IS THAT INDEX CORRECT? HERE’S WHY WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE ACTUAL DOCUMENT

HERE IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT AND READ DOCUMENTS AND NOT JUST DEPEND ON THE INDEXED TRANSCRIPTION

Yesterday I was doing a bit of research on a 3rd great granduncle and his second wife.
 
I knew that Isaac F. Gillen 1823-1907 had married Amy “Emma” Kimball 1830-1886 on 28 Mar 1852 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  Here they are in my Legacy program.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)



Emma died in 1886.  I had information from the 1900 census that he had remarried to a lady named Martha E. born about 1867 in Ohio.  I had no further information about Martha.

My next step was to look on the Family Search site for a marriage record for Isaac & Martha.

Here is what I found in the index:

Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997
Name:     Isaac F. Gillen
Event Type:     Marriage
Event Date:     20 Sep 1889
Event Place:     Lawrence, Ohio, United States
Age:     21
Birth Year (Estimated):     1868
Spouse's Name:     Martha E. Snyder
Spouse's Age:     19
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated):     1870
Reference ID: Vol. 15, p 216, no 2
GS Film Number: 317721
Digital Folder Number: 004016335
Image Number: 00152

NOTE that Isaac’s age is listed as 21.

Isaac was born in 1823 and this marriage took place in 1889.  That would make my Isaac about 66 years old when this marriage took place, NOT 21.  Martha would have been about 22 years old at the time of the marriage, if she was born about 1867.  Her age isn’t that far off, but Isaac’s is another story.

Fortunately, there was an image of the marriage record for me to look at.  Here is the image.



OK, the names are there – Isaac F. Gillen and Martha E. Snyder.  The date of marriage was 20 Sep 1889 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.

But those ages listed after their names.  What’s up with that?
 
Here is that portion of the document highlighted.  Read those words in the red boxes carefully.

“Isaac F. Gillen, who being first duly sworn, saith that he is MORE THAN 21 YEARS OF AGE, that he has no wife living, that he is not nearer of kin to Martha E. Snyder than second Cousins, that she is MORE THAN 18 YEARS OF AGE, that she has no husband living……………”

There you have it.  The indexer has listed their ages as 21 and 19.  Not sure where  the 19 came from, since the document has an 18 on it.  Maybe misread?

Isaac was certainly MORE THAN 21 years of age in 1889, wasn’t he?

It’s just invaluable for us, as researchers, to view the actual documents and not depend on transcriptions, indexes etc.  How many times I’ve received a “typed” copy of a record, only to later look at the original and find several errors.  I try to always ask for a photo copy of any original record I send for.

Having access to these original documents online is invaluable to us.  But, if we don’t have access online, then we must not just take the indexes and transcriptions as the final word.

Have you run across similar issues when you’ve viewed the original record vs what was indexed?  I’d love to hear about it.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
VITAL RECORDS–HOW TO REQUEST THEM AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE REQUESTS
EASY DOCUMENT EDITING TIPS

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION 

TUESDAY’S TIP - USING THE “INTERNET SEARCH” OPTION IN LEGACY 8

Today I’ve decided to use the internet search option in Legacy and see if it will bring up any new clues for my 2nd Great Granduncle, Anthony Bowen BOGGS or his wife, Anna CARY.

Here is a screen shot of the family view from Legacy.  This shows what I know about this couple.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)



There’s not much information here, is there? 

TIP:  Be sure you have highlighted or selected the person you are wanting to research on the internet.  I am able to see that I've done that by the GREEN line under Anthony’s name. 

Before I use the Internet Search option I’ll take a look at any notes or sources I have on this couple. In Legacy, you can tell if there is content for any of the associated items by whether the icons are shown in grey or in color.  

You can see that for Anthony there are several colored icons below his info box.  There are three colored icons for Anna.

Here are the icons and what each one indicates.

In looking at each one of these I don’t see much.  Here is what I have for each of the icons that are in color (indicating content).

