Beginners Genealogy Class—Mon. July 31, 2000
Taught by Jrfrost jrfrost@yahoo.com
Teacher’s comments in Bold Script
Class comments in Italic Script
Rita Lace’s comments in Bold Italic Script
Hello to all of you
I am ashamed that there are quite a few in here I don’t know
Glad you all could come
I have a few questions before we begin
I would like to plan lessons in advance
Are there any areas that you are most interested in?
jglg55 says, Not me. I know
nothing. LOL
I plan on starting at the very beginning jg
maresey_dotes says, record keeping in general and how to keep organized
kissa_joy2 says, well that’s as good a place as any for me......
tamsue31 says, that’s good jr because I’m not really sure where to begin
with this at all
when I started, no one warned
me about being organized....
boy did I have a mess
jamesjr1962 has been
invited to join this room.
kissa_joy2 says, have 3 binders full of mess........
Actually, I started this club because I was like a nomad, wondering
aimlessly and lets face it, the gen chat isn’t a good place for help
tamsue31 says, my desk is always a mess!!!
If you have a question, please
dont be afraid to ask...this is very informal
To begin at the
beginning...Start with yourself and remember these questions:
full name
date of birth
place of birth
spouse name, date of birth
place of birth
marriage date and place
tamsue31 says, is someone has been married and divorced how does that
go?
Depends...is important as to children mostly need to list father with
children...but not absolutely necesssary to list all spouses
Most computer programs have a
way to list preferred spouse which I connect with current
kissa_joy2 says, I have just been listing them all
That is good as well
Some people don’t want them listed at all...but for genealogical
purposes, they should be
Ok, after yourself, your
spouse...
for your pedigree you need parents and grandparents and greatgrandparents
your children...your siblings
and your parents siblings...follow me?
But before I go too far with that...
I want to talk about being organized....
Most people jump right into genealogy, but don’t organize --write
things on little pieces of paper-- then lose them, cant remember where they got
information or how to contact that person for additional information needed...
jglg55 says, Question What
program to buy?
programs all have good and bad... and it gets to be a personal
preference, but we will do computer
programs another day
jamesjr1962 says, in other word's
get a filing system worked out..
You have to start with paper
jglg55 says, Thanks
kissa_joy2 says, old fashioned way!
One of the biggest rules is use 8 1/2 by 11 paper for everything... I can
only give you examples of how I do things, there are lots of different filing
systems I use loose leaf notebooks, with sleeves. I have a notebook for all major surnames. If I print something off the internet, I put
it in a sleeve and into the proper notebook. If I do put something on a little
piece of paper, I staple/tape it to an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper
I suggest strongly that you get the following forms maresey_dotes is
back.
A pedigree...is a chart which lists you, your parents their parents and
your great grandparents. When researching, this has been my most valuable piece
of paper.It lists their names, birth dates...death dates marriage dates
etc...When researching, these are items you MUST HAVE!
There are lots of them out on the net, available for downloading
Then you can print them out, I believe there are some you can use the
computer to fill out and then print If you have trouble finding them, I will
have them listed on the founders page within a few days.
The next one is a Family
Sheet. This gets into the more detailed information...has to do with a
marriage.
lists spouse children and all
their dates
These are in my notebooks, and
any information I find concerning these family members are behind their family
sheet follow me so far?
The family sheet also gives you a place to write sources, and you will
learn that sources are so important
For another class, we will talk about sources, and documentation
lionessden31 says, i have some sources of a family im researching but
when i try to look for more info. I don’t
get anywhere
But for now, just know that
everything you find...you need to keep track of where you found it.
OK, lets stop there for a
moment
How many of you know about the
mentor program we have?
GREATEST MAJORITY OF THE CLASS SAID ‘NO’.
Jamesjr says, in other word a researh log...
right james
a research log will work as well
let me tell you about the mentor program, marie in the meantime, find
the addy for me will you?
lionessden31 says, what is a research log?
we will get to the research log
in a minute lioness...
