Wordless Wednesday: Barclay Wooster (1819-1895)

CNYGS Montgomery County Trip

For those that are interested in researching in Montgomery County, Central New York Genealogical Society (CNYGS) is organizing a trip in October. I believe it's only for members, so if you're a non-member you would need to join first. Of course, if you're in central New York doing genealogy and you aren't already a member-- Why not? Also, keep in mind where Montgomery County is both now and in the past. This county originally covered not only the area that it does now, but practically the entire state to the west. They have a lot of early records available and many people passed through the present-day area of the county as well. Below is the flyer telling about the trip:

Places Visited

One of the latest things going around on Facebook has been about putting symbols beside where you have visited or lived. My symbols look a bit different, as I had to find ones on the keyboard as the Facebook ones wouldn’t copy over.

 

I loved these bears at a rest stop in Maine

How do you count if you’ve visited a state? I agree that sitting in an airport shouldn’t count. However, I’ve counted states where I mostly sat in the car. Some states, such as Maryland, and West Virginia, I have done little more than looked out the window as we went down the highway. We might have stopped to eat somewhere along the way, but they were mostly pushing through to get to someplace else. I have counted them as I’ve always tried to make the best of those travels and see what the landscape looked like beyond the interstate and watch to see what attractions might be around. I’ve gathered the brochures at the rest areas (remember when there were all kinds of brochures to gather?) and read through them as we went by.

Catoctin State Park that we passed in Maryland meant looking to see if I could see signs for Camp David or maybe even a presidential helicopter going over! In Kentucky this year, I realized that the hotel we made an overnight in was only a few miles from Fort Knox and we saw the Corvette Museum just off the highway as we went through Bowling Green. Tennessee meant seeing as much of Nashville as we could from I-65 as we drove through-- one trip getting some good views as traffic jams meant we took an hour to inch through there. So, even though some of the states are drive-through ones, I feel as though I did catch a glimpse of some of their features.

Other states I’ve been privileged to stay longer and see more things in. Some, like Alabama, have been for institutes or conferences. Others, such as Florida, I was able to spend about 3 weeks traveling around and exploring with my parents when I was a child. In fact, we did that 3 different times while I was growing up and for a couple weeks again while I was in college. The states in the northeast, of course, have been multiple trips. Virginia and Washington, DC, I got to visit several times as my oldest brother lived in Fairfax county with his family for many years.

In Washington with my niece, Heather

 

Albany, Of course from the state library window!

Put a  by the states you have visited. Sitting in an airport doesn't count. The average is 8. How do you match up? Put a ∆ where you have lived.

* Alabama 
* Alaska
* Arizona
* Arkansas
* California
* Colorado
* Connecticut 
* Delaware
* District of Columbia 
* Florida 
* Georgia 
* Hawaii
* Idaho
* Illinois 
* Indiana 
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Kentucky
* Louisiana
* Maine 
* Maryland 
* Massachusetts 
* Michigan 
* Minnesota
* Mississippi
* Missouri 
* Montana
* Nebraska
* Nevada
* New Hampshire 
* New Jersey 
* New Mexico
* New York ∆
* North Carolina 
* North Dakota
* Ohio 
* Oklahoma
* Oregon
* Pennsylvania 
* Rhode Island 
* South Carolina 
* South Dakota
* Tennessee 
* Texas
* Utah 
* Vermont
* Virginia 
* Washington
* West Virginia 
* Wisconsin
* Wyoming
Canada 
Mexico

PERSI

Find My Past announced yesterday their monthly updates to PERSI. There are 92,647 images added with 20 new publications that cover New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Lancashire England, Ireland and more places! Of course, there was already a lot there as they state there are over 2.5 million entries. This is a resource that I go to periodically to find articles, but will be diving into a lot more over the next few weeks, as I get ready to head for Indiana.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with PERSI, that is the acronym for the PERiodical Source Index that originated many years ago at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It used to be available on HeritageQuest, but as of about three years ago is now available through Find My Past. The older listings are still available at HeritageQuest through 2009. However, all the listings including the latest are on Find My Past. Also, with the change to the new website provider, there are some articles that are available directly from the database. It is no longer just an index from which you need to find the journal in which the article is in to get a copy. From what I understand, as time goes on, there will be even more available through the scanned images on the servers.

