#genealogy #Revolutionarywar

Dreaming of Warmer Days & Research Trips

/ Chiara / 3 Comments

It is a rainy and rather dreary day here in Queens, I am stuck at work. I am dreaming a research trip or two.

I am at the point in some of my lines where I need a good old-fashioned boots on the ground research trip. I haven’t been to a library or an archive for my own research since about 2000 when I went to DC and visited NARA and the DAR Library. I decided today would be a perfect time to list some places I want to go and some research I want to do.

I understand family search has some of the probate records for NYS but I always feel the actual packets may be better than what is listed in the books. Also I swear some of my family was completely left out of the will books. (It may be wishful thinking on my part.)

  1. Day trip to Brooklyn, NY to hit up Canarsie Cemetery and Holy Cross Cemetery.
  2. Municipal Archives in NYC – would love to view the Coroners Report microfilm. Look at several death certificates and marriage certificates.
  3. Trip to Clinton County (I probably could spend a week or 2 here).
    1. Head to the probate court to review the entire David Weatherwax file.
    2. check to see if there is a packet for either Jacob or Mary Weatherwax.
    3. check for probate records for my Larkin family, Jehiel Beardsley.
  4. Visit the Baker Burying Ground, Gillaland Cemetery and Harkness Cemetery while I am in the area.Screen Shot 2018-05-02 at 3.39.22 PM
  5. A Trip to Essex County, NY to check on the probates of Beverly Beardsley who died in 1815, as well as the Beverly Beardsley who died in 1897. See if there are probate Packets for Benjamin Knowlton Coolidge, Obadiah Coolidge, Elijah Preston and both Abner Preston Sr. and Abner Preston Jr.
  6. A quick trip to Rensselaer County Probate Court for the entire Probate pack for Sarah Larkin Beardsley. This one I am rather curious about as Sarah died in 1886 and she predeceased her husband by about 30 years.

Eventually I would love to hit up the various libraries and historical societies but currently I need to be meaningful in my trips.

I would also love to head over to Oneida County to try to find the probate for Benjamin Knowlton and his wife Phebe Wright. I need to prove my Sarah Knowlton Coolidge is their daughter. I also need to find a marriage record for Obadiah Coolidge to Sarah Knowlton and that just might require a trip to New Hampshire.

I am dreaming of sunshine, summer days and the time to travel in New York.

 

Thank you 30 x 30 challenge…

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

So far the 30 x 30 challenge has been great for my research. It is forcing me to be deliberate in my research and not fall down many rabbit holes.

Progress report – Day 2 I focused on Neil Osborne, Bergetti’s husband and made a similar timeline for him but it did not reveal any additional clues, so I began a timeline for their only living child John and it is in progress as I wanted to also use the records I have in my library (marriage certificate and death certificates). I am also trying to watch a webinar on Norwegian research, as I am not sure where to go next on this line.

Saturday( Day 3) I took a slightly different approach and decided to focus on one of my own lines by cleaning up some of those annoying green leaves on my ancestry tree. I clicked one that I don’t generally click “Story”.

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What an absolute treat I found…

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It was a full sheet (I have to print things out). I work much better with actual paper and it was a bit of genealogy gold. It actually referenced books I could find on Internet Archive “The History of Warner, NH” for one and read. Mr. Joseph Sawyer was a selectman in 1776 which I believe makes him eligible to be a patriot for the Daughters of the American Revolution. Hello, new patriot (he isn’t listed in the Ancestor Database).

It also referenced Judith’s parents, Richard and Hannah Bartlett Kelly. Which lead me to my Day 4’s research  another book on Internet Archive Screen Shot 2018-11-04 at 8.19.32 AM

Which lists, the genealogy in great detail and it also references Judith’s Fathers papers which I am now on the hunt for as I like to have the actual references. Also it provides the direct proof I need to link to a proven female patriot, Hannah Kelly.

So now I just need to figure out how to print the pages I need from Internet Archive for reference.

So I must say I am enjoying this 30 x 30 challenge and it seems to be exactly what I needed to focus and my Mom will be happy as these will be patriots through my grandmother’s line.

 

Decoding those leaves…

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

 

ossborne

We all know about those shaky leaves on ancestry. See these leaves here they sit for a long time. These in particular because they deal with Irish Ancestry. I you look you will see a lot of Peter, Marys and Bridgets. They give me a headache after a while. Decoding a leaf for me is a long process.  If the hint is another tree, I hit the ignore button. While trees are great hints for a starting point the facts have to be verified so I would rather not have any preconceived notions.

The following trees I am trying to set up research questions for and concentrate on finding answers. Having a research plan will hopefully keep me more organized and help finish some lines.

This is the Maxwell tree. This one has so many fabulous names. I am going to start with who was Byrd C. Maxwell and some basic facts of his life.maxwell

Another thing that hints from Ancestry that I love and do spend time perusing is photos. I stumbled across this one of Byrd Maxwell.

maxwellbyrd

Byrd is seated in the front row and he looks like a character. I wonder the stories he could tell.

Below is what I have termed the Hoffman family tree.  Charles Hoffman is actually a Robinson. HE was adopted. I am in search of his actual obituary and not the copy I found online.

dillenbeck

I also love the fabulous names in this tree including George Wesley Collison and Cornelius Collison. These families came from the East and moved west.  I am trying to piece together Cornelius Collision and am having a hard time as their is either another Cornelius or it is possible the had 2 families (not unheard of).  I recently bought some poster board to see what I could find out. Sometimes I have to revert back to old-fashioned paper and pen research to figure things out.

Here is another tree I am loving. This one has some fabulous names. I am trying to flesh out some Revolutionary War Ancestors for someone. I am also trying to find the immigrant ancestor on the deeply Irish side. This tree currently has over 200 hints I need to review. I timed myself one day. Each hint takes me around 5 minutes to decide if it is correct.

norris

This last tree I am loving. I showed you a portion of this family in my last post about Israel and Golde Angert. This is a different branch but equally as interesting. Number one, what a fabulous name Monteville is.

monteville

Also that Sylvanus Judson is a twin. This tree has so many names on both sides speaking to me that I am deriving several questions including the first one of who is Rose Gross. We know she was adopted but we need to find out more. This is where the release of the Birth and Death Records that Reclaim The Records is pursuing is so important.

I am thinking of offering a history of one ancestor snapshot – 30 minutes of research for the fee. If interested email me at Chiara@decodingthefamilytree.com and we can chat.

Off to work on writing those research questions.

 

 

 

Yes I do use the leaves!

/ Chiara / Leave a comment

I had posted yesterday about helping look for a revolutionary war patriot for friends and woke up to a friend wanting some help.Screen Shot 2018-07-05 at 5.38.07 PM

After receiving the information, I began a tree and there are all those hints and some potential parent recommendations. Now begins the process of reviewing each and every hint and evaluating the information. I actually begin by deleting all the member trees and photos of documents. It means hitting the ignore key.

As she was interested in a revolutionary war patriot which is on her mom’s side I will start with that,  but she also is interested in her dad’s side and it isn’t as deep so it will mean expanding my horizons into an area of the world I am not super familiar with but I consider it an adventure and learning experience.

I just timed myself and it takes me about 5 minutes per hint to evaluate it and decide if it is correct. I also love states like Michigan who put their death records online for Free. So I am taking the don’t be a source snob to heart and reviewing a lot of these items and I did find a set of twins in her tree born in the late 1700s with very similar names and I think they are causing some problems but I will get it sorted out.

So yes I do use the shaky leaves but I have learned to evaluate each and everyone for its merits. Due Diligence and a reasonably exhausted search are so important.