To Cite Or Not To Cite . . .

. . . that is the current burning question among genealogy blog authors this week.  In case you've missed out, a discussion has cropped up as to the very legitimacy of genealogy blogs and their role in helping people search for their roots.  While I won't delve into the details of such a discussion, I do want to dicuss how I handle source citations here at Destination: Austin Family and my opinions on how using endnotes can affect the readibility of blog posts.

The idea of including footnotes/endnotes in genealogy blog posts is not new, nor is the discussion among geneabloggers as to whether or not to include such source information.  Many of us opt not to cite our sources in the blog post and this is not because we are "intellectually lazy" and just don't want to do the work.  The fact is that many of our posts are created based on our research.

In my series Two Roads: Do McEntee and MacEntee Converge or Fork?, many of my posts had up to 52 endnotes all citing sources used in my research. Most of my posts, even those for Tombstone Tuesday, have research to back them up. During last summer's Geneablogger Games, one of the events was Go Back And Cite Your Sources which awarded various medals based on the number of source citations created in one's genealogy database.

I admit I am not consistent when including source citations in my blog posts. Mostly I worry that it will affect the readibility of my posts. This has been discussed at length among geneabloggers in the past including some great comments on a post by Sheri Fenley of The Educated Genealogist.

Here is my current take on the source citation situation: my blog posts are not the same as articles submitted to a genealogical society for publication. What I write on my genealogy blog is intended to "bring to life" the stories of my family and my ancestors and to make the field of genealogy attractive to my readers. This doesn't mean I have a "low brow" readership that can't handle endnotes and source citations. It doesn't mean that I don't have said citations to back up what I say or write here. It doesn't mean that my genealogy blog - or any genealogy blog for that matter - is not a legitimate source of information about a particular topic or family line.

What it does mean is this: just like any source of information you encounter in your daily routine - be it television, The Internets, newspapers, etc. - you are expected to exercise your own judgment and critical thinking as to whether the information merits your attention and possible use as a source for whatever you do including genealogy research. Anyone who does not go through life this way probably believes everything they read in the paper, is certain that they have $33 million waiting for them in an overseas bank account because some Nigerian man said so, and has it on good authority that they are the 5th cousin 10 times removed to Queen Victoria all because some man named Gustave Anjou did the research and charged them for it.

Census Search Trick - Drop The Last Name

As I described in yesterday's Madness Monday post, I've been focusing my efforts on my Lehive line, namely John Lehive b. 1833 in Ireland who was my 3rd great-grandfather.

While I had searched about all I could for John and his son John Jr., I decided to start looking to the other children of John Lehive for clues. Although some may think this is a waste of time, very often an elderly parent can be found living with one of the children or there may be other valuable clues in reading census records for those who were your great aunts and uncles.

While looking for Dennis Lehive who was last noted in the 1900 census living in Rosendale, Ulster County, New York, I seemed to hit a wall. There were no records past 1900 - or so Ancestry's census database would lead me to believe.

So I tried using surname variations as well as wildcard searches (with Lee* and Leh* for the surname) but to no avail. So, I tried dropping the last name - and it worked!

I need to qualify that further. I felt I had enough information (first name, residence state and county, birthplace and year of birth) that I could find my Denis without the last name. So using the criteria below:



I was able to find my Dennis list in the 1930 census as Dennis Lechrie:



Using my wildcard search of Leh* and Lee* would not have found this record while my "no surname" search did. Of course, the culprit here is the person who indexed the record. Perhaps it is just me - and because I've been so immersed in the research of the Lehive/Leehive surname - but it doesn't look like Lechrie on the original:

[1]

For the 1920 census, the record appeared as Lehigh which is a common error with the Lehive surname:



And sure enough, in checking the original, the offender this time is the census enumerator who perhaps "heard" Lehigh:

[2]

And finally, for the 1910 census, the record appears indexed as Shive:



And in looking at the original, since it is blurry and the handwriting is obscured, I can't blame the indexer for reading it as Shive and not Lehive:

[3]

For each of the above records I did submit additional/corrective information. I do this not so much to improve Ancestry's product but more as a RAOGK so that others researching the Lehive line won't have to struggle the way I did.

