In Genealogy, as in Real Estate: Location, location, location

I have read numerous articles, blogs, etc., discussing how important place is in genealogy.  So, having that message knocked into my thick skull, I've joined The Society for One-Place Studies.  My one-place study is of the town where I grew up, Jacksonville, Florida.  My husband was born and raised in Jacksonville.  Even though I was born in Long Beach, California, I lived in Jacksonville since I was 7 years old, from 1954 to 1980, so I consider it my home town.  I told my Florida native husband and other Floridians I've met that I've been "Floridated."  We only moved into the next county to the south because my husband had rural fever.  He didn't want to be a city boy anymore, but I have to say, I miss the suburbs.

Those of you interested in one-place studies may find my one-place study blog at One-Place Study: Jacksonville, Florida.  

The first entry is a welcome message, telling a little about me, about Jacksonville, and about the scope I envision for my one-place study.  The second post tells of Jacksonville's place in the early 20th century as "Hollywood" before Hollywood was Hollywood -- the important role it played in the history of early silent movies.

My family lines do not go back far in Jacksonville, not as far as my husband's family does.  But even his family connection to the city goes back only as far as 1925, when his paternal aunt was born here.  Next in time is my husband, born in Jacksonville in 1946.  Our older daughter was born here in 1971.  Her sister, born in 1972, was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, as my husband was stationed there on active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard.  Our son-in-law was born in Jacksonville, also in 1972.  His family came to Florida from Missouri.  The latest family member born in Jacksonville is our grandson, born in 2004.

However, Jacksonville has longer connections to my own family than the birth of our older daughter.  My mother and father, and my sister and my brother, lived here during World War II, when my father, an officer in the U.S. Navy, was stationed at Naval Air Station Jacksonville as a flight instructor.  

This area of Florida has roots in Spanish Colonial Florida, and I will be presenting information on that history as well as more modern information.  Jacksonville has a rich history, and I'm going to delve into it.  Come along for the ride.  You may be surprised.

Luring my Grandson into Genealogy

 My grandson Victor, who is now 20 years old, has always wanted to hear family stories, especially stories of the years my husband and I spent in the U.S. Coast Guard.  I have told him other family stories, as well.

He visited me a couple weeks ago or so, looking for instruction on how to apply the standards in the section of the Chicago Manual of Style on source citations for one of his college classes.  He had a paper to write, and needed the format for writing his source citations.  He mentioned that he had another paper to write, and would have to pick a topic.

Aha! thinks wily grandma.  Maybe I can get him interested in genealogy.  So I suggested that he write his paper on how to begin investigating one's family history.  Not a recitation of his family history, though he might include some examples therefrom, but the how-to of beginning to gather documentation, analyze it, and draw conclusions from it.  He said he would have to run that by his professor.

He called today and said the professor had given him the green light.  So he will be over sometime during the week or the weekend, and we'll talk about it.  I have a one-lesson talk called "Bare Bones," which gives the most basic information about the subject.  I think I'll use that as a basis for instructing him on how to do this.

And I'll give him a few family stories, too.  Not for the paper, but as an incentive to him to think about delving into his family history.

Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Unusual Cause of Death

Hey, I'm actually posting this on Saturday!  It's time for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun and this Saturday's task is to answer:

1)  What is the most unusual cause of death you have discovered for your ancestors?

2) Tell us about the most unusual cause of death you found in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook Status  post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.  

I would venture to say that having one's head crushed by a railroad-yard donkey engine is rather unusual, in the grand scheme of things.  That was the cause of death of my maternal grandfather, Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Reed [1].  The death occurred in Detroit, Michigan, 20 October 1917, two months before my mother's first birthday.  The specific cause is entered on the death certificate as "crushing injuries to head; run over by steam engine."    

My grandfather and grandmother were married 25 November 1913, and had three children [2].  The first child, my uncle Don Reed, was born seven months before the wedding.  According to my mother's sister, my aunt Margaret, the Reed family "ganged up" on my grandmother, Ruth [Nave] Reed, and took the two younger children, daughters, away from their mother and had them adopted within the family, by two of their uncles and their wives.  They would have looked down on her, following the ethos of the times, for "loose morals" in having engaged in premarital relations.  They probably also were not happy with her working as a telephone operator, as she had a mother and a son to support.  In those days, "decent" women stayed home rather than being in the workforce.  

My aunt also said that my grandmother had a sad life, and indeed she did.   You may read her story here .  Married to a woman he loved but his family didn't, with three children in a rather short span of years and the animosity of his family toward his wife, it could have been a stressful time for my grandfather as well as for my grandmother.  The one photo I have of my grandmother shows her with a sad expression on her face.  So I wonder if perhaps it all got too much for my grandfather, and in a moment of utter despair and hopelessness, he decided to lay his head down on the railroad track.  How many ways can one get one's head crushed by a railroad engine?

