FOLLOW UP ~ Answering my questions from the blog post about Charles Brown & Cemathe Avery's wedding

 

I published a post, yesterday about another great find in Cora’s scrapbook.  But, that lead to some questions.  Did I get answers to those questions? 

Here are the questions I asked myself:

·   Which Presbyterian Church did John Woodbridge officiate as Pastor?  Was there only one Presbyterian Church in Saratoga Springs at the time?

·   Who are William & Charlotte Ayers?  There are no Ayers in my database/tree.  Were they friends or relatives?

·   Would it be possible to locate the actual church record for this marriage?

·    What other types of records would tell me more about the Pastor?

Here’s what happened………….

The first thing I did was search for a John Woodbridge (the Pastor) on Ancestry in census records from 1850 forward, in Saratoga Springs, NY.  I was rewarded in finding him listed in the 1870 census as a “Dd” living in Saratoga Springs with his wife and children.  I suspected that Dd meant Doctor of Divinity.  In looking on Google I confirmed that suspicion.  Now I know I have probably found Pastor John Woodbridge.

Further searching reveals Pastor Woodbridge in the Presbyterian Ministerial Directory for 1898 as follows.  And this matches up with the census records.

Let’s move on to William & Charlotte Ayers.

I have located them in the 1850 Federal census living in Saratoga Springs, New York and also the 1855 New York state census.  This does not tell me how they are associated with the bride and groom, but it does confirm them in the place and time of the marriage.

Can I use city directories to give me more information?  I entered Charles Brown in the Ancestry U.S. City Directories 1822-1995.  I found him in the 1882 directory on page 66.  His home address is one I’m familiar with 59 Church and I know that Charles was a Cigar Maker (although cigar is misspelled in the directory).

1882 Saratoga directory showing Charles Brown

Knowing that directories also contain lists of businesses, churches, associations etc., I am now going to try and find the Presbyterian Churches listed

In the Table of Contents for this directory from 1882, the churches are listed on page 45.  In reviewing that page I find two Presbyterian churches listed:

Ø First Presbyterian church, Broadway, north of Town Hall.  Rev. Peter Stryker, D.D. pastor and

Ø Second Presbyterian church, Spring street near Regent. Rev. William R. Terrett, pastor.

Neither of these shows a pastor named John Woodbridge, but this is 31 years after the marriage record and he likely had moved on or perhaps died. 

Can I locate a directory closer to the time of the marriage? I need to adjust my search on Ancestry and see if I can bring up other directories for Saratoga Springs.

The best I could do was a directory for Saratoga Springs from 1868.  That’s 17 years after the marriage, but let’s see what I can find in it.

I want you to know that I’m doing a little happy dance here.  On page 31 of the 1868 Saratoga Springs Directory is the list of churches.  And there is the “Presbyterian Church, Broadway, north of Lake avenue.  Rev John Woodbridge, D.D., residence South Broadway, a short distance below Circular street.”

Table of Contents from page 31 of the 1868 Saratoga Springs directory showing John Woodbridge as the Pastor/Reverend of the Presbysterian Church 

I made a couple of phone calls trying to locate the actual marriage record.  Afterall, the letter signed by Pastor Woodbridge states “that record of the same has been made in the Register of the Presbyterian Church.”

I made phone calls to the County Clerk for the County of Saratoga (518) 885-2213, the City of Saratoga Springs (518) 587-3550 and the Presbyterian Church (518) 584-6091 that is located in Saratoga Springs.  I spoke to some very nice ladies. We talked about the weather and had a few laughs about the difficulty in finding old records. 

Unfortunately, none of them could provide any marriage records from 1851.  I made sure to record in my Research Notes in Legacy, what organization I called, who I spoke with and the phone number.  I date all my research notes and going back to them provides me with a record of the things I’ve done in my research for a particular person or event.

When I record a marriage in my Legacy database I always include as much information as I can by using the Events/Facts entry.

Here is what this marriage looks like in my Legacy record.

This is the marriage event for this couple. 
Note the Event entries.

In the end, I did locate more information and answered some of my questions.

Ø I still don’t know how the witnesses, William & Charlotte Ayers were connected with the bride and groom.

Ø There were 2 Presbyterian Churches in Saratoga Springs at one time, but I still don’t know which one the couple was married at.

Ø I was not able to find the original church record of the marriage.

This was a good research session and I enjoyed the process. I hope that I’ve shared some ideas that would be helpful to you in your own research.

