Way Behind

 I'm way behind.  I'm not sure how it happened but I'm nearly a month behind in email and research.  I know my addiction to games on my phone is part of the problem.  In any case....

Gleaned from my WikiTree account: all of these are not relatives; some are profiles I created for various projects I'm a member of at WikiTree.  You can visit the links below to find out more about any of those people.

August

01 Aug 1864 Darius Oliver was born.

02 Aug 1937 Simeon Beismer [share tree] married Frances Beismer.

03 Aug 1933 Ruth Mattice died.

03 Aug 1913 Henry Mattice died.

04 Aug 1898 Sylvia Beismer died.

04 Aug 1899 Adelia Ingraham married Leo Ingraham.

05 Aug 1779 Elizabeth Hollenbeck was born.

11 Aug 1957 James Hulse died.

15 Aug 1912 Peter Wormuth died.

16 Aug 1913 Jeremiah Beesimer died.

17 Aug 1809 Daniel L. Dudley was born.

23 Aug 1856 John Oliver was born.

25 Aug 1861 Franklin Oliver was born.

27 Aug 1956 Marcus Wormuth died.

29 Aug 1919 Mary Mattice died.

31 Aug 1778 Daniel Nimham died.

31 Aug 1849 Peter Wormuth married Grace Deighton.

I also created a profile for Stephen (Steve) Watson who is still listed as MIA.  He was a friend of the family and engaged to my mother when his plane went missing during WWII.

One-Name Studies

I haven't done much with either - as I said, I'm behind, but I have added a couple of profiles to the list of ancestors with the Beismer and Wormuth surnames.  I, just today, saw a one-name study page that I like very much with a nice layout and some different, interesting data on that surname that I intend to include in my studies.  You can visit those links to see what's happening with the studies.

That's about it for now since I'm so far behind and have to catch up.

Genealogical Assumptions

Blogger tells me this is a draft so I'm hitting the Publish button again.  Scroll down for NEWS.

I research ALL my family lines: matrilineal and patrilineal.  I also, out of necessity, sometimes have to research collateral families (mostly related by marriage).

I've been doing a lot more research lately.  No, not because of the pandemic but because I rejoined WikiTree and it's opened up a lot of new paths for research and it's also taught me a lot.  I highly recommend WikiTree.  It's completely free.

In addition, all the well-known family history web sites, as well as many lesser known sites, add new data constantly.  My Links page has links to most of them.  It's a good idea to check all of them fairly regularly.

As I've been so frantically busy with all this new family history activity, I've noticed a lot of assumptions that I make in searching for ancestors.  I've also noticed assumptions that most of these web sites also make.  I've also noticed assumptions that family members make about our families.

Here are some:

1.  The family name we now have was always the same.  

First, if you could see the list of variant spellings I have for some of my families' surnames, you'd understand that this is a ridiculous assumption.  My maternal grandfather's surname; spelled, in our family, BEISMER, has between 42 and 52 variant spellings; and I still don't have their origin.  The Beismer spelling appears to have appeared in my family with my great grandfather, although I have no signature of his so I have no idea how he spelled his name.  Before him, though, the name was spelled differently.

Second, spelling, in general, was not so well defined in the not so distant past.

Next, many of of ancestors, probably most, came from European countries where English was not the primary language and many who arrived did not read, speak or write English.  Some changed their surnames to look and sound more English and to be understood, quite soon after arrival.  

In addition, where you see documents for and about your ancestors, most were written by someone other than your actual ancestor.  They wrote what they heard, in many cases; this resulted in errors; as well as the fact that some of those same "officials" who completed documents about your ancestors had terrible handwriting and later transcriptions exacerbated the situation.

NOTE: I have begun to collect signatures of my ancestors, when I can find them, in digital form for just this reason.

I am, shortly, going to begin two different one-name studies for surnames in my family where I'm at brick walls and can't find the next generation back.  This appears, in some cases, to be caused by surname variants.  If I have 20 variant spellings to check every time I need to find out something about an individual or his parents, it's very likely that I'll miss something in the process. News of those studies, which will be done though WikiTree and the Guild of One-Name Studies, will be posted here from time to time.

2.  Our ancestors were married, formally, officially, in a church or by clergy.

My assumption, in contrast, is that, if I don't find an "official" marriage document (a legal document) or a church record, they were common law.  

Most of my ancestors were in New York State at some point.  Vital records for New York began to be officially required and kept in about 1880.  Early compliance was not strictly adhered to and the maintenance of early records was, by experience, not the best.

Many of my ancestors lived in very rural areas.  Some were quite poor.  Getting somewhere to "be married" might have been difficult for some people.

3.  In connection with the previous assumption, our ancestors were members of a church.

In most cases, yes, but we can be quite sure that not all our ancestors were religions or attended church.  And, churches, as they do, are very determined to get everyone under their roofs somehow.  Churches were and are very important historically as a central institution for the communities where they were located.  But, like people today, everyone was not interested in religion and church.

NEWS

I have joined The Guild of One-Name Studies as part of the suggestions at WikiTree for conducting a one-name study.  I'm conducting 2 one-name studies: The Beismer Name Study (with variants) and The Wormuth Name Study (with variants).  There will shortly be web pages for each study at The Guild so you can see what's being done.  You can also check on the studies at WikiTree by using the study links above.  Remember, WikiTree is always free.

I will include news from WikiTree and The Guild from time.

Accuracy is most important

 Having been a member of WikiTree now for several months, I am appreciating more how important accuracy is.

Just because you find a relative's name in some document doesn't mean it's them.  In most cases, there are many people with the same name.  I've actually checked on several social media sites for people with my name; there are quite a few.

