What Day of the Week was That?

On a Tuesday, April 25 1904, Emma Gleffe married Leo Schröder in Muttrin, Germany. Almost two years later, my great-grandparents, Emma and Leo, arrived in the Port of New York. Traveling on the SS Amerika, their journey ended on April 1, 1906, which happened to be a Sunday. Have you ever wondered about what day of the week important events in your family tree took place?

Well, wonder no more. Herb Weiner created a Web site that calculates calendars for years past. You can display a specific month of a specific year, or you can display the entire year. The Web site, aptly titled, “Calendar Calculator” even takes into account the year different localities changed from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. (For example, Italy changed to the Gregorian calendar in the year 1582, while the American Colonies and Britain didn't make the change until September 1752.) 

The Web site, http://www.calwiz.com/, at first blush seems a little imposing, but once you read through it, you realize you don't have to use all the options given. If, like me, weird little facts make your world go round, you might also like to check out a companion Web site, Claus Tønderlings, “Frequently Asked Questions about Calendars” at http://www.tondering.dk/claus/calendar.html. Okay, not even I needed to read all 63 pages of his PDF file. (You can also read the information in text or Webpage format), but I did find some interesting little tidbits that made me ponder.

For instance: 

1. If you have ancestors born in Lithuania prior to 1915, chances are good that their dates of birth were calculated by the old Julian calendar because Lithuania didn't make the switch to Gregorian until 1915.

2. The Orthodox Greek Church didn't switch to a Gregorian calendar until 1920 and wanting to improve on the Gregorian calendar, they made a few changes on the way leap years are calculated. In the year 2800, their calendar will not match the rest of the world's calendar. (Goodie, one more crazy thing I can worry about!) 

3. Did you know that the years 1800 and 1900 were NOT leap years? 

4. If you see the date 12/01/07 do you know what date I am referring to? In the United States, we would read this date as December 1, 2007. In most of the rest of the world, it would be read as January 12, 2007. If you were using the International Standard, it would read January 7, 2012 (although ISO standards require the year to be written as four digits). So in ISO standard, today is 2007-11-28. And on that note — Happy Ancestral Digging! 

Note this post first published online, November 28, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 28 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Indexing Frustrations

Ever been frustrated on how poor the indexing is when you are doing a search on Ancestry or another database? I admit I have. How could the indexer not have known that the last name was Smathers not Smothers, or that Nancy was actually Mary? Well, I guarantee you, I won't be judging so quickly the next time it happens.

I spent the long holiday weekend doing volunteer indexing for LDS's ongoing indexing project, and I am now properly humbled at the difficulty of the task. Two projects that currently have a high priority are West Virginia Vital Records and the 1871 Canadian Census. I worked on marriage licenses for the West Virginia Vital Records. Transcribing the marriage records wasn't too bad, since some of these were actually typed records — say Hallelujah! 

The Canadian census was a whole other story. The first page I did, the resolution was terrible. Blowing up the page didn't help. Squinting sometimes worked but by the time I got to the end of the 40 or so names, I had a raging headache. I really thought the next time I logged in I would be greeted with a message asking me to PLEASE NEVER WORK ON THIS CENSUS AGAIN. 

Thank goodness, each page is transcribed by three different individuals. At completion, the three transcriptions are compared. An arbitrator makes the final decision over which transcription to use when discrepancies exist. I wish the arbitrator luck when looking over that first page I did. I just hope the other two individuals who worked on the same page knew what they were doing. 

When I saw Quebec on the second page, I knew I was in trouble. No Parlez-vous Francais! Not even a little! Unfortunately, once you download a page it's yours to transcribe — no givebacks. (Actually, I could have let it sit there until December 2, my official deadline for finishing the page. I don't know what happens if you don't finish it. Maybe you are visited by snarling men in black trench coats, who stand over you with a ruler and smack you until you finish — I didn't read the fine print to know for sure.) However, this page was easier to read. Unfortunately, not being familiar with French surnames and given names turned out to be a bit of a handicap, but I think I did a much better job with these 40 names than I did with those on the first page.

If I haven't scared you with my whining and you think you might like to try your hand at indexing, visit http://www.familysearchindexing.org/en/index.jsp to get more information. You will need to install special software, and for that reason, they recommend you have broadband capabilities. Quoting directly from the Web site:“When the information indexed by volunteers is ready for publication, it will be made available FREE OF CHARGE through familysearch.org. Some of these indexes will be posted by our partnering societies.” 

As I mentioned in a previous post, they have completed indexing the Ohio Death Records, and it's my understanding they will be available for viewing sometime after the first of the year.

Until next time — Happy Ancestral Digging! 

