Donna’s Genealogy Blog

Royal Irish Constabulary

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:25:48 -0400

My blogs may be a bit short over the next few weeks as I try to empty my Connecticut home, chair the Professional Management Conference in Philadelphia on September 3rd, lecture at FGS on September 6th, and drive back to Florida. I returned late last night from Maine where we moved our middle daughter (which helped empty part of the house<g>).
Ancestry.co.uk has recently posted the enlistment records of the Irish Constabulary, the first Irish police force. The records date from 1816 through 1921 and contain names of both catholic and protestant Irish. The database provides the names, age at enlistment, birthplace, comments which may include information on emigration or marriage, year of enlistment and the film reference for additional information. The source of these records is a compilation by J. Reakes and the film references are to LDS microfilms.
If you are looking for records of your Irish Constabulary ancestor another resource I can recommend is Jim Herlihy's The Royal Irish Constabulary: a short history and genealogical guide : with a select list of medal awards and casualities, published by Four Courts Press in 1997. I had the opportunity to meet Jim at the Third Irish Congress in Maynooth (outside of Dublin) in 1997. Jim has also published complete alphabetical list of officers and men as well as a book on the Dublin Metropolitan Police. A few years ago when I was in Dublin doing research for a client Jim put me in touch with the Garda Museum at Dublin Castle where I viewed the original enlistment books for the Dublin Metropolitan Police.
Happy Hunting and don't forget to say "hi" to me if you're going to be at FGS.

Donna's Store

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:14:10 -0400

Before I begin talking about my website additions, I want to mention a new website for those doing Irish research. I actually saw this a few weeks ago and forgot to mention it last week. The website Ask About Ireland has posted Griffith's Valuation images for free! For years I have maintained a subscription at the Origins Network in order to be able to access these records. Now anyone can view the index entry, the original page as well as a map of the townland...very exciting!
As I mentioned last week, I am in the process of updating and adding to my website. This week I set up a store where individuals can download some of my genealogy lectures. There are two choices...you can download only the audio in an MP3 format (for MP3 players, iPods or computers) or you can download a video podcast (M4V format) which includes both the audio track sync'd to my slides and can be viewed on an iPod, iPhone or any Mac or PC with iTunes software.
If you've viewed other sections of my website you have seen that I have been offering some of my lectures as DVD's. I have been asked if there is a way to download these, but because of the size of the file it's not practical. By moving to the M4V format or video podcast the file is much smaller and therefore downloadable. You can go to my webpage to see a sample of a lecture. For those who don't want to view the slides, the MP3 format provides only the soundtrack, just like the lectures that are offered through some of the national conferences.
Once I had the lectures in the correct format, my next step was to figure out how to set up a store on my website. My website and blog are done in iWeb on my Macintosh and do not require any knowledge of HTML, however creating a storefront was a little beyond my technical ability. I initially thought I would hire someone to do it for me, but then realized that Lulu, a print-on-demand and self-publishing site would allow me to set up my own Storefront which could be linked to my website. If you will be attending FGS in Philadelphia in September, I will be lecturing in the Genealogical Speakers Guild track at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon on this process. The lecture is titled, Expand Your Revenue: Produce and Sell Your Lectures in Video Format. If you are a speaker, I hope you'll join me.
I would encourage you to visit Lulu if you are interested in any type of publishing, whether it be your own family history, a photo book, a cookbook or an instruction manual. It's a great way to self publish without having to worry about handling inventory.
Happy Hunting!

