Papers, Folders and Documents, Oh My!

Well, I have finally wrapped up my most recent research project and have begun to tackle the dreaded project - organizing my scattered research material.

I now have a waste basket full of miscellaneous non-pertinent papers, miscopied documents, etc. and a nice stack of notes and documents to be sorted.

Folders are in 2-3 piles. They need to be alphabetized.

The documents and notes will then be put into the folders, new folders created as needed and the folders placed in the filing cabinet.

Anticipated time: I have no idea! End of summer? You have to allow for trips, new research, blogs, all sorts of stuff!!

The Simmons Adventure

I decided to tackle my Simmons family one year at SLC. I did some preliminary research. It seems that a gentleman had posted his Simmons lineage online with a series of pedigree charts. I made copies of the charts. I also found that the gentleman had enlisted a Salt Lake genealogy research firm to compile the genealogy. The professional hired had posted several queries about the Simmons clan. One of those posts led me to find out that James Morris Simmons had died in Carroll rather than Howard Co., IN. I drove up to Delphi and got a copy of James' death certificate. It gave his mother's first name as Dolly. The Simmons research gave her maiden name as Jennison, but other sources gave different maiden names.

Right off the bat, I was able to confirm Dolly Jennison as the mother of James, thanks to a Jennison genealogy.

I requested a meeting with the research firm that had done the Simmons research. The pedigree charts were sorely lacking in documentation. I asked the firm if it would be possible to get a list of sources used to compile the charts. The original researcher had recently passed away and his heirs would not release any part of the research to outsiders. The charts had since been pulled from the internet. I was given a pedigree chart, unsourced, for my line.

So, it was check the places and dates on microfilm at the FHL. I was relatively successful. I wonder what the heirs did with the research?

2000 Connecticut

Connecticut was an  interesting trip. I spent time at Hartford, Stamford and New London. I visited the Ancient Burial Ground to view William Douglas' grave. I also took in a few historical sites in Harford, including the statue of Gov. John Winthrop Jr. I stopped to thank him as well. Winthrop was al so the family physician for my Wakeman family. Hannah Wakeman Hackleton got herself into a bit of mischief  [adultery, murder and blasphemy]. The Governor commuted the death sentence for Hannah. So here I am!

Perhaps the weirdest event was at the hotel near Stamford. Evidently, the night clerk decided to view some "adult entertainment" and it got fed to all of the rooms!

The Maryland State Archives

Another "where is it?" story. I drove around Annapolis for awhile and stopped at a fire station for directional assistance. The Archives building was behind the fire house!

At lunch time the facility closed! I went across the street to the 7/11 and bought a hot dog, chips and Diet Coke, which I ate on a bench in front of the Archives.

This was one of my very early research trips, so inexperience contributed to my moderate success. Most of my discoveries were about Edward Prall's service with Smallwood and the 1st Maryland during the Revolution.

Baltimore!

In 2003, I went to the inaugural meeting of the Hereditary Order of the Signers of the Bush Declaration. Uncle Edward Prall had been one of the signers of the document, also called the Harford Resolves. Local Harford County Patriots had sworn their support for the actions of the 2nd Continental Congress on 23 March 1775. After the dinner, I hung around for a few days to do some research in near-by Baltimore.

I was focusing on my Rhodes-Cunningham family. Early 1800s City directories were my big success. I was able to find nearly all of the Cunningham family [6 girls & 1 boy] through about 1815. Zachariah Rhodes stopped appearing about 1813/4 and his wife Harriet about 1818. That narrowed the range of death for both. [I hadn't been to Boston yet!] I also found some info on Edward Prall.

Yet, the highlight of the trip was Fort McHenry [think Francis Scott Key]. I wandered around the fort and took pictures. The visitor's center offered a 15-20 minute film on the siege of Fort McHenry and Key's authoring the Star Spangled Banner. At the end of the film, the National Anthem began playing, and the curtains of the theater opened onto the fort's parade ground and the replica of the 1814 flag flapping in the breeze. GO USA!

New Jersey Adventure

One summer I drove up to Trenton & Flemington, NJ for some research. I spent forever trying to find the NJ State Archives. I finally parked and asked a passerby where the facility was. He pointed to the large building about a football field away - "Right there." I fed the meter and went in to research.

At the Deats library in Flemington, I looked through the Prall card collection and Prall folders. My best find was the will of Benjamin Prall [brother to Cornelius Sr.] and the letter from the innkeeper with whom he had left the will. Benjamin had been on a trading trip, became ill and wrote his will.

That added three kids to the family group!

Salt Lake City trips before the Salt Lake Institute

Two or three times during the 1990s, I made trips to the Family History Library. My 1st trip was primarily designed to find Cornelius Prall Sr.'s estate settlement from 1819. Not only was I able to find the settlement, I discovered 2 or 3 more kids! Cornelius had died in 1813, but the estate was settled in 1819. That led to a mess in determining his family. Kids were assigned to wrong parents, left out completely or became siblings over the years.

My others trips were less organized. I had goals each time, but the FHL is like a candy shop - you go in for lemon drops, but the Tootsie Rolls, peppermint sticks and other items look good too! It's hard to keep your focus.

That's why I fell in love with the Problem Solving course at SLIG - one project to focus on for 5 days!