New DAR member!

DAR Building Washington, D.C. image from the Library of Congress

Well, it happened.  After all the hand wringing, researching, and yelling “WHY!” at the ceiling, my DAR application was accepted.  Whew…

For those who have read the whole saga here on the blog you know that this was a long process.  Sometimes I get overly stubborn, but darn it I was going to prove this line!  A few times I was encouraged to change to a different, easier, ancestor.  No! Darn it all I started with this one I was going to finish this one.  Yes, I get like this a lot; it is part of my endearing nature you know. 

To say this has been a labor of love would put it mildly.  It has been a year and a half in the making.  There were multitudes of phone calls to various libraries, archives, courthouses, cousins, and of course my parents who listened patiently to every single development.  Late nights talking to my husband about new evidence, lack of evidence, possibilities, and frustrations.  Not to mention the hundreds of emails and phone calls to my fellow research friends. 

The hard part was done, and if I want to submit a second patriot right way I have his father, William Hayden, who fought with Virginia.  Too bad it’s not two for the price of one.  Wouldn’t that be awesome?  There should be a father son rule somewhere.

I do have a new quest to prove my mother’s 4^th great grandfather.  No one has submitted an application for him, ever.  When I saw that I was so surprised.  I hope with my fingers crossed, that this is very easy; particularly since I have his request for a pension through the Loudon County, Virginia Courts.

Now to get cracking on all that.  I have stuff to read, things to get involved in, and tons more to put on my plate.  Nope, just can’t do anything half way it seems.

Digging into other people's pasts

Recently I helped two friends do some beginning genealogy research online for their families.  You know, sitting around your living room and the subject of family history comes up so what do you do?  It seems my friends look at me and ask if I can look something up for them.  Even better, the two families are completely different!  Yes, that means my genealogy brain muscles are getting a good workout.

Andrea has deep roots in Alabama and Louisiana.  Specifically she was interested in learning what happened to her great-grandfather who was an Envoy to Honduras (John Ewing) in the 1910s.  As well as anything else we could figure out about her family.

She was one of those easy research cases.  There were lots of documents out there and tons of Google hits. Find-a-grave came in very handy too.  Over the course of 5 hours we traced, with documents, her ancestry back 5 generations to the early 1700s.  I was pleased, she was ecstatic.  Best of all, since she is getting her Masters in Library Science she is all about the source citations.  That is a win!

Passport Application for John Ewing

The biggest squeal of the day was when we found her great grandfather’s passport application.  This is when she discovered his father’s name (James Lindsay Ewing) and that he was from Scotland.  That was the break we needed as it lead to discovering her family history as cotton merchants.

Michael, on the other hand, had very little information on his family and just wanted to know what I could find.  I think that he was even surprised that using the internet I was able to get back to his great-grandparents on his mother’s side.  To make this even more of a challenge, there is the good possibility of research into slave records. Nothing like knowing there are large big brick walls in the future!

His family is from Maryland, as far back as he knows and I have been able to determine.  He was able to give me his parents’ names and the names of his maternal grandparents.  Most estimated birth dates and what death dates he knew.  That first night with him I was able to locate his father’s obituary online.  From it I determined his father’s name but not much else. Michael went home with a homework assignment to ask questions and find documents. 

Obituary for
Carrie Kent Young

The next week I did more poking around on my own to see what other leads I could find before making a trip with him to Maryland.  My biggest breakthrough so far was finding the obituary for his maternal grandmother.  In it was a listing of children, great-grandchildren, and even her parents.  With this information I was able to find census records for her and her parents in Baltimore.  Slowly, very slowly, it is all coming together.

I have to admit that this has been a new and interesting exercise for me, dabbling into another person’s family history.  It is not like when I research my own family and I can look at a family group and know if it is close or not at all.  I really have to call on everything I know and comb through records for every scrap of information I can get.

They have asked me to keep looking for information for them.  I am very excited to be looking into other family histories and help my friends at the same time.  This is going to be so much fun!