He could have tripped and fallen.  I wonder if any record exists with the railroad or in some other office that would have more detail?  This was before some of the more common and useful railroad records existed.  Any suggestions would be welcome. 

[1] State of Michigan, Department of State, Division of Vital Statistics, Transcript of Certificate of Death, Benjamin Franklin Reed.  Verified by Glenn Copeland, State Registrar, Michigan Department of Community Health, Lansing, Michigan, 3 April 2009.  Registered no. 10695.

[2]  "St. Joseph, Indiana, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org /ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-LBLF-9DV5?view=index : Jan 25, 2025), image 108 of 818; Indiana. County Court (St. Joseph County).  Citing Marriage Record 1912-1913, Vol. 25, page 88.

 

Joplin Note-taking Software: I use it to keep my research logs.

 I have been the world's worst about keeping a research log.  I have tried all sorts of forms published by a whole variety of companies and individuals, and nearly all, if not all, of the ones listed on Cyndi's List.  None have been satisfactory.  I like a lot of detail, and most of these forms do not have enough room for the completeness I crave in making research log entries.

I have tried various templates that others have created for their research logs.  Ones that use Excel or another spreadsheet software, I still find too much of a strait-jacket, and I'm not all that smart about spreadsheets, anyway. 

Because of the above difficulties, I just haven't been good about keeping a research log.

On my way to other things online, I ran into a software package that I have found ideal in meeting my criteria.  Joplin is a free, open-source note-taking software that is flexible and adaptable.  I can make a "notebook" for each individual in my family tree, and enter free-form, detailed notes and source citations.  I am not restricted by the inflexibility of a form.  For each source I locate, I enter a brief description of the fact(s) found in each source document.  I can comment on the reliability of the source, whether it is original or derivative, and on the information in the source, whether it is primary or secondary, and how the source stacks up as evidence.  Then I enter the source citation.  

When I need to document a statement in my blog, an analysis of the information found in a source, a posting on Ancestry.com in my trees, or whenever I need a source citation, I can simply copy the citation I have entered for the source under each individual that I have already created in my notes in Joplin.

Here's a sample of an entry in Joplin for research on my great-great-great granduncle Major Wellman Packard, of my father's paternal line, concerning his kinship to Nathaniel Strong Sunderland, another great-great-great granduncle through my mother's paternal line:

"Major Wellman Packard and Nathaniel Strong Sunderland married to sisters: Packard to Ellen Harris; Sunderland to Rachel Harris.  Both men wrote receipts to the Estate of Israel Harris, father of Ellen and Rachel, for having receive the bequests; their wives, daughters of Israel Harris, also signed.

"Last will and testament of Israel Harris. Montgomery County, Ohio, Estate Files, Ca. 1810-1887; Probate Place: Montgomery, Ohio. Ohio, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998: Montgomery County, Estate Files, Volume C, page 477. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8801/images/005885619_00381?pId=11232916. (Last accessed 21 January 2025)"

The entries are made in RichText format, which most word-processing programs, even proprietary ones like Microsoft Word, can interpret.  Joplin has apps for a variety of devices, including mobile phones for on-site research.  It can accommodate photos taken with a phone's camera.  The program can use videos, photos, and audio files, too.

So I'm getting better about keeping a research log, now that I have found a software package I am happy with.  

Genealogy Book Acquisitions 2024

I am inspired by Heather Wilkinson Rojo's post, What Did Genea-Santa Bring? Christmas Books 2024 to list the genealogy books to which I treated myself to in 2024.  I did get books for Christmas, but none in the genealogy area.  I took advantage of a sale by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, of which I'm a member, to buy a selection of books relating to my early New England roots.

Robert Charles Anderson, FASG: The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1640.  This is indeed a directory: an alphabetical listing of the names of all who have been found to have been part of the Great Migration in those twenty years.  My eighth great-grandfather, Samuel Packard, is first in line under the letter "P."  Samuel's entry gives the port in England from which he sailed, which was Wymondham, Norfolk.  Samuel was actually from Stonham Aspal, Suffolk.  He sailed on the ship Diligent, as the entry says.  Research revealed to me that Samuel had with him his wife Elizabeth, whose surname is not yet known, and their first child, an infant daughter.  They landed at Hingham, removed to Weymouth, and finally settled in Bridgewater, as this entry shows.  I have found that he lived in the part of Bridgewater that became North Bridgewater and is known today as Brockton.

