I had the opportunity the other day to help someone find a person for LDS Temple work. This meant using New FamilySearch, combined with Ancestry.com, USGenWeb and other sites to see who in her long LDS Family History had never had their work done. We had to go back to some of the earliest LDS members and then go sideways to some of the siblings and in-laws. But we were successful.
It just goes to show that there is still a lot of work to do. I would have thought that someone would have put that family together by now but apparently no one had done anything. There was some extraction of records on the birth of one son but not much else in any database except for Census records. Once we had that confirmation, we could move forward and find more information.
It was also very gratifying to teach someone how to use the Internet to do real research. She is very excited and has made more progress on her own.
As a genealogy hobbiest in general with a decent background in professional research, I have always been interested in the story behind people. I can't look at a name and a date without thinking about what was going on at the time, how this person may have been affected, and what could I do to find out more. I enjoy nothing more than fleshing out the story of a person. If something doesn't seem right, I pursue it until I know more.
17 October 2009
12 June 2009
BREAKTHROUGH!!!!
My personal research just got a major boost in the last two days! I was named for one of my Dad's great aunts. She is the half sister of my great-grandfather. We have been trying to get more information on her father for years. And I just found stuff.
A while ago, using Ancestry.com and the census, I found a man who might have been her father in the 1880 Census living with his mother, Caroline, and his three children: Rufus L, Mary A, and Sarah O or E. They were living in Arkansas. In 1885, he married my great-grandmother whose first husband was the sheriff killer discussed a few posts back. The only tie I have between this Arkansas family and my family is the 1900 Census where Caroline is living with her son, John Washington Pool, Eugenia Pool (my great-grandmother), her two sons by her first husband and their four children. Other than the ages of Caroline agreeing, that wasn't much to go on.
Two days ago, I used Pilot.FamilySearch.org. I looked up Texas Deaths. And I plugged in John Pool(e). I got hits. His son, John Morgan Pool, listed his father. I already knew that one. The other three half-siblings of my great-grandfather died outside the date range. I did get a hit on one Mary Anna Cook with father John Washington Poole. It also listed a mother, Lucinda Brown. Mary Anna matches Mary A.
The next morning, I found under the same search, Sarah Ollie Parker, with father John Poole and mother Unknown Brown. Sarah Ollie and Sarah O or E.
Then I went back over the Censuses again. 1900 census in Texas shows Sarah Ollie Parker one county away from her father. 1910 Census, after John Washington Pool(e) died, shows Caroline Poole living with Sarah O Parker in the last known town that the Pools lived in. They live a little ways away from my great-grandmother, who now lives by herself.
I found Caroline Poole's death certificate. She died in 1914, 15 days shy of her 94th birthday. WOW! I shouldn't be that surprised. Aunt Clorinda, whom I am named for, lived until she was 95.
I think I have a preponderance of evidence. I have only summarized it all here but when you look at all the names, dates and places, it all seems to fit.
A while ago, using Ancestry.com and the census, I found a man who might have been her father in the 1880 Census living with his mother, Caroline, and his three children: Rufus L, Mary A, and Sarah O or E. They were living in Arkansas. In 1885, he married my great-grandmother whose first husband was the sheriff killer discussed a few posts back. The only tie I have between this Arkansas family and my family is the 1900 Census where Caroline is living with her son, John Washington Pool, Eugenia Pool (my great-grandmother), her two sons by her first husband and their four children. Other than the ages of Caroline agreeing, that wasn't much to go on.
Two days ago, I used Pilot.FamilySearch.org. I looked up Texas Deaths. And I plugged in John Pool(e). I got hits. His son, John Morgan Pool, listed his father. I already knew that one. The other three half-siblings of my great-grandfather died outside the date range. I did get a hit on one Mary Anna Cook with father John Washington Poole. It also listed a mother, Lucinda Brown. Mary Anna matches Mary A.
The next morning, I found under the same search, Sarah Ollie Parker, with father John Poole and mother Unknown Brown. Sarah Ollie and Sarah O or E.