Making my FGS Schedule

I love schedules.  Really, I do.  It probably goes hand-in-hand with my office supply habit. Having clear schedules with color coded items and an itinerary really helps me feel better about what I am going to do.  Now, more often than not, I do throw caution to the wind and make on the fly adjustments.  However, without my uber organized pages of stuff, this spontaneity would make me a little crazier than normal. 

For the FGS conference in August I have already started the process on my excel program; which, for a girl who likes tech, is really old school.  But, hey, if it works why fix it?  This means come conference time I will have my color coded, tabbed, notebook, and labeled schedule all ready to go!

Even better, I can plan a basic itinerary through the FGS website.  The only drawback is it only lets me choose one presentation per time slot.  While it is true that you can only be in one place at a time, I still would like to list all presentations of interest in that time frame  Not a big deal, just means I would need to hand write extras on the side.  This would be a good tool to introduce my parents to however.  They could find it helpful for their planning and then we can all have copies of each other’s itineraries.  At times I am more concerned about losing my parents at the conference than my kids.

I am still looking for that perfect app that would make my notebook and papers obsolete. I may end up either 1) using my calendar app or 2) creating a PDF from an excel spread sheet that I can then use on GoodReader to make my iPad my go to gadget.  Even though I know it will work, it all depends on how much I want to do and how often I want my pocket buzzing telling me I have an appointment.  As I figure it out and adjust things I will let you know.

Currently I am looking through all those pages of classes and narrowing down what I want to take and when my conference/exhibit hall/research/free time will be.  You know that is a delicate balance.  I will most likely spend the lunch breaks wandering around the exhibit hall with evenings, Wednesday, and Sunday dedicated to research.  With 200 years of Indiana family lines I REALLY want to research as much as possible.  Who needs sleep…or food?

Looking at the tracks, I really want to attend classes in nearly all of them.  That is a lot of subjects and I need to par the list down a bit. I also need to see if mom or dad would be up for attending a couple of them for me. Yes, they may have other plans, but if they did attend those lectures I would have someone who could fill in the gaps for me later. 

Looking at the class lists, and if a time-turner a la Hermione Granger really did exist, I would choose to attend nearly 30 classes.  As that is not going to happen, I would like to solicit opinions from you.  Anything you think is a “must see” for me?  I am open to suggestions from you! You can see the full listing at the FGS Conference Website.

  

It is my plan that in the evenings of the conference to post here a re-cap of the day, including thoughts on the classes I attended. Of course, my twitter feed will be going all day if you really want to keep up with me.

Why I am going to FGS

One of my Genealogical New Year’s Resolutions was to attend a national conference.  Some of my genealogy, and non-genealogy, friends asked why.  Why would you want to spend the money and do that? Plus how are you going to pull that off with kids being a stay at home mom and stuff?  Good questions and I had to think long and hard on these, but I knew in the end the work, begging, pleading, and sanity sacrifices would be worth it.

Let me explain…

I am still new to the genealogy scene in a lot of aspects.  With just three years of genealogy focused research under my belt, it is understandable why I still feel like the new kid in the community.  While I am not new to research, and some types of research/report style writing, genealogy is a whole new kettle of fish.  Since the beginning I have read and been told that to get the feel for this community I should step out of the house and into the conference setting at least a couple of times.

Until now I have only attended a couple small one day seminars and Virtual Conferences.  The atmosphere at each was obviously different (one in person and one on line) but there were common themes.  Right off I noticed the community atmosphere.  This was followed closely by a strong desire for learning by the participants. It was amazing to me how people interacted with one another, gave feedback, said hi like they were long lost best friends, helped with research problems, and the overwhelming friendliness of everyone left me breathless.  I can just imagine what that will be like multiplied by 100!

To say that I am on pins and needles with excitement is putting it mildly.  There are so many people I want to meet in person because I have only ever “meet” them online.  Chatting through email and message systems only goes so far. Sometimes it is that personal touch of an in person meeting that can cement friendships and grow professional relationships.  

