Sunday Search: The Events Of Each Generation

When researching the lives of my ancestors I am always cognizant of the larger events happening in the world around them. Additionally, I constantly think about the way of life and what would have been part of their daily consciousness during that period of time. Sometimes I am able to find direct connections to those events or ways of life like military service, prohibition, or the expansion and prevalence of the railroad industry.

However, it is important to remember (and sometimes I have to remind myself), that the stories are there we just have to allow our ancestors to tell them. We can't expect to find anything or wish to find a connection to a person or event. We must look at their lives as we do our own and cherish facts (good and bad) like memories. In my opinion, this is a critical in understanding your ancestors and the lives that they lived.

It is this same thought process that is important for us to remember in our own lives as well. While there are many people who have a direct connection to 9/11, there are even more of us that have been impacted by this tragedy in one way or another. Our lives are different because of it and, in many instances, the courses of our lives have been altered by it. Some more so than others.  

This, unfortunately, is an event that has shaped our time similar to how the various events in history have shaped the lives of our ancestors. Not only does this remain a vivid memory but the time in which we live has allowed us to experience it as it happened, in real time, and also relive the horrors of that September morning. This is both good and bad for obvious reasons.

We had instant access to information and readily available (to a certain extent) communication with loved ones. This wasn’t always the case and it actually makes me wonder if previous generations were better off simply not knowing until long after the fact. But, we can’t change the time in which we live, and, similarly, we can ascribe modern technology and thought process to previous generations… a common mistake that I see much too often.

This is life and the world in which we live. While we may not always like it, we have to accept it. And the same can be said for our ancestors. We may not always agree with the common practices or mentalities of the time but those are the realities of the world for that generation. It is difficult at times, but we have to remove ourselves, and our modern perspective, from the lives of our ancestors and let them tell us the stories about their lives.  

Sunday Search: A Local Family Reunion

In recent years I have gained a greater appreciation for our annual family gatherings. While it was a little different this year with regard to both place and time of year, it was still a great time catching up and simply seeing everyone in one place. Yesterday we gathered together and took the opportunity to talk and, more importantly, to listen about all that was going on in the family and all the unique experiences that each of us has had over the past year (and a half). It is interesting because we are actually quite the diverse group.

This year I was able to bring more than food to the ‘reunion’ as I had recently completed pulling together all of the information needed for my supplemental Sons of the American Revolution application. Thankfully, I was able to print out an extra copy before leaving the office on Friday which allowed me to go page by page, generation by generation, when explaining our patriotic lineage. This is another part of the process that I really enjoy as I could see their faces when I was able to uncover each piece of information and name of which they were previously unaware. It was the same look that I had when I originally discovered the information.

However, that was only secondary as it was family time to both talk about our lives and also remember some of the past times when we all got together for a day or two. This is the most important part and I have become more aware and appreciative of this particular aspect. After all, we can talk about the past and ancestors whose lives have long since been completed but it is the current, ever changing, lives that we lead which are what makes our family dynamic. Events such as this allow us to enjoy both sides of the equation.

While we all lead very different lives with different experiences, professions, and opinions, we are all part of one family with a common ancestry. Different branches, different leaves; same trunk, same tree. We live in the present but are always cognizant and respectful of the past. I enjoy sharing what I know, what I have been able to uncover, but I truly enjoy hearing about the family history and simply listening to the stories from the current generations. After all, documents will (usually) always exist but the stories will not always be told and are often lost amongst the generations. And a reunion is a perfect opportunity to listen.

Uncovered During Some Digital Digging

Buried in one of the many old files that have been passed down from computer to computer over the last seven years I stumbled across a small word document containing the notes for a few story ideas that I jotted down back in 2009 while riding the train to work. There are a few interesting ideas and a number of options regarding the directions that these brief glimpses can go. What I find most interesting is I can remember each building, station, and person that I passed when these ideas came to mind. However, there are also many issues and a heck of a lot of polishing that needs to be done in each instance but thought I would share because it is interesting at times to consider the raw idea…

Her neck flexed and vanes protruded as the rope swung forward and back. A dripping lead pipe kept time in the echoes of the opposite corner. In the cool cavernous corner of the basement she pursed her lips for one more breath of musty air. Her body relaxed, she struggled to caress her lungs with one more pollen laden breeze.

She found the staccato of the braided hemp stuttering as it rubbed across the wooded floor support to be soothing. The light shaking reminded her of collecting tickets for the roller coaster at the amusement park on the boardwalk. At the end of the night, with the cool ocean air swollen with the stale smells of caramel corn and hot dogs, she would take the last ride.

She knew every turn, every drop. She sat in the same seat, front right, every night.

Pressing the start button, the hydraulics would hiss, and she would run to her seat. As the car began to climb the spiraled ascent she would pull the lap bar down, cross her legs, smile, and watch as Ocean City went to sleep.

As she neared the top the clicking crescendo echoed across the now empty park. Slowly, the car would tip forward and she would close her eyes and listen for the crashing waves.

The wind filled her lungs and caressed her face as she recalled every turn and dip, side to side, front to back, until the ride was over.