We have a mentor program, where
Newbies can request help
lionessden31 says, ok
kissa_joy2 says, thats me
A club member who has done
genealogy for a long time will guide you in where to look and where to find
certain kinds of information
Marieclassof86 says, http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/1314/mentor.html
This address is about our
mentors
It has email addresses so you
can contact someone for personalized help
I am a mentor for the club...I
believe marie is as well
Marieclassof86 says, Yes..I'm just an unlisted one right now
We will get you listed Marie
How many of you would like a
mentor?
kissa_joy2 says, I would
lionessden31 says, me
tamsue31 says, me me me!!!!
jglg55 says, I would
maresey_dotes says, I would but
i dont' think i am ready
After class, I will ask you to give me your email address...
donna123_d says, JR you can put me down as a Mentor or Indiana
jglg55 says, I'm not ready for a few weeks
hi ebell, we are having
beginner class
What do you mean jglg and
maresey?
EBELL60 says, Well I've benn doing this for close to 5 years, am I'm a
beginner?
are you doing research?
lionessden31 says, im ready as far as names are concerned but i have
been in one website where i go visit quite often but no findings
thats where a mentor will help
you
they wont do research for you,
but will help you know where to look
lionessden31 says, ok
Just a thought, we will talk
more about later...
maresey_dotes says, Then I am ready- I need help on where to look
James, how long have you been
doing genealogy?
EBELL60 says, , I can help out if you want me to as a mentor.
Marie, same question
jamesjr1962 says, for a year and a half
Marieclassof86 says, 10 yrs
And Marie, what did you tell me about the beginner class?
kissa_joy2 says, I have been doing it for a long time but its just bits
and pieces and not verified
Marieclassof86 says, I learn something new in each class
I did it for a long time with
bits and pieces, but didnt really go forward for a long time the thing about
the classes, is it helps you get organized
tamsue31 says, im definetly a newbie cuz
i just started looking for things about 8 months ago
EBELL60 says, jr, that is what I need
organization.
I love having experienced
genies in class, because they often have the ability to expound on ideas
lionessden31 says, i do have one family that i have researched and
found my cousin who we have been emailing and now i will be receiving the
entire family tree in about a month
Great lioness...but....
jglg55 says, I've just had things given to me. Haven't done any real work. Going on
vacation soon.
when you are receiving family
trees someone else has done, one must still document
Marieclassof86 says, the more you find the more you have to prove
tamsue31 says, my family thinks i am nuts for doing this becuz it takes
time
lionessden31 says, its been verified by myself from pics and family
and that is good
jamesjr1962 says, what has help me is
with searching on the internet.. l have ran across family that has worked on
the family tree.. and got alot of info.. from them
EBELL60 says, tamsue, my family is the same way with me, especially my mother.
tamsue31 says, i told them that i am determined to do this and i wont stop until I’m satisfied
I have as well, but still seek
documentation, proof so to speak on all information given me by others
tam...it is your time right?
I love genealogy...
jglg55 says, I will need a mentor when I
return the end of Aug.
Marieclassof86 says, I still think the
best way is research at the library
depends on what it is for
birth certificates, marriage
licenses, death certificates, deeds,and they all give you other information
tamsue31 says, i just feel that i want
to know and learn my who my ancestors were and where they were from
lionessden31 says, when i got contact i
was happy but still skeptical until names were given and then i was sent a pic
and then i knew it wasn’t false info
EBELL60 says, Ok, I thought that, thanks. I got some of those things, but it is hard
to find when it gets back to 1600s
It is...but you will enjoy
every minute of it kissa
yes, further you go back, harder the documents are to find
and requires trips to the
library--census only goes back to 1850
kissa_joy2 says, what library?
lionessden31 says, i don’t have to worry
about that my cousin has done all that for me and her grandfather as well
any good genealogy library kissa
tamsue31 says, i just found out that my
parents already had my fathers side of the family done about 7 yrs ago and i
sat and read it and was really surprised
EBELL60 says, jr, another source is
church records too, and trips to county government offices.
kissa_joy2 says, well I live in the
sticks.......30 miles from nearest library….in Montana
lionessden31 says, but im looking for my
maiden name family and have had only one response and none since
people are born, people die even small libraries can order census
the internet has been wonderful for genealogists
Ok...back to class
EBELL60 says, kisa, you can write the capital certain depts. and get the paperwork for a fee.
