Yesterday I posted my "items to be checked list" for Salt Lake in January. I'll update it with specific books, films and fiche later.
For those of you planning a research trip, especially inexperienced researchers, here's a few tips.
(1) Check the venue's website or call to see what the hours are. Due to volunteer shortages, some places are open only a couple of days per week or have short hours. It's no fun to show up at a historical society library only to learn that it's closed!
(2) Most libraries have an online catalog. Check to see if the venue has the books, films, documents, newspapers or manuscripts that you need. Make a list of what they have that you need.
(3) Find out what the facility charges for copies. Prices generally range from 10 to 25 cents per page. See if they allow you to unload the pages on a thumb drive.
(4) You are most likely to find deeds, probate files and vital records at the local court house. The same applies here, find out how much copies are [$1.00 a page is common] and how easily accessible they are. Sometimes you will be accessing the record books and other times they will be on microfilm or digitized.
(5) Be polite. Ask specific questions. The librarian or clerk needs details, not your family history! Say thank you. [Sometimes you will run into the "clerk from Hades" who hates genealogy researchers with a passion. Take them with a grain of salt. Be polite and roll with the punches! :)-
Monday, August 31, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
SLIG 2016: Plan of Attack
The Salt Lake Institute is just a little over 4 months away. Subject to change [even once the Institute gets underway], I have started to put together my "plan of attack" for library research. Books, microfilm and microfiche will be checked on the following topics:
(1) Histories of Essex County, Massachusetts, with focus on Lynn and Salem. [Malcolm MacCallum lived in Lynn and, possibly, Salem.
(2) Vital records [especially marriages and deaths] for Essex Co.
(3) Probate records for Essex Co.
(4) Church records for Essex Co.
(5) The Scots Charitable Society of Boston.
(6) Records pertaining to the Scottish prisoners from the Battle of Dunbar sent to New England-1651.
(7) Family histories for MacCallum, Callum [longshot, but needs to be checked]
That should keep me busy for a couple of days. There will also be suggestions from the course consultants to follow-up on.
Before I head west, I will go through each of the above topics on the FHL catalog and make a list of books, films and fiche that look like possible hits. That will give me a starting point for Day 1.
(1) Histories of Essex County, Massachusetts, with focus on Lynn and Salem. [Malcolm MacCallum lived in Lynn and, possibly, Salem.
(2) Vital records [especially marriages and deaths] for Essex Co.
(3) Probate records for Essex Co.
(4) Church records for Essex Co.
(5) The Scots Charitable Society of Boston.
(6) Records pertaining to the Scottish prisoners from the Battle of Dunbar sent to New England-1651.
(7) Family histories for MacCallum, Callum [longshot, but needs to be checked]
That should keep me busy for a couple of days. There will also be suggestions from the course consultants to follow-up on.
Before I head west, I will go through each of the above topics on the FHL catalog and make a list of books, films and fiche that look like possible hits. That will give me a starting point for Day 1.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Genealogy Jealousy!!
When I talk to family history researchers or listen to speakers relate their experiences, I get depressed by the people who had a cousin, grandparent or some other relative who had researched the family and left a considerable amount of material, including journals, pictures, heirlooms, original documents and letters. Others had a grandparent or someone else available to relate stories of their family's past. Jealousy rears its ugly head! Those folks are lucky! In some ways, though, they miss out on the thrill of the research effort.
Hopefully, the 'haves" are checking the stories for accuracy and cataloging everything that isn't already well organized.
Then there's folks like me. My maternal grandparents had died by the time I was four. My paternal grandfather died in 1939 and my paternal grandmother died when I was ten.
Mom and Uncle Mutt grew up with their maternal grandmother and great-grandmother accessible. They were able to pass along a few stories and details, but that was it. Uncle Mutt put together his recollections of the McHugh and Crail families. There were some errors, but he did a pretty good job. The notes provided a good foundation for further research.
It was the material resources that really hurt. According to Mom and Uncle Mutt, the following had been in the family prior to my grandparents' deaths. There may have been more goodies.
1. Catherine O'Neil Crail's journal that told of her trip from Ireland to Indiana and included at least a couple of generations of her family in County Cork.
2. A photograph of Aaron and John Crail from 1863 or 1864, in uniform, just before they left to serve in the Civil War.
3. A trunk with some family heirlooms, including Uncle Mutt's WWII uniform.
4. A McHugh coat of arms that hung in my grandfather's office at his tool and die shops.
What happened to the items after my grandparents passed, no one knows. One of my cousins had a print copy of the McHugh arms, so I do have that.
