"Weekend Chat" - All Members are Invited! (15 May 2015)

+28 votes
2.6k views
 
This is an ongoing "Chat" post that can be added to throughout the weekend.  All members of WikiTree are encouraged to join in, especially first-timers!
 
 
Say Hello and introduce yourself... where are you from and what are your interests?
 
Leaders, Mentors, Greeters, Pilots - What tips can you share with us today?
 
What improvements can we make?
 
What do you enjoy most about WikiTree?
 
Do you have any stories to share about famous or notorius ancestors?
 
What projects are you involved in, and how are they going?
 
What's the weather been like in your neck-of-the-woods?
 
... anything that you want to talk about!
 
 
Post answers here, comment on answers, up-vote things you like or agree with and have fun!  To receive notice when future Chats are posted, add Weekend_Chat to the list of Tags you follow.  You can edit your list by clicking on "My Feed" on G2G, then click to "add or edit".  Seperate words with and underscore.
 
in The Tree House by Keith Hathaway G2G6 Pilot (634k points)
edited by Keith Hathaway
Terri,

The relationship is only as accurate as what is put into WT. We try to get people to put in well researched information. Check the lineage sources. If you feel the info is accurate, you've found a cousin. Some people pull information from Ancestry that is more pipe dream than correct. They want famous, not correct. If you belong to Ancestry, they have good sources. Check the Card Catalogue.

Bob
Thank you Bob that definitely answers my question.
Thank you Rose I will start doing that:)
Hello everyone!  I am from Pennsylvania originally, but currently reside in Michigan.  

I've had a lot of fun tracing my family lines back for about a year now.  I've recently started on my husbands family, but his has proven much more difficult.  I have the advantage of many cousins also doing research and posting interesting finds and photos on facebook.  He has a mother who was adopted and a father he didn't know growing up, who has since passed on, but I'm confident I can eek it out eventually.

My own family research has turned up a few interesting stories.  Lots of sailors in my family, several of them who never made it back home.  They're of particular interest to me because I've crewed a few tall ships myself.  Since then, I've settled down and have a family of my own.  I hope to pass this on to them someday.
Thanks Rachel, that was great!

I'm interested in what kind of ships you crewed :)

I grew up with a little Boston Whaler... it was super fun to take out in storms and high waves.
My first ship was the HM Bark Endeavour, when she was on her first world tour in 1999.  I sailed her for 3 months up the west coast of the US and Canada.  I sailed for a day on Lady Washington when we went to Grays Harbor, and also sailed her longboat, which has its own little cannon.

I came back to the east coast and got a job at a bookstore, until my father found the HMS Bounty when she was being rehulled in Maine.  After I dropped him off and saw the ship, I knew it was just a matter of time before I'd be sailing again.  I quit my job and joined her crew in September of 2002.  I sailed her for over a year, down the east coast, through the Gulf of Mexico, and up the Mississippi to Baton Rouge.  

We wintered in Florida and headed back up north to spend the summer in the Great Lakes, where I took on the duties of 3rd mate.  I met my husband when he boarded in Bay City, Michigan and was placed on my watch.

I took the opportunity to sail Larinda when both ships were sailing from Miramachi to Summerside, PEI one night.  Bounty went on to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, where she had been built.  Larinda opted for Halifax.  We both meant to weather out hurricane Juan and continue after the storm passed.  Bounty did just that, but Larinda was struck by another nearby moored vessel and sunk at the pier.

The waves the next day were indeed high as we finally got back into the Atlantic.  A lot of the crew was feeling not so hot, and we did shake loose a few things that obviously needed better stowing, but I certainly had fun.  

I finally left in Freeport, New York, but my sister joined the crew and kept me informed of all the goings-on, until Bounty sank in hurricane Sandy in 2012.  It was quite a blow for my family and our many sailing friends.