Note this post first published online, November 26 , 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 26 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

A letter to Santa from the Desktop Genealogist

Dear Santa, 

I know you must be raising your brows a little bit wondering why I would even think about sending you my genealogical wish list for Christmas. I am not exactly the poster child of the good girl. I mean I confess to dragging my long-suffering spouse to cemeteries far and wide — resulting in, on at least one occasion, a shredded tire that had to be replaced — on a holiday weekend no less.

Then there is my editor who probably opens my e-mails like someone suspecting a letter bomb. Does my public admission that I HATE HOLIDAYS automatically put me on your Naughty List? But Santa, honest, I didn't bash you, not once. 

So in the hopes that you are big enough to overlook some of my little flaws, and with the promise of cookies and milk for you should you deliver on any one of these, I am sending you my Wish List for Christmas.

1. A digital camera — Every year this makes the top of my wish list. And every year, something comes up that takes precedence. It's not that I don't like my old Sony, but it's big and clunky, and still takes floppy disks, and it just can't keep up with the quality of newer models. 

2. I'd like to see some definitive proof that my ancestress, Magdalena Good, was indeed the daughter of John Click Jr. I know I have a whole slew of circumstantial evidence, but I still would like something tangible wrapped up in a nice metallic red bow, if you please. 

3. I'd like you to help me sweet talk my beloved spouse into stopping on the way back from the family's big vacation in Tennessee, at the Lexington National Cemetery where my great-great-grandfather, Edward Jacobus is buried. Because his grave marking is wrong, I bet none of his family or descendants have ever visited his grave to pay their respects. I would very much like to rectify this, Santa.

4. While we are on the subject, when my family is planning one of these “several generations” vacations, could you have them decide on a state where ANY of our ancestors have lived? Nobody lived in Tennessee! What's wrong with Oklahoma as a hot spot destination? 

5. Oh, and Santa, if you could see your way clear to helping me find out why my great-great-grandfather, George Cope, changed the spelling of his last name to Ceope after his marriage to his second wife, I would be forever grateful. I bet there's a juicy little tale that needs to see the light of day

6. And finally, Santa, I know this has nothing to do with genealogy and makes me sound like a Miss Universe contestant, but if you could give us a little world peace and a sudden new found ability to live in harmony, that would be terrific. I know this has been on wish lists for generations, but I figured as long as I was asking ...

Sincerely, Terry Snyder, Desktop Genealogist

PS. If the Hayes Presidential Center Library hasn't yet raised the money it needs to purchase the microfilm/carrier and additional connections to enable the Minolta MS6000 to view microfilm yet, could you help out with this wish also, Santa?

Note this post first published online, November 23, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 23 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Thanksgiving and an Anniversary

My grandparents, Frank Eugene Hoy and Katheryne Cecile Lynch, were married 91 years ago today at Ebenezer Evangelical Church in Tiffin. The picture attached to this post was taken on the day of their wedding. Talk about opposites attracting, they don't get more opposite then Frank and Katie.

I was not yet 10 when grandpa died in 1963, so my memories of him are vague and fuzzy. I know he was short, with mounds of white wavy hair. He always seemed to be smoking a cigar, so that cigar smoke intermingled with the scent of lilacs from the bush that grew in his yard, conjure up his memory for me. A gentleness and warmth surrounded him, and though I didn't know him well, I always felt peaceful and loved in his presence.

My mother tells the story of Grandpa, who did not drive, walking all the way to our house to give his youngest daughter, my mom, flowers for her birthday.

The story I like best, the one that cements Grandpa's character for me, is the one my mother has told about the German bible that Grandpa had in his possession. During World War II an old German-speaking gentleman would walk to Grandpa's house every week so he could read Grandpa's German bible. This made the family a bit nervous — it was during World War II after all and nobody like those “dirty Germans.” Grandpa ignored it all, figuring if this gentleman wanted to read his old bible, the bible would be there for him to read. Grandpa — my gentle-hearted hero.

Gentleness, however, would not be the word to describe my grandmother, Katie. In her younger years she was a temperamental, larger than life red head. She and her twin sister, Elizabeth were the youngest children of her family. Grandma once told me that she was her dad's favorite and Elizabeth was her mom's favorite. This seems highly unlikely since Elizabeth died at nine months of measles. I think this was Grandma speak for “Daddy said yes, and Momma said no.”

When Grandma talked her arms would fly in all directions, punctuating her words as she spoke. For a shy child like me, grandma could be mighty intimidating. However Grandma had two things going for her in my young mind, she made great fried chicken and she loved to tell stories. I never saw her at a loss for words or for stories. I would settle into a corner, far enough away from her flying hands and listen as a child. I can only remember vague pieces of some of them, enough to know that, as I have often said, she never let a little thing like facts, get in the way of a good story.

