. I told everyone about my fall on my back as I stepped on a sheet of ice... I did not injure myself. Former TSGS President Karin Kirsch stated that it was not an unlucky day, because I was actually lucky not to get hurt. I thought she was right! - I had the wrong perspective of the incident.

Perspective comes into play when we consider a glass with a substance at the half-way mark... is it half full or half empty? If you dislike buttermilk, but have to drink a glass of it, the glass being half empty sounds best. However, if you love buttermilk, the glass being still half full is best. Simple perspective!

Perspective of how we view things changes the meaning of the results and is true with our genealogical research. We often get very disappointed when we get a “hot new lead” only ending up proving that that person or family is not ours. However, with the right perspective, it should be good news, since you just eliminated one family to be confused with your correct line... you are narrowing the search. That is an important discovery concerning your ancestry.

This happens all of the time with genealogical DNA testing. You seem to wait forever for the results only to discover that you did not match with anyone. Very disappointing! Sometimes this is a result of not having very many with your surname taking the test, yet. But if there are larger numbers testing in your group with no matches... you can eliminate the (documented) families from further research by you. I put "documented," since some may think they are descended from someone, but has not proven it. That might mean they are not descended from that line.

Other reasons you may not match is that back in time your surname was different than it is today. Anglicized names occurred often in America, especially with German names in Colonial times and both World Wars. Adoptions & illegitimate births ended with name changes from the original father. Sometimes people changed their names to escape the law or their past. This is always a perspective that you must look for when doing your genealogical research. It would be important to find any name changes as it will affect your family history and might just make it an interesting story!

Remember to always keep your genealogy in perspective!

- Written by JGWest

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

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Research Inventory

by Terry Winchester

Have you ever found yourself scouring through records online, such as at http://www.ancestry.com/ or at the Family History Library Catalog at http://www.familysearch.org/, and come across records that sound familiar, but you can’t decide on whether or not you’ve already searched some of those records? Or, perhaps you’ve been in the process of looking through material, and discover only after a good amount of time spent, that you’ve already searched that particular source? We always want to avoid the duplication of research by others, but how often do we duplicate our own research? I know I’ve looked at the same records several times, only to discover that I had already searched them, and only after some serious time spent on the record, something shows up that reminds me that I’ve already been there.

Information on the internet is being updated on a daily basis, and somehow, we’ve got to remember where we’ve been and what we’ve done in order to avoid wasting time. And it’s not confined to the internet, either. Our own TSGS is constantly buying new books and material, and in order to save time and, frustration, it helps to know what you’ve already looked at in the enormous amount of material at Willard Library.

Well, I found a solution that, at least, works for me. I call it my Research Inventory Sheet. For each county that I’m interested in, I create a form, and make an entry for each record relating to that county, that I’ve searched, be it in book or microfilm form. Here’s how I do it. In Microsoft Excel, I create my own form, with column headers, as follows: Title, Author, Publisher/Location, Result. I think the headers are pretty well self explanatory, but I’ll explain a bit. TITLE is obvious. Under PUBLISHER/LOCATION, I’ll list everything about who published the material, and where and when I found it. If it’s a book that I found at the Library, I’ll include the Call#. Under RESULT, I simply list, in summary, what was found, and any notes that I may need to find the entire contents of the record which I have filed in my own filing system. Of course, at the top of the page, I allow for an entry as to County of Research and Surname(s).

- Written & submitted by Terry Winchester.

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

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I spent about 20 hours in St. Mary's Hospital Sunday evening through half of Monday... I had chest pains. It was discovered that it was not my heart (I had a heart attack in 1992). My diabetes was really the culprit with my sugar reading being consistently very high. I am doing well, now. I mention this because it reminded me of when I had my heart attack and while there, with the doctor's permission, I judged the Warrick County 4-H Genealogy Project Notebooks for the County 4-H Fair in my hospital room while my heart was being monitored.

When I give genealogy workshops to 4-H'ers, I point out that birth & death certificates are issued in the county that the event occurred, not necessarily where they lived. For example, many from Warrick County should suspect that missing vital records (birth or death) might be found in Vanderburgh County where there have been at least 3 hospitals that these events might have happened.


Now, Warrick County has a hospital in Boonville. Even with the fact that there is a hospital in the county where your ancestor lived, the family might prefer another hospital in a nearby county. St. Mary's Hospital is Catholic based and might attract Catholics from counties that may have another hospital. Evansville's St. Mary's and Deaconess Hospitals are large and might be used at the doctor's request or because of the ability to perform certain procedures that smaller facilities can not.

The tip is to look for these types of records (if not found in county of residence) in nearby counties with hospitals.

- submitted by JGWest

"Red Flags"

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When you see a red flag it is a serious warning of some sort.

While researching your family history, you will come across red flags all of the time. You have to look for them as you try to determine the validity of the information you gather. Just recently a fellow researcher sent me some new information on one of my lines with a big red flag waving at me immediately. The information was without sources [red flag all over this info], but the big red flag was that the claimed father died four (that's 4) years before the son was born. There is something wrong here... that just does not happen! So, the red flag should pop-up in your mind to suspect this information. A genealogist has to be a good detective and good researcher... you do not have to know everything, but you need to know to follow-up on info and know where to look to verify information. Rarely should we just accept something because someone has it in their database or family tree without citation of legitimate sources (documents - primary sources) or at least a discussion of the logic in arriving at the theory being offered.