How do you get to the articles once you find one you are interested in if it’s not already available on their site? Well, here are the directions from their website:

“Alternatively, you might find the periodical in a library or other research repository in your area. Try searching your local library’s online catalog. If the title does not appear there, search OCLC’s WorldCat.org. WorldCat is the largest bibliographic database in the world, and can generate a list of libraries local to you that own a particular item.
Finally, you can engage the research services of the Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center and order a copy of your periodical article. An “Article Request Form” can be completed at: http://genealogycenter.org/docs/default-source/resources/articlerequest.pdf?sfvrsn=2”

That second paragraph is why I always think of Allen County when I think of PERSI. When I was there three years ago, I had a list of many, many articles that I wanted to get copies of. Sure, I could look in my local library for these journals, or some of the libraries in the area just like that first paragraph mentions. However, I prepared that list knowing that in just a few days, I’d be on the road. The Genealogy Center has every journal available there that is indexed on PERSI. Why start looking to see which of several libraries or repositories might have the one I was interested in when I knew I’d be spending three days there and could just walk over to the shelf and grab the ones I was interested in. Convenience meant this was a fast and practical way to get these articles. What is more, there I can copy the articles if I wish, or insert a thumb-drive into the copier and get a digital copy! Less paper to carry home, less cost in paying for copies (digital is free!), and I don’t have to scan them later in order to add them to my files. A big win all the way around as far as I’m concerned.

This time while visiting the Genealogy Center I will probably be looking for less journal articles. I’ve already got a good many that I wanted from that previous trip. The fact that many are already available online means I’ll have less new ones to get. Also, I have a bit more Indiana and Michigan research that I want to concentrate on.

National Archives Virtual Fair

 With fall comes the National Archives hosting a Virtual Genealogy Fair. This fair is not one you attend in person, but rather through the Internet- so no travel expenses! No need to go to Washington, DC. Of course, you won't have easy access to the archives, while attending, but that's the trade off. And what's more, the whole event is free courtesy of the National Archives. Below is their announcement of this year's fair:

 

Save the dates October 26th and October 27th 

https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-fair/

National Archives Virtual Genealogy Fair

Save the date!

October 26 & 27, 2016

2016 Virtual Genealogy Fair

On October 26 & 27, 2016 (Wednesday & Thursday), the National Archives will host a two-day, virtual Genealogy Fair via webcast. Viewers have the opportunity to participate with the presenters and other family historians during the live event on YouTube. All of the session videos and handouts will be available from this web page free of charge. Registration is not required.
We are currently in the planning stages to select a wide variety of topics for different skill levels from beginners to advanced. Please check this page later for more details.

Presenters

This year’s program will include genealogy experts from National Archives locations across the nation.

Lecture Sessions

The lecture sessions will offer family history research tools for all skill levels on Federal records dealing with immigration, military and civilian personnel, and bankruptcy. Learn how to do genealogical research using traditional and electronic records.

Day 1: Wednesday, October 26

Watch entire day on YouTube

Day 2: Thursday, October 27

Watch entire day on YouTube
You can watch the sessions and download the materials at your convenience. See previous Virtual Genealogy Fair sessions and presentation materials for the years 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Captioning

Live captioning will be available online. If you require an alternative or additional accommodation for an event, please send an email to: KYR@nara.gov or call 202-357-5260 in advance.

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Background:  The National Archives holds the permanently valuable records of the Federal government. These include records of interest to genealogists, such as pension files, ship passenger lists, census and Freedmen’s Bureau materials. For information on National Archives holdings see www.archives.gov.
Regarding links outside of the National Archives Website (Archives.gov): We have provided a link to this site because it has information that may interest you. This link is not an endorsement by the National Archives of the opinions, products, or services presented on this site, or any sites linked to it. The National Archives is not responsible for the legality or accuracy of information on this site, the policies, or for any costs incurred while using this site.

Wordless Wednesday- Mennonites of Yates

Upcoming Conferences

September is shaping up to be a very busy month for Remling Genealogy. There are two conferences coming up in September.  

The first is the New York State Family History Conference, which will take place September 15-17 in Liverpool. This is a 3-day conference concentrating on New York State and New York City research. The New York State Historians will be having their conference at the same place and time. Registrants for both conferences can attend sessions of the other one if they wish as well.

Registration is still open: http://www.nysfhc.org/registration.html

Allen County Public Library

The second conference is the Professional Management Conference (PMC), which will take place at the Allen County Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana on September 22-24. This conference is geared towards those that work in genealogy as a career. Mainly for those that work independently, there are also many sessions that are helpful to those that work in larger companies as well. This conference has the added advantage that it is taking place at one of the largest genealogical libraries in the United States.

Registration is open for the 2016 PMC, September 22 through 24, at https://www.apgen.org/conferences/index.html.

My husband and I have added to these conferences some research days as well. We’ll be leaving right after the New York State conference and spending some days exploring the northeastern part of Indiana and getting some extra time in at the Allen County Library. This is a return trip for us as we did some research in these areas three years ago.

Dennis K and Sarah Wooster gravestone

I am hoping to find out some more about Dennis Kennedy Wooster, the son of Jerusha Wooster that I mentioned yesterday. He left Central New York in 1869 and spent the rest of his life mostly in either Steuben County, Indiana or Branch County, Michigan. These counties sit either side of the state line and Steuben is the very northeast corner of Indiana. Dennis and much of his family are buried in the Jamestown Cemetery in Steuben County. Just out of site of the cemetery to the north is Interstate 80 and 90 cutting east-west across the country in Indiana, but with views of Michigan to the north. Considering that it is that close, you can certainly understand why some of the children were married across the state line, even though they barely left home to do so.

The Unknowns

From this week's editon of Randy Seaver's Saturday night Genealogy Fun:

1)    I have many females in my family tree database without a last name.  One of those female first names is "Mary."  Do you have situations like this, where you don't know the surname of some females? [I call them LNU persons - Last Name Unknown.]

2) How many "Mary" persons without a surname do you have in your genealogy database?  How many of them are your ancestor?  

3)  If you have one that is your ancestor, have you looked recently to determine if there are more records online that might lead you to her surname?  Go look for one - you might be surprised!

4)  Tell us about your MaryLNU ancestors with no surname.  Perhaps someone will read it and help you out!

I keep a database that has collateral lines and many non-related people. If a family sounds interested, I’m likely to follow it for a little way to see if it connects to a famous person or intersects with my family, or gets to whatever point in the family that has caught my interest. Many of these families are put into the database in order to sort out who is a sibling, or who might be a cousin type of situation. They are sourced, but badly. In other words, they might have a source that they came off a tree on such a website, or from a book that never lists their sources. All of these are temporary items that need to be sourced and better researched if they were to be relied on for something other than an interesting diversion.

As I have many, many people in my database, there are well over 1,000 women with no last name. I have them marked with “--?--" in my database. I don’t like to use LNU for a surname as I have found that many beginners are confused by that and think it is an actual surname. I have heard a rumor, but never found actual evidence, that there actually is a surname of Lnu somewhere in the world! I also don’t like to use FNU (first name unknown) or MNU (maiden/middle name unknown) because they can equally cause confusion.

Possibly her house or that of a son

One female ancestor whose last name I would really like to discover is that of Jerusha Wooster (7 Aug 1781-24 Mar 1841). Her husband, Leveret Lyman Wooster was likely born in Connecticut, possibly Derby, not far from the coast. She was in New York State-- Columbia County in 1819 and Onondaga County in 1824 from the births of her sons. She was baptized into Plainville Christian Church in 1831 and is buried in the town of Lysander, Onondaga County along with a grandson. That burial is in the Old Presbyterian Church cemetery. Not much else is known about Jerusha.