• The first 3 icons, his spouses name, parents names & siblings names
• For notes I have a note I wrote in 2009 regarding a possible match on familysearch.org pilot site.
• Under events there is an 1850 census with him in the household with parents & siblings
• Under sources I have One World Tree (very poor and undocumented source) and the 1850 census record.
• Under AKA’s I have Anthony B. Boggs
• The last icon is for Research Guidance and there several suggestions for me to look at.

Now I will go to the top of the page, on the shortcut bar and click on the globe that indicates Internet (red arrow).

NOTE:  I have customized the “My Toolbar” section of the shortcut bar to include the items I refer to or use the most.



When you click on the globe a drop down list appears with three items.

1.  Create Web Pages
2.  Legacy Homepage
3.  Search Internet for current person

I will select item number 3. 

This is the screen that comes up next.



If you click on the drop down arrow (as indicated by the red arrow below), you will get a list of choices for sites that Legacy can search for you.



You have options on the screen before you actually click on the “Search” icon.  Each of the selected websites allow you to adjust your search in various ways. On one can change the first & last name and the end year.  On another you might only be able to adjust the name.  So, pay attention to those fields before you click on search.  The fields you can change are in black letters and the ones you cannot change are grey.  You can opt to “close this window after each search, and you can also “customize searches.”

The Customize Searches option allows you to add or delete websites you want to have access to from this list.  

Let’s try a few searches for Anthony Bowen Boggs and see what I come up with.  

ANCESTRY.COM – 11,701 HITS 
ARCHIVES.COM – 46 RECORDS
BILLION GRAVES.COM – NO HITS
BING.COM – 42 RESULTS (the first two of which are my own blog)
FINDAGRAVE.COM – NO HITS
GENEALOGY BANK.COM – 221 HITS
GOOGLE.COM – 3 RESULTS
WORLDCONNECT.COM (aka ROOTSWEB) – 46 HITS 

As you can see “your results may vary.”  But, this is certainly a good way to see what’s out there on any given ancestor.  Some of these sites are free and some are subscription.  It took me less than 5 minutes to check these 8 sites.  The most promising one to me is the World Connect Rootsweb site, which is one I haven’t looked at in a long time.

I hope that by looking at some of the “hits” from various sites, I can increase the information I have for Anthony Bowen Boggs and his family.

Have you used this Legacy feature?  If so, do you find it useful?

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
LEGACY 8 - FAMILY STATISTICS REPORT
LEGACY 8 - A QUICK GUIDE TO LABEL & TAB COLORS
LEGACY 8 - CENSUS LIST - HOW WILL I USE IT TO SEARCH FOR MY FAMILY
LEGACY 8 - ADDING A RECORD - STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

IT’S AMAZING WHAT NEW CARPET AND PAINT CAN DO FOR YOUR OFFICE

As you may know, I’ve been away from the blog for a couple of weeks.  We had new carpet installed in the office and back bedrooms.  At the same time, we decided to paint.  Oh, and I found the cutest valances. 

Things have been in complete disarray and are now back together….at last!

And here is what it looks like this morning.  WOOHOO!!!



A reminder of what the office looked like, just one week ago today.



Let the research and blogging begin.  

Thanks to all my readers for your patience during this process.

Now…where to begin…what to write about?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

AN OFFICE SHAKE-UP AND A TWISTED ANKLE

I thought I better post something to let my readers know what’s been going on.  Why haven’t I posted much this past couple of weeks?

First of all, we are installing new carpeting in the entire back of the house.  Along with that my husband and I decided to repaint the office and one bedroom.  I use a desktop to do my research and create blog posts.  I’m not a big fan of laptops, unless I am on the road. 

Add to that, the twisted ankle that happened last Thursday and there you have it. 

However, I decided I should get busy, so I am now using my laptop.  I don’t think the office will be back together as quickly as I’d like because it’s up to me to get it re-organized and I’m still gimping around.  My husband has done so much work and will be putting all the furniture back etc. 

Here’s a photo of the office as of this morning.



That’s what is going on here.  I hope to be back at it in the next few days.  In fact, I may even try to post something sooner. 

In the meantime, I have a stack of miscellaneous genealogy related papers that were sitting under my desk.  They are items I need to review and either act on, file or toss.  I’ll be digging into them as soon as I post this.   I’ll let you know how I do.   What new things will I discover?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Not completely Wordless...........


