Honoring Our Ancestors
Happy Birthday, Ben!
by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak

Dear Son: I have ever had the pleasure in obtaining any little anecdotes of my ancestors. You may remember the inquiries I made among the remains of my relations when you were with me in England, and the journey I undertook for that purpose. Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to know the circumstances of my life, many of which you are yet unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week's uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement, I sit down to write them for you.

Who Knew?
So opens The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I knew he was an inventor, a writer, a printer, a diplomat, a founding father, and so much more, but until I went to the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary--the traveling exhibition to commemorate his 300th birthday--I didn't know he was also a genealogist. Of course, this fresh knowledge only caused my admiration for this colorful fellow to grow. If you live in or near Philadelphia, St. Louis, Houston, Denver, Atlanta, or Paris, do yourself a favor and plan on spending a little time this year celebrating his 300th birthday.

300 and Counting
Yes, his actual 300th has already passed (17 January 2006, in case you're curious). But one of the most remarkable aspects of the exhibition is how relevant Franklin and his achievements are even today. He seems, in many respects, a modern day man. In fact, a quote featured toward the end of the exhibit expresses Franklin's wish that he could have been born "two or three centuries hence." Every one of us is, in a sense, living his dream.

And although he was an exceptional individual and there are countless reasons why he deserves to live in our memories today, there's something reassuring about seeing any person from the 1700s so vividly brought to life. It reminds us of the tiny dose of immortality we provide each of our ancestors when we choose to seek out the details of their lives, and of the importance of leaving a trail ourselves. If someone as notable as Ben Franklin thought it necessary to document his life for his son, maybe we 21st century slackers should take a hint.

Franklin's Family Tree
Aside from all the obvious reasons you might want to attend this exhibit, the Tercentenary is a genealogist's delight. His family tree is heavily featured, and no, it's not whitewashed. Many know of his illegitimate son, and there's no attempt to mask this reality. Instead, the viewer gets to step into Franklin's family world, including his unusual arrangement living apart from his wife for many years (but his obvious affection for her in spite of their near-constant separation), his heartbreak over losing a child (how often do we try to tell ourselves that folks "back then" were somehow more accustomed to and therefore better equipped to deal with a loss of this enormity?), his wife's acceptance of his "outside child," and so forth.

Assorted descendants have contributed a variety of artifacts, so visitors get to see a personal collection that has never before been assembled. For instance, he wrote of a china bowl and silver spoon that his wife splurged on for him early in their marriage, and they are reunited for the first time in centuries in this display. Portraits of Franklin float through the exhibit, arranged in chronological order, so you see him age from young man to elder statesman. Chairs with a foot pedal that operates a fan above the head are scattered throughout so you can take a break and cool yourself off the same way Franklin did. He didn't invent the contraption, but was a big fan of it.

A Regular Guy
And you learn what Franklin was like as a person. Yes, he was larger than life, but you learn of the spat he has with John Adams when they were forced to share a bed at an inn. The source of the conflict? A debate about whether to leave the window open or not. Franklin believed strongly in the merits of fresh air, while Adams believed equally strongly in the merits of not freezing.

He was a natural-born diplomat, but that didn't stop him from proposing trade in rattlesnakes when he became rankled with Britain's policy of sending convicts to America. One of his guilty pleasures? Playing a game called Magic Squares--better known today as Sudoku. (Keep playing, Juliana--you're in good company!)

Walking in His Shoes
But my favorite part of the exhibit was an interactive game called Seeking Opportunity, based on Franklin's journey from Boston to Philadelphia. I confess that I probably tested the patience of quite a few youngsters who were waiting their turns to make the virtual trip out of Boston to build a better 18th century future for themselves, but I felt compelled to keep playing until I had tried out just about every combination of decisions.

What profession should I choose--cooper, chandler, or clockmaker? Should I take the ship to New York or the one to Newport? Should I pay four shillings to take the wagon to Philadelphia or should I save the money and walk? It's a good thing I was born when I was because my first foray into the world landed me in the Bahamas where I had to work on a plantation for eight years. On another try, I wound up dying in New York after getting robbed and tossed in jail. I eventually did make it to Philadelphia in one piece, but it took some doing.

If you have the chance, go take a fascinating walk in Franklin's footsteps. Learn about this remarkable man. Ponder what your own ancestors' lives might have been like. Immerse yourself in the past. And while you're at it, thank your lucky stars for having been born "two or three centuries hence!"

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, co-author (with Ann Turner) of Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree (as well as In Search of Our Ancestors,Honoring Our Ancestors and They Came to America), can be contacted through www.genetealogy.com and www.honoringourancestors.com.

Upcoming Events Where Megan Will Be Speaking:

• Charlotte County Genealogical Society
  (March 11, 2006, Port Charlotte, FL)
• Treasure Coast Genealogical Society
  (March 18, 2006, Ft. Pierce, FL)
• Roots & Branches Genealogical Society
  (March 19, 2006, DeLand, FL)
• Camden County Historical Society
  (March 23, 2006, New Jersey)
• Haddonfield Historical Society
  (March 29, 2006, Tavistock, NJ)
• Burlington County Genealogy Club
  (April 5, 2006, Westampton, NJ)
• Genealogy Federation of Long Island
  (April 8, 2006, Stony Brook, NY)
• Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia
  (April 10, 2006, Elkins Park, PA)
• Virginia Genealogical Society
  (April 22, 2006, Location TBD)
• Rockland County Genealogical Society
  (May 6, 2006, New City, New York)
• Roots in the Boot
  (July 15, 2006, Pittsburgh, PA)

Click here for details and links to upcoming events.

Copyright 2006, MyFamily.com.

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Utah Genealogical Association Spring Seminar, 29-30 March 2006

The Utah Genealogical Association (UGA) is holding a Spring Seminar. Online Registration is available now! Call the Plaza Hotel NOW to make your reservations 1-800-366-3684 and ask for the UGA Group Room Rate.

Register EARLY for the classes of your choice. Classroom space will be limited.

The cost for the seminar is:
-- $15 for one day ($25 for one day after March 1, 2006 or at the door)
-- $25 for two days ($40 for two days after March 1, 2006 or at the door)

Classes will be held in the Best Western Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, with the exception of Lab classes, which will be in the Family History Library main floor computer lab classroom.

Registration and class schedules for the conference are available online. To register and for more information see the UGA website.

Ancestry Quick Tip Jamboree

It's time for this week's Ancestry Quick Tip Jamboree! Thanks to everyone who has sent in a Quick Tip. Please keep them coming so that we can keep this tradition going. You can send your tips to: ADNeditor@ancestry.com.

Quick Tips may be reprinted, with credit to the submitter, in other Ancestry publications, so if you do not want your tip included in a publication other than the Ancestry Daily News and Ancestry Weekly Digest, please state so clearly in your message.

Have a great day!
Juliana

Survey of Resources

Though Ancestry.com is working diligently, there literally are millions of records not yet available on the Internet. So every local society should gather together a full and complete list of every single local source that might help a researcher, including even local historians and writers with personal collections and information not yet published or otherwise available.

Such a list, when made locally available and also placed on the society website, will not only bring researchers to the town, the area, and to local businesses, but also will be immensely helpful to everyone with roots in that place.

Recently, I did a seminar in a western Virginia County. At my request, the local society members diligently made such a complete list. They found, even to their own surprise, that there was a total of forty-two local sources and (or) sets of records, including those sources in their courthouse. My Internet search revealed that of that number, there were twenty that could not be found on the Internet.

Since the publication of that list, the latest report reveals a substantial increase in society membership by those living far away, and a noticeable benefit to those businesses near the courthouse, at the local museum, in the motels and at the library. All have benefited from that effort, and there is NO downside.

Genealogy without documentation is nothing.

Paul Drake JD
Genealogist & Author

Post-ems

The Ancestry World Tree post-ems are great for adding comments to someone else's database, but I use them on my own family tree too, to note errors and omissions that will be corrected when I post my next update. This is a quick and convenient way to prevent bad data from sitting online uncorrected without having to re-upload my database every time I tweak it.

Leslie Nelson

Bring the PDA

I loved the article on what to do sitting with the patient in the hospital. I have been the patient extensively in recent years and I would never wish to change places with my caregiver of fifty-four years but you have given me enough material to consider that I will know how to eliminate several persistent piles.

Taking a PDA with your tree on it enables one to check information when away from your desktop.

Thanks for your good work.

Dick

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Clipping of the Day
The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia), 28 February 1879, page 1:

A Tempest

London, February 27.--The Times' Rome correspondent says reports from all parts of the peninsular bring lamentable accounts of the damage by a tempest. The whole coast from Genoa to the south of Naples is strewn with the wreck of small craft. Many larger vessels are seriously injured. In all ports ships have been driven from their moorings. All of the small craft along the Riveria Di Chaija were swept to sea and lost. The new quay at Posilippo was almost destroyed. At Leghorn two English steamers broke from their moorings and caused much injury. At Follonica, four Italian and two English vessels were wrecked. Inland, the effect of the storm is equally disastrous. At Puagginolo, near Siena Companile, the steeple of the church was blown down while the people were at mass, killing two priests officiating at the altar and three other persons and wounding twenty-four. A similar catastrophe occurred at Aonntoure, where the vault of the church yielded to the force of the storm and killed the priest celebrating mass and injured a number of the congregation. At Rome the force of the wind was unparalleled.

ADN Editor's Note: Place names in this clipping are typed as they appear in the original article.

Members with access to the Historical Newspapers Collection can view this clipping here.

Click here to subscribe to the Historical Newspapers Collection at Ancestry.com.

Fast Fact
Misspellings and Initials

Having trouble finding your ancestors in a database? Databases are rather picky creatures; one key letter read wrong by the database creator can throw a huge monkey wrench into your search. Often-confused letters in transcriptions and indexes include:

L and S
T and F
J, G, and Y
I and J
K and R
O and Q
P and R
U and W

In addition, vowels are also frequently misinterpreted. Switching similar-looking letters or vowels in the surnames you are researching can bring surprisingly good results.

Another way to overcome misspelled surnames would be to try some advanced searches using only given names, and to include other criteria to narrow it down. The success of this method would naturally depend on the size and nature of the database, but it often works.

Given names can present their own difficulties. How often have you seen records listing only initials? Probably quite often. These are possibilities that should not be overlooked when including a given name in your search.

Click here to search the databases at Ancestry.com.

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Thought for Today
Benjamin Franklin

One of the greatest tragedies of life is the murder of a beautiful theory by a gang of brutal facts.