Robert Charles Anderson, FASG:  The Mayflower Migration: Immigrants to Plymouth, 1620.  As I am, through my decent from Samuel Packard, a direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, I was elected to membership in the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.  My sixth great-grandfather Zaccheus Packard (the younger), Samuel Packard's grandson, married Mercy Alden, the great-granddaughter of John and Priscilla.  I just had to have this book.  Of benefit to practicing family historians and genealogists investigating early New England roots is Mr. Anderson's discussion of the methodology and sources he employed in his research for this book.  There is a 16-page background on the "gathering" of the persons aboard Mayflower.  And, again, my family takes a first spot.  The sketches lead off with John Alden.  The sketches are lengthy, with sources given in the narrative.  One of these days, I may have time to run these all down.

Robert Charles Anderson, FASG: Puritan Pedigrees: the Deep Roots of the Great Migration to New England.  While my line is not listed in this volume, I value it for the background it describes for the Great Migration which brought so many new settlers from England to New England.  As a historian, I'm what's called an annaliste, which means I love background.  If you don't know where you've been, you might know where you're going, but you most likely don't know why you're going.  Why our ancestors did things is just as interesting as where and when they did them, and just as much a part of their lives and ours as the where and when.

I also tapped the Genealogical Publishing Company during the year:

Susan E. Roser, Mayflower Increasings, 2nd Edition.  This is a revision and expansion of the original edition, with "more names, dates, and sources that were missing from the original," as Ms. Roser says in the Preface.  Ms. Roser only explores the first three generations, rather than the five generations presented in the multiple volumes of Mayflower Families Through Five Generations ("the Silver Books").  Each of these works can supplement the other.

 Drew Smith: Generation by Generation: A Modern Approach to the Basics of Genealogy.  This work is in two parts.  The first part discusses generally the basic tenets of genealogy research.  It is a good basic grounding in the process.  The second part breaks down, by generation (providing a specific spread of years for each) what to look for and what you may expect to find in genealogical research during each of those spans of years in doing basic genealogical research.  It never hurts to go back to the basics.

Then I found a few books by various authors and publishers: 

Blaine T. Bettinger and Debbie Parker Wayne: Genetic Genealogy in Practice (National Genealogical Society Special Topics Series).  First in this book is a basic overview of genetics.  Then there is a review of standards and ethics.  The rest of the book discusses the various types of DNA testing -- Y-DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, and so forth.  Included in each chapter are exercises and case studies.

Diahan Southard:  Your DNA Guide (the Book): Step by Step Plans to Connect You with Your Family Using Your DNA.  This is probably the level on which I should enter the area of genetic genealogy.  Having been a registered nurse, I understand the medical and physiological aspects of DNA, but the genealogical aspect of it is different.  There is an accompanying workbook, for working on the exercises in the book.  

Debbie Parker Wayne, editor:  Advanced Genetic Genealogy: Techniques and Case Studies.  I should probably go through the previous two books on genetic genealogy a couple times each before I tackle this one.  This is one thick book!  There is a whale of a lot of information, with each chapter having been written by an individual with expertise in the particular topic or topics covered in the chapter.  Judy G. Russell, "The Legal Genealogist," has a chapter on the ethics of genetic genealogy.  [My copy of the book is autographed by Ms. Russell.]  There's a chapter by an MD on the medical aspects of the raw DNA data behind the tests.  Another chapter covers the relationship of genetic genealogy and the Genealogical Proof Standard.

Finally, two books on a subject less intimidating to me than DNA:

Christina Kassabian Schaefer: The Hidden Half of the Family: A Sourcebook for Women's Genealogy.  This is a state-by-state sourcebook on various aspects of the particular difficulties of searching for female ancestors in an Anglo-based legal system, because of the long tradition of women changing their surnames to their husband's surname.  Researching female ancestors is not quite as difficult in Romance-language countries like Spain and France.  Women are named under their own name, or under a decipherable combination of names.  Listings for each state cover such topics as Marriage and Divorce, Property and Inheritance, Voting (under the heading "Suffrage"), and more.  Some sources are given, with others implied, such as listing for Dade County marriages, with the information that marriage information is available from county records clerks at the courthouses.  The copyright date of 1999 suggests one might do well to check for the currency of the information.

Sharon DeBartolo Carmack: Telling Her Story: A Guide to Researching and Writing about Women of the Past.  This book's 2024 copyright date indicates more up-to-date information than in the book listed above.  Still, it is always best to check your state's information, either at the town, county, or state level.  Ms. Carmack provides numerous case studies to illustrate the points raised in each chapter, beginning with the problem of determining a married woman's maiden name.  Again, this is an artifact of an Anglo-based culture.  The author examines sources created specifically for information about women, with research strategies and examples.  The succeeding chapter deals with diaries, journals, letters, memoirs.  It is a lucky researcher that has more than just a few of these.  My grandma saved the letters she and her husband exchanged when he was traveling for his job with railroads.  My mother did not save the letters of herself and my father during World War II.  