So try this search trick out the next time you are stuck and feel one of your ancestors is hiding in the census forest. Of course, this trick won't work every time. I was lucky in my assumption that Dennis Lehive stayed in Ulster County, New York and did not move down to New Jersey like his father, his siblings and even his oldest son. I had enough information for me to find these records rather quickly by disregarding the surname and using what I already knew about Dennis Lehive.

Notes:

[1] 1930 US Census, NARA, (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed March 30, 2009, citing Census Place: Kingston, Ulster, New York; Roll: 1655; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 26; Image: 432.0.

[2] 1920 US Census, NARA, (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed March 30, 2009, citing Census Place: Kingston, Ulster, New York; Roll: T625_1271; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 156; Image: 57.

[3] 1910 US Census, NARA, (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed March 30, 2009, citing Census Place: Rosendale, Ulster, New York; Roll: T624_1085; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 160; Image: 931.


(Note: source citations have been withheld for purposes of readability. They are available upon request.) I am including endnotes for this post - please see To Cite or Not To Cite for a discussion on source citation and blog post readability.

A Great Find - German Genealogy Group

Two weeks ago when I was working on my Henneberg line, I stumbled upon the German Genealogy Group's website and I can't tell you how helpful I've found it. So much so that I sent off my $15 check for membership even though the group is based in the Long Island area of New York and I doubt I'll ever attend a meeting.

But this is why you might consider bookmarking the GGG or even joining:

When I couldn't access some of the New York City Bride and Groom Indexes via Steve Morse's One Step site (using connection from Italian Genealogical Group), I was able to access these same indexes through GGG's Naturalization/Vital Records Databases. I have found it to be a valuable backup when I can't get access through Steve's site.

In addition to the New York City database access, they offer a bulletin board with postings on German surnames; they offer a translation service and help on writing to government offices and churches in Germany to request records; and the newsletters are chock full of interesting data on German provinces and cities.

Make a visit to the German Genealogy Group today. And consider joining - many genealogy societies need our support and GGG is proof that genealogy societies can be based locally but still have a web presence and an impact on the advancement of genealogy research.

More Madness - My Lehive Line

It's another Monday and I'm still mad. Not mad as in "this makes me so angry" but mad as in "this is driving me crazy!"

Last Monday I posted about my 2nd great grandfather Martin Slattery as part of Madness Monday and now I get to post about his wife Margaret Lehive.

As I said last week, since Slattery is a fairly common name in Ireland, I opted to work on Martin's wife whose last name Lehive is fairly uncommon. What I did not anticipate were all the variations of the surname as well as the multitude of errors made by census takers in entering information and in sites like Ancestry transcribing the name.

I spent the entire week tracking down the children of John Lehive (b. abt 1833 in Ireland) here in the United States. I was able to find the name listed as Lehive, Leehive, Lehine, Lehite, Lehigh, Lechive, Sehive, and even Lihiue. As best as I can piece together from various census and military data:

John Leehive married his wife (name unknown) prior to 1861 in England. The Leehive children - John J., Dennis, Margaret and Michael - were all born in Kent or Greenwich, England between 1861 and 1870. It was shortly there after that the family arrived in the United States since John Sr. first appears in the 1880 census living in Rosendale, Ulster County, New York.

What happened between the 1880 and 1900 census is not clear - it appears as if John Sr. may have passed away. In addition, Margaret Leehive and Martin Slattery were married, had six children (Mary Slattery, Thomas Slattery, John Vincent Slattery, Martin Slattery, James Slattery and Julia Slattery) and Margaret died prior to the 1900 census.

During the early 20th century, some of the Lehive children remained in Ulster County settling in Kingston, New York while others went to work in the oil refining business in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey.

So my next steps to alleviating this madness? I need to work with some UK sources to find out more about the Lehive family in England and I would love to find information on exactly when they arrived in the United States.

Mom's First Talks About Her Firsts

[This post is part of the Bound for Mom mini-blog carnival hosted by Geneabloggers]

Being the sixth out of twelve children, in her early life I bet that Mom had few firsts.  And I can imagine that growing up during the Great Depression in Jersey City, New Jersey with my grandmother squeezing an extra dime out of every nickel meant lots of hand-me-downs.  I wonder what it was like for her to have her first new dress, her first new book, her first new anything that she could call her own.

