1940 US Census: Boarders in the Household

Less than two weeks until the release of the 1940 US census!  When searching census records, it is easy to just focus on family members and the other people living in a household.  After all, boarders were just people passing through, helping pay the mortgage, right?

While in some situations, you will see a boarder in a census one year and never see them in relation to your family again, sometimes boarders will actually be far more important to your research.  Here are a few examples from my family tree:



In 1910, my 3rd great grandmother, Sophia (Passel) Gress, had been a widow for 11 years and all of her children were grown and living with their spouses, raising children of their own.  Sometime between 1900 and 1910 she had begun taking in boarders, and as of census day she had 6 young men renting space in her home.  One of these men, George Eddy, was a 28 year old house painter.  I like to picture Sophia telling her granddaughter Elsie about this kind, hard working, handsome young man living there, as by the 1920 census Sophia was living with George and Elsie Eddy and their 3 daughters (as well as a new boarder) as “grandmother-in-law”.



In 1871, Benjamin Hayman was listed as a lodger in the home of my 3rd great-grandparent’s Charles and Mary Ann Whitehead’s home.  Further research proved Benjamin to be Mary Ann’s older brother whom she named her firstborn son after.  Why was he listed as a lodger and not as brother-in-law?  Perhaps the census taken felt that lodger was a more appropriate relationship or he was not told that there was a blood relationship or he just assumed Benjamin was a lodger.

Have you ever researched the boarders listed in your families census records?  Did you find they were more than just someone passing through?

Sources:

1871 census of England, Kent, Halstead civil parish, village of Halstead, folio 132, page 5, Charles Whitehead household; digital images, The Generations Network, Inc., Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Aug 2008); citing PRO RG 10/921.

1910 U.S. census, Erie County, New York, population schedule, Buffalo, enumeration district (ED) 179, sheet 13B, dwelling 219, family 263, Sophia household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed Aug 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 946.

1920 U.S. census, Erie County, New York, population schedule, Buffalo, enumeration district (ED) 201, sheet 15B, dwelling 254, family 346, George Eddy household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed Aug 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 1107.

Family History Day: A Dozen Ways to Jumpstart Your Family History Project

The third class I went to for Family history day was also given by Lou Dennis Szucs.  This time she spoke on ways to jumpstart your family history project.

Often time, we feel stuck in our research as genealogists.  Maybe we hit a brick wall or we just don’t know where to turn next.  In these cases, Lou first recommends going back over what you have.  When was the last time you looked at all of your documents for information you may have missed or didn’t realize was important the first time around?  Even just writing the information out in a new way, such as a timeline, may give you a new idea.  Also, make sure you are looking at the witnesses, sponsors, neighbors and fellow passengers on those documents, as they can often give you clues about your family (or may even be your family!).  One of my favorite bloggers, Tina, has been doing this recently.  She is going through her entire document collection, cleaning up her database and posing about it on her blog Gen Wish List.  She has found a multitude of items and is only on the letter “L”.

It is also important to continually look for new sources.  This can be done by looking at new Ancestry.com databases, going to your local library (or your ancestors local library), using sources new to you (in my case mortuary records and mortality census records), and checking out family history societies and museums.  Also remember that the 1940 US census will be released April 2nd!

Can you speak for 5 minutes on every place your people came from/lived?  I can’t either, but think it’s a great idea.  Writing up sketches of ancestral homelands is another great way to jumpstart your research.  Include the history of the area, maps, and things such as major occupations, churches, and organizations.  I also like the idea of writing sketches of organizations your ancestors belonged to, such as churches or fraternal organizations, and their employer, as this will give you more insight into their life.

You should also be writing up biographical sketches of your ancestors themselves.  This goes along with her first point of seeing what information you have.  Do not just put dates, but try to show their personality as well.  You can turn these sketches into your own personal mug book. 

Lastly, it is important that we network with others.  You can do this through genealogical organizations, on message boards, on a blog, Facebook, or using Ancestry.com member trees.  The more ways you get your information out there, the more likely you will find others who are related or can help break that brick wall. 

Storing my Genealogy Research

[Image by Jonathan Joseph Bondhus]

Marian Pierre-Louis of the Roots and Rambles Blog has been discussing the format she keeps her genealogical information in (with a follow-up on paper vs. digital) and how it relates to reviewing and analyzing your research.