It is noted that she was older (38 and 43) when her sons were born. Did she have more children earlier in life? Did she marry late? Or is her birth year perhaps incorrect? Her sons both have somewhat unusual names: Barclay and Dennis Kennedy. We don’t know where Barclay might have come from. There was a Dr. Dennis Kennedy that lived and practiced in Lysander during the time period that her second son was born. I assume that is where our “Dennis K.” as he was known as an adult, got his name. If she fits into this family, she would likely be a sister of his. I need to investigate the family further, as of right now, I have him as the only known child of Gideon and Elizabeth (Preston) Kennedy. Could this be the clue that leads us to who her family of origin was? Dr. Kennedy was born in Dutchess County just south of Columbia County and the family originates in Connecticut. A similar path of immigration to that of the Wooster family that Jerusha is married into. All speculation at this point, but if I find that elusive extra time, I would like to look into this mystery further and see if I can discover who Jerusha was!

Rootsweb

Rootsweb has been having a lot of problems lately. If you're subscribe to very many of their mailing lists, you've definitely noticed this. For the last about two weeks many of the lists have been inundated with spam emails selling all kinds of products that we, as genealogists, are just not interested in. At times I was deleting 30 or more emails at a time that were complete spam. It has quieted down in the last few days as they've gotten their filters fixed again.

The Ancestry Insider on his blog today gives an update on many different aspects of Rootsweb:
http://www.ancestryinsider.org/2016/08/rootsweb-update-for-20-august-2016.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AncestryInsider+%28The+Ancestry+Insider%29

There is a lot of good stuff on the Rootsweb websites. However, this is an older website that hasn't always been kept up to date with technology and hardware. In some places it is behind with the behind the scenes aspects of making it work. This is a good summary of what is happening, what is working, and what they (being Ancestry that now owns it) are working on getting repaired so that with any luck it can work well again.

If you don't already subscribe to emails from the Ancestry Insider, it is also a good idea to do so! He keeps people up to date on what is going on especially with Ancestry and Family Search.

Women's Sufferage and my family

This week marked the anniversary of the passing of the 19^th amendment to the constitution on August 18, 1920. Ninety-four years ago women were finally granted the right to vote in the United States.

I decided to take a look at which of my direct ancestors this amendment gave the right to on that day. I found seven female ancestors that would have been alive and of voting age at that time in the United States.

Both my grandmothers, Frances Ingalls Ward(19 Oct 1889-6 Jul 1962) and Alice V. Jennings Wooster (14 Feb 1893-28 Oct 1970) were eligible. Three of my great-grandmothers were alive then, Maria C. Titus Ward (12 Jun 1858-8 Nov 1927), Edith Mary Duff Wooster (30 Oct 1868-19 Dec 1951) and Sarah Damery Jennings (1862-1 Feb 1948). Sarah Damery Jennings would not have been eligible to vote though, as she was not only an Irish citizen, but also lived in Ireland. Three of my great-great grandmothers were alive, but in the latter years of theirs lives: Lodema Tobias Titus (16 Oct 1831-28 Mar 1926), Anna S. Wright Brown (12 Dec 1836-13 Feb 1923) and Mary Ellen “Nellie” Johnson Duff (25 Dec 1847-12 Feb 1921).

Whether any of these women voted or not that first year or any of the years shortly after, I do not know. I have not heard stories about the Women’s Rights Movement in our family. I think that for many, if not all of them, living their lives and getting the things done that they needed to took precedence over politics. They were busy housewives, farm wives and mothers. Both of my grandmothers had young children in the household that were, I’m sure, keeping them busy.

Frances Ingalls Ward

Alice Jennings Wooster

Wordless Wednesday- Heritage Building at Oswego County Fair

Mennonite Deaths

Their church

Last weekend I wondered about some of the details of the Mennonite religion. While on a trip to nearby Yates County in the Finger Lakes region, we stopped at a cemetery that belongs to a group of Mennonites. Situated along side their church, the cemetery is small compared to most others in the area. The Mennonites started moving to this area somewhere in the 1970’s, but it has only been in recent years that any large number have located in the area.

