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Kids and Genealogy

10/1/2012

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Son looking at family tree
Son looking at large family tree
The other day while working on some genealogy for a friend, my 16 year old asked if there were any "developments" in his father's genealogy.  I was honest, and admitted that I hadn't really worked on that side of the family in quite some time.

I corrupted all three of my children young, with my love of history.  But my 16 year old seems to be the one who is into genealogy as much as I am.  He loves to find out about amazing, and sometimes nutty people in our family tree.

So, I took a break from what I was working on, and we jumped into Ancestry to work on the Bateman/Keene side of the family.  We actually managed to add quite a bit of information.
  I use MyHeritage software on my desktop, so after adding the updated GEDCOM, we took a look at what the tree would look like if I printed it out using our home printer.  "Wow, that would be cool to print!" said my son.  I agreed and looked at the number of pages it would take.....54.

For some reason, this morning I decided to do it.  I have added a few more people since then, and it ended up being 72 pages.  It takes up nearly one whole wall of my bedroom and took three of us to hang it.  It is only held up with scotch tape, and I sleep on an air mattress at the moment right below it, so it may well end up on top of me eventually, but for now it works.

I have always shared what I find with my kids.....I want them to know where they come from.  But this year we are trying to incorporate some of the family into our homeschooling.  We just recently studied the Puritan period, and we have Deacon John Blanchard in our family who was in that area during that time period.  My hope was to find some of his sermons to see where he stood on major issues of the day, but unfortunately I didn't.  But being able to put our own family in the various time periods is amazing to my children.  It makes history and learning a little more exciting.

And on the nutty side of things....you can read about the "Seige" of Cedar Island in 1896.  The kid's roots on their dad's side of the family go all the way back to the very beginning settlements on the Isles of Shoals, and we found this story funny as all get out.

Do you involve your children in your research?


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Google Books

9/16/2012

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Google Books can be a huge bonus to your genealogical research, but is often overlooked.  Never underestimate what you can find there....

A quick search with the term "Brooklyn NY", brings up pages upon pages of results.  Titles such as "Our Fireman: The Official History of the Brooklyn Fire Department" could be a hidden gem for anyone who might have someone in that line of  work in their family tree.

I recently heard someone in the professional genealogy field mention that in order to do a good search, you have to know the history of the time you are researching (my apologies, I can't remember who it was).  Google Books is amazing for this!  One example: "Report of the Department of Health of the city of Brooklyn, NY 1884-1885".  Did you have family living there in this time period?  Discussion of diseases, challenges of having so many people living in such tight quarters, and suggestions by medical professionals about how to handle those issues, will give you a good over view of what things were like for your family members.  Exciting reading?  Not usually, but every little nugget of information will give you a better understanding of where your ancestors came from.

Jumping over to information on Vermont and Massachusetts, this has actually been a boon for me, when it comes to the Blanchard branch of my tree.  I had no idea that the Blanchard name, and their accomplishments go so far back in our country's history.

Google Books is a great resource for finding long lost histories of towns, churches and even companies.  In a search yesterday for a project I am working on, I found old company newsletters with the particular ancestor in it.  Turns out he was quite musically talented, always either playing piano, or singing in the company choir.  This is something that his great granddaughter never would have know if I had searched where I did.

Not all of the information will be 100% accurate.  Personal genealogies written early on in history, tend to have many errors in them.  But it might give you some small nuggets of information you wouldn't have found otherwise.


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Obituaries

9/10/2012

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With a large concentration of my family having lived in Stamford, Connecticut, it only makes sense to take advantage of the Ferguson Library Obituary service.  They offer an index on their site, where you can search for obituaries, some going back to the late 1800's.

I was under the impression (I don't know why), that you had to pay $20/obituary.  After emailing the library to ask if there was any sort of discount for a large number of them, I received an email back, stating that they do this service free of charge.  Perfect!

Here is the list I am sending them:

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Of special note is the one I have highlighted, Nichols, Mrs.  I do not know if this woman is connected to my Nichols, but considering the time period, it is possible that this could be my missing Clara Estelle (Blisard) Nichols.  My great grandfather Arthur Nichols wasn't a wealthy man, but it's possible he could have done an obituary if she passed.  My grandfather Gordon Everett Sr. was born in 1913, and by the 1920 census, Clara is missing.

I don't want to get my hopes too high, but the possibility is there.  I will keep you posted, once I receive them.
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Wedding Wednesday - What's In A Name?

8/22/2012

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Thanks to Family Search obtaining Vermont Vital records, the Blanchard side of my family has opened up ten-fold.  I recently found out that my great grandfather Charles Forrest Blanchard was not always married to my great grandmother Lucy Ann Riley.  In the Family Search records, it clearly shows that he was married twice before:

First to Rose A Ashley on 25 Dec 1886

    Source Citation: "Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XFQB-FHB : accessed 8 April 2012), Luther W. Blanchard in entry for Charlie F. Blanchard and Rose A. Ashley (1886).
Then to Lucy A Eastman in 1891

      Source Citation: "Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XFQB-FCR : accessed 8 April 2012), Charles F. Blanchard (1871).

But then he married my great grandmother Lucy Ann Riley.  Based on the age of their oldest child, Charles T. in the 1900 census, I estimated their marriage to be around 1894-1895.  But I couldn't find a record of it.  I had a gentleman on Ancestry actually argue with me about my findings, claiming that there was no way. But there it was, in black and white.  There are no other Charles Forrest Blanchard's that I have found in Vermont at that time, with a father named Luther and a mother named Lydia.  So this leads me to believe that I am on the right trail.


Then something weird happened.  I found a census record for a Stephen T. Riley in Vermont, with a wife named Grace E. and a daughter named Lucy Ann.  I punched it into my tree with the hope that something would show up in the shaky leaf hints.  Nothing, after several weeks.

I did a search for Stephen, but all I kept coming up with was a Thomas Riley with the same birth date.  Just out of curiosity yesterday, I tried searching Family Search for Thomas Riley.  And poof....there it was.......

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Source Citation: "Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XF36-46R : accessed 22 Aug 2012), Thomas S. Riley in entry for Charles F. Blanchard and Lucy A. Riley, 1892.

The proof I was looking for to show the marriage date of my great grandparents.  They were married July 10th, 1892. And then on top of that, I found out that for whatever reason, most of Lucy Ann's fathers life, he went by Thomas, not Stephen.  I can only guess why he showed up in the census that one time with Stephen....did he have a son of the same name?  Did someone other than a family member give the info?  Did the census taker just swap the names by accident?  Who knows.  But it has opened up two other family lines....the Riley's (paternal of Lucy Ann) and the Kathan's (maternal of Lucy Ann).

I haven't searched to find out what happened to the first two wives....illness causing death?  Another adventure to add to my "to do" list! Right now I am busy getting my files in order and trying NOT to get off track.  Finding rabbit trails like this though make it awfully tempting lol.

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1940 Census Searchable On Ancestry

8/4/2012

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I might be a day or so behind, as I just checked my gmail account for genealogy stuff, but Ancestry has indexed all of the 1940 census, and it is now searchable.

This was a huge thing for me, because whenever I tried the tricks offered using the street name and enumeration district from the 1930 census, I came up empty.  In my searches, I could not for the life of me, find East Meadow Street in the 1940 census.  Stamford, CT was a big city back then, being a huge boom town since the late 1800's, and the massive immigration of the Irish.  There was no way I was going to through, page by page by page, to find them.  So I waited.  Sometimes patiently lol
.
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This one contains my grandfather, Gordon E. Nichols and his family.  Including my great grandfather Arthur E. Nichols, who passed away later in 1940.  I am glad he was still alive for the census, although I suspect he was probably already sick.

(Source:  Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.)

I did make a correction to the transcribing, as they were listed as "Nicholas".  I can't blame the wonderful indexer, as the handwriting on this one is not great (big surprise there, wonder if they ever thought to make the census takers do a handwriting course).
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And this is my grandfather Mayo H. Blanchard, and his family.  He is always pretty easy to find, due to his unusual name. I also made a small correction to the transcribing on this one, as my uncle's name is Alfred, not "Affred".  That was the census taker's fault.

(Source: Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.)

My father and mother will not show up in the 1940 census, as they were born 1942 and 1943, respectively.  But many of my aunts and uncles are there. It is kind of funny to see them as little children.  I want to do nothing more than spend the day working to find others, but I must get my homeschool planning done for my boys first, since we begin the new year on Monday.

I will be definitely getting my files set up so that I can get back to searching, as soon as I possibly can.


And I just want to take a minute to thank all those wonderful volunteers who have worked so hard to make the 1940 census available to all of us.  It is so appreciated! 
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Blanchard Family and Google Books

5/21/2012

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Until a few months ago, I knew very little about the Blanchard side of my family.  Aside from the fact that my grandfather was named Mayo, after the county in Ireland (according to family stories, yet to confirm this was the reason), I knew little, because there aren't any relatives near us.  We keep in touch with our immediate family, but that is it.

After finding a family tree online, with excellent documentation, I have been able to take this tree back many generations.  I am in the process of collecting my own documentation to prove all the connections.


One thing that astounds me, and excites me, as a history buff, is the amount of information on Google Books about Blanchards.  A simple search of Amasa Blanchard, my 3rd great grandfather,
brings up multiple options.  Amasa was a popular name among the Blanchard's, so it takes some serious hours reading, to make sure I am following the right one.  But it is so worth it!  Snippets of his life, and of other Blanchards, really make the picture come together.

You may not have family information in Google Books, but definitely don't over look it as a resource to find things.  It can be invaluable.
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Lucy Ann Riley

5/8/2012

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Recently, in connecting with my distant cousins in the Blanchard family online, I was finally able to put a face to a name.  Lucy Ann Riley, daughter of Stephen Riley and Grace, was my great grandmother.  She was the third wife of Charles Forrest Blanchard.
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I don't know much about her, I never met her.  From what my grandmother told me, she was a very sweet person, and she really liked her.  She is one that I will be researching very soon.  It is so easy to research the men in the family, they left the paper trails.  Women are much harder, although in most instances, they are the keepers of the family history. 
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