As you may know, there's more often than not one child in the family who's named for the father.  A junior has the identical name as his father, not just his first name.  And, a II, 2nd, doesn't have to be the very next generation, it can be a grandson, even a great grandson..  Jr., II, III are accurate ONLY if the names are identical: first, middle and surnames.

Just because your mother, father or grandparents told you something, doesn't make it true.  I can't tell you how many "family stories" or family legends have fallen by the wayside since I began researching my families because records just tell a different story - and not just one record.

If your grandmother said Uncle Whatever was born on October 12th, but his birth certificate says the 9th and a baptismal record says the 9th, and his enlistment record says the 9th, then he was born on the 9th and Grandma was wrong.  Grandparents can be WRONG.  So can parents.

MOST OF THE FAMILY TREES ONLINE ARE INACCURATE.  Most have NO SOURCES.  If they have no sources of where the information came from, the only use they have is a hint to a possibility that requires more research to determine of the posted information is real.

I will NOT believe anything you tell me about our joint family history unless you have documents to back up what you think you know.  In most cases, I HAVE.

I will admit that there are terrible errors on "official" documents, but no documents means NO ACCURACY, NO PROOF.  I try to find a birth, marriage and death record for everyone in my database.  And, if I can find more than one of each; and, if I can find other documents backing up those facts, all the better.

You may think I'm being picky but I was born on a specific date, in a specific place, to specific parents and I have a document to prove it.  Same with my son.  If anyone says differently, I have grounds for a suit of some kind.

If you don't think it matters, then it won't matter to you if I start spreading a rumor that your parents weren't your parents and you were born in another country and you're 5 years younger than you say you are.  DO YOU GET THE PICTURE?!

PLEASE STOP POSTING INACCURATE FAMILY TREES ONLINE.  If you don't have documents to substantiate your posts, you're just writing fiction and creating a lot of chaos and confusion.  If you've already posted a family tree somewhere, please, remove it.

If you think I'm making this too big a deal. Tell me this:  Does it matter to you that your car mechanic knows what she's doing while working on your car and is accurate in diagnosing and repairing things?  Does it matter to you that your dentist fills the correct tooth?  Does it matter to you that your doctor correctly diagnoses what's wrong with you and the treatment is dispensed accurately?  You'll know right away if your optician doesn't give your the correct lens prescription, won't you?  Does it matter to you that the cashier gives you the correct change?  How many more ways can I say it:

ACCURACY MATTERS

New 4th Cousin

NEWS

I just "met" another 4th cousin a couple of days ago through WikiTree.  It's always fun.

New About page.  See the tab at the top.

The Beismer Name Study has begun.  

What, exactly, is a One-Name Study.  Here's the definition from WikiTree"

"A One Name Study (ONS) is a project that focuses on researching all occurrences of an individual surname. The objective of a one-name study is not just the collection of data and names; The ultimate aim of an ONS is to research the genealogy and family history of all persons with a given surname. As a part of an ONS, researchers attempt to identify and understand items including, but not limited to:

• Name origins (or earliest references);
• Name meanings (are they matronymic, occupational, patronymic, topynomic, etc.);
• The relative frequency or occurence of the name;
• Patterns in migration; and
• Name variations and specific name branches."

In this study, we (mostly me right now), will be studying the Beismer surname as well as all the variant spellings I can find.  I will not be researching the Bessemer (steel)  surname or surnames that look similar but are pronounced Bays-mer.

I can use help.  There's a lot of work to do.  Any little bit of help would be appreciated.  In order to help, you have to join WikiTree.  IT'S FREE.  And, you have to read and be willing to follow the Honor Code that you will find there.  It's also a good idea to read most of what's in the One-Name Study Project pages and watch some of their videos.  It's fun.  Really!!  News from the study will be posted on the Surname page in this blog (see the tabs at the top).

While you're at WikiTree to consider helping with the study, you can look up relatives to see if they're there.

And

The Wormuth Name Study has begun.  

Read what's written about the above study; the same for the Wormuth Name Study.  News from the study will be posted on the Surname page in this blog (see the tabs at the top).

Please come and help.  While you're at WikiTree to consider helping with the study, you can look up relatives to see if they're there.  

Thank you.

I looked for a photo that could be related to the News. I know the man on our right is Silas Beismer, my great grandfather.  The man on our left is either a Beismer, a Wormuth, or a Swartwout.  If you know who he is, let me know.  Thank you.

Continuing On....

Historic Note:     I thought you might like this....

    November 7, 1912---

    "Because of the small pox epidemic the Board of Health ordered that all children under the age of 16 be excluded from public streets of the village, schools to be closed, fraternal order meetings and religious meetings to be forbidden and that vaccination be universal."

from "News Items of the Past from the Hancock Herald" -- in Stockport on the Delaware by Elizabeth Stephens Lotterer.

And, I didn't even have to look for it.  She has an entire chapter of newspaper clippings in the little booklet which is very enlightening since I never thought much about what was on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware, having grown up more inland.  The book is a very interesting description of the early history of the area from Binghamton to Port Jervis and life in border towns that is still very much the back and forth it always has been, even when that border is between countries.  Having lived very near the Mexican border in California and having friends on the Canadian/U.S. border, I know that International borders are seen very differently by people living along those borders many of whom cross it constantly.  After all, borders are mostly in our minds.

Which reminds me of a funny memory.  I once lived in a small apartment complex in California; don't ask me where because I can't remember, where the complex was divided by an imaginary border between 2 municipalities and, interestingly, 2 post offices.  My neighbor, across the sidewalk through the complex lived in a different town, had a different zip code and her mail was delivered by different mail carriers.  And, of course, her town and mine had different ordinances for some things.  That's what borders can mean.  Stupidity.

NEWS

    Not much new.  I continue working on various branches of my family tree and all my profiles at WikiTree.