I put together a small memorial album when we had my Dad's memorial service back in 1991.

That album, along with one we did for my husband's mother have been stored in our office.  Now that we are painting and having new carpet installed we've come across these albums.  

It is past time to remove the original photos that are in these non-archival sticky albums.

Here is a page from that album and a family photo, also from the album.

MY DAD, HARRY NORMAN GOULD AS A YOUNG BOY

MY DAD & MOM AND ME AND MY BROTHER, NORM - circa 1960 in Pompano Beach, Florida

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

 

 

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TIME FOR THE FALL/WINTER THEME CHANGE ON MY BLOG

     
Autumn is my favorite time of year.  We don’t get much a change here in California.  But, we do get some changes about the end of October and into November.  Nothing as dramatic as the colors in the photos above, but still pretty.

I thought, since the weather is changing for most of the people around the country and the world, that it would be a good time to change the blog theme.  Bring in some colors that are more appropriate for this time of year.  

I did the same thing last spring, when I changed to the blue theme.
 
Everything is still in the same place – the layout hasn’t changed at all.  Just the top banner and tabs and the color theme.

Hope you like the new look.

Thanks for stopping by,

Michigan Girl

AMANUENSIS MONDAY - BIRTH & DEATH DATES FROM MY GRANDMOTHER'S JOURNAL - JUNE

What does Amanuensis mean anyway?

To put it simply, it means a “person employed to write what another dictates or copy what has been written by another.”

As many of you know from reading previous posts on my blog, my maternal grandmother left a spiral notebook, which I call her journal.  In it she left recipes, a list of 183 family members and their birth dates and some death dates, a list of anniversaries and other various lists or things that were important to her.  It’s a treasure that I cherish. 

Today I’m going to be transcribing her list of names & dates from June.

For the previous posts transcribing January through May, please click on these links.

Amanuensis Monday - Transcribing my grandmother's journal - January

Amanuensis Monday - Transcribing my grandmother's journal – February

Amanuensis Monday - Transcribing my grandmother's journal – March

Amanuensis Monday - Transcribing my grandmother's journal – April

Amanuensis Monday - Transcribing my grandmother's journal - May

Here is the page from her journal.  This journal was begun when my grandmother, Florence L. Bowden, married my grandfather, Joseph A. Milne, in 1906.  She was just 18 years old at the time.  This journal is very old and falling apart.  I have digitized all the pages and have the original stored in a safe, archival box.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

Here is my transcription of this page, with some annotations.  I have indicated the family connection in brackets, even thought it’s not part of the document.  I though you’d like to know who these people are to me.  And, for any cousins out there reading this, maybe you’ll find it helpful.


I’ve added whatever photos I have of the family members named in this list. (See below)


ADDITIONAL NOTE:  I HAVE REDACTED THE BIRTH DATES & FULL NAMES OF PEOPLE WHO I’M AWARE OF, THAT ARE STILL LIVING, FOR THEIR PROTECTION.

JuneIrene M. Milne Roe Mrs. Nichol, Pottit  June 13 ‘93  [Grand aunt]
Katherine Martz Forsyth  June 13 ‘95  died Sept 21  ‘40  [Wife of 1st cousin 2x removed]
Albert Herman Pfeiffer  June 14  ‘10  [1st cousin 2x removed]
Clyde J. Smith  June 15  ‘77  died Nov. 15  ‘27 [2nd husband of great grandmother]
Lawrence Charles Diebel  June 26  ‘28
* Mary Jane Brehmer  June 27  ‘18 
*  June Baby Boy Heiberline Hibberlin June 22  1936
*  Helen Lyons   June 22  ‘92
Bertram Seaver  June 28  April 13,  ‘42  [Husband of 1st cousin 2x removed]
*  Florence Townsend    June 29 
Junior Diebel   June 27  ‘28 [2nd cousin once removed]
Minnie Thornton   June 19  ‘86  [Wife of 1st cousin 2x removed]
Maria King  June 10  ‘88   [Wife of 1st cousin 2x removed]
Joseph King, Jr.   June 19  ‘13  [2nd cousin once removed]
Susan   [2nd cousin]

That’s a total of 15 names.  I am very fortunate to have this kind of list from my grandmother.

