GenealogyBlog

Spelling and Genealogy

Spelling doesn’t count in geneaology, genology, geanology, geaneology, geneolgy, genelogy or is it geniology? Wait the correct spelling is genealogy, but who’s really paying attention. I’ve seen the word genealogy misspelled as geneaology, genology, geanology, geaneology, geneolgy, geniology and genelogy. I’ve misspelled the word once or twice in prior blog postings of mine. Kudos to those of you who can find a misspelling or two posted on one of my prior blogs.

Anyone who’s been doing genealogy research for any length or time knows that the spelling of ones name doesn’t count. I’ve found so many names misspelled, indexed under the wrong name and completely garbled that I could write a whole blog about the worst ones I’ve encountered. What can one do to find an ancestor’s record that can’t be found due to some misspelling?

There are many search engines out there were you can search for your ancestors such as Ancestry.com, Archives.com, , Fold3, OneGreatFamily and Genealogy Bank to name a few of them. But how do you find your ancestor if his/he name is mispelled? Luckily most of these popular search engines have an option to search by a soundex code. You may have to go into the advanced search settings to have that option available to you. Some may have an option to look for names with a similar meaning such as (Bill and William). If your ancestors name has a small misspelling that may be enough to find your ancestor.

That technique may work for you when you’re using a search engine which has that capability, but what do you do when you’re using a search engine such as Google or Bing. It would also apply if your ancestors name is so badly garbled that the name is unrecognizable and you couldn’t find them using the soundex or advanced search techniques.

What seemed to have worked for me on occasion is to keep track of every spelling of both a first name and the surname of an individual. I’ve seen my ancestor John Douglas Laurie last named spelled as (Laurie, Lowrie, Lawrie, Lowry and Lourie). John has been spelled as (John, Jon, Jo). If you’re using something like Google you may need to try various combinations of both the 1st name and the last name. This can be quite a number of combinations to try. For my John Laurie and all the combinations that would make 18 different combinations to try.

While some search engines require a last name, many do not. I’ve had a lot of success doing just first name searches for census records using just the first name combined with a bunch of other criteria. The criteria could include native of Ireland, from a particular town and birth year around a certain year. When the results display if your ancestor has a last name of “Banks” and you see someone with a last name of “Harts”. don’t dismiss it. It’s a five letter last name wiyh two letters matching your ancestors name. I’ve found many a time the 1st letter of the last name is wrong in the index.

Sometimes with census records from a small town or city, I’ve been able to find a record without entering any name at all. You could look for all of the people born in Italy from Southbury, CT for instance.

Another thing to pay attention to when looking at your ancestors name is to learn about it’s meaning and any alterntate forms of that name. My Fox family in Ireland sometimes shows up in records as McShanahy, which from my understanding means Fox. You must also pay attention and learn about any nicknames and/or abbreviations. For example you might find a Mary called Mollie, Molly or Polly. You might also find a Richard called Dick, Rick or Richy.

They key to overcoming a name that might be misspelled is to keep searching. Just because your ancestor might be hiding behind a name which isn’t his or hers, you may be able to find that record you’re looking for it with a little persistance.

Find your ancestors in books.google.com

Most of us who’ve been doing a bit of genealogy over time have all come to know and love the Google search engine. But how many of you have utilized Google’s vast array of books they have scanned and made available online for free. This posting is about how to go about maximizing your searches to find your ancestors on Google Books. The well known web search site has digitalized many old historical and new books. Many of these books are fully searchable and viewable for free from the comfort of your own home with an internet connection. Copyright laws may limit books and publications to be fully searchable to books published earlier than 1923.

What types of information and books can you find?

• City Directories
• Books containing military rosters (Civil War, WWI, etc.)
• Books containing vital record information (listing of births, marriages and deaths)
• Name searches ==> Surprising books where your ancestors might be found.
• Genealogical Publications
• Books describing a specific place or time in which your ancestor lived.

For those of you who’d like to follow along, open up a second web browser and go to Google Books. For those of you who saw my post about my civil war ancestors you know a little about my ancestor Edwin A. Banks. Can we find anything about him on Google Books? I typed in Edwin A Banks and found over 1,000,000 hits. That’s quite a bit too many for me to weed through…

Is there any way for me to restructure my query to get a few less hits? Well I know that in most records about my Edwin his middle initial is present as well. How about if I put Edwin A Banks in quotation marks (“Edwin A Banks”). Well that narrowed the results down. At the time I was preparing this post, there were 12 hits which came back from the query. Few enough for anyone to go through, even me. Of the twelve hits, three were about my Edwin A Banks. One was about his time in the civil war which I knew about. The other two were about his life in Washington DC.