    The biggest news is that I expect to be starting 2 One-Name Studies in May.  WikiTree has quite a lot of rules which I appreciate because it keeps things moving along smoothly and consistently.  There are criteria to meet in order to begin a One-Name Study at WikiTree which I haven't quite met until May.

    A One-Name Study is research on a single surname and, possibly, its variants.  These studies can be started for a variety of reasons.  Mine is a common one; I'm stuck; on almost all my family branches.  I can't seem to get back another generation, find parents for certain ancestors, etc.  It's true for almost all my family lines.  It's very frustrating.  Of course, I haven't even begun to exhaust all the resources out there but it would mean a lot of traveling to documents that aren't online yet and I'm not quite prepared to do that.

    So, starting a One-Name Study means a variety of things.  I'll be starting with finding all the instances of the surname, regardless of whether or not the individual with the name appears to be related, wherever they live, whenever they lived, whatever the kind of record I can find.  All this time, as I've searched for ancestors and relatives, I've run across other people, clearly, or seemingly, not related with the same surnames.  A One-Name Study will collect all those additional people and organize them.  Who knows what will turn up?

    The 2 surnames I'm going to start with are BEISMER and all its variants; and, WORMUTH, and all its variants. And, wherever I find them.

    So there are 2 primary geographic areas where I've seen Beismers and variant spellings:  in Sullivan County, NY, and in Ulster County, NY.  Now there is geographic overlap because Ulster County was an early county and existed during Colonial times while Sullivan County was carved, in part out of Ulster County. So, part of a One-Name Study, is just that, the history of the counties of New York State.

    In the case of the Wormuths, there was, early on, a family in the Mohawk Valley.  There are duplicate names between that family group and those in Sullivan and Delaware counties.  I, personally, have not found a definitive connection between the 2 groups of Wormuths.  If someone else knows it, they haven't told me about it.

    In both cases, there are, of course, other Beismers and Wormuths throughout the country and in other countries.  A One-Name Study is always International so it also can provide origins of the name and the families.  A One-Name Study also can describe how members of the family migrated from one place to another, how branches of a family changed religion, changed politics, changed professions, etc.

    A One-Name Study is usually conducted by a team; it's a pretty big project for just one person.  For me it's personal; I'm stuck, but there are other people who just like aspects of this kind of project.  There is a Guild of One-Name Studies which I will be joining once I get started.  There is, currently, no One-Study registered for either Beismers nor Wormuths at either the Guild or at WikiTree.  That means that doing these studies may possibly open up more resources for these families and identify more people who are interested in the families.  You don't have to be related to the surnames to work on the research.

So, at this point, I'm letting you all know that I'll be doing these studies.  If you're interested in participating, let me know, join WikiTree -- IT'S FREE -- and I'll let you know what work has to be done.

FYI

    I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before:  A "family" crest or coat of arms is NOT given to a family, but to an individual for various reasons.  You can buy them and hang them on your walls but they really aren't yours.  I suspect that most of them that you can buy aren't genuine anyway.  I have several either in print or digital:  Mattice, Beismer, maybe Wormuth.  It would be interesting to find out who they were made for but I'm not all that interested in that but I might make it a task for the One-Name Studies.  If you look up the arms of the royal family (Wikipedia), you'll find that there are official arms of various types and each individual has their own, often composed of elements of their ancestors.  Each element of the arms signifies something.  The College of Arms of the U.K. regulates their heraldry.  Other countries have similar heraldic authorities.  There is an American Heraldry Society but it doesn't have the official weight as those in other countries.  After all, the establishment of the United States and our democracy was based on equality, not a feudal hierarchical society (as much as we've been able to avoid it) which required strict class distinctions assisted by heraldry and other social institutions.  Anyway, if you're displaying a coat of arms, it's isn't yours and doesn't actually apply to you.

My apologies for being so wordy in this post.  I try not to be but there was a lot I wanted to say.  So here's a picture of the Stockport Cemetery.  Stockport is between Hancock, NY and Equinunk on the PA side.  I already know that a bunch of some of my ancestors moved back and forth across the river in that area.

That's it!

One mystery solved

 As I wrote a couple of blogs ago.  I have 2, apparent, death certificates for one of my ancestors, Minerva Odell, but, on closer inspection I began to think they were death certificates for 2 different people.

Generally, when researching family history, you go backwards looking at each person on a direct ancestral line: maternal or paternal.  After a while, though, you look at family groups, the children of each couple.  After that, you can start to look at the family group for each of those offspring; cousins, etc., and, your family tree grows and grows.  You don't always get to each individual in a family; there isn't always a need nor an interest.

So, as I previously wrote, I had immediately emailed the Meredith town clerk about my mystery and I got a response.  Thanks to Liliane Briscoe, Town Clerk of the Town of Meredith, for solving the mystery.  What she found was that Minerva June Odell, was the daughter of Ancel Odell and Gertrude "Florence" Gransbury.  She was born in 1928 and lived only 3 days; very sad.  Ancel was the grandson of Minerva A. Odell so little Minerva, her name sake, was great granddaughter of Minerva A. Oliver Odell.  2 death certificates for 2 different family members.

There was one other family member that had a baby for which I have no name.

Historic Note:

I decided to include these historic notes, from time to time, because I occasionally read or refer to local history books that have been written about the geographic areas where my family branches lived.  These local histories are usually written by people living in the area who have talked to people about their memories and who often have access to local documents.  Many history books cover major historical events that affected the country's economic and political landscape with little attention to how those events affected local towns and individuals at the time.  Local histories are, generally, just the opposite; they begin with local historic events and have details often missed in more general writings.

I often run across interesting things in these books that relate to towns and people I'm familiar with that I think might be of interest to other family members and others researching in the same geographical area.