So, here we have this father that seems to give birth long after he is dead. How do we check it out? If the information had a source (for the death date) we could go to it and find that there was a typo error on the date or that it was valid. You need to check the birth date of the son, too! How was the date determined (no source listed again). This means that you can not accept the father/son relationship until you prove it is so. Just because it is printed in a book, on the Internet or sent to you by your very "smart" cousin does not make it correct... someone needs to prove it; otherwise, it is just a guess or theory that needs to be proven. Generally, if the red flag pops up and there are no sources to work with, I tend to think it is probably false... just wishful dreaming.

Another Red flag should pop-up when someone says: "I have conducted a complete (or exhaustive) search and there is no records available to prove my theory, so we must accept it on the basis of circumstantial evidence." This means they do not know where else to search and have given up - basically, they are willing to accept a guess or theory as fact. The person that had the father who died 4 years before the supposed birth (after I pointed it out) stated they never noticed that gap. But, gaps and other problems have red flags that we should be looking for.

I hope the idea of "red flags" is helpful to researchers to question what they find or receive from others. We should always ask, "how do you know that?" Another question: "Is this really proof?" I plan to include "More Red Flags" in future articles. If you have some "red flags" send them in to me, I will give you credit for the warning you point out.

- Written by JGWest

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

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I just sent out an email to a distant cousin pointing out some things about researching that might help in the search of the proof we need from one generation to the next.

I pointed out several reasons why records do not get discovered.
1. Not looking in the right locations or in the right files.
2. Not looking for the right surname (how it is indexed).
3. Not recognizing all of the various spellings or even mis-spellings.
4. Some records may be recorded many years after an event under the names of grandchildren or even great-grandchildren.
5. I would suggest that there are many more reasons!

Perhaps this will give someone a tip that might help them knock down a brick wall... it has worked for me several times (but not every time, of course). Here was my message (modified to fit here):

I descend from David Ferguson (born 1785 Halifax Co., VA) and Elizabeth Bomar of Hart & Larue County area of Kentucky. We believe that Sarah Francis Ferguson wife of Prosser Cruse was their daughter. So, far there is no solid proof of that. According to an article in the Hart County Historical Society's newsletter, a list of those with a will was published. This list even had the volume & page number... great index. However, the records were destroyed by a fire.

I would suggest that any 10 people could go through a lot of boxes of records and 9 could miss one little record that the 10th. person found that contains the info everyone was looking for. I have accidentally found information that some excellent, experienced genealogists did not connect to our history. I have been researching for about 50 years, now; and, I will say that until you find what you are looking for... you have not looked hard enough or in the right places.

The Clan Ferguson Society would not accept that Elizabeth Cruse (who married Anderson H. Gardner) as the daughter of Prosser Cruse & Sarah Francis Ferguson. I used records filed in Larue County for the estate settlement of the Prosser Cruse Estate in Hart County. It seemed that every genealogist that had worked on this family did not even know about Prosser's oldest daughter Elizabeth. But, there were many records of her in the estate records including several generations down the line. So, who knows there may be some estate records that may exist in deeds or other files that will show David Ferguson's will, especially in Larue County (or other surrounding counties). Another reason why these records are not found is that researchers are looking mostly for David Ferguson (or just Ferguson with its various spellings - another problem), but do not look for records filed under the surnames of the descendants or other heirs. For example a search for William W. Brooks could turn up information on his wife's grandfather David Ferguson or grandmother Elizabeth [Bomar] Ferguson. Brooks was married to Martha Cruse - a daughter of Prosser Cruse & Sarah Francis Ferguson. You could search under James Tobias Long, Jr. and find records that could go back as far as John Bomar the father of Elizabeth Ferguson - this could be as much as 20, 50 or even longer after the original event. Long married Nancy Francis Gardner the grand daughter of Sarah Francis Ferguson.

-Submitted by JGWest

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

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I have been busy on personal genealogy...

Sunday night after 10 PM, I got a message about Mom's maternal line of WOOD... talk about brick walls (very, very little advances on this line for 50 years!). Someone found a rejected application for benefits under the Bureau of Indian Affairs dated 1905-6. Lots of known facts, suspected facts and totally new information!!! Of course, this is assuming that the affadavit is not full of inaccurate or false data. The part that I am interested in only identifies the family and not of concern to the validity of the claim. I can attempt to verify the facts listed; and I, now, have where they were on their journey between Virginia & Grayson Co., KY - they stopped off in Wilson Co., TN!!!

I keep telling fellow researchers & my WEST cousins, that just because we can not find documented proof of our ancestry, that we should not conclude that there is & never will be documentation found to prove our theories - we just have not looked in the right places, yet! Who would think to search the Bureau of Indian Affairs... unless you suspected the family thought they were part Indian.

I have decided that if you finally conclude that you have checked everything you know to search... just wait a fews years and the evidence will find its way to you! That is my tip to all of my fellow genealogists whether beginners or advanced. - JGWest

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

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