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Time Out! Why Even Long-Time Genealogists Need a Break

Why even long-time genealogists need a breakBrick Walls. We all have them somewhere in our family tree—places in our pedigree where we cannot find the names and dates we need to continue tracing the ancestral line. Sometimes all it takes is time and patience sorting through unindexed records or tracing each of several same-named persons until we find the right one. Many of us have spent years—decades even—doing just that, but without success. This can be frustrating for genealogists of all levels, and stepping away from the struggle and experiencing success for a while may just be the solution. Here are some tips and tricks for taking a break from your discouraging research roadblock.

  1. Collateral research on spouses and siblings. Many aspiring genealogists are so intent on extending their direct lines as far back as possible that they neglect spouses and siblings. Every spouse has ancestors and many siblings have descendants that are “ripe for the picking” genealogically speaking. Furthermore, studying these collateral lines often leads to breakthroughs on your direct lines, especially if they lived in the same area at the same time. Your own direct ancestor may not have named their parents, but their siblings or cousins may have done just that. You’ll have the satisfaction of gathering their records plus possibly the joy of discovering more about your direct line.
  2. Fill in the details on known ancestors. We all know genealogy is never “done.” You may think you’ve gathered all there is to be found on an ancestor, but new records are constantly being digitized and put online that were inaccessible and unknown only a few years ago. Newspapers and photos are a great example of this modern phenomenon. MyHeritage has hundreds of millions of newspaper pages from many countries and is adding to them all the time. They have also made finding photos incredibly easy with Photo Discoveries™ which uses Instant Discoveries™ search technology to find photos of our ancestors that have been shared by distant cousins. Take some refreshing time to find newly-available newspaper articles and photos and “flesh out” those names and dates on your pedigree.
  3. Volunteer with genealogy problem solving groups. There are plenty to choose from, but one interesting option is the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) Unclaimed Persons Database (https://www.claimus.org/). “The UnClaimed Persons database (UCP) contains information about deceased persons who have been identified by name, but for whom no next of kin or family member has been identified or located to claim the body for burial or other disposition. Only medical examiners and coroners may enter cases in the UCP database. However, the database is searchable by the public using a missing person’s name and year of birth.” What a meaningful way for genealogists to use their skills to serve others. Perhaps you’ll end up claiming one of your own distant cousins.
  4. Help a beginner pick the “low-lying fruit” of abundantly available records and build a basic pedigree. There’s nothing more invigorating to a genealogist than having plenty of informative documents available for the picking. All it takes is some very rewarding time pulling them together and organizing accurate, complete family groups. Seeing your friend feel that natural high of meeting their ancestors for the first time is priceless.
  5. Explore your DNA matches. If you’ve never used this increasingly valuable genealogical tool, DNA testing could help you discover a gold mine of matches (cousins) who claim descent from ancestors who turn out to be siblings of your own brick-wall ancestor. Just as we mentioned with collateral research, your own progenitor may not have left a record of their parents, but one of their siblings might have. There might not be documents proving those siblings were related, but a preponderance of DNA matches can bridge the records gap and give genealogists the proof needed to tap into several more generations of a known family. Even if you’ve already tried DNA and found your match list unhelpful, come back to it regularly. New matches are being added all the time as testing becomes more popular, and new, user-friendly analytical tools are being rapidly developed.
  6. Hire a fresh pair of eyes. Legacy Tree Genealogists offers a team approach to tackling genealogy problems. Perhaps you’ve been staring at your brick wall so long that you’ve overlooked some valuable clues. Having the fresh perspective of another long-time genealogist with a unique set of skills could provide the breakthrough you’ve been dreaming of. Keep in mind that professional genealogists are not privy to a mythical, exclusive database with “all the answers”—nor can we make nonexistent records magically appear—but we do offer the advantage of having multiple experienced genealogists and DNA specialists review your case. We also have a worldwide network of onsite genealogy researchers who can access archives which have not yet digitized their collections, the largest of which is the Family History Library, just down the street from our main office in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

It is amazing the effect that taking a break can have for a genealogist when it comes to tackling brick walls. You’ll have a renewed focus and better perspective when you come back to it, and hopefully your new skills or newly-available records and tools will make all the difference.

If you have a brick wall you need helping breaking down, we would love to help! Whether it's just reviewing what you've done and offering suggestions for you to continue yourself, or picking up where you left off and continuing the research for you, our expert genealogists are ready to assist you. Contact us today to discuss which of our project options works best for your case!

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Offering Hope for Father’s Day: A Client Reunion Success Story

This reunion between biological father and daughter is shared with permission from our client. *Names have been changed to protect privacy.

Father’s Day in the United States is celebrated on the third Sunday in June—a day filled with honoring and cherishing the special men in our lives. However, for those who feel the aching emptiness of never having known their biological father, it can be a difficult 24-hours cognizant of the void felt far too often throughout the year—a painful reminder of the ever-present absence in their lives.

reuniting with biological fatherAt Legacy Tree Genealogists, we are often contacted by individuals seeking assistance in finding information regarding biological family members. Utilizing advancements in genetic genealogy and thorough genealogical research, we have helped many clients find closure. Recently we helped client Lisa McArthur* locate her biological father, and so for the first time in her life, this Father’s Day is a momentous occasion she looks forward to—the first celebrated with her biological father.