Listening to the live and pre-recorded lectures from a few of this years conferences has really whet my appetite for the whole experience.  It made me very jealous of those who were there in person.  They had the opportunity to participate and interact with the presenters as well as other conference goers.  It is always different in person, I know that, and I am sure the crowds are going to be enormous but I am willing to put up with the crush to be in the front row this time!

Also, I want to peruse all the goodies in the exhibit hall.  When else will I be able to see all that stuff I have read about live and in person? Knowing my luck I am going to go over my budget, but I bet it will be wort every penny I spend.  Good thing I am driving; books are heavy and expensive to ship.

As a self-confessed education geek, I can’t wait for the presentations.  This will be my main focus: to be a sponge and soak up as much information as I possibly can.  I wonder what my overload point will be.  That, in my opinion, is the ultimate reason why I want to go to this conference.  I want to stuff my little head with information until I can’t take anymore!

Maybe I am way off base, and have no idea what I am really in for.  Why do you think someone should try and get to at least one national conference a year?  Do you have any advice for this first time attendee?

Road Trip: Packing for FGS 2013

Skyline of Ft. Wayne, Indiana

In a month I will leave for FGS in Ft. Wayne.  Yes, a miracle happened and I was able to pull off the trip registering on the last day for the early bird discount.  Even better, I am squeezing in a visit to my extended family before the conference.  Yay!  

Potential family finds and a genealogy conference, what more could I wish for.  Oh, and I am dragging my parents along for the ride.  Yep, mom and dad will be attending the conference as well.  This is going to get crazy!

Is a month out too soon to start thinking about packing?  I have attended a couple conferences on other topics, but, like I have said before, never a large genealogy conference.  There has to be something I just can’t live without right?  On the other hand large conferences are pretty much the same so I should be able to rely on past experiences. 

I have spent the last few hours trying to figure out how much I should stuff into my car.  Oh…did I mention I was driving from Virginia? Yeah, 14 hours-ish on the road, meeting mom and dad in Indiana for family visiting, and then off to Fort Wayne.  Wish me luck.  Or even better buy me a drink at the hotel when I get in.

­­­So…let’s dive into what I think I should bring.  I will rely on you all to tell me if I am being a little too ambitious.  Oh, and I will limit it to conference stuff only.  I won’t bore you with what I am packing in the truck for on the road entertainment.

See you in Fort Wayne!

 

General Needs:

Sturdy large bag: Bigger than a purse but smaller than a duffel bag is what I like to bring.  Something sturdy enough to put shopping in as well as carry everything I think I will need to have a happy conference.

Comfy shoes:  I am all for being stylish but now that I am mumble mumble years old I can appreciate comfortable footwear.  Some sort of loafer or sneakers will be in my bag for the trip.

Layers: Dressing in layers is always a must.  While it might be sweltering outside you can bet that there will be at least one room that is a freezer inside.  A light sweater or jacket will be with me.

Snacks: Having a few snacks on hand when you can’t get out for a real meal is a must have. Protein bar, some nuts, a piece of fruit, or anything that will give a boost of energy, but is small, is great to have.  I also tend to carry some hard candy or gum just in case I need it after lunch. 

Water:  While my morning coffee is important I have become addicted to carrying a water bottle with me.  Now that you can get bottles with built in filters I will have one of these in my bag as well.  I can have water with me at any time and no worries about where the recycling bin is.

Electronics: Cords, cables, iPod, head phones, and etc.  A techie girl has to have her toys in tow!

Conference Needs:

Schedule:  I have already highlighted and dog-eared the FGS conference schedule that I picked up from my local society meeting months ago.  However, my organization streak has not stopped there because now that I am actually going my spread sheets are out.  I will have as much of my time planed out and arranged as possible before I get there.

Business Cards:  A few months back I had a bunch of business cards made up with my contact information printed on them.  They have come in handy at meetings and presentations or when I meet someone else in the genealogy world and I want to keep in touch.  I hope that I can pass them out to new friends here too!

iPad: Do I need to say more?

