How I Use Technology With My Genealogy

[This post was written as part of the series of Weekly Genealogy Prompts proposed by Amy Coffin of We Tree.  This week's prompt: Talk about the different types of technology you use in your genealogy research. Whether it’s a new search engine, a special application, or anything else “2.0,” let readers know what you’re working with, and how it’s working for you.]

About the time I picked up the genealogy bug, I was already firmly established professionally in the information technology field. So for me, there is no real time when I didn't pursue my technology using some gadget such as a computer or Internet application.

This doesn't mean the way in which I trace my roots is better than any other method. And it doesn't mean - as one might think - that my way is easier. Simply put, it is just my way.

I think over the past two years of blogging about genealogy, writing articles about the use of technology and genealogy, and promoting the use of blogs in the genealogy field have brought me to this conclusion: the field of genealogy is at a cross-roads with two distinct "camps" or "schools of thought."

One group's experience with genealogy is that of attending genealogical society meetings, attending conferences and workshops, visiting local Family History Centers, using the resources at libraries and archives, and documenting much of their findings through photocopies, hand written notes and copies of documents requested from government agencies. This group tends to be very well versed in the importance of source citations, they know how to interact socially with other genealogists, and while technology may be involved in their genealogical pursuits, it isn't the main focus of their work.

Before I get to the next group I want to pause and urge readers to avoid labels such as "old timers" or "old fashioned" or "luddites" when mentioning this group or their methodology. Besides being ageist it really is untrue since I know several people "young of age" who prefer to work with forms and charts more than computers and applications.

The other group's experience with genealogy is almost solely based in the world of technology and many members may only have decided to pursue the search for their family history after already having a strong foundation with gadgets and computers. Members of this group tend to embrace and even seek out new forms of technology, are often called "early adapters" who test out new appliances and programs and then spread the word to others in the genealogy community. They are a social group but socialize at their convenience using various forms of social media such as Facebook and Twitter and they are all over blogs and websites - many with more than one of each to their name! Some members will attend local society meetings, travel to genealogy conferences or perform research in libraries or archives but most often will try to do so on the Internet first.

Again, try to avoid labeling this group with terms such as "pajama genealogists" or "young folk" or "genea geeks."  As I've stated in Facebook Is NOT The Domain Of The Young, technology does not favor the young - but we all should be open to learning new things and not let others discourage us. Technology does not necessarily make your research easier - in fact it allows you to access much more information which you then need to read, understand and filter through in order to determine what is or is not useful.

At times I experience great frustration with the fact that there even has to be a division between the two groups. In my mind, I have much to learn from those who continue to pursue genealogy with less of an emphasis on technology. They've taught me the importance of process and discipline, the importance of sources and citing sources, as well as the importance of getting off my duff and meeting other genealogists in person.

And since I tend to affiliate more with the group that pursues genealogy with an emphasis on technology, I know we have much to offer and to teach others who may not feel as comfortable with technology as we do. We need to take time and explain new applications and features. Many of us take a mentoring role with not only those new to genealogy but those new to certain aspects of technology. I take no greater pride in hearing about a recent retiree who can amaze and stupify her "know it all grandchildren" (as one person recently told me) with her use of Twitter. And when someone e-mails me and says "my children are embarassed that I'm on Facebook," I know I've done some good work.

Let's try to get away from an us vs. them mentality which really doesn't serve the genealogy community at all and detracts from our mission to help others trace their own roots. Remember that technology itself is innocent and impartial. It is how we choose to use it - or not use it - that determines how we pursue our research and how we relate to our fellow genealogist.

copyright 2009 Thomas MacEntee

My Geneaspace

This week's as part of Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun over at Genea-musings, he asks the following:

1) Take a digital picture of your Genealogy Space - whether it is a table, desk, bookcase, whatever. Take more than one if you want.

2) Show off your Genealogy Space to all of us in a blog post showing your digital pictures. If you aren't blogging or don't want to show us your pictures, go to 3) below without passing Go or collecting another ancestor.

3) Tell us something about your Genealogy Space. How long does it take you to find something? Are you thinking of reorganizing your space?

Now I don't want people to think I didn't take these photos last night because my office wasn't clean.  I think it is easier and looks better to take photos with a bit of daylight.  Besides if you look real close you can see some dirt on the floor!



So above is my office which is at the rear of the condo and has a patio door which goes out to the deck. (You can read more about the 1905 3-flat building I live in here.) This part of the building was "added on" to the original and in each unit it contains the furnace, the stackable washer/dryer and space to use as an office or a dining area.