***

What is written by the hand is determined by the mind. The devious script of the foreseeing mind tells all. These hands shall harm no more than paper.

He studied the hand written letters line by line, word by word, letter by letter.

“See here. He Stopped. Like he was thinking. Like he didn’t know what came next.”

“Where? I don’t see it.”

“Right here.” He pressed his calloused finger to the middle of the first sentence. “Right there, as the d trails in the word hand there is a hesitation. The ink bleeds.”

“You’re right. As if he didn’t know what to say. That might explain why it is so cryptic.”

He brushed the note with the tips of his fingers mumbling something that, by his expression, seemed to be a circle of questions.

“What is it?”

“A man who takes so much pride in his writing, in his work, but no signature.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know yet.”

***

The elderly man stared out the lower deck window of the arriving New Jersey Transit train.

“I know that walk.”

The half asleep crowd paid no attention to the hunched over man with the long white beard.

“I know that walk!”

Not a single look glanced his way as he pressed his hands against the window trying to grasp the shoes walking past.

“I know that man!”

The train hissed to a quick stop, the doors slid open, and the determined herd hurriedly pressed toward the nearest escalator.

The old man waited for the crowd to pass, slowly pressed himself to his feet, and took slow, measured steps toward the grinding paddles of the moving stairs.

As his eyes passed the horizon of the Penn Station lobby floor he saw those same salt stained brown shoes that passed by his window.

He slowly lifted his head and as his eyes met those of the owner of the brown leather shoes his brow lifted.

Both men stood in silence. They were of similar age and height. The two old me slowed their breathing. Mist pouring from the other man’s clean shaven face while the warm breath rolled from under the old man’s white beard.

The other man strained to stand strait, wincing as he pulled his chest up. In a disbelieving raspy whisper the other man said, “I thought you were dead.”

The old man responded with deliberate words, “I’m surprised you didn’t kill me.”

There may be something to the ideas above… of course, there may not be anything at all. I guess I am going to have to give them some more thought and try to find any notes or outlines that may be scribbled somewhere else. After that, it will all come down to finding the motivation to pursue the stories, develop the characters, and let everything unfold before me without over thinking the process of progression. That has always been the hardest part for me.

The Family Masonic Bible

There have been countless times when I have been sitting at my desk in the lodge room looking up and down the sidelines wondering where my grandfather used to sit during meetings. It is a connection that I have with my grandfather despite never having the chance of getting to know him while growing up. Lodge is something that we have in common and I am always reminded of that when I see his ring on my finder and, now, when I look at the family Bible which I have been using recently for my genealogy research.

When I was raised just over three years ago, my mom pulled me aside and handed me my grandfather’s Masonic ring. She knew that I would appreciate and take care of it. She also knew that I was one of the few people in the family who would actually use it as there are not many masons in my family. The ring meant a lot to my grandfather, it means a lot to my mom, and it certainly means a lot to me. Now, just over three years later, my mom again pulled me aside and told me that she wanted to give me my grandfather’s Masonic Bible. The ironic thing is that my grandfather was presented his Bible just over three years after being raised and now I am being presented with that same bible just over three years since I was raised.

Not only was this the Bible presented to him by his lodge but it has also served as the family Bible with my grandparent’s marriage having been recorded in its pages and my grandmother having recorded many of the births and deaths throughout her life. Between the covers there are names across many generations from the death of my great great grandfather all the way through the birth of my niece... my name can be found in these pages too. All written in my grandmother’s hand.

I remember seeing my grandmother with the blue binding on her lap flipping through the book and pulling out the papers tucked between the pages. This became a more and more regular occurrence toward the end of her life. It was also one of the few things that my mom wanted to hold on to after my grandmother passed away. I know how much this Bible meant to my grandmother and I know how much it means to my mom. I am being entrusted with its safe keeping and it is not something I take lightly. After all, this is not just an item that resonates with me as a mason, it is a connection to my grandfather, my grandmother, and my mom.

Sunday Search: Digital Digging And Rediscovering

Toward the beginning of the year I was finally able to start sorting through many of the items that I tossed in my desk in an initial effort to get everything put away shortly after we moved into our new home. While there were countless pens that needed to be organized and old power cords and technology that needed to be tossed, there were also a number of digital storage devices that piqued my attention as I rescued them from the grips of the office clutter.

Once I consolidated everything into a couple of plastic sealable bags (one for SD cards and the other for flash drives), I shoved them into a pocket in my work bag with the plan of scanning the contents later in the week. A few days and then a week passed without even a single look. Then, having accidentally pulled one of the bags out by the corner while retrieving my laptop, I unsealed both bags and slid the first of about a dozen SD cards into my computer.

I was actually quite surprised when I found absolutely nothing. However, that was the only empty card as each of the others contained the photos from all of our summer trips from the past several years. Great items to hold on to for the current twigs of the family tree but nothing much more than that. Thankfully when I plugged in the first, and the oldest, flash drive into my computer, there were a multitude of documents that I hadn’t seen in at least a decade (not really a surprise given that I remember this 256kb card being the first I ever used). And as I loaded more and more into my computer, I was able to pull older photos, documents, and the entire digitized genealogy binder that my great aunt put together.

Not satisfied with these rediscoveries I tried to think of all the other means of digital storage that I have utilized over the years… this lead me to pulling out my wife’s old external hard drive as we both used this 1TB monster for many years and it primarily served as our joint computer backup in the past. Well, on this I found even more photos and documents that I had long since forgotten about including the random pieces that I had come across years ago… items that I still don’t know if they are relevant to our family tree.

The digging was almost done as there was still a group of pictures that I had yet to find. Well, actually, I had found them some time ago stored on Shutterfly but only in low resolution. I wanted the originals, I wanted to see the memories from our wedding and honeymoon the way that I remember them… as clear as the moment they happened. A few boxes and CDs later and these too where added to our story, our small leaves in our ever-growing tree. It’s nice to have most of the pieces together for at least one generation.

Sunday Search: Valentine’s Day Genealogy

Today I thought I would do something a little different but completely appropriate given the Hallmark cards that are being handed out. One of the interesting things I frequently find myself pondering when researching the various ancestors in my family tree is about how these two, sometimes completely different, people met? Most of the time this information can only be found in the stories passed down from generation to generation.

When looking through many of the documents that my great Aunt has shared with me over the years, I came across a single page on which she has typed up what is basically a summary of her father’s life. Many of the facts are easy to find in the census, birth certificate, marriage, and death records but there were also details not contained in those documents including a little about his work history as well as, and what is most appropriate given the subject of this post, what brought my great grandparents together. Here is exactly what my great aunt, whom I have written about before, wrote about her parents:

Harry was the son of LeRoy and Sally Clapsaddle Teaford. He was one of nine children. He was born in 1895 and died in 1963. His first employment was as a quarry worker in a local mill that his father managed. He became interested in farming and had a love for horses. In 1916 he met Nettie Love of Sugar Tree Hollow. Nettie and her sister were accomplished equestrians. Nettie won several awards at local fairs where she rode English (side saddle) style. Their mutual interest in horses brought Harry and Nettie together and they were married in 1917 at the Eagle Rock Baptist Church. Shortly after they moved to Lorraine, Ohio. They stayed in Ohio only a short time and moved back to the Eagle Rock area. Harry began working as a farmer and over the following years worked for several large farm owners. His favorite position was with the Graham Burhnman Farm in Gala. During their time in Virginia the family had twelve children. All twelve children were born in Virginia.  

However, more often than not, we don’t have these stories written down for us. Many times we have to try and find and fill in the details with the documents that we do have. Such is the case with my great grandparents on my mom’s side of the family. Basically, the census is what really reveals how they met and given the fact of with whom they were each living at the time, it really is a matter of what some would call fate. My great grandparents, William J. McKannan and Helen W. Fulton, can be found listed in the 1910 census living next door to one another. Both 19 at the time, Helen’s family was living in her grandmother’s house while William was living with his mother and sister at his uncle’s house… his father, my great great grandfather, was working for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Trenton, New Jersey at the time. Two years after the census was taken William and Helen were married. Unfortunately, as I have written about before, it was a marriage that wouldn’t last.  

Sometimes other forces intervene in order for fate to take hold ensuring that what was meant to be becomes reality. It is true in my family tree and it is true in how my wife and I met. There are countless factors that brought us to that Barnes & Noble in Bryn Mawr that particular night when I, having just published my book "Kaddish Diary”, was giving a reading and my wife was working the floor. It was that instant when we, coming from completely different backgrounds with vastly different experiences, met for the first time each of us taking the chance and getting to know one another. The same chance that my great grandparents took when they first saw one another.

Mortgage Monday: House Files

When we first made an offer on the house one of the contingencies that we put in the contract was to have all the files related to the property. Given the simple fact that the people from which we were buying the property are the ones that built it (the former owner was actually the contractor for the house) and I had seen him produce the paperwork during the inspection process, I knew that the files would be thorough and we would be able to really know all the details about the land and the structure.

While inclusion of this paperwork is usually assumed during a sale I didn’t want this seemingly small item overlooked so we included it anyway. Of course, now a couple of months have passed and while I know where everything is, I am still trying to properly organize everything into my filing cabinets… because I didn’t have enough files already. This seems to be an ongoing project and even with the headway that I have made during the sporadic bouts of organizing, there is obviously still a lot of work to do and the number of items that need to be filed just keeps getting bigger.

I guess the sheer number of files that I have is all about wanting to have as much information available to me as possible. There are a number of things that most people would consider trash or would simply digitize and destroy the physical copy. However, more often than not, I have utilized the amassed hoard of information that I have on hand to find different items or figure out dates on short notice. Additionally, I have gone through enough computers and digital storage devices to know that just because something is digitized doesn’t mean that it can’t be lost or destroyed. For me, having both available is the best option.

And that presents another issue. Well, in reality, it is simply a project that has to be completed. All of the files that we now have about the property need to be scanned and sorted for easy reference. We obviously have the physical papers on hand but, as stated above and what will be written about again in the near future, it is prudent to have both the physical and digital copies stored and easily retrievable. More so than some of the other documents I have crammed into my drawers, we really can’t afford to lose these. After all, it is not just a house as it was when we made an offer, this is our home.

