Granny's Genealogy

Read This about Evidence and Conclusions

May 10th, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Tools and Information - (0 Comments)

I have rarely felt so strongly that about the importance of a piece of genealogical writing.

The author who writes as ‘The Ancestry Insider’ has is writing about how computer programs and online trees handle evidence and conclusions; more to the point, how they should handle it.

You need to read this post, now. Reading this explains why many beginning genealogists have problems understanding analyzing what they have found. It also explains why so many people have ongoing problems reaching conclusions regarding evidence. Computer programs have no way to display evidence systematically to aid decision making.

Lately, I have seen many examples of individuals conducting research to support a IWAG¹, instead of gathering evidence to lead them to a logical conclusion. Down with guessing! Down with posting guesses in on-line family trees!

Illogical Wild A** Guess. Did not want to offend you with my opinion of some of the things I have seen lately until you read the important part!

Tuesday Tools – The Bureau of Land Management Website and Records

May 4th, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Tools and Information - (0 Comments)

This entry is part 7 of 8 in the series Land Records

I recently reviewed some land patents from our family. In most cases, little genealogical information can be found in land patent records. I find that land records are useful in identifying where my ancestors lived, and when.

The (United States) Bureau of Land Management has a useful website with a lot of information concerning Federal lands. Many genealogists are familiar with the Land Patent Search page. Today I will discuss the land patent search. Start from the front page of the site, and at the top, on the green bar, click Land Patent Search.

The land patent records on the site are for certain states, the search form clearly states that the original thirteen colonies, their territories and a “few other states” are not included. You see a search screen, which you fill in with as much information as you have. This search is for Erastus Fellows, Ohio; an ancestor we are researching. (The images below are thumbnails, which you can enlarge by clicking.)

The search result:

The result shows one patent for an Erastus Fellows in Ohio. Clicking on the name provides more information:

You can see that the patent was a result of a Cash Entry Sale, dated 24 April 1820, for 40 acres, land office at Wooster, Ohio. There are also some important numbers, the document number, the accession/Serial number and the BLM Serial number. Clicking the “legal land description” tab will show you the legal description of the land, which is the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 33 T20N R20W.

On the “Document Image” tab you may view or download a copy of the certificate granted to the patentee. This is the certificate that the new land owner took to the local court house to register his purchase. Some were not registered, but may were. You may order a certified copy of the patent if you wish, but it will not provide any more information that you can see by viewing the patent on your computer.

I have researched the local records for this family, and the evidence indicates that he is another man named Erastus Fellows, not Papa’s ancestor.

If you are inclined, you may order copies of the original land entry case file, which can be far more useful. You will need the document numbers, the name of the person who received the patent, and the land description to order the file. One patent we ordered contained the only record of the date of John Fenton’s death, 2 May 1872, we have ever found. These files are currently $40; I only order patents which I believe may contain information I do not already have. If you have identified an ancestor who patented land and you are interested in the record, you can order online or get the form here.

Next week on Tuesday I will discuss the Federal Survey Plats and survey notes section of the Bureau website.

Land Records

Funeral Card Friday – Alec James Sparks

April 30th, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Tools and Information - (0 Comments)

I am sharing funeral cards on Friday, following a Facebook meme which you an see here. I know the meme in for the first Friday, but sometimes I just like an idea sooo much…

Alec Sparks was a neighbor of Papa’s family for many years, and of Papa and I when we lived in the Cadillac area. You can see that he was born in Antioch Township, Wexford County, an area where Papa’s family also had roots. Alec James Sparks was the son of James Sparks and Minnie Sayer, the second of their nine children, and the oldest to survive childhood. He loved music, and he loved to dance. He was a carpet layer, at least for some part of his career, and M-in-L sometimes asked him for advice on flooring.

When our children were small, I remember taking them off to pick berries, or hunt mushrooms. We often saw Alec walking along the road, getting his exercise.

Funeral Card Friday, Sparks, Wexford Co MI

Tuesday’s Tools – Saving an Image from Seeking Michigan

April 27th, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Tools and Information - (5 Comments)

There are a host of professional genealogists who offer tips, shortcuts and tricks to make life easier for the rest of us. Along the way, each of us picks up tidbits of knowledge which help us survive, or at least become our own standard way of accomplishing tasks. Once in a while, when I feel like it, in very irregular fashion, but almost always on Tuesday, I will tell you how I do something related to my genealogy. If this little effort helps you, share with others, so they can be helped to. We all have a little something in our heads that can make life easier for others. One warning: I am a PC user, and I know nothing about Apple, Mac or Linux operating systems and/or computers. This is from a PC user, for PC users.

Today’s tool is a method I used to save, rather than print, records on Seeking Michigan [www.seekingmichigan.org]. I usually prefer to save files, rather than print them, and Seeking Michigan does not have a “save” button.

I conducted a search, and am using my great-grandmother, Lena Yearnd. Here is the result of searching for “Yearnd”.

seeking1

I bet you wish you had an unusual last name now, don’t you? Clicking on the image produces this:

seeking2

I have some choices, but saving the image is not among them. Darn. I click the “printable version” link and see this:

seeking3

Here is the trick, click cancel instead of print, and the print box vanishes, leaving just the image. You can see only part of it, but do not worry. Right click on the image and select “save as” from the shortcut menu:

seeking4

Here is Lena’s death record on my desktop where I saved it:

seeking5

If you are as crazy as me, you won’t want to have the record with the thick black border. That huge black border is another reason not to print, it prints out, too. Just open the image in your favorite photo editing program, and then crop off the black. Some of the images on the site are slightly crooked, you can also straighten if needed.

Here is a link to the resulting file, and nice clean version of my great-grandmother’s death certificate. If you know of any Detman/Detmann families in Michigan between 1870 and 1920, please contact me. Although I have no evidence Lena immigrated with her family, one never knows.

Detman, Detmann, Seeking Michigan, Yearnd, Yournd

Treasure Chest Thursday, Buenilum

April 22nd, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Tools and Information - (3 Comments)

This entry is part 3 of 9 in the series Treasures and Curiosities

After my Mother passed away, S-Dad waited a while, then began hunting for a place closer to his children. As he packed up in preparation for the move, a number of things came to the surface, and traveled down the road to Granny’s house. Two of those items are today’s subject.

I remember this plate and pitcher being around when I was young. The pitcher was used for water at holiday dinners, or on other occasions when we had company. Like a lot of folks, we used the faucet when there was no company.

The maker is the Boehner-Wanner Company of Norwalk, Connecticut. Buenilum is a trade name used for the hammered aluminum pieces. The company was started by Frederick Boehner Wanner, you can read a little more about him here. The mark on the bottom of both is a castle with the initials B.W. and the word “Buenilum”.

mark

The pitcher is about 9.5 inches high. I did not measure the amount it can hold, I think it is about two quarts. The serving tray is 14.5 inches across, excluding the handles. I believe there was a glass liner that fit into the depression, it has not survived.

These days, I have been working hard to get my old photos scanned. Check out this one I came across recently, with the Buenilum pitcher on the table.

001

In the back left, my grandmother, Winnie (Kaiser) Yearnd, at the end of the table, brother number 1, then me with the dirty face, then my Dad. Mom must have been taking the picture. Maybe I will put the pitcher on the table tonight.

This post was written following the “Treasure Chest Thursday” theme over at Geneabloggers.

Buenilum, Treasure Chest Thursday

Tuesday’s Tools – SourceForge.org

April 6th, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Tools and Information - (1 Comments)

There are a host of professional genealogists who offer tips, shortcuts and tricks to make life easier for the rest of us. Along the way, each of us picks up tidbits of knowledge which help us survive, or at least become our own standard way of accomplishing tasks. In the past, suggestions I have made as comments on other blogs have produced thanks, and even traffic to my little genealogy home on the net. Therefore, once in a while, when I feel like it, in very irregular fashion, but almost always on Tuesday, I will tell you how I do something related to my genealogy.

If this little effort helps you, share with others, so they can be helped to. We all have a little something in our heads that can make life easier for others. One warning: I am a PC user, and I know nothing about Apple, Mac or Linux operating systems and/or computers. This is from a PC user, for PC users.

Several of my tips have revolved around open source software. As my husband inches ever closer to retirement, the word free or complementary mean a little more to me. Open source software is created and developed collaborative by individuals and made available free. The source code is available so other individuals may build on, improve or add to a given project.

Many people feel that it is necessary to be an expert in programming or computers, or software to use open source software, but I do not agree. You should read the notes or read-me file when you download an open source project, and follow any suggestions or instructions given in them. You might need some common sense to get you through certain situations, but developer knowledge is not required. Among the more well known open source programs are Open Office, Thunderbird, and Firefox. Currently, I am using Thunderbird for my e-mail and contacts, and Firefox as my main browser. I also use Filezilla as my FTP client, and have for several years.

SourceForge is a convenient website for finding open source programs to try out. Head on over there are poke around a little. The selection runs from full-sized photo editors, to tiny utilities that accomplish a simple stated purpose, to developer tools you probably won’t need. I think it is interesting what people will do for the common good, rather than profit.

The Fellows Family Land Records, Newaygo County, Michigan

March 31st, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Papa's Ancestors | Tools and Information - (0 Comments)

This entry is part 70 of 99 in the series Deeds in the Family

I recently outlined the land transactions of Belle Lamunion and Henry Fellows, Belle Lamunion and Charlie Tinker, and some of their descendents in Wexford County, Michigan. Belle and Henry, and later Belle and Charlie, lived a large portion of their lives in Wexford County, Michigan, but had previously lived in other locations.

In genealogical research, the best practice is to search from what is know to what is unknown, from the present into the past in successive steps. If this method is not used, it is possible to spend many years researching the wrong ancestor; I have heard painful accounts of researchers who inadvertently jumped to conclusions which lead them down the wrong path. With common names like John Johnston and (believe it or not) Henry and Erastus Fellows in our families, I make every attempt to avoid doing so.

Henry and Belle were Papa’s great grandparents, and had previously lived in Newaygo County, Michigan. In 2003, I traveled to Newaygo County to survey the records available there for the family. I have previously published a transcription of a deed which was central in settling the estate of Erastus G. Fellows, Henry’s father. Erastus G. Fellows died of disease at Lookout Mountain on 15 March 1865; he was a Union soldier. I wrote a little about Erastus and about our visit to his grave some time ago.

Reviewing that transcription provides information on a suspected relationship between these individuals:

Henry H. Fellows, selling land as guardian of the minor children of Erastus G. Fellows.
Joel B. Fellows of Clyde, Sandusky Co., Ohio, purchaser of the land.
Henry H. Fellows, minor child of Erastus G. Fellows.
Joel B. Fellows, minor child of Erastus G. Fellows.

A biography of Henry H. Fellows which is printed in an old county history gives his parents names as Erastus Fellows and Ruth Smith.¹

I have since discovered a biography for Peter J. Fellows of Lake Odessa, Ionia County, Michigan which lists his parents as Erastus and Ruth, and also states that Peter first came to Newaygo County, Michigan from Ohio, and then moved on to Ionia County. It also names other children in the family of Ruth and Erastus, but only the living ones. My Erastus is not named, darn it.²

These old biographies are not completely accurate, they tend to, “Put the best face on bad facts”, to quote Papa. More to the point, I have found inaccuracies and errors of omission, but have never found one with outright lies. So, with the biographies indicating that Peter J. and Henry H. Fellows had the same parents, one of which names Henry H. as Peter J.’s brother, and with both Henry H. and Peter involved in the affairs of the estate of Erastus G. Fellows, my search for the family of Erastus G. Fellows has a little more life. I also have Ohio census records which add the census locations of several Fellows siblings in Seneca County, Ohio in various homes, the cemetery clue, and other evidence which is beginning to stack up.

The older Henry H. Fellows, who I suspect is a brother of our ancestor’s father, was a well known, and perhaps a little better off than our more average ancestors. He was heavily involved in land transactions in Newaygo County, Michigan. There were actually so many deeds with the surname Fellows, that I gave up before I had abstracted the information from all of them.

However, I will examine and post those which I have over the next weeks, as I look for more clues about the Fellows family. I am following my instincts, and searching from what I know, into the unknown.

Chapman Brothers, Portrait and biographical album of Newaygo county, Mich., containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county … also containing a complete history of the county, from its earliest settlement to the present time. (Chicago, Illinois: The Chapman Brothers, 1884), page 283, The University of Michigan. Michigan County Histories and Atlases. http://name.umdl.umich.edu/bad1017.0001.001 : accessed 2 November 2009.
Chapman Brothers, Portrait and biographical album of Ionia and Montcalm counties, Mich. (Chicago, Illinois: The Chapman Brothers, 1891), page 447, The University of Michigan. Michigan County Histories and Atlases. http://name.umdl.umich.edu/BAD0938.0001.001: accessed 30 March, 2010.

Fellows, Ionia Co. MI, Newaygo Co MI, Tinker

Progress

March 17th, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Organize! | Tools and Information | What's going On - (7 Comments)

It is a little too early to post quarterly progress on my Genealogy Goals, or a little too late to post monthly progress for January and February. So, I will consider this an irregular report to myself.

I have been troubled by side trips, which makes marching straight toward a goal difficult. Some of you know what I mean, this is how it goes for me:

Enter a marriage record for an individual
Realize that there are probably birth and perhaps death records which will be easy to locate on-line
Locate several new records for individual, including 4 census records, death, another marriage, photo of grave on Find-A-Grave.
Correspond with several other researchers of the same name.
Share information by e-mail
End up with 20 new items to enter, for the individual, his family and so on.

So focus is an issue. A big issue.

My Goals:

DWTD (deal with the data)

Looking back, in January when I set my goals, I had 102 folders, 5474 files and 5.17 gb of data in my dumping ground/new information folder on my computer. The tally this morning is 1 folder with 827 files. How did this happen? I did do a little typing, but I also reorganized much of my data.

A lot of the information had already been entered into my database, and the images attached. I was just so disorganized that I didn’t know that.
- To address this, I created a set of archive folders which follow the alphabet, and contain some folders for my major surnames. I put my older archived files into the file set, then I moved all the “already entered” data into that file set. Stats on my archive files: 187 folders, 5087 files, 4.796 GB. The best part is that they are organized to match my physical file system.
- Next, I created a folder called research notes. The contents are mostly spreadsheets of data I have collected, but also included are some “fishing trip” data. An example is a census record for a surname that is interesting to me due to it’s similarity to my great-grandfather’s surname. There are 198 items in that folder, and I hope to turn those into “to do” times and file them also.
- The folder of images currently attached to my database contains 2,828 flies, 1.37 gb.

I think I will give myself a “adequate” on progress here. A lot left, but much accomplished.

And my two other goals:

Find the surname used by my Yearnd/Yournd/Ewen/Euens ancestors before their arrival in Howell, Michigan from outer space, (or Germany, or wherever they came from).
- I get a failing mark here, but I have done some investigation.
Find my cousins, descendants of my Mother’s half brother, Donald William Hill. Donald was born 17 March 1919 in Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer County, New York to George Gardner Hill (1896-1962) and Helen Lois Palmer (1891-1966). He was first called George Gardner Hill, Jr., on the 1920 census, but later known as Donald William. Donald died 4 April 1985 in Lake Elsinore, Riverside County, California, and is buried in the National Cemetery in Riverside California. An genealogical angel and volunteer in Lake Elsinore has provided me some leads which may help me find Donald’s children.
- I admit I have done nothing on this.

Not a total wash, but not as much as I had hoped to accomplish before good weather arrives.

I am also preparing for a research trip to New York. I am going in May, and hope to find new information about my mother’s Herrington/Harrington ancestors in Washington County. I will also research her Winn line in Columbia County, visit some cousins in Hoosick Falls, and check out various locations in Massachusetts for information. It is a big trip for me, and one I have put off too long.

In the summer, I am busy with my yard and garden, and I want to visit my grandchildren, too. The next months should be challenging, but fun.

DWTD, New Year's Resolutions

Scipio Township Cemetery, Seneca County Ohio

March 4th, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Cemeteries | Tools and Information - (3 Comments)

This entry is part 59 of 60 in the series Cemeteries

Over the past ~~few~~ ~~several~~ 25 years, a mystery that has eluded me is the origin and parents of Erastus G. Fellows, who claimed Ohio birth, but for whom no document that I have found lists parents. In the course of my search, I have encountered other men named Fellows living in proximity to Erastus and his family, and have chased them (almost) to the ends of the earth. Two of those men surnamed Fellows claimed Ohio birth, and parents named Ruth Smith and Erastus Fellows (who died young). Census records for Seneca County, Ohio are promising, with minor children surnamed Fellows living in the County with other families in 1850.

In the course of the search, a researcher of one Joseph Fellows, who we believe to be the son of Erastus, and a brother of our ancestor, dug around the handy-dandy internet and forwarded me a link to the transcription of a cemetery. Scipio Township Cemetery, Seneca County, Ohio, to be exact. Papa and I visited the cemetery about eighteen months ago, checked it all out, took photos, and came away disappointed. The cemetery has been damaged since the transcription had been made. The marker that we suspected to be our ancestor’s, one “Erasts Fellows”, was not anywhere to be found. There was no marker in the location for the Smith family, either; we suspect they are connected in some way. Unfortunately, there were broken markers piled at the edge the cemetery.

All views of the cemetery are thumbnails, click to enlarge.

These photos are from east to west, looking mostly south west, and capture the entire cemetery.

I want to thank Kristina Kuhn Krumm, who generously gave permission for me to use the transcription posted on her cemetery site to help identify the photos of the graves for this post. I sorted the transcription from her site by grave number, then we walked through the cemetery to figure out how it had been read. The markers I could identify are linked. Those which I could not identify are posted as thumbnails at the end of this document. I noticed that number 23 was listed twice on the transcription, and that several numbers had no transcription listed.

1	Cornell Cynthia A	11 Feb 1861 43y 2m 10d
2	Leister Jonathan	19 Sep 1848 41y 2m 7d
3	Smith Cornelia d/o Ethan & Elizabeth	14 Sep 1850 2y 5m 11d
4	Cook Nelson W s/o H & A	29 Nov 1840 17y 3m
5	Cook Asenath w/o Hiram, b in Stamford ?, d in Delaware O	23 Mar 1863 62y 10m 3d
6	Fox Mary A d/o H & J	14 Jan 1848 12y 4m 14d
7	Hartsough Hannah	20 Jul 1842 89y
8	Green Mary	22 Sep 1841 66y
9	Ogden inf s/o G M & M A	27 Sep 1836 28d
10	Gray Mary d/o H & J	31? Dec 1841 1y 8m
11	Ogden Mary H d/o David D & Elgy M	1 Jun 1847
12	Ogden Amos c/o D D & E M	4 Apr 1839 2m 28d
12	Ogden Sarah c/o D D & E M	9 Jun 1845 1m 3d
13	Ogedn Elgy Mariah w/o David D	27 Jun 1845
14	Green Sarah A d/o Timothy & Mary A	25? Jun 1844 4y 7m 27d
15	Number not listed on transcription
16	Jones Mary A w/o Elisha	3? Feb 1839? 20y
17	Smith Josiah	4 July 1828 60y
18	Smith Mary w/o Josiah	5 July 183? 64y
19	Fellows Erasts	22 Aug 1843
20	Lester James	30 Apr 1785 27 Aug 1848?
21	Number not listed on transcription
22	Kellogg Amos c/o N & L Kellogg	8 Jun 1845 26y 6m 5d
22	Kellogg Pamelia c/o N & L Kellogg	11 Feb 1836 22y 5m 22d
23	Finch Jason	9 Jan 1850 26y 1m 19d
23	Ford Esther d. Attica (Seneca County History 1886 pg 687)	19 Mar 1829

Here are the markers that were standing that I could not read/identify/match up.

My number 54, taken just after the Amos and Sarah Ogden marker, looking almost due west, toward the neighboring property:

My number 55, a marker just north of that of #5 Asenath Cook, perhaps Nelson Cook #4.

My #61.

My #62.

On another trip to Ohio, we researched Fellows family records in Richland County and researched the Fellows family records at the Ohio Genealogy Society library. Although we did find information on families with the surname Fellows, even found an Erastus Fellows, the families that lived in Richland County did not appear to be our ancestors.

Fellows

Roger Gives Sage Advice

February 27th, 2010 | Posted by Granny Pam in Tools and Information | What's going On - (0 Comments)

The library of Michigan is again severely threatened, again. Or perhaps it is “still threatened”. I am sad and upset about the assault on this fine facility, and it’s collection.

You can a statement from the Michigan Genealogical Council on their site. Since MGC is soliciting ideas, please feel free to send suggestions to they at their posted address.

Roger posted a little on the issue, it is a worthwhile read, check it out here.

If you just want to vent, feel free to post “G” rated suggestions right here.

Library Funding, Library of Michigan