The walls are a jade green, the desk and chair are espresso brown, and there are gold drapes in front of the sliding glass door. There is my microwaveable heating pad on the desk chair (for my osteo-arthritis), and the basket under the desk houses all the drooping cordage from the equipment. I do this so I don't need to see it all dusty and lurking like an octopus under my feet.



The view behind the desk shows my folding bookcases filled with office supplies as well as a painting by my friend Lisa Hartmann. Notice the large wicker basket - it is the only truly "disorganized" area - it is where all bills and genealogy papers go. They are later scanned and/or filed.



The red cardboard box contains items to be scanned including diaries, photos etc. I need to get another plastic sealable storage bin in order to keep out water, dust and critters. Below the box are two wooden filing boxes since I don't care for metallic filing cabinets. This contains all my papers filed away after they are scanned.



Up close, I have a very neat elevated monitor stand from Kennsington. It allows me more places to store items to be scanned (like the stack of old photos) and also makes it easier to dust. The big benefit is having the monitor at a better eye height to reduce eye strain.

I also have my DSL mode, the 250GB external hard drive and my cordless phone system for the house.



Finally, I have my CPU sitting on the side - I don't like it on the floor where it can get dusty. On top of that is my scanner/printer/copier. And my ever-present copy of Evidence Explained along with a copy of The Family History Research Toolkit by Michael Hait which I will review in a post over at Geneabloggers.  There is usually an iPod nano charging, my headset so I can listen to music or speak on Skype and a coaster (where is my coffee?).

In terms of operability and function, I like the fact that I can sit in the desk chair and look out the deck and have sunlight streaming in. As you can see I also am big on organization and scanning papers is a big part of that. If I really need a hard copy of an item, it is in file boxes behind me but they are heavy and most be moved around for access.

What I don't like about my office space is that proximity of the furnace amd washer/dryer (every time the buzzer goes off and someone on the phone asks, "What was that?" I usually say "Oh, fries are up."). There is too much noise for me to be able to do a series of podcasts or webcasts with my webcam.

My Genealogy Journey

There's an interesting discussion post over at the Genea-Blogger's Group on Facebook by a member wondering what her next steps should be in the field of genealogy. She wonders if she should become certified, take courses, etc.

Knowing that a description of my own genealogy journey might be too large for a discussion post, I thought I'd share where I've been and the direction in which I am headed in terms of my genealogy.

My journey began around 1995 when my mother handed me a copy of a printed genealogy for my Putman line. Entitled Genealogy of David Putman and His Ancestors, only 100 copies were printed and I had my hands on one! The book was a real eye-opener then as to who my ancestors were. And it intrigues me even now since my cousin did all the research by mailing letters to the postmasters of small New York towns and asking for a list of Putman names to correspond with.

Soon thereafter I took Mom on many genealogy trips. One was to Lowville, New York where my Austin, Dence and Putman ancestors had lived. Another was to North Kingstown, Rhode Island to visit Austin graveyards since I descend from Robert Austin (b. 1638 in Kingstown, Rhode Island).

In 2006 I started this blog, Destionation: Austin Family as a means of documenting my family history and sharing it with my family and others. Creating this blog (and the ten others since then) has been very therapeutic as I deal with my mother's early onset Alzheimer's and her care. I don't know what I would have done without the encouragement and support of many of my geneablogger friends. They were unafraid to speak about issues besides genealogy and make me realize that we have more in common than that which separates us.

In 2008 I was suddenly terminated - along with 1200 co-workers - from a global law firm as it decided to dissolve. How did I deal with the fact that I was not paid back wages? Create a blog about it - of course! But how was I going to deal with the lack of desire to work in the legal technology field after 20+ years? And how was I going to deal with the strong desire to share my talents and expertise with the genealogy community?

In early 2009 I polled - via email - some of my closest geneablogger friends and asked them for recommendations on certification in the field of genealogy. In a post this week I will reveal the information I gathered and my choice as to certification.

What I can say is this: each day as I interact more and more with the genealogy community, I feel this "pull" towards making it my calling, my profession. So I have a 5-year plan in place which will allow me to transition from my current field to that of genealogy. More on that in a bit.

copyright 2009 Thomas MacEntee

69th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted

Over at West in New England, the 69th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted. Sit down with a good cup of coffee this morning and read through the entries all with the common theme of "What If?"

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: Uncle, Uncle! This edition is all about our uncles. Have you got a favorite or interesting uncle? Tell us about him! Maybe you had a older cousin, neighbor, or friend you called "uncle"... that works too! No uncles in your life? No problem. Write about any gentleman on your family tree who was an uncle to somebody :-) The deadline for submissions is April 15th (get your tax return done early so you don't miss out!).

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 blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link.

Mom Taught Me More Than How To Cook

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

Mom taught me life skills and the ability to cook is one which has served me well. If it weren't for my flat feet and inability to stand for long stretches of time, I'm certain I would have gone into the culinary or catering field - that's how much I've come to enjoy being in the kitchen.

For Mom, teaching her oldest son how to cook was a necessity: Mom went to work around the time I turned 7. With two small boys to support she knew it would be easier to at least have dinner started or prepped when she walked in the door each night at 5:30pm. And so Mom taught me the basics.

We are not talking fancy gourmet cooking although that was something I would try my hand at later on to the delight of my family. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s basics mean stuff like Hamburger Helper and Shake 'N Bake. In fact, the phrase "and I helped" used in the Shake 'N Bake commercials is what I decided to call my food blog. It is a tribute to all the recipes I learned from Mom and since then. I highly recommend setting up a family recipe blog if food, cooking and recipes are a large part of your genealogy research.

Mom taught be food safety (proper temperatures, food handling,etc.) as well as how to operate equipment such as a stove, microwave, etc. I learned how to measure, how to defrost, how to mix and most importantly how to develop a cook's "sixth sense" when something wasn't right or was just right.

As the years went by I would be making dishes such as clams casino and paella for a very appreciative extended family. I can thank Mom for teaching me these basic skills and that food and the gift of food could help open doors and break down barriers.

Census Search Trick - Finding Non-Indexed Entries

Well, my Leehive saga continues. I spent much of yesterday looking for the 1930 Federal Census record for Michael Leehive, son of John Leehive, born 1870 in Greenwich, London, England. Being an Ancestry subscriber, I was using their search form and even utilizing my "no surname trick," I could not locate the information.

Thinking Michael had passed, I even tried his wife Catherine and his two children Julia and Michael, Jr. with no luck.

So, I thought: go with what you know. I knew that Michael Leehive and his family had appeared in the Kingston, New York census for 1900, 1910 and 1920. Since many of the other Leehive children had moved to Bayonne, New Jersey to work in the oil refinery business, I made searches there as well. No dice.

Thinking that Michael, at age 60 probably remained in Kingston, I looked closely at the 1920 Federal Census and found that Michael Leehive and family lived in the 5th Ward of Kingston, Board of Election District No. 1, and specifically at 222 East Union Street. Since they had lived at the same address since the 1910 Federal Census, there was a good chance I could find their 1930 Federal Census record by reviewing all the pages for the same enumeration district.


Upper left corner of census sheet showing state, county and division


Upper right corner of census sheet showing ward and enumeration district

So I performed a basic Leehive search in the 1930 Federal Census using Ancestry's search form:

Ancestry "old search" form

I pulled up the first result which was not a Leehive record but that didn't matter.  I just wanted access to the "breadcrumb" links above the record which read "New York, Ulster, Kingston."

Ancestry's 1930 Federal Census record for New York, Ulster, Kingston, District 14

I clicked on "Kingston and a list of enumeration districts displayed.  I scanned the list looking for Ward 5 - usually enumeration districts change from census to census and I could not be certain the 1930 Federal Census district was the same as the 1920 Federal Census district.


Enumeration district listing for 1930 Federal Census, Kingston, New York

I clicked the link for District 19 and was presented with Page 1 of 37 pages for the district.  I would need to scan each sheet and then click "Next" to proceed to the next sheet.


1930 Federal Census, Enumeration Distict 19, Kingston, New York, page 1

When I arrived at Page 7, my Michael Leehive was there waiting for me - at the same 222 East Union Street address as the 1920 Federal Census.  

(http://www.ancestry.com), accessed April 2, 2009, citing Census Place: Kingston, Ulster, New York; Roll: 1655; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 19; Image: 251.0

It is important to remember that when using online databases such as Ancestry, not all pages or entries may have been properly indexed or indexed at all.  After exhausting every other possible search method, the only method left was to do a visual review page by page.  I was lucky in that my Leehive family did not move since the 1920 Federal Census otherwise I'm not sure how I would have found them.

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!