That's a taste of the books I indulged in last year. 

Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Recent Genealogy Find about an Ancestor

This weekend on Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, the assignment is:

1)  Share a recent genealogy find about an ancestor or family, such as a new name, document or even a clue towards cracking a brick wall.

2) Tell us about your recent genealogy find in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook Status  post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

In my mother's line, there is a family of the surname Sunderland.  My maternal great-great grandmother was Sarah Ann Sunderland, daughter of Benjamin Sunderland and Margaret Emeline Weller [1].

There is, among the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, a letter to Lincoln from a friend, another Illinois lawyer named Major Wellman Packard, my great-great-great granduncle [2].  Major is his given name, not a military rank, but in the family he is generally known as Wellman, and he often signed his name as M. W. Packard.  In this letter to Abe Lincoln, Wellman Packard mentions his brother-in-law, N. S. Sunderland.  In researching him, I found marriage documents and other original sources, including his father-in-law's will [3].

My research revealed that Wellman Packard was married to Ellen Harris, daughter of Israel Harris [I have not yet identified Ellen's mother] [4].  N. S. Sunderland [Nathaniel Strong Sunderland] was married to Ellen's sister Rachel [5].  N. S. was the son of Peter Sunderland and Nancy Ann Robbins [6].  Benjamin Sunderland (Sarah Ann Sunderland's father, remember?) was also the son of Peter Sunderland and Nancy Ann Robbins [7].  So N. S. Sunderland was my great-great-great granduncle, the brother of my great-great-great-grandfather.  Thus, the Sunderland family is related to both my mother's line and my father's line.

N. S. Sunderland and Major Wellman Packard both appear, in the form of their attestation of having received their wives' inheritance on their behalf, in the will of Israel Harris, the father-in-law of both men [8].  

Here is the receipt signed by Nathaniel Strong Sunderland and his wife, Rachel [Harris] Sunderland:

 

And here is the receipt signed by M. W. Packard and his wife, Ellen [Harris] Packard:  

 

I find it interesting that both men added a little flourish after the terminal "d" in their surnames, that looks something like an "l" or an oversized "e."  Note that M. W. Packard includes on his statement the place and the date.  He was a lawyer, remember?

The bequests are not as paltry as they look on first blush.  $304 and $305 in 1858 are worth around $10,000 in 2023 dollars, the latest year available in The Inflation Calculator.  It appears Israel Harris was well-off [9].

---------------------

[1]  Sarah Ann [Sunderland McKee] Rogers, Death certificate.  Indiana State Board of Health, Registered No. 225.  Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1922; Roll: 12. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60716/images/44494_350189-01738?pId=4985273.  (Last accessed 21 January 2025)  Also: Allen County (Indiana) Probate Will Record, Volume 7, 1890-1903, page 59.

 [2]  Library of Congress, Abraham Lincoln Papers:  Series 1, General Correspondence.  1833-1916: Major W. Packard to Abraham Lincoln, Wednesday, February 22, 1860 ("Florville's Taxes").  https://www.loc.gov/manuscripts/?q=%22florville%27s+taxes%22 (Last accessed 21 January 2025).

[3]  Last will and testament of Israel Harris.  Montgomery County, Ohio, Estate Files, Ca. 1810-1887; Probate Place: Montgomery, Ohio.   Ohio, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998: Montgomery County, Estate Files, Volume C, page 477. Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8801/images/005885619_00381?pId=11232916. (Last accessed 21 January 2025)

[4]  Marriage certification, Major W. Packard and Ellen Harris.  McLean County, Illinois, Marriage Records Book C, page 331.  "Illinois, Marriages, 1815-1935", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HSKB-VCT2 : 13 January 2020), Major W Packard, 1857. (Accessed 21 January 2025)

[5]  Marriage certification Nathanial S. Sunderland and Rachel Harris.  Montgomery County, Ohio, Marriage Records, Volume A-2, page 180.  "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XD26-GHG : Sat Mar 09 09:55:39 UTC 2024), Entry for Nathaniel S. Sunderland and Rachael Harris, 06 Apr 1841. (Accessed 21 January 2025)

[6]  Last Will and Testament of Peter Sunderland, d. 2 Oct 1841.  Ohio, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998.  Montgomery [County], Will Records, Volume A-D, 1805-1850, pp. 202-203.  Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8801/images/005876827_00912?pId=15608996  (accessed 21 January 2025).

[7]  Last Will and Testament of Peter Sunderland.

[8]  Last Will and Testament of Israel Harris.

 [9]   Figures derived from The Inflation Calculator (http://westegg.com/inflation).