Mortgage Monday: No More Shredding

 

Over the years, my wife and I have amassed hundreds of pounds of paper that we have taken the time to shred or have paid to have destroyed. It is part of how we set up our offices. In addition to the usual pieces that you find like a desk, chair, bookshelves, and a trash can we also set aside a shred both for those pieces of paper that contain sensitive information. No matter where we have lived, this has been the basic suit of items that could be found in our work spaces.

Things are a little different now as we are no longer setting aside documents to be fed through the shredder. In fact we don’t even own a shredder anymore. Now we have burn boxes that we fill and set aside in the closet to be torched at a later date. This is the first time that we have had this option as all the other places where we have lived don’t allow for burn pits or piles in the back yard. We are in a different place now and now we have a concrete lined, grate covered pit designated for this task. Should make for some warm, interesting, and productive fires.

This is just one of the many new experiences that we are enjoying in our home. We are also using well water and septic for the first times and we are having to post no hunting signs on the far end of the property. A different experience but also one that allows for greater freedom and a more relaxed way to spend our days. The burn pit is actually the only such new way of life that we have yet to experience and I am looking forward to it.

Not only does it ensure the information we wish to destroy is indeed destroyed but it is also interesting to see the work and words that we create be enveloped by the flames. Depending on the document, it might make the flames dance a different way or one kind of paper may burn hotter than some others. And what words will float up and hover with the smoke and ash just above eye level? Sometimes what we create we must also destroy… some words can be silenced with fire.

And as we burn the old files and past lease agreements, it is nice to know that we now have a home and land that we can enjoy now and in the future while we forget the details of those things and places not worth remembering from our past. All those lingering moments enveloped by the flames sustained on our land… our home… not just made into confetti that will never be used for celebration. Quite the different from the life we once lived.

Sunday Search: Familiar Faces

When my mom and I were looking through some of the family photos last weekend there were a number of times when we could easily see some other family members in the faces of the ancestors who have long since left us. And it was interesting as to when it would hit us as there was really no guarantee whether the person’s name or the current counterpart would be thought of first. At the same time, there wasn’t any certainty as to which one of us would make the connection either.

In some instances my mom would tell me who someone was in the photo and then follow up with something along the lines of “I didn’t realize how much your cousin looks like her.” There were other times when I would see either an aunt, uncle, or cousin in one of the people and as soon as my mom told me who they were it made complete sense. And, of course, there were various combinations of this throughout our time with the album on the table in front of us.

While it is certainly clear to those who know my family, I get much of my looks from my father’s side of the family. However, in looking through the photos with my mom I could see a little piece of myself in some of the pictures. I noticed a couple of little things like my hair line and posture but what really stood out to me, which I knew of before, was the handwriting that was on the backs of many of the photos. While my looks may be predominantly from my dad’s side, my handwriting is, without question, from my mom’s side.

Sometimes these ties are really what make looking through old photos in particular so interesting. On the surface you are putting faces to names but on a completely different level you are finding yourself and many of your other family members in little pieces of the past. It just goes to show that your family, your whole tree, plays a big role in who you are regardless of what you might think. This, of course, is in addition to the obvious genetic traits that we carry. Sometimes it is in the simple things like looks but sometimes it can be in other ways like handwriting, the way you hold yourself, and your demeanor.

For better or worse, I kind of have a mix of all those things. There are little pieces from both sides that I carry with me every day. And I am certain that there are many other similarities that I have yet to discover with some of my ancestors. So you can look at genealogy as pulling together the family history or you can look at it as finding pieces of yourself. For me, it is definitely a little of both.

Sunday Search: Pulling Together My Own Story

Whenever the topic of family history enters the discussion we are always talking about the past… when we came over, who fought in what war, interesting occupations, etc. Anyone interested in genealogy is familiar with the cadence of these conversations and knows that it doesn’t take long before a common thread is discovered between two families… although sometimes it is also interesting to discuss the differences. We, as family historians, are always digging into the past to try and find those additional details that have previously eluded us or find new information seemingly lost to the family for generations.

That seems to be the pattern and the routine with which we are intimately familiar. However, while this may be the bulk of our research, there are other areas of family history that are too often overlooked. The first is something that I have written about before which is to talk to those relatives who are still with us and learn what you can about what they know about the family as well as learning about their own life. We spend all this time trying to fill in gaps and too often the generations that are still with us are overlooked and, when they are gone, we will be back at the beginning trying to put the pieces together.

This covers the vast majority of the family history but there are still pieces that are usually left in the box. Our own lives, while not as interesting to us as the lives we have spent so many hours dissecting, are also an important part of the family tree. Since we are cognizant of the process and the details that are so important to the complete pictures of generations, we are in a position to ensure that our generation is represented. For me, part of my story is in the pages of this blog but that is only a recent snapshot with occasional glimpses into my own past.

