|
Clayton Town CrierJuly 2015
|
Your source for all the news from Clayton Library Volume 8 Issue 4 Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research 5300 Caroline, Houston, TX 77004 832-393-2600 |
|
|
|
Manager's message... New things happening at Clayton
|
|
Welcome to the New Year! What? A New Year in July? Well, yes. In the City of Houston world, that Clayton Library is a part of, our fiscal year begins July 1st. So, actually, I get to celebrate a New Year, twice a year! Pretty exciting, I can reset my resolutions; reset my goals - all depending on how successful I have been in the past 6 months. Seriously however, what the new fiscal year means for the Clayton Library is that it is time to create the FY16 strategic plan. Each year the team gets together to plan services and goals that we would like to implement to provide the exceptional customer service and resources the Library is known for. As this issue of the Clayton Town Crier comes out as the new year begins, this is the issue in which some of the enhancements and plans are presented. New Technology:We are rolling out new microfilm scanner/reader/printers. These easy to use, intuitive units will scan to flash drive and print. They are icon driven, and offer crisp and clear scans. Tools in the software include lightening and darkening of images, spot sharpening, magnification, and other enhancements. There will be one unit located in the microprint area on the second floor of the main Library and one in the Clayton House. These machines have been purchased by the Clayton Library Friends, the support organization of the Clayton Library. Other upcoming technology will include more machines that will enhance your experience and reasons to visit the Clayton Library. Watch for upcoming issues of this newsletter for more information. Programming: The Library will be offering a new enhanced and expanded library orientation beginning in July. Our 3rd Saturday orientation will now consist of not only an orientation to the materials at the Library, but will also offer sound beginning research techniques. Our 5th annual "Genealogy After Dark" extended hours will occur on Friday, October 16, 2015. This is the night you get to stay at Clayton Library and research until 11 PM. In conjunction with Family History Month (each October) we offer this special night and extended programming. Watch the Clayton Town Crier, The Clayton Extra, and for programming calendars at the Library as it gets closer to October. We would like to offer topics for programs that YOU, our researchers, are interested in. To that end, we are creating a survey that will be released asking you just that... what aspect of genealogy do you want to learn about? One of our major goals this year is to offer program topic days that are responsive to the users of the Library. Watch for an upcoming issue of the Clayton Town Crier and the Clayton Extra for a link to that online survey. Collection Development: Ordering research materials to further our users' genealogical research is a major function of the Clayton Library Collection Development Team. We search all types of resources, including: genealogy societies, bibliographies, book publishers, ads received in the mail, online sources, and many more, selecting titles to purchase. We would like to involve our researchers in this process. If you have a specific book you are interested in, please do submit the author, title, and publisher information for our collection development team's review. Suggestions for purchase are always welcome, and we look to our researchers to help us keep on top of some of the newest and coolest research sources available. Stop by reference with a print out of your request. We of course, will take all suggestions under advisement. As always, the purpose of our year is make sure that we offer sources and services that are responsive to our researchers. FY16 is no exception. We hope you are as excited as we are! See you at the Library! Sue Kaufman, Clayton Library Manager
|
|
Spotlight on... U.S. Federal Census Records and Their Clues
|
|
by Clayton Library Staff Member, Joy Oria Finding your ancestors on censuses is essential to your genealogy research. Not only will you uncover key information such as when and where your ancestors lived, but you'll uncover clues that will lead you to other records. While the information on the censuses may not be exact, it can still give direction to your research. Try to find your ancestors on every available census as every census will vary in the information it provides. This article primarily refers to the U.S. Federal Population Schedules, but just as valuable are censuses on agriculture, industry, manufacturing, mortality, slave, and Indian populations as well as state and local census schedules. If you've already found your ancestors on the censuses, take another look for any clues you may have overlooked. As each census varies in its questions, it would be too easy to pass over a helpful clue. Clues you can expect to find range from the obvious to the subtle. The 1890 through 1940 censuses will indicate if an ancestor owned or rented their home; look for a column with "O"s for owned and "R"s for rented. The 1850 through 1870 censuses show the value of real estate owned. If your ancestor owned property, look for deeds, mortgages, and property tax records. You can even find out if your ancestor served in a war. The 1930 census is helpful enough to tell you which war your ancestor served in. You'll find it in column 31. "Sp" represents the Spanish-American war, "Phil" for the Philippine Insurrection, "Box" for the Boxer Rebellion, "Mex" for the Mexican Expedition, and "WW" for World War I. Column 30 on the 1910 census indicates if your ancestor was a "survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy." Some clues involve deduction on your part. For