Looking at the stones in this cemetery, I wondered about the experience of pregnancy and birth for the women of the community. Do they have more problems with giving birth and losing children than what people in the general population, those of us they call “the English” do? It may seem strange to be thinking about the beginning of life while standing in a place representative of the end of this journey. However, there was a distinct reason that these questions came to mind. Probably somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of these graves were for children and infants.

While it is understandable that there would be few older people buried yet in a cemetery that was created by a community fairly new to the area, it was surprising to find so many young people. Many of the stones gave birth and death dates that were only a few days apart. One listed how many hours and minutes the baby lived. Others only had one date and the word “stillborn” inscribed on them. It was heartbreaking to see so many, especially the neat little row of five stones-- all from the same parents. Why I wondered. Did they have a problem that we don’t? Is there something genetic that is happening to them? Do they shun modern health care that would have prevented some of these early deaths?

Many sites that I looked at on the Internet concurred with what this one has to say: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../8296784

It seems that while the group as a whole have a few more genetic disorders surfacing due to the fact that they don’t marry across a wide population, their healthy life-style balances this out. Therefore, the rate of infant mortality is not much different than that of the general population.

The Mennonites, while shunning many of our modern technologies, don’t object to ones that they find helpful. For example, some groups do not own cars due to the temptations of more modern life that they lead to. However, they don’t object to members riding in someone else’s car when they need to get somewhere quickly or at a great distance. This balance between temptations and what is helpful would certainly allow for medical intervention by the English if there was a problem during pregnancy or childbirth.

Shelter for the horses during services

The only conclusions I could come to is that either it is a sad coincidence that there are so many deaths at a young age, or that they are perhaps more willing to acknowledge such loss and create memorials to the children than we in modern society are likely to. It is a common fact that they tend to have larger families than others do and so perhaps, too, it is just a law of averages at work and being a newer community, it is more noticeable in the graveyard. Whatever the reason, I found it sad and touching how many small children were remembered in their short lives. This is a part of why we do genealogy, to remember those that have gone on before us. I think especially, those that were here for such a short time that they didn’t live much of a life or have many people get to know them are important for us to acknowledge and remember.

Oswego County Fair and the Heritage Building

I was neglectful in not writing about the Oswego County Fair before it happened so that readers who live near there could visit last week. This is the best fair in the area for genealogists. Really! I know people don’t think about attending a fair when they think about working on their genealogy, but if you have ancestors from Oswego County you can easily do both at once.

The fair is the typical small county fair with animal exhibits, a mid-way, food concessions and people hawking all kinds of products. At different times you can listen to local bands, attend a demolition derby or look at an antique car display. But, wander over to the far corner of the fairgrounds. There’s a pole building called the Heritage Building. The superintendent of the building is Shawn Doyle. Some of you might recognize him as either an Oswego County legislator or as the President of Half-Shire Historical Society. It is the latter hat he is mainly wearing when he is in this building.

This is the place that is the best for any genealogical or historical minded visitor. Within this building are exhibits dedicated to the history of many of the towns in Oswego County. This year, I believe all towns had a display and Fort Ontario even offered one as well. Fort Ontario’s even had historical hats that you could try on and have your picture taken if you wished! These displays vary from year to year, but feature some historical aspect of each town and along with it some of the older families of the towns. Many displays feature pictures of what the town looked like 100 years or so ago. Sometimes people are there demonstrating old time techniques. I’ve seen people spinning and sewing quilts among others over the years. An old piano sits near one wall that anyone can walk up to and play if they wish.

Situated in one corner of the building was the librarian form Half-Shire Historical. As always, she had many notebooks and other materials related to the genealogy and history of the area available to consult as well as her computer system there. On Saturday, and I understand for much of the run of the fair, she was busy scanning old pictures into the system in between talking with and helping people that came by.