I seem to follow the same basic pattern she does.  My information is stored as follows: 

• Print outs in sheet protectors in 3-ring binders, divided by family. 
• This includes pedigree and family group sheets, vital records, census records and obituaries.  These print outs go into the binder  upon entry into my genealogy program.
• Legacy Family Tree genealogy program
• Used to keep track of all of my information in an easy to see format.  This is particularly useful for distant cousins who I have limited information on, such as census records.  Also on my laptop are digital copies of all records I have used which are in a folder and tagged with metadata on the family and record type.
• Microsoft OneNote
• This allows me to make research plans, type out conclusions and show my methodology into my findings (particularly when using GPS).  This is one of the areas I need to focus on more this year.

Why do I have so many ways of keeping my information? 

1. In order to do any type of analysis, I need the papers out in front of me.  I am very much a paper person and see more when I can look at and hold the item in my hands.  The papers also allow me to spread out a large amount of documents in front of me to compare information.  These are all things I cannot do easily with digital copies.
2. There is an ease of looking at the conclusive information in a genealogical program and of looking at my thought process in a word processing program (my writing is awful…) that is not available on paper.  I can easily update a birthdate and reprint a new family group sheet much easier than I could re-write one (and with much less possibility of error).  By tagging research logs and reports I can find all the work I have done on an individual or family.
3. One of my favorite things to do with the information I find is to show it to my family.  Although we could all gather around my laptop, it is so much more enjoyable to flip through a binder on the family and look at all of the documents relating to our ancestors life.

What format do you keep your research in?

Finding the Karpinski Family: Step 3, The Cursory Online Search, Part 1

Please check out step 1 and step 2, if you have not already read them.

Step 3

You now have all of your information together and have spoken to any relatives related to your subject search, it is now time to broaden your horizons to the internet.  Every month, more and more information is placed online for genealogists, saving us time and money.   Additionally, despite what shows such as “Who Do You Think You Are?” show, most genealogists do not have the money to jump on a plane and go to the archives of a small village in their homeland.  Many of those archives will also tell you that their information is available online or through the LDS Family History Centers.  Traveling to distant (and not so distant) locales and seeing where your ancestors lived and worked is rewarding and enjoyable, but it is best to start at home and expand as needed.

Time for a Research Log

Over the course of your research you will look at hundreds of websites, books and documents.  Some of these will have information you want or need and some will not.  It is important to keep track of these items so you do not repeat your search and so that you have the correct source citations for every piece of information you have.  Often times, what you do not find in a document is just as important as what you do.

This is where a research log comes in.  There are a variety of research logs you can find on the internet and in genealogy books and programs.  Programs such as excel, RefWorks or EverNote also work for this purpose.  I prefer to keep all of my information in the notes section of my genealogy program.  The best research logs is the one that you will actually keep up with.  Start this at the beginning of your research and you will be ahead of 99% of the other genealogists I have met.

The Cursory Online Search: Recommended Sites

There are a billion websites which change daily; how do you know where to start?  Some of my favorite sites to begin looking at are:

• Google.com


• Ancestry.com


• FamilySearch.org


• Genealogy.com


• Worldcat.org


• GeneaBloggers.com

You can search for a surname (particularly if it is an unusual one), a person’s full name or something such as “surname AND genealogy” “surname AND Buffalo, New York” or “surname AND birth year”.  Make sure to check out advanced search options and to view the help or FAQ for Boolean search options, which are different for every site.

My Cursory Online Searches

The Cursory Online Search: Karpinski

The Cursory Online Search: Szydlik

Finding the Karpinski Family: Step 2, Talking to the Family

Please read Step 1 first.

Step 2

The second step of the research process is talking to family members about your subject.  If you are brand new to genealogy, you will want to interview as many family members as possible, starting with the oldest (I know this sounds morbid, but these are the people who have the most information about past generations and who will likely become a past generation first).  Additionally, no one wants to replicate another’s research, as this would be a waste of both time and money, so by taking the time to speak to your relatives and do a cursory online search (step 3), you will limit this.

Talking to the Family

For this project, the only person I know to speak to is my great aunt Dottie.  She has done a lot of research on the Acquard family and is where I received the information on the Karpinski’s.  The information I received via email was:

“Here's the info I have on your great-grandmothers (Stella Karpinski Acquard) mother and father.

