Products of the Day at the Online Store
- Early American Gazetteer CD
- The Ultimate Scrapbook Creator Deluxe
This issue of the Ancestry Daily News is sponsored by Spector.
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DATABASES OF THE DAY (Free for 10 Days!)
Worth County, Georgia Census, 1920
Located in the southwest of Georgia, Worth County was formed in 1852. This database is a collection of census records for the county in 1920. It contains sex, race, age, marital status, and birthplace information. Additionally, researchers will find reference information to aid those wishing to view the original record. Compiled from microfilm copies of the original records and containing the names of over 23,000 people, this can be a helpful source of information for those seeking Georgian ancestors.
Bibliography: Jeffery, Alice. "Worth County, 1920 Census." [Database online] Orem, UT: Ancestry, Inc., 1999.
To search this database, go to:
http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search/3886.htm
California Narratives: Life of a Pacific Coast Pioneer
Joseph Wilkinson Hines (b. ca. 1824) left New York State in 1853 as a Methodist missionary to Ohio. He later settled in Santa Clara County, California, where he was a prominent Republican and anti-slavery advocate. Touching incidents in the life and labors of a pioneer (1911) is a collection of unrelated papers by Hines: speeches and poems touching such subjects as missionary experiences in Oregon, the history of Santa Clara, Sir George Seymour, Mount Hood, Klamath Indians, woman suffrage, and the University of the Pacific.
Bibliography: Library of Congress. "California As I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years." Vol. 56. [Database online] Washington: Library of Congress, 1999. Hines, Joseph Wilkinson. "Life and Labors of a Pacific Coast Pioneer." San Jose, CA: Eaton and Co., 1911.
To search this database, go to:
http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search/3887.htm
Times Union (Albany, New York), Obituaries, 1998-1999 (Update)
Bibliography: UMI Company. "Obituaries from the Times Union, 1998-1999." Orem, UT: Ancestry Inc., 1999.
To search this database, go to:
http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search/3496.htm
TODAY'S FEATURED MAP
Georgia, 1732-1755
To view this map, go to:
http://www.ancestry.com/whatsnew.htm
Maps & Atlases in the Online Store
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Animap 2.0-2,000 Maps plus Place Finder Database on CD-ROM.
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"DO YOU EAR WHAT I EAR?"
by Michael John Neill
Last week's article used the term "birder" house. One astute reader gently indicated that I most likely meant "brooder" house. I thank them for the correction and must plead ignorance for while I was raised on a farm, we did not have chickens. You can be certain I will not make the same mistake using bovine phrases--I would never hear the end of it!
The mistake makes a point and I'm actually glad it happened. Mishearing and misinterpreting words and phrases can cause problems genealogically in several situations. I have categorized the difficulties here, but bear in mind that there might be some overlap and that the distinction between some categories is not really important.
DID NOT HEAR CORRECTLY
Just as I misunderstood Grandma, it might be that the respondent on an official document or record did not hear correctly and gave "incorrect" information as a result. This same difficulty can arise when family members are asked for information. In one of my families, confusion arose between the two names "Augusta" and "Geske." These names are distinct, however, an individual with a hearing problem might easily confuse the two.
MISUNDERSTOOD THE QUESTION
The respondent might have heard all the words and thought he understood the meaning of the question. If your ancestor gave an "incorrect" birthplace for his mother or father, is it possible that he interpreted the question as "where is your mother from?" instead of "where was your mother born?" Mother might have been born in one place and "been from" somewhere else (depending upon where she grew up and where her family originated). It might have been this place that she considered herself "from" even though it was not actually where she was born. We cannot know for certain what our ancestors were thinking when they were answering questions for the census taker or the marriage license clerk. All we have is the document they left behind.
When interviewing family members use as many names as possible. Relationships can create confusion. When interviewing my grandmother, it took several minutes to make it clear to her that I was asking about her grandfather Trautvetter, not her father. She had referred to her own dad as a grandfather for so long (to her own children) that she originally answered the questions as if I was asking about her father. Using her grandfather's name of John reduced the confusion (her father, fortunately was named George). While it may not be possible use names exclusively, minimizing the number of relationships used when asking questions can reduce confusion.
DID NOT KNOW THE LANGUAGE
Was your immigrant ancestor answering questions that were asked in a language he did not understand? Even if your ancestor could speak English, it seems reasonable that she might have easily mistranslated a key word or phrase.
WAS NOT LISTENING
Have you ever answered a question without ever really listening to it? Asking your parent, spouse, child, or co-worker might provide a different answer. Is it possible your ancestor was not paying one hundred percent attention when the 1920 census taker knocked on his door? Did your ancestor assume no one would ever really care about the answers eighty years later?
NO ONE CARED
When the clerk was filling out my marriage license, he asked me how to spell my mother's maiden name. And so I spelled it out. If I had married in the county where I was born and raised, most of the office staff would have known how to spell the surname (and many would have known it without even asking). Close attention is not always paid to detail today and it certainly was not one hundred and fifty years ago either.
SPOKE A DIALECT, USED SLANG, OR HAD AN ACCENT
Dialects and variations in pronunciation can impact how words are spelled in records. "Gibson" can easily be pronounced so that it is spelled like "Gepson." There are numerous names where this is a problem, a problem compounded by dialects, "drawls," and "twangs." While it may be possible to know how our ancestors pronounced a name or a word, this information is generally not available.
IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE I WAS ABLE TO "EAR" IT
In some cases, it is literally a lifetime from the day when a family tradition is heard until that day it is told. You grandfather might have heard a story when he was a child and not repeated it until he had grandchildren of his own. The chance that as a child he misunderstood something is reasonable. This difficulty is compounded by the effects time can have on one's memory.
THE ANCESTOR WAS NOT LITERATE
If your ancestor was unable to read, she could not "proof" any answers or words listed on any form she might have signed. Even if your ancestor could read, if the forms were not in her native tongue, she might have easily misunderstood a question (or her answer). The clerk might not have been concerned about explaining it to her either.
Genealogists need to bear in mind auditory difficulties when dealing with records. These difficulties are compounded by problems with how our ancestors might have interpreted various terms and phrases. Documenting these difficulties may be impossible in many cases. When it can be done, it should, especially with pronunciations.
I always track the ways names are pronounced when I know it. One of my ancestral surnames is Behrens. My great-grandmother pronounced it as "barns" (the kind cows sometimes reside in). This pronunciation is duly noted in my files. While it's not written as technically as it would be in a dictionary, it serves the purpose.
BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW IT IS PRONOUNCED
Asking older family members is a good first step, but not always possible. As your research progresses further and further back in time, the chance that living family members have heard the name decreases. Researchers who do not know how a name is most likely pronounced may wish to post such a question to one of the mailing lists for the surname or the message boards at http://www.familyhistory.com or http://www.genforum.com. Individuals with the name may post replies, but it is important to remember that the pronunciation today may be significantly different from one hundred and fifty or two hundred years ago.
Genealogists use their eyes for the bulk of their genealogical work, and rightly so. But we must also use our ears and mouths--for that's how many of those words made their way from our ancestor's minds to those records.
Good Luck!
Copyright 1999, Michael John Neill. Michael John Neill, is the Course I Coordinator at the Genealogical Institute of Mid America (GIMA) held annually in Springfield, Illinois, and is also on the faculty of Carl
Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois. Michael is the Web columnist for the FGS FORUM and is on the editorial board of the Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly. He conducts seminars and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical and computer topics and contributes to several genealogical publications, including Ancestry and Genealogical Computing. You can email him at: mneill@asc.csc.cc.il.us
or visit his Web site at: http://www.rootdig.com/
IN THE NEWS ONLINE
Public Information is not so public
By Christopher Wills (Daily Southtown)
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsnews/251nd5.htm
Lincoln documents discovered Written descriptions of accidental shooting tied to Black Hawk War
(Daily Southtown)
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsnews/176nd2.htm
Preserving the past a matter of respect
By Sandee Wong (Herald-Tribune--Grand Prairie, Alberta)
http://www.bowesnet.com/dht/Z07_jy22past.html
EASTMAN'S ONLINE GENEALOGY NEWSLETTER HEADLINES
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Ultimate Family Tree 3.0 Deluxe
- Ancestry.com Adds Irish Records
- New Acadian-Cajun Family Trees CD-ROM
- Early Canadiana Online
- Announcing BostonFamilyHistory.Com
- Native American Heritage on the Web
- Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly CD-ROM
- Kindred Konnections: Largest Ancestral Database?
- GENTECH2000 Program Now Available
- MultiGen
- More on PAF 4.0
- Society of Genealogists Presents an Award to GENUKI
- FreeDrive
- Home Pages Highlighted
To read this week's newsletter, go to:
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THOUGHT FOR TODAY
"You have reckoned that history ought to judge the past and to instruct the contemporary world as to the future. The present attempt does not yield to that high office. It will merely tell how it really was."
- Leopold von Ranke, 1795-1886, Preface, "Geschichten der Romanischen und Germanischen Volker" ("History of the Romanic and Germanic People) von 1492 bis 1535 (1824)
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Best Wishes,
Juliana Smith, Editor, Ancestry Daily News
Rebekah Thorstenson, Associate Editor
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