The Genealogy Bunch

2010-02-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

GENEALOGY MEETING

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 from Noon to 2pm.

This will be a general discussion session. Bring your roadblocks, problems, tips, hints and suggestions.

Hope to see you there.

2010-02-01T10:14:00.000-08:00

Wednesday January 27th, 2010

This evening's presentation was about taping, either video or oral, family history. Mary Boyle and her husband Chuck visited elderly family members and videoed them answering questions about both their family history and their lives in general. Chuck gave us technical information about setting it up and a list of questions to ask and hints for the actual interview. Things like being aware of background noise when taping, helping the person being taped relax and being sensitive to what the person may not want to talk about.

They shared handouts and copies of these are available at the library.

They started their process by reading "Touching Tomorrow" by Mary LoVerde, This book is available from Amazon at a cost of about $10 for anyone wanting a starting place.

If you missed this meeting, and wanted more info contact either Mary or Kathy Dychton (kdychton@hotmail.com)

UPDATED MEETING SCHEDULE

2010-02-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

All meetings are on Wednesday.

Daytime:

February 17
April 21
June 16
September 15
November 17

Evenings:

March 24
May 26
October 27

IMMIGRATION TIPS

2009-09-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here are Two Quick Tips for Tracing Immigrants Online:

Know the Ellis Island database dates. If you think your immigrant ancestor came through Ellis Island, but can't find him in the online database at ellisisland.org, double-check your date frame. Although that site covers 17 million people, it doesn't include every immigrant to New York City. Ellis Island operated from 1892 to 1954, but the online records go up only to 1924. If your family came earlier than 1892, they would've arrived through a different immigration station—such as Castle Garden, whose arrivals are indexed at castlegarden.org.

Try a shortcut to other ports' records. Besides Ellis Island's and Castle Garden's databases, the most significant online collection of passenger records is at Ancestry.com. Stephen P. Morse has created tools that make searching Ancestry.com's databases more flexible—making it a good route to try if you strike out on Ancestry.com itself. You still need a subscription to access the Ancestry.com records, or if your library subscribes to Ancestry Library Edition, you can search the records there for free.

GENEALOGY FOR THE NEWBIE

2009-09-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

Wednesday October 14th, 2009 6:30-8pm

Have you been reluctant to attend The Genealogy Bunch because you are new and/or have no idea where to begin?

This is the program for you!

Many of you know Louise Smith from her shop, Sheep and Wool. You may not know she has developed a presentation on web sources for genealogy work in Wayne County. While she will focus on the links that deal with Wayne County, the techniques and research processes are the same for all areas. Whether you are a newcomer to Wayne County or come from a family that has lived in Wayne County for many generations, you will come away with plenty of tips on where to begin or continue your search.

2009 - 2010 MEETINGS

2009-09-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

Mark your calendars:

September 16th, 2009 - Wednesday Noon - 2pm

October 14th, 2009 - Wednesday 6:30pm - 8pm (Genealogy for the "Newbie)

November 18th, 2009 - Wednesday Noon - 2pm

December, 2009 TBD - Holiday Get Together

January, 2010 TBD

February, 17th, 2010 - Noon - 2pm

March, 24th 2010 - 6:30pm - 8pm

April, 21, 2010 - Noon - 2pm

May 26th, 2010 - 6pm - 8pm

June 16th, 2010 - Noon - 2pm

September 15th, 2010 - Noon - 2pm

October 27th, 2010 - 6:30pm - 8pm

November 17th, 2010 - Noon - 2pm

WALWORTH MEMORIES

2009-09-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday October 18th, 2-3:30pm - Walworth Museum, 2257 Academy Street, Walworth, NY.

Family gatherings center around life events - when little ones join the family, when people are married and when we gather to remember someone. We all have experiences that vary from family to family, friend to friend. Come with your stories to share how Walworth residents celebrated these events. Join us for another afternoon of sharing and good memories.

NOTE: This will be held in the Walworth Museum.

A SATISFIED CUSTOMER

2009-05-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

The genealogy program has been a wonderful resource for information sharing. We have helped one another overcome hurdles and opened doors to research areas unknown to us amateur genealogists. A new member has shared information about sites in England and offered to help others who have an interest in that part of Europe. Another member discovered a research genealogist in upper New York State and has been extremely helpful with information documenting my husband's family. And sharing success stories is an added plus. Researching and documenting your family's history is a legacy to be proud of.