Here I am, Mom's first born, talking about the firsts in her life.  While I can only guess about the many firsts she encountered growing up, I know I should take the time to sit down and talk with her sisters when I travel back to New York in May.  It would not only give me an opportunity to find out more about these "firsts" but also to get a better idea of what it must have been like to grow up in that place and with all those siblings.

There are many firsts that I remember from growing up: 

• Mom's first job after my father left us.  It was at the Sullivan County Community College and it was a secretarial position.  Mom, like most girls, had focused on business in high school and knew how to type and take shorthand.
  

• Mom's first car during this same period.  The  yellow Datsun station wagon had "disappeared" and I assume it was repossessed.  We soon had a used bright blue Toyota compact.  I stress the word used - it was so rusted that we called it the "Flintstone car" since your legs might bust through the floorboards if you weren't careful.
  
  
• Mom's first home.  We moved out of the apartment over on Weirk Avenue in Liberty out to a Lustron home over on Neversink Road.  This was during the summer of 1976 and although Mom knew it needed a lot of work, it was all hers.
  
  
• Mom's first plane trip.  I think it was 1982 to go see my brother who was graduating from Great Lakes Naval Base in Chicago.  Mom did this all on her own (she usually would have me arrange such things) and she had a great trip.
  
  
• Mom's first trip to Hawaii.  Mom and I went to Kauai in 1987 where we both had a blast.  She met me in San Francisco and stayed over then we took off for a short trip to Hawaii.
  
  
• Mom's first grandchild.  Mom was elated at the birth of Corwin Gallaway MacEntee in 1989 soon follwed by Connor, Jacqueline Rose and Patrick Thomas.

And I know there are some I just don't remember, some that are all too sad to think about and that I'd rather forget, and some that have yet to happen.  One thing I am certain of is this: despite all these firsts, Mom never put herself first.  It was always "her boys" - me and my brother Michael - that came first in almost everything she did.  And for that I am ever grateful.

Birth Announcements

John Newmark over at Transylvanian Dutch has posted a very funny birth announcement which reminded me of the one my parents sent out for me:



I found this while I was cleaning out Mom's house over two years ago so I threw it in The Box. The during one of Miriam Midkiff Robbins' Scanfests, I scanned the announcement and filed it away with my other genealogy records.

I assume they also had one for girls which started with "I'm Lucky I'm A Girl . . ."

Gotta go. Someone in this household just commented, "Oh it isn't on papyrus? And they had moveable type back then?"

Frances Pressner - My German-American Great Grandmother

[This post is part of the 17th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy hosted at CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt']
Frances Pressner is one of my great-grandparents (she is the mother of Anna Henneberg who was my mother's mother) and married Richard Henneberg on April 16, 1911 in the Bronx, New York. Richard had arrived in the United States on April 25, 1891 at age 11 months along with his mother Lena Henneberg and older brother Walter, age 3.


On the 1930 US Federal Census, Frances Pressner is listed as having been naturalized in 1892 and her birth is estimated as 1889. So I assume that she arrived here in the United States around the same time as her husband, approximately 1890-1891.


Frances Pressner and her husband raised a family of five children in the Bronx, and at one point lived not far from Yankee Stadium. She died on March 10, 1960 and is buried at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in White Plains, New York, along with her husband.

Madness Monday: Martin Slattery

(Thanks to footnoteMaven for this great poster!)

This is my first Madness Monday post - and I think it is a great idea dreamed up by Amy Crooks of Untangled Family Roots.

I spent much of yesterday working on my Slattery line and am pulling what little hair I have left out trying to locate Martin Slattery, my 2nd great-grandfather.

Here is the problem: I have an obituary for my great-grandfather, John Vincent Slattery, from the Kingston Daily Freeman published on July 11, 1939. The obituary lists his parents as Martin Slattery and Margaret Leehive. However it is the unavailable 1890 US Federal Census and the fact that Martin Slattery and Margaret Leehive most likely died prior to the 1900 census which cause my madness.

In the 1900 US Federal Census, the children of Martin Slattery are living with their uncle - Margaret's brother - Michael Leehive. This continues over the next few census reports (1910 and 1920) with no trace of either Martin Slattery or Margaret Leehive.

Given the fact that Slattery is a rather common surname among the Irish, I will work on Leehive information. What I know so far is that Leehive (and its variants Lehive and Leahive) is an English surname which I hope will give me more information on my Slattery line.