Francis (Francixaek) Karpinski (Karpinska) born September 16, 1880 in Poland and Died May 22, 1943 married to Josephine (Zozefa) Szydlik who was born September 26, 1886 in Poland and died April 4, 1973 in Warsaw NY.  Both are buyed[sic] in St. Joseph's cemetery on Rt. 16 in Holland NY. There headstone reads S.P. Mama Josefa 1886-1973 and S.P. Ojciec Franciszek 1880-1943 Karpinska.  He died of cancer and she died of asthma.  He had a brother Stephen. I do not know who his parents were.  Hopefully, you can find some information on him.

Josephine Szydlik Karpinski's parents were Thomas & Barbara Szydlik.  I do not have any other info on them.

Josephine had 2 sisters that I know of Stepania Szydlik who married with last name Stankiewicz.  No first name known.  Her other sister Apolania born in 1892 in Poland and married with last name Kaczanowski.  She died January 4, 1963 in North Collins NY.

In 1987 I received a letter from Apolonio Stankiewicz

address: ulico.Wojsko, Polskiego 37/20; 77-100 Bytow; woj. Stupsk.  She is a cousin that used to write to my Mom.  However, she writes in Polish and I can't read or write it so I had a terrible time communicating with her.    I also have an name and address for Barbara Stelmaszczyk, ul. Krabowska 14; 42-600 Tarnowskie Gory; Polska .  I have a picture of a girl from 1957 with the name Picowszs Kaminia.

Good Luck.  Not sure if any of these people are alive but their children or grandchildren should be.”

One email and I have a lot more information.  Things to look into:

• Visiting the cemetery in Holland next time I am visiting Buffalo to see the gravestone mentioned.  I can also see what info the cemetery has on the family.


• Josephine’s sister’s first and married names and some of their children’s names


• Francis’s brother’s name


• More spellings of first and last names.  Need to look at a Polish genealogy book for some standards.


• Addresses in Poland.  Finding hometowns in the ancestral country can be difficult, this should help.

Our next step will be a cursory search of this family online tomorrow.

Finding the Karpinski Family: Step 1, What I Know

A new season of Who Do You Think You Are? is on, life here has slowed down after the holidays and I miss genealogy.  In the past, I have always focused on my mother’s family, as I have relatives who have traced my father’s side back many generations.  Looking at my database, however, it is easy to see that not all lines were traced back multiple generations.  One of these lines is the Karpinski’s, my paternal grandfather’s mother’s line.

I am going to document my search for this family on my blog for a variety of reasons.  First, the whole point of a is to show the research I have done, get help for problems I can’t solve (especially since I have never done Polish research before), and hopefully meet cousins.  Second, if you are brand new to genealogical research, this can show you one method a genealogist takes to find their family.  You can follow along, see what conclusions you come to and then use that information to search for your own family

Step 1

Step one for any genealogical search is to start with what you know.  Although it can be easy to say “Well, I heard we are related to *insert famous person here* so let me start with them and connect backwards to my family” or “I have always been curious about my 3rd great grandmother who has the same first name as I do, so I am going to go to Ancestry.com and search for her”, these are not the best methods to do historical research.  Always begin with yourself and move backwards through time.

Write down as much information about each person as you can, including vital statistics, alternate name spellings and nicknames (particularly for immigrant ancestors), spouses, children, religion, occupation and organizations they belonged to.  The more you have, the easier it will be to find them in records and to know that you are looking at the right “John Smith”.

What I Know

What you know can be listed in a wide variety of ways.  The most basic way is in a simple list format:

Me: Amanda Acquard Perrine

Father: Dad Acquard (no, that is not his actual first name… I tend to keep that info off my blog for living people)

Grandfather: Theodore Frank Acquard

• b. 21 Sept 1933, Bennington Center, Wyoming County, New York
• m. 12 July 1958, Alden, Erie Co., NY
• d. 29 Nov 2009, Cheektowaga, Erie Co., NY

Great-Grandmother: Stanislawa “Stella” Frances Karpinski

• b. 6 May 1916, Buffalo, Erie Co., NY
• m. 28 Dec 1931, Bennington Ctr., Wyoming Co., NY to Florian Dana Acquard
• d. 26 Jan 1987, Batavia, Genesee Co., NY of Thyroid Cancer
• buried: Bennington Ctr., Wyoming Co., NY
• other: 6 children, remarried to Walter John Acquard 30 Aug 1952 in Bennington Ctr. after death of Florian.  Walter was Florian’s brother.

