My Summer Reading List

This spring I was actively researching the migration of New Englanders westward into New York. As often happens when you are searching for one thing you stumble upon another.  My goal was to find books New York that would explain why so many New Englanders chose to settle or at least stop in New York.  I found I needed to do a very broad search on New York history in order to find appropriate books.

It was kind of fun to see the range of book about New York history. Easily half of them were about Manhattan. They dealt with all different topics from the Nickerbockers, to Broadway and on to the Harlem Renaissance.  What really got me distracted was the wide selection of books on African Americans in New York history.

I had to put the books aside until I finished my project but now I have the summer to dive into a topic that is starting to pique my curiosity. I've always maintained a strong interest in African American history in New England. Venturing into New York City is unexpected for me but I'm really enjoying the exploration.

Here's the list of books I'll absorbing this summer. I was able to get all these books through my local library network.

New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan by Jill Lepore (Knopf, 2005).

In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863 (Historical Studies of Urban America) by Leslie M. Harris (University of Chicago Press,2003).


Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto : Negro New York, 1890-1930 by Gilbert Osofsky (Harper & Row, 1963).

Stories of Freedom in Black New York by Shane White (Harvard University Press, 2002).

Slavery in New York edited by Ira Berlin and Leslie M. Harris (The New Press, 2005).

African or American?: Black Identity and Political Activism in New York City, 1784-1861 by Leslie M. Alexander (University of Illinois Press, 2008)


Summer is short! Time for me to get reading!

Think - Plan - Execute

Partial image of 1800 US Federal Census from
Charleston, Montgomery Co., NY
showing Wm Edwards on the bottom
Image Source: Ancestry.com

This past weekend I was reading some genealogical books and journals. I like to read books on methodology as well as peer reviewed journals in order to get new ideas on how to solve my old problems. Sometimes it's not even the specific topic but just the jogging of my mind that gives me ideas.

As I was reading, I suddenly thought about how I could expand my New York brick wall research in a productive way. At the start of 2012, I published my genealogy goals on my blog. One of them was to tackle my brick wall ancestor, William Edwards, of New York.

Previously all my research had focused on my ancestor and his descendants. During my reading this weekend I realized it would be worth the effort to broaden my reach and focus on FANs - friends, associates and neighbors. In other words I could do a little cluster genealogy research.

Thinking it through

My process when starting research is the same each time. I like routine and strive to find efficient and successful tactics. I tackle research with a Think - Plan - Execute approach. First, I get an idea about how I can tackle my problem and then I think it through.

In this particular case, I realized that the main piece of information I have on William is the 1800 US Federal Census which shows his arrival in Charleston, Montgomery County, New York. This is the area where the family would settle. My ancestor disappeared after 1808. The more I considered my problem, the more I realized that I should be taking a closer look at the neighbors that appear on the census. Even though my ancestor disappears in 1808, perhaps these gentlemen stayed on the land for many years and left records behind.

I got an idea that I would research five neighbors before and five neighbors after William Edwards as they appear on the 1800 census. Perhaps if I looked at the land records of these men I could find a reference to my ancestor's land even if William was no longer living. It seemed like a good strategy to potentially open up some new leads. Then I decided I should probably check census records for these men as well. Maybe I could determine how long they were in the area.

Of course, if I really wanted to expand the research I could add in all the early allied surnames. The people who had married into the family and developed long lasting associations.

Keep in mind that this is just one research goal. It doesn't go into all the past research I've done nor the other ideas I hope to do in the future.

One of the important parts of "thinking it through" is determining whether the plan is logical. Does it make sense? Will it lead to potentially to new information? Will that information be helpful in furthering the research? If you believe that it will then continue. If you're not sure, discuss it with another genealogist and get their feedback. In this case I think the exercise will be helpful to me so I will proceed.

This wraps up my process of thinking it through. It may not be complete (or successful) but it's a concrete idea that I can develop into a plan and then execute.

The next stage for me is to pull out my books and learn what records are available and where. I will arm myself with this information and create a research plan. After my research plan is complete I can move on to determining when I can execute my plan.

In my next post, I will take you on the journey as I develop the research plan.

How Much Microfilm are We Losing?

During my morning routine I regularly read articles shared on Twitter by Deb Ruth and other genealogy colleagues. This morning I was reading an article from BuffaloNews.com called "No Place Like Home" by Charity Vogel. It's an article about a woman who was an archivist for the Smithsonian and traveled the world only to find that she ultimately wanted to settle in her small home town of Cherry Creek in Western New York.  The article goes on to detail all that she has done to transform the historical scene in Cherry Creek.

What popped out at me was this line,

"Researching the history of her own home and other structures and incidents in Chautauqua County -- in part by using old copies of the Cherry Creek News from the 1880s through the 1930s, which she found in the local museum on 17 rolls of decaying microfilm and has since had converted to a digital format."

Decaying microfilm?!!

Ok, I admit, when it comes to microfilm my view of the  world is fairly limited.  My general sense, though I know it is erroneous, is that all microfilm comes from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

This article sent a shock wave through my body.  What if the microfilm in Cherry Creek is unique and copies aren't held by the Family History Library?  The thought of decaying microfilm is so scary.  How many small historical societies have film that might be disintegrating?  Are we losing important resources?

In this particular case Sharon Howe Sweeting, the subject of the story, came to the rescue and converted the microfilm to digitial format.

That makes me wonder too.  How did she convert the microfilm?  Did she do it herself?  Did she have to go to a company that converts microfilm?  Is it expense or difficult to do?

I hope that this one historical society with its decaying microfilm is not typical of historical societies in New York or beyond.  If it is, I hope that we can save the deteriorating microfilm before it's too late.  I can't help but selfishly think of my own New York ancestors and have fear for my ability to solve my brick walls. In this one case, the folks of Cherry Creek were lucky.  Their microfilm was saved.  But how many won't be so lucky?


Photo Credit: Photo by Deborah Fitchett and used under the creative commons license.

Genealogy Serendipity - A Beacon from the Church

On Sunday my father and I drove from Schuylerville, New York through the back roads until we reached our ancestral village of Glen, New York.  Glen was home to many generations of our earliest Edwards family.

I had printed Mapquest directions before leaving on our trip.  I hadn't really checked the route and we had no GPS.  So we had no idea exactly how we would be entering Glen.  It turned out we arrived through a section of town we had never been in before.  We drove slowly, enjoying all the scenery and old houses and stopping to take photos as we liked.

Before long we came upon a church.  It was called the Glen Reformed Church.  I mentioned to my dad that I thought our ancestors had attended this church.  It occurred to me that we never thought to visit this church when we had visited two years earlier.  Our Edwards ancestors had been members of this church since the mid 1800s.

We decided to stop and take some photos.  My Dad checked the door of the church and found that it was open.  As this was the church of our ancestors it didn't seem like there was any harm taking a peek inside.

The church had a wonderful historical display right at the front entrance. I paused at the guest book being sure to include our names and to mention that our Edwards ancestors were members of the church.  While no one else was in the church it seemed proper to leave our mark and let them know we were here.

We wandered around the sanctuary admiring the church and taking a few keep-sake photos.  I noticed that the stained-glass windows had names memorializing certain families.

I yelled across to my Dad to be on the lookout for a window for the Edwards.  In a matter of minutes my father found a memorial to our ancestors in the corner window.  Further along we also found a window memorializing the Ostroms, a strongly Edwards-allied family. What a lovely surprise to find our ancestors permanently remembered as a part of the church.

As we made our way back out of the church we noticed  there were many old photographs and documents along the back hallway.  While there were no Edwards in the photos there were a number of references to them in the documents.

An unexpected journey down an unknown road turned into genealogical serendipity.  Without even trying we had stumbled upon more clues to our family history!

Planning a Research Trip

I'm hoping to go on a brief research trip to New York before the summer is over.  I'll be going with my genealogy buddy, otherwise known as my Dad.

I have a lot of work to do before I can set foot in the car.  One of the places we'll be stopping is Germantown, New York.  In order to make the trip worthwhile I need to figure out what records are available before I leave home.

For Germantown, my target time frame is 1780 to 1800.  I will be chasing down every person with the Edwards surname in that town during that time frame.

Here's what I need to do as part of my planning:

1. Create a Research Guide

In order to effectively search for records I need to know what is available in Germantown.  I need to create a research guide that provides information on vital records, probate, military, church, land and every other kind of record that I can think of.  I will likely create an easy-to-read chart that separates the items by types of records and dates.  While my main focus will be on the 1780 - 1800 time period I will likely include more than that in my research guide.  I will start by looking in Ancestry's Red Book at the New York chapter.  Then I will hunt out a New York specific research guide.  I'll check FamilySearch too, to see if they have a research guide on New York. Of course, I'll have to check out the FamilySearch Wiki as well.

2. Conduct a Literature Search

Next I'll want to check what has already been published about Germantown, New York.  To accomplish this I'll do a Persi search.  I will also do a search of Worden's Index to the New York Genealogical & Biographical Record.  This should give me a good idea about the types of things that have been published about the town.

3. Get Local - From a Distance

Next I'll need to survey the catalogs of the local library, historical society and museums so I can get a good idea of what they have available.  I'll particularly keep my eye open for special genealogical or local history collections.  I'll make note of any that I feel will be helpful in my research.

4. The Hunt for Manuscripts

While I won't physically be going to other locations I will want to check the catalog of the New York State Library at Albany.  They may have relevant items that could help in my research.  And if they have more items than appear available in Germantown, I may need to rethink my research strategy. Other catalogs I'll check will include the New York Public Library, The New York Historical Society and the Library of Congress.

5. Make a Research Plan

After doing all this background research I'll need to create a research plan. The plan will outline specifically what records I want to check and where they are located.  The plan will include blank space for me to include notes about my findings.

6. Prepare a Contact List

The last thing I'll want to do is create a contact list.  You can see a sample here that I created previously (scroll to the bottom of the page to find the pdf sample).  I like to create a contact list with the names of the repository or archive that I'll be visiting along with their physical location, hours, phone and any restrictions, fees or pertinent information.  That allows me to see at a glance when they are open and lets me shift gears quickly if I need to alter my plans.

This is only my second research trip to New York state.  If you have any suggestions that would make my trip more productive please share them with me. I could use all the help I can get.

Photo Credit: photo by basykes used under the creative commons license

My New York Brick Walls

Lately I have switched from conference organization and speaking mode to deep-research mode.  While both are fun, let me tell you it feels good to get lost in research for awhile.

I've been traveling all over the state of Massachusetts visiting Registry of Deeds, Probate Courts, libraries, cemeteries and whatever else I can find for my house history research.  I have been particularly lucky to have visited the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) several times in the last few weeks. 

NEHGS is an exciting place to research because they have so many resources that span many geographic locations.  For the first time in a long time I actually got some research done on my own family thanks to NEHGS.  Many of my ancestors come from New York, a place I can't get to very often.  Luckily NEHGS has New York records available that I can't easily get access to.

It seems that my visits to NEHGS have really got me considering my own family history again.  I've been so inspired that I'm going to attempt to tackle two of my biggest brick walls.

The Immigrant Ancestor

Brick wall #1 is my immigrant ancestor William Edwards.

William came to America some time before the Revolutionary War from Wales so the story goes.  He is said (according to a DAR application) to have served as a patriot in the Revolution but I've never seen any conclusive evidence that separates him from others also named William Edwards.  I have no birth, marriage or death records for him.  I do however, have baptism records for his first three children, Elizabeth Edwards (born on 6 Apr 1788), William Edwards (born Oct 1789) and my ancestor John Edwards (born 6 Jan 1792).  All three were born in Germantown, New York.  William appears in the 1800 US Federal Census in Charleston, NY but not in 1810.  More children were born in Montgomery County New York with the last one being born in 1808.

Questions:

1. Did William die before 1810 and is that why there is no further trace of him?
2. There  is so much information about his eight children, yet there is virtually no oral history passed down about him or his wife, Christina. Why is that?
3. Did William arrive in America alone or with other family?

The Quest

My research strategy, given the sparsity of information about William is going to be to focus on his children.  I will attempt to hunt down every bit of information, including migration patterns and fans (friends, associates and neighbors) in my attempt to find clues about William.  I anticipate this will be a long, slow process. 


The Young Mother Who Died too Soon

Brick Wall #2 is my great, great grandmother, Charlotte (Hill) Learned.

There is a very old Learned family Bible that provides marriage and death dates for Charlotte who married William Chandler Learned in 1855.  Charlotte had two daughters before she died in 1862.  While I have a death date and location for her I have yet to discover where she is buried. I believe Charlotte to be the daughter of Orange Hill of Pompey, Onondaga County, New York.  There is quite a bit of information about the Hill family but I have found nothing to link Charlotte to her father.  The Hills came from Massachusetts a few generations earlier and I'd like to be able to link her to them conclusively.

Questions

1. When was Charlotte Hill born and where?
2. Where is she buried?
3. Is there a document or enough indirect evidence that proves her connection to her father, Orange Hill?

The Quest

My research strategy with this brick wall is going to be focused on location-based research.  I will learn everything I can about Pompey, NY.  In addition I will try to track down every document possible associated with the Hill family in Pompey for three generations back from Charlotte in an attempt to prove the connection between Charlotte and the Hill family.  If I'm lucky, perhaps her grandfather left a will that makes mention of her.

The Road Ahead

I'm excited about researching my own family for a change.  It's going to be fun to try to chip away at these brick walls.  Hopefully it will take me into some uncharted territory. I imagine my quest for Charlotte Hill's father is going to be easier than my search for William Edwards.  I'll share thoughts on my research process on my blog along the way.