Edwin lived in Washington DC from 1882 to 1886. I learned this from his Civil War Pension file. Two of the hits told me about his job and work while in Washington DC. I learned he was a sterotyper for the Goverment Printing Office. He earned $0.44 per hour. Skimming through the book, it seems that was a very good pay back then. He work for 2,141 hours in one year and earned $942.04 for that year. Where else but Google Books would I have been able to find this information?

When you put a search criteria in quotation marks it will find that exact string. However, some books may list a person’s surname first followed by a comma and then their first name. I tried searching for “Banks, Edwin A”. At the time I was preparing this posting there were 15 hits and 6 of them were about my Edwin. I learned he was in the Grand Army of the Republic and he spent time in a National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.

Some of you may have noticed we’ve been using the basic search. There’s a link to get to an advanced search. Here you can search for all books, limited preview and full view, full view or Google e-books. You can search for books published by a particular publisher. There used to be a publishing year you could search by which was really helpful but as I was preparing this post it appears that criteria is no longer available.

Let’s take a look at another of one of my ancestors. Henry L Sanders was a physician working in New York City from about 1838 – 1864. I’m going to try to find a city directory online for him. Type in New York City Directory as the search criteria. That search criteria returned more than 1,000,000 results. However, right there on the fist page was the Dogget’s New York City Directory for 1845. At least when I prepared this post it was. You could enter a search criteria of 1845 New York City Directory which would narrow down the results. Then try each year you think your ancestor might appear in. I found my ancestor Henry Listed in this book and now I found his address. If you scroll through the book, you can get an idea about what some buildings in NYC looked like back in 1845.

There are even directories for other countries. My ancestor John D. Laurie who fought and died during the Civil War came from Scotland. I know his father Thomas. Let’s first look for a Scotland City Directory. Type in Scotland Directory. When I did this, I found Pigot and co.s national commercial directory of Scotland from 1837. This looked promising so I clicked on it. Once you have pulled up the book you want to search, you can type a search term to look for that criteria within that book. I tried typing in Thomas Laurie and found quite a number of hits. It came up with any Thomas or any Laurie. Since most books have the surname listed first I tried “Laurie Thomas”. I got two hits, but they were in the wrong part of Scotland, so most likely not my Thomas. I tried a few variations of Laurie such as Lawrie, Lowrie, Lowry. I found a Thomas Lowrie in the right town in Scotland (Dalkeith) so this could be my Thomas.

Another way to use Google books is to learn about a particular area. One of my ancestors Abel Ford, his son Reuben and grandson Schuyler came from a small town outside of Albany, New York called Rensellaerville. I typed in Rensselaerville and quite a number of hits were found. I looked through a number of these books. Although I didn’t find my Fords in the books that had a full preview capability, I learned a bit about Rensselaerville itself and found some books to check out at a library near me. Some of the books that did not have a full view were available at the Connecticut State Library Genealogy Room.

I found the best way to learn more about what you can find out in Google books is to jump right in. You can also find books on websites other the Google Books, such as Historical Books for Genealogy or Heritage Quest. You may have free access to Heritage Quest with your local library card.

Civil War Ancestors – Service and Pension Records

Last year was the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. The year saw a number of civil war commemorations and reenactments. I was able to attend a number of these events including one at the Seymour Connecticut Historical Society. It was a very informative and entertaining event. It reminded me of my own civil war ancestors.

Three ancestors of mine served during the civil war. If you are lucky enough to have civil war ancestors of your own, there’s a wealth of records at your disposal to learn more about your ancestors life. One of the first places I found my civil war ancestors was the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. If you can find your ancestor listed in this system you can order his service record and if he or his wife earned a pension you can order his pension record as well. You can find a lot of interesting information in both the service records and the pension records.

You could order civil war records from the NARA. The form ‘NATF 86′ is the form you would fill out to order the service records. The service records might provide a description of you ancestors and whether he was admitted to and/or discharged from a hospital. The form ‘NATF 85′ is the form you would fill out to obtain pension or bounty land records. Here you would find out how much pension was awarded, where the individual lived over time and more. These records can be order directly from NARA. However, I would recommend you contact a professional genealogist living in the Washington DC area who knows about these records. For my civil war ancestors I contacted a genealogist in the area who was able to find the records and make copies of both the service records and the pension records of my civil war ancestors. He did it for less than 1/2 the cost than it would be for ordering the records on-line and it took less than 1/2 of the time to get the records mailed to me.