If you are related to or connected to anyone in this or any of my other blog posts, please get in touch.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2023   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

 

TUESDAY'S TIPS ~ Using Legacy's Search Function to follow up on previous research

This is Tuesday’s Tip for those who use Legacy as their personal database.  I am using version 9, but this tip should work with most recent earlier versions.

A question was recently asked on the Legacy Users Facebook group.  If you haven’t joined this group, I highly recommend it. 

There are 26,119 members and it’s a very active group with several posts per day.

Everyone from beginner’s to experienced users are welcome.  The questions asked each day are responded to quickly by the many, around the world, members.

As experienced as I am with this program, I am always learning a new tip or trick.

The question posed by the user was “Is there a way I can search for a certain word in the General notes field and then delete the note?”

The answers –

·       You can use a search and replace to search notes for a word or phrase and then delete or replace it.

·       You can use the Detailed Search tab and find what you are looking for Individual>General/Research/Medical Notes>Contains>use the word or phrase you are looking for>Create List

I have personally done the Detailed Search many times to find things in my program.  Today I decided to use it to locate all those individuals for whom I have entered the word "verify" or the phrase "need to" or a version of it, in Research Notes.

I keep extensive research notes, including the date I entered a particular note.  In doing so, I often type something up and enter a phrase such as “verify this”  “need to verify this” or something similar.

I may not see that note again until I am researching that particular person.  It could be YEARS between my research on a particular line or person.

How many people have I written a “verify” or "need to" note for and have I gone back and done so?

Here’s the screen shot showing my Search.

(Please click on any image to enlarge it)

My search created a list of 279 individuals!  Legacy uses the Search List to allow you to view the list you have created.  From this you can use the various tabs.  This is very handy because I can see exactly what I have entered into the Research Notes and decide if it’s important enough for me to go back and work on.  I can also quickly edit those notes if needed.

Here is a sample showing a view of my Research Notes for Addison Nichols Boggs.  You can see that my notes are dated 2009 and 2011 and that I clearly have not gone back and entered further research notes.  Meaning I've never followed up on this.

Creating a list such as this gives me a direction to focus my research, should I choose to do so.  I doubt I can clear up all 279 individuals for whom I have the words “verify” or “need to.”  But, I can save the list and go back to it occasionally and work through it.  It would be a great project during those evenings in front of the TV or on a nice rainy day. 

Would this type of search be helpful to you?  Do you keep research notes and if so, do you follow up?  I’d love to hear from you.

If you are related to or connected to anyone in this or any of my other blog posts, please get in touch.  Let’s exchange information.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

 

FOLLOWING LEADS ~ THE SEED FAMILY FROM YESTERDAY’S POST ~ Maurice Joy Seed

During my discoveries about Emily Gillen and her daughter, Emma Pope yesterday, I added information to my Ancestry tree.  My routine is to have both Legacy and the web open at the same time.  I use two monitors here at my desktop and that makes it real easy.  When I locate information, I add it to my Legacy database and also to my Ancestry tree.

Each time we work on someone in our Ancestry trees, or add new people, we will usually generate hints.  I was not disappointed this morning as I had hints for Emma Pope Seed’s children, Maurice and Rhoda.

There were 16 hints for Maurice and 11 for Rhoda.  Let’s take a look at Maurice and see what I can learn.
 
By the way, Maurice is my half 1st cousin, 3 times removed.  I don’t normally research that deep into the tree, but there are just too many good hints here for me to ignore.

Here are some of the hints:

• Census records for 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940
• Florida State Census for 1935
• U.S. City Directory for 1912 & 1924
• U.S. School Catalog for 1903
• Florida Passenger List for 1921
• Passport Application for 1921
• U.S. Social Security Applications Index
• U.S. Find A Grave Index
• Photo of his headstone

The very first one I went to was the Passport Application. Why?  Because they will often contain photos of the applicant.  I was not disappointed.

Here’s Maurice’s passport application, including his photo.
 
This application gives his exact place of birth, his father’s name and exact place of birth, where he is traveling to, and a complete physical description of Maurice.  I also collect signatures from my ancestors and this application provides me with one.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)
 


Certainly a bonanza of information for any genealogist.  I wrote a blog post about Passport Applications which you can read here.
Next, I’ll check that U.S. School Catalog hint.  Maybe I’ll find a picture there too.  Here’s what I found.

Name:	Maurice Joy Seed
Publication Year:	1903
Publication Place:	Illinois
School Name:	Northwestern University

From page 356 of the school catalog for Northwestern University in Illinois, publication year 1903.



This entry gives us more evidence of his date and place of birth and tells us what he studied and where he lives at the time of this publication.

