Organizing your genealogy materials

Staring at my pile of papers to be organized motivates me to share my filing system, such as it is. I came up with this one on my own way back as a beginning genealogist.

Folders: I use colored folders with two pockets. Regular file folders are generally used by researchers. The folders I use are more secure in holding the papers. I generally hit the stores when school supplies are on sale and pick up several folders of various colors. I use file stickers to identify each folders content.

A family is assigned to each folder. The name of the family is written on a sticker and applied to the center edge of the folder. That worked nicely early on. As new material is found for each family, adjustments are made. I create a new folder for individuals as the need arises. For example, my Prall family has several folders: Arent Jansen, Pieter, Aaron, Cornelius Sr., Edward, Benjamin, James, Elizabeth, Cornelius Sr., Isaac R., Hugh M., William M., Miscellaneous [unrelated Prall info], Cornelius Sr./Jr. Deeds.

Data collected on each persons family is placed in his/her folder. Any kids who generate a good deal of info get a folder of their own.

In a few cases, two families will share a folder if there are only a couple of items on each family.

What goes into the folder? You name it. Vital records, probate, deeds, biographical composites, local records, etc. all go into the folder.

For better or worse, I do not put birth, marriage and death certificates into the individual folders. Photos of graves or the people themselves are withheld as well. I have a special notebook for those.

Many researchers have a folder for every person in their database that generates a document. Others recommend  important documents be put in a computer file. There are a ton of different organizational options. Check online for ideas or ask other researchers for ideas. Then tweak to suit your needs.

[next: bmd records and photos]

Aaarrggh! Almost enough information....

One of my brick walls is Hester Jane or Jane Hester Moore who married James Morris Simmons in Warren Co., OH in 1826. They are my 2nd great-grandparents.

The other day, I was checking to see if anything new had cropped up on Hester Jane. On Family Search, the detailed marriage record book has been digitized. This record had been a gold mine for my Crousore/Smith research. [Jacob Crousore's father was named, as were Ama Jimima Smith's brother & father.]

For James, the record showed "of legal age by oath" and for Jane H., "with consent of her father, present."

Aaarrggh! Why couldn't the clerk have slipped in the name of her father?!

I guess names weren't big in the Moore family. In the Crown Point Cemetery records [Kokomo, IN], Hester is shown only as "Mrs. James M. Simmons."

Revolutionary War Battlefields, Historic Sites

A bit off topic, but an extension of yesterdays post, Revolutionary War sites to visit:
Historic Philadelphia, PA
Valley Forge
Brandywine
Gemantown
Clivedon
Monmouth Court House, NJ
Princeton
Morristown
Boston's Freedom Trail, MA
Lexington & Concord
Fort Ticonderoga, NY
Saratoga
Oriskany
Vincennes, IN
Yorktown, VA
Williamsburg
Mt. Vernon
Monticello
Kings Mountain, NC
Guilford Court House, SC
Cowpens
Ninety-Six
Camden

There are many others. Those above I have visited. One that I'd like to visit, the Old Stone House in Brooklyn where the Maryland 400 made their stand to allow Washington to escape.

Independence! Tribute to Ancestors who believed in the Cause

To the following men and the families  that supported them in their quest to create a new nation, and any that I overlooked:

Edward Prall, Captain, 1st Maryland [POW, Maryland 400 at Long Island]
Holden Rhodes, Prize Master, Rhode Island privateer [POW]
John Faucett, Private, Virginia militia, Pennsylvania Line
John Simmons Sr., NY Provisional troops
John Simmons, Jr., NY militias & Levies
Amos Singletary, representative, Mass. provincial congress
Peter Jennison, Massachusetts militia, Lexington
Henry Smith, VA Line, Yorktown
Seth Mahurin/Hurin, provided supplies for Continental troops at Morristown, NJ
Benjamin Prall, provided supplies for Continentals, probably brother Edward's Company
John St. John, NY Line & militia
John Land, VA militia
Thomas Land, VA militia
Thomas Sumter, Brig. Gen., Continental Army, commander of Partisan troops in SC
Nathanael Greene, Brig. Gen., Continental Army
Conrad Earthenhouse, originally with Hessian Lossberg Regt., deserted to join VA Regt. in 1780
and, for his pre-West Point actions: Benedict Arnold, Brig, Gen,, Continental Army prior to 1780

Kaintuck Research

I've made two excursions to Kentucky for research and history trips. My primary Kentucky families are Land, Gulley, Cawby and Barlow. Madison and Jessamine Counties were the main focus, along with the KY History Center and the Archives at Frankfort. I also visited the Sons of the American Revolution Library in Louisville.

The History Center was a treasure trove for the Land and Barlow families. Local facilities in Madison Co., especially the library at Eastern KY University were helpful for my Gulley research. The Jessamine Co. HS had Cawby info. I also visited the cemetery where Cawbys are buried. It was in poor condition, but due for renovation soon.

I also took trips to Boonesborough and Harrodburgh to get the flavor of the perod.

The Prall Reunion of 2000, a good researc opportunity

The Prall Reunion of 2000 was held in New Paltz, NY. Attendance was, to say the least, somewhat disappointing. However, the research opportunities were abundant. I was able to visit the Ulster County Historical Society [Marbletown] and Genealogical Society [Hurley], Elting Library in New Paltz and the Hugenot Historical Society in New Paltz. I was also able to check on a coyple of facilities in near-by Kingston.

I also had the opportunity to meet with Larry Van der Laan, who had been researching the families that had settled Staten Island. Larry had a theory that really changed the early history of the Prall family.

Up to that time, it was believed that the Pralls arrived in New York or Staten Island about 1660, with immigrant Arent Jansen van Naerden finding his way to Wildwyck/Kingston by 1663. He married Marie Billiou there in 1670 and they moved to SI a few years later.

Larry's research pointed to the Pralls arriving on SI by 1655 [at least one family history supported this, claiming a 1653 arrival] and being one of the few families to survive the Staten Island Massacre of 1655. Jan Arentse van Heerde and Baetje Jans were the parents of eight children by 1658. That the family was "van Heerde" [from Heerde in the Netherlands] contradicted Arent's Naerden origins. According to Larry, dialect played into the picture. The clerk who recorded Arent's home for his 1670 marriage misunderstood him. The clerk heard "vanaarden", but Arent said "vanheerden."

The sisters that were assigned to Arent were all from Heerde. Kenn Stryker-Rodda had speculated that Arent had at least four siblings [brother, 3 sisters] and may have arrived earlier than thought.

Larry provided me with a copy of his research report and I spent a few days checking his sources.

The "new Prall story" has not been accepted by all of the Pralls, but I'm satisfied.

Staten Island Adventures

My Prall and Billiou ancestors settled on Staten Island. The Billiou House still stands, although it has undergone several remodeling and restoration projects over the centuries.

I have made a few trips to the Staten Island Historical Society at Historic Richmondtown. Historic Richmondtown is a collection of historic residences and buildings that have been relocated there and restored. The Historical Society houses books and research material that focus on Staten Island and the families that settled there. Material on other NY/NJ families can be found there as well.

Historian/genealogist Kenn Stryker-Rodda spent years compiling data on the SI families dating back to the mid-1600s. His research became invaluable to my family history. Stryker-Rodda put together a series of short articles on each family.

I made copies of each family that I had documented at the time. [My last trip was late 90s or early 00s.] Prall, Billiou, Christopher, Blom, DuBois and Blanchan were the primary families. The research was done during the mid-20th century,  so errors were bound to appear. Most were errors based on then current research. Stryker=Rodda did an exceptional job with the resources available at the time.