Great-Great Grandparents:

Franciszek “Francis” Karpinski

• b. 16 Sep 1880, Poland
• m. Unknown
• d. 22 May 1942, NY
• buried: Holland, Erie Co., NY
• other: 6 children (Florence, Thaddeus, Genowefa, Roman, Stanislawa and Alfreda)

Jozefa “Josephine” Szydlik

• b. 16 Sep 1886, Poland
• d. 4 April 1973, Warsaw, Wyoming Co., NY
• buried: Holland, Erie Co., NY
• other: Her parents were Thomas Szydlik and Barbara (last name unknown).  They had 3 children (Jozefa, Stefania and Apolania)

As you can see, this can get lengthy and confusing.  As such, genealogists use forms such as pedigree charts, family charts and genealogy programs to keep all of their information organized (I recommend Legacy Family tree, it’s free and tremendously simple to use, but also offers a lot of power).

Here is my pedigree chart for Stella:

Here is a family group sheet for Franciszek:

This is much more organized and easy to understand.  Once these are completed, I print them out and place them in my research binder, along with family group sheets for Stella and for Thomas Szydlik.  The printed sheets also have all of my sources for the information (in this example, all of the information I have was provided to me by my Aunt Dottie).

Now it is time to start researching, starting with your relatives.  Please read about this step tomorrow!

Top 3 Reasons to View the Actual Vital Record

In genealogy, when we order vital records, we often get a typed, certified copy from the city or town we order it from.  Although this is a good start and can prove useful, one should always aim to see the original to compare and, if possible, make a copy/take a photograph of.

Why is this?

1. The Back of the Certificate

Just like today, people often wrote notes on the back of a piece of paper.  Although you may not find one, imagine if you found a little note that helped you further your search. 

In this example, the back of the certificate (the top part on the image) has the phrase “Baptism St James Epis.”.  This led to a lot of information from the Episcopal Diocese of Buffalo on my Whitehead family.

2. Missing Information in Fill-In-The-Blank Forms

Not all information on a vital record will not necessarily be told to you on a fill-in-the-blank form used by the town clerk to send you the information.  One example of this is a name change.  Here is an example of the birth certificate of my great-grandfather, Alfred Casell, that he had and that I was lucky enough to come into possession of.

I could have stopped with this, saying I had proof of when and where he was born and had a full certificate of his twin sister which proved who their parents were.  However, I knew I may be able to find more information, so I got his full certificate.

As you can see this is a great find. I learned that in addition to changing his last name, he also changed his given name.  I also learned that he changed his name legally, through the court, which gives me another record to search for.

3. Typos

People make mistakes.  I have typed information incorrectly into my family tree program and into bibliographies for class papers.  In the course of proofreading and checking my information (was grandma really 11 when she gave birth?  Especially when she didn't get married for another decade?), this items get found and corrected.

Town and city clerks are busy and, unfortunately, finding vital records for genealogists is not their most important task.  As such, they may not have time to check over their typing.  One example of this is my great-great grandfather Marco A. Casell's death certificate.  The date of death is typed as November 26, 1932, at the age of 69 (born 1968, speaking of typos... 1868) and it has a filed date as November 27, 1937.  The filing date being 5 years later would be one clue there was a problem, as is the fact that the age is wrong based on the dates given.

Luckily, the Town of Colden gives both a typed form and a copy of the original record.  As we can see he did die in 1937, not 1932.  Bonus points to those readers who also realized that this example proved point number 2, as well, in relation to items such as an AKA and a burial date.

As you can see from these examples, it is important to always see an original vital record in order to make sure the information is correct and complete.

Have you had experiences of this in your research?  Please comment below.

Staples, Paper Clips, and Rubber Bands, Oh My

Throughout my time working in Archives, it has never ceased to amaze me the damage that items such as paper clips, rubber bands, staples, sealing wax and, my personal favorite, the straight pin, can do to paper.  Rips, tears, rust marks, discoloration and other problems occur due to how papers are held together.  This makes preservation difficult and can even mean being unable to read documents or parts of documents, due to the damage caused.

What can you do with your documents instead?

• Purchase archival supplies from a company such as Gaylord Brothers.  These plastic clips work the same as metal, but will not harm your documents.  Folders are also an easy way to keep documents organized.


• Put documents in archival safe page protectors, such as those recommended by Dear Myrtle in her organizational checklist.