example, if on the 1870 census you see a checkmark in column 19, "Male Citizens of U.S. of 21 years of age and upwards," and the "Place of Birth" column shows that your ancestor was born in another country, then this clue tells you your ancestor had become naturalized by 1870. Detective skills are also useful in analyzing the community around your ancestors. This is particularly important in tracking African American ancestors from the 1870 census to the pre-Civil War era. People living nearby with the same surname as your ancestor may not have been relatives, but they may have been owned by the same slave owner. If your ancestor's occupation on the 1870 census was farming, they may have been renting from their former owner, who would have lived nearby. It pays to look at who was living around your ancestor. If you're having difficulty finding your ancestors on the census, think of searching the census as playing the childhood game of telephone: each time the information is interpreted, it changes a little. Take into account the many levels the information goes through before it reaches you. The first level regards who answered the census taker's questions. If your ancestors weren't home when the census taker came by, it may have been their neighbor who provided information. Or perhaps your ancestor was fearful of giving out personal information. Germanic immigrants remembering the required military service of their old country would have been reluctant to give out their full name to a government official. They may have given a combination of middle name and surname and deleted their first name, or deleted their surname and used their first and middle names. A man named Albert Martin Frederick Nass may have given his name as Martin Frederick, Frederick Nass, Martin Albert or Albert Frederick. Although rare, sometimes the census was padded with bogus names for political reasons, such as a frontier area trying to boost its population to achieve statehood. Other times the census was understated for reasons such as avoiding increased taxation or even to disguise polygamy, such as in the 1880 Utah census. The worst possible scenario is that your ancestors weren't included in the census at all, but before you despair, let's plough through the other barriers that might prevent you from finding your ancestor. The second level is how the census taker wrote down the information. You're fortunate if the census taker had beautiful penmanship and wrote with just enough pressure to leave a legible image instead of writing too lightly, or conversely, too heavily and leaving ink blots. At any rate, chances are the census taker guessed at the spelling or spelled phonetically, as this was more common in times past. The surname Pearce may have been written as Pierce, Peerce, Peirce, Perce, Parce, Percy, Paerce, or Piearce. The third level to consider is how well the census was preserved. After the census data was tabulated, little attention was given to the preservation of the census; after all, censuses were taken by order of the U.S. Constitution for representative and taxation purposes, not to aid genealogists in their family history research. However, it is surely genealogists and historians who most keenly feel the loss of the 1890 census. Left in a basement, damaged in a fire and later completely destroyed in an authorized purge, only 6,160 names of the 1890 population census are left to us. For situations such as these, remember there are other censuses available, such as the 1890 veterans schedule, state and territorial censuses, and a special census taken from 1888 to 1895 on deaf family marriages and hearing relatives. Quality control was at times lacking when the original census records were microfilmed. In fact, after the 1910 census was filmed, it was destroyed before the films had been developed and checked for quality. The last level of consideration in finding your ancestors on the census relates to how the census was indexed. When you search for your ancestor's name in the census using online databases or printed indexes, you are searching within a person's or a machine's interpretation of the census. An indexer went through the records, interpreted the census taker's handwriting, and indexed the information as they saw it. Possible errors in indexing include: Transposition, or switching letters or words What should be Milton Randall is indexed as Milton Rnadall (even though the other family members are indexed as Randalls), or John Smith is indexed as Smith John. Spelling, or bad handwriting Melvin Orr is indexed as Melvin Ow. Data Entry In this example the indexer incorrectly positioned their hands on the keyboard - instead of placing them on the "home keys," they've shifted over one key. This error has Fannie Mason indexed as Fannie Nasib. Adding or omitting a space can also alter your ancestor's name; here William H. Park is indexed as Williamh Park. Interpretation Handwriting from the 1800s has significant differences from today's handwriting. One of the biggest differences may be the double "s," which to today's readers looks like a lowercase "f" or "p." Misinterpreting the double "s" turns John Russell into John Rupell. Luckily for genealogy researchers there are many ways to access the census. At Clayton Library printed indexes for entire states are located on the second floor. Many of these books have helpful information in the introductions, such as how the data is arranged. You can also find helpful tips, such as the letter "H" may have been interpreted as "A," "C," or "K," so when you're unable to find an ancestor whose surname began with "H," try searching for them with the "H" replaced with "A," "C," or "K." Also on the second floor are the 1790-1930 censuses on microfilm. You may want to look at these when you know where your ancestor was living but are unable to find them in