Because of copyright restrictions, I can only include small quotations but, hopefully, if you're interested, you can get a copy of the book quoted and read more. Brackets [] are usually mine, for clarification.

-------------------

    "...Less than 200 miles south of the Mohawk lies the Minisink Valley and the Wyoming Valley, both of which have also received much historical recognition for the battles which transpired there.

    The territory between the two, though less familiar, is of no less importance in the total picture of the border wars of the American Revolution in New York State.  The same brutal fighting that characterized the two places also erupted in the area between, in the midst of which was the former trading center and missionary outpost called Onaquaga [Oquaga].... 

    ...The name Onaquaga was also used for an are[a] of the river valley, an expanse of perhaps twenty miles running in a north-south direction, as well as the village itself.

    ...Its exact location is 1 1/2 miles north of present Windsor.

    ...This important carrying place went to Cookhouse, now Deposit, on the Delaware River, a favorite haunt of Indians and fur traders.... Cookhouse, or Cookose, meant "Owl's Nest" or "Place of Owls", and then contained "Two Huts of Delaware Indians...

    ...Heading up river from Onaquaga, at the junction of the Susquehanna and the Unadilla Rivers, was the white settlement of Old Unadilla or Johnstone Settlement, present day Sidney.  This village, like Onaquaga, also became a prominent base of operations for the Tories and Indians...."

from Onaquage: Hub of the Borders Wars by Marjory Barnum Hinman, self published, 1975.

Joseph Brant set up operations there.  It was a very interesting area.

News

I continue to work on the family tree at WikiTree.  I joined a couple of projects there and I think I need to back out of one because I don't have access to records outside the U. S.  And, I think I've taken on more than I can do.

I continue to digitized documents which has been helpful in taking another, closer look at them and finding more information, or, more questions.

Once you get bitten by the family history bug, it's an endless process; I'll never be finished.

I'm at brick walls just about on every branch.

I'm about to send out 2 new documents requests.  It's always interesting to see what comes back.

Names

 Once you've been researching your family history for a while, you begin to notice the names, mostly surnames, but also unusual or antiquated names. I know that both surnames and given names usually, or originally, have a meaning; they're not just letters thrown together that, when spoken make a sound.  So, for instance:

The name Rufus is, from Latin, means red-head.

Girls can be named for flowers: Daisy, Iris, Rose, Laura (for Laurel).

Given names differ in various cultures and their origins can be specific to a particular culture or language, but, sometimes a given name has an equivalent meaning in a different language.  So, for instance:

James, in English, means supplanter or he who replaces; in Spanish, Diego; in Italian, Giacomo; in French, Jacques; in German, Jakob; in Dutch, Jacob.

Put your given name in any browser followed by name meaning and you'll find what your name means, unless, of course, it's just a modern contrivance and there appear to be those.

I find the meaning of my given name to be highly contrived while I understand how it's meaning was derived; but I think it's stretching it.  My father says I was not named for the nickname of his military unit, 79th Infantry Division (Cross of Lorraine) but the origin actually remains the same. So:

Lorraine is derived from the French region of Lorraine, in German Lothringen.  The name comes from the medieval kingdom of Lotharingia which was named for either Emperor Lothair I or King Lothair II -- Wikipedia.  Because either or both of the Lothairs were considered warlike, the name Lorraine is now given the meaning of warrior.  

How and why people are given specific names can be interesting, although it can just be random, as well.  

There are several Kings in my Odell/Oliver family branch; not as first names but as middle names.  Middle names are often, noticeably, the maiden name of the mother.  I have found no King family related to my Odell family, so far.  There were Kings living nearby.  I have a Joseph King Odell; a Wesley King Oliver and my father's given name, Leroy, is derived from French, le roi, for king.  Just an interesting naming pattern in one family.

Nicknames can also be interesting.  In my family tree I have at least 2 people nicknamed Dutch; one nicknamed Dude; one nicknamed Bus.  Nicknames are usually shortened forms of their full given name like Rob for Robert, Joe for Joseph, etc.  Sometimes someone prefers their middle name to their first name and that's what they're called, to the point that, sometimes, there are arguments, much later, after their deaths, about what their real given name was.  So, Thomas James became James and I still have to correct people who insist that his name was James.  William Marcus became Marcus.

The most interesting given name I've found is Permelia.  I really disliked the name when I first saw it but it's beginning to grow in me.  It was used in colonial and 19th century America then seemed to die out.  It is Latin for "by sweetness", so it's actually a sweet name.  It is not related to the name Pamela.

Surnames are just as interesting as given names.  Surnames can be derived from the given name of an ancestor, from an occupation, from a geographic location.

Cartright - cart maker

Schoonmaker - literally, clean maker; cleaner

Sawyer - sawyer

Odell - possibly, depending on origin, from Dell

Mac whatever - son of

Our Beismer surname, the name of my maternal grandfather and his father, began, apparently with that generation; my great grandfather's father's surname was Beesimer.  Or was it? There are, reportedly, between 42 and 52 variant spellings for the surname alone.  I personally have recorded more than 24 spellings.  Our surname is pronounced either Beez mer or Beez e mer.  I was told by someone at a genealogy conference that, if pronounced as we pronounce it:  Beezmer, it means beekeeper, but, if pronounced Bayzmer, it means broommaker.  I don't know.

And, that brings up spelling in general. We have only recently, maybe in the past hundred years, developed English spelling rules (more or less).  Many of my ancestors in the past hundred years had little education and could barely read or write.  In addition, ALL of the "official" records that define our ancestors' life and history were filled in by other people: census records, birth, marriage and death records, etc.  Unless we have an actual signature of an ancestor, we have no idea how they wrote their name; how they identified themselves.  Within our family, as mentioned, the Beismer spelling began only 2 generations before mine and continues forward.  