Google Maps

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 11:41:08 -0400

As a follow up to my blog last week on social networking, Dick Eastman had an interesting pre-announcement on Saturday on a new project by Paul Allen, the co-creator of Ancestry, and currently the CEO of FamilyLink (WorldVital Records). In an article in the Desert News he characterizes FamilyLink as the social networking site for both amateur and professional genealogists. I am not advocating this site, just passing on information. Time will tell!
I'd also like to announce that this is the first anniversary of my website and blog. I hope you've enjoyed it and you've learned something new. Over the next month or two, I plan a major update to the site and I'm always interested in hearing from readers, so don't hesitate to drop me a line if you have any comments or an idea for a blog topic.
Now on to the topic of the day, Google Maps. I was an early adopter of online maps as I discussed in a blog last fall. I often wondered how I found my way around before Mapquest when I worked as a sales rep (and today I use my GPS). I'm also an advocate of timelines to help with research problems
Last week I found another excellent use, specifically for Google Maps which combines both technologies. I had been working on a client report and I wanted to show the family migration. I created a map in Google and highlighted the migration of each descendant's family with different color pins (explained in the key). This turned out to be a great graphic in the report as it visually showed what I was explaining in the text. It also helped me in another way. As I placed a pin on the map for each event, I realized that each child of George Fuller had been born in a different town, although all but one was born in the same county. This gave me an excellent timeline prior to the 1850 census. In 1850 George was identified as a builder, so he probably moved as the jobs changed.
As I'm planning a research trip to upstate New York the last week of August, I decided to focus on that area. As you can see from the map below, each pin represents an event and when I click on the pin I see the name and date of the event. This is certainly helping me plan my trip.
Give GoogleMaps a try with your family. You can get down to images of street level in a town, even if your family didn't move far. It might even show the cemeteries. Try typing in a search for churches (of the denomination if you know it) in the area. For example, what was the closest Baptist church to Leyden, New York. A search on Community Baptist Church (location A in Port Leyden tells me the church was started in 1800 which makes it a prime target to write or visit.

I hope this gives you some ideas on using Google Maps in your research. Happy Hunting!

Social Networking

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:46:32 -0400

It seems that every time I check my mail, I've got a request from Facebook to become someone's friend. I originally joined Facebook so I could view a video posted by my daughter after she went skydiving. (Luckily, I didn't know anything about the sky diving expedition until it was over!) Almost immediately, I began getting friend requests. I was a little bit unsure of what was going on...how did these people (most of whom I knew even if we weren't close friends) know I was out there? Like an ad I've been seeing on TV recently, you ask three friends, who ask three friends, etc...pretty soon you have a large network of friends. There is a great explanation on social networking on You Tube as well as on What is Social Networking.
So now you know what a social network is, what does it have to do with genealogy? Well, most of my friends are genealogists, and it's a nice way to keep in touch with everyone. Last week we had a virtual birthday party for one of our friends. You can also join specific groups on Facebook. I'm a member of a couple of different groups; Genealogists who use Macs and Genea-Bloggers. I've also looked at the application We're Related which allows you to upload a GEDCOM. I'm definitely not an expert on any of this yet, but I keep learning.
If you think about what we do as genealogists and family historians we are constantly networking. We post trees online, write queries, attend genealogical meetings and conferences, always hoping to find the long lost cousin who has the family bible! Facebook and other social networks are just another tool to help you find your relatives.
I'd love to hear from you if you have had some success with a social network in finding relatives.
Happy Hunting!

Odds and Ends

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:07:34 -0400

The office was finished yesterday...the walls painted off white (which took two coats of primer over the kelly green) and the floor laid. Our plan was to leave for Florida on Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest That was before the 3 a.m. wake up call this morning when the ceiling in one of the bedrooms (unoccupied thank goodness) came crashing down. It seems the air conditioner in the attic had developed leak and soaked through the plaster the wall board. So much for our plans.
I've been pretty busy today but since there have been a number of announce-ments this week, I thought I'd just highlight some of them for you.
The lists and blogs have been quite active since Ancestry redesigned their site earlier this month. Most of the comments are not positive! Ancestry has tried to respond to some of the concerns and gives you the option of using the old search engine if you wish. I had been using the beta site for a while, so I wasn't as shocked as some people. I agree that the Family Tree box should be made optional or put somewhere else, but I do like the advanced search features moved to the left side of the results page so I don't have to scroll through an entire page to make changes to my search request. Change is not easy, but I encourage you to give it a try, and provide feedback to Ancestry of areas that are causing you problems. To learn more about the new search features, Ancestry has set up a free webinar on Wednesday, July 30th at 8:30 p.m. EDT.
Another one of our favorite sites got a facelift this week—FamilySearch.org. I've written a couple of times in the past six months about some of the new initiatives and given the various websites. All of these associated websites can now be accessed through the main FamilySearch.org page. The menu bar at the top has been expanded. Under "Search Records," the Search Record Pilot is the FamilySearchLabs page where newly indexed records appear on a regular basis. The Family History Archive is the Brigham Young Library site which has digitized family histories. The volunteer site for indexing projects is now only a click away on the home page listed as Index Records. Check out this newly designed site and visit all of the links. This site is a wealth of information.
Lists lit up on Saturday as the New York Times published an article on the donation of the entire book and manuscript collection of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society to the New York Public Library. The wonderful old building and library on 57th Street closed in June with no information about what would happen to its collection. Now we know, but it may take up to two years for the collection to be cataloged at the NYPL.

Many of us have been wondering what happened with the joint project between the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) and the Library and Archives of Canada to digitize the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses. After the great fanfare of the 1911 Census of Dublin, nothing more has been heard on this project. In an email that came out this week from Catriona Crowe of the NAI she stated "Our Canadian partners have been engaged in an extensive procurement and recruitment process to hire contractors who will finish the project. That process has now been completed, and I’m pleased to be able to tell you that the records for Kerry, Antrim and Down will be going online in October of this year. " That's great news. Even if your ancestors left Ireland before 1901 or 1911, it is likely that some of their relative remained. Keep watching the NAI site for additional information and timelines for the other counties.
So there are a couple of news briefs from this week. Happy Hunting!

Scholarly Journals

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:08:33 -0400

I'm into a very busy week as my husband and I try to get ready to return to our home in Florida. It's interesting that I have come to think of Florida as my home, even though I was born, raised and lived my entire life in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Unfortunately we still haven't been able to sell our home, and are hoping for a rental for the next few years. In Connecticut I have a 13' x 13' foot office and a large "L -shaped" Herman Miller desk, thanks to my previous employer. Bookshelves surround the windows and a credenza and 4 drawer lateral file cabinet handled most of my filing needs. This has been my home since we put an addition on the house in the mid-1980's. Because of the size and configuration of the desk (the only way to take it out was to completely dismantle it), we hadn't painted or replaced the carpeting. Since we are leaving to return to Florida, I decided last week to sell the desk (which happened quickly) and then to paint the office and replace the flooring. I thought there were hardwood floors under the carpet, as there had been in the rest of the house, but no, it had linoleum probably there since the house was built in the early 1950's. Add another project to the list!
Well, what does this have to do with genealogy? Although I'd moved most of my library to Florida, I still had most of my collection of journals and magazines on the shelves of the bookcase. Pack rat that I am, I couldn't get myself to dispose of this valuable collection. I had copies of the New England Register, New York Record, National Genealogical Quarterly, APG Quarterly and a number of other magazines back to the mid-1990's. I had tried to donate them to one of the local libraries, but they all had their own subscriptions and didn't need extra copies. The time had come for me to part with them.
When I first began my research and joined these organizations and societies, my research was focused on my own ancestry. I had only one line in the U.S. prior to 1900 and so most of the scholarly journals had limited application to my research, or so I thought. Some of these journals had probably not been opened except to scan the Table of Contents when they arrived. With no reference to my family, they just went on the shelf.
As I matured as a genealogist, I started to read some of these journals, not for names, but for an understanding of the process. Today, I read them from cover to cover. I probably would have moved ahead a lot faster if I'd learned this earlier on in my career.
The New England Register has been digitized and is on the New England Ancestors site with images of the originals available. The New York Register has the Worden Index and most of their issues available on CD, and even some of the NGS Quarterly articles back to 2002 are available on their site in the members section. And finally there's PERSI which indexes all of these publications, plus more (available through HeritageQuest at most public libraries). So if I'm only interested in names, I can search those indexes and find article written about specific families. But more important in the scholarly journals are the case studies and articles that highlight unknown or underutilized resources.
Before recycling my journals, I went through each and kept many of those earlier ones (much to my husband's disappointment) with articles I would like to read, either again, or because I had never read them originally.
If you're just starting out, become a voracious reader of scholarly publications... not for family names, but for learning about the writing process and methodology. If you don't subscribe to any of these, take some time on your next trip to the library to pick up one of these journals and read an article or two. It will be invaluable as you begin to write your family history.
Happy Hunting!

1926 Irish Census

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 10:20:40 -0400

For those of us doing Irish genealogy, the loss of so many records in the 1922 fire presents some challenges. But as bad as the fire, was the destruction of the census records from 1861 - 1891 by the government during World War I. Like many European countries, the privacy laws in Ireland keep the census records closed for 100 years (in the United States it is 72 years). However, the Irish government opened both the 1901 and 1911 censuses early, in 1961 because of the loss of earlier records.
The 1921 census was postponed because of the Irish Civil War, and the next census of Ireland was done in 1926. The Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) is petitioning the government to open the 1926 census. To read more about this effort, go to Dick Eastman's Genealogy blog at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/06/petitioning-to.html#more.
If you are pursuing your Irish heritage, I would encourage you to sign a petition in support of this effort at http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/1926C

A few weeks ago I wrote on finding books online and back in January I wrote about online newspaper research. I've probably mentioned a few other times the benefits of having a library card. Since I still have my home in Connecticut, I have a library card that gives me online access not only to the resources of my local library, but also the iConn digital library. In Florida, my Manatee library card is also registered in Sarasota and Hillsborough counties. That gives me access to a large variety of databases. All of the libraries have HeritageQuest, but when it comes to other databases, each library has a unique addition. For example, in iConn I have access to the New York Times, Hartford Courant and Boston Globe. Hillsborough in Tampa gives me access to the Chicago Tribune. When I saw this notice on the National Library Card Sign-up Month I had to pass it on.

Plan Now for National Library Card Sign-up Month

This September, the American Library Association (ALA) kicks off National Library Card Sign-up Month. Nobody appreciates their library cards more than genealogists, and many readers will doubtless be active in promoting this event. To help your planning, you can find resources online at http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/otherinit/card/librarycard.cfm.

Professional Management Conference

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:51:37 -0400

I'm just back from a great cruise week and have spent the day getting caught up. As the Coordinator for the Association of Professional Genealogist's (APG)Professional Management Conference (PMC), I spent most of the day following up and answering emails on the Conference. I thought I'd share some information with you.
First, you do not need to be a member of APG or taking clients in order to attend the PMC. It is open to all who wish to learn more about doing professional work, whether on their own family or for others. The PMC is held the first day of the Federation of Genealogists annual conference—this year in Philadelphia on September 3rd. I am very excited about this conference as our main speaker, Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG, will spend the morning doing, "The 'Art' of Source Citation: A Hands-On Workshop." What a great opportunity to learn from the expert how to handle all those quirky sources!
After a networking lunch (included in your registration) the afternoon will be split into two tracts; one covering business issues and the second covering opportunities for the professional outside of client research. For additional information and details go to the APG website.
The FGS Conference is a great opportunity to attend lectures on various topics, as well as to visit the exhibit area to see the vendors displaying software, books, CD's and other resources for genealogists. For more information on the FGS conference visit their website.
If you're near the Philadelphia area I hope you'll plan to attend. Happy Hunting!

Away for the week

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:14:27 -0400

Just a note a couple of days early to let you know that I'll be traveling this week. I'm off on the "Norwegian Dream" to Bermuda, giving four lectures while we're at sea. As I've said before, it a tough job, but someone has to do it <g>.
I've been very busy this week updating some of my lectures. I've modified my lecture on Internet search engines and using video to cover more than genealogy (although I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to hear about genealogy)! I'll also be doing Family History on the Internet. It's been a while since I did that particular lecture so it was ready for a complete rewrite. Rather than focus on surnames, I talk about the Internet as a "Great Place to Learn" and the "World's Biggest Finding Aid." There is so much great information out there the lecture was much too long, so I had to take out a lot of slides. There has been an explosion of information in the last twenty four months, along with lots of updates to existing sites. I've talked about the new learning center at Ancestry and some of the exciting things going on at FamilySearch, but there are hundreds of blogs out there with wonderful insights and information. Just "google" genealogy blogs.
If you need company on your daily walks (we do have to get away from the computer some time) download the latest podcasts from the Genealogy Guys, Dear Myrtle or the Irish Roots Cafe. That way you can exercise and keep up with what's new at the same time. Check out iTunes for other genealogy podcasts (if you don't already have the iTunes software it's a free download...you don't have to have an iPod, you can listen on your computer).
I also added a new section on Newspapers...just two years ago there really wasn't much out there but today, you can check the research databases offered by your local library and find newspapers from all over the world.
So while I'm working hard this week keep up the research and let me know about new resources you've found.
Happy Hunting!