It gives me an empathetic spirit when I come across my shipwrecked or lost-at-sea relatives from the past.  The most tragic, I think, is Rufus Warren Rich, who was only 24.  He had one daughter, who was born about the same year he was wrecked on Brenton Reef, Newport, Rhode Island.  She grew up, obviously never knowing her father.  Her grandfather was also lost at sea, and then her husband died abroad as well.  Still, she seems pretty happy in the photos I have of her.
I would use my answer here again. Assume nothing, research everything! If there are sources that can back up what is said, then look over those sources. If it matches what you know to be true, then it is accurate. If not, then look to find out why. Information is everywhere. Just have patience enough to search for it.
Ancestry.com can be wrong unless it is sourced info with original documents copied
I agree with assume nothing, research everthing. I was just looking at a Roth family tree on FamilySearch.org and found my grandfather, grandmother, father and some of his siblings. Looks like assumptions were made. The info I can verify conflicts with this tree.

As Robert Keniston  said on the info from Ancestory..... alot of pipe dream or innacurate information. Or Chryse comment of assume nothing.  i can attest to that for a fact i have been tracing info on my mothers side  and  translating the parish records does not reflect what ancestory puts up for some people, and familysearch.org or gravefinder alot of info but not much has sources or citation to back  it up and some very misleading links to sort out.

 I have found huge errors in even my fathers side where i have direct source to or have in hand actual records of a given person and both ancestory.com and family search are not even close for data. I feel alot comes down to the simple fact the older style cursive writting  used  for the era of record is a stlye most cannot read proper today without difficulty.  Or people see a name and assume yes that is so and so's son brother or spouse in error.

 My mother actually took classes  in geneology many decades ago and for some here new to tracing a few hints she gave to pass along minor ones but maybe helpful to track down clues.

#1 townships changed names over the centuries

#2 many names from various cultures got anglicized by the person writting the records also accent or dialect affect in very large part how  person writting records heard the name being said and how they entered it in records.

#3 some people were on the run for one reason or another and changed name ( one of my ancestores did this Julis Felix Laplant changed his name to John Howard  Langevin - Longeway  to hide from his first wife and remarried under this name )

#4 the kings grants for land allowed grants of land to unique surnames so very often sons changed last names ever so slightor totally newname to qualify for or  apply for land grants in the new world hence the  dit seen in many names

#5 children when widowed/divorced mothers remarried often took her new husbands surname. one ancestor Elizabeth Anger in parish records was born elizabeth craw.  Elizabeths mother remarried while she was still a very young child her records from that point on list her last name as Anger her step fathers last name.

#6 one unique to vermont- at one time three states all laid claim in the form of land grants  here   new hampshire - new york - Massachusetts so depending on time  of records and where in vermont some may be shownor referenced in one of the states but in truth be in vermont.  Also northern  New England as we know it now  was in part actually french canadian lands prior to the Seven year war,  from north of crown point new york to pemaquid maine was canadian territory

 I know very long winded so with all this being said maybe this will assist a little in deciphering the puzzle we all wade through while tracing family tree.

 

 

24 Answers

+19 votes
We had the coldest February in Northeastern Ohio since temperature records began in 1871. Some like to do crossword puzzles, and I like to try to find answers to puzzling genealogy questions. One of my brothers-in-law has enjoyed uncovering info on his family history.

I was upset when LeBron James left Cleveland, and very glad when he came back. He and the Cavs have done very well lately.

When someone posts a comment that could easily elicit a negative response, it's good to see constructive answers, which is generally the case.

My maternal grandmother told me once that she spent some of her life living in the Rock Island County Jail building. That's because her father was the county Sheriff and her family lived in the building that housed the jail.
by Frank Gill G2G Astronaut (2.5m points)
Thank you Frank, that was awesome!

My father was a deputy to our county Seriff when I was a kid.  My sister (maybe age 6) climbed up onto one of the police motorcycles and burned her leg on the exhaust pipe.  My dad felt so bad that she got ice-cream for a week.  He used to close me in the one cell in the tiny jail and I'd say "let me outa here, let me outa here!", but when he would finally say ok i wouldn't get out.

When he worked for the Vt state police they docked the police boat in front of our house so he could respond quickly to emergencies on the lake.  The day after they supplied him with a brand new patrol boat I was playing with the search light and left it turned on face down on the seat.  It destroyed the seat by melting it 4 inches through the padding and almost caught fire to the whole boat.  One of many incidences I had that cost somebody some money.
Frank,

I wish LeBron had stayed in Miami. Bulls might be in conference finals instead of Cavs.
Robert,

The Bulls did very well when they had Michael Jordan.
+16 votes
I have recently begun the process of contacting all my DNA matches above 10cm on FTDNA and Ancestry.  Are there any tips for encouraging a reply to my initial email when I get in touch?

I have also created the mother of all spreadsheets to keep track of my responses.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Leigh
by Living Hoolihan G2G6 Mach 6 (61.3k points)
Thanks Leigh... nice post.  I am super anxious to get my DNA tested, I can barely wait.  Someone with experience will surely have some good tips for us :)

I am also waiting for my DNA results with great anticipation.  smiley

Kitty Cooper's blog has some good tips on how to do it.  Does everyone have the link to that?  

It's tantalising.  I dont want to give too much info upfront as I want to encourage people to reply to my email.  Its like holding out bait waiting to reel them in... :-)
I have only recently gotten my DNA results from AncestryDNA. It was super easy, I thought, and was even easier to import it into WikiTree. I have a lot of matches, but can't figure out what to do with them, I have no common surnames with most of them, so am trying to expand my tree to see if I can get some names in common.

Expanding the tree is the big thing with Ancestry.  In some ways that is good, it encourages us to do some genealogy!!  I still think it is worth getting in touch with these matches because sometimes full family tree details are not shared.  One day, soon, you will get a match!!!  Also depends on where you live - if you are outside the US (like me) we have to be patient and wait for more people to do the tests smiley

+21 votes
Each time I see an commercial for Ancestry.com I feel like I'm seeing false advertising...

"Just enter your name, and Ancestry does all the rest".... um, not exactly :)
by Keith Hathaway G2G6 Pilot (634k points)
You mean it's NOT that easy??? :)
Don't I know it! When I have the DOB, County, and State, DON'T give me names in England, that re five years off!!

I guess it's the price we've had to pay for having to  search online.
I'm sure it used to be easier with the old search, now as you say Michelle the results sometimes are so broad as be ridulous. Ended up going into FreeBMD last night to find a birth ref and then using the info I got on registration district to finally get what I wanted at Ancestry. Having said that I've tried other UK subscriptions sites like FindMyPast and thegenealogist and they are worse and also don't have the variety of records that Ancestry have. I also like the fact that with Ancestry if they've made errors you can add corrections.  So I have a love hate relationship with it!
Amen to that.
When I first started, I believed that they were links to actual relatives instead of just clues.  The first time I had to remove 300 individuals...one at a time... because they were wrong, I discovered proper sourcing.  Now I read the description of each database, many of these are just collections of other's trees with no real source.  The US and International Marriages are one such database.  You really need to see the original document and then question that for accuracy.  I had so many bad leaves that it was like FALL.  Rake them into a pile and burn them.

Ha ha Eowyn! smiley

+18 votes
I was pleased to creep back another generation with my surname this week. The line has been difficult since they were commoners.
by Doug Lockwood G2G Astronaut (2.6m points)
Congratulations Doug.  I can only imagine how pleased you must be!
That's awesome Doug - congratulations.
Congratulations Doug, it's a great feeling when you make a breakthrough.
Yeah Doug!! I know you were feeling like you had accomplished quite a feat.  My Turners were commoners also.  Sometimes I do believe that they were in the Witness Protection Program, We are at a standstill on John and Sarah Canks Turner who we were told were born in SC before moving to GA, and then on to AL.  The famous migration route. My BrickWAll!! we have been hung there for many many years now. no budging.
Way to go Doug!
+20 votes
I started as a Greeter this week. I want to thank all the Greeters that were so helpful and supportive. It was very exciting.
by Amy McAndrews G2G6 Mach 3 (31.6k points)
Thank you Amy.... Greeters are the best!

The way I was treated when I got here was the primary reason I became involved enough to understand all the other great reasons to participate on WikiTree.
Thanks for joining the team.
I wish I could greet, I am still underpaid, and overworked though.
Congrats on being a greeter! I have already determined I would love to do this as well, I just need more time. Maybe when I've been around a bit more I will feel confident in volunteering.
+15 votes
Frank said it all about Northeast Ohio and the Cavs, I am also from that area, and during the winter when I was not on WikiTree I kept repeating "Why did I decide to come back up here from North Carolina?" but we made it thru.  I am spending the summer in my RV, because it has AC and our house does not.  When I am able to I spend as much time as I can finding and adding sources to the large number on here that have poor or no sources.
by Dale Byers G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
edited by Dale Byers
+16 votes

500px-McGrath-1131.jpg

NOMINATE your favorites for Family History Photo of the Week

 

I only recently caught on to following the photo of the week contest, but no more missing out for me!

It's fun to look through the uploaded pictures, and when one catches your attention you can nominate it for an award.  If you've never been there before I highly recommend you check it out, vote for the ones you like, and nominate a few...

http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/147484/time-nominate-favorites-family-history-photo-week-current

by Keith Hathaway G2G6 Pilot (634k points)
Photo of the Week is one of my favourite things on WikiTree! There are so many beautiful pieces of family history.
+21 votes

My tip to those that are new to genealogy:

Whenever possible look at the image of the actual document, do not look only at the indexed record. The actual document often provides valuable clues not shown on the indexed record. For example, witnesses to a marriage, providers of info for a death certificate, nearest relative on a draft card, neighbors on a census, etc.

by Doug Lockwood G2G Astronaut (2.6m points)
Good tip! Indexes are bare bones, the actual douments really put meat on the bones: occupations, addresses, grandfather lives nextdoor, etc.
Oh thank you for the great tip!
Not just a tip but a mandatory best practice!  I also think seeing the orignial when possible enriches the experience and breaths a little life into the individuals in question.
+17 votes
Hello!

I am new to WikiTree, but have been working on my family's history longer than I like to think about. I like puzzles, especially logic puzzles; genealogy is the biggest one.

So far,WikiTree is very user-friendly. I've worked with computers, all of my adult life, so I can manage, but it really annoys me when a company doesn't make an effort to make an accessible product.

I don't have proof, yet, of famous ancestors. However, my father knew Shirley Temple, when she was a young woman, and my grandfather was acquainted with Pancho Villa.

My big brick walls are that grandfather, and my mother-in-law's family, Andersons from Sweden.

After being very cloudy and windy all week, it rained last night, for about two minutes. The sun is shining and the forecast is good, but it's pouring over in San Diego, so I've got my fingers crossed that we still might get some of that.

Anyway, greetings to all. I hope to connect with more of you, soon.
by Michelle Francis G2G4 (4.7k points)
Nice to meet you Michelle,,, I look forward to working with you!
Hi Michelle!  I am new to the site as well. I love that you used the puzzle analogy as that is exactly how I view genealogy! In fact, it's the them of my own WikiTree profile. :-)
+14 votes
Realized I had made a faulty assumption about an ancestors origin and found out that her father was a cavalry soldier in the Swedish army around the time when Karl XII was shot in Norway. My ancestor, Jonas Ek (no profile set up so far) became a soldier in 1709 after the battle at Poltava when the whole regiment were taken prisoners by the Russians and a new regiment was set up. Most of the soldiers of the new regiment died early and in 1715 78% were gone. My ancestor survived and takes part inte the defence of Stockholm in 1719 when 6000 Russians set foot on Swedish soil. Jonas survives this as well. I am still looking through the records and it looks like he is missing for a while because it says that his wife is a widow but I am not so sure....
by Lena Svensson G2G6 Mach 5 (54.4k points)
Thank you Valerie for choosing this post as best answer. Turned out I was barking up the wrong branch once more (a bit funny considering the soldier's last name was Ek which is oak in Swedish). There were two Jonas Ek who were both cavalry soldiers at the same time but one was payed for by the nobility and one by the parish farmers. They both enlisted around 1709 and they were both at the battle at Helsingborg. Shows how important it is to really check your sources.
+12 votes
Hello Robert & friends,

I'm Julia (Bell) Lansberry of North Carolina ancestry on both sides... parents proved to be 5th cousins through Georg Wilhelm b. 1731 Strasbourg, Alsace, and interestingly enough, I have segments on chromosomes 1, 2, and 6 wherein the contributions of both parental sides are identical, Sure enough, upon looking for DNA matches on one of those segments, I did indeed find another Wilhelm descendent!

It goes without saying that my main interest is genetic genealogy; I've had testing done at 23andMe and separately at Family Tree DNA, with the 23andMe genomic data uploaded to GEDmatch.com under kit # M071333. I'm slightly early for the weekend chat, but our house rules award weekend and evening computer time to the working spouse!  :)  These days we live in Yuma, Arizona... a bit easier on the old bones.
by Julia Lansberry G2G1 (1.4k points)
Do you by any chance know Robert Bell, or his son David Bell? I am from Tucson, Az.
Hi Julia!

I am going to do the DNA test at some point in the next few months. Do you have any advice or input on that process? Are all the tests about the same? Should I take more than one? Should I try to get others in my family to test as well? Sorry for so many questions, but it sounds like you are knowledgeable in this topic and I'm not! :-)
We lived in Tucson 1994-1996 and occasionally return for visits, last time at the end of February. I don't recall Robert or David Bell, unless they might be in the Bell DNA Project at FTDNA. I haven't a lot of close family still living, just a few first cousins in Florida.
I'm glad I went with 23andMe first, as it was a cost-effective introduction, and I'm still contacting matches there.  One could start at FTDNA also; they offer more specialized testing, sort of a la carte... more expensive and piecemeal but greater depth. There, you'll want to do "family finder" to start matching DNA cousins.

Two pieces of software I've found invaluable are Ancestral Quest and Genome Mate. The free versions have been perfectly adequate so far.
+14 votes
It's the weekend.... breathe out.  I'm in SE Michigan and after two harsh Winters in a row I'm having to dig up old shrubs that finally succumbed.  Along with trimming largish trees this has been a task I've been tackling for the last three weekends.  We've had generally warm but wet weather and this is allowing the weeds to grow, well, like weeds!, while I'm busy digging and trimming!  I need more pairs of hands to keep up.

In the house we've also ripped out the master bathroom and have updated and moved plumbing and redone the electrics and installed spot lights in the ceiling.  The new bath arrives tomorrow so we'll have to find somewhere to put that.  The new sink units are in a spare bedroom and the old bathroom cabinets are in the dining room as we hope to reuse them in the nook for more kitchen space.  I'm sure it'll get worse before it gets better!  The carpets are trashed, but they are 17 years old so I can't complain too much.  The seals on the fridge freezer are getting really bad (also 17 years old) so we have a new unit on order, if it doesn't come in time I'm sure duct tape will do an admirable job of keeping the doors closed!

In between the mayhem and physical activity I'll try to continue adding to my tree, I'm doing everything manually and seem to do it in fits and starts as I get a little tired of typing it all in every couple of months and have a break.

I'd love to have some intelligence to the date fields that would prompt me if I put in garbage and have my rellies getting married 5 years after they died or some such nonsense, because I invariably don't see it at the time.

If I don't have the brainpower left for genealogy I have two pairs of socks and a shopping bag I'm currently knitting and I have three books on the go.

I typically go back to work on Monday to recover from the weekend!

Thank you Robert, but I'm betting you wished you never asked!
by Brenda Butler G2G6 Mach 4 (49.4k points)
I am very glad I asked... you are a very good writer.  Duct tape is one of my short- list of best tools.  Thank you Brenda :)
I enjoyed your answer too Brenda, you sound like a lady after my own heart. My to do list is always impossibly long, but better to have too much to do than be bored.
+10 votes
Greetings everyone. I apologize for my actions earlier this week. There are times in people's lives when it becomes hectic. I say this because in the next few weeks another little boy will be born into this world. I ask that people just ignore some things I say due to lack of sleep.
by Anonymous Whitis G2G6 Mach 2 (21.0k points)
May I offer congratulations in advance, Chryse?  The early times with a new baby are absolutely wonderful - an experience to be savored for the rest of your life, when any stress - physical and emotional - that the new parents live through will later be warm memories ... sometimes it's several years later when you're able to laugh about stuff that you were on the verge of crying about at the time, but every part of it - good and bad - will be good when it transitions to a priceless memory.

No apologies needed ... please be sure to let us know when it happens!!!.
I have four beautiful children, two boys, two girls. Well due date is July 27, but with all the pregnancies the babies have been early. And thank you for the congratulations. I will say this though ADHD in a child is not for the faint of heart. Especially one will low impulse control.
Thank you for sharing Chryse... I knew you had a lot going on but wow!

Always a clean slate and a new day :)
Thank you so much Robert! I am creating profiles for all my children, I just have a lot of doctor appointments to go to because of my youngest girl. Sorry I am not looking for pity, I just want people to know what their cousin is going through! My youngest has spastic cerebral palsy, my youngest boy has genealogy of fallout with pulmonary artresia. (Congenital heart defect). We all, everyone of us does not know what someone else goes through in life. I have to thank God because my youngest son has had two open heart surgeries, 17 cardiac catheterizations, a diaphragm placation, and now he is going next month to fix an aneurysm in one of his branch pulmonary arteries. It is hard to tell people because I do not ask for help other than family, but I never dreamed of being related to over 1 million people. So unfortunately I can't go to the reunion as my son will be in the hospital on that day.
Chryse, you sound like a strong man. I hope your little guy's operation goes well, and he heals quickly.
I am definitely not the strong one... I can't even imagine the amount of pain my wife endures. This is true. For every one of our children, she has had to have Pitocin, a hormone that is given to her to start labor after the water breaks. The first pregnancy she had a little pain reliever. The subsequent ones were nothing other than "Pit". Her OB asked her the last time, because as a contraction was coming, she was reading a book like she was in a library. The squeezing of the contractions were measuring off the chart. Ten minutes later she tells me to get the doctor. She is crowning when the doctor walks in. The doctor said all she had to do was play catch. My wife is the strong one, I am just her support. Without her I wouldn't have my kids that I have!
+13 votes
Since retiring several years ago, I typically don't have any distinction between weekends and weekdays, but lately I have felt more like the rest of the world.

Last Sunday, for Mothers' day, my husband gave me a ride on a Ford Tri-Motor.  This is an antique airplane, in fact the second airplane put into service on the first commercial airline route ever!  We had to drive 3 1/2 hours to get to Lawrenceville, Georgia (the airpoart where the rides were being given), which happens to be less than 20 minutes from my step-grandaughter, her husband, and their 4 year old and 4 month old daughters.  We went there afterwards and they fed us a wonderful Mothers' day dinner and we got to meet our newest great-grandaughter for the first time.  After the long drive back home, our dogs and cat were thrilled to see us after having been alone for 16 hours (except for a teenage neighbor who came to feed them and let them out).  It took us 2 whole days to get back to normal - we were totally wiped out from that strenuous day, but what a fabulous day it was!

Tomorrow, we have more activity planned.  We belong the the EAA (that's the Experimental Aircraft Association) and our chapter is helping the local airport with a special event - we're putting on a breakfast in the morning.  In the afternoon, we'll be giving Young Eagle flights (the EAA sponsors a program of free flights for kids to get them interested in aviation) and all our members will be either taking the kids up or handling all the ground activities.  My husband will be marshalling planes (that's directing them to where they can park when they land) and I'll be doing pre-flight and post-flight briefings with the kids.

It's great to have such interesting stuff to keep us busy - I hope y'all have a great weekend!!!
by Gaile Connolly G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
Such an awesome Mother's day gift! I wonder what is in store for next year!
I'm totally stoked for you Gaile... I know you love flying!
Happy belated Mother's Day, Gaile! That sounds like an amazing gift.
Must have been fun. BTW, do you know David Fairbrother from the Chicago area? He was part of a group that had the Tri-motor used in the movie "Where Eagles Dare".
+12 votes
Hello, My name is Traci and I have just joined wikitree.  still new to genealogy in general.  I am certainly a newbie at all of this, but hope to learn with your help.  I do know a few generations back, but would like to continue going back as far as I can.

Ps The weather here in Gainesville, GA is cloudy today but has already been in the high 80's, Im ready for winter to come back.
by Traci Bell G2G Crew (560 points)
Hello Traci, I just want to say welcome to the family. Any questions ask openly.PLEASE remember the only stupid question is the one not asked! We are like any other family. We have faults, strengths, weaknesses, and above very nosey when it comes to history. Got a question about family history, we can help you find the answer
Welcome to WikiTree, Traci!
Welcome Traci! I am a newbie  as well!
Traci and Paula, Welcome aboard. If you need help, just holler. Bob in Southaven, Mississippi
+12 votes
I also am new here. retired tool and diemaker  / QC inspector with work with DePro and Darpa and sourcing of manufacturing operation for jet aircraft and weapon system, worked on parts to the original shuttle program subcontrating  various pieces that i got my start as a machinist

 i am picking up where my mother left off on geneology research and she didnt file in any sort of  reasonable manor and never entered alot of the births death  or sources into her old FTW program. Now i get the fun of  sifting the mess finding sources and correcting data from transcription errors from sources she did have.