From the U.S. city Directory for 1912 I learn that Maurice was married to a woman named Elizabeth and living in Mount Vernon, Illinois.  His occupation was Editor and Publisher of the Daily & Weekly Register at 806 Main.  That his home is at 1030 Maple and it gives his telephone number as 181 – 1 ring. 

Also of note on this page is his sister Rhoda is listed just below him, working as a teacher, listed as “Miss” so she’s not married and she is living with her parents at 517 N. 10th.  The father, Thos. H. Seed is listed just beneath Rhoda.

Name:	Maurice J Seed
Gender:	Male
Residence Year:	1912
Residence Place:	Mount Vernon, Illinois, USA
Occupation:	Editor And Publisher
Spouse:	Elizabeth Seed

I’ll take a look at one final item today, the FindAGrave hint.
 


Now, I have links to the memorials for Maurice’s family and a death year for him.  I can use all the leads from these memorials to find more vital records.

CONCLUSION: Following the hints on Ancestry can lead you to some great discoveries.  Note, that none of the hints I follow involve other member’s trees.  I will occasionally check the trees, but I follow the records, not the trees.

I’ve learned a lot about Maurice today and a little more about his father, Thomas too.  Now I can take a look at other leads on my Ancestry tree for this family and use the FindAGrave memorials to gather more information.

I hope you’ve found this journey today as much fun as I have.

If you think you might be related to anyone mentioned in this blog post, please contact me.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

HOW I FOLLOW A TRAIL OF RECORDS & ANALYZE WHAT I FIND–HENRY HART FAMILY - PART 1

MY GOAL:  CAN I PROVE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MY 2ND GREAT GRANDFATHER & A REPORTED FIRST WIFE?  SOMEONE HE IS SAID TO HAVE MARRIED & HAD 4 CHILDREN WITH, PRIOR TO MARRYING MY 2ND GREAT GRANDMOTHER.

I WILL SHARE WITH YOU, IN THIS POST AND UPCOMING POSTS, HOW I FOLLOW THE LEADS AND WHAT I FIND.

Here’s how it began today
I wanted to find out more information about a first wife for my 2nd great grandfather, Henry HART.  According to some online trees at Ancestry.com and information I have rec’d from a descendant of the first wife, her name was Sally “Sarah” SUMNER. 
I knew that, according to this information, Henry & Sally had four children, Lucy A., Hiram Harper, Benjamin Tyler and Nancy Malinda.  

What I have:  This is the typed family group sheet I received from my cousin, Judy.  There is a lot of information on this page.  HOWEVER – no sources are included.   
NOTE:  There are very specific dates on this sheet, so you have to assume they came from somewhere.  The question is:  WHERE?

What I don’t have:

• Proof of the marriage of Henry HART & Sally SUMNER
• Birth records for any of the four children

What I need:

• Records that will provide the information listed above
• Records that will link any of the children to their parents, such as marriage records listing the parent’s names or death records listing the parent’s names, census records with children living with the parents, cemetery records, probate records.
• It would be nice to have more than one source that provides evidence of the family bond.

How I proceeded:

I began with the first child I had listed.  Lucy A. Hart  born 5 Sep 1816 (this date comes from information from a cousin named Judy, and has not been verified or sourced). Further reference to this source will just say "cousin Judy.”

• I looked on familysearch.org for any record of Lucy A. Hart.  I searched using many criteria beginning with what I knew, her name, her date of birth (I only entered the day), her probably place of birth, Canada, and her parents names.  During the process of the search I added & deleted many different criteria, like first names, places and even dates.

 TIP:  By doing this you are broadening your search and increasing your chance of finding what you are looking for.

Results for this search – Nothing that matched.  Now what?

Let’s go over to my tree on Ancestry and see what I have for her.  Are there any new hints on the tree?

Here is a screen shot of my entry for Lucy and the hints attached.


As you can see I only have her name & date given to me by cousin Judy.  The only hints given are several Ancestry Family Trees (which I’ve already reviewed and have nothing more to offer) and the exact same typed family sheet I already have.
I conducted a search on Ancestry and did not find anything new for Lucy.

TIP:  Since I have 3 other children listed for this couple, my time can be better spent by moving on to the next child, for whom I have more information.   I can come back to Lucy later.  Maybe in researching her siblings I will find more information on her too.

In the next post of this series, I will move on to the second child, Hiram Harper Hart.  I have a lot more information to begin my research on him.

Until then, keep searching,
Michigan Girl

Copyright © 2013    Diane Gould Hall