Of my three civil war ancestors, two of them had both a service record and a pension record which could be found. I believe one of my ancestors served in the United States Regular Army. There was not a service record or a pension record which could be found for him. What information can you find in these records, well below is just some of the information I learned from the service records and the pension records about my ancestors.

John Douglas Laurie’s service records were copied onto 15 legal size pieces of paper. From these records I found he was mustered into the 10th Connecticut infantry on September 30, 1861. He was 5 feet 5 inches tall, had a light complexion, blue eyes and a light colored hair. Various company muster rolls show him as present while others list him as absent. The times which lists him as absent there’s an explanation for the reason why such as a furlough. He re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer on January 1st, 1864. He was shot and taken as a prisoner on Darbytown Road in Virginia on October 13, 1864. He was paroled at Virginia on October 17th and admitted to a hospital on October 20th. He died of his wounds on November 3, 1864.

John Douglas Laurie’s wife received a pension. The pension application was copied onto 19 legal size pieces of paper. The application listed the place and date of Nicholas Martin and John’s marriage. It included the birth dates of all of their children. There were various affidavits attesting to the premise that John Laurie and Nicholas were indeed married. No certificate of marriage was in the records, so other means to confirm they were married was taken.

Edwin A. Banks’ service records were copied onto 7 legal size pieces of paper. He was mustered into service to the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery on January 2, 1864 when he was eighteen years old. He was mustered out of service on August 18, 1865. He was 5′ 2″ tall with a light complexion, dark colored eyes and brown hair. Some of the papers in his service record were that of his twin brother Edward A Banks. I also had ordered Edwards’ service records and pension records.

Edwin A. Banks’ pension records were copied onto 16 legal size pieces of paper. The application lists Edwin’s wife Mary A. McKeown and the date and place they were married. It lists all of Edwin and Mary’s children and the dates they were born. These records established where Edwin lived during the time after the civil war.

• 1865 – 1882, he lived in Hartford.
• 1882 – 1886, he lived in Washington, DC.
• 1886 – 1893, he live in Revere, MA
• 1893 – 1897, he lived in Hartford, CT
• 1897 – 1906, he live in Norwood, MA
• 1906 – 1908, he lived in Brooklyn, NY
• 1912, he lived in Norwood, MA
• 1912, he also live at the National Soldiers home in Kennebec, ME
• 1914, he lived in Kennebec, ME

As you can see from the dates and places he lived, he moved around quite a bit. I never had known about his move to Washington DC and might never have known this without his pension records.

Patrick Fraher is my other civil war ancestor. I have a picture of him in his civil war uniform. I could not find his service records or any pension records. There are two Patrick Frahers listed in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. One served in the 2nd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. This one died in a prison during the war. The second Patrick Fraher served in the 12th regiment of the US Regular Army. I suspect this is my Patrick Fraher. The place of enlistment is near where he lived during the 1865 New York State Census and near where his daughter was born in 1863. The one thing which troubles me though is that he is pictured with an insignia which indicate an artillery unit. Would the 12th regular army have an artillery unit?

I hope this post will inspire you to learn about your own civil war ancestor. Remember you can contact a professional genealogist in the DC area and get both the service records and any pension records perhaps for less than what it might cost by ordering the records on-line from the NARA.

There are also websites such as Fold3 and Ancestry.com where you can search for your ancestor in military records including the civil war.

Searching for Sidney W. Ford at the Connecticut State Library

Not so long ago, I found myself working in Hartford within walking distance from the Connecticut State Library (CSL). My dad had done a lot of research of the family and many lines went back to the 1600s or earlier. There was one line of the family which seemed to have a number of holes and unanswered questions. Sidney W Ford was my 3rd great grandfather. I knew very little about Sidney’s father (Schuyler Ford) and even less about his grandfather (Reuben Ford). Nothing was known beyond Reuben Ford. The last time I was at the Connecticut State Library, I felt completely lost and I would only have 30-45 minutes a day during lunch to perform my research. I’d have to have a good research plan.

I first decided to review what I knew about Sidney W. Ford.