Notebook/Binder:  Yes, sometimes an old fashioned paper and a notebook/binder is the answer.  I can keep my schedule (in plastic page protectors), important papers, contact numbers, itineraries, maps, and what not in one place. 

Writing tools: Stylus for the iPad, pens, pencils, highlighters, colored pencils, you name it I will have at least one of it on me for making the written word happen. 

Mailing labels:  I use filled out mailing labels to save my hands and time in filling out things at conferences.   They can be used to label your handouts, enter a contest, in a pinch as a business card, and many other things.  It would surprise you what you can use a mailing label for.  I put my full contact information on it as well as my social media contacts. 

Research Needs:

Laptop:  I can’t leave home without it.

Thumb drives: For those lucky times when you can copy files directly onto drives instead of having to cart loads of paper home.

Strategy: A prioritized list of what I want to look for.  I plan on visiting the Allen County Public Library (or sending my parents on an excursion) several times during our time in Fort Wayne.  This means I need to spend the next month looking through their online catalogue and creating a game plane to make the most of my time there.

Folders: For those papers that I pick up.  I can keep them separate by topic or family, whatever I need.

Cash: for the copy cards in case I really do need to make photocopies.

Camera: I never go anywhere, particularly a research opportunity, without my camera.  Included in my bag are the cords to transfer images, extra batteries, and camera lens cleaner.  

An inventor, with a patent, in the family

A scene from the Lawrence Collection Irish Life series. 

Date: Circa 1897 from wikimedia commons

Periodically my genealogy ADD kicks in and I start following the odd rabbit trail.  In the past few days it has been the trail of Noah G. Hayden and his patent.  Yes, I said patent.  How cool is that? An inventor in the family.

During a search under his name on Google Books I discovered several publications with a reference to this patent.  On 12 April 1833 Noah G. Hayden from Harrodsburg, Kentucky was issued a patent for a machine that thrashed both hemp and flax.  If you go back to my last post concerning his mother, Elizabeth Gilpin Hayden, you will read that she grew both of these on their farm in Mercer County. Perhaps he was trying to cut down on the labor intensive work on the farm.

Under the Directory of American Tool and Machinery Patents (DATAMP) website I found it was registered as number 7,527X.  This information was gathered by volunteers from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) online database.  Unfortunately there was not a lot of information or an image of the machine.  A footnote on the bottom of the page states:

Most of the patents prior to 1836 were lost in the Dec. 1836 fire. Only about 2,000 of the almost 10,000 documents were recovered. Little is known about this patent. There are no patent drawings available. This patent is in the database for reference only.

Upon further investigation I found a full description in the 1833 issue of the Journal of the Franklin Institute.  I can just image what it would have looked like!

 

IDG Post: Book review of Zap the Grandma Gap

As a mom I worry about all sorts of things and I am pretty sure worry comes with the job title.  As a genealogist an entire new layer of worry is added to that already extensive worry list. Now I ponder how I will make sure my kids, and grandkids, have the same love and respect for their family history that I have.

I was lucky that I grew up in the family I did.  My parents and grandmothers loved to tell stories about our family.  Their houses were decorated with heirlooms, pictures, and memories. Family dinners were peppered with old recipes adding to the flavors of the day. I have learned through the years that this is not the norm in most families.  Yes, I do have family members who have attempted to run away from me or who not-so-politely sat through what I thought was a very interesting story.  I am sure you all can think of several instances where this has happened to you.  My goal as a genealogist mom is to, as Janet Hovorka states in her new book, zap the grandma gap with future generations.

Zap the Grandma Gap, by Janet Hovorka, is a wonderful how-to-guide for anyone struggling with passing on their family history to younger generations.  Each chapter is filled with hints, tips, ideas, and wonderful personal stories to show you that it really isn’t that hard to connect.  All you need to do is relate to their life experiences and talk to them in ways that interest them.  Simple enough, right?

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You can read the rest of this post at the IDG!  Hope to see you there...