New Perspective

I've been working on my maternal line for years and I come up empty handed at every turn it seems like. I think I've found something only to find out that the information isn't right or it doesn't match the person in my tree. I've got a few 90 year old great aunts who have given me as much information as they can on the family, but the details are starting to get fuzzy. My grandpa (these are his parents I'm researching) was the baby of the family and knows next to nothing about how his parents came to be in the United States from Italy. No matter how hard I've tried, I've been unable to even get a glimpse of light through this brick wall. Until today.

I was online and I saw a post on Facebook that encouraged people to post their brick walls on their Facebook page to see if others could help at all. My first reaction was, "No way. If I can't find anything and these are my people, then how is someone who knows next to nothing about them going to be able to help me?" Then I thought, "What the heck? I've tried everything else I can think of." So I posted what I knew about my great grandmother and then logged off and went to work. When I got home, I found that several people had commented on my post. Most had suggested things I had already tried, but there was 1 lady who was telling me that on the ship's manifest she was able to find the first name of the father of my person.

 Hold on a minute! I've looked at that manifest at least a dozen times and I didn't see that. I immediately pulled it up and scanned it again. I can't possibly be that clueless right? Nope, nothing. Not even a hint of a name on there. Now I'm perplexed. Could there possibly be some secret to these manifests that I'm not aware of? Am I not in the know? I post back to her on Facebook asking if she can tell me how she found that information. In the meantime, I go back to the Ellis Island website and pull it up again because, honestly, it's going to drive me crazy until I find the information that this lady was able to see. As I'm perusing the page, something catches my eye.

Apparently there's a disclaimer on there that says that many manifest entries span across a couple of pages. Not only is there a disclaimer but it is preceded by the words "Important! Please Read!" in red lettering What?! That's never been there before! Ok well maybe it has, but honestly do you really read all the crap they put on the websites above the information that interests you? I surely don't. Clearly in this case, it would have been helpful. I click "next" on the page and low and behold there is a mysterious page 2 to this thing.

Holy buckets I didn't see that one coming! Now I look like a complete idiot and I shoot off a quick message on Facebook to tell the lady that I found it. In the meantime, I'm searching the page for any new information. There really wasn't anything that I didn't already know, but I was able to confirm things that I had been told by others. Her father's name is listed as Filippo and I was told that it was Philip. Close enough to satisfy me. Then I started looking more closely at the new page. Right next to the names, there were little scribbles. I looked next to her name and it said "niece." Huh. Well that's kinda weird. Who's niece? Then I saw what originally looked like someone just slipped with their pen and made a mark on the page. What it actually turned out to be was a line with a bracket at the end noting which passengers were traveling together. Holy crap! Now I'm getting somewhere!

What I found is that she was traveling with 3 other people. One was a child, but the other 2 were adults. I had been thinking it was really weird that she would travel all the way from Italy to the United States all by herself at age 16, but I suppose it wasn't impossible. Now I have found that my suspicions are correct and that she was traveling with other people. I now need to figure out what her relationship to them is and how they are all related to me.

The moral of the story is, always read what's on the page in red lettering especially if it's followed by exclamation points. Well, that and get another person to help you look at your brick wall. Even if they only know the basic information about someone, they may see something that you are missing. Many times you may find you are too focused on the information you're looking for rather than seeing everything that's already there. Take the time to look at something as if you were seeing it for the first time. You may be surprised at what you're missing.

Ending the year with a promise to myself

At the end of the year, we all look back on the past 12 months and reflect on the good things and think about how we can change the things we didn't like. This year, I've done some work on my family history, but I've also started so many different aspects of it that I'm now faced with the daunting task of trying to finish everything sometime in this lifetime. I've started my family tree (obviously!), a written family history book, a family recipe book, and we won't even talk about the mess all of this stuff created in my office. My goals for 2014 are to get the recipes for the family cookbook gathered together and typed up and to get my research organized in my office. When I get that done, I plan to go through each person in my tree, starting with me and my kids, and make sure I have copies of the documents that prove the information I have on those people. Obviously I will have most of the stuff for my immediate family but those that are a few generations back may take some more digging. I plan to make sure that all of this information is documented in my research software and added to the new books that I will be using to organize everything. There are a few people that I need to email to see if they have any more information that I am not in possession of. My Volpe ancestors are a hard bunch to find. There is a marriage certificate that I plan to order that will hopefully knock down a huge brick wall where they're concerned. These things are all part of a promise that I'm making to myself that I will buckle down and really work on getting everything organized in the coming year.

Skeletons in the Closet

When you're searching and you come across something totally unexpected, it can shock you for a moment. Even when you think you have the whole picture all figured out, it can still surprise you. That happened to me the other night. I was sitting here looking through some old military records on the website fold3.com when I checked the name of someone who served in the Mormon Battalion back during the Mexican War.

It's a great great grandfather of my husband. I've done tons of reading and research about him and I thought I had the whole picture of his life. I should start by saying that he was an important part of the movement of the Mormons westward when they were basically run out of Nauvoo back in the 1800's. The reason I find him so fascinating is because there is tons of information about his life because people documented his role in the Mormon Church and in his helping to settle portions of Eastern Arizona. An interesting fact about him is that he practiced the old Mormon custom of polygamy.

Before anyone freaks out, this was an old custom that was previously approved by the Church, but they have since stopped recognizing it as a way of life for Latter Day Saints. The FLDS that we all hear about on the news is something completely different and not at all what I'm referring to. He had as many as 10 wives, although I've only been able to prove about 8 of the 10 that I know about.

When I was searching through the military records the other day, I came across a pension record for him. I thought it was cool and definitely something I would want to add to the information I already had, as there were scanned pictures of the records. When I opened the viewer, I saw that there were multiple images. There were actually 217 to be exact. I thought this was weird because it seemed like a lot for pension payments to his widow.

Then I started reading. This wasn't in reference to normal pension payments. What I found is that his 2nd wife, Sarah Barnes Layton had filed for his pension payments after his death. As did his last wife, Elizabeth Layton. His first wife had died some time prior to him, so technically, Sarah Barnes Layton was actually his legal wife at that point. Going through the information proved to be educational to say the least.

Apparently these two women were fighting over which one of them was more entitled to receive his pension payments after his death. There were numerous depositions from them and from neighbors who had known them for years. There were letters from attorneys and even from the Department of the Treasury. They had a special examiner assigned to the case and there were copies of correspondence from him as well.

In the end, it was determined that Sarah Barnes Layton was his legal wife and that she would receive all of the payments. They sent her a check for $317 to cover the back payments. She took it to the bank and had them cash it, with half going to her attorney and the other half being deposited into her account. Funnily enough, the story doesn't stop there.

The person at the bank who was responsible for taking care of her money and making sure that her attorney was paid decided to embezzle the money instead. In his deposition, he swears that he did exactly as she asked but could not recall any of the details. The special examiner in the case said in a letter that perhaps a look at his books would help improve his memory. In another letter, they notified the Pension Board that he was being indicted on the charges.

Reading through the depositions gives me a deeper understanding of what these people were like. These are their own words, put on paper, for me to read over 100 years later. I found it fascinating to "hear" what they were saying and the turmoil that they were going through at the time. It's obvious from the information I read that these two women did not like one another. I just assumed, like anyone might if they've seen the show Sister Wives, that plural relationships are entered into with consent of all parties and that the wives get along. I now see that isn't the case.

Why Ancestry.com is a blessing and a detriment to the serious researchers out there

I have been a member of ancestry.com for several years now. When I signed up, I thought it was the best and easiest way to get all of my information all in one place. Now I'm realizing that not only was I right, but thousands of other people thought so too. Which is great. To a point.

I have been able to connect with a few long lost cousins who are also researching our ancestors and have been able to provide me with information that I didn't already have. While it's awesome to have this kind of instant connection with people you're related to, I'm also finding it very difficult to manage my tree at this point. I have, at last count, over 3000 people in this tree and it just keeps growing. The information I get when I click those little shaky leaves inevitably adds 2-10 people. At first it can be so exciting to amass a collection of relatives that large, but then when you get to looking at it, that's not really the case.

You see, I am someone who wants to be able to prove a claim. When I say that King Henry VIII is my 1st cousin 15 times removed, I want to be able to also show where that information came from and have a verifiable source. It's all fine and dandy that the information I got from other people on Ancestry says that, but I want real proof.

I have found that too often, the trees on Ancestry are filled with absurd suppositions that make no sense at all. For a father and son with the same name to marry a mother and daughter with the same name is unlikely but I've seen it documented in a tree. It's too easy to click those little shaky leaves and just take what others have said to be true and add it to your tree. Especially when there are many other trees that say the same thing. Problem is, where did the original information come from? I don't know anyone out there who can honestly tell me that they know the names of all 64 of their gr-gr-gr-gr-gr-grandparents. Every gr- doubles the number before it and there are approximately 3 generations per 100 years or so.

With that being said, there would have to be proof for each one of these names to be accepted as being one of my ancestors. My biggest problem now is sorting back through all the junk to get back to what is actually factual information. The process of creating a spreadsheet and entering the information I have already on these people has proven to be a tedious task and it's one that I'd gladly ignore given the opportunity.

When I started this journey on Ancestry, I was just like everyone else and I clicked those little leaves with anticipation and excitement. Now I kick myself because I have to go back through and clean up what I could have done right from the beginning. My advice to everyone out there who's just starting out actually comes from another blogger. Take it slowly. Get the information for one person at a time and try to get as much as you can before going on to the next person. Time is not of the essence when you are dealing with people who are not alive anymore. They aren't going anywhere. If you hit a wall and need a break, make sure you've documented everything and everywhere you've looked so that when you come back to them later, you don't have to start all over.

Well, that's my rant for tonight. Ancestry is a great resource so if you have it, use it wisely. It will save you from the headache I'm dealing with now.

Sifting through it all

When was the last time you looked around your house for old letters and cards? Maybe you're one of those people who has saved everything from your loved one throughout the course of your relationship and has them all placed into a box that you will do something with "someday." That's totally me. I have boxes and stacks of things sitting around that I have been saving for that "someday" to occur. At least I'm organized about it. I have a section for all of the notes, letters and cards from my love and folders bursting at the seams that are filled with every single paper my kids have ever brought home from school. Okay maybe not every single paper, but you get the point. I must say that I credit my not being able to throw anything away to my grandma Julie. She was the epitome of a pack rat, but I have found a ton of value in her pack rattiness. Is that even a word??? Anyway, I have found that there is a treasure trove of information available to me that I didn't even know I had because I never bothered to look past the stack of stuff that still needs a home.

How many times I have wished and hoped for some kind of break to happen and there would magically be a letter from one of my ancestors to another that would explain something I was stuck on or would help me past a brick wall. Ha! If it were only that easy right? Then I realized that even though I can't control the information that I don't have and will possibly never know, I can control what is out there for future generations to see. My family history isn't going to stop with everyone before me or even with my kids. It's constantly going to change and the more information I have and preserve now, the more I can pass along a little of my life to future generations.

Now the light bulb goes on in my head. This is possibly the "someday" that I've been waiting for. Could this finally be the end to those boxes and folders I've been moving around for 10 years? It's definitely a start. Now I just have to figure out how to organize it all... I just recently realized the value of all of these things when I ran across some old paperwork that was in a storage unit my grandfather has. While moving boxes and going through things, we found old newspapers from 1940 that were held on to, but I couldn't figure out why. After all, he was only 5 and my grandma was 4 back then. Why could they possibly have had a need to hold on to a newspaper for 73 years? Yes that's right, do the math, I'll wait. I kept folding it and unfolding it, looking for some clue as to why I had not just 1 but 4 copies of said paper. I mean, to have something like that must mean that whatever it was was front page news, right? After reading through many many many boring articles about things that had nothing to do with my family, I started flipping through the rest of the pages and scanning articles. Finally, on the next to last page of the paper, Bam! There it was! An article written about my grandmother who was dressed like Carmen Miranda and was singing and dancing to entertain the USO.

Talk about a find! The fact that she did that was no surprise to me. That was something I've known about for a long time. I just never knew about the newspaper article. During that search through those old boxes, I also uncovered a single page letter that was written when my grandpa got out of the Army. It basically outlines his military career and even gives some information about where he was going to work after he got out. Another great find! This paper even had his enlistment date and everything. I know I could have just ordered his records from the V.A but they take a seriously long time and it's kind of a headache.

The last thing I came across in all of those boxes was a bunch of schoolwork from my mom when she was about 8 or so. It's just a bunch of little books of stories, but it was interesting to read what she was thinking and to see her handwriting from when she was a child. Definitely something to keep and add to the already out of control stack of stuff that I'm trying to figure out what to do with. I'll just have to file that away in the "someday" pile. I just find that things like this help to paint a more intimate picture of the people in our family tree. These artifacts, for lack of a better term, are things that take the people and change them from names and dates on a page to people with hopes, dreams, and fears.

Is there more stuff out there? I'm reasonably certain that there is far more stuff out there shoved in the back of someone's drawer that they've forgotten about and I just have to find it. There is something to be said for being nosy and keeping your eyes open for something valuable to your research. I have found that even though it may be tedious and boring sometimes to sift through a sack full of crap that you're never going to need (or want), the moment you find that single typed page or handwritten letter that helps you paint a more complete picture of an ancestor, it all becomes worth it. Even if you never get to your "someday" stack or box, take the time to make one. "Someday" one of your descendants may be sifting through your stuff trying to answer the same questions about you that you are trying to answer right now.

Family trees aren't 2D anymore......

Back in school I remember working on family tree projects throughout my academic career. I was not really ever interested in the idea behind it and looked no further into my family history than my grandparents. I turned in my project and promptly forgot about it. Then when I got into high school, I thought it would be cool to create a really nice family tree wall hanging that could be added to and passed down generations. I dabbled in research and at the time, the internet just didn't have the resources available that we have today. I was not willing to drive all the way out to the Mormon Temple to work on it and so I just let it go. For some reason, I held on to all that I had collected.

Fast forward many many years and we get to a few years ago. I wanted something to pass on to my own children and their children after that. Growing up, I had heard stories about when my grandparents were small and I was always captivated by the things they said. They gave me a little insight into people that I would never meet and to a time in history that was long gone. It was a small glimpse into their lives before I knew them and I was fascinated.

When I started looking at all of the information I collected back in high school, my original idea was just to complete the project I had started. Never in a million years would I have thought that almost 4 years later, I would be so immersed in what I was doing that sometimes I preferred to spend the evening sipping my water and "meeting" these relatives who, in some cases, had died centuries before I was born. This journey seems to have no end and I am completely at the mercy of my dead relatives. The documents they kept and the photos they passed down are sometimes my only link to information about them.

I have since learned that family trees and creating a family history are two totally different things. A family history gives future generations a look into the past and lets them live in our moments years from now. A simple family tree just gives them the facts. Learning their history gives them insight into how the people lived and why things happened. It is constantly changing and when written is far more personal than some names and dates written on a pretty chart.

My family history, like so many others, started out with the known people. Myself and my own family and those in my husband's immediate family. Before too long there were quite a few people in our tree but I was still able to know their stories intimately. Now, there are over 3000 people in the tree and it just continues to grow. In my opinion, it is important to not only just follow your direct line, but to notate all of the children born to a particular set of parents. Learning the family dynamic is huge and the extra names, although not always helpful when you're trying to streamline things, can actually help to locate a lost relative.

I am now at the point where I am buried under mountains of paperwork and I am finding it hard to find a system that will allow me to keep hard copies of everything with an exact digital backup just in case. I have tried putting things in 3 ring binders by family, but later on I find that I have a lot of the same information (i.e. census records) in several different places. I have begun to go through some of my papers and started working on a new classification system.. I am also seriously thinking about getting some kind of scanner so that I can keep copies of things I have hand written.

But I digress. This journey to seek out my roots has taught me a lot about the world and the places that my family has come from. Whether they were English nobility or slave owners in the Deep South, they all have something of value to contribute to my life. Without them, I wouldn't be who I am and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to get to know each and every one of them. I am excited for the opportunity to keep their stories alive for generations to come.