• He was born in about 1832 in Michigan.
• He was married to Mary Elizabeth Turner.
• They had three children, George born in about 1854, Edwin born in about 1856 and Lovinia born on 12-Apr-1860 in Albany, NY.
• He was in Rensselaerville, NY in 1850.
• He was living in Hartford in 1870.
• He apparently died by 1880.
• Daughter Lovinia died 7-Jan-1901
• Wife, Mary died 18-Apr-1918
• Sidney’s parents are Schuyler & Lucy Ford.
• Sidney’s paternal grandparents are Reuben & Eunice Ford.

Besides being recorded in the research my dad conducted. what were the major sourcerd of the known facts about Sidney Ford?
• 1850 US Census Rensselaerville, New York household of Schuyler Ford
• 1870 US Census Hartford, Connecticut household of Sidney Ford
• 1880 US Census Hartford, Connecticut household of Elizabeth Ford
• Death certificate for Lovinia Ford.
• Obituary of Mary E (Turner) Ford

Here are some questions I’d like to find answer about Sidney Ford.
• When and where did Sidney Ford die?
• Where is he buried?
• Where did he live throughout his life and when?
• Can I locate his 1860 US Census record?
• Can I find an exact date of birth and marriage date for him?
• What else might be found at the CSL about Sidney Ford?

The first day at the CSL

The first day I went there during my lunch, I was very lucky. Fellow Genealogy Club of Newtown member and professional genealogist Harlan Jessup was there. He gave me a tour of the CSL Genealogy Department. I wasn’t able to really look at any of the records that day, but I took a good stock of what records they did have. The next day I decided to focus in on my first research question.

When and where did he die? Sidney last shows up on the 1870 US Census. His wife is listed on the 1880 US Census without him. Presumably he died between 1870 & 1880. There are a number of vital record sources at the CSL. I looked for Sidney in the following sources.
• Newspaper Obits Collection
• Hale Cemetery Inscriptions
• Hartford Probate Index
• Connecticut State Probate Index

Sidney was not to be found in any these indexes. So much for a quick hit trying to find this information. If I couldn’t find the dtae of death in these sources could I narrow down the date of death? I checked the Hartford City directories, which are on microfilm at the CSL. Sidney last shows up in the Hartford City directories in the 1872-1873 edition. His wife is listed in the 1873-1874 edition. Bingo, this was a very good indication that he died between 1872 and 1873.

Could I use this to find the exact date of death. I presumed he died in Hartford, so I checked the following records
• Hartford Connecticut Vital records on microfilm for deaths in 1871 – 1875.
• Surrounding towns vital record for deaths in 1871 – 1875

He was not listed in Hartford or any surrounding town vital records index. I guess you can’t win them all. I decided to ask for guidance from CSL Staff. They rechecked the Hale Collection with me and we noticed Sidney’s wife was listed and was buried at Zion Hill Cemetery in Hartford. Zion Hill Cemetery is several acres. Walking the cemetery to find the plot would be very time consuming. There was a ‘L741’ listed next to her name. The CSL staff did some digging and found they had an old map of the cemetery. The plot map was off-site and required me to get an archives pass. I would also have to wait for the next day during lunch.

The next day I was there I consulted the map. S. W. Ford was listed right on the map. Another hit, Sidney died more than 40 years before his wife and since his name, not his wife’s name was on the map, I felt confident I found where he was buried. It was time to review the information I found. Sidney apparently died between 1872 & 1873. He was only about 40 years old when he died, leaving his wife and teenage children. He was buried in Zion Hill Cemetery in Hartford. This was much better than what I knew before. I did not have an exact date of death, but I decided to move onto another question.

Where did he live throughout his life and when?
I decided to move onto the next research question. Where did he live throughout his life? I had already consulted the Hartford City Directories from 1870 – 1874. I reversed the order and started working back in time. When did he first arrive in Hartford? He was listed in every Hartford City Directory on Microfilm starting from 1861. I did not see any earlier Hartford city directories, so I asked a CSL staff member. She told me that earlier city directories exist, but they are on Microfiche. We took a look. We saw one city directory back from 1799. I pulled Hartford for 1859 and 1860. He was not listed in either 1859 or 1860. So it appears he arrived in Hartford in about 1860 or 1861.

I knew his daughter Lovina was born in Albany in 1860 and while looking for the 1859 & 1860 Hartford City Directories, I noticed they had some neighboring states city directories as well. I looked for Albany and was in luck. I check the Albany City directories and Sidney first starts showing up in the 1854 City Directory. He showed up in every city directory all the way through the 1860 Albany City Directory, which was the most recent Albany City Directory the CSL had.