I have placed an asterisk *  next to the names I have not yet connected to our family. 

FOUR of the names are still waiting for me to find their connections.  I have them in my Legacy database as unlinked individuals. 

In the lists from the other 11 months of the year, there are also names that aren’t yet connected.  I keep looking from time to time and link them as I identify them.

This photo is of my Grandaunt, Irene.  If you read last month’s post for May, you saw her daughter, Irene’s picture, and her husband Everett’s picture too.

    
Irene “Peggy” Milne Roe McNichol Pettit

Not very many photos to share with you in this post, wish I had more.

Please contact me if you recognize any of the names with asterisks or if you are related to any of these family members.  I’d love to hear from you.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

DNA TESTING–TIME FOR ME TO SEND IN A SAMPLE

DNA testing is becoming more and more popular in the genealogy world.  I have never done a test on myself.  That’s about to change.

However, both of my brothers have taken tests and we have their results.  One of the brothers, my younger brother, and I share the same parents.  He took the YDNA test.  My other brother and I share a mother, so he took the MtDNA test.

I thought for a long time, that was all we would need.  There haven’t been any close matches on either of those tests.  Hopefully, something will pop up sooner or later.
I finally decided that it was time for me to take the test and find out what the results are. 

• Will they be any different than what we already have?
• Will they give us more information on our ethnicity?

I don’t know the answer to those questions, but I’m curious.  The other kits were through Family Tree DNA and this one is through Ancestry.  

I’ll be mailing the test in tomorrow.  When I get the results I’ll post them here and let you know what I’ve learned.

Have you ever submitted a DNA sample?  How about your family members?  Have they?

SIDE NOTE:  We adopted a rescue dog several years ago. He’s cute as a button, but we didn’t have a clue as to what breeds he might be.  I sent for a doggie DNA kit and sent it in.  No photos, just the saliva.  They sent back the results that he was Irish Setter, Saluki and Chow.  All of which made perfect sense based on his attributes, black spots on his tongue, curling tail, penchant for running away and chasing absolutely everything when off leash and his aloof behavior when we first got him.

Here’s a picture of him.  While this is not genealogy related, I just had to share.

 
Stay tuned for the results.  Hey!  Maybe I’ll connect to one of you.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY–Grace Hunter Fenner Jenkins 1874-1946

Grace Hunter was the daughter of James Gillen HUNTER and Susan Caroline BOGGS.  She was born 19 Jan 1874 in Covington, Kenton, Kentucky.  Her father, James, died when she was only 10 years old.  She married Charles H. FENNER on 16 May 1891 at the age of seventeen.  They had no children, but they did own and run a photo studio in Lima, Ohio.  Charles' brother, William James Fenner owned several photography studios and Charles joined him.   It was called Fenner Brothers Studio.  Many of our family photos were taken at Fenner Studios. 

Sadly, Charles Fenner died at the age of 59, during the horrible influenza epidemic in 1918.  

Grace continued to run the photo studio.  Sometime between 1920 and 1930 she married John A. Jenkins, a farmer. John also preceded Grace in death, dying in 1939. 

I have not been able to locate Grace in the 1940 census.  I’ll keep trying.  However, at the time of her death on 15 Sep 1946, she was living in Lima, Allen, Ohio.  She died of  Arteriosclerosis.  

She had quite a good sum of money at the time of her death.  I located her probate record.  She left money to each of her surviving sisters, her brother and a stepson.  The largest amount $16,625.75 was left to her sister Daisy Hunter Skinner.  

I do have a couple of nice pictures of Grace.

  

Grace is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Lima, Allen, Ohio, next to her first husband, Charles H. Fenner.

If you are familiar with any of the people mentioned in this post, please contact me.  I’d love to hear from you.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
SIBLING SATURDAY - THE HUNTER SISTERS
ADDING SIBLING LINKS TO FIND A GRAVE - AN UPDATE

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION