Thinking of Ancestors

Visit Lives of persons and families in"Little Washington"_Washington County PA Genealogy at  http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~florian/

Visit Washington County PA Genealogy and Family History_"Little Washington" at  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~florian/index.htm

Visit Washington County Genealogy_PAGenWeb Project Home Page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~pawashin/

 

These have been my main 3 projects since October 2005 and all 3 webs continue to grow!  All have unique records for Washington County Pennsylvania.  ALL are welcome to send submissions to me.

Hope to hear from you soon,

 

GCHLace

gchlace at 3:56:15 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Hey, back again - finally!  Did anyone miss me??

 

Well that's ok. 

 

I have been SOOO busy!!  August 15th I started making my very first website!!  I spent many hours a day teaching myself html so I can hand-code (well, I'm still learning!).  Around October I started uploading the 1st & 2nd websites for Washington County, Pennsylvania genealogy, history and family information.  Yes, 2 sites.

 

The first "Little Washington" Washington County PA and is located in freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~florian/index.htm   (no "www" in the address).  

 I'm posting a lot of newspaper articles, obits etc etc here.

 

The second is Life in Washington County Pennsylvania located at

freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~florian/index.htm   

It is about "life in" the county, for numerous families.  It has towns info and some Brethren history. 

Combined there are around 266 pages.

 

Then in December I was asked to take the Washington County PAGenWeb site.  It also has between 250-260 pages.  By January I was downloading ALL that.... and through January I edited and made changes.  It was re-uploaded a couple days ago.

 

And now... I'm taking a breather!   LOLOL

 

Stop by, send a comment... send an email... let me know you all are still out there....

 

Hope you've been researching hard !

gchlace at 2:02:22 AM EST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

           In genealogy, we often come across names with letters after someone's name.  These are acronyms or abbreviations, letters which stand for words.  But, how can we find out what they mean?  Most people recognize "R.N" (Registered Nurse) or M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) or DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery).  But what about other, less-well-known abbreviations?  Luckily, there is a website that can help.  It is located at:  http://www.acronymfinder.com/   There is also the http://www.acronymattic.com/ with 2 million entries.

 

         For military words and ranks, there is also a "finder" at http://www.militarywords.com/   

        Often the same sets of letters have different meanings, so check through the list to see what is the correct entry for your individual search.

 

        State abbreviations and capitals are here:

http://www.acronymfinder.com/stateabbreviations.asp

 

         I know you will find these sites as helpful as I have.  Enjoy!

 

gchlace at 12:50:58 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

       Everyone has thought from time to time about changing their name.  In my teenage years, I even tried a new first and last name.  Sometimes kids just want to change their first name (especially if their own is rather unusual). 

       During certain periods in history, such as after Wars, it was not unusual for men (especially men) to drop their name and take an alias.  Usually this was to avoid being found by a wife!  Often these men left behind not only a wife, but children too!  And before divorce laws were enacted, many never divorced before going on to create a new family.

       Supposedly it is harder now to drop out of sight and adopt an alias.  I've heard though that **as long as you are not trying to hide**, you can use any name you want! (Oh my!)  However, many people are inadvertently "changing" their name and "joining" another family!!!!  HOW??  And, not only that, but people are altering their ancestor's name also!!!!! HOW???

       Ellie Sanford has become Ellie SAMFORD.   Someone's grandmother Nancy Ann Lohr has become Nancy Ann LORH.  Another person's ancestors, PRIZE has become PRIZ. 

         HOW?  All those pesky typos.  For the experienced eye, a typo is recognized as such.  But, for beginners, it may be easy to mistaken a typo for a real name!  And, any person who does not know YOUR family, they may think the TYPO is CORRECT!!!!  A message board Administrator may see that you posted your SAMFORD post to the wrong board and the post needs moved.  The post will get moved to the SAMFORD board.  Right??  Well, what if your name is really SaNford??  One typo might put you with a whole other family!

        Don't erroneously "join" a new family or "change" your name.  Before hitting submit or send on any Message Board or List, re-read your entire post and LOOK for errors.  If you've already sent it, click REPLY TO and post the correct info (REPLY TO will attach the new post to the old post).

Happy Hunting!!

gchlace at 3:38:11 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Maybe you have some other queries/replies to add?

(names and locations made up) Please consider these queries as being "all that was written/asked"....

 

Query: William Duchae Brown of High Brow, London married in 1604 to Lady Catherine Parks.

Reply: My dad was William David Parks, he lived in Illinois and was a grocery clerk.  We're related!

==

Query: Looking for my dad.  Do you know him?  Do you know where he is?

Reply: What is your dad's NAME? 
===

Query:  Were there (fill in a common surname) ever in Pennsylvania?

Reply:  Probably!  When?  Got anyone in particular in mind?

===

Query: Looking for Matthew Bolder.

Reply:  I'm Matthew Bolder.  Will I do?

====

Query:  I have 985,984 people in my huge database on (fill in surname).  I'd like to find more "cousins."

Reply:  Does that mean I'm your cousin too?

===

Query: I'm researching the (fill in surname or specific family) of 1856.

Reply: That's MY family.  I don't appreciate you looking at MY family.  Who do you think you are!

====

Query: I just started my search!  I know my mom's name, my dad's,  my grandparents and my dog, Sparky.

Reply: Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to finally connect!  I'd almost given up!  I'm related to you through Sparky's 4th great grandmother.  You do know Sparky's mother was...a little on the wild side, so I've been told.

====

Query:  Is anyone related to me? 

Reply:  I don't think so.

====

Have you seen a funny query posted somewhere?

 

gchlace at 8:13:18 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

            OK.  I did it.  I finally started a Blog of "memories" for my nieces and nephews (or, is it for me?). 

            Many people in my family were deceased before my generation even had children.  My parents were dead by 1973.  My grandfather had died in 1954; grandmother was still alive till the late 1990s, but was ...distant emotionally.  On the other side, my other grandfather died in 1984; his wife was the only "grandparent" our kids ever knew (but she was their great-grandma in fact).  Of my aunts & uncles, 3 were deceased before most of our kids were out of grade school.  Those on the other side of the family were rarely seen. 

           So, our kids never knew "family."  I (and my sisters) are the only Aunts they've ever known (we had no brothers).  It feels strange to be a "memory saver."  I don't want to say "memory keeper" because I don't want to keep them, I want to share the memories!  I hope my efforts make the generation below me become the "memory savers" so they can share what they've learned with their own kids.

            How about becoming a memory-saver and memory-sharer for your family?  Anyone can do it.  It only takes a few minutes a day.  Don't be a "memory-keeper"!  Share!  Tell the stories of your heart.  Tell the stories that make you cry, and make you smile.  Tell your family something only you might know.  Tell the stories of your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives.   Become a memory-sharer.

gchlace at 8:02:12 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

           THERE are two things I'd recommend to folks doing genealogy.  One is for off-computer, and the second is when you are on the computer. 

            The word "scanning" is quickly losing a long-held definition; most people think of a scanner!  But "scanning" documents (book pages) is useful when you are doing a busy research trip to a library or courthouse.  Scanning uses your eyes to pick out particular words or names, or even phrases.  None of us have the time to sit and read every word on a page (well, unless you want to read the book, chapter or page).  I can spend 5-10 minutes using my eyes to "scan" down many pages and still have time to look at other sources.

            If you have trouble scanning with your eyes, use a flat-edge (a ruler, a piece of paper, etc.); lay the flat-edge under each line of print or handwritten words.  Move the flat-edge down the page line by line.  Use your eyes to move across the line from left to right.  Try to scan, move the flat edge down, and scan the next line, as fast as you can.  Practice building up speed WITH accuracy!  It won't help to fast-scan if you end up missing what you are looking for. 

       Scanning with your eyes can also be done on computer pages, but it may be harder because one web page can equal 20 or more regular printed pages.  So on computers use the FIND function.  Go ahead, try it now, on this page (I think AOL will allow it), or use it on another web page.  Press & hold your Ctrl Key (on the keyboard), and click the letter 'f' key once.  A box opens "Find in Top Window."  Type in what word you want to look for and click "Find." 