• Read Sally J.'s Practical Archivist blog for information on proper archival practices of photographs.

Provenance for Genealogists

Provenance, or the origins of an item, is a term commonly used in museums and archives.  In order to protect themselves from fraud or other illegal activities, it is important for these institutions to have a list of who has owned an item since it's inception or founding.

An example of this, from http://www.hepguru.com/monalisa/introduction.html, for the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is

Acquired by François I, either directly from Leonardo da Vinci, during his stay in France, or upon his death from his heirs, the painting remained in the royal collections from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the creation of the Central Arts Museum at the Louvre in 1793. We know that it was kept at Versailles under the reign of Louis XIV and that it was in the Tuileries during the First Empire. Since the Restoration, the Mona Lisa has always remained in the Louvre Museum, a key piece of the national collections.

How does this relate to genealogists and family historians?  Genealogists look at both original and derivative sources and the provenance shows which of these it is.  Original sources are always preferable, but depending how how and by whom a record became a derivative source changes how much trust you would have in it (for example, a microfilm of a church record by the FHC would be considered more trustworthy evidence than a transcription of the same record by an unknown person).

Additionally, there are many items that genealogists own items that we received from others, such as family bibles, letters and diaries or artifacts like jewelry or china.  Where did these come from and how did you get them?  This can be particularly important for an item such as a bible which will give birth, death and marriage dates of ancestors.  Was it passed down in the family from the original owner?  Was it found on a site such as eBay?  How do you know who wrote the names and dates in it?

This information can and should be included in your source for the item.  If you are citing a family bible, after the source for the item itself you would include a sentence such as "The Jane Smith Family Bible was passed to her daughter Sue Smith Jones, to her granddaughter Jean Jones White, to her niece Amanda Perrine."

For further information, please consult Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

Delayed Birth Certificates

It is important to remember that when you are looking at the information on a delayed birth certificate, that it is secondary information, not primary.  Even though there usually needs to be a witness who was present at the birth, the fact that the certificate was not made in a timely manner, means it is still secondary information.  Plus, considering how long after the birth a delayed certificate might be made, it can be doubtful the witness was actually there.



One example of an interesting delayed birth certificate is that of my great-grandfather, William Herbert Whitehead.  Born 29 Sept 1896, his birth certificate was not created until 1940, 44 years later.  The witness is Albert E. Smith, uncle.  However, he was not his uncle, but rather his family friend... and bookie (according to my grandmother, William's daughter, who knew Al).  As such, this is not the most reliable record source.

In a case such as this, it is important to confirm the birth date with other sources.  One of these sources I looked at was his baptism.  This took place in 1904 and the birth date listed was the same.

I also checked the 1900 census, taken even closer to his actual birth date and this had his birth as taking place in September 1896, which is also consistent with the birth certificate.

 

Sources:

1900 U.S. census, Erie, New York, population schedule, Buffalo, enumeration district (ED) 53, sheet 9B, p. 7-224 (stamped), dwelling 133, family 258, household of Charles Whitehead; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 Feb 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 1026.

New York Department of Health, birth certificate 366803 (1940), William Herbert Whitehead; New York State Department of Health, Albany; Birth certifcate was created 44 years after his birth.  Reported by Albert E. Smith, Uncle.  He was actually a family friend (and bookie).

Whitehead baptismal entry (1904); issued 2004 by Archives of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, St. James Episcopal (Buffalo, New York), citing p. 108, number 3497; privately held by Amanda Perrine, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE].

 

Passenger Lists Beyond Immigration

Those of us to have progressed out search to immigrant ancestors always try to find the passenger list that shows them emigrating from the mother land.  Once we find this, it can be easy to stop looking at passenger lists, after all, we found the most important information on one, right?

Actually, this is not correct, particularly if your ancestors came to America over a century ago or more.  Early passenger list records do not have a lot of information on them.  Luckily for us, our ancestors did not just move to America and then forget about their homeland.  They went back to visit, to introduce their American-born children to their family and for funerals.  Surprisingly, they even traveled to other countries for fun, like we do today.

Here is some information I have found on non-immigration passenger lists, that you may be able to, as well.

Not All People Stayed in the US the First Time They Came

~~Marco & Pietro~~

Family Relationships

Maiden Names

Important Dates

~~Naturalization & birth dates

Relative Hometowns

~~Visit in-laws, particularly if male