 We are now coming off one of the craziest  winters i can remember in vermont for many years and spring has been hit or miss for nice weather 80's then back down into 40's  so it makes for time to kill indoors milling over tons of data , i finally got all moms old books albums and records out and have 4  large albums of just old copied birth - death - and marriage certificates from town clerks and old french canadian parishes so i think i have a moutain to move  with a teaspoon one scoop at a time. i had started to upload a gedcom the other day but deleted it and decided to tie up some of the missing  fields then redo a cleaner copy of the gedcom later and in doing so today i found a few minor name spelling errors in transcriped files online as compared to the actual of vermont archive records and submitted those errors to LDS and ancestory.com for review and correction. i look forward to getting it all clean up and working  with others here in researching and following trails of family heritage.
by David Baird G2G Crew (770 points)
Hi David... I'm a Vermonter too!  I live in St. Albans, about 30 miles north of Burlington.  Nice to hear from you!
Lots of newbies on here! I think I have some French Canadian history in my family ancestry. Just getting started on learning how to research though, and with limited time as I'm a college student.  Perhaps we'll discover we are cousins! :-)
David,

We have a friend who lives in White River Junction. Also, my 3G-gf is supposed to have been born in Montpelier in 1795. He's one of my brick walls. The spelling of his last name and a lack of record keeping make him hard to find. Side note, I live on Baird Drive, I'm a transplanted Yankee in Mississippi.

Bob
what is last known info in family for the 3rd gr grandfather you are looking for i can  look into vermont archives for  some info and see if i can give you any possible leads
Oh no where are the Kentuckians? Oops did I say that. Welcome aboard David, also as with the rest don't know something ask! In the words of Shakespeare: To ask or not to ask, that is the question.
+13 votes
Hello everyone! Thanks to Robert Hathaway for inviting me. I had no idea there were chats or how to find them, so thank you for the message!

I'm new here (about a month) and have already gone into obsession mode. Everything about the site interests me. The family history, the way everyone interacts with each other and helps each other, the projects, the organization, and categories (I'm an organization junkie! - ha!)  There is so much to learn, it seems overwhelming at first.

A bit about me: I'm a forty-something mom of six and grandma of one. I'm the only person in my family interested in genealogy so I feel a great drive to do this for my kids and grandchild. I just recently found my birth father, so I now have another side of my tree to sort out! I divorced two years ago, but am researching my ex's family as well for our six children. His tree is going to be tough as his grandparents were all immigrants from either Lithuania or Germany. I get to them and then it stops.

I'm newly engaged to a lifetime Texan and am working on his tree too. His family name is super common in Texas so it will be challenging, but fun.

The surnames I am focusing on are: BOND, GEROW, KOHRING, PURSLEY, HATLEY. The Bond's of California are of special interest as my family seems to go way back in California history. I was born in California as well.

Let's see, I love cats, history, books, museums, cemeteries, and family. I grew up without ANY cousins so I am especially excited about finding new cousins on WikiTree. I really do feel strongly about the concept of a global family.

I am going to be obtaining an Ancestry.com subscription and getting a DNA test as soon as I can afford it (this summer perhaps). I'm on a student budget for now. I decided to go to college even though I'm in my 40s and will graduate next year.  Grandma goes to college, indeed! :-) Thank you for all the welcoming, mentoring, and helping I have received from many of you already. This is a great community and I am honored to be a part of it.

Oh! Almost forgot! I live near Seattle, Washington, USA. I was born in California and grew up in California and Alaska. My fiance is Texan so I will be visiting the beautiful Texas at least once a year as well.
by Paula Pursley G2G Crew (970 points)
I was born in Seattle.... Thank you Paula!
Paula, Any connection to the Bond's of Watertown and Lexington, Massachusetts.

Bob
You gotta love cats!!!!!!!!
Robert -- Cool! Do you have family up here still?

Doug -- Do you have any cats? One of the first things I did on here was make a free space page for my cat! :-)

Bob -- I am not sure yet. My current brick wall is at my 4th Great Grandfather William Henry BOND (b. abt 1816 Kentucky -- m. Hannah HAYES abt 1842 Iowa -- d. abt 1864 Fresno CA). He was an Early Oregonian and I think his wife Hannah died on the journey to Oregon on the trail. I can't get good info that I can see exists on Ancestry.com (he is in the Early Oregonians Index) because I don't have a subscription yet.  I have no clue yet as to who his parents were and where they came from, so I am excited to follow that BOND line up from him and see where it leads!
Hi Paula,

I have an uncle Ronald Easton who still lives there (unless he just move recently).  He and my mother were both born and raised there.  My mother moved to Vermont about 45 years ago and her parents have passed away so uncle Ron is my closest relative still out there.  They did have half brothers and sisters from their father's first marriage so I have many 1/2 cousins in Seattle.... all Eastons.  Some of them are in the refridgeration business.  Isn't that cool :)
Paula,

I have cousins in Maine and Massachusetts.

bob
+10 votes

I met some interesting fellows while working on the Global Family Reunion Project.

I would like to introduce Daniel Stevens Dickinson.

He was a Senator from New York from 1837-1840.

I added him to several categories as well as the Notables project:

[[Category: US Senators]] [[Category: New York Politicians]]
{{Notables}}  
 
I also figured out how to use the Succession Box:
 
{{Succession box2
| title =Daniel Stevens Dickinson
| years ='''Lieutenant Governor<br/>of New York'''<div align="center">[[Image:State_Seals-33.png|85px|Seal of the State of New York]]</div>1843–1844<br/><br/>'''US Senator from<br/>New York'''<div align="center">[[Image:US_Images.png|85px|Seal of of the US Senate]]</div>1837–1840
| before =[[Luther Bradish]]<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>'''Preceded by'''<br/>[[Hubbard-3225|John Flavel Hubbard]]
| after =[[Addison Gardiner]]<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>'''Succeeded by'''<br/>[[Platt-959|Nehemiah Platt]]
}}
 
The thing I can't figure out is why he and several other US Senators (John Flavel Hubbard and his son John Flavel Hubbard Jr.)that I added to the category do not show up on the US Senators from New York category page
 
any ideas?
 

 

by Kelly Metzler G2G6 Mach 2 (26.6k points)
edited by Kelly Metzler
Look out! He's reaching for a gun! Oh wait... That's the 1830's. Everything is safe. Probably reaching for his spectacles. They didn't have semiautomatic pistols back then.
+9 votes
I'm looking for descendants of Robert Harrington-100 to be part of a name study of his descendants. The total is over 1800 so far.

Rainy here in Southaven, Mississippi.
by Bob Keniston G2G6 Pilot (260k points)
Heads up.. There is a line second from the bottom that asks for the profile you are speaking about. Those links don't work here. I tried myself too, but you could copy and paste the url it takes you to the page in link form
+10 votes
I've had a great day, I hope everyone else has too. I've got a lot done in the garden - it's a special time of year for me to work out there, I have company so to speak. My garden is a memorial with plants that I was given by family and at this time of year many of them are in full bloom. The honeysuckle that my Mother gave me was a cutting from hers, the lily of the valley that came from her father's garden are just two. I never knew my maternal grandfather, he passed away before I was born but Mum and her sisters always called it "Daddy's garden", even though my grandmother and one of my Aunt's lived in the house for another 30 years and kept it up. When my knees needed a rest I came in and popped in here, I learnt how to create sub-categories with help from Gaille Connolly, thanks again for that Gaille. I really like how everyone helps each other. I also enjoyed reading what everyone else is doing over the weekend. Now to go and do more on some of my profiles. Have a peaceful Sunday tomorrow.
by Anna Hayward G2G6 (9.9k points)
Have a nice Sunday Anna!

Related questions

+41 votes
35 answers
+44 votes
28 answers
+23 votes
8 answers
+29 votes
12 answers
+40 votes
22 answers
+28 votes
16 answers
+31 votes
19 answers
+27 votes
17 answers

WikiTree  ~  About  ~  Help Help  ~  Search Person Search  ~  Surname:

disclaimer - terms - copyright

...