The pattern of name usage within families can be interesting.  Our Beismer surname seems to have begun in Sullivan County, NY.  There are other variants there.  Some of them seem to have origins in Ulster County; Sullivan County in part formed form Ulster County.  The farther out from where our immediately family began, the more variant spellings there seem to be.  Since I don't have a European origin yet, I don't know what the spellings might have been outside the U.S.

The study of proper names is Onomastics; origin, history, meaning, use.

Anthroponymy is the study of personal names; Greek for "human name".

Toponymy is the study of place names.

People like: Cher, Prince, Cleopatra, Thayendanegea are mononymous people, having one name; although they usually had regular given and surnames; not sure about Cleopatra.  Some, like Thayendanegea later took Anglicized names, Joseph Brant.

There are entire societies and organizations formed around studying names:  American Name Society; International Council of Onomastic Sciences.

One-Name Studies are projects that are researching the origins and history of specific surnames.  I'm stupidly considering beginning 3 such projects for surnames in my tree that are problematic either because of the number of variant spellings or because the name appears so infrequently that it's difficult to fine:  Beismer, Platner, Wormuth. I'll keep you posted if I actually decide to do such a study.  There's even a Guild of One-Name Studies to join.

So, what's in a name.  Lots.

Having fun

Historical Note: 

"There were many Munsee villages, each with a population of a few hundred people, located along streams and in places where brooks flowed into the Hudson, and on bays and harbors. The communities of the Esopus and Warranawankong stretched from the Catskills to the Highlands of the Hudson, while along Haverstraw Bay were those of the Haverstraw. From Nyack south to the Atlantic Highlands and the Raritan were the Tappan, Hackensack, Navasink and Raritan, who were also called Sanhican. To the south and west in New Jersey were the Aquackanonk, around Paterson, the Pompton along the Passaic, and Whippany and Muscenetcong further south. To the east of the Hudson were the Wappinger, Kitchawanc, Siwanoy, Wiechquaeskeck, and Rechgawawank, whom the Dutch called Manhate. On Long Island were Canarsie, Rechowack or Rockaway, Massapequa, and Matinecock. Other Munsee bands lived in Orange County, north-western New Jersey, and along the upper Delaware River in New York and Pennsylvania. In colonial times their principal village was on and near Minnisink Island in the Delaware just below Port Jervis. While over the years these have been called separate tribes, all were Munsee-speaking and Munsee-related peoples. The name Munsee is primarily linguistic and its literal meaning is "person from Minnisink"." -- from Indians of the Lower Hudson Region: The Munsee, by Julian Harris Salomon, Historical Society of Rockland, County, New City, NY, 1982, pp. 14-15. 

News: 

    I recently rejoined WikiTree. I hadn't even visited the site for a long, long time. When I rejoined most of my family profiles were still there but orphaned so I adopted them back. And, there were a couple of glitches that the volunteer staff there fixed for me. 

    Despite my reservations for posting family trees online, I highly recommend WikiTree. It's free -- completely. I still have my reservations. While there are privacy settings, it's still possible for the information to be collected and used and sold by others. 

    Still, I've already "met" a couple of previously unknown actual relatives there. 

    The standards for profiles, if I try to meet them, is making me more organized and meticulous in my research and recording keeping. 

    There are some really nice features like combining the output from several DNA testing sites and matching to members; like being able to collaborate with other researchers of your family; like being able to add tags and categories to your ancestors' profiles so other people searching in geographic areas or for Civil War veterans, for example, or in cemeteries, will find your ancestor. 

    I'm having a lot of fun trying to get my ancestors' profile just right and all the best information and sources added. In trying to do so, I've been digitizing my documents and will get back to doing the same with my photographs. I've also come up with some, hopefully, more useful revisions to a variety of indices I need to keep myself organized and to find things again. Keeping up with and organizing correspondence has always been difficult for me, partly because I'm researching ALL my family lines, but also because, despite being a librarian, I'm not a very organized person by nature. Slowing down to make a record of what I've done and how to find it again, is just not in my nature -- but I can do it; and I need to do it. 

Visit WikiTree and search for your ancestors. See what's there. 

A New Mystery: 

    Discovered while digitizing documents and entering data in WikiTree.

    Minerva A. Odell, formerly Oliver, was one of my paternal great great grandmothers.

Pretty, huh? I don't know how young she was in this photo. 

    I have her death certificate, 2 copies actually, and was in the process of digitizing and indexing it when I discovered something. I'm not sure if my 2 copies are 2 copies or 2 separate death certificates of 2 different people. 

    The copy that I know is for my grandmother (it's just easier at some point to call all my various degrees of grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. a shortened version of the title, in this case, grandmother) has her name, dates, husband, parents, undertaker, place of burial and name of family informant. All of which are familiar. 

    This document is a transcription signed by the registrar of Meridale, NY. Many, maybe most "official" vital records that you receive from town, county and state offices are transcriptions because many, maybe most "official" records are in thick bound books that are very difficult to copy and there is, of course, huge resistance to dismantling those books in order to digitize or photocopy the records. 

    he problem with transcriptions (as well as the original, actually) is human error. Transcriptions are usually supplied on a pre-printed form that may change over the years. Recent transcriptions I've paid for have caused me to call whichever official to ask if there is any additional information on the original that is not on the transcription. In many cases, there has been. In this case, everything looks fine. 

    The other "copy" is also a transcription, signed by a deputy registrar of the Town of Meredith.

NOTE: Meridale is a small village in the Town of Meredith. Some villages have their own village clerk, some have not, in which case the records are kept in the Town. 

    This 2nd "copy" is on a green safety paper form supplied by the State of NY, with a small box of information: some official numbers, name, date of death, date of filing, place of death, official town or village. That's it. Sometimes, the local official completing the form will add more information to the side of the form's boxes. 