Lisa McArthur of Fort Worth, Texas, USA, hired us to help her find her Jamaican biological father and half-brother. She knew only their names, and did not know their whereabouts or even whether they were still living. She hoped we could use DNA to identify her father’s Clarke ancestors in Jamaica and then trace their descendants until we found someone who could tell us more about him.

Lisa had already taken autosomal DNA tests at Family Tree DNA, 23andMe and Ancestry.com. She had corresponded with several genetic cousins at Ancestry.com and 23andMe who are likely related to her through the Clarke family, but she had not been able to figure out how.

We reviewed Lisa’s ethnicity admixture results at 23andMe. Through this review we determined that both of her parents had predominantly African ancestry and that her biological father was likely Afro-Caribbean, just as she reported.

We then reviewed Lisa’s closest genetic cousins at the various testing companies, paying particular attention to those genetic cousins from Jamaica. One of them, a confirmed second cousin [Cousin 1], the client already knew was the grandson of Elmer Clarke. We searched for information on Elmer Clarke and soon found his birth record showing he was the son of Leslie George Clarke and Anne Dixon.

FathersDay1
Birth Record of {name removed for privacy}. Obtained from FamilySearch.org.

By carefully evaluating the shared centiMorgans between Lisa and Cousin 1, we determined that her biological father may have been a grandson of Leslie George Clarke and Anne Dixon.

We found another close match at 23andMe [Cousin 2] who was likely a third cousin to Lisa. Based on her previous correspondence with him, we knew that Cousin 2’s great-grandparents were Roland Lee, Hermina Murry, Obadiah Brown, Juliet Higgins, Henry/William Dennis, Ida Thomas, Basil Hamilton and Ira Thomas/Barrett, all predominantly from Jamaica.

We reviewed the DNA that Cousin 2 shares in common with Lisa and discovered that two of the three segments where he overlaps with her are also shared in common with another match [Cousin 3], creating triangulated segments. When two individuals match a test subject and each other on the same segments of DNA, the segments are considered to be triangulated. This means that the common ancestor between Cousin 2 and Cousin 3 is also one of Lisa’s ancestors.

Through standard genealogical research, we found that Juliet Higgins (the great-grandmother of Cousin 2), from Saint Andrew, Jamaica, was allegedly the daughter of John Higgins, although we could not find a birth record to prove it. We also confirmed that Cousin 3 was the granddaughter of John Higgins and Charlotte V. Graham of Saint Andrew, Jamaica. Additional research yielded convincing evidence that the great-grandfather of Cousin 2 was the same John Higgins as the grandfather of Cousin 3. Correspondence with the son of Cousin 3 indicated that John Higgins was “a ladies’ man who had many children” with multiple women.

Since Cousins 2 and 3 both reported a common ancestor with the Higgins surname from Saint Andrew, Jamaica, we expected that Lisa also had a Higgins ancestor from the same place, perhaps even the same John Higgins.

We hypothesized that Lisa’s biological father was a nephew of Elmer Clarke, the grandfather of Cousin 1. Through previous research, Lisa had already identified four brothers of Elmer: Geoff Adolphus Clarke, Neil Clarke, Douglas Alexander Clarke, and Lane George Clarke. Through careful genealogical research we were able to eliminate all but Douglas Alexander Clarke as Lisa’s likely grandfather. Douglas married Angeline Higgins on 21 August 1935 in Holy Cross Church, Saint Andrew, Jamaica. Angeline Higgins was reported to be the 20-year-old daughter of Samuel Higgins and was a resident of Story Hill, Cavaliers, Saint Andrew, Jamaica. Based on the amount of DNA that Lisa shares in common with Cousins 2 and 3, we might expect that Angeline’s father, Samuel, may have been another son of John Higgins with an unidentified mother.

biological father and daughter reunion success story
Marriage of {names removed for privacy}. Obtained from FamilySearch.org.

Given that the marriage of Douglas Alexander Clarke and Angeline Higgins represents a union between the Clarke family and the Higgins family, both of Saint Andrew, Jamaica, we proposed that they were the most likely grandparents of Lisa.

Through additional family collaboration, Lisa was able to learn that her father is still living, just eight hours away from where she lives, and that she has five other siblings including the half-brother she had heard about. Furthermore, Lisa was able to confirm that our DNA research was exactly right, since her father’s mother, Angeline Higgins, is still living at the age of 102!