Someone tell me a home source
lionessden31 says, but when you want marriage,death, and other documents dont you need to go to that state
there are places on the net
that list all the sources for those documents
jamesjr1962 says, a home source is me , my parents and grandparent's that are living..
the list is free lioness...the certificates you pay for
Home sources
are lots of things... family
bibles, newspaper clippings, obituaries-- have a wealth of information list
survivors, siblings, parents children
jamesjr1962 says, local church is a home
source.. handouts from funerals, books that mourners sign old letters…
scrapbooks..photographs cards...
pjhaynie says, baby book
lionessden31 says, heirlooms?
even quilts...yes baby books
quilts often have name of the stitcher
Or samplers
EBELL60 says, jr, photographs is good if
they have names with them.
tamsue31 says, what is a family bible?
jamesjr1962 says, what about the house
(itself)?
A family bible is usually one
your mother, grandmother has
kissa_joy2 says, mine is written in
Swiss or Swede
back in the older times, it was
all some families had to record births and deaths
EBELL60 says, tamsue, a family bible, list the births of the family members that has been handing down through out the family.
lionessden31 says, one that has been
passed on from generation to generation correct
right-- and my ancestors kept
the handouts from funerals in the bible
as well as the obituaries
lionessden31 says, they even put certain scrapbook materials in their to remember
Newspaper obituaries are
wonderful as far as listing family members
These things are good to
remember when you go to the home of some older family members looking for
information
They might not remember, but
they might have grandmas bible stuck away
kissa_joy2 says, my problem is there are no family members left........
That is always a problem kissa
makes the search harder, but
not impossible!
kissa_joy2 says, hope not
we dont all have famous people
in our heritage, and some are harder to find
jamesjr1962 says, jr what about the house or home,? my grandparents house was built by my great grandfarther father.. when he move here from germany.. ( by homestead law)
but over the coming weeks, and
with the help of mentors for some of you, you will knock down those brick walls
right, the house will have a
deed
EBELL60 says, kissa, I've been looking for my wife's family since I started and my mother's father's side
and a title search if you are
lucky...amazing what information is in a title search
lionessden31 says, ok, what happens if
there are only 2 living relatives and you can’t contact them
robin1952 says,...did anyone mention
wills
don’t know where they are?
wills are a great source as
well robin
robin1952 says, find lots of info there
lionessden31
says, New York, my aunt doesn’t remember much and i have talked to another aunt
by marriage and she don’t know much she was remarried
tamsue31 says, where in NY?
robin1952 says, what county?
EBELL60 says, lioness, get as much as
you can, it could come up a lead for you later.
lionessden31 says,Tonawanda
Sometimes with older people,
you have to ask specific questions
lionessden31 says, Tonawanda, New York
or Buffalo
tamsue31 says, I’m in northeast PA,
never heard of that one lioness
robin1952 says, find the county and see
if they have a county page with queries
lionessden31 says, most of my relatives
of my maiden name came RI
kissa_joy2 says, asked my aunt questions when she was alive and she gave me false info..because she didn’t understand
lionessden31 says, I don’t know what the
counties are only the cities
robin1952 says, Rootsweb will have them
listed
Lioness, get an atlas
EBELL60 says,
JR, another source is a city phonebook too.
It will give you a name and address
jamesjr1962 says, hospital record help
to.. my gg grandfather had a hospital record .. saying he was shot before he
left Germany by the French army..
tamsue31 says, i still have great aunts alive but haven’t had time to visit with them yet
robin1952 says, make the time tam
lionessden31 says, I have tried that
robin but no luck... its like I’m not supposed to know
tamsue31 says, oh i will robin!!
robin1952 says, are you going to be here
a while lion
Lioness...there are times when
it feels that way
lionessden31 says, yes
robin1952 says, I will look for the
county
but the answers are there
kissa_joy2 says, so can I get info off
the net since a library is so far away?