To this day, I don't know if the story she once told me about she and Grandpa meeting at a Halloween party is true. However they met, I'd lay my money on Grandma being the one to start the flirtation.

As is often the case of opposites, the attraction eventually wanes and then turns to irritation, which turns into anger and frustration. When my mother was still a child, Katie and Frank divorced. I know their divorce caused their children a lot of sadness and because Katie had instigated the divorce, she had some very angry children.

But it is appropriate to give thanks, on this day of Thanksgiving, that these two opposites, somehow found and married each other, because from their union came nine children. Nine perfect gems, each one shining in his or her own right, who have gone on to have children, grandchildren and even a few great-grandchildren to grace this earth. As one of these descendants of Frank and Katheryne, I am truly thankful for this small miracle.

May you and yours be blessed with a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging!

Note this post first published online, November 22, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 22 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

The Carnival of Genealogy is in Town

The Carnival is in town! The 36th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy can be found on Jasia's Creative Gene (http://www.creativegene.blogspot.com/) November 19 posting. The carnival is a group of bloggers who submit postings on a given topic related to genealogy. This edition was a carnival edition so there was no specific topic. 

Posted are 31 articles with 26 authors on a wide range of subjects. Because this was an open topic, it's fascinating to see what each blogger chose to write. It's a little like peeking into each one's mind, seeing what subject merited their attention. 

Some of you will relate to Miriam Robbins Midkiff's, “Loving Genealogy …For Over 30 Years” or Lori Thornton's “On the Menu: Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner.” Ever wonder about hog killing? Me, neither — that is until I read Terry Thornton's, “Hog Killing at Parham.” Randy Seaver's entry, “The Future of Genealogy — My Turn” talks about where he thinks Genealogy and the Internet are heading. Becky Wiseman's, “Are You Prepared? I'm Not” written in the wake of the fires in California and a tornado in Nappanee, Indiana is a must read for local genealogists — we see our fair share of tornadoes here in Northwest Ohio. Jasia, the carnival's hostess at Creative Gene, wrote “You're All Invited to A Feather Party” which talks about a tradition in Detroit's Polish community. 

Jasia also linked us to last year's post, “Plan to Be Remembered” with ideas on how you can preserve today for tomorrow's family historian. Well, you get the idea, 31 well written articles for you to read. So kick off your shoes, pull yourself up to your computer screen, and spend an enjoyable time reading some interesting, unique posts. My September 21 posting, “All in the Details” is also included in this edition of the carnival. The next edition of the Carnival will be on the topic, Wish Lists. Goody, permission to indulge on my wildest genealogical inspired fantasies!

Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging! 

Note this post first published online, November 21, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 21 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Using Online Ohio Death Records to Solve Genealogical Problems — Part II

As I mentioned yesterday, I spent the past weekend searching the Ohio Death Records images as a participant in FamilySearch Lab's, Pilot for Family Search-Record Search Program. I haven't yet told you the coolest part of all. The Ohio Death Records have a pretty nifty feature. You can search by a spouse's name, a father's name, a mother's name, or any combination of the three.

Think about this for a second. How many times have you been researching a family and the females of the family simply disappear? Did they get married? Did they die? Did they join a convent? With the ability to search by an individual's parents, some of those missing females may finally be found!

My great-great-great-grandparents, Thomas and Catherine Jacobus came to Ohio sometime between 1840 and 1850 from New Jersey. Thomas died in 1854 and Catherine died in 1901. According to the 1900 census, Catherine had 12 children, none of whom was still living in 1900. I've only been able to come up with seven names, all having disappeared by the 1880 census. Only three were known to have had children, my great-great-grandfather, Edward, his brother Ezra and his sister Hannah Marie. I've been trying to locate Ezra's daughter Blanche and Hannah's two daughters Jaquetta and Josephine.

PROBLEM 3: Look for Blanche Jacobus, Jaquetta McColley and Josephine McColley in the Ohio Death Records to see if I can solve the mystery of what happened to them. For Blanche, I search by putting in the father's last name as Jacobus. There are matching hits but none are correct. I then try just the first name, Ezra for the father's name — again nothing. I try both the mother's first name, which I know to be Awilda and then her last name, Crosby but still no luck. I have struck out on locating Blanche.

For Jaquetta and Josephine, I take a similar approach — first typing in Jacobus as a last name for the mother. This gives me 44 matches, none is correct. Next, I try typing in the father's last name McColley. I am a little nervous about this because I have also seen it spelled McCauley. This gives me 293 matches — I could look at all but decide that I will add the first name of Jaquetta to the search and see if I can find one of the daughters. Bingo! There she is. Her married name was Overhuls. (Her mother is listed as Marie Jacovus.) I now have a name to use to search census records to find out more about the family. When I try the same tactic with her sister Josephine, she is also found. She is listed as Josephine Woodward. 