Then I went back over the Censuses again. 1900 census in Texas shows Sarah Ollie Parker one county away from her father. 1910 Census, after John Washington Pool(e) died, shows Caroline Poole living with Sarah O Parker in the last known town that the Pools lived in. They live a little ways away from my great-grandmother, who now lives by herself.
I found Caroline Poole's death certificate. She died in 1914, 15 days shy of her 94th birthday. WOW! I shouldn't be that surprised. Aunt Clorinda, whom I am named for, lived until she was 95.
I think I have a preponderance of evidence. I have only summarized it all here but when you look at all the names, dates and places, it all seems to fit.
26 May 2009
Fact or Fiction
I have been reading some books in my spare time. Some of my favorites include historical fiction, mysteries, and alternate histories. Recently, I read some books that were historical mysteries. The author, Margaret Frazer, has done extensive research on the era. She writes so well about real people and events, weaving her story in to the plausible gaps that exist in our histories and incorporating the history directly in to the plot. These are the Dame Frevisse mysteries and are set in Pre-Tudor England during the War of the Roses.
Why am I writing about books on a blog about genealogy? Because one of the main characters in some of the books is a real person named Alice Chaucer, daughter of Thomas Chaucer and grand-daughter of Geoffrey Chaucer. Alice Chaucer married three times: first to a mere "Sir", Sir John Philip; second to Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury; third to William de la Pole, who became the 1st Duke of Suffolk.
To anyone who has British nobility and royalty in their genealogy, the Montagus and the de la Poles will probably show up. The Duke is not a direct ancestor of mine, but his grandfather is. The Montagus show up as well. I know my genealogy file well enough that when I read the first Dame Frevisse mystery that featured Alice Chaucer de la Pole, I immediately opened up my PAF file to take a peak to see if Alice was real and how she fit in.
I like reading these also because it gives a good idea of what life was like (minus the mystery) back then. I like having the life and times filled in behind all the dates and places.
Reading these books makes me want to do more research myself and not just on that time period. In a previous post where I mentioned that a great-grandfather had murdered the sheriff over an argument about politics, I want to do research to see what was politically hot then. What could they have been arguing about? Was it a local thing? Was it a national thing? What was the city like where the argument happened? I'm going to find out.
So bring on the fiction based in fact.
Why am I writing about books on a blog about genealogy? Because one of the main characters in some of the books is a real person named Alice Chaucer, daughter of Thomas Chaucer and grand-daughter of Geoffrey Chaucer. Alice Chaucer married three times: first to a mere "Sir", Sir John Philip; second to Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury; third to William de la Pole, who became the 1st Duke of Suffolk.
To anyone who has British nobility and royalty in their genealogy, the Montagus and the de la Poles will probably show up. The Duke is not a direct ancestor of mine, but his grandfather is. The Montagus show up as well. I know my genealogy file well enough that when I read the first Dame Frevisse mystery that featured Alice Chaucer de la Pole, I immediately opened up my PAF file to take a peak to see if Alice was real and how she fit in.
I like reading these also because it gives a good idea of what life was like (minus the mystery) back then. I like having the life and times filled in behind all the dates and places.
Reading these books makes me want to do more research myself and not just on that time period. In a previous post where I mentioned that a great-grandfather had murdered the sheriff over an argument about politics, I want to do research to see what was politically hot then. What could they have been arguing about? Was it a local thing? Was it a national thing? What was the city like where the argument happened? I'm going to find out.
So bring on the fiction based in fact.
07 March 2009
BYU Computerized Genealogy Conference
I get to go!
I have been out of the Genealogy loop for a while. I attended one conference in Massachusetts while I lived in New York State. Other than some little Church-sponsored day seminars, I haven't been to a major Conference in a long time. I am very excited for it.
Now I have to work out what to attend.
I have been out of the Genealogy loop for a while. I attended one conference in Massachusetts while I lived in New York State. Other than some little Church-sponsored day seminars, I haven't been to a major Conference in a long time. I am very excited for it.
Now I have to work out what to attend.
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