Books, Online and Off

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:39:58 -0400

I have to admit, I love books! I'm always buying books at conferences...in fact, I sometimes discovered I already had the book on my shelf when I returned from a conference. I now have a library database, and for many years I downloaded it to a PDA and took it to conferences.
As I was "downsizing" for my move to Florida, I went through a lot of my material and donated duplicates or older versions (I had all three editions of They Came in Ships) to my local genealogical society. I still have the problem of not enough shelf space for my library in Florida and have taken over the extra shelf space in my husband's office as well. Magazines have always presented a problem for me...I can't seem to get rid of them (not that I would be able to find the correct one if I needed it). Last week at IGHR, Dr. Jones mentioned the special issue of the NGS Quarterly on "Evidence," and after asking for the approximate date of the issue, I'm happy to say I was able to pull it off my shelf.
Because of the space issue, I'm always excited to be able to get books and magazines on CD's or online. Besides just the space issue, they're also easier to search. One of the required texts for my class last week was Numbering Your Genealogy by Curran, Crane and Wray. The 2008 version of this, as well as a number of state guide, can be purchased from NGS as a download. I now also get Ancestry and Digital Genealogist electronically; the New England Register is available on the NEHGS website (for members) and the New York Record along with the Worden Index, is available on CD from the NYG&B. That frees up a lot of shelf space!
Today while I was preparing a lecture, I discovered Internet Archive which has over 435,000 texts on line. Two books I use frequently for my current research are vital record compilations for Coventry and Mansfield, Connecticut. Although not a problem when I'm in Connecticut, these books can be difficult to find in Florida. A search of WorldCat (which I've discussed in the past) told me the closest library with a copy was Tampa. But today I found both of these books at Internet Archive and they can be viewed online (as a flip book—see picture above) or downloaded as a PDF file. A search on the PDF file turned up a number of entries I'd missed that were in date, rather than alphabetical order. These two books, which are out of copyright, are also included in the NEHGS database for members.
FamilySearch.org (library catalog) and the Brigham Young Library are two other places to check for e-books, as well as GoogleBooks, HeritageQuest Online (through your local library) and Ancestry.com.
It's always great to be able to do some research from your desktop! Happy Hunting.

Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 23:30:20 -0400

I'm always promoting the education opportunities provided by seminars, conferences and institutes, and this week I'm lucky to be enjoying one of the best! I'm in Birmingham, Alabama at the Institute for Genealogical and Historical Research. This is one of three Institutes that occur during the year, which gives the participants a week long educational experience. For me, this week is about writing and publishing, an opportunity to look at all types of genealogical writing including journal articles, essays, newsletters, and proof summaries. And of course, to try and master the art of source citation based on Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills. Besides the classes, it also is a great opportunity to meet and talk with other genealogists and historians at all levels. It's not too early to start thinking about next year. Check out the offerings.
I've attended and also lectured at NIGR (National Institute of Genealogical Research) which occurs each July in Washington, D.C. This is an intensive week long program on the records of the National Archives, and well as other research facilities in D.C. (including the DAR Library and the Library of Congress.) This sells out early, so get your name on the list if you want to experience an incredible week.
If January works for you, you can attend the Salt Lake Institute sponsored by the Utah Genealogical Association. Here's an opportunity not only to learn, but to use the facilities of the Family History Library. I have taken the Irish Institute in Salt Lake which was great.
Unlike conferences, you register for a particular curriculum at the institutes and spend a week focused on the topic. Both IGHR and the Salt Lake Institute run cycles so the same classes are not offered each year. You may need to plan ahead to pick a class of interest.
I need to get back to my homework but I hope you'll take a look at these excellent offering.
Happy Hunting!

Updates

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 09:38:57 -0400

Just an update on last week's blog. I mentioned that Robert D. Shaw (my ggg uncle) did not appear in the Ancestry index of Civil War Pension files. I noticed this week that FamilySearchlabs has an index to Civil War Pension Index Cards (T289) and Robert D. Shaw is there. Just another example of how information can appear (or appear differently) in various indexes. And of course, when the new FamilySearch goes live, all of the information will be free. Another good reason to jump on the bandwagon and help out with the indexing.

Another big announcement picked up on a number of the lists this week comes from the National Library of Ireland. The opening of the Roman Catholic parish registers for the dioceses of Cashel & Emly, Cloyne and Kerry is great news for genealogists. These records, although microfilmed, were only accessible with a written letter from the Bishop. Here's the announcement...

The next few weeks will be hectic for me as I'm leaving to drive north to a family wedding this week, followed by a week at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. After the Institute, I'll be back in Connecticut for a week, then lecturing on the Norwegian Dream from Boston to Bermuda (tough life but someone has to do it <g>). If my Blogs appear skimpy or late, that's the reason, but I'll try to provide an update each week.
Don't miss an opportunity this summer to combine vacation and some research and if you can get to the Philadelphia area, consider attending the FGS Conference the first week of September.
Happy Hunting!