We have a duty to our own family and to future generations to ensure that all the stories are told, across the generations, including our own. It may seem self-centered or even egotistical and pretentious to some but this is not something that we do to brag about this or that, it is a means to keep a complete history of the family. So, the next time you sit down to explore a few more data bases, take a few minutes and write down a couple of facts about your own life and, when you get a chance, write down questions that you can send to your siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, etc. Before you know it, you will have a pretty long list to include in the annals of your own research.

Sunday Search: Moving Our Archives

As we are slowly getting settled into our new house, all the boxes that I spent packing long into the night are starting to get cut open and the contents roughly organized. Not only are we having to put clothes away, line the books neatly on the shelves, organize the boxes of toys, and get the kitchen put together, we are also having to get all of our binder and boxes of photos and figuring out a system for storing as well as a place to put all of them. Of course, now that we have a home and we are not anticipating any further moves, we are taking things a bit slower this time around and really figuring out a system that works for each of us.

Thankfully, we have enough room in our house that we each have an office to go along with an abundance of storage options. However, with options and wanting to take things slowly this time around, we are falling a bit behind in getting things to a place where we can readily pull out images or information. And with things previously so scattered it was a bit overwhelming when we realized just how much we have… we knew we had a lot but we didn’t fully grasp the sheer volume of research and images that we have collected over the past several years.

With a few more storage options, and more boxes, my wife has figured out her own system. While I have a few less places where I can hide the disarray, I have figured out a way to get organized and have started putting thing in an order that will allow me to pull out information I want fairly easily. Of course, this is only half of it as much of my information is still in a digital format. While there are certain advantages to this I still prefer to have hard copies and many times find it easier to pull up information rather than rummaging through files on my computer.

While there have been many attempts in the past to get all the family information and history organized, we are finally in a place when we can get it done and not worry about what would happen if we had to pack it all up and move it into a completely different space. So, for now, we are going to take a quick break from researching and focusing on the archiving of our legacies. In the end, this can be just as important as finding that next new piece of information.

Sunday Search: A Sea Of Irishmen

While research on my dad’s side of the family has been a project shared by many family members (both close and distant relatives) over the year, my mom’s side of the family has always been a more difficult endeavor. Where I have been able to build upon the foundation built by others on my dad’s side, the land had yet to be graded on my mom’s side until a few years ago when a few of us decided to break ground. It has been a bit of a slog at times but there is a lot of information now contained in our tree, a lot of family stories that have been confirmed, and a lot of documents that have been consolidated.

However, when following the paternal line on my mom’s side, there is quite the thick fog when delving into the 19^th century. While I have been able to have a relatively complete record of my great great grandfather’s life, his father remains a mystery. Unfortunately, trying to find a specific William McKenna among the waves of Irishmen during the Potato Famine is a task that is difficult to say the least. And while the name isn’t as common in Pennsylvania in the second half of the 19^th century as one would think it is still nearly impossible to verify the scarce documents that I do come across.

The other consideration is the simple fact that with limited job opportunities and significant backlash against the influx of Irish immigrants during that time, there are countless countrymen that remain without official records (an informational famine)… even the census has its limitations. In fact, much of the information I have been able to find about this particular generation comes from his children and what they later reported to the census taker and wrote on various documents. In the end, we have what we are left with is a name, approximate year of birth (1840), country of origin, and approximate immigration between 1845 and 1865 (port unknown).

That leaves a rather large pool of potential candidates when trying to sift through immigration, census, limited death records, and family trees. I have a mountain of names and documents that all seem to fit in one way or another but, when I try to put the pieces together, the shape is all wrong. While this is by no means an impossible endeavor, it is one that will take a considerable amount of time, more information, and a few lucky breaks in order for us to find this generation during my lifetime. And, unfortunately, I know I am not the only one who faces this challenge.

Six Months Later… Taxes

We were a little busy earlier in the year and while it has been a long time coming and many hours sitting at my desk, our taxes are finally done! It should be no surprise that after having printed out all our statements and highlighting our expenses I ended up with a packed well over a hundred pages thick. Not the biggest and not the smallest pile that we have handed off to our accountant. Of course, unlike last year, I did pull aside most of the 2015 documents needed for April… maybe next year we can simply file our taxes rather than an extension.

However, while I am hopeful for a small refund (even with this administration), it is little relief considering the bill that we will have to pay for having our taxes prepared. It is a flat rate but a rather steep one and it will take a pretty hefty sum to balance out that particular expenditure. By the time all is said and done, like every other year, I really have to take a closer look at the proposals for a simplified tax code rather than the hieroglyphics currently in use.

I believe this is a great time to start reaching out to the brethren and finding someone with whom I can trust our financial information. The place that we currently use definitely served its purpose for a while but the friend of the family that once handled our returns has long since retired and we have been passed around annually since then. They are strictly a service firm at this point rather than a place where there is a personal connection… time to move on.

It really is amazing when you think back on how long it takes to pull everything together especially when it is done in one shot rather than slowly over the course of the year. Well, it is a long process for me as I prefer to itemize all of our expenses especially the outrageous amount of medical expenses for which we are now responsible… thanks Obamacare! We could just file a simple return but why simply surrender part the money we earned over the past year? After all, the government didn’t temp for me during the year to take the day off so why should I pay them more?