robin1952 says, you said tonawanda
lionessden31 says, yes
robin1952 says, I have family there
lionessden31 says, but my family is
based out of providence, rhode island
robin1952 says, Rhode Island has only
two counties
jamesjr1962 says, hospital records are a
good source.. but it getting hard to get to them this day's
Another important thing, now that some one mentioned it
Is to get a good atlas
you can buy them at Wal~mart for less than 5 bucks any search you do
almost anywhere for genealogy requires knowledge of the county almost more
important than the state
kissa_joy2 says, thats cool for some jr but dont work for times past when countries and towns have changed
thats right, but you have to
start somewhere kissa
jamesjr1962 says, what about history of the area ?
and some of them were formed
from counties sourrounding them
genweb is a good place to look
for the changes though
they give lots on the county
history
kissa_joy2 says, ok
and actually give a lot of old
maps
bumperbug139 says, I have tried to look for family but we found out that there was a change of name so what do I do now?
Look for both-- spelling is
another thing we need to talk about
examples: Mathews/Matthews Mullinicks/Mulliniks
bumperbug139 says, We don't know for
sure the first name
spellings changes for several
reasons
Back years ago, people didn’t
go 12 years of school—a lot of them never went to school they would apply for a
license of some sort, and maybe they couldn’t even read
lionessden31 says,
Hoarde/Hoard/Horde/Hord is another example
pjhaynie says, Settle/Suttle/Suttles
bumperbug139 says, some times you have
to go with the way it sounds
Names were spelled as the
information taker knew them
soundex in Census is a good
example/source of how to find them
lionessden31 says, I thought it would be
because of immigration
some of it was like
Mullinicks...was Mullinax or Mullineyou(or whatever)
tamsue31 says,
Hinchcliffe/Hinchcliff/Hinchclif is another one
EBELL60 says, Jr, some of the name changes are because of family
arguements too.
you need to be aware of
different spellings
right, and some because they
were hiding
kissa_joy2 says, try this one was shortened...aho...but from what I don’t know
Cherokee people are another
example
bumperbug139 says, some times you have to go with what sounds like the name and check the birth date
they didn’t want to go to
reservations...so they changed everything
In this class you have given me
ideas as to which direction we need to go
jamesjr1962 says, so what you saying is general history is helpful when doing family genealogy..
bumperbug139 says, What if you don't know what the last name of the women and she is the Indian
ritalace enters
General history is almost
necessary James
You will be amazed at how many
of these don’t know about our mentor program and how many need them
ritalace says, Well it's been a bad summer - we haven't gotten our word out the way we should
bumper...how long have you been doing
genealogy?
bumperbug139 says, for about 25 years
off and on
How long on the puter?
bumperbug139 says, I have a lot of
information but not on the puter
bumperbug139 says, this is my first year
so I have a lot to learn about where to look
ritalace says, Are most of you all beginning at genealogy?
tamsue31 says, yes
We will soon do a whole class
on the sites available for research
Most important is http://www.usgenweb.org
tamsue31 says, i just started about 8
months ago Rita
pjhaynie says, 2 years for me
lionessden31 says, i am Rita
ritalace says, I wish I was just starting over. It's am amazing hobby and one I've enjoyed for many years.
It is a great place to start
lionessden31 says, but i have been doing
this over a year
tamsue31 says, i meant ritalace...sorry
lioness
For those of you who dont know,
allow me to introduce ritalace/momlace
kissa_joy2 says, rita I send you all of
mine to start all over on
she is our resident genealogist
and one we all go to when we hit a brick wall
ritalace
says, LOL Kissa. I don't want to ruin your fun
EBELL60 says, Maybe I should talk to her
then.
Rita, can I impose on you to
field questions, while I talk to some on a one on one to get mentors set up?
ritalace says, Hi everyone. I'm really glad to meet you all., Anything I can help with, I will be glad to
tamsue31 says, nice to meet ya ritalace
Rita is a co-founder of this club as well
jamesjr1962 says, jr: l have a Ancestors check list that gives
thing to look for
EBELL60 says, Rita, unless you can find
me some DAY's you can help.
jamesjr1962 says, whould this be a
helpful to you..?
ritalace says, Well, I may be able to help you Ebell. I have done some research on Day's in the past. I have a rather large database of them, as a matter of fact. Where and when were the Day's you were researching located?