PROBLEM 4: Yesterday I confirmed that George Lynch's mother is Margaret Anderson. According to stories from descendants of both Margaret's brother, John Anderson, and her sister, Jane Anderson Feasel, their mother's name was Margaret Scott Anderson. I want to see if any death records support this. John Anderson died in 1878; Jane died in 1886 and Margaret, the daughter, died in 1884. Nothing helps me here. However, Margaret, the mother, remarried after her husband Ezekiel died during the War of 1812. She married a Jacob Isenhart and had three children from this marriage, Jacob Jr., Isaac and Harriet. Maybe one of them died between 1909 and 1953. 

I search using Isenhart as the last name of the father. I find Harriet Sipple living in Williams County, Ohio (where I knew she had lived). Her father is listed as Jacob Isenhart and her mother's name is listed as Margaret Scott. I can further confirm that I have the right individual, as a son from Harriet's first marriage is the informant.

Success, indeed, is sweet. I hope the search capabilities of FamilySearch's Ohio Death Records become the gold standard for all records. Just think of all the missing female lines we might be able to find!

Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging. 

Note this post first published online, November 20, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 20 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder

Using Online Ohio Death Records to Solve Genealogical Problems — Part I

I've been busy this weekend solving problems and family mysteries thanks to the FamilySearch Labs Record Search website (http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html?datestamp=1195431017781).

The folks at FamilySearch.org have an ongoing project in which volunteers are indexing a variety of records. The plan is for some of the records to start appearing on the Family Search.org website in 2008, so the public will have full access to them. 

In the meantime, I could sign up to become a participant in their Pilot for Family Search-Record Search Program. After registering and waiting a day for confirmation of my registration, I signed in and started searching. The idea behind the pilot program is to garner feedback from participants before these features go public. I am in fact, a happy little beta testing guinea pig. 

The two sets of records of most interest to me were the 1900 Ohio Census records and the Ohio Death Records, Dec 20, 1908 through 1953. Both of these records had images attached and both had been completely indexed and were therefore searchable. I rolled up my figurative sleeves, and gave the record search a good workout.

 In case you missed it in that last gobbledy goop of a paragraph, I'm looking at ACTUAL IMAGES OF OHIO DEATH CERTIFICATES! Now are you impressed? 

 PROBLEM 1 - I want to see if the mother of my great-grandmother, Emma Gleffe Schrader, is listed on her death certificate. Jörg Gliewe, my German friend, had said the mother's name was Pauline Gleffe and that Gleffe was her maiden name as well as her married name. However, we were communicating through translators and I feared I had not understood correctly. I hoped that Emma's death certificate would solve the issue. I typed in first name, last name and the event year, and voila, she was one of three complete matches. Unfortunately, her mother's name was not listed. The upside was, I did not have to spend $7 to find this out, and I was able to download and save the record. 

PROBLEM 2 - Circumstantial evidence indicated that Margaret Anderson was the mother of my great-great-grandfather, George W. Lynch. Census records confirmed her first name was Margaret, but I did not have anything more concrete than the fact that two of her siblings and mother were all buried in Feaselburg Cemetery in Seneca County. George was born in 1831 before birth records were kept and he died in 1903 in Greer County, Oklahoma. Unfortunately, Oklahoma didn't start filing death records until October 1908. However, George was the oldest of a large family of children. Only two others left Ohio for other states, which meant the others had all died in Ohio. 

The last of George's brothers living in Ohio died in 1901 (Marion Lynch), so looking at George's sisters was the next step. Fortunately, I had learned the value of researching siblings from my first cousin once removed, Cheryl. (Don't make me tell you again what once removed means.) And I therefore knew what each sister's married last name was. So I looked up the death records of Amanda Lynch Hosler, Margaret Lynch Michaels, Harriet Lynch Rosenberger and Jane Lynch Rosenberger. Amanda, Harriet, and Jane's death records all listed Margaret Anderson as the mother. Margaret's death record just gave the last name as Anderson. Success. I now feel confident that Margaret Anderson is indeed the mother of George Lynch. 

Tomorrow, I will give examples of two more problems I tackled with the aid of Ohio's Death Records. Until then — Happy Ancestral Digging! 

Note: My November 15 post, “Testing Online Translators” was mentioned on Juliana Smith's “24/7 Family History Circle” (http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?m=200711) hosted by Ancestry.com. It appeared in the November 16 post. Thanks for the mention! 

Note this post first published online, November 19, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 19 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder