Here again is an article that just reinforces my skepticism about technology. Just imagine the consequences of this!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18dna.html
And, thanks to Eastman's Newsletter for bringing this New York Times article to my attention. Thanks Dick.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
In Praise of Maps
I just recently returned from a week long research trip to my ancestors’ homes in Nebraska. While there I uncovered new information from local obituaries and cemetery plots. Yet, the truly amazing material came from maps.
It is impossible to describe the absolute thrill of opening a plat map and finding your ancestor’s name attached to a piece of land. There it was, as plain as day: J.H Brubaker, owning 360 acres just a few miles south and west of Angora, Nebraska. Just south of Brubaker was Alice Tiernan, a sister-in-law, with the school house located in the corner or her property.
The family folklore always said that the local ranchers had to provide a schoolhouse and a school teacher for the local children. They were too far from town to commute to and from school. Here was verification, there was the schoolhouse! The family lore went on to say that three brothers each married the new school teacher. It was always hard to keep a teacher because of the warm smile and wily charms of the Brubaker boys. I wonder if this was also true?
Maps are truly a wonderful, and under utilized resource from family history. Locating this land and driving so close to it, has given me a special sense of my family and their lifestyles in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Plat maps, road maps, topographical maps, and birds-eye views are truly amazing and informative resources. And a great thrill to find. Not only can they tell us street names and property names, they can give us a sense of location. These treasures of information can tell us how someone lived by telling us where our ancestors lived. The proximity to cities, or transportation, or education all provide clues and details about the daily lives of our families and our ancestors.
It is impossible to describe the absolute thrill of opening a plat map and finding your ancestor’s name attached to a piece of land. There it was, as plain as day: J.H Brubaker, owning 360 acres just a few miles south and west of Angora, Nebraska. Just south of Brubaker was Alice Tiernan, a sister-in-law, with the school house located in the corner or her property.
The family folklore always said that the local ranchers had to provide a schoolhouse and a school teacher for the local children. They were too far from town to commute to and from school. Here was verification, there was the schoolhouse! The family lore went on to say that three brothers each married the new school teacher. It was always hard to keep a teacher because of the warm smile and wily charms of the Brubaker boys. I wonder if this was also true?
Maps are truly a wonderful, and under utilized resource from family history. Locating this land and driving so close to it, has given me a special sense of my family and their lifestyles in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Plat maps, road maps, topographical maps, and birds-eye views are truly amazing and informative resources. And a great thrill to find. Not only can they tell us street names and property names, they can give us a sense of location. These treasures of information can tell us how someone lived by telling us where our ancestors lived. The proximity to cities, or transportation, or education all provide clues and details about the daily lives of our families and our ancestors.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Yet, Another Lost Cemetery Found
This makes for some interesting reading.
http://cbs4.com/local/cemetery.construction.preservation.2.1088040.html
http://cbs4.com/local/cemetery.construction.preservation.2.1088040.html
The Lively Family Massacre
Imagine searching through your family history, hitting a brick wall, and receiving national attention and assistance to smash through that brick wall. In recent years several programs have been developed to provide entertainment and, at the same time, assistance in genealogy research. The latest of these programs is called “Legend Seekers,” a production Madonna Davis and Ken Marks to help researchers track family legends and folklore.
I have had the pleasure of viewing the first program in the series, and it receives high marks. Titled “The Lively Family Massacre,” the program documents the folklore of the Lively Family that was killed by Native Americans in 1813, Illinois. A daughter from the family survived only because she was living with another family at the time. Her descendents were introduced in the program, and using genealogy and local history professionals, the site and graves of the Lively family members were tracked down.
In what was an amazing bit of research, investigation, and luck the original burial sites of the Lively family were located on timber land owned by a private lumber company. Only through great fortune has the graves not been disturbed by almost 200 years of progress and development. It is also a very emotional highpoint when the ancestors find what is presumed to be the grave markers.
This is a great video. It is certainly worth viewing. And, the series promises to be equally valuable and entertaining. I would urge everyone to contact their local public broadcasting station and urge them to schedule “Legend Seekers” as part of their programming.
I have had the pleasure of viewing the first program in the series, and it receives high marks. Titled “The Lively Family Massacre,” the program documents the folklore of the Lively Family that was killed by Native Americans in 1813, Illinois. A daughter from the family survived only because she was living with another family at the time. Her descendents were introduced in the program, and using genealogy and local history professionals, the site and graves of the Lively family members were tracked down.
In what was an amazing bit of research, investigation, and luck the original burial sites of the Lively family were located on timber land owned by a private lumber company. Only through great fortune has the graves not been disturbed by almost 200 years of progress and development. It is also a very emotional highpoint when the ancestors find what is presumed to be the grave markers.
This is a great video. It is certainly worth viewing. And, the series promises to be equally valuable and entertaining. I would urge everyone to contact their local public broadcasting station and urge them to schedule “Legend Seekers” as part of their programming.
Friday, July 10, 2009
More Economic News
Well, the economy continues to hurt every aspect of life. For genealogists and historians, the news seems particularly bleak, this week, as more and more libraries are cutting back hours, laying off staff, and reducing access.
Just last week, the Gwinnett County Library announced a reduction in public hours at each of the branch libraries. The libraries will close on Sunday and Monday, and reduce hours the rest of the week, for a savings of 28 hours per week, per library. On the national level, Ohio libraries have announced closures and staff reductions, and in this morning's e-mail the Sutro Library, the major genealogy library in San Francisco announced early closures.
I realize there are no easy answers for this economic crisis. New ideas need to be explored to continue to provide long term funding for greater access to libraries and other research institutions.
Just last week, the Gwinnett County Library announced a reduction in public hours at each of the branch libraries. The libraries will close on Sunday and Monday, and reduce hours the rest of the week, for a savings of 28 hours per week, per library. On the national level, Ohio libraries have announced closures and staff reductions, and in this morning's e-mail the Sutro Library, the major genealogy library in San Francisco announced early closures.
I realize there are no easy answers for this economic crisis. New ideas need to be explored to continue to provide long term funding for greater access to libraries and other research institutions.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Declaration of Independence Found
Imagine working through collections at an archives and suddenly finding an original copy of the Declaration of Independence! Well, here is that story. This is absolutely fascinating.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1197046/Rare-valuable-copy-American-Declaration-Independence--Surrey.html
I wish I could claim credit for finding this article, but thanks goes to Dick Eastman and his genealogy newsletter for passing on this article.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1197046/Rare-valuable-copy-American-Declaration-Independence--Surrey.html
I wish I could claim credit for finding this article, but thanks goes to Dick Eastman and his genealogy newsletter for passing on this article.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The Misapplication of Technology in Genealogy and Family History Research
Okay, I am aware of the irony here. I am using the newer technologies to attack that same technology. But, I am becoming increasingly frustrated by the over-reliance on technology. It is time we stepped back and gave some serious thought to what we are doing.
So, here is my rant on technology...
Several weeks ago, while reading postings on a list serv the question was presented: how do you reference, or write a footnote for information from Facebook? The author of the post was updating her family history and a recent wedding was announced on a Facebook page. My initial response to the post was to think about simply writing a letter requesting a copy of the marriage certificate or at least a wedding announcement. After some further thought a number of questions slowly formed in my brain: Have we gone too far? Are we so reliant upon technology and the promise of instant gratification that we can’t be bothered to write a letter or pursue more in-depth documentation? What is happening to our research skills that we rely upon instant messaging, e-mail, and blogs, text messaging and scanned image databases to provide us with the information we are seeking? With the growing capacity of information storage on computers, we seem to be moving closer to a paper-less society. Is that a good thing?
Another example of the shortcomings of researchers is the expectation that all information is stored on the internet. How many of us have encountered beginning genealogists who have searched one of the several on-line databases of the United States census and failed to find their ancestors? The most common response from these novice researchers seems to be, “I guess they just can’t be found.” This reflects the failure of all genealogists who don’t explain the serious limitations to on-line information. We need to do a better job of understanding and teaching the short comings of the on-line resources. We need to de-emphasize the value of computers and get back to the books and original documents as research tools.
We need to realize and emphasize the short comings of technology.
So, here is my rant on technology...
Several weeks ago, while reading postings on a list serv the question was presented: how do you reference, or write a footnote for information from Facebook? The author of the post was updating her family history and a recent wedding was announced on a Facebook page. My initial response to the post was to think about simply writing a letter requesting a copy of the marriage certificate or at least a wedding announcement. After some further thought a number of questions slowly formed in my brain: Have we gone too far? Are we so reliant upon technology and the promise of instant gratification that we can’t be bothered to write a letter or pursue more in-depth documentation? What is happening to our research skills that we rely upon instant messaging, e-mail, and blogs, text messaging and scanned image databases to provide us with the information we are seeking? With the growing capacity of information storage on computers, we seem to be moving closer to a paper-less society. Is that a good thing?
Another example of the shortcomings of researchers is the expectation that all information is stored on the internet. How many of us have encountered beginning genealogists who have searched one of the several on-line databases of the United States census and failed to find their ancestors? The most common response from these novice researchers seems to be, “I guess they just can’t be found.” This reflects the failure of all genealogists who don’t explain the serious limitations to on-line information. We need to do a better job of understanding and teaching the short comings of the on-line resources. We need to de-emphasize the value of computers and get back to the books and original documents as research tools.
We need to realize and emphasize the short comings of technology.
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