Dorothy French

WHY THE LONG FACES IN OLD PHOTOS?

2009-04-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

Every so often I bump into a 19th century photo in which the subjects are grinning. It's a rare event. Occasionally, you see a Mona Lisa smile, but it's difficult to locate an image from the 19th century where folks actually showed teeth the way we do today.

So, you're probably wondering—why the long face in most pictures?

In the beginning, I imagine that sitters were nervous in front of the camera. It was new, and having your picture taken was an uncomfortable procedure. Look closely at your early photographs and see if you can spot a posing device such as a wooden stand behind the subjects' feet. This device sometimes extended as far up as the head and had clamps around a person's waist or head to keep him still for the long exposure time. Would you feel like smiling?

Women hid under blankets and rugs to keep their babies still for the camera. There were also devices to hold babies that look like medieval instruments of torture.

SOME INTERESTING LINKS

2009-04-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.academic-genealogy.com/index.htm

Professional, worldwide humanities and social sciences mega portal, connected directly to numerouslyrelated sub-sets, with billions of primary or secondary database family history and genealogy records.

Review: You could spend hours and hours on this web site. There are dozens and dozens of links to information for the researcher. From something called “Black Sheep Ancestors” to GenGateway. The latter has such items as:

Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire
Scotch Highlanders in America
History of Eastern Worcester, MA
History of Herkimer County

http://www.academic-genealogy.com/whocanfindpeople.htm

Ongoing current information and resources for genealogist, family historians and researchers to find People, Places and Things.

Review: This is a site with links to many, many organizations not all necessarily for researching family history. But there are some links that could be useful. There are phone directories, trades union listing, the Rotary. Lists of place names, a place to search public records. Well worth taking a look at even if you only use a couple of the links.

http://www.academic-genealogy.com/topsearchenginesdirectories.htm

Genealogy and Family History Internet Portals and Browsers.

http://www.academic-genealogy.com/ancestorrootsinformationdatabases.htm#Vital

Ancestor roots information.

Review: This site has links to information from countries all over the world. Literally Austria to Zimbabwe, and all the American states, Canada, etc. An absolutely fascinating amount of information, well worth a visit.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVEN NAMES by Donna Przecha

2009-03-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

This information is from an article on Genealogy.com

In genealogy we usually concentrate on surnames since they are the most important way of identifying people who are related. A surname is usually inherited and, while it may be changed, some form of it is usually retained. Given names are more important in a way because they represent a voluntary choice by the parents or, sometimes, by an individual. A name is usually not given lightly. It represents thought and feelings and can be significant to the researcher.

NAMING PATERNS

You will often see the same names used over and over again in families. While certain names are popular in different areas in different times in history, the repetition could represent a pattern. Many cultures believe in honoring their elders and do so by naming children after them. Angus Baxter in "In Search of Your British and Irish Roots" describes a pattern that was popular in England in the 1700-1875 period:

The first son was named after the father's father
The second son was named after the mother's father
The third son was named after the father
The fourth son was named after the father's eldest brother
The first daughter after the mother's mother
The second daughter after the father's mother
The third daughter after the mother
The fourth daughter after the mother's eldest sister

If this pattern would result in a duplication of names — i.e., both grandfathers had the same name — then they would skip to the next one on the list. Similar patterns have been suggested for other nationalities. This could be a very helpful formula, but many genealogists warn against giving it too much credence. Given human nature, it would be very difficult to follow exactly. It would be pretty hard to convince a new mother of her first-born son to name him after a drunken, abusive father-in-law rather than her own beloved father who had just died.

I think this article could be useful as it was a practice used in many european countries and may have been carried over when families came here. More information on other country's practices can be found at:

http://www.genealogy.com/35_donna.html

March 9, 2009 5:22 PM

SO WHY ARE WE CREATING A BLOG????

2009-03-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

This is a space where members of the Genealogy Bunch at Walworth Seely Public Library can share tips, ideas and their successes. Give us your links, your web pages, ask for help, or tell us about the long lost relatives you've found.