A Defective Laugh Gene

Confession time. I have a secret. When I laugh, every once in a while I will suck in air through my nose and mouth, and this rather unpleasant sound emerges. I mean really unpleasant. You know, unpleasant as in “hey, who let the pig loose in the theater” unpleasant. Technically, you might call it a snort, but ladies don't snort, right? 

 I haven't always had this problem. I mean I don't remember any kids on the school playground pointing derisively at me while I was laughing. I'm sure I would remember something that traumatic. The thing is, I wasn't bred by snorters. Both of my parents have these nice respectable laughs (although I'm not sure the same could be said of their sense of humor, Dad!). 

 I've tried to hide this affliction from the general public, I think pretty successfully. When I'm laughing in a public place I will laugh and think, “Don't snort.” Laugh - “Don't snort.” Laugh- “Don't snort.” What does this have to do with genealogy or family history? Well, in talking to the very nice minister who gave the service at my Aunt's funeral yesterday, he mentioned that the family had told him about my Aunt's snort and that her granddaughter, Tanya had inherited the same snort (sorry Tanya, but it was the Reverend who outted you, not me). Without missing a beat, my formerly sweet sister poked me in the ribs and said, “Hey that must be where you get it from!” Thanks sis. 

 So now I know it's inherited. It must have just skipped a generation. Oh and the piece de resistance, my brother-in-law narced on my rib poking sister and told me she snorts too - she must be better at hiding it than I am. As it turns out, both of my sisters are secret snorters. And for all of you smug non-snorters sitting out there passing judgment, remember NEITHER of my parents are afflicted, and look what defective laughers they produced. 

 So if you happen to be at the local cinema and you hear someone laughing and then snorting, be nice. It could be yours truly - or one of my siblings - or maybe even a cousin! Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging! Note this post first published online, October 3, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

©3 October 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Aunt Florence

My Aunt Florence passed away last week. Born on April 30, 1917, she came into this world three weeks after the United States declared war on Germany. She died, as the United States stands enmeshed in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. For someone who had such bellicose bookends marking her life, she was a lady of great warmth and humor. Because she was the eldest of nine siblings, her knowledge of our family history was the most extensive — she had lived it first hand.

In my blog, “It's All in the Detail,” I related one of her stories about her maternal grandmother, Laura Jane Feasel Lynch. She also had stories about her paternal grandparents, Samuel and Clara Jacobus Hoy. Clara, Florence said, favored the male grandchildren. On one occasion, Clara had given Florence's brother Johnny a sack of candy. In recounting the story some 80 years later, Florence remained slightly offended that Johnny had not shared one piece of this windfall with her. 

She also told stories of Christmas at the Hoy family farm. Tradition had a huge evergreen on the homestead being lit with candles on its branches — a most spectacular sight. Her Uncle Robert, only 10 years older than Florence and the youngest of Sam and Clara's boys, was in charge of the water bucket used to douse any errant flames that lighting the Christmas tree invariably created.

Storytelling was Aunt Florence's favorite form of communication. Seeing Aunt Florence meant hearing a story that was guaranteed to make you smile, if not cause an outright belly laugh. As often as not, she was the target of her own stories, some silly thing she had done or that had happened to her. 

After my brother received his associate's degree, he went to Mentor and moved in with Aunt Florence as he went job hunting. I think Aunt Florence enjoyed having him to fuss over, and I know my brother enjoyed that time with her, as well as getting a chance to know his “Cleveland” cousins. His tales of Aunt Florence's cooking were mouth watering to those of us listening, and her lasagna, apparently, was the closest thing mere mortals could get to heaven. 

Today, Florence Laura Hoy Fry is being laid to rest. She will lie beside her beloved husband, Wilbur Chester Fry in Oakwood Cemetery. In a world of negative and strident voices, there is sadness in knowing that a voice of such warmth and laughter has been forever stilled. 

 Until Next Time … Note this post first published online, October 2, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

©2 October 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Genealogy Quick Tip — Making Use of Message Boards

Shirley Langdon Wilcox is a certified genealogist who is a past president of the National Genealogical Society, a past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and the author and co-author of a number of books (including “Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Genealogy”). Well, you get the idea; she's a very accomplished lady. She also happens to be a cousin, albeit a distant cousin of mine.

