Staats Place

The Lake County Genealogical Society is bringing Elissa Scalise Powell to the Morley Library in Painesville, Thursday March 25th at 10:00am. She will be presenting “The Dreaded Report” – a lecture about genealogical research report writing. As someone who loves to research and loves to write, but has trouble putting those two things together – I am really looking forward to this. I will also be attending a lecture or two presented by Elissa at the Ohio Genealogical Society’s Annual Conference next month in Toledo. As an additional bonus – this will also help to fulfill one of my “Genealogical Goals for 2010,” but more on that in an upcoming post.

Check out the  Lake County Genealogical Society’s section of the Morely Library website for more info on their programs and resources, as well as Elissa Scalise Powell’s site for more info about her services and schedule.

After ordering Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians on Jan 3rd and never receiving it, I just got notification that its replacement shipped today. The cool thing: This book is not following just any old route, but so far, it is following the same route my Staats ancestors took to get to Ohio. The book shipped from New Castle, DE and went through Philadelphia, PA. If it makes stops at Brownsville, PA, Freeport, OH, Sarahsville, OH, and North Canton before it gets here, I’ll be more than a little freaked.

While there are a number of down-sides to putting your work online, I still feel the benefits outweigh the costs. Many people are afraid others will copy their work without credit, freely download their documents that cost them money to obtain, or some other such reason. While I do understand those concerns – my thinking is this: I was going to do the research anyways, I probably will never write a book about my family research, and even if I did roughly four people would buy it, so what exactly am I gaining by hoarding my stuff? In terms of down-sides, I worry more that people miscopy my information, don’t completely copy it, or *gasp* perhaps copy a mistake I’ve made.

At one time, I decided not to cite sources online. I can’t for the life of me come up with reasons why I arrived at this ridiculous course of action, but arrive I did. When I got back to researching a few years ago, the site needed an overhaul, and so did the philosophy. Now, all of the sources are listed (not all exactly up to industry-standards in some cases, but I’m working on it) so that any interested person can see where the information originates, and hopefully be assured that the data and conclusions have some basis other than “I saw it on the internet”. It’s my hope that if people are going to copy what I have done – that they copy it sources and all.

This segues to the biggest benefit I’ve experienced thus far: Peer-review. In this case, I am using “peer” simply to mean “other interested parties”. As anyone who has done a lot of research knows, as you get deeper and deeper into a research problem, it is easy to lose focus simply from staring at it too hard and too long trying to make the pieces fit. After awhile, a new research problem piques your interest, and you are off racing down that new  road, leaving the old problem in the breakdown lane in whatever state of completion it was in at the time you changed direction.

Recently, a cousin contacted me with some questions about some of my findings on our common family. They were tough questions, well thought-out, and ones that forced me to review documents and re-think things in order to determine how I got where I did. In this case, looking with fresh eyes, I found an understandable but major error in my reasoning. It forced me to re-evaluate what I had done, and ultimately has lead me to a much better approach in reasoning out the problem (not to mention, a more correct conclusion). Would I have discovered these things in due course, as I eventually came back to them? Maybe, maybe not. But his questions forced me to look at the problem from a different angle than I had been looking previously. He was asking, essentially, “Why not?”, when I had been all about telling the “Why.”

If you are a researcher who has struggled with the question of putting your work online, in the words of Nike (the shoe…not the Greek goddess) – just do it. If you are someone who is looking through other researchers’ findings – please take the time to contact them with questions and concerns. And please, please, please don’t take what you find at face value.  If real estate is “location, location, location,” then genealogy is “analyze, analyze, analyze.” I know that there are people out there that will not entertain ideas other than the ones they’ve put forth, but I feel it is a researcher’s responsibility to exercise due diligence.

An open (and tactful!) discussion about information,  sources, and conclusions can only better the quality of information out there and we can all learn from each other.  So keep “putting it out there.”

Updates have been scarce, so let me first apologize. By way of explanation, we adopted a new puppy from the Euclid Animal Shelter where my son volunteers. This new puppy, Ziggy, has eaten up much of my free time…as well as my shoe, my belt, my coat sleeve, and many other things lying around since the last time we puppy-proofed our house.

I posted early last month about the things I want to get done this year. While the genealogy goals/New Year’s resolutions, were a trend sweeping across genealogy blogs, I hope that by posting monthly updates I can track my progress. I will see on a regular basis where I am doing well, and where I might be falling flat. Without further adieu on with the review:

1. Attend at least 2 seminars in addition to the OGS Annual conference
I registered for the OGS seminar and regularly check for additional courses/seminars. None of interest yet.

2. Become active in 2 indexing projects, including one Familysearch project

I did in fact register and begin indexing for FamilySearch. While not prolific, I have indexed a number of pages from various projects. Very cool and easy way to contribute to the genealogy community. I need to contact the Centre County PA Room to see if there are any local projects there that I can contribute to remotely.

3. Take steps towards BCG certification

Dead in the water

4. Join a ProGen group

I ordered the book a month ago and still haven’t received it. Still waiting…and then I can join the ProGen waiting list to wait some more

5. Familiarize myself with the Cuyahoga County Archives and the records held there

See the puppy comments above.

6. Explore conducting a beginning genealogy class at the Euclid Library

Something I still want to pursue, but am having trouble figuring out how to get started.

7. Become comfortable citing sources without the “wizard”

Trying, but still have to refer to the books, and am never sure whether it’s right or not.

8. Document ALL negative searches

Actually did better in this regard in a recent trip to Centre County. Now I need to get the information out of my notes and into the database…and do that every trip or search.

9. Fill out PA and OH research for Elijah Staats and complete a research report

Still waiting for some microfilm. I just never quite feel like it’s “done enough” to start writing about the family history.

10. Account for all of the shares in the property left in the estate of Jacob Staats, d. 1783 Appoquinimink Hundred, New Castle, DE
Good thing there are 11 more months…

11. Complete 2 other 2-3 generation research reports.
Too bad there are only 11 more months…

Let’s see what next month holds! How are your goals moving along?

Cane sword - possibly belonging to William McNutt circa 1835

Today was set to be the day when we discovered whether or not the cane sword passed down through our family backed up the story that went along with it. According to family legend, this sword cane was carried from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh as our ancestor arrived in this country and walked westward with it. Subsequent research has shown that it was most likely not the Keefer family as we were told. That family was in the Westmoreland/Armstrong, PA area since at least the 1820s. However, it does seem likely that the sword could have belonged to William McNutt, passed down to his daughter Jane, and then to granddaughter, Ida. Ida married William Keefer in 1886. That’s plenty of time between then and now for the story to be confused. William arrived in Philadelphia in the 1830s, and daughter Jane was born there. The family came westward shortly afterward.

I sent photos of the cane sword to a friend who was familiar with military stuff, even though this did not appear to be military. I purposely didn’t mention anything about the background – just to see what he might say about this sword completely uninfluenced. He said that he thought the blade was probably English, dating, in his opinion to about 1830-1840. He also said that he didn’t think the antler or bone handle was the original handle that went with the blade. But not being an expert, he couldn’t say with certainty this was the case.

So off my mom and I set for Windham Township, OH today to have the sword appraised. The Windham Historical Society had a brilliant idea to raise funds for their bicentennial celebration coming up next year: they put on an “Antiques Roadshow.” Participants paid $5 for an item to be appraised, and you could have as many as three items for, I think $20 or so. The appraisal services were donated by a local antique shop. We got there shortly after it started, and drew number 59. I don’t know how many people came in after us, but if you do the math, they did pretty well. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to tell us anything about our sword. Nothing about it’s history, origin, or value. Zip. Nada. Silence.So was the day a complete loss? Certainly not.

I’m sure you’ve all had a moment where something completely unexpected happens -something really cool, something that makes time stand still while it finishes. Today, we had one of those moments. The event was in a crowded town hall. It was most likely a former country church with large, old windows and an open, hardwood floor with chairs set up for seating and the audience. As the day grew longer, and it seemed as though they would never get to 59, they called the number of an elderly gentleman at the back of the room. Slowly he shuffled forward carrying three instrument cases. I didn’t think he was ever going to get to the front. Finally reaching the table, he explained that they had been given to him by a collector friend who passed away in California.

The appraisers opened the cases. Each contained a violin, and in the third case they found quite a surprise. I don’t remember the exact year, but the first two numbers were “16″ and the maker was Stradivarius. The antique dealer, understandably, was gaga over this wonderful piece. After talking about condition and consulting with someone else in the audience, they arrived at about $45,000 for the violin. Now – the cynic in me says it was set up for the “Ah Factor”. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but what happened next was so unique and so unexpected, that even if it was set up, I don’t care. The man seemed to be known locally, and someone asked him to play something on the most valuable antique we were likely to see that day or any other in Windham. After checking the tuning and asking for requests, he launched into a tune he called “The 8th of January” – a wonderful traditional-sounding folk/bluegrass song.

As soon as he bowed the first note, all talking in the crowded room ceased and he had our full attention. Tapping his foot in time, any lack of grace he displayed on his shuffle to the front was nowhere to be found in his fingers. It was a transcendent performance. A performance that causes the breath to catch in your throat as the beauty and skill shows itself. Even though it was 2010, it could have been 1910, 1810 – hell, even if it were 1710, the violin would already have been over 20 years old. All time stopped as he played, and I realized I was giggling in delight. At the song’s conclusion, the audience broke into a well-deserved round of applause, hoots, and hollers. He thanked the crowd, and turned back to the table. With the spell broken, he was just an old man again, and he slowly put the fiddle back in its case, closed it up, and shuffled towards the back of the room.

So we didn’t get what we came for, but what we got was far better, and even more irreplaceable, as it could only have ever happened once.

What family artifacts, memorabilia, or ephemera do you have that has helped (or distracted) from your genealogical searches?

The OGS 2010 Annual conference is April 22-24 at the Sea Gate Convention Centre in Toledo, OH. For anyone who is at all interested in genealogy and has not been to one of these conferences – you are missing out. I went for the first time last year, and I’m hooked.

This year’s line-up of topics and speakers made it even tougher to choose which to attend. After much deliberation, and with still a few slots open to possible change, here are the sessions I will be attending this year. You can check out the full list of workshops, speaker bios, and other info here : OGS Conference Booklet

Thursday April 22:

• 4-6pm — Advanced Genealogy Discussion Group Workshop. Moderated by Robert L. Keener and Donna Redhead Gruber.
  • I attended this last year, and had a great time reading and discussing the article with the group. It’s always interesting, and a rare opportunity, to hear how other people interpret the same material and evidence differently.

Friday April 23:

• 8-9:30am — This I believe, the Urgent Need to Record Living History. Keynote Speaker, Curt Witcher
  • An easy choice – since it’s the only thing going on in this time slot (No offense, Mr. Witcher!)
• 10-11am — Hiding Behind Their Skirts: Finding Women In Records. Elissa Scalise Powell
  • I’ve followed Elissa’s threads on the Transitional Genealogists Forum with special interest, since she is a nearby expert researching in areas and records similar to my research. Not to mention a BCG trustee and Stamford coordinator!
• 1-2pm — Germany to Pennsylvania: 18th Century Odyssey. James M. Beidler
  • Got Germans? Yes! Or should I say, “Ja!”?
• 2:30-3:30 — Ohio State Documents and Publications for Family History Research. Connie Reik
  • I’m always looking for new insights and places to search, and I can honestly say I don’t think I have ever used a state-issued document other than a birth/death certificate.
• 4-5pm — Finding Buried Treasure in the Published Pennsylvania Archives. Elissa Scalise Powell
  • It is easy to get buried in the 138-volume PA Archives series. These are all online now, and I know I have a number of pages printed out that I just don’t understand what I am looking at.
• 7:00pm — Ask the Experts
  • I missed this moderated panel discussion last year because I was commuting back and forth to the event, and that was just too late to stay. Look forward to it this year.

Saturday April 24

• 9-10am — When a Brick Wall Crumbles Onto the Wrong Path – A Case Study. Nancy Walters Lauer
  • When the damn thing finally falls, I’d hate to have to clean up or step over the mess, but this sounds interesting.
• 10:30-11:30am –  Work Skills of Old: Justice of the Peace Records. Michael L. Strauss
  • I’m interested in both the record set and the speaker. I had the pleasure of attending two of Mr. Strauss’ Civil War lectures last year, and loved them.
• 2:30- 3:30pm — Diaries and Journals: Finding and Using These Valuable Resources. Laura Prescott.
  • It’s tough to sometimes place the dates and vital events of your ancestor in historical context, and I think taking a look through the writings of the time, people, and place is a great way to help understand your forefathers and their motivations
• 4-5pm — Bring ‘Em Back to Life: Developing an Ancestor Profile. George G. Morgan
  • This goes along with the previous lecture. And oh ya, George Morgan is a nationally-renowned speaker and writer.
• 7-9pm — First Families of Ohio Banquet
  • Ya, I’m in that.

Hope to see you all there!

While the Centre County Web Information Access system isn’t new, it’s capabilities and expanded usefulness for genealogists, is. The two features of most utility are the Recorder of Deeds search and the Centre County GIS mapping. This online system also indexes and access documents from the Recorder of Wills, Prothonotary, Tax Assessment, and Tax Claims – but these offices only have more recent documents available. While these services aren’t free, they are a really great value. I won’t rattle on about the importance of oft-overlooked deed research, but hopefully the easy access many counties are now offering will allow beginning researchers an easy way to get into the swing of things.

This tutorial is far simpler than last week’s Cuyahoga County primer. It’s pretty much “sign and drive.” Okay, maybe it’s more like “sign, pay, and drive,” but still…

Step 1: Go to the Centre County WebIA site and register if you do not already have an account.

Centre County WebIA log on and link to registration page

From here you will will need to click the “Click for more information and to sign up!” link just below the login box. You will be taken to an information page that shows you the costs of the various credit purchase options and other information about the system. At the bottom of the page, you will need to click the “Apply Online” link in the Application section to begin your registration. I won’t go through those steps here, as they should be pretty self-explanatory. Again – keeping in mind the number of documents you expect to find – purchase the appropriate amount of credits. The 250-credit option was a good start for me.

Step 2: Once you’ve registered and followed the instructions to activate your account, the searching is pretty simple. After logging in, you will be taken to the main search page:

Main search page

Step 3: Type in the name you are looking for and hit enter. Yes, it’s that simple (usually).  Note that the search is either a partial or full match, not a “soundex” search. You will have to search for spelling variations manually. For this example, I will use my ancestor, Jacob Shroyer. That search provided the following results:

Search results for Jacob Shroyer

Step 4: Click the “Click to View” link for the deed you want to see. I’ve selected the deed recorded 2/2/1852:

Barbara Shroyer to John Detweiler deed, 1852

The toolbar is pretty self explanatory:

The toolbar for the document viewer. From here you can change the view and print/save the deed

Step 5: Viewing options:
The only options you really need to be concerned with are the page selection options on the right (navigate through the various pages of the selected deed), and the printer icon on the right. The print function is how you will save the deed to your computer rather than just print a hard copy. Just a note, the bottom left of the screen (not the toolbar) will tell you how many pages are in the deed you are viewing.

Step 6: Printing options:
If all you want to do is print a copy, you are pretty much done at this point other than clicking on the print icon. I recommend, however that you save a copy as a pdf file for future use. If you don’t know how to do this, you can refer to my Cuyahoga County deed article for instructions on how to install and use a free program called PDF Creator to do this.
The printing script will bring up a dialog box to allow you to choose the options. Most likely, you will want to select the “All” option rather than just the current page.

The print dialog box, with the "All" option selected to print the entire deed.

After you click “OK” and the file processes, another print option dialog box will appear. Select “PDFCreator” as the printer, click “OK”, and then name the file and save it. That’s it. You’re done. You’re ready for the next deed.

Another thing I should mention is that the saved (or printed) image contains no source documentation other than the page number. Be sure to add your documentation to the images (or printed copies) as you make them to avoid confusion down the road.

Hope you found this of use, and happy hunting! Next up in the “Pajama Series” will be an example of how to use the mapping feature of the Centre WebIA system, followed eventually by how to do Lancaster County, PA deed research.

While many of my New Year’s resolutions have already fallen by the wayside, I have managed to act on a few. Yesterday, I signed up for the Familysearch indexing program . As most of you are probably aware, the Familysearch pilot site is the interface for a tremendous effort by the LDS to digitize and index source records. I often thought about volunteering, but for one reason or another, always put it off.

No more! I signed up, and so far I have indexed two whole 1910 census pages. Using the software interface that you download when you sign up, I probably spent 15-20 minutes on each page. At first, I thought that my 2 pages was a pretty meager effort. Thinking about it, however, I was probably one of hundreds of people working on that census. Assuming they were doing as little as I was, that’s well over 1000 pages of the 1910 census that got indexed – all with a pretty minimal effort by any one individual.

It strikes me that indexing a few pages here and there as I have time is pretty small price to pay for being able to access all these records and their indexes as they are put online. I hope that you’ll consider joining in the project.

Genealogical Goals for 2010:

Taking my cue from Randy Seaver , I am setting some goals for the coming year and this crazy pursuit of genealogy. As you will see, only two of these goals are family-specific research goals. The rest are professional development goals intended to elevate the level of my research, no matter what the family. I’ve tried to make them as measurable as I can so that as 2011 approaches, I  can look back and see the progress (or lack thereof) and smile.

1.    Attend at least 2 seminars in addition to the OGS Annual conference

I loved last year’s OGS conference, and am eagerly looking forward to this years. I even get inducted into the First Families of Ohio lineage group! However, there were a number of other seminars I had planned on going to that, for one reason or another, never made it to. This year, I want to get to at least two additional lecures/seminars

2.    Become active in 2 indexing projects, including one Familysearch project.

One project I am interested in is transcribing the Common Pleas index in the basement of the PA Room in Bellefonte. The index is by defendant only and difficult to use. I’d also like to get involved with the Familysearch indexing project

3.    Take steps towards BCG certification

While some of these other goals could indirectly lead to completion of some of the certification requirements, I want to make a separate goal to be sure that in meeting these goals, that they also meet BCG standards.

4.    Join a ProGen group

While I can certainly learn on my own, I prefer the pressure of getting things done on someone else’s schedule. Also, hearing other folks with different approaches to the same material is invaluable.

5.    Familiarize myself with the Cuyahoga County Archives and the records held there

I haven’t done much research in this area, but if I ever decide to take a stab at professional genealogy, I probably better know my way around the Archives

6.    Explore conducting a beginning genealogy class at the Euclid Library

Having done some other kinds of training and limited classroom stuff, I’d love to combine a passion for genealogy and helping other folks learn. They have a pretty active calendar, but no genealogy-related classes, so the opening is there to be filled if I can convince myself to do it.

7.    Become comfortable citing sources without the “wizard”

Self-explanatory. I want to be able to type it out, not fill it in.

8.    Document ALL negative searches

Once I manage Goal #7, I have to remember to do it even when I don’t find something!

9.    Fill out PA and OH research for Elijah Staats and complete a research report.

I’ve collected quite an array of documents and information about the family of Elijah Staats. I’d like to round out my research and get it into a narrative form (keeping goal #3 in mind)

10.   Account for all of the shares in the property left in the estate of Jacob Staats, d. 1783 Appoquinimink Hundred, New Castle, DE

The 1/8ths…the dreaded 1/8ths! If I could just get find something telling me who got all the damn shares! How would they have ever known whether the purchaser had clear title with all these interests in the land outstanding?

11.   Complete 2 other 2-3 generation research reports.

I said “complete”, not “think about” which is what I did all this year!

I could go on, but this will be far challenge enough! What are your goals?

In the Part 1 of this two part series, I explained how to access and find any deed or other instrument recorded in the Cuyahoga County Recorder’s office. After a little experimenting on different computers with different installed software, I am confident that you will be able to view, save, and print deeds to your heart’s content – and all for free. Not having access to a computer with Vista or Windows 7, the following advice is for Windows XP users, but could be easily adapted for Vista or Win7.

Things you probably need for this experiment (or at least things I know how to tell you to use):

• Part 1 of this series
• Firefox or (gasp) Internet Explorer browser
• PDF Creator, which can be found HERE
• A sense of adventure and small dose of patience

Let’s get started:

We have two goals in this part: 1) to view the image on our computer,  and 2) to save the image in a way that will be easy to print and/or view later.  While it might be a mistake, because of the variety of configurations possible, I am going to assume that most users either will not have a program associated with TIF files (the file type that the deeds will be downloaded as), or if they do it will be the default, which is Microsoft Picture and Fax Viewer.

If you want to be sure this tutorial works – you might want to first delete the TIF file association before beginning.  If you are not comfortable making system changes – DON’T. For those who are adventurous and want to do this, go to: My Computer>Tools>Folder Options…>File Types tab> scroll to find TIF, select it, then click delete.

Next let’s download and install PDF Creator:

• Download PDF creator at http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
• Install following prompts, but I suggest disabling the following when you get to these options:
  • Uncheck the box  “Set Yahoo as my default…’
  • Uncheck the box “PDF Creator Add On …”
  • Uncheck the box “Create a desktop icon”
• Click Finish to complete installation

Okay, now we have everything in place and ready to download, view, save, and print.

Step 1: Follow the steps in Part 1 to get to the verification and download page. Enter the required anti-spam code that appears, and click the “View Image” button. You should get a screen similar to the one below. Leave the “open with” option checked, and click “OK”. After the image downloads, the deed should open with Windows Picture and Fax Viewer

If you followed the first tutotial, this box should look familiar. Deleting the file association should mean that this box will come up again. In the future, it will not.

Step 2: Verify that all of the pages are there. At the bottom task bar of Windows Picture Viewer, you can select which page you would like to view. It is just to the left of the red”X”:

Windows Picture Viewer - showing the multiple page choices at the bottom center

Congratulations! You’ve now downloaded and viewed the deed. Now we need to save it and format it for future use.

Step 3: To save the file, click on the disk icon (second from right on Windows Picture Viewer toolbar).  Rename the file to fit your filing scheme, and save it to the appropriate location. In the example, I will save it to the desktop. Leave the file type as is. Click “Save”

Here we save our Sheppard deed from Windows Picture Viewer

Now we have the file on our desktop and will now convert it to a PDF format. Why? Because this will be the easiest way to print and view the file in the future.  This is where our PDF Creator comes into play. The conversion process is identical to printing it, except we will print to a file rather than the actual printer.

Step 4: Navigate to where you saved the file, then right click on the file. From the menu options, select “print’

This will open the Photo Printing Wizard.  Note that this wizard will show ALL of the photos in the folder where the file is located. As you go through the steps in the next section, make sure you are working with the correct images.

Step 5: Make sure all the images from the deed are checked.

Step 6: Select “PDF Creator” as the printer

Step 7: Select “Full Page Photo Print”

Step 8: Name the PDF file appropriately

Step 9: Click “save”

TA-DA! You now have the deed you need in a handy PDF format, ready for printing or saving for future use. One thing you should consider doing is putting the source citation on the face of the image so years from now you or someone interested in your work will know where to find copies of these documents. This may have seemed like a number of steps to get to this point, but after a few attempts, it will be old hat. The time you spend doing this will pale in comparison to the time you would be spending if you were actually on-site researching. I have the benefit of Adobe AcrobatPro, which I’ve configured to do much of this automatically, but even the long way – you can’t beat the price! I think this is a really great step forward.

Happy Hunting!