Saturday Night Fun - Y-DNA

Well I am home from a great night of Indian cuisine and ready to participate in Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Fun meme.  This week Randy asks:

* What was your father's mother's maiden name?

Slattery - my father's mother was Loretta Margaret Slattery (1920 - 1986)

* What was your father's mother's father's name?

John Vincent Slattery (1888 - 1939)

* What is your father's mother's father's patrilineal line? That is, his father's father's father's ... back to the most distant male ancestor in that line?

All I can trace back to is Martin Slattery for whom I have no birth or death date.

* Can you identify male sibling(s) of your father's mother, and any living male descendants from those male sibling(s)? If so, you have a candidate to do a Y-DNA test on that patrilineal line. If not, you may have to find male siblings, and their descendants, of the next generation back, or even further.

There were two brothers, John Vincent Slattery, Jr. (1914 - 1916) and Gerald Anthony Slattery (1917 - 1988) with no children - as far as my research shows. It looks like I have some more research to do here!

Table of Contents - Digital Genealogist March/April 2009

As some of you may know, I have a regular column at Digital Genealogist magazine entitled Genea-MacGyver.  If you don't already have a subscription to this worthwhile and totally green e-zine, below is  a glimpse of what you might be missing.  This issue has 50 pages filled with great genealogy and technology information.

Volume 3, Number 2 March/April 2009

Features

Maryland State Archives’ online databases, by Diane L. Giannini, CG..................7

Push your life and your ‘stuff’ to a cloud, by Laura G. Prescott.............................9

Our military heritage: preserve, honor, and share,
by Amy Johnson Crow, CG, and Curt B. Witcher................................................19

Designing and publishing your society’s newsletter,
by Sharon Tate Moody, CG.................................................................................26

Print-on-demand, by Donald W. Moore, cg........................................................29

1,000 years of history online, by George G. Morgan...........................................31

Fearless citation creation, by Robert Raymond..................................................37

Columns

Editor’s desktop: Research nirvana, by Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CG, CGL.......4

Newsbriefs............................................................................................................5

Cybrarian: Gmail: Is the ‘G’ for ‘Genealogy’?, by Drew Smith, MLS....................12

Genea-MacGyver: How a well-stocked toolkit can salvage a research trip,
by Thomas MacEntee..........................................................................................16

iGenie: Another one converts: Why and how I switched to a Mac,
by D. Joshua Taylor.............................................................................................23

Web of deceit: A grave situation, by Susan Zacharias..........................................49

Review

Password Manager, reviewed by Gary M. and Diana Crisman Smith..................45

Reviews of this ‘n’ that

The Official Guide to Family Tree Maker 2009, reviewed
by George G. Morgan...........................................................................................42

Allegheny Valley: Allegheny, Westmoreland, Armstrong, Clarion, Venango, Forest, and Warren Counties (Pennsylvania Archives Retrospective Series), 

reviewed by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG...................................................................43

Dealing with a bully

Ever been the victim of a bully?  I'm sure there would be a slew of posts on genealogy blogs if we ever put this forth as a topic.  I'm certain some of us could even haveenough  submissions for a weekly or monthly meme.

I grew up a constant victim of bullies since I was not "normal" - meaning I was smart and I was overweight.  I didn't fit the prototype of what others saw as normal and as we all know children can be so cruel.

I'm grown up now and while I'm not as sensitive to bullying I always notice it whether the bully directs his or her blows towards me or towards others.  I just don't tolerate it and I call it out whenever I can.  Perhaps because I'm used to working with so many others who've had the worst of life thrown at them, have overcome adversities - and bullies - and yet they still see the glass as "half full" and life as a new adventure each day.

Cyber-bullying is a new phenomenon and one that is just as difficult to deal with as the old fashioned bullying.  I've recently had to deal with someone who I'm ready to call out.

This person is on Twitter as @geneatweeps - you can see that this "persona" was just created today, March 20, 2009 and I have my suspicions who this person really is - and I'm not afraid to say it is Tamura Jones.

I've had encounters with Mr. Jones to the point where I've unfollowed him in Twitter. While from a technology standpoint I admire and appreciate his thorough testing and research of genealogy applications, I felt that his tweets were all too negative. I figured he just didn't "get" Twitter so I dropped him and decided to move on.

