.
The Tri-State
Genealogical Society
officers invite
everyone...
to our Christmas Social this coming Tuesday night (December 13th.) [tomorrow night] at Willard Library. Come & go as you please between 6:00PM & 8:00PM. If you wish you can bring some cookies, dip & crackers, cheese ball or other snacks. We will have punch. This is an informal event to enjoy each others fellowship and exchange ideas & problems concerning genealogy (or whatever) while enjoying some great snacks.
You do not need to be a member to attend.
Donald R. Counts, TSGS President
Monday, December 12, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Marker/Plaque/Monument Monday
'
Photo from Hart County Kentucky Genealogy Interest Group (MyFamily.com) as posted by Gladys Terry.
Randy Murray posted this information for this photo:
I copied this from Collins History of Kentucky, Volume 2: About one mile above Hodgenville on the south side of Nolin creek, there is a knoll which may be appropriately termed a natural curiosity. It is about thirty feet above the level of the creek, and contains about two acres of ground, the top of which is level, and a comfortable house has been erected upon it. Benjamin Lynn and others, early pioneers of the county, encamped on this knoll. In a hunting excursion, shortly after they made their encampment, Lynn got lost. The remainder of the company returned to camp, and not finding their companion, some one remarked, " Here is the Nole (knoll) but No Lynn, from which circumstance the creek which runs near the knoll took its name—Nolin. They immediately started in search of Lynn, and traveled a south course about fifteen miles, and found where he had encamped on a creek, from which circumstance they called the creek Lynn-camp creek. [The creek lies within the present county of Hart.] Philip Phillips erected a fort about one fourth of a mile from the knoll, on the north side of Nolin, about the year 1780 or '81, where the first settlement of the county was made. Phillips was from Pennsylvania, and a surveyor.
Photo from Hart County Kentucky Genealogy Interest Group (MyFamily.com) as posted by Gladys Terry.
Kentucky Historical Marker
First Baptism in Kentucky
Nolin Creek, 1782
Randy Murray posted this information for this photo:
I copied this from Collins History of Kentucky, Volume 2: About one mile above Hodgenville on the south side of Nolin creek, there is a knoll which may be appropriately termed a natural curiosity. It is about thirty feet above the level of the creek, and contains about two acres of ground, the top of which is level, and a comfortable house has been erected upon it. Benjamin Lynn and others, early pioneers of the county, encamped on this knoll. In a hunting excursion, shortly after they made their encampment, Lynn got lost. The remainder of the company returned to camp, and not finding their companion, some one remarked, " Here is the Nole (knoll) but No Lynn, from which circumstance the creek which runs near the knoll took its name—Nolin. They immediately started in search of Lynn, and traveled a south course about fifteen miles, and found where he had encamped on a creek, from which circumstance they called the creek Lynn-camp creek. [The creek lies within the present county of Hart.] Philip Phillips erected a fort about one fourth of a mile from the knoll, on the north side of Nolin, about the year 1780 or '81, where the first settlement of the county was made. Phillips was from Pennsylvania, and a surveyor.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
"The Genealogist's Curse!"
'
In all of the years that I have enjoyed my hobby of genealogy, I have begun to notice a trend or cycle with my research and advances in discovering new information about my family. If I am busy with any kind of non-research, Murphy's Law immediately becomes activated! That is the moment that I get a new, hot lead about my family. What do you do, continue with the non-research project? Are you kidding? I have a new, hot lead... I must pursue the lead, at least a little. I will get the project done, but first I need to just take a little time to investigate more at the library or on the Internet concerning this new information - it may even require an all-day field trip somewher. So, this is what I call "the genealogist's curse!" I guess most would say, "Why call it a curse?" For my family history it is a blessing, but a curse to come when I am busy with something else.
For the last 4-5 weeks, I have been preparing a genealogical presention for my friends in the Posey County Scottish Rite Club. It is genealogy, but non-research for my family history. I have come across all kinds of leads on several of my family lines during this entire time. The "curse" is putting pressure on me to be well prepared for my presentation! Of course, I inherited the "gift of gab" from my father & other family members which helps in times like this!And, it does help that I have given this program about 12 times for all kinds of groups. The problem of preparation exists with the ever changing Internet for what I am speaking about - "Genealogy: Cruisin' the Internet." Keeping up with all of the new web sites and new URL links is a constant task. Cyndi's List has over 310,000 links... it has to be updated daily and you will still find broken links, but she does a great job of keeping the bad links to a minimum!
Back to my "curse:" During the last 4-5 weeks I have done more on those new leads than checking the Internet on new web sites or finding the new links. I am proud to say, however, that I have mostly completed my preparation for my little talk by working dilligently (mostly exclusively) on it last night! I should have all of the final touches complete by the meeting tonight!!!Another name for my curse might be "procrastination." If I must put something off, I do not mind too much if it is another genealogical clue taking up my time!!! I guess I should really see the situation as a blessing. And, I do... it is just odd that as soon as I begin to work on a project, suddenly "out of the blue" comes something new and really great about my family. Maybe, I should do more projects!
-Written by JGWest
In all of the years that I have enjoyed my hobby of genealogy, I have begun to notice a trend or cycle with my research and advances in discovering new information about my family. If I am busy with any kind of non-research, Murphy's Law immediately becomes activated! That is the moment that I get a new, hot lead about my family. What do you do, continue with the non-research project? Are you kidding? I have a new, hot lead... I must pursue the lead, at least a little. I will get the project done, but first I need to just take a little time to investigate more at the library or on the Internet concerning this new information - it may even require an all-day field trip somewher. So, this is what I call "the genealogist's curse!" I guess most would say, "Why call it a curse?" For my family history it is a blessing, but a curse to come when I am busy with something else.