I had one nagging question. It was recorded that Sidney was born in Michigan? The 1870 Census record indicated this and Lovinia Ford’s death certificate indicated this. When I re-looked at the 1850 US Census, it showed Sidney was born in New York. Since this is closer to his birth, this might be a more accurate account. Subsequently looking for Schulyer Ford in the 1840 Census, Schuyler was found in Rensselaerville, with a son who would be about Sidney’s age.

Here’s a quick review of where Sidney lived during his life. He was born in about 1832 in New York, presumably Rensellaerville, NY. He presumably lived in Rensselaerville, NY until about 1853. He moved to Albany, NY and lived there until around 1860. He moved to Hartford, CT until his death in about 1872 – 1873

Below is a detailed look at where Sidney Ford lived throughout his life.
1832 – Born in New York
1850 – Rensselaerville, New York
1854 – cartman, 8 Lumber, Albany, New York
1855 – cartman, 249 n Pearl , Albany, New York
1856 – cartman, 14 Railroad Avenue, Albany, New York
1857 – cartman, 16 Jackson, Albany, New York
1858 – carman, 175 1/2 Montgomery, Albany, New York
1859 – hostler, 57 South Lansing, Albany, New York
1860 – carman, 152 Colonie, Albany, New York
1861 – sawyer, h. 10 Ellery Street, Hartford, Connecticut
1862 – sawyer, h. 10 Ellery Street, Hartford, Connecticut
1863 – sawyer, h. 10 Ellery Street, Hartford, Connecticut
1864 – hackman, h. 10 Ellery Street, Hartford, Connecticut
1865 – hackman, h. 5 Huntey Ave, Hartford, Connecticut
1866 – hackman, h. 5 Huntey Ave, Hartford, Connecticut
1867 – hackman, h. 3 Huntey Ave, Hartford, Connecticut
1868 – hackman, h. 3 Huntey Ave, Hartford, Connecticut
1869 – hackman, h. 3 Huntey Ave, Hartford, Connecticut
1870 – hackman, h. 3 Huntey Ave, Hartford, Connecticut
1871 – hackman, h. 3 Huntey Ave, Hartford, Connecticut
1872 – hackman, h. 3 Huntey Ave, Hartford, Connecticut
1873 – His wife is listed at 6 Huntley

While he lived in Albany, New York, he loved every single year. I pondered why someone might move that often in a city in the 1850s. However, I decided to move onto the next research question.

Can I locate his 1860 US Census record?
Armed with new information that Sidney lived in Albany in 1860 and Hartford in 1861, I took shot at trying to find the 1860 Census record on ancestry.com and Heritage Quest. No luck again, perhaps he moved prior to the census being taken in 1860 in Albany, but after the census was taken in Hartford in 1860. Perhaps the census record just does not exist for Sidney in 1860. I moved onto another research question.

Could I find the exact date of birth or marriage date of Sidney?
Sidney was apparently born in New York, not Michigan. Most likely he was born in Rensselaerville, where his parents lived. Sidney was also most likely married in New York, in or near Rensselaerville. Although the CSL has an extensive array of vital records for Connecticut towns and churches, there are few vital records for the area of New York I was looking into. It looks like I will have to research elsewhere for this information. Onto the last research question I had from my original list.

What else might be found at the CSL about Sidney Ford?
I searched the Hartford Courant Historical Newspaper. Incidentally you can access this from home for free with any library card you have from the State of Connecticut. I found an article which indicated his daughter (Lovina) was very badly bitten by a dog in July of 1867. I checked for an obituary or a death notice for Sidney and found none.
I did however find an obituary for his wife, Mary E. Ford who died in 1918. It said she left a sister behind in Michigan.

I remember that Harlan had showed me rows upon rows of books for just about every part of the country. I checked to see if there was anything for the small town of Rensselaerville, New York. I wasn’t really expecting to find anything about this small town. To my surprise there were two books “The Story of Old Rensselaerville” by Torrence and Rensselaerville – Reminiscences and Rhymes” reprinted from village newspapers. I looked through the index to see if Sidney was listed in either book. He wasn’t listed, but his father and grandfather were listed.

One of the books had a set of maps in insets. There was a map from 1854 of Rensselaerville, His father and grandfather were listed right on the map were they owned property. Within the same book there was a copy of the 1866 Beers Map of Rensselaerville. Sidney’s father was again listed on the map where he owned property.

The CSL has a lot of family lineage books. I checked to see if the CSL had a family lineage book I was familiar with, “One