Earlier today, I posted over at Geneabloggers a post entitled Ten People All Genealogists Should Follow On Twitter. One person who was not mentioned explicitly in the post was @TamuraJones. I guess this was too great a slight for him although I did mention him in the Twitter listing of people on Twitter over at gene@pedia.  If you look closely at the two Twitter profiles and their tweets you can see that the evidence is there as to this being the same person.

And I find it curious that he has called me out on the use of TweepMe (see his incisive and thoroughly researched article here - it is quite good) but I'm curiousas to why @geneatweeps hasn't gone after any of the other 5,000 people who signed up for TweepMe with the same zealousness that he/she has reserved for me.  Must be my day.  Oh well.

I've found Twitter and the geneablogger crowd to be filled with mostly positive, "glass half full" people who don't engage in such games or try to make up for the emptiness in their lives by engaging in pissing contests with others.  

Mr. Jones tried to bait me into this type of behavior last month with a series of emails about Geni.com and changes to their site.  See his article here about changes at Geni.  Basically Mr. Jones wanted me to post as an "event" some organized way - or as he put it, "How about a call to blogging action to create wide attention for and discussion about the geni.com issues." I basically demurred as diplomatically as possible because I didn't feel Geneabloggers was about bad mouthing genealogy products or people. 

Giving an honest and unbiased review of a product is one thing. But I just find it is too much work to read through Mr. Jones' reviews and get through all the negativity.

Thanks for hearing me out and I'm sure I'll need to deal with other repurcussions by even posting this.  But I'm willing to do so.   I've you ever had a run in with a bully - cyber or otherwise - perhaps it might be a good topic for a blog post.

68th Edition of Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

Just a quick note that Jasia over at Creative Gene has done another great job with this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: A Tribute to Women.

I was unable to add my contribution this time (long story . . .) but I've been reading many of the great posts by fellow geneabloggers!

Don't forget to get your submission in for the next edition:

And now it's time for a Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: What if... This is your chance to rewrite history! Have you ever imagined your ancestor playing a major roll in history? Perhaps you've envisioned them singlehandedly winning the American Revolution, going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, or inventing the flutaphone. This is your chance to write a bit of fiction about your ancestor to delight and entertain us. It is the April Fools edition after all! This edition will be hosted by Bill West at West in New England. Thanks Bill! The deadline for submissions is April 1st so start spinning your tall tales!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link.

Historic Map Works

I saw this link on a blog post over at Genit by Liv Marit (one of our new Norwegian geneabloggers) and while I don't read Norwegian (not having any such ancestors), I was able to follow Liv's link to Historic Map Works.

While it appears to be a standard e-commerce site where you can purchase maps in digital form (and they have some great county maps!), this one item was very interesting to me: Illustration Finder.

Using their search method of name along with a state, you can locate old magazine and book illustrations that may show one or more of your ancestors.  I've been looking up Austins and Putmans even though I can't see the entire image clearly (you need to order the item to see the image without the watermark), it gives me an idea of the type of information available for my ancestors.

Wordless Wednesday

Photo: Confirmation Day, 1955 - MacEntee Children. LtoR: Unknown, Geraldine MacEntee, John MacEntee, William MacEntee, Richard MacEntee, Loretta MacEntee. St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church, Livingston Manor, New York. Digital image. Privately held by Angela MacEntee O'Neill, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] New Jersey, 2009

New Edition of Smile for the Camera Posted!

Check it: the 11th Edition of Smile for the Camera has been posted over at Shades of the Departed.  This must be some kind of record with entries from 55 different people!

A Surname Wordle

I'm late, as usual, for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Fun over at Genea-Musings, but I did take some time this morning to create my Wordle:



I took the top 35 surnames in my genealogy database and then used the Wordle site to generate the above image. During the process it was interesting to see that I had more Putman names than Austin names - a surprise for me! And of course, there is the prevalent "unknown" surname assigned to many females since it isn't always evident what their maiden name was.

The Sisters Eight

This post was composed for the 11th Edition of Smile For The Camera ~ A Carnival of Images

When I tell people that my mother was one of 12 children raised in the middle of the Depression, they shake their head in disbelief.  Disbelief not as in, "Oh, I don't believe you," but more like, "Oh, I can't even begin to image that!"

There were eight girls and four boys among the children of Alfred Austin and Anna Henneberg all raised in Jersey City, New Jersey beginning in the early 1930s.  

Back row (l to r): Ann Patricia, Josephine Eleanor, Joan Kathleen.

Center: Anna Henneberg Austin

Front row: Jacqueline Barbara (my mother), June Marcella, Jennifer Loretta, Julia Therese, Judith Frances

The photo above depicts all the females in the family and, alas, it is the only photo I have showing all eight sisters. I have many photos of most of the sisters taken during the past few years but this was after my Aunt Pudgie (Julia Therese) passed away.

I can't wait to see the remaining seven sisters this May when I go home to New York.  Many years ago, they started the tradition of getting together the first weekend in May which is when their mother passed in 1965.  They come together to share a meal, swap stories and memories, and take photos.

Photo: Anna Henneberg Austin and her daughters, abt. 1950. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois, 2009

Pardon me geneabloggers, for I have . . .

. . . become a true genealogy junkie. It is my all consuming passion to the point where I want it to become my profession. To the point where I can eat, sleep and dream about dead relatives.

Sound familiar? As part of Randy Seaver's usual Saturday Night Fun feature at Genea-Musings, this week he is asking fellow geneabloggers to unload and confess in True Confessions of a Genealogy Junkie.

1. When did you start genealogy research?

While I had looked up a few things back in 1982 at The National Archives while I was attending college at The George Washington University, I really didn't get started until 1995.

2. Why did you start doing research?

My mother gave me an original copy (only 100 were ever printed) of Genealogy of David Putman and His Descendants. It was published in 1916 by George W. Putman, my 7th Cousin Five Times Removed, and it traces my family's history back to Johannes Putman who arrived in New York in 1661.

3. What was your first big success in research?

Locating information on my Crandall relations in Rhode Island and noting the connections between the Austin and Crandall families.

4. What is your biggest genealogy regret?

Not interviewing my great-grandmother Threse McGinnis Austin who died in 1988.

5. What are you best known for in the genealogy world?

I'm the Perle Mesta of the genealogy blogging world. I enjoy bringing other genealogy and family historian fans together online so they can share their skills and resources - and hopefully break down some brick walls!

6. What is your professional status in genealogy?

Right now none - but I have some goals set for the rest of 2009 which include some form of certification in the genealogy field, trying to hit the lecture circuit at various genealogy conferences and more. I have 25 years of information technology experience which I've focused solely on the legal field. Now I want to share my expertise and skills with what I feel is a much more appreciative audience.

7. What is your biggest genealogy achievement?

Still in progress but finally demystifying the story about my surname MacEntee and how the "a" was added in.

8. What is the most FUN you've had doing genealogy?

Finding a community of like-minded people who want to blog about their genealogy research - and it is fun every single day. It would be difficult for me to say that one day has been more fun than another - it is that consistent!

9. What is your favorite genealogy how-to book?

Easy. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills. I could not survive a day of research without this book.

10. What notable genealogist would you like to meet someday?

Do I need to pick just one? I have to follow my heart and say it would be Jasia of Creative Gene. She is my geneablogging "soul sistah" since it was her blog that I first found and I became hooked on blogging about my family history. Jasia and I connected right away and I owe her so much: she has reached out time and time again (not just to me, but the entire geneablogging community) and gives freely of her advice, her ups and downs, her humor. I hope to meet her this summer since she'll be on the other side of Lake Michigan!

I'm More Than A Blogger - I'm A Story Gatherer

Have you ever discussed your passion for blogging with someone who may not be very Internet or Web 2.0 savvy? Reactions have probably ranged from a scrunched-up nose to being peppered with questions about the time and effort, the benefit, etc.

And what about family members? Do they even know about your blog or your web presence? Have you told them about your work to document the stories of your family?

For me, this is one area that has always been difficult. I come from a very large family (I have over 40 first cousins) but when I make visits back home to upstate New York, I notice a "disconnect" when I discuss my blogging.

To solve this, I've used my genealogy research and self-published small books about specific people or topics. My favorite book was one that I created in late 2007 using Ancestry Press (now called MyCanvas) about my first cousin Kenneth VonRonn who was killed in Iraq in January 2005.

I'm always looking for new ways to produce keepsake items and to share the stories I gather. One problem is the gathering: how do you get family members to open up and talk about ancestors? I am a big believer of this concept: there is often more freedom with a limited number of choices. This means: I'd rather have several topics to choose from like "where was your first date?" or "what was your first job like?" rather than having an "open ended" format.

I've been working with products from Cherish Bound which has a great concept: chat cards. Basically the cards can be handed out at a gathering and they have great "prompts" that get people to share their stories. If you've ever been to corporate ice breakers, it is the same concept only applied to a family get-together.

Have you had problems getting family members to open up and share stories with you? Why do you think people are hesitant to talk - because they lack structure or prompt? I'd like to hear from others about their story gathering frustrations and experiences.

Wordless Wednesday

Photo: Georgiana Simpson (1862-1938) and husband Jacob DeGroodt (1860 - 1933), my 2nd great-grandparents. Digital image. Privately held by Dan MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] New York, 2009

MacEntee and DeGroodt Ancestor Photos

I wanted to give a big thank you to my newly found cousin (we are in fact 2nd cousins) whom I've never met in person but who found me online because of this blog (as well as my overall web presence).

Dan MacEntee and I began emailing in May 2008 after I posted my series about whether or not the MacEntee and McEntee families of New York's Hudson Valley are related. Over the past few weeks he has been speaking with his 94-year old grandmother, Mary MacEntee, who married my Grand Uncle, Harold MacEntee. They have been reviewing old photos and Dan has been good enough to write down identifications of the people in the photos, possible dates, etc.

And then as a bonus he scans and sends me a few photos each week. The photo above is simply amazing to me: it depicts all seven sons of Elmer MacEntee and Margaret DeGroodt, my great-grandparents, who also had five daughters.

They are, from left to right, in birth order: John MacEntee (1901 - 1984), Harold MacEntee (1906 - 1979), Myron MacEntee (1907 - 1981), George MacEntee (1909 - 1965), Elmer MacEntee, Jr. (1911 - 1971), Abraham (1913 - 1977), and William, the youngest in the front (1925 - 1987).

One thing I notice and it would help if readers could take a look and give me their opinions: it appears that John, the eldest with the large ears, looks like Myron but not like Harold right next to him. John and Myron look like me and all the males that I know in the MacEntee family including my father. I also think that Harold and the other brothers who look like him resemble the DeGroodt side of the family and all look alike.

Judging from the age of William, or Billy as he was called, I would say he is about six or seven so this photo is dated 1931 or 1932. Other evidence which backs up my theory: I also received a photo of Jacob DeGroodt (1860 - 1933) and Georgiana Simpson (1862 - 1938), my great-great grandparents, which was taken on the same day as this photo. Since Jacob DeGroodt died in 1933, I think I am on the right track as to the date. I will put the DeGroodt photo up tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday.

Thanks Dan!

67th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy - Nobody's Fool

I am so excited to be hosting the 6th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy especially since there are so many great posts!

Janet McMullan presents Best Tools for Family Tree posted at English Ancestors.

Greta Koehl presents My Three Aunts: Nobody’s Fools posted at Greta's Genealogy Bog, saying, "It was next to impossible for me to limit the subject of this article to just one person, so I have written about the three aunts who played big roles in my life; each of them personifies a different aspect of "common sense" and "keeping it together.""

Bill West presents West in New England: COOL posted at West in New England, saying, "My Dad never seemed to lose his cool...except once!"

Randy Seaver presents Della (Smith) Carringer had it all together! posted at Genea-Musings.

Dorene Paul presents Paul R. Orshoski, Sr. posted at Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay, saying, "My dad, Paul R. Orshoski, Sr. always made people feel good about themselves. He always had an encouraging word, even though he was not highly educated, and he was a little guy. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and made friends wherever he went. He worked tirelessly for the PTA, church, Little League, and several charities. He died at age 55, and his common sense, great advice, and loving words are truly missed."

Elizabeth Powell Crowe presents Genealogy before the Internet posted at Crowe's Nest Genealogy Blog by Elizabeth Powell Crowe.

Linda Hughes Hiser presents Nobody's Fool--Jessie Pool VanGilder posted at Flipside, saying, "My great grandmother: a story of courage, resourcefulness and kindness in the face of tragedy."

Jasia presents Mom Was Nobody's Fool posted at Creative Gene. Read about the wonderful piece of jewelry Jasia's mom left her and how her mother saved up for such a purchase.

Schelly Talalay Dardashti presents Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog: My mother, the genius! posted at Tracing the Tribe, saying, "The wise ways - say that three times fast! - of my mother."

footnoteMaven presents In The Competent Hands Of Louis Salter posted at footnoteMaven, saying, "We can no more take credit for our ancestors' accomplishments, than blame for their failures!"

Wendy Littrell presents Meet Mom! « All My Branches Genealogy posted at All My Branches Genealogy, saying, "This article about my mom is NOT a bunch of "hooey"!"

And finally, I present Mom Made Sense posted at Destination: Austin Family, saying, "Mom was a real straight-shooter - she said what was on her mind and you always knew where you stood with her. And she didn't tolerate fools."

That concludes this edition.  And now it's time for a Call for Submissions! In keeping with the month of March being National Women's History Month, and March 8th being International Women's Day, the topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will once again be: A Tribute to Women. Write a tribute to a woman on your family tree, a friend, a neighbor, or a historical female figure who has done something to impact your life. Or instead of writing, consider sharing a photo biography of one woman's life. Or create a scrapbook page dedicated to a woman you'd like to honor. The next edition will be hosted at Creative Gene.  The deadline for submissions is March 15th.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Mom Made Sense

This post was written for the 67th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy hosted by me right here at Destination: Austin Family.

Growing up I never really appreciated my mother's common sense and her ability to "get by" while at the same time "not being taken."  And it is no mystery where Mom got her sense of smarts as we called it.  As I've described her in previous posts, Mom was a child of the Great Depression born and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey with 11 other siblings.  Mom was the middle child - Number 6 - and often played the role of negotiator and peace keeper.  It is my belief that her placement in the pecking order and the era in which she grew up provided an environment whereby she needed to rely on her wits to get by.  

Having been raised by working parents and a pair of stern yet doting grandparents, Mom had great role models who must have imparted some key bits of wisdom. But it wasn't until she was out on her own - after my father left us - did she really come to rely upon her common sense and practicality.  Mom was left with two young boys in the early 1970s and had no credit, little work history, and just a high school education.  But besides having a supportive family, Mom was able to call upon life's lessons learned from her mother and grandmother and let others know that she was not to be played for the fool.

I'll always remember one incident where Mom communicated this very effectively: it was a winter Saturday and we went to the movies in Monticello.  The theater had advertised in the local paper a showing of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.  Mom was excited, we were excited and it was a big deal.  To put this in perspective: this was before the days of video tape and Disney movies were not shown on television and to have a classic re-released was an event.

Once in the theater, the movie began and since I had not yet seen the original I was unaware that what was being shown was a dreadful live action (not animated) knock-off in some foreign language with subtitles.  So as my brother and I sat in the dark reading, my mother got up and made her way to the lobby.  She confronted the manager (that's what Mom did, she confronted people when she was angry) and asked why he had advertised Disney's version of the movie to the point of even using Disney art work in the print ad.

Well five minutes later, Mom's hands yanked my brother and I out of our seats back to the lobby where by now she was part of a rabble of angry mothers.  It was something right out of a Frankenstein movie where the peasants gather with torches, rakes and pitchforks.  As I watched the theater owner suddenly hop in his car and take off, little did I know that Mom had somehow organized these women and was now their leader.

What next?  Off to the police station to see about fraud charges.  Yep, that's how Mom was - she didn't suffer any fools.  My next recollection is sitting in the lobby of the police station with many other children - and their respective mothers - as Mom explained the situation to the police.  In the overheated lobby the air hung heavy with harsh New York and New Jersey accents and the occasional four-letter word as well as many hand gestures, some of which even I could understand at that age.

Mom wanted more than just a refund.  She wanted to make sure that the theater owner understood what it had meant to her boys to see a Disney movie as well as the effort it took to drive 10 miles on a snowy afternoon.  I don't remember how the issue was finally settled but I do remember there being a local news story the next day in the newspaper.

I knew it wasn't nice to fool with Mother MacEntee.  And in short order that poor theater owner knew it too.  And at that time what my brother and I didn't know was we were being taught a lesson on how not to let someone take advantage of you or your situation.

Photo: MacEntee Family - Thomas, Jacqueline and Michael, 1975. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. Copyright 2009.