For the last 4-5 weeks, I have been preparing a genealogical presention for my friends in the Posey County Scottish Rite Club. It is genealogy, but non-research for my family history. I have come across all kinds of leads on several of my family lines during this entire time. The "curse" is putting pressure on me to be well prepared for my presentation! Of course, I inherited the "gift of gab" from my father & other family members which helps in times like this!
Back to my "curse:" During the last 4-5 weeks I have done more on those new leads than checking the Internet on new web sites or finding the new links. I am proud to say, however, that I have mostly completed my preparation for my little talk by working dilligently (mostly exclusively) on it last night! I should have all of the final touches complete by the meeting tonight!!!
-Written by JGWest
Monday, November 28, 2011
Free Research Account
New England Historic Genealogical Society - Founded 1845
NEHGS invites you to register for FREE on AmericanAncestors.org to start accessing some of our great content and resources. It only takes a minute, and you will have access to helpful information, research tips, articles, and NEHGS expert staff. We will also send you regular updates, including special promotions and discounts on a variety of items and services.
As a free guest user, you will have access to:
Free Databases
Online Genealogist
American Ancestors Magazine
The NEHGS Library Catalog
Educational Resources
As a free guest user, you will have access to:
Free Databases
Online Genealogist
American Ancestors Magazine
The NEHGS Library Catalog
Educational Resources
Sunday, November 27, 2011
NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER -
Research Tips
'
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
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
Friday, November 25, 2011
Quotes from Jessamyn West - American Author
'
Jessamyn West born in Jennings County, Indiana was a prolific American author. [Any relation to me is unknown. - JGW] I do not remember how I got her name and her many quotes, but I liked several of the quotes and then found her biography and learned that she was an incredible person and writer! She was born 18 July 1902 & died 23 February 1984 in Napa, Calif.; daughter of Eldo Ray (a citrus farmer) and Grace Anna (Milhous) West; married Harry Maxwell McPherson (a school superintendent) 16 August 1923. She was related to Richard Milhous Nixon through her mother's family, and she became a close and lifelong friend of his, sometimes even traveling with the presidential entourage. The late Jessamyn West was a prolific and varied writer whose works include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenplays, and even an opera libretto. She is remembered, however, for her numerous short stories that plumb rural American life without sentiment or oversimplicity. Much of West's fiction reflects her involvement with the Society of Friends (Quakers), the religion of her ancestors who farmed in southern Indiana. Her popular story collections The Friendly Persuasion and Except for Me and Thee: A Companion to "The Friendly Persuasion" recreate Quaker lives in a nineteenth century farming community; these and her tales of adolescence, Cress Delahanty and The State of Stony Lonesome, remain her best known works. From: http://www.jessamyn.com/jessamyn/jessbio.html
"Jessamyn West." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2011. 24 November. 2011. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jessamyn_west_2.html
From Jessamyn's quotes, although "Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures." many of my genealogical associates (including me), family & friends often tend to subscribe to this quote: "We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don't it is easier to ignore the facts than to change the preconceptions." However in genealogical research, "The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination as the future." A very nice thought for us family historians is to remember: "Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the past is a resurrection; the past then lives in your words and you are free." One lesson that I have learned in life is that "Teaching is the royal road to learning." The following two quotes seem to have universal truth: "Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary." and "Nothing is so dear as what you're about to leave."
- Compiled by JGWest
Jessamyn West born in Jennings County, Indiana was a prolific American author. [Any relation to me is unknown. - JGW] I do not remember how I got her name and her many quotes, but I liked several of the quotes and then found her biography and learned that she was an incredible person and writer! She was born 18 July 1902 & died 23 February 1984 in Napa, Calif.; daughter of Eldo Ray (a citrus farmer) and Grace Anna (Milhous) West; married Harry Maxwell McPherson (a school superintendent) 16 August 1923. She was related to Richard Milhous Nixon through her mother's family, and she became a close and lifelong friend of his, sometimes even traveling with the presidential entourage. The late Jessamyn West was a prolific and varied writer whose works include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenplays, and even an opera libretto. She is remembered, however, for her numerous short stories that plumb rural American life without sentiment or oversimplicity. Much of West's fiction reflects her involvement with the Society of Friends (Quakers), the religion of her ancestors who farmed in southern Indiana. Her popular story collections The Friendly Persuasion and Except for Me and Thee: A Companion to "The Friendly Persuasion" recreate Quaker lives in a nineteenth century farming community; these and her tales of adolescence, Cress Delahanty and The State of Stony Lonesome, remain her best known works. From: http://www.jessamyn.com/jessamyn/jessbio.html
"Jessamyn West." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2011. 24 November. 2011. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jessamyn_west_2.html
From Jessamyn's quotes, although "Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures." many of my genealogical associates (including me), family & friends often tend to subscribe to this quote: "We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don't it is easier to ignore the facts than to change the preconceptions." However in genealogical research, "The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination as the future." A very nice thought for us family historians is to remember: "Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the past is a resurrection; the past then lives in your words and you are free." One lesson that I have learned in life is that "Teaching is the royal road to learning." The following two quotes seem to have universal truth: "Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary." and "Nothing is so dear as what you're about to leave."
- Compiled by JGWest
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Tombstone Thursday - Marty
'
One of the most unusual tombstones that I have found!
- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest
One of the most unusual tombstones that I have found!
Parklawn Cemetery
Evansville, Indiana
Raymond William Marty
08 Feb 1913 - 18 Feb 2004
Anne Beatrice Marty
18 Dec 1911 - 04 Dec 2007
- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest
[Tombstone Thursday is dedicated in memory of Donald G. West 1952-2000]
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