Of her experience, Lisa shared the following feedback:

“I've had an awesome experience working with Legacy Tree. They were able to confirm some of the questions I had about my family history. They are so professional, Carolyn Tolman is a sweetheart that helped me all the way through the process with any questions I had before my project was complete, and even after my project was complete she still gave me direction on the next step to take. Paul was the genealogist that worked on my project…What can I say about Paul except…Paul you rock!!! He figured out who my paternal grandparents were…. I will certainly be using Legacy Tree for my upcoming projects. Thanks Carolyn, Paul and the Legacy Tree team.”

If you’re looking for answers to questions about your family – whether it’s identifying and finding biological family members who are still living, or breaking down a brick wall you’re been working on for years – our experts have the knowledge and expertise to walk you through the process every step of the way. Contact us today for a free consultation.

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Immigrant Ancestors & «Avalon»: A Movie for Genealogists

We’re fresh off the holiday season, and that meant movies in our household! My family enjoys all the standard classics, but as a genealogist, I must confess that one movie stands out as my all-time favorite: Avalon was the perfect Thanksgiving kickoff to the holiday season.

Lessons learned from Avalon on immigrant ancestors

This autobiographical film was written, directed, and produced by Barry Levinson in 1990 and centers on the stories told by his Russian Jewish immigrant grandfather Sam Krichinsky. The movie is set in the early 1950s and consists of successive Thanksgivings and Fourth of Julys, two quintessentially American holidays, with one Christmas thrown in for good measure.

Mr. Levinson always loved hearing his grandfather's stories of the family's early days in the United States, and interviewed a number of relatives to gather anecdotes for the script. When his family saw the finished film, they agreed that he successfully captured the essence and early history of the Krichinsky family.

This sense of genuineness and nostalgia is what makes Avalon such a great movie, and illustrates many of the themes that we repeatedly see as professional genealogists when completing  immigrant ancestor research.

Arrival

As genealogists, we are keenly interested in the details of our ancestors’ immigration, including the order in which a family arrived. In the movie and in real life, the Krichinsky brothers immigrated to Baltimore from Kiev (modern-day Ukraine) one at a time, working to gradually bring the whole extended family. Sam’s memory of his arrival on the Fourth of July is what opens the movie:

“I came to America in 1914 by way of Philadelphia. That's where I got off the boat. And then I came to Baltimore. It was the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen in your life. There were lights everywhere! What lights they had! It was a celebration of lights! I thought they were for me. Sam was in America! I didn't know what holiday it was, but there were lights, and I walked under them. The sky exploded! People cheered! There were fireworks! What a welcome it was, what a welcome!”

Lessons learned from Avalon on immigrant ancestors

Perhaps not all immigrants had such feelings of joy upon arriving in the United States, but Sam’s account echoes those of my own ancestors who had left oppressive and hopeless situations in their old countries.

Name Changes

Many of us have immigrant ancestors who changed their names, obscuring their origins and challenging our efforts to trace their ancestry. I love the critical clue in the movie that Krichinsky is of Russian origin, ending in ‘y’ rather than the Polish ‘i.’ Not surprisingly, the younger generation of Krichinskys changed their surnames to “Kirk” and “Kaye” because it was easier for Americans to pronounce. Sam’s reaction to this is reflective of what many immigrant patriarchs must have felt:

“Who said names are supposed to be easy to say? What are you, a candy bar? You got a name: Krichinsky. It’s a name! Kaye. Kirk. Two cousins—different names! How can this be a family when the father is called Sam Krichinsky, his son is called Jules Kaye, and his first cousin is Izzy Kirk? This is a family! Krichinsky is the name of the family! It’s not Kaye! It’s not Kirk! It’s Krichinsky!”

Although none of my own ancestors changed their names (beyond dropping an umlaut), they all seemed eager to leave their old traditions (language, dress, etc.) behind and adopt American culture so that their children would fit in and be successful here.

Dissolution of Extended Family

In the old country, extended families necessarily relied on each other for economic survival and tended to stay geographically close. However, once in America, job and land opportunities strained family ties both geographically and emotionally. We see this happen in Avalon as affluence allows the younger family members to move to the suburbs and disregard old loyalties. The most iconic scene in the movie depicts the family breaking the time-honored tradition of waiting to cut the Thanksgiving turkey until Uncle Gabriel arrives. Of course, he is late because he had to travel out to the suburbs, causing him to resent his nephews’ prosperity. “You cut the turkey without me!” he bellows, beginning a family feud which eventually leads to the tragic dissolution of the extended family. Crowded and noisy Thanksgiving feasts in the beginning of the movie change to quiet and small family meals in front of the television in the end.

Storytelling

Family history is first and foremost about stories. Often our clients come to us with only a family story remembered from their childhood. Sam is fond of starting off with “I came to America in 1914…” causing his family to complain “How many times do we have to hear this story? We know this story. We heard it before.” He wisely replies, “If you stop remembering, you forget!”

Naturally, Sam’s memories are sometimes not quite accurate. In one of the more humorous parts of the movie, he remembers that when his father arrived in Baltimore in 1926 (or was it 1925? No one quite remembers) it was a bitterly cold day. We see a line of family members walking up to welcome him, bundled up in coats and scarves. But then Sam’s wife Eva reminds him that it was actually late May, and we see an amended scene depicting the welcome party in summer dresses, bathed in sunshine. It is this human tendency of misremembering story details that often sets research off on the wrong track and requires original documents to set right.