a database or index. A staff member is available upstairs to assist you as needed in using the microfilm. Downstairs in the state sections you can sometimes find printed indexes for small geographical areas, such as transcriptions of the 1870 and 1880 census for Chambers County, Texas. Through the Houston Public Library (HPL) website's Genealogy Research Page you can access and search the census in the following databases; HeritageQuest, Ancestry.com's "Ancestry Library Edition," and World Vital Records. The HeritageQuest database can be accessed at any HPL location and from home using your HPL MYLink card. You can search Ancestry Library Edition at any Houston Public Library location, but not from home. Unlike HeritageQuest and Ancestry Library Edition, the World Vital Records database can only be accessed at Clayton Library. Finally, you can always access census records on the free FamilySearch website: http://www.familysearch.org. Books at Clayton Library in the USA section that you may find useful in interpreting the census include:
|
|
Genealogical Research Aids... Digital Organization
|
|
by Clayton Library Staff Member, Melissa Meadows It is a truth universally acknowledged that a genealogist in possession of any amount of research must be in want of a decent organizational system. Ask anyone. There isn't a researcher among us who hasn't lost a document, misplaced a citation, or left a missing link to fade away on a lonely flash drive at the bottom of a desk drawer somewhere. It's the primary symptom of information overload, and it can be the biggest hurdle in genealogy research. You'll find yourself retracing your steps, looking for finds you've already found, and generally chasing your tail unless getting organized is addressed when you very first acquire your information. Otherwise, you'll always have to play catchup to your own information needs. Now, if your genealogy budget does not run to a personal secretary, and quite a few of the previously mentioned scenarios ring a bit too close to home, I think you'll find the following tips very useful. I prefer to take a digital approach, broken into three distinct stages; planning, working, and storing. This will be reflected in the recommended websites, as I use a distinct web resource for each phase of my genealogical research. All of these web services are available free of charge with a simple initial set up of a free account. I realize that web services may be daunting at first, but I invite everyone to give each website mentioned a try. If it isn't your cup of tea however, there is no reason why an intrepid genealogist can't experiment with the methods discussed and concoct an organizational system that works best for them based on the processes outlined. From their website- "Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, Trello tells you what's being worked on, who's working on what, and where something is in a process." The basics are that Trello allows you to have "boards" for your projects, with individual "cards" that you put into "lists" to organize them. This is all very well explained by the extremely helpful Trello Guide. Feel free to poke around there until you're comfortable with everything. You may be familiar with Trello (or at least the concept of Trello) in terms of an organizational system known as a Kanban. Much ink, digital or otherwise, has been spilled over the discussion of the Kanban organizational system, but the basics are that you have three categories- To Do, Doing, and Done. As your move through your workflow, you move your work from one category to another as it progresses until you are done. This organizational system has gained quite a bit of traction in the business world, and I happen to be particularly fond of it as well. In terms of genealogical research, this is most useful if you think of each genealogical line or subject of inquiry as its own project. From there, you create the following lists for each board; Research Plans Research In Progress Research Found As your research on a given subject progresses, you then move the cards from one list to another, following your path of information discovery. Let's run through a possible research scenario. Say you're looking for great-great-grandmother's naturalization record. In that case, you can add a card to the "Research Plans" list that includes a few possible sources written out in the notes portion of the card. You can do this prior to your trip to Clayton Library, and you might even look up the citations for the books or microprint you plan to use by searching the Library catalog in advance. Once you arrive at Clayton Library, you can access your Trello boards via your smartphone, our computers at the Library, your laptop, or tablet device. You'll have all your potential finds laid out and ready to go, and you'll save yourself the trouble of trying to remember all the nuances of your previous research. Now the search for your great-great-grandmother's immigration record card can be moved into the "Research In Progress" list. Here you can make notes as your research moves into the second phase of your organizational system. As you run through your "Research In Progress" list, you'll find that you generate more work products than can possibly be held in just the simple note field of your Trello Cards. This is where trusty Evernote comes into play. Evernote is an online note taking website that syncs all your notes across your devices and allows you access from wherever you are. It also has a camera function for smartphones and tablet devices that is actually less damaging to use versus scanning a book on a copier. Luckily, there is also a very extensive guide for Evernote, as well as an occasional class offered at Clayton Library specifically on the subject of using Evernote for Genealogy (if you'll pardon the plug). Evernote has a basic