       You will be surprised at how much time you can save!  Even on search engines (like the census), you might get a list of John Lane, John P. Lane, John K. Lane, John M. Lane.  If you only want the John P. Lanes, search for John P.   If you are looking for a certain date or year, search on that.  A list of 50 "results" may end up being 2 that you really want.  And the Find feature helps eye-strain!

        Try scanning with youreyes or using Find during your next research efforts.  If you have trouble with it, practice using it.  Don't worry, you can always go back and read the entire page if you need to!

~ Lace

gchlace at 8:49:47 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

By the way, I've been sick so haven't posted much here.  Am I forgiven?  LOL

gchlace at 8:03:54 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

          Researching the living is challenging.  Records are often off-limits (such as the Census).  If you hope to publish a genealogy that includes the living, what can you do?  In 1993-1994, I undertook to contact as many family groups as possible.  My grandma had contact with her generation of cousins and their addresses.  So we decided to write to those "heads" of family groups, asking for their info as well as asking for them to give us more addresses for their adult children, etc. 

       We first decided what info we wanted and needed to include in paragraph form for our history book.  The paragraph form was used in a 1930s book done on the Garber branch of our family and I really liked it.  The entries could be short or long, depending on what info we had.  Once we knew what we wanted, I made up a "form" that was about 3 & 1/2 pages (one side only).  Here is some of what was on those forms.  I titled my form "Personal Detail Sheet."

**Here write out some simple directions for the person filling out the form. 

FULL Name:

Nickname(s):

Parents names (FULL name and maiden name of your mother):

Your grandparents' FULL names:  **leave 4 lines for both sets of grandparents

YOUR birthdate:

Where were you born? (home? name of hospital?)

City/State where you were born:

Who delivered you? (Doctor)

Elementary School:  *ask for name, city and state on all the schools

High School:

Technical School/Business School:

College/university:

What degree did you earn?

Any Honors, Awards, etc. during your education:  *leave enough room here

If you left school early, would you share with me what happened/why you left?  *surprising answers on this sometimes

* use some open-ended questions like - Is there anything about your education (K-college) that was especially important to you that I did not ask about?

If married, Spouse's FULL name:

Your SPOUSE's BIRTH date:

If spouse has died, date?  Where are they buried?

Date you married?

Where you married? (include place, city & state)

Who officiated?

FULL names of your children, and their birth dates:  * leave at least 6 lines and say "use back if you need more room"

If any child has died, please give name and date of death.

You were Baptized where and When?

Church attended as a child?

                     --as an adult?

Is there anything you want me to know about your church membership (awards, honors? volunteer work?)

Where do you work?   Job Title?  What years have you been there?  **leave a LOT of room for answers; people average 3-5 jobs sometimes

Any honors or anything you want me to know about your job?

Volunteer Work (community):

Is there anything I have not asked so far?

What are your hobbies?  passions?

Memberships (clubs, organizations, etc.  examples: 4-H; Lions Club; VFW; etc)

What memory would you like to share about your parents, grandparents, family member?

What is the best memory of your life so far?

Who influenced you the most?

Who do you admire?

Please use additional pages for anything else you want to tell me.

If you are filling out this form for a deceased family member, include date they died, where buried, and anything I should know.  Please include cause of death if you know it.

 

            I might have forgotten something here, so I will look for my old form later today and add to this list if I left anything out.  Check back.

            The replies I received were amazing!  The detail was great.  I think my title that included the word "detail" and the way I asked the questions, helped push for the person to be specific and to add to my questions. 