In the center of the building is the heart of it. A large circle of tables display information about the society and various other organizations and events that are coming up in the area. A small display of older artifacts is housed in a glass case. However, much of the table space is taken up with books. What kind of books? Well, books on the history of various areas of the county, of various groups of people, cemetery records, newspaper abstracts, genealogies… If there is a book that has been published by an individual, historical society, town historian or the like in recent years on some aspect of Oswego County, it is likely available here. When I say it is available, I mean you can look at it just like in a bookstore and just like that store, you can buy a copy for yourself. Half Shire sells these books that they have bought as well as many that are there on consignment from the various places that have published them.

If you have a question about the area, history or genealogy in general, there is usually someone hanging out somewhere in this building that has at least an idea of where to find the answer for you. All of them are volunteers that enjoy this type of thing. My husband and I hung out at the tables talking with friends and people we met there for most of the day on Saturday.

As I said in the beginning, I was neglectful in not writing about this earlier. The fair concluded for this year yesterday. However, it will be back again next summer, so keep an eye out for the dates and plan to attend. This building is a great addition to the Oswego County fair and I wish other local fairs would start something like this as well!

IGHR Has Announced Rooms for Next Year

 As I mentioned in posts earlier this summer when I was attending IGHR in Samford, Alabama, next year the institute is moving to Athens, Georgia. This morning they announced that booking for the hotel is now open. This hotel is in the conference center where the institute is being held so rooms will go fast. If you are interested in attending, you'd better get busy booking!

Online booking for the UGA hotel is now open! https://webapps.georgiacenter.uga.edu/Hotel/
Use block code 86879 to get the IGHR rate ($79 for "Classic" rooms and $99 for "Select" rooms).
Room descriptions are available at the hotel's website, http://www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/…/…/guest-rooms/guest-rooms.
The IGHR rate includes one parking pass per room.
The UGA hotel is in the same building with the conference center where all IGHR classes (excluding field trips) will be held. There are several dining options in the building as well.

Calendar Tip

A couple weeks ago I mentioned the Legacy webinar about organizing.

Last week I finally got a chance to listen to it. Fortunately I subscribe to the webinars as the free access time period had expired by the time I got a chance to listen. I think perhaps that is an indication of how much I need help with organizing! 

Yes I've needed help organizing since early on!

Like many webinars there were many ideas and tips in there and I did not absorb all of them. It is one of those webinars that is good to go back to and listen to again and again. There just seems to be more nuances and ideas popping out each time you hear it.

One idea that I took from the webinar that I am very grateful for is a tip on using Google Calendars. This would work for many different calendar apps and even for a paper one if you use that. However, it was something that Lisa Louise Cooke said about this particular app that I already used that jumped out at me. You can create many different calendars that appear on the same page, assigning different colors to each one. Okay, so this is a basic concept and one that I already use. I have a calendar on there, I also have any of Rich’s appointments in a different color and holidays appear in a third color. Each can have their display turned on or off with a click on the side panel. Easy, simple, and something I’ve been doing for years. No big deal.

However, when Lisa was discussing this, she mentioned having a separate calendar for genealogy projects. Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head! Wait a minute! It doesn’t need to be a person! I can have a calendar and a unique color for my genealogy projects. Another color can be assigned for client work. The menu planning I’ve been trying to do on a paper calendar to streamline cooking and grocery shopping- that could be yet another color on there! Suddenly I was realizing I could pull all these things together in one place. It would not be a jumble of confusion on the calendar- I could just turn on and off the ones I wanted to see at any given moment.

Many people are probably laughing at such a simple idea being a break through on organizing. However, this is often how such things work. What is simple and obvious to one person takes another a longer time to reach. This simple concept has been very helpful to me in organizing. It is giving me hope in sorting out some of the messes I have and finally figuring out what I have and where I need to go next.

Here is my challenge for you. What simple thing do you do that helps with your genealogy or with getting things done so that you have time to do genealogy? Think about it. Something that is small and obvious to you might not be to others. Write about it. It could be just a few sentences on a Facebook or Twitter post. Just write and share it with others and encourage them to also share a small tip that they might have. All of us together can discover ways to save hours of time to do what we really want to do- find those elusive ancestors!