structure of Notebook Stacks that contain Notebooks that contain Notes. When used with Trello, I prefer to organize Notebook Stacks via surname, Notebooks via individual ancestor, and Notes per file type. This means that researching your great-great-grandmother's immigration record will be listed in Evernote under a note titled (for example) Mabel Walters Naturalization Records, in the Mabel Walters Notebook, in the Walters Notebook Stack. The idea here is that you mimic the naming conventions laid out by Trello to keep everything sorted as soon as you add it. You may find numerous resources that address your research question, and Evernote is the staging ground in which you can compare the files and information with each other before you decide which sources are of the highest quality, the most useful, or otherwise suit your research the best. Once you have established which files you wish to keep, you can move on to the next step, Storing! You've found Mabel's immigrations records. You can walk away from Clayton Library satisfied and secure in the knowledge that you have bested the beast that is genealogy once again. Yet those elusive scraps of critical information are finicky to the core. They lie in wait for a turned back or a blind eye to slip between car seats, abscond from previously ironclad binders, or otherwise run for the hills. The solution is simple, digitization and digital storage! I prefer to use Dropbox to store files, as again it's online, free, and easily accessible from a variety of platforms. Feel free to take the Dropbox Tour, or dive right in. Once you open your account on the web, Dropbox has a great walkthrough that explains the basics. For genealogy, you're going to use the same general organizational conventions as previously established in Trello and Evernote. Here, your files are essentially going into cold storage- this is where you put the things you know to be true in your research, and want to refer to later to build your lines further. Dropbox has the same file system as what is on any computer, so you have Files and Folders, with a very handy nesting capability of Folders. I would again recommend that you use the same system of Surname Folder, individual Folder, and unique files. This means that Mabel's immigration records will be a passenger list text file kept in the Mabel Walters Folder which is further contained in the Walters Surname Folder. Once you've taken your Evernote files and moved them over (I suggest copying the files and pasting them over) to Dropbox, you can move the Trello Card to its final stop of "Research Found." Admittedly, this is a multi-stage process. At first glance might seem a slight bit cumbersome, even unwieldy for your research needs. I promise it gets easier with use, and as with so many things in life, the more you do it, the easier it gets. Feel free to experiment, to adapt, to mold and shape the structure laid forth to best serve you in all of your genealogical endeavors at Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research. Above all, remember this, when attacking all things genealogy it's best to keep in mind the following adage- "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer of course is exactly as I have laid it out here; "One bite at a time."
|
|
Overlooked Resources... Louisiana Colonial Records Sources
|
|
by Clayton Library Staff Member, Rodney Sam The "Louisiana Colonial Records Project" is a collection of microfilmed records relating to the former French colony of Louisiana originally stored at the Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer (Centre for Overseas Archives) in the Aix-en-Provence region of southern France. The Louisiana Colonial Records Project began microfilming French archival documents relating to Louisiana at the Archives Nationales, Paris for the Library of Congress, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Loyola University of New Orleans, Memphis State University, and the Mississipi Department of Archives and History in 1970. Under the direction of Rev. Charles Edwards O'Neill. The collection consists of thousands of documents on 33 reels of microfilm covering the early colonial period of the Louisiana colony. Highlights of the collection include colonial census reports, vital records of the earliest settlers in Illinois and New Orleans, marriages and births of free persons of color, and passenger lists of the first European immigrants to Louisiana. There are also a scattering of newspapers from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the French Antilles that provide genealogical information on their citizens from the antebellum period. Bonus material of historical value includes journals of early French explorers of North America, war reports, and diaries created by French military personnel relating to French conflicts with Native Americans in the Gulf Coast. The majority of the documents are written in Spanish and French. The beginning of each reel contains a brief description and table of contents of each document it contains. The Louisiana Colonial Records Project microfilm collection can be found in the Special Collections USA section of the Clayton Library's microprint department on the second floor of the main building. The current cabinet and drawer location can be found in the Clayton Library Microprint Database, found here. In the database the microfilm is entitled "Louisiana Colonial Records, 17th--18th Century." There is a finding aid to the collection compiled by the Clayton Library Friends that can be referenced on the same floor. So, if you're a persistent and determined researcher who is not intimidated by the sheer magnitude of this collection, as well as the language barrier, the Louisiana Colonial Records Project is a valuable resource for genealogists with deep ancestral roots in the former French colony of Louisiana.