We both descend from William Armstrong, an Irish Immigrant, and Leah Shupe Armstrong Coffelt. Shirley descends from their daughter, Susan Teresa and I descend from their daughter Elizabeth Harriet. I didn't know of her illustrious genealogical background when I first wrote her an e-mail a few years back. I had found her when I had looked up the Armstrong name on Genforum. (http://genforum.genealogy.com/).

She was both cordial and gracious and e-mailed me scanned copies of two pages from the Armstrong Family Bible. I, in turn, e-mailed her several obituaries I had found on Susan and Elizabeth's siblings. The Internet is a great equalizer. I would never have had the nerve to contact her had I not found her on Genforum, nor would I have had the foggiest idea of how to go about it. If you haven't taken advantage of Genforum or its sister message board, the Rootsweb/Ancestry Message Board (http://boards.ancestry.com/), you might want to try it. Who knows, somebody out there may be able to help you shatter a brick wall. But remember, genealogical etiquette (not to mention the golden rule) demands that we use these encounters to share information, not demand it.

 Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging! Note this post first published online, October 1, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

©1 Oct 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

John, Mary topped Social Security Administration list of boy, girl names in 1907

Ya gotta love the Social Security Administration. If you want to know the most popular girl's name for 2006, (It was Emily. Jacob was number one for boys) all you have to do is look on their Web site: www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/. 

In fact, you can access a list of the 1,000 most popular first names for each year starting in 1880 up through 2006. In 1891, the year my grandfather, Frank Hoy, was born, his first name ranked sixth. When my grandmother, Anna Schrader was born in 1911, her first name also sat in spot number six. 

Social Security has created the ranked lists based on card applications for each year. One hundred years ago, in 1907, the following were the top 10 names for boys:

1. John 

2. William 

3. James

4. George

5. Robert 

6. Charles 

7. Joseph 

8. Frank 

9. Edward 

10. Henry

The top 10 names for girls in 1907 were the following: 

1. Mary 

2. Helen 

3. Margaret 

4. Anna 

5. Ruth

6. Dorothy 

7. Elizabeth

8. Mildred 

9. Alice 

10. Marie 

My first name (which is Teresa and not Terry) was ranked 42nd in popularity the year I was born. In 2006, my name's popularity was down to 535th. C'est la vie! 

Until next time — Happy Ancestral Digging. Note this post first published online, September 28, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

©28 Sept 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa Snyder 

Linkpendium — For The Easily Distracted

I am an information junkie. I collect useless information like some people collect coins. As someone recently reminded me, time is a very precious commodity and when you get those rare moments when you can actually work on your genealogy, you want to make that time pay off. All of which, is my way of telling you that my clicking onto Cyndi's list (http://www.cyndislist.com/) is like a 3-year-old finding momma's secret chocolate stash — You dive in gobbling up as much as you can as fast as you can until you pass out in an orgy of information (or chocolate as the case may be). 

All those categories, how can I ignore them? I may start with the intention of looking up marriage records in Jasper County, Missouri, but oooh, let me just take a peek at that “Lost and Found” category. And wait, I've always wanted to know who has the copyright to e-mail — the sender or the receiver? And what's this category, “Hit A Brick Wall?” — Cyndi must have added that one just for me. And so it goes. I keep clicking on link after link, until, and I'm not really sure how, I've ended up on a page about West Indian Manatees with all my "free" time consumed. That is why I've resorted to using another list when time is short and I need to focus on the task at hand. 

Linkpendium (http://www.linkpendium.com/) is actually a complementary rather then a competitive list to Cyndi's Web site. When Rootsweb was gobbled up by Ancestry.com, the founders, Karen Isaacson and Brian Leverich began putting together a directory of Web sites related to genealogy. The number of links is now well over 6 million. It's divided into two categories, surnames and localities. Right now, the localities category only encompasses locations in the U.S. It is broken down by state, then by county. Jasper County, Missouri, where I was hypothetically looking for marriage records has 231 links, with 24 categories — two of the links relate to marriage records. Sandusky County has 421 links, spread over 26 categories, with our own Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center being mentioned as one of the links. 

Linkpendium comes in handy for two reasons. First, I store my census records by census year, state and county, so when I am focusing on an individual I just look to see where he or she was living at a particular time and then I start my search in the appropriate county. 

Second, because all the links on the page relate to one county, even if I do start clicking like crazy, I usually can find the information I seek, or at the very least, find other interesting genealogical information related to the individual I am working on.

So, if like me, you need to make the most of your “genealogy time,” you might consider giving Linkpendium a try. As for me, I have to go back to Cyndi's List and check out that “Hit a Brick Wall” category.

Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging Note this post first published online, September 27, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

©27 Sept 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Civil War Pensions and More at NARA

If you want to order a federal Civil War pension packet (confederate civil war pensions are not held by NARA), you will need to know the following information:

1. Soldier’s Name 

2. The Union state from which he served 

3. His unit and company Where can you find his unit and company?

1. Sometimes the veteran's obituary will have the information.

2. Sometimes the veteran's tombstone will have the information. 

3. Ancestry's Pension Index (subscription required) 

4. Footnote's Civil War Pension Index (currently only 60% complete) See my Blog “New Website for Genealogy and History Buffs” for information on their 7-day free access proposition. 

5. County history books will sometimes mention this information. The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library contains many county histories as well as Civil War information. To search the library's catalog go to this link: http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/catalog/. (This will explain where the online catalog is housed.) 

6. Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/index.html The site contains a searchable database for both union and confederate soldiers and gives regimental histories. The best part? Access is free! 

There is a comment section on the order form to give more information. For example, in the military records of my great-great-grandfather Edward Jacobus, he is sometimes known as Edward Jacobs thanks to transcription errors. Adding pertinent information like this can save you from paying $37 ($75 plus after Oct. 1) for the wrong man's file.

If you are interested in finding where Confederate Pensions are kept, go to this link on NARA: http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/military/civil-war/confederate/pension.html 

To find more information about compiled military service records available at NARA, go to this link: http://www.archives.gov/research/order/vets-records.html

For a general discussion on all military records and resources at NARA, go to this link: http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/military/ See yesterday's blog for more specific information on how to order. 

Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging! Note this post first published online, September 26, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

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

Placing an Order with NARA

It's taken a little bit of time to figure out what the limitations are for the Web design on our blogging format. In the body of the blog I can't: 

1. Italicize the print 

2. Underline the print 

3. Apply bold formatting to the print 

4. Add hyperlinks (unless the Web address is spelled out and then only if you have clicked into the actual full entry of the blog — seriously, that's really a pain.) 

Because of this, I am a little worried that the news of NARA's rate increase effective this coming MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, might have been missed. So, on the off chance, that someone might be interested in placing an order before the big rate hike, I'm going to give you some steps for accomplishing this. Now maybe all of you are a lot smarter than I am, and you can go to NARA's Web site and figure it out in a snap, but I have ordered several times since they first allowed online ordering last year, and every time I have to start from scratch figuring out what in the heck they want me to do.

First, go to this Web address: https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline/start.swe?SWECmd=Start. (If you have clicked on the full entry button, you will see this as a blue hyperlink that you can just click on to go to the correct page.) 

1. You will need to log in, or if you haven't already registered you will need to do this first. (If you are only “looking” you can skip this part.) 

2. Then you will need to click on the “made to order reproductions” tab. This will take you to a second screen.

3. There are seven choices on the menu: a. Census b. Court Records c. Immigration and Naturalization Records d. Land Files e. WW I Draft Registration Cards f. Military Service and Pension Records g. Native American Records

4. Clicking on any of these menu choices will take you to a page that will give you a description of the record choice, the current cost of the item and frequently asked questions.

5. Once you decide what you are ordering, it is very similar to ordering from Amazon or JC Penney. There is one exception. Each item must be placed on a separate order. However, you can have multiple orders placed at the same time. 

6. An order confirmation page will appear with the following items on it: a. Order Number b. Order Date c. Product d. Total Charge 

7. Print this confirmation page. That way if there is any question on whether or not you will be paying the pre October 1 rate, you have all the proof you need. Believe me, depending on the order; we are talking a significant difference. 

Should you order great-great-grandpa's land entry record or his Civil War pension record? I don't know. The problem with the system is that you don't know exactly what you are getting until the package arrives. Paying $17.75 to get four ambiguous pieces of paper that constitute Joseph's land entry package is probably not a good bargain, unless you need to prove some disputed dates. 

A distant cousin and I ordered the same ancestor's pension package at different times. There were 27 pages in the packet. (NARA says the average is 105, but you can't prove it by me. The most I have received was 92.) The cousin was disappointed. I, on the other hand, was thrilled. But then again, I tend to be sentimental and sappy. Information to me is pure gold. 

Tomorrow, I will have a short blog about ideas on how to find the information needed to order a Civil War veterans federal pension packet. Until then — Happy Ancestral Digging! Note this post first published online, September 25, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

©25 Sept 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder