New Software To Try

OK, as part of the #GenealogyDoOver, I figured I would see what tools were out there that I have ignored for various reasons.   I still like #LegacyFamilyTree8 for my database and have been a #Clooz user since time began, but there are a lot more tools and it was time to explore.  Thanks to #DickEastman I have installed #GenomeMate to help with the DNA match analysis and #GenScriber is a great help in transcribing document images and then being able to zero in on sections to really see what is written.  But, now I venture into my own exploration with #Heredis, #Evidentia, and #GenDetective.  

I think of myself as being able to find my way through pretty much any computer program -- I have been working with computers for over 40 years in design, program, debug, implement, so I have a good background. Evidentia is pretty straight forward -- but I will sign up for the on line Google Hangout as soon as my computer issues allow.   Heredis is OK, but needs more of my time.   GenDetective is a big QUESTION.   Luckily, they provide a video to explain how to use it.   So, next entry will be after I have taken the time to watch the video and really given GenDetective a fair shot.


#Genealogy #RootsTech

New Year, Fresh Start

Thomas MacEntee has initiated a Genealogy Do Over for 2015.  As of today there are over 1,100 of us signed up to give this a whack.   It is a ground up approach to restart our Genealogy Research.  In our restart efforts we will learn how to track research, cite sources, evaluate evidence and more!

I started to get back to basics and just search as if I had never looked for some of my ancestors before during December.  The results were quite surprising.


Members of the group have posted a number of tools that may be of assistance.


2015 Genealogy Do Over Web Page


#GenealogyDoOver #Genealogy #Research

Not to get all techie, but ....

I have just downloaded a couple of new pieces of software that I find interesting.   One I have used and one I intend to start using tomorrow.   The one I have used is called GenScriber #GenScriber and it is #FreeGenealogySoftware .  This is a wonderful tool.  It allows you to pull in a jpg of a document (i.e. census sheet) downloaded from #FamilySearch, etc. and had templates for the fields available by year.  The image can be magnified as needed to make out the enumerators handwriting.   Once completed, the work can be saved as a CSV file.  The information can also be exported as a pdf among other formats.   I found this to be a great tool.  Much easier than trying to write the information down on a form while looking at the screen.

I have one #ImprovementSuggestion and that is to have the ability to enter the census header information as well as the line item information.   Other than that, I find #GenScriber to be a nice addition.  Thank you #DickEastman for the article on the software!


Now for the second piece of software, #Evidencia.   As I said, I have not started to use it yet, but I am a bit perturbed with the vendor since they sent me an email to sign up for a class on how to use the software.   When I click on the sign up button,it takes me to a page on their web site that says there are no events.   Really bad form.   If there is nothing to offer, do not sent out an offer!!


#GenealogySoftware

Hope Your Relative is Dead

That is one of my favorite quotes from presentations by Dr. Deborah A Abbott ( #DeborahAbbott) - always hope that your ancestor is dead, because then you might find a record of them.   The recently announced Michigan Probate Records (#MichiganProbateRecords) being available on #FamilySearch.org got me hoping to find my great grandfather's probate records.  He died in 1929 in Wayne County which is one of the last years that is loaded for that county.   No luck!!   Then I looked at Oakland County.   The first year loaded was just a couple of years prior to my great great great great grandfather's death.   Now, there is no index to the images.   So, being a good mathematician, I applied a binary search process.   BINGO!!!  I found the Probate Record.   A new piece of gold.  

Must Keep Digging, Sometimes More Than Dirt Appears

I decided to document my search for my great great grandfather, Ezra Peter Koontz.  I had very sketchy information and I wanted to get my To Do list ready for when I am in Salt Lake City at #FGS2015RootsTech Conference.   I knew that my great grandfather, his son, was born in Indiana and that great grandpa was a cabinet maker (there are still items he made in the family).   But, little was ever said about his father and mother.   Well, dig and dig some more -- using variations on names -- great grandpa's name was unusual, Casimer, but he claimed it was really C.P.  Then I tried  g-g grandpa as Ezra, as Ezra Peter, and as Peter.   Then, looking for either of Ezra's wives -- the man made this easy, they were both named Mary Ann.   BINGO!   Found Esra, Mary Ann and son Casimer.   And his occupation was cabinet and chair maker.  What a find!!!   But, now I have to find more and know more about him.

Happy Trails to me!!

#Genealogy #CensusSearch

What's in a name?

For whatever reason, I have been ignoring my great-great grandmother's parents.   My only excuse is that I got caught up in other branches and just never got around to them.    I went through many family reunions where my mother's cousins told me I had spelled their grandmother's name incorrectly.   My Grandmother provided me with the spelling of her mother's name: PHEBE ANN GARDNER KOONTZ.  I went with the theory that her daughter was a better source than any of her grandchildren.   A number of "all knowing" first cousins, once removed, assured me the proper spelling was the traditional PHOEBE.  I then found where great grandmother Koontz signed her own name as PHEBE.   That was a good indication the cousins were wrong.   But, it did not explain the strange spelling of the name.

Now, I am not totally unfamiliar with strange spelling of names.   My mother's name was Jmae (pronounced J me).  So, there had to be a reason Phebe dropped the O.

I finally started going back up the tree.   Phebe's mother, Mary Ann Cummings Gardner, died at an early age and her husband, William G Gardner married three more times.  So, that end was a scramble.   All I had was Mary Ann's father was Abner and they were living in Connecticut at the time Mary Ann and William were married.   Well, I did what I was supposed to do and started the #Census search for Abner.   To the best of anyone's recall Abner had died in 1848, so I was looking before 1850.   I found Abner with the appropriate household members in the right are of Connecticut,  But, this was all before 1850.   No names of family members other than Abner.   So, I stared in #1850Census since it contains a list of all the family members and looked for Mary Ann Cummings in the same town in Connecticut.   Well, what popped up, but Mary Ann as the daughter and Phebe as the wife.  That is right PHEBE.   Wife, not Widow.  Well she was Line 1.   Wonder what was on the #previouspageofthecensus.   Abner was alive and well.   In fact he lived until 1884, not 48.

So,  my great grandmother was named after her grandmother, using the same spelling.   There was a reason.   What is in a name?   Sometimes, a whole lot of family history....

 

I really need to put together a work plan

OK, I am going to #2015FGS and #RootsTech this February and am planning on getting to Salt Lake the first part of the week.   The part of the conference that I am interested in attending most of the sessions are Thursday through Saturday.   That means I will have time to actually RESEARCH!!!  That is why I need to put together a #RESEARCH_PLAN .   I want to make the most of the time I have, not knowing when I will be able to get back to #SLC.   Anyway, I have started with the on line catalog, searching and isolating reference materials.   But, life keeps getting in the way.   Maybe, I need a  work plan to develop a Research Plan.....