|
|
Monthly classes and other upcoming events... |
|
|
|
July 2015 QuickStart #1 Saturday, July 11, 2015 | 2 PM - 3:30 PM Join us for an introduction to Ancestry Library Edition and FamilySearch. This program will cover navigating the home page of each of these sources and include some tips and tricks for effective research. (Presented by Clayton staff) Adults/Teens - please call 832-393-2600 to register. Hispanic Genealogical Society of Houston Day Saturday, July 18, 2015 | 10:30 AM - 1 PM Please join the society for an introduction to genealogical research on families of Hispanic descent, as well as how to begin putting together the puzzle of your family history including, data collection and organization, pedigree ascendant and descendant charts, family group sheets, and using the computer for beginning research. After the presentation, members of the Hispanic Genealogical Society of Houston will be available to assist beginning researchers until 1 PM. No reservations required through Clayton Library. Adults/Teens. Clayton Library Orientation - New and Improved! Saturday, July 18, 2015 | 2 PM - 4 PM The Clayton Library's monthly orientation has been expanded to include basic genealogy research methods. In this session we cover the process of research and discovery of the beginning steps in a family history research project. Following this brief introduction, we examine the resources you will find at the Clayton Library, how materials are organized, and effective planning to visit the Library. This orientation is held in the Main Library among the vast resources of one of the ten best family history research collections in the United States. (Presented by Clayton staff) No Reservations required. Adults/Teens. August 2015
QuickStart #2 Saturday, August 1, 2015 | 2 PM - 3:30 PM Join us for an introduction to HeritageQuest and Fold3. This program will cover navigating the home page of each of these sources and include some tips and tricks for effective research. (Presented by Clayton staff) Adults/Teens - please call 832-393-2600 to register. Clayton Library Orientation - New and Improved! Saturday, August 15, 2015 | 2 PM - 4 PM The Clayton Library's monthly orientation has been expanded to include basic genealogy research methods. In this session we cover the process of research and discovery of the beginning steps in a family history research project. Following this brief introduction, we examine the resources you will find at the Clayton Library, how materials are organized, and effective planning to visit the Library. This orientation is held in the Main Library among the vast resources of one of the ten best family history research collections in the United States. (Presented by Clayton staff) No Reservations required. Adults/Teens. September 2015 Colonial Ancestry Day Saturday, September 12, 2015 | Times TBA Sessions include: - Colonial Religions (Presenter: Clayton staff member Joy Oria)
- Colonial Military Records (Presenters: Clayton staff members Mel (Melissa) Hayes and Irene Walters)
- Convicts to the Colonies (Presenter: Clayton staff member Sue Kaufman)
These sessions cover the time period prior to the American Revolution, and concern the 13 original colonies. Attend one or attend all, everyone is welcome. Look for more information in the August issue of the Clayton Extra! Adults/Teens - please call 832-393-2600 to register Clayton Library Orientation - New and Improved! Saturday, September 19, 2015 | 2 PM - 4 PM The Clayton Library's monthly orientation has been expanded to include basic genealogy research methods. In this session we cover the process of research and discovery of the beginning steps in a family history research project. Following this brief introduction, we examine the resources you will find at the Clayton Library, how materials are organized, and effective planning to visit the Library. This orientation is held in the Main Library among the vast resources of one of the ten best family history research collections in the United States. (Presented by Clayton staff) No Reservations required. Adults/Teens
|
|
Additional information about Clayton Library
|
|
|
|
|
|