NOTE: When I started all this research over 40 years ago, copies of "official" birth, marriage and death records cost about $5, depending on where you requested them. They are now, "officially", $22 dollars -- for a photocopy or a transcription. Some local village and town clerks are more reasonable and send them out for $10. Documents, of various kinds, from historical societies, etc., from the DAR, from the National Archives, range from that $10 up to more than the NYS cost of $22. The costs for National Archives documents depend on the size of the file you request but I've never found it to be any more than NYS's price. 

    In any case, this 2nd "copy" has the name Minerva JUNE O'Dell, not Minerva A., which is what her name is everywhere else - so far. It also has a different death date; almost 2 years before the document that I know is for my grandmother. 

    So what's up? I have no idea. 

    I've already emailed the Town Clerk of Meredith (the village and the town are now one, administratively). I supplied a lot of information from the documents. It will be interesting to see what I get in response. 

    I also did a little online searching to see if I might find a Minerva June O'Dell living in Meredith, the same time as my gg grandmother, Minerva. I did not. I don't know the age of Minerva June at death. Could she have been a child? I have no record of my relatives having another child. 

    While writing this, something else occurred to me and I checked, quickly, through the families of the children of my gg grandmother, Minerva, and I have found 2 possible children that it might be but very little information about either.  I'll wait and see. 

So, that's it this time. 

Wear a mask. Get the shots. Let's do all we can to nip this virus in the bud and get back our lives.

New Facebook group

 News

I started a new Facebook group for sharing family and unidentified photos.  There are a lot of FB groups for doing that but I wanted to limit the group somehow so there were less photos to look through so I limited it to New York State.  

It's been a lot of fun seeing all the old photos and getting some of my unidentified photos finally identified.

More to come at:

New York State Unidentified and Family Photos

Also new, I rejoined WikiTree after have been inactive there for a long time.  When I rejoined I was unable to just pick up all the stuff I had left there; I had to create a new account.  Unfortunately, that meant that, as I added things, I was duplicating profiles that I had left there.

Fortunately, they have quite a staff and bunch of volunteers who were alerted and everything (I hope) is fixed.  My old account and new account have been merged as well as old profiles of ancestors with new ones so now I can continue.

There are new features there including DNA matches.

It's a completely FREE site so I recommend it if you want to post your family tree somewhere.

Their aim is to create a single family tree connecting everyone around the world.

Join me @ WikiTree

More Unsolved Mysteries

 In My Odell/O'Dell family line:

Joseph Odell -- No death date for Joseph Odell, Sr.  who appeared on the 1870 census, in Rockland/Morsston P.O., age 60.  Nobody in the family appeared on the 1875 NYS census in that area.  The 1880 census in Rockland, shows Katie Odell, Joseph's wife, in the home of their son, Reuben, and widowed.  

So, Joseph died between Sept. 5, 1870 and the 1880 census.  Official birth, marriage and death certificates were filed as of 1880, so he, undoubtedly, died before it was "required" to file a death certificate.  I've found no newspaper notice.

I have no parentage for Joseph.

Birthplace - 1850 census says PA.  1855 NYS census says Delaware Co. (NY or PA?)  1880 census says NYS as well as his parents.

I have no documentation for Joseph other than the censuses.

=================

Catherine M. Odell -- Joseph's wife.  Several family trees on Ancestry have maiden names for her.  One of them, Catherine Lawrence, is definitely incorrect.  Dates don't match.  Children don't match, etc.  Another is Agner.  Nobody, so far can tell me where that surname came from but in each of those trees, with that maiden name, her death date is incorrect.  She died in the poor house in Delhi, Delaware County, NY in 1892.

I have no parentage for Catherine.  

I do have her death certificate and a list of internments in the county cemetery (paupers field) from Delaware County.

=================

Joseph and Catherine had 5 children, that I know of:  Reuben, William, Hannah, Anna and Charity.  I have family information from most of them.  

=================

William Odell, born about 1832 in, possibly PA, according the 1850 census.  He was 18 in 1850.  

He is not with his parents on the 1855 NYS census.  He would have been about 23 then.  The only William Odell, nearby, that I've been able to find in 1855 was a William Odell, age 21, in Monroe, Orange Co., NY.  I don't know if it's the same William Odell.  

The best way to find out if it is the same William is to follow him forward, with his family, through the censuses, until his death and hopefully find his death certificate which might give his parents names.  

He would have been married too early for there to have been an "official" marriage certificate which might have had his parents names.

So, work to do to try to find if this is the correct William.

================

Charity Odell, born approximately 1843, again in PA as shown on the 1850 census.  The 1855 NYS census says she was born in Greene Co., NY.  She was 12 in 1855.  The family was living in Liberty, Sullivan Co., NY.

The 1860 census has a Charity Odell, 16, working as a domestic in the home of Darius Oliver and Hannah Odell Oliver, in Liberty, who was her sister.  I'm assuming this is the correct Charity.

There is no Charity Odell found in NYS on the 1870 census.  She would have been about 26 yrs old.

One of the things I learned to do in the case of women is to calculate their age on the next census and search in the general area for all the women about that age (give or take a couple of years) with that given name.  Sometimes, you'll find the correct person married but it requires further research to verify that it's the correct person.  I do find several Charitys in the area but I haven't verified, yet, that any of them are the Charity Odell I'm looking for.  

Back then, Charity, last found at age 16, could easily have died from all kinds of diseases but I also have found no death documentation for her.

===============

That's it for now.

If you know anything about any of the  people mentioned in any of my posts, I would very much appreciate whatever you know.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

My scanner

 Actually a multifunction machine.

