The Collins Family

When I was in Indiana a few weeks ago, I did some research on a family. The family of Barton and Annahritte Collins. They are no relation to me, however I found their story interesting. They were the first settlers of the town of Jamestown in Steuben County, Indiana. The same county that Dennis Wooster, the brother of my great-great grandfather, had settled in many years later. Did they know each other? Anna certainly knew the Wooster’s, but Barton had died before they settled there.

These two families were near neighbors to each other. As often happens in rural communities, one of their grandsons did not go far when it was time to choose a bride. Their grandson, Stillman Collins married the oldest daughter of Dennis, Frances Wooster. And thus, the two families had a connection and is where my interest began.

While at the library in Angola, the county seat, I found some new information on the family. In amongst this was a picture of their home in Jamestown.

I looked at this picture and then I looked at it again. It looked familiar. I had seen this house before.

Earlier that morning, my husband and I had been driving around the Jamestown area. We visited the cemetery where the Wooster family is buried. Just down the road is a farm that I knew Stillman and Frances lived on. I knew it was the same farm his parents had lived at and was part of the property that his grandfather had originally filed for when he became the first settler. By comparing old property maps with contemporary maps, I had found where this farm was and had taken pictures of an older farmhouse on the property. I felt for sure, but had no proof, that this was the house that Stillman and Frances lived in and her parents had visited from time to time.

The house has, of course, been resided and remodeled. There is now a modern addition on the back of it as well. But it is definitely Stillman’s grandparents house and so, must be the house that they lived in! In fact the article that accompanied the early picture, mentions that the south room of the house was always referred to as Grandmother’s room, further indicating that this would have been Stillman’s parents home when his grandmother was elderly. George Collins was the oldest son of Barton and Anna and inherited the farm where Stillman grew up and took over from him.

Although certainly not a great breakthrough in research, by researching the collateral family I found the answer to my question. I knew I had stood in the driveway of my distant cousin’s home. I need to do further research as I have a feeling that if the owners had been home that morning, I would have met some more cousins. Distant, of course, but still, related to me.

FamilySearch and RootsTech Keynote Speaker

FamilySearch and RootsTech sent out this announcement this morning. RootsTech is the largest genealogy conference in the United States-- I don't know, but maybe even in the world. It started out as purely a conference for programmers and other such technology deep people to meet with genealogists to know what they were looking for in software programs, databases and the like. It has since grown to be an all encompassing genealogy conference. While it is too big and crowded for an introvert who can't stand crowds like myself, it is a great conference for those that thrive on such large groups. Also, there are usually a few sessions shown either live or at a later date on the Internet. A great combination to include everyone- even those who would want to attend, but can't afford to!

Reading Rainbow’s LeVar Burton Will Keynote RootsTech 2017

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (October 19, 2016)—FamilySearch International is pleased to announce that LaVar Burton will be the Friday keynote speaker at RootsTech 2017 on February 10, 2017. Burton is known by millions for his legendary starring role as Kunta Kinte in 1977 in the globally acclaimed and award-winning ABC mini series, Roots, as chief engineer Geordi La Forge in the iconic Star Trek: The Next Generation television series, and as host and executive producer of the beloved PBS children’s series, Reading Rainbow. Burton was also the co-executive producer of the re-envisioned production of Roots that aired in June of this year on the A&E Networks.
Reading Rainbow was one of the longest running children’s television shows in TV history (1983-2009) and one of the most acclaimed, earning more than 200 awards including 26 Emmys and a Peabody. "There's a whole new generation of kids that need to develop a relationship with the written word, especially, I believe, in this ultra-technological age. I'm in this for the mission. This is what I do," said Burton.
He is excited about the opportunity to keynote at RootsTech where he plans to share personal stories about Roots, Star Trek, his Reading Rainbow foundation, and also stories of his mom and her commanding influence on him.
"The story of Roots traces a family's journey from Africa to America and back. At RootsTech, I'll share some of my own journey of family, storytelling and the influence of African culture on my American Experience."
Burton’s acting career began as a college student at the University of Southern California with his first-ever audition—winning the role of Kunta Kinte in ABC’s wildly popular 1977 TV mini-series, Roots. Thus, at age 19, he found his picture on the cover of Time magazine. Soaring to stardom was only the beginning for Burton. He followed it with many roles—most notably in Reading Rainbow and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
An advocate for children’s literacy, Burton’s Reading Rainbow provides an outlet for innovative uses of storytelling. Reading Rainbow uses technology and media to inspire today’s children to love reading, and is currently the number one educational app on iTunes. The digital service includes more than 500 children’s fiction and non-fiction books, and 200 newly-produced video field trips with new content added weekly.
RootsTech is held at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City and will be simulcasted around the world with many sessions recorded for later viewing. RootsTech offers a line-up of world-class speakers, thrilling entertainment and engaging classes and activities with a bigger-than-ever expo hall. There will be something for everyone regardless of age or experience. Registration for RootsTech is currently open at reduced rates at RootsTech.org. Rootstech 2017 is sponsored by FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, FindMyPast.com and MyHeritage.com.
Find the news release online at media.familysearch.org.

Wordless Wednesday- Autumn in Upstate New York the 70s

Saturday Challenge- The Helpers

 From GeneaMusings Saturday fun challenge: 

1)    Was there a relative that was a big help in giving you family information?  Who and how was he/she helpful?

I told last week about my Dad helping me on that first assignment in high school by taking me to the cemetery and pointing out various family plots.

After completing the assignment, I wanted to continue and learn more about the family. Nobody around me was really that interested in it. My Mom did take me to a couple used bookstores looking for books to tell me about genealogy. She also drove me a few places and helped me connect with a couple cousins that share information, but her heart wasn’t in it.

However, one person in my family was interested and encouraged me to continue. My oldest brother, Jim, lived near Washington, DC. I would write letters asking him questions and he would give me what information he had about older members of the family. Soon I was sending back information that I had found and comparing notes with him. That interest and encouragement went a long ways towards starting me down the path to genealogy as a lifetime interest. Thank you Jim! (I know you’re reading this).

A few years later I “met” the other person that has been really helpful. A quarrel when I was a child had caused my Mom and her brother not to speak for a few years. While in college I ran into him and we got reacquainted. This was also, when the two siblings finally spoke and made up again. Kenneth also has an interest in genealogy and a passion for tracing our family. Together we have worked on the maternal side of my lines.

Kenneth & Jim 1952

Through the years I have done more and more work on these trees. I have done more research and gotten farther back than probably either of them ever imagined we could find. In the beginning they were both teaching me how to research and where to look for information. As I got more involved, I joined societies and continued reading and studying genealogy. In recent years I have been fortunate to be able to attend many different conferences and institutes as well as webinars to learn even more. Now, I am the one that is more skilled at it. However, we all enjoy sharing stuff between each other. It is thanks to the help and encouragement of these two people, as well as many others along the way that I got started on this hobby, career, obsession.

Central New York Genealogical Society- October Meeting

The Central New York Genealogical Society (CNYGS) will hold their October meeting next Saturday. It is a full day conference with two different speakers. Details about the meeting are below from the Publicity Chair and details about the location information can be found on their website at the bottom of the "Meetings" page.

 

October 15, 2016 – Full-Day Conference

We are pleased to announce that we have two local speakers for our October Full-Day Conference. The program will begin at 9:00 a.m. with a few announcements, and will end about 3:30 p.m.

9:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Roger B. Williams will speak on "Locating Records within the Courthouse" using the various findings provided by the Surrogate Court and County Clerk's Offices, along with an expansion of the types of records found at each location.

12:00 p.m.–1:15 p.m. Lunch will be available on-site for a small donation, or you can bring your own lunch or visit a local restaurant. Coffee, tea and donut holes will be available in the morning. Soup, a meat tray, rolls, and veggies will be available for lunch. Bottled water and soda will also be available.

1:15 p.m.–3:30 p.m. Author and Historian, Dick Williams will discuss skills and techniques for family research. His 30-page booklet covering his discussion will be provided.

During the first hour, Dick will explain how to use Google, censuses, timelines, creating a map, vital statistics, websites, newspapers and local sources. He will also cover sharing our research, software, social media blogs, and preserving records using pictures, documents, cameras, and scanning wands.

During the second hour, Dick will give a lecture and PowerPoint presentation on his book, Along the Oriskany and Big Creeks. This book describes the valley of the Oriskany from the Town of Stockbridge in Madison County south and then north through Solsvlle, Oriskany Falls, Deansboro, Clinton, Clark Mills, Pecksville, and Oriskany to the Mohawk River. It is the story of the land, the farms, the economy, the geography, the history, and the people.

 

Wordless Wednesday- A Wee Bit of Irish at Coleman's

The trigger That Started It All

From Randy Seaver’s GeneaMusings: Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) What was the "trigger," that started you actively researching your family history and genealogy?

So, I’m way behind on these challenges, but I will do at least a few as I catch up with things around here after traveling.

Growing up I was always around older people. Most of my relatives that I knew, were not children, but of my parents’ generation or older. Being the youngest child in the family by a number of years, this meant that I often heard stories of “the old days.” However, this did not trigger an interest in family history or doing genealogy.

In tenth grade we had a time period when our English class combined somewhat with our Social Studies class. We were reading literature that had to do with the local area and delving into the history of the Finger Lakes region of New York State. One of the Social Studies teachers came to our English class and did a presentation on family history. We had an assignment to trace our families back, hopefully to the great-grandparent level and identify what nationality they were.

Working on this project, I asked my Dad when his parents were born. He didn’t know. He never kept track of such things, and they were long dead anyway. Well, one thing Dad did enjoy was going for a ride in the countryside. Thinking quickly, I asked: “Dad, aren’t their birthdates on their tombstones?” Just like that we were off for a ride around the lake and to the rural cemetery where they are buried. As I was copying information down, he wandered up the row and pointed out his grandparents and mentioned that his great-grandparents were buried over by the fence. If I had to pinpoint a time when I was hooked on genealogy, I would say it was that afternoon.

One day when I was in my mid-30s, I was researching. I was at the Cayuga Owasco Lakes Historical Society in Moravia trying to find newspaper and other such articles to fill in some of the more social information about these grandparents I had never met. A man was there working on pulling some original documents to be used in his classroom. I looked at him again and realized—it was the Social Studies teacher that had presented to my class over 15 years ago. I made myself known to him and showed him what I was working on including the database on my laptop. I jokingly said to him: “It’s a little late, but here is my assignment you gave us.” He groaned and laughed. “What did I start?”