In spite of Sam’s faithful storytelling throughout his life, in his old age he laments:

“A couple of years ago, I went to see the house on Avalon. It was gone. Not just the house, but the whole neighborhood. I went to see the ballroom where me and my brothers used to play. The whole place—gone. Not just that, but the grocery store where we used to shop—gone. All gone. I went to see where Eva lived off Poplar Street. It isn’t there—not even the street… And then I went to see the nightclub I used to have. Thank God it was there, because for a minute, I thought I never was. If I knew things would no longer be here, I would have tried to remember better.”

Thankfully, Sam’s grandson had been listening all along. Barry Levinson was able to create an entire movie based on the stories his grandfather told. One of his Krichinsky cousins who attended the premier of Avalon said “I met my uncles, I met my aunts, I met my parents all over again. The movie has made my children excited about their family. They're learning a lot about their grandparents, about how hard it was for them to make their way when they came to America.» Another cousin remarked, «It's wonderful the way this movie has brought us back together again.» [1]

I love this movie for depicting the American immigrant experience and emphasizing the importance of personal and family history. Genealogy has the power to turn our hearts to our ancestors and living relatives and bring families together. This is what we are all about at Legacy Tree Genealogists!

If you'd like professional help seeking the stories of your own immigrant ancestry, contact us today to discuss your goals. The consultation is free.

[1] Henderson, Randi, “The Roots of the Story: Barry Levinson’s ‘Avalon’ describes his family’s coming to America,” The Baltimore Sun, 28 September 1990, http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-09-28/features/1990271027_1_barry-levinson-leib-malka, accessed December 2016.

 

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9 Tips for Interviewing Relatives

war_office_second_world_war_official_collection_h28513My grandma June was a lively, intelligent woman who loved to share memories of her past. Back in college as I worked on my degree in Family History, I came to her house one day to interview her about her life history. She told wonderful stories about her childhood, her parents and siblings. I am so glad I captured everything on a cassette tape and was required to transcribe it for my project. I did this with several other relatives as well to fulfill various assignments.

Many years later, my daughter needed to interview someone about what it was like to live during World War II. I immediately thought of Grandma June, who was still very active, both physically and mentally. However, when I called her, I was surprised to hear her say, “I don’t remember.”

Just a few weeks ago, a client suggested we interview his great-aunt, who was in her nineties and “sharp as a tack.” A few days later, he let us know that when he called to tell her we’d be interviewing her, he discovered that she was suffering from dementia. We just never know how much longer our relatives will be able to share precious memories of their past and their ancestors. It is so important to take advantage of every opportunity to listen to and record our loved ones for their posterity.

Here are nine tips to make it an enjoyable activity for you and your family:

  1. Seize the Moment. Most of us have smartphones with voice and video recorders built in. You never know when your relative will start sharing a memory. Be ready to record at any time and you will capture some precious gems.
  2. Plan an Evening. My husband and I have made it a point to invite our parents over once a month for an evening of questions and answers about their lives. We have a nice digital voice recorder for these events, and we send the questions ahead of time so they can think about their answers and bring along any memorabilia they want to share. Our children love hearing their grandparents talk about their courtship, their favorite pets, their first jobs, and the houses they’ve lived in.
  3. Capture the Video. Once our loved ones pass on, or even before they do, it is wonderful to watch their expressions and gestures as they share their life stories, perhaps shedding tears or breaking into joyful smiles.
  4. Upload and Share. Many family history and social media websites allow you to upload these precious audio and video files and attach them to your ancestors’ profiles. They add a wonderful dimension that goes beyond documents and written stories and inspires greater love for your relative. Young people are more likely to catch and share these stories if they can access them through the internet.
  5. Let Them Do the Talking. The skillful family history interviewer will say as little as possible and allow their relative to take center stage. Don’t be afraid to let them pause and think before answering a question. Encourage them with your expressions rather than frequent verbal cues. Allow them to ramble and follow their stream of memories. They may end up sharing things you had not ever thought to ask about.
  6. Ask Open-Ended Questions. Ones that cannot be answered with a yes or a no. “How did you spend your Saturday afternoons as a child?” “What was it like to live without the internet and cell phones?” “What do you remember about your grandparents?”
  7. Songs and Poems. Does your relative have favorite songs they are always singing? A favorite poem that they memorized as a child? Invite them to sing or recite! You’ll be glad you did.
  8. Photos and Memorabilia. Prepare beforehand by gathering photos and scrapbooks that will trigger memories and fuel the narrative. Keep a pencil handy to label those photos if you haven’t already!
  9. Break it Down. These days, we are accustomed to scrolling through social media, flipping through magazines, and channel surfing. We are more likely to catch a story and re-share it if it is relatively short. Once you have your interview, try to break it down into smaller chunks that can be labeled “First Date,” or “Saturday Afternoons.” Audio and video editing software make this process fairly simple. Or, start and stop your audio and video recorder with each question you ask.

At Legacy Tree Genealogists, we love to help you tell your family’s story. If that means calling and interviewing your relatives for you (at your request only!), we are happy to do it. We have written some pretty amazing family histories over the years, and we work with high quality book companies to get them published for you. Let us know how we can help! Contact us today for a free consultation.

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How I Traced the Genealogy of a House

Have you ever been curious about the history and genealogy associated with a house? Here are 10 ideas help you trace the lineage of a home. 

Genealogy of a House

Several years ago my family and I had the opportunity to spend one year at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania while my husband attended the U.S. Army War College. Carlisle Barracks is one of the oldest Army posts in the United States – second only to West Point – having originally been a British outpost before the Revolution. We were thrilled when we were assigned to live in the old farmhouse on post, due to the size of our family.

Ask the Neighbors

As a genealogist, I was accustomed to living near the world’s largest family history library in Salt Lake City, Utah, which I visited frequently. But for this year, I wanted to find a different kind of project, unique to our location. Naturally, I was curious about this quirky old house we were living in. I started asking around, and was surprised to find that no one on post really knew the background of the house. In fact, when I asked the housing office about it, they casually replied that it was soon going to be torn down to make room for modern homes. That was all the motivation I needed to make researching its history my special project for the year.

The Historical Society

I put my genealogy sleuth hat on and headed over to the Cumberland County Historical Society, one of the oldest county historical societies in Pennsylvania. No sooner had I walked in and explained why I was there, than I was informed that the farmhouse was formerly an important part of the Carlisle Indian School, which operated on post from 1879-1918. Its significance had been dismissed and forgotten, and someone needed to document its history to convince the Army not to destroy it. I enthusiastically volunteered for the job.

Local Publications

They quickly presented me with my most valuable farmhouse record: a copy of a 1918 Indian School magazine article featuring the “old fashioned farmhouse” which was regularly used as room and board for the student farm laborers, and a classroom for their agricultural lessons. The home had been “built some time before the Civil War and was occupied by one of the first families of Pennsylvania.” On the eve of the epic Battle of Gettysburg, just 30 miles south of Carlisle, Confederate troops had invaded the town, and a party of soldiers had been fed and sheltered for the night at the farmhouse.

Land Deeds

My first task was to trace the deed history of the house. I made a visit to the Cumberland County courthouse and was allowed into the back rooms where they keep the original oversized deed books. For someone who is used to seeing land records copied on microfilm, it was a thrill to turn the old handwritten pages myself. Normally, genealogists study deeds to determine familial relationships between grantors and grantees, but this time I was tracking the various owners of the farmhouse. I knew at some point a family had sold the house to the Army. I also knew there was a large spring pond behind the house, and that the small housing development across the street was named “Parker Springs.” Taking this hint, I soon found a record of Andrew H. Parker selling his farm and farmhouse to the U.S. Government in 1887. Cross-referencing the Parker name in the index, I next found Andrew’s father, Richard H. Parker, buying the farm from Daniel Keiffer in 1860. Daniel Keiffer had, in turn, bought the farm in 1855 from Ulrich Strickler, who had owned it since 1825.

Tax Records

Armed with these names and dates, I returned to the Historical Society where the Cumberland County tax books were housed. These old books with their cracked leather covers and yellowed pages were even more thrilling for me to handle than the deed books. Normally, tax records are useful to genealogists for tracing individuals and family groups as they came and went in a county. In this case, I was tracing the farmhouse property through its various owners, watching its monetary value fluctuate over the years. Thanks to very detailed notes from the tax man, I learned that in 1853, Ulrich Strickler’s property included a stone house. Three years later in 1856, Daniel Keiffer’s property contained a brick house. This meant that the brick farmhouse I was living in had most likely been built in place of an older stone farmhouse soon after Daniel Keiffer bought the farm in 1855.

The tax books solved another farmhouse mystery for me. There was a rear addition or “ell” to the house that appeared in the oldest picture of it, taken in 1895. I wanted to know when it had been built. Between 1880 and 1883, the gross value of the Parker farm jumped from $6,240 to $10,300, even though the acreage remained the same, suggesting that it was during this time that the rear wing was added on to the house.

Genealogy of a House

Folklore vs. Fact

As my investigation progressed, I had many conversations with various Carlisle locals, asking what they knew about the farmhouse. The maintenance man who came to fix the old boiler in the cellar said he had heard from a former maintenance man that the farmhouse was used as a social club for the segregated African-American soldiers on post during World War II. I was fascinated by this story, but I also knew that family folklore has often been exaggerated and changed over the years. The wise genealogist takes family stories with a grain of salt, while recognizing that they usually do contain “nuggets” of truth. The same wisdom applies to house histories.

The Local Library

I made sure to include a trip to Carlisle’s public library, which had a special local history room. Genealogists know the great value of these rooms, as they often contain local family records which can’t be found anywhere else. There I found Thomas G. Tousey’s Military History of Carlisle and Carlisle Barracks, which became a foundational source for my study. In it, I learned that after the Indian School was closed at the end of World War I, the Parker farm and its farmhouse continued to serve the post with fresh food and agricultural training. In place of the Indian student farm laborers, “a detachment of colored soldiers” worked the land, and most likely socialized in the farmhouse.

The U.S. Census

Sure enough, the 1930 U.S. Census reported a group of eleven African-American soldiers living together on the north corner of Carlisle Barracks, right where the Farmhouse was. Ten years later, in the 1940 U.S. Census, they were gone. Thus, one of the most-used genealogical sources—the census—had confirmed the folklore, but it had also pointed out the inaccuracy in the story; the farmhouse had indeed been a social center for African-American soldiers on post, but this had happened during the 1920s and 1930s rather than during World War II.

Ancestral Connections

Finally, the census revealed a surprisingly personal connection to my beloved farmhouse. The 1880 U.S. Census showed that Andrew H. Parker, who I knew was living in the farmhouse, had a wife named Mary. Using my superpower genealogy skills, I was able to trace Mary back to her parents and siblings, and I discovered to my great delight that she and I shared the same maiden name—Hammond. Although I have yet to determine if or how our family branches connect, this knowledge adds even greater meaning to my yearlong labor of love.

Genealogy Makes a Difference

Happily, with the historical significance of the farmhouse restored and shared, descendants of the Carlisle Indian School students rallied and convinced the Army to cancel the demolition. Plans are now underway to use the house as an Indian School heritage center, to honor the experiences—both positive and negative—of the thousands of Native children who attended Carlisle and its sister schools throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Remembering our past, documenting our ancestors, and even our historic homes, adds depth and meaning to our culture, and brings people together when they learn of their shared heritage.  The availability of genealogical sources is greater today than ever before.

Genealogy of a House

How will uncovering the story of a historic building or home make a difference in your family or community? Legacy Tree Genealogists would love to help you get started! Contact us today to request a free quote.

Have you ever been curious about the history and genealogy associated with a house? Here are 10 ideas help you trace the lineage of a home.

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7 Things To Understand About Professional Genealogists

Most people don't have a lot of experience working with professional genealogists. These seven tips will help you make the most out of your genealogy research experience.

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One of our most popular blog posts to date has been 7 Reasons to Hire a Professional Genealogist. As a refresher, here are those seven very good reasons to let us at Legacy Tree investigate your family history:

  1. You don’t have the time or the skills to do it yourself.
  2. You need a fresh perspective on your “brick wall.”
  3. You need help with obtaining and/or reading foreign records.
  4. You want to gather documents for membership in a lineage society.
  5. You want to take advantage of our professional team approach and peer review.
  6. You need help making sense of your DNA test results.
  7. You want to double-check the accuracy of your own research.

We are the highest-rated firm for a reason, and take great pride in the skill of our researchers. That being said, professional genealogists often meet with unrealistic expectations about what we can and cannot accomplish. There is no doubt that, in our 11+ years in business, Legacy Tree has uncovered amazing stories and astounding amounts of information about our clients’ families. Still, there are natural limits to our abilities, and much often depends not only on the allotted time with which we have to work, but on the historic period and place in which your own ancestors lived.

When you are ready to start a project with us, we hope you understand the following seven things about professional research, especially if you are an experienced researcher yourself:

  1. Professional Genealogists Use Many of the Same Records You Do

    MyHeritage.com, FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, and cemetery databases like FindaGrave.com are some of our most-used resources, especially when starting a project. More and more records are being digitized and transcribed every day, and these websites (plus many others) are the fastest way to access them, thus giving you more “bang for your buck.” Contrary to the assumptions of some who call us, we do not have exclusive access to some secret database for professional researchers. What we do have that you may not is local access to the world-famous Family History Library here in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A (free to the public), as well as onsite contacts at archives around the world. But keep in mind that even at those amazing facilities, we must still take the time to search through many records for your ancestor—and there's always the chance that the needed records simply do not exist.

  2. Quality Research Takes Time

    While our skills and experience help us to know what to look for and where to find it, we still need to go through the traditional research steps, and this process takes time! Initially, we must familiarize ourselves with your case, review the records you have already found to determine what clues they might provide, and create a plan for the most relevant records to search. We must often scroll through unindexed records page-by-page, or try several record sets before we find the one that contains your ancestor. We often need to stop and evaluate what we are looking at, go over it again in search of clues, and take the time to come to the right conclusions. Copying records, citing them properly, and most importantly, writing about them in our reports, takes a significant amount of time. Our value to you is not just to find records, but to make sense of them and explain what they tell us about your ancestors. All of this is part of our standard 20-hour project, which means that actively searching for records constitutes only part of each session.

  3. Professional Genealogists Rely On Your Past Research

    If you have already done any amount of research yourself, it is critical that you share everything you already know about the ancestor(s) we will be investigating. Legacy Tree Professional Genealogists will review your information and documents carefully, looking for clues you may have missed and noting the sources you have already checked so that we do not duplicate your work. Nothing is more disappointing for the client or the researcher than realizing that precious time was spent on unnecessary research! On the other hand, try not to overwhelm us with a pile of disorganized notes, some of which may not be relevant to the case at hand! The time we spend reading through them counts toward your total project time, and we want to be as efficient as possible. It is also very important for us to note that, often, if your own research submitted to us contains no sourcing for its claims, this may require us to go back and verify it with original research of our own. This is done to ensure accuracy and make sure that professional genealogists are not building on the wrong lines. For this reason, it is best to attach as many citations or even images as possible when you provide your background information. This is especially true when we are asked to begin research with an ancestor who lived in the 19th century or earlier.

  4. Specific Objectives Are Best

    We follow your instructions word-for-word. It is very important that you define exactly how you want us to spend your project time – whether it is to build a balanced pedigree or to focus on finding the parents of one particular ancestor. Do you want us to gather whole families (including siblings), or trace only a direct father-son line back as far as possible? Keep in mind that every individual ancestor we must find records for takes up that much more time. Building a balanced pedigree, or even tracing a single line for several generations, may involve hundreds of people and necessitate that we divide up our time accordingly. If you want in-depth research, it is best to focus on one person and their immediate family.

  5. Documents Trump Family Stories 

    Quality genealogy research relies heavily on documentary proof. Even among documents, some are more accurate than others depending on the personal knowledge of those who created them. Be aware that when hiring us to prove your family stories, or connect you to a famous person, the actual documents that professional genealogists find may not fulfill your expectations. There is usually an element of truth to most family stories, which has then been embellished over the years and “improved” with the story-telling. You can count on us to figure out which part is true and backed up by solid documentation, but be prepared to learn which parts are not!

  6. Genealogists Have a Lot of Clients

    Genealogy is one of the most popular hobbies in the world, and our industry is booming. Legacy Tree Professional Genealogists have many clients from around the globe who keep our researchers very busy. Besides our full-time staff researchers, we employ many part-time contractors with geo-specific expertise. Depending on the location of your ancestors, we assign your project to the researcher with the most relevant skillset. Chances are, they have several other projects to finish before they begin yours. They generally only work on 1-2 projects at any given time in order to maintain focus on that specific family and not confuse family details or information. Once a researcher turns in their files, our project managers and editor must then review and finish them in the same order. Our standard turn-around time for a project is 10-12 weeks, mostly to accommodate these queues. Consequently, we may be actively working your case for only a fraction of that three-month period. Keep that in mind when you are checking in mid-project, and don't get discouraged if not much progress has been made yet!

  7. Professional Genealogists Are Real People!

    Professional Genealogists love what we do, and our greatest wish is to please each of our clients. The fact is that we sometimes spend more time on your project than we are paid for, just to make sure that we have considered every angle and left no stone unturned. We live for the thrill of solving age-old mysteries, discovering missing links, and acquainting you with your precious ancestors. While we can never guarantee that a needed record exists, you can be sure that we will give our best efforts to find it in the most efficient way possible. Sometimes solving your research goal will take more than one research session, and other times professional genealogists may research every possible avenue only to find that the answers just aren't there. In those rare cases, we are just as disappointed as you are! Please know that we always do our best to find the most information possible for you during the time you have ordered. We thrive on your positive feedback, and hope to gain your trust as repeat customers. Here at Legacy Tree, we are, after all, the world’s highest-rated professional genealogical research firm.

Legacy Tree Genealogists have experts trained to know where and how to look for your elusive ancestors. Contact us for a free quote to learn more about your family heritage.

 

If you are looking to understand exactly what professional genealogists need to perform their best, read these 7 tips!

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10 Ways to Tell That…You Might Be a Genealogist!

Be a GenealogistGenealogy may not appeal to everyone, but those who catch the «bug» tend to get it bad! Do any of these 10 things sound familiar?

* If you carry a “relationship calculator” card around in your wallet, you might be a genealogist. (Second cousin twice-removed, great-grandniece…)

* If your Google home page displays the home pages to MyHeritage.com, FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, or FindaGrave.com, you might be a genealogist.

* If every time someone mentions a major U.S. city, you silently name the county it’s in, you might be a genealogist. (Chicago, Cook County; Nashville, Davidson County…) Bonus points if the city doesn't even have to be major!

* If the idea of walking through old houses and cemeteries thrills you more than sitting on a beach or riding a roller coaster, you might be a genealogist.

* If you can read this, you just might be a genealogist:

Be a Genealogist
* If you get the amazing privilege of handling dusty old land record books in the back of a Kentucky courthouse, and you have to resist the urge to lay your cheek down on the ancient pages, you might be a genealogist.

* If you giggle with delight as you sign your own “genealogical” document at the title company, you just might be a genealogist.