Here's the story; or my opinion:

Years ago, I was going into places like Walmart and Riteaid, frequently, to have my old family photos copied.  Finally, I asked an employee at a Riteaid what the scanner inside the box was.  I knew there was a scanner in there.  She, of course, didn't know.  So, I talked her into opening the box so we could find out what it was.  I knew it wasn't some magical thing, but a scanner that I might be able to buy somewhere.

It was an Epson.  I don't remember the model; it doesn't really matter at this point.  I looked it up online and, lo and behold, it could be purchased as a multi-functional printer, scanner, fax machine.  And, I bought one.  

My current printer is an Epson Workforce model.  I never use the fax; it isn't even set up.

The fact is, like automobiles, if you buy almost any of the major brands of multi-function machine:  Epson, Canon, HP, etc. - I wouldn't buy Brother - you should be able to get a good printer/scanner to do most of what most of us want to do.  I have had bad experiences with HP and Panasonic hardware so I won't recommend them.  Brother was originally a sewing machine manufacturer; printers are not sewing machines and Brother sewing machines were not highly rated at that.  These are all the major brands.

I can confidently recommend Epson and Canon.  You would probably be Ok with HP, I may have just had a few bad experiences and it was a while ago.  I recommend staying away from any machine with moving parts obviously made of plastic.

You can now buy a good (now called all-in-one printer) for under $200.  

If you're in the market for a printer, I suggest that you make a list of all the features you want:  wireless connection, wireless printing, able to print photos, color printing (if it can print color, it can print in black and white), will hold an entire ream of paper (100 sheets), can print on both sides, can collate (put pages in order), can print last page first so the pages stack and page 1 ends up on top. Can print on legal-sized paper and will hold legal-sized (8.5" x 14") paper.  Can automatically feed pages into the printer.  Most of these features are now standard on modern printers.  Compare costs of the printer and the ink cartridges.  Read reviews of real users, not reviews on the manufacturers' web sites.  Do they tell you how long the cartridges last?  Mine last a long time but I print mostly in black on white, even photo printing is "gray scale" which is black ink; but I print a lot.  Epson has a high yield, oversized black cartridge so I suspect that most others have also.  I do occasionally print in color.

I don't recommend refill cartridges but I haven't tried any in over a decade.  My experience in the past wasn't good.

All machines that have moving parts have possibilities for problems.  These manufacturers should work for you for a long time.  I haven't replaced my printer in years.  At some point I will have to because my printer drivers will no longer be compatible with my computer.  You may feel comfortable buying an extended warrantee when you buy a printer of any kind; I don't currently have one.  Printers are the weakest part of computing in my experience; they give you the most trouble although I can't say I have much trouble; the scanner software that came with mine is a little Hinky but I manage.

Most stores that sell printers can help you with answering questions and in making a final choice but don't let them sell you a no-name anything.

That's it....

Consanguinity: Blood Relationship

 

Taken from Kinship:  It's All Relative by Jackie Smith Arnold, first edition, 1990.

Even in this format, it's not always easy to follow

Still a Mystery

 These are some mysteries I'm still trying to solve in various family lines:

Harriet Barecolt - Her name appears on son, Joseph Wormuth's death certificate.  I have found NO other information about her.  If Joseph Wormuth's mother she was married to his father, Peter Wormuth whose calculated birth year was 1788 in NYS.  I have no birth place for Harriet, no death date or place.  

Joseph (b. 1814) had 3 brothers:  Peter J. (b. 1827); John W. (1815); and Stephen W. (b. 1823).

Peter, Sr. was also married to a Grace Deighton Ramsey in 1849.  They had 4 children:  Elizabeth A. (b. 1850); James Henry (b. 1852); Henry (b. 1853); Mary C. (b. 1854); and Richard B. (b. 1859).  Since this marriage was in 1849, one can assume that Harriet died before that.

Prior to 1850, only the name of the head of household appeared on censuses.  Since Harriet probably died before 1849, she would last have appeared on the 1840 census.  That census shows Peter in Liberty, Sullivan County, NY.  One male is listed age 50-59 which would be Peter.  One female is listed, age 50-59.  Maybe this is Harriet.  

If 50-59 in 1840, Harriet would have been born between 1781 and 1790.  The first federal census was 1790.  There was nobody names Barecolt on that census.  However, since there are all kinds of errors on official documents, it's very possible that the surname isn't exactly Barecolt but something that sounds like it.

Assuming that Harriet died between the 1840 census and Peter's marriage to Grace in 1849 and she and Peter last lived in Liberty, it's a good possibility that she died in Liberty. 

Death certificates can list spouses and parents, places and dates of birth.  So, I requested death certificates for each of Joseph's brothers.  I was unable to find death certificates for John or Stephen.  Peter J's  death certificates doesn't list his parents or place of birth or death.

So, the mystery remains...

More of these in later posts.

Family Cemeteries

The Vande(r)mark Family Cemetery, NY

In the years of my research, I discovered that there are quite a few family cemeteries, some of them 'abaondoned'.  There is one in my family.

First, the story of how my immediate family discovered ours.  I've undoubtedly told this before and it may be in a past post.

My nephew, in high school, I think, was on a trek with a conservation group.  They were being "taught", more like indoctrinated, about the idea of wasted land; in this case, cemeteries.  The idea.  And, more about that below.  There were visiting rural cemeteries and happened to be standing in one in Debruce, Sullivan County, NY.  I wonder if they also stopped in the Henry Cemetery which is on the road below our family cemetery.  Ours required a short walk up a hill from the Henry Cemetery.  

My nephew turned around and there were 3 headstones with family surnames on them.  He came home, told his mother, my sister and his grandmother, our mother.  My mother called me and asked me to come up, I lived elsewhere, so we could go to the cemetery together.  There were reports of "coy dogs" in the area.  My mother didn't want to go alone.  I can't remember if my sister went with us but my nephew did so I assume she did as well.  