In the end, the most important thing for us, especially now, is that this can now be marked as complete and we can devote our focus on many more important things in our life… especially the little stinky one. It is just annoying when tasks such as this occupy so much of my time, time that can be better spent elsewhere. Hopefully this is something I can avoid next year now that I have all the supporting documents up to date and an office is some kind of order even though it may not fit the definition of being organized.   

Sunday Search: Unintentional Intentional Errors

Every once in a while I will receive a message through my Ancestry.com account regarding some of the information in my family tree. Sometimes it is about documents, photos, or certain details that I have discovered elsewhere and uploaded to the website which I am happy to share and discuss with anyone who contacts me… you never know how you might be related. However, most of the time, the questions and corrections are regarding the very tips of the limbs that I have yet to fully research. In these instances I reply letting them know that the research has yet to be done and the information is stemming from scant documents that have been uncovered. This is usually followed by an invitation to share any information they might have on that individual or, as has been the case a few times, the correct name that should inscribed on that leaf.

This all comes down to how each of us use Ancestry as a genealogical research tool. While many people refuse to enter information in to their tree until they have verified the content, I prefer to use the website to both record known facts and figures but also theorize as to those names that may consist of the next generation. Sometimes it can be stemming from information culled from documents and other times it is a much more general estimation given the age of children, where subsequent generations lived, and sometimes the information that has been passed down in the family.

Even the most basic of estimations have sometimes led to the information that I have been looking for. Many times I have entered the surname and approximate year of birth to find only a handful of possible people who could fit into my tree. After looking at all the records available, I was able to not only find the right name but verify that, yes, they are my ancestor. All it takes is that small detail and a little bit of deduction in order to begin chipping away at that wall. This is the process that has worked for me and has kept me somewhat organized in my research thought process over the years.

Of course, with this being my process it leaves a number of assumptions wilting under the sun on the end of the branch until I am able to make the time to prune them but I know that the information is there and I don’t have to worry about retracing some of my steps over and over again when I find the rare moments to search for that next generation. Again, while not a process for everyone, it is the one that has worked best for me so far. Now if I could only be so organized with all the photos, documents, and notes cluttering my office.

Pulling Papers Together

 

When my wife and I decided to resume our house hunt this summer I knew that, at some point, I was going to have to spend a fairly significant amount of time in my office pulling all the documents together needed to apply for a mortgage. While the prequalification process was relatively painless and pretty straightforward the subsequent list of items needed seemed a little daunting when I first read through them in my email. There was nothing out of the ordinary and it could have been really quick had I been up to date with all my filing and organization but that certainly was not the case.

Following my conversation with the bank to get prequalified, I received the following list of items needed for underwriting:

1.)    Copies of drivers licenses and copy of a credit card (for ID purposes)

2.)    Copies of W2s from 2013 and 2014

3.)    Copies of full federal tax returns (form 1040) from 2013 and 2014

4.)    Copies of pay stubs from the most recent 30 days – (last 2 pay stubs if you are paid bi-weekly)

5.)    Copies of bank/investment account statement covering the most recent 2 months (most recent quarter for quarterly statement) – please include every page of the statement even if it is blank

6.)    Copy of fully executed agreement of sale (when available)

7.)    Copy of will and death decree to document inheritance

Again, not a problem if everything were neatly filed away and labeled. It took some time and a lot of patience but I was finally able to get everything ready to go. It was a time consuming process and one that could have probably been put off for a while but I wanted to be able to get things moving rather quickly as soon as we found our home.  

Of course, while pulling all of these items together I could help but think to myself that I should probably just put aside all the items I need to finally file our taxes this fall. There is a heck of a lot of overlap in the two lists and this mortgage process would be the perfect impetus for starting that tax file. And I do mean start as our taxes are an annual pain in the rear consisting of hundreds of pages of supporting documentation for the purpose of itemizing all our deductions. The mortgage underwriting documents are done but the tax documents still have a long way to go. Thankfully, I have a really comfortable office chair and my files are now in better change then they have been in months. I just hope I don’t have to break out the check book again!

Sunday Search: Keeping In Touch

It's never too early to start coloring in the family tree!

After the reunion in July, I was determined to improve my communication with family members both nearby and far away. After all, there is only so much that I can do with regard to genealogy and it is always best to be in communication with numerous family members trying to fill in the different pieces rather than all of use trying to find all of the answers on our own. Additionally, we all have access to different documents, photos, and stories that we should be sharing with one another. That might have been the biggest takeaway from the weekend, there is so much that we all possess and it would be nice for us all to have access to those pieces of the picture and leaves of the tree.

While in the past this would have been a more exaggerated process full of letters and a lot of postage. That isn’t the reality in which we live today. While there are some that still require the letters, phone calls, and face to face meetings, most can be accomplished through email and social media (I will write about genealogy specific online tools in a future post). Thankfully, there has already been a group formed on Facebook to help facilitate those communications and I have been able to connect with those who were in attendance as well as those who were unable to make it over the past couple of months.

Sometimes it is also these simple things that get other family members interest in family history. I have been able to connect with many family members, some of whom to which I have not previously spoken, based on the simple fact that they want to learn more about the family. In other instances, different stories have been shared… some I have heard before while others are completely new to me. I doubt that the correspondences would have come as easily through any other means other than Facebook or email.

Of course, there are a lot more stories that have yet to be told and information that hasn’t as of yet been shared but the lines of communication are open and I am looking forward to collecting and sharing these new tidbits with the rest of the family. Additionally, there is an open invitation to family members (and other with stories they would like to share) to write a post to be included on this blog (the author will receive full credit). So, the reunion turned out to last much longer than the two days in Virginia, and I expect it to continue until we are able to get together again five years from now… we should have a much more colorful and complete tree by then.

Sunday Search: Missing Documents

 

Over the past few months there have been moments when I have made surprising progress researching my family trees and there have also been instances when I have hit some pretty significant walls. No matter how hard I have tried to hit the brick or how heavy the hammer, the structure remains solid. While there is still some small glint of hope that these records will turn up, it is not an endeavor that will likely produce significant results anytime soon… I guess I will have to get the chisel out and try to find the answers that way.

After all, that is how I found the few details that we know about John Uttley’s service in the Philadelphia Police Department. After dozens of calls and many hours leveraging various resources I was able to find out that while the full personnel files have long since been destroyed, there are pieces (i.e. rank, badge number, date of swearing in, rank, accounts in the newspaper) scattered across multiple sources. It isn’t much but it is a heck of a lot more than we have had in the past. Other endeavors haven’t even produced this level of information.

My great grandparents (William Edgar Yeagle and Bessie Wirth Uttley) divorce is something that is still interpreted different ways depending on with whom you speak. His first family, which is my line, sees the dissolution of marriage in one way namely that it was his drinking and abuse that caused the divorce. However, his second family, according to his granddaughter with whom I briefly spoke a couple of years ago, sees things a little differently in that it was my great grandmother that caused the issues in the marriage. When I called the court records office in Philadelphia City Hall (where they got divorced), there was little information that they could share as the records have long since faded and the only information on hand was that of the actual decree (without mention of cause). But at least that record can be produced unlike some others.

The marriage certificate of Paulus Redcross and Frances Beverly continues to be one record that we are continuing to search for through various offices, depositories, and whatever other means out there. It is something that we know exists as it is recorded in the Amherst County, Virginia ledger but the actual document seems to have disappeared. Not faded or destroyed (as far as we know) it is just gone. No one has been able to provide any definitive explanation although there are plenty of theories out there which is a completely separate topic altogether.

All of these documents have the potential to provide my family with a wealth of information (and answers) beyond what the existing documents ever could but there is significant doubt as to whether we will ever be able to read them. While we will continue seeking answers to other questions and look to fill in the family tree, these are things that we will always be looking for even if the possibility of finding them is slim. While these situations may be a deterrent for some, it only serves to motivate me to find and write the story without them (or at least try).  

Sunday Search: Rediscovering What Was Already Discovered

The early days... it was easy to keep organize with few files. 

My wife and I decided to dedicate this weekend to cleaning and our son finally let us get the much needed work done around the house. With the washing machine humming, sloshing, and twirling in the background, we went from room to room cleaning, organizing, sorting, and packing. It took the entire weekend to get most of the house done and by the time my wife went to bed on Sunday night the only two rooms remaining were our offices. This is a wholly different task altogether as we both have more paperwork than storage space and more books than shelves. It is going to be interesting but hugely satisfying when it is done.

With my wife and son asleep, I ventured down into the basement and began sifting through the rows upon rows of shelves. I went down there with the goal of filling one box of books that had little value to me at this moment. As someone who enjoys information and having resources readily available, this is not a very easy process… many of the books that I have collected over the years are those that contain information that has yet to be digitized. Contrary to what some people say, not everything can be found on the internet. After about 30 minutes, I actually was able to fill a box and clear a shelf for the binders of new research that was going to be added. It came down to a small sampling of books that I know I can find again when I have the space.

Once this part was done, I began flipping through the binders on the shelves and files stored in boxes. It really is amazing what you can find when you it down and sift through the boxes in your office… this is especially true when it comes to genealogy. While slowly flipping through the pages and pages of notes and photocopies, I rediscovered small details that I had written on a pieces of paper while pouring through volumes and volumes of material. They are the small details (like the fact that my great grandparents were brought together by their love of horses) that I had forgotten almost as quickly as I was able to record them.

It is the dilemma of disorganization. While many of the documents and facts have been sorted and organized for later, many of these details seem to get lost in the pages. At the same time, rediscovering these details was just as interesting as when I first read them. It was nice to feel that same way about finding ‘new’ information and it makes me wonder what other documents I have buried (most likely from a scanning / photocopying marathon). With the rest of the house in order, I am glad that I am now in a position to take on this task… at least until the files get moved again.

Sunday Search: Putting The Pieces Together

Picture taken during my visit to Leverington Cemetery in 2003. 

In recent months I have made a little bit of progress on the family tree tracing back a number of lines a couple of generations and finding out a few additional details of some of my ancestors. One line that I keep coming back to lately is that of my great great grandfather, John Uttley. While I never knew much about this line growing up (and I still kick myself for not talking to my grandmother about genealogy when she was alive), there has been a lot of progress made in finding out some of the details.

Last year, through online research, reading through a variety of books, sorting through brief mentions in the local newspaper, and calling various city offices, I was able to piece together a few facts about John Uttley and his career in the Philadelphia Police Department. It wasn’t much but I was able to find out that he was appointed to the police force by Mayor Stokley on May 6, 1876 and assigned badge #596. After over five decades on duty, he retired from the force in 1931 having reached the rank of Sergeant. Because the official records for the police department have long since been destroyed, this is all of the information that I could find on the career of the man who helped raise my grandmother.

The same record that provided me with his retirement year, his death certificate, also listed some very important information… the names of his parents. While I am still search for additional information on the Uttley line, his mother’s tree proved to be more fruitful. John Uttely obviously got his longevity from his mother, Charlotte Noblitt (also found at Noblit, Noblett, and Noblet), as they both died as nonagenarians. In fact, according to her obituary, she was believed to be the oldest living resident in Manayunk at the time of her death at age 93 in 1903.

While death certificates in 1903 don’t provide the same valuable information as later official forms, her obituary did offer some additional leaves as her father, Thomas Noblitt, was mentioned as having served in the War of 1812. This is always great information to find so, with those new details I started looking for his pension application. Days of searching and nothing was found. Could it be that the information in the obituary was wrong?

This happens more often than people realize, when obituaries are written, especially those authored by non-family members, there are assumptions made. Maybe Thomas was older than the reporter realized. Maybe it he wasn’t in the War of 1812. Once I made this adjustment to my search criteria, I found the answers I was looking for. The pension application and supporting documents from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania confirmed his service in the Revolutionary War. Charlotte was actually conceived later in life long after Thomas Noblitt’s military service… longevity it obviously part of the Noblitt legacy.

Recently, I also made an interesting discovery to expand the branches out further in this line. While attempting to learn more about this line I came across a book, Genealogical Collections Relating to the Families of Noblet, published in 1906 by John Hyndman Noblit. The surname was close enough that I had to take a look inside these digital pages and found that this was our family. Not only does the book contain the basic information that you would find in any family tree but it also has reproductions of the actual documents from the countries where the name was once prevalent. While it doesn’t have everything, it has given me a lot more information to sort through, digest, and add to this part of my family history. And, just think, this all started with a desire to learn more about a single leaf.

Sunday Search: New/Old Records On Ancestry

Birth Certificate of my great grandfather Harry Gilmore Teaford

While I would like to be on the site more often, I am only occasionally able to check Ancestry.com for updates to the various databases that are available online. Recently, I have had less time than usual to browse the site but was able to do so today. There are always new data sources and updates made but, especially lately, few have caught my attention like the ones I found today.

This past week, birth, marriage, and death records from Virginia were posted. While the date range is limited and they are by no means comprehensive collections, I was still able to find some new records as well as digital copies of records that I haven’t had the chance to upload. While the latter may not be new information, given the current disarray of my office, this was a welcomed discovery.

Death certificate of my great great grandfather Roy Harrison Teaford.

Death Certificate of my great great grandmother Sallie Clapsaddle. 

With these databases now available, I was able to explore a little more and find a few of the missing documents that I had been wanting to find including my great grandfathers birth certificate (albeit a registration from 1958), my great great grandfathers death certificate (I had found this information listed but was unable until now to find the actual record), the death certificate for my three times great grandfather, and the elusive Love and Redcross death certificates which I got copies of last summer but are sitting in a box next to my desk. It is interesting to go through these documents and confirm the parents (especially the mother’s surname)… I really didn’t expect to see Nicholas’ mother listed as a Terry. However, what was particularly striking was the fact that Laura and Nicholas Love’s death certificates were only a number apart from one another with them passing away only days apart from influenza (with some other contributing factors). It was just sad to see Nicholas listed as a widower when you know that Laura died only a few days prior.

Death certificate from March 9, 1939 of my great great grandmother Laura Redcross. 

Death certificate from March 16, 1939 of my great great grandfather Nicholas Love. 

Just like when the Pennsylvania records became available, I keep searching my family tree to find those that fit into the time frame. There are a few that I have been unable to find as the rural records are a little slower when it comes to digitization and there are also the ancestors who died just before the time frame of data available. Those are usually the ones that the parents’ names need to be confirmed. Also an interesting means of confirmation with these documents is that it tells you not only where they have been buried but also who the informant was at the time of death or who witnessed the birth as in the case of my great grandfather.

Death certificate of my 3x great grandfather George W. Clapsaddle.

Such is the ebb and flow of ancestry when the new sources are added followed by an extended wait and then more databases are added that are pertinent to your family research. In between is the time for digging, organizing, and finding all the more obscure sources and documents which are usually still exclusively in the physical (not digital) world. It is this back and forth multi-source process that continue to provide the results. Of course, Ancestry DNA should provide for some interesting insights as well but that is for a future post (when I get the results).