* If your spouse wakes up at 2:00 a.m. to find you hovering over your computer mumbling about a ship’s passenger list, you might be a genealogist.

* If you know the cause of death for each of your great-grandparents because you have all their death records in the file next to your computer, you might be a genealogist.

* And finally, if you really want to know who your ancestors are, and care about understanding the generations of people that have shaped our history and our lives, you are definitely a genealogist.

We may laugh at the quirks of our job, but when it comes down to it, quality research is a business we take seriously, and we care about each of your ancestors just as much as we care about our own. Check out our other blog articles for tips, tricks, ideas, and other interesting genealogical information. If you decide you need help with your research, just contact us!

 

If you need help breaking down a brick wall, let Legacy Tree Genealogists provide the research and help you are looking for. Contact us today for a free quote.

 

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What’s in a Name? 4 Tips for Finding An Elusive Ancestor

Are you continuing to hit a genealogical brick wall searching for an elusive ancestor? Here are 4 unique tips that may help!

Elusive Ancestor
Mary? Polly? Maria?

One of the things I love about genealogy is the fascinating variety of names and the many forms that one particular name can take. One memorable name that I encountered recently was Cadwallader Slaughter, often shortened to Cad Slaughter. What a name! It’s a delicate science using names to determine the identity of one person, or distinguishing between many people. Here are the most significant things to remember about names in your genealogy research.

Tip #1: Pronunciation is More Important Than Spelling

Before the standardization of spelling in the twentieth century, people spelled names according to how they sounded. As long as a name was pronounced correctly, it often didn’t matter which letters were used to spell it. The less common a name was, the more likely it was spelled in a variety of ways. A name could be spelled one way at the beginning, and another way at the end of the very same document.

Naturally, the vowels are the most changeable parts of a name. I recently did a project on the Van Wormer family of Albany County, New York. Not only did I observe that the “Van” part was optional, but I also found the following spellings for Wormer: Wurmer, Wermer, Wirmer and Warmer. Another example was the Rhodus family of Madison County, Kentucky who also went by Rhodes, Rhodis, Roads, Rodas, Roders, and Rhoads. I’ve heard families say “My ancestors belonged to the branch of the family that spelled their name this way.” While that could be true, a researcher must keep an open mind and not be hasty to reject other spellings. Other factors such as who they associated with and where they lived should be considered in determining the identity of an ancestor.

Tip #2: Names Evolved From Their Old World Origins

The United States was populated with immigrants from other countries with their own name traditions. As they settled into their new life, they often modified their names, whether to blend in to their local culture or just to suit their personal wishes. For example, we had a hard time finding the parents of my ancestor Margaret Wire until we realized that they spelled their name “Quire.” This name had originally been “McGuire” when their ancestors had emigrated from Scotland. Again, paying more attention to the pronunciation of the name than the spelling helped us keep an open mind and recognize all of the possibilities.

Tip #3: Nicknames and Abbreviations Might Not Resemble Birth Names

A genealogist must be aware of common nicknames and abbreviations for common birth names in order to determine if they are dealing with the same person. Here are some related names that I often come across in my United States research:

  • Mary, Polly, Molly, Maria, Marie, Mariah
  • Anne, Hannah, Nancy, Annie, Ane, An
  • Margaret, Peggy, Maggie, Meg, Marge, Marguerite, Daisy
  • Elizabeth, Bettie, Betsy, Eliza, Lizzie, Beth
  • Eleanor, Nellie, Ellen, Ellie
  • Frances, Fannie, Veronica, Fran
  • Jane, Jenny, Janet, Genevieve
  • John, Jno., Johann, Ian, Jack, Ivan
  • William, Wm., Bill, Liam, Will
  • James, Jas.
  • Henry, Heinrich
  • Peter, Patrick
  • Francis (male), Frank, Franz
  • Robert, Robt., Bob

Tip #4: Multiple Computer Searches Are Necessary for Your Elusive Ancestor

In this day and age with our computer search capabilities, it is more important than ever to consider every possible way that a name could have been spelled. A Google search for “Rhodes Madison County Kentucky” would not yield the same results as “Rhodus Madison County Kentucky,” and valuable websites would be missed. Multiple searches with different spellings are critical to gather as much information as possible. One important note: the asterisk (*) is often used as a wildcard when one name ends in several different ways. For example, “Rho*” and “Rod*” were two search terms I used with the Rhodus family on certain websites. However, Google does not treat the asterisk in the same way. While it may be used in place of a word or an initial, such as “John * Smith” for a man who used different middle initials or names, Google does not recognize the asterisk as a replacement for letters within a name. (See our previous blog post on Google searching for more tips.)

So, what’s in a name? Merely the identity of your ancestors! Remember to keep an open mind, consider all of the possibilities, and enjoy the wonderful variety of names in your genealogical records.

As a professional genealogy research firm, our genealogists are experienced at providing expert research for your elusive ancestor. If you're ready to make progress on your family history research contact us today to request a free quote.