The cemetery is on what was originally family land, now owned by the State.  As already mentioned the Henry family cemetery is on the road.  The lot next to the Henry Cemetery is privately owned.  The road up to the Vandermark Family Cemetery is on private land.  The last time I was there, it was necessary to step over the log blocking that road to walk up to our cemetery.  A relative of some kind told me she regularly moved the log and drove up.  Since I'm not from the area, I chose to just walk up.

We visited the cemetery and my mother was in tears.  There, in front of her was the grave of her favorite uncle who, after some discussion and revelations, seemed to have had a fondness for her, having given her a few very nice gifts over the years.  My mother had not known about the cemetery.

Just an aside:  I find it interesting, in families, how some people are quite interested in some aspects of the family and not others and some people show very little interest at all.

If memory serves me, I'm quite sure that you can stand at one spot in the cemetery and see the surnames of the 3 original families on headstones in front of you.

Since the State took the land and the family lost it, the cemetery, over time was abandoned; it becomes officially so designated.  The land is part of the local water shed and protected.  Up the road is a State Fish Hatchery.  Interestingly, under eminent domain which is the legal instrument through which the State seized the land, they were required to pay market price, at the time, for the land to the last name on the deed.  I don't know if that was ever done.  As far as I know, having taken a quick look through the records with no experience or instruction, the last person holding the deed was NettieWinner Beismer.  Everyone else seemed to have died or moved away.  The joint families owned a substantial chunk of land surrounding the cemetery.  It's quite a disappointment to see what was and what is now there.

Once considered abandoned, anybody can be buried in the cemetery for nothing more than the cost of digging the hole.  So, there are graves of unrelated people gradually filling our family cemetery.  

I learned, by accident, that a family cemetery association can be formed around a family cemetery controlling and protecting the cemetery just for the family.  There are papers to file with the state and local officials have to be informed.  The maintenance of the cemetery is then the responsibility of the association.

Looking, just now, at the NYS web site, it looks like, as in many things, the laws pertaining to cemeteries have become more complicated, which is why a board is required to maintain the cemetery and to comply with state and local regulations.  I've downloaded the manual.  I've also contacted the NYS Association of Cemeteries which is composed mostly of regular cemetery boards but I'll see what they can tell me.

If anyone in the Hogancamp, Beismer or Vandermark families is interested in pursuing this, with me, please email me at familytracker@yahoo.com.   

Thank you.

Green Burials and Cemetery Preserves:

A few years ago, I went to a nearby local green fair.  Yes, I try to be environmental conscious.

There I learned about green burials and cemetery preserves.  I was pleasantly surprised.

A green burial is one in which all the chemicals and various procedures are very different.  One can have the usual full body burial without embalming, without all the overpriced and over-the-top burial "furniture" one usually has to decide about.  One can be cremated and buried.  One can be cremated and scattered.  And several other choices.  The point to is remove all the environmentally questionable past practices of the treatment of the dead.

The more interesting aspect, to me, is the establishment of cemetery preserves.  Instead of the formal layout of a cemetery where plots are full of large grave sites, a cemetery preserve again has a variety of layouts but all are left to return to nature.  The land is preserved as a cemetery site with restricted use as far as development and, in effect, becomes open land, a nature park.  Some are quite beautifully designed with trails, planted with wildflowers and native trees, are protected for local wildlife and birds.  The policies on public use differ according to the individual cemetery preserve.

In the case of our family cemetery, it would mean the land would be preserved as a cemetery and as a natural place that can be visited as such.

On organizing your genealogical materials by a professional librarian

 A couple of thoughts on organizing genealogical materials from a professional librarian, with an admission that I'm constantly organizing and changing my mind about how to organize.

1. Take a look at what you have and, in your head, and on paper, decide on general categories of what you have: photographs, notes, documents, charts, logs, correspondence, background and historic information of various kinds. I research ALL my families: maternal and paternal, so my first 2 categories are my maternal and my paternal sides. Each line has all those types of materials.

2. Decide which of those categories you need to access most often and start a more detailed organization of them: maybe photographs, maybe correspondence, maybe documents.

3. Decide how and where you're going to keep a category: in hanging files, in file pockets, in photographic storage boxes, in 3-ring binders.

4. How do you most often look for a particular type of material, like photographs? Everybody does this differently.

For example: I want to be able to find documents for a particular individual, then by type of document.

I keep documents in page protectors in 3-ring binders.

I label the 3-ring binders by whether they are for my maternal or my paternal side. Right now I have 2 binders for each line.

I made a list, by surname, given name and document, of what I have that is kept in the front of each binder.

If I began with 2 dozen documents, of various kinds, I first divided them into maternal and paternal lines, then by surname, then each individual's given name.

Each page protector can hold 2 pages, back to back. I filled my page protectors and put them in the binders they belonged in.

Almost immediately, you might see the dilemma, If I have one document for one person and 3 for another, do I leave page protectors empty waiting for additional documents which may or may not appear.  Soon you have a binder full of pages with and without documents, etc.  I found, over time, that it's simpler, when adding new documents, to add them to the back of the least full binder; adding them out of order. At the same time you have to number the page protectors, each side, forget saving spaces for possible future documents, and create an index, alphabetically by surname/given name, page no., binder no. so you can retrieve the document as needed. It looks something like this:

Name                    Page        Binder No.        Document

Brown, James,         131            M2                birth certificate    (M for maternal)

Brown, James            13            M1                death certificate

Jones, Carl                 23           M1                marriage certificate

Smith, Clara               23           M1                marriage certificate

I number the pages consecutively from binder to binder. This has been working for me for documents.

Each type of material is different. Each of us is different in how we do our research, in how we use these materials, so in how we organize them.