Pop told me that questions about the family just never came up, so he really didn't know anything. [The occasional story about his family did come up from time to time, however.] I had asked him about the origin of the Prall surname. He told me he'd heard it was Scottish. His sister's recollection was Pennsylvania-Dutch. Both were right to a degree. There are Pennsylvania-Dutch and Scots in the tree.
Once again, one of my cousins came up with the gems - a handful of family photos from about 1911 through the late 1930s. The photos included my grandparents, my grandfather's sister and her husband, Grandma's mother and grandmother and my father and aunt as infants.
So, the bulk of the research, both sides of the family, was left up to me. Tracking the Pralls had its bumps in the road. Shaky research on a couple of generations made it a challenge. The Faucetts finally came together thanks to bios of two of John Faucett's grandkids. There are still missing details though. I've been able to track most of the allied families back to the British Isles or Western Europe.
Heirlooms, photos and the like are almost non-existent, but details and stories have been located.
Mom's side of the family, despite the details from Mom and Uncle Mutt, came together much more slowly. Wisconsin research helped flesh out the McHugh story. Two generations of the Crail, Simmons and Crousore families were well documented. Beyond that, not much.
Three of my Salt Lake trips helped open the floodgates! One took the Crousores back another couple of generations into western Pennsylvania. A second added another 4-5 generations to the Simmons family and a couple of dozen [probably more] allied families to the mix. The third plugged some of the remaining gaps in the Crousore story and added another handful of families to the tree.
I'm reasonably proud of the research I've done and what I've accomplished. There is still more to do; I'll be working on my MacCallum line in Salt Lake come January.
As I have lamented frequently in numerous posts, if James B. Crail and Mary Ann Jones would just come out of hiding....................
Hopefully, the 'haves" are checking the stories for accuracy and cataloging everything that isn't already well organized.
Then there's folks like me. My maternal grandparents had died by the time I was four. My paternal grandfather died in 1939 and my paternal grandmother died when I was ten.
Mom and Uncle Mutt grew up with their maternal grandmother and great-grandmother accessible. They were able to pass along a few stories and details, but that was it. Uncle Mutt put together his recollections of the McHugh and Crail families. There were some errors, but he did a pretty good job. The notes provided a good foundation for further research.
It was the material resources that really hurt. According to Mom and Uncle Mutt, the following had been in the family prior to my grandparents' deaths. There may have been more goodies.
1. Catherine O'Neil Crail's journal that told of her trip from Ireland to Indiana and included at least a couple of generations of her family in County Cork.
2. A photograph of Aaron and John Crail from 1863 or 1864, in uniform, just before they left to serve in the Civil War.
3. A trunk with some family heirlooms, including Uncle Mutt's WWII uniform.
4. A McHugh coat of arms that hung in my grandfather's office at his tool and die shops.
What happened to the items after my grandparents passed, no one knows. One of my cousins had a print copy of the McHugh arms, so I do have that.
Pop told me that questions about the family just never came up, so he really didn't know anything. [The occasional story about his family did come up from time to time, however.] I had asked him about the origin of the Prall surname. He told me he'd heard it was Scottish. His sister's recollection was Pennsylvania-Dutch. Both were right to a degree. There are Pennsylvania-Dutch and Scots in the tree.
Once again, one of my cousins came up with the gems - a handful of family photos from about 1911 through the late 1930s. The photos included my grandparents, my grandfather's sister and her husband, Grandma's mother and grandmother and my father and aunt as infants.
So, the bulk of the research, both sides of the family, was left up to me. Tracking the Pralls had its bumps in the road. Shaky research on a couple of generations made it a challenge. The Faucetts finally came together thanks to bios of two of John Faucett's grandkids. There are still missing details though. I've been able to track most of the allied families back to the British Isles or Western Europe.
Heirlooms, photos and the like are almost non-existent, but details and stories have been located.
Mom's side of the family, despite the details from Mom and Uncle Mutt, came together much more slowly. Wisconsin research helped flesh out the McHugh story. Two generations of the Crail, Simmons and Crousore families were well documented. Beyond that, not much.
Three of my Salt Lake trips helped open the floodgates! One took the Crousores back another couple of generations into western Pennsylvania. A second added another 4-5 generations to the Simmons family and a couple of dozen [probably more] allied families to the mix. The third plugged some of the remaining gaps in the Crousore story and added another handful of families to the tree.
I'm reasonably proud of the research I've done and what I've accomplished. There is still more to do; I'll be working on my MacCallum line in Salt Lake come January.
As I have lamented frequently in numerous posts, if James B. Crail and Mary Ann Jones would just come out of hiding....................
Friday, August 28, 2015
Wars in the Middle East [1990 - present]
I decided to combine the US involvement in the Middle East over the last quarter of a century into one blog. It may be unfair to each conflict, but will do to wrap up the military post series. The Middle East conflicts are recent enough that they should not need a great deal of explanation.
1990-91: Gulf War vs. Iraq https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War
1998: Operation Desert Fox vs. Iraq https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Iraq_(1998)
2003-11: The Iraq War vs. Iraq https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War
2011-present: Iraqi Insurgency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_insurgency_(2011%E2%80%9313)
The World Trade Center [9/11/2001] and other terrorist attacks alsso deserve mention here.
To all service men and women who have served the US - THANK YOU! The same note of thanks goes out to police and fire departments who have answered the call domestically.
Family connections: none that I am aware of.
1990-91: Gulf War vs. Iraq https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War
1998: Operation Desert Fox vs. Iraq https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Iraq_(1998)
2003-11: The Iraq War vs. Iraq https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War
2011-present: Iraqi Insurgency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_insurgency_(2011%E2%80%9313)
The World Trade Center [9/11/2001] and other terrorist attacks alsso deserve mention here.
To all service men and women who have served the US - THANK YOU! The same note of thanks goes out to police and fire departments who have answered the call domestically.
Family connections: none that I am aware of.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
The Viet Nam War [1961-75]
Although trouble had existed in Viet Nam long before the US became involved, the Kennedy administration marked the beginning of America's role in SE Asia. Kennedy sent advisors to Viet Nam, but it was his successor, Lyndon Johnson, who initiated full US military involvement in 1963. The war was extremely unpopular on the home front and led to massive war protests, draft age young men fleeing to Canada and an extremely misguided attitude of anti-war protestors toward returning American military personnel.
President Nixon cut back on US troop involvement, but slow progress in bringing the war to an end, escalated protests and Viet Nam became "Nixon's War" to the liberal protestors who seemingly forgot the President Johnson had involved the US in an unwinnable, unpopular war. The war would come to an end during the Ford administration when Saigon fell in April 1975.
For more see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
Family connections: None. I was of draft age during the war and attending college, thus granted a student deferment. Vision technology had not progressed to the point where light-weight, strong eyeglasses had been developed. I imagine my vision would have warranted a 4-f classification.
President Nixon cut back on US troop involvement, but slow progress in bringing the war to an end, escalated protests and Viet Nam became "Nixon's War" to the liberal protestors who seemingly forgot the President Johnson had involved the US in an unwinnable, unpopular war. The war would come to an end during the Ford administration when Saigon fell in April 1975.
For more see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
Family connections: None. I was of draft age during the war and attending college, thus granted a student deferment. Vision technology had not progressed to the point where light-weight, strong eyeglasses had been developed. I imagine my vision would have warranted a 4-f classification.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
The Korean War [1950-53]
The Korean War was essentially a civil war between North and South Korea, but had global implications with the spread of Communism into North Korea. Communist China was the primary force behind North Korea, while the US and United Nations forces supported South Korea. The outcome was essentially a stalemate, with Korea split at the 38th parallel.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War for more background.
Family connections: none
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War for more background.
Family connections: none
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
World War II [1939-1945]
The 2nd World War came on the heels of the Great Depression. Germany rose to a world power again under the Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler. Mass execution of Jews, Gypsies and anyone else that did not fit into Hitler's "master race" were placed in concentration camps and murdered by the millions. Germany invaded Poland and quickly conquered most of Europe. Great Britain and the Soviet Union, along with resistance fighters in France, The Netherlands and other nations were left to battle Germany and its allies. Japan was quickly taking over the Pacific.
On 7 January 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, bringing America into the war.
The allied D-Day invasion on 6 June 1944 of Normandy began the downfall of Hitler's Germany. 1945 would see the war come to an end. Germany surrendered in May. Rather than risk an invasion of Japan that would lead to upwards of a million allied casualties, the US chose to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, leading to Japan's surrender.
The internet has a plethora of terrific sites on WWII, check them out. For a timeline of events see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_World_War_IIn
Family connections: Uncle Charles McHugh served stateside as an instructor, I believe, with the engineers. John W. Simmons Jr. fought with the Philippine Resistance and was killed by the Japanese in 1943.
On 7 January 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, bringing America into the war.
The allied D-Day invasion on 6 June 1944 of Normandy began the downfall of Hitler's Germany. 1945 would see the war come to an end. Germany surrendered in May. Rather than risk an invasion of Japan that would lead to upwards of a million allied casualties, the US chose to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, leading to Japan's surrender.
The internet has a plethora of terrific sites on WWII, check them out. For a timeline of events see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_World_War_IIn
Family connections: Uncle Charles McHugh served stateside as an instructor, I believe, with the engineers. John W. Simmons Jr. fought with the Philippine Resistance and was killed by the Japanese in 1943.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)