             The kind of paragraph you can write using the detail sheet would look like this (this one is made up so ignore if dates seem off etc):

Mary Margaret Heller Black: Daughter of James Francis Heller and Mary Ann Grimm Heller, Mary Margaret "Patsy" was born July 1, 1943 in Washington Hospital, Washington, PA.  She was delivered by Dr. Joseph Michaels.  Mary attended the old Wylie Ave. Grade School and Washington High School, graduating in 1961.   A Ladies club offered her a scholarship to Penn Commercial Business School where Mary took secretarial courses that enabled her to apply for a job with Jobes & Harley, Attorneys.  Mary has worked for the partners since her graduation in 1964.  On July 14 (her mother's birthday), 1962, Mary Margaret married Joseph Allen Black in a double-ring ceremony at Immaculate Conception Church, officiated by Father J. B. Ikes.  The couple has five children: Abby Marie, James Francis Jr., Tabitha Louise, Joseph Steven, and Jonathan Michael.  Mary Margaret has been a member of I.C. Roman Catholic Church her entire life, being baptized there as a baby on July 20, 1943.  She is a member of the I.C. Ladies Auxillary, and is Secretary at the VFW # 510, Washington.  In addition, she is a member of the Washington Gardening Guild, the Hobbyists of America Club and has held several offices with the Supporters of Tourism Partnership.  Mary enjoys long walks, reading mysteries, and knitting.  The couple enjoys life on their 20 acre farm in South Strabane Township where they raised their children.

           

            That is an example of how all those pieces of information can be put together into a coherent personal paragraph. 

 

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Writers have 2 friends they consult frequently: the dictionary and the thesaurus.  (That word has always been a difficult one for me to spell, so I imagine a yet-to-be discovered dino-saur whose full name is The---Saur---Us.  Or I think of an exclamation about T-Rex:  "T !  He Saur Us!")    The thesaurus contains great lists of synonyms, offering alternative words with like-meanings.

Last night I was re-reading the part of my genealogy book that covers a church history.  I was editing the section for sentence structure and repetitive words.   Since the topic is genealogy, it was no surprise that the words "family" and "families" were found in many sentences.  "These families migrated from..."   "When searching for families of this church...."   "These families often inter-married throughout many generations."   So I visited the trusty "The--Saur-Us" online <http://thesaurus.reference.com/> for alternative words. 

There are words that easily substitute for "family" if writing about one's own kin.   Instead of "My family...,"  I could use any of these words: (my) ancestors, ancestry (includes), descendants, descent, folk/folks, forebearers, genealogy, kin, kind, kindred, line, lineage, pedigree, progenitors, relations, relatives, siblings, or even my tribe if used selectively in my writing.  And if I wanted a more precise word and was talking about my own family, I could describe parts of my family:  (my) parents, parental (as a descriptor, ex. my parental home), children, siblings, etc,   But, the choices become very limited when wanting a word that means "family," but family that is not your own.

Since the church history in my book covers many unrelated families, and groups of families, I could insert a surname and use phrases like: ..members of the Lane brood...; the Waller clan... the Shidler descendants... the Camp relations....; the Wise kin-folk... or something generic like, ....members of these households.....   And if I didn't mind using outdated or odd phrases, I could use words like blood, clan, strain, or tribe. 

It seems there are few words that substitute for "family," and fewer single words to use in place of "families," especially groups of unrelated persons.  Oooo, another phrase I could use at least once, although it could sound strange: "These groups of partly-related (or unrelated)persons traveled together..."  Naa, that doesn't really fit or read well. 

No, the word that fits best the majority of times is, simply, families.  Families in the singular sense (household groups that are related), or families plural (groups of families that have some common relationship; or groups of families with no blood relationship, like within churches). 

It seems fitting that there are few words that can precisely be substituted for family and families.  There is a reverence in referring to one's own family, and we are inclusive by using that one word.  Just that one word "family" embraces all of our immediate , primary relationships (mother, father, sister/s, brother/s), and those in our extended family (aunt/s, uncle/s, cousin/s, grandparents, and more).   Those two words have value attached, especially when we extend it to include those we consider to be our "family" but who are not necessarily blood relations. 

In writing genealogies, we must retain that essence of "value" when describing one's own family or groups of families.  Otherwise, we could easily use sentences like "This species of the Lane family rode horseback over the rolling mountains of western Maryland, arriving in southwest Pennsylvania by 1809."   No, written genealogies reflect the esteem we ascribe to the meaning of "family" and "families".   And, that is fitting, in a way that no thesaurus can offer anything that fits better.

(c) 2005 Judy Florian

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