EBELL60 says, Right now I'm stuck with
my wife's. They are Decatur County GA.
ritalace
says, jr has given you the best place to start with Georgia research, Ebell -
and that is www.usgenweb.org
From
there you can find the places that you can write and inquire.
EBELL60 says, Rita, been there done that, that is the main source I use.
ritalace
says, Another place I would suggest looking, and placing inquiries - are www.rootsweb.com and www.genforum.com Rootsweb hosts a huge Day family database.
The Day's I've researched are located in New England - but they were the first
Day families in the States.
EBELL60 says, rita, got a feeler out on
rootsweb. will try genforum in a
bit. ritalace says, If you get back just a tad further, we may well connect
up.
Marieclassof86 says, how far back have
you got them
ritalace says, Into the 1700's Marie. For me.
kissa_joy2 says, 1700s !!!! oh
geez.....thought I was doing well to the 1800's
ritalace says, You are Kissa - most families immigrated in the early 1800's or late 1700's. It is only in New England that they go back much further in the States.
bumperbug139 says, rita if there is a change in the name for one reason or another where do you look
ritalace
says, The place to check is the Soundex code, bumper
EBELL60 says, Sorry had to look it
up. 1903 so far.
Marieclassof86 says, ok then census
research would be helpful for you
kissa_joy2 says, I know that’s why I am
having problems
ritalace
says, That will give you all the variable spellings for any given name - for
the most part. I have seen a few creative spellings that it misses, but not
many. Soundex is available on several web sites - including Gendex and www.familysearch.com - that I can think of right off. I know
there are many others though.
bumperbug139 says, this name was changed to some thing completely different not a sound-a-like name
Beginners classes will be every Monday—we may branch out though
ritalace says, Soundex takes a name, drops all the vowels and then comes up with a combination of letters that should find most names. ritalace says, What is the name you are looking at bumper?
bumperbug139 says, We don't know for
sure but it might be
bumperbug139 says, Glass
ritalace
says, And that is a very simplified explanation of course.
ritalace says, Glass. I would try adding suffixes to that Bumper - Like Glasston, Glasswell - that kind of thing.
bumperbug139 says, this was back in the
1800s
ritalace says, It also could be German, and they changed their names dramatically when they came here.
jamesjr1962 says, jr.. l'll get back with you soon about the chat l'm working on
bumperbug139 says, But the name now we
are looking for is Brown
ritalace says, Nearly as bad as Smith.
bumperbug139 says, so you can see the
different
bumperbug139 says, I have a lot of
Smith on my side
ritalace says, Yes. Do you think they were avoiding detection for any reason, thus the name change bumper? My late husband was a Smith and my son is beginning the Smith research now. It is tough sledding for sure.
bumperbug139 says, There is a story told
by GGgrandmother but not on the chat
pjhaynie says, bumper, WHY do you think name changed?
bumperbug139 says, problems
ritalace
says, www.usgenweb.org
ritalace
says, www.gendex.com
ritalace
says, www.familysearch.org
We need to have a class about queries as well rita
ritalace
says, Those were the ones I mentioned - there are thousands of sites of course,
but those are good starting points.
ritalace says, Yes, jr - and mailing lists.
most of the people in here probably dont know about how where...
rascal2535 says, i have a problem using info from the net.. i'm never sure how reliable it is
rascal, always have to back up information,
even and most especially the net
ritalace says, rascal, the thing to do is always suspect what is on the net - until and unless you verify it yourself.
rascal2535 says, yes that's what i do..
i usually skip the net part though..lol
lionessden31 says, thats what i did
ritalace says, You can do that with the actual records - many of which are available at the local historical societies, the census records, military records, etc. The thing to do, is find who submitted the information - then e-mail them and ask them to please send you their sources.
rascal2535 says, yes i'm very lucky.. we
have a great research center here
ritalace says, Then you can deduce from that if their information is reliable or not to some degree.
lionessden31 says, how long does class
last?
class is dismissed lioness..
just a free for all now
bumperbug139 says, jrfrosst50 thank you for the information you gave me
ritalace
says, If you all haven't yet visited your local Family History Centers, then
you are missing one of the best resources available to research.
They
have microfilmed many of the actual records and with help - they will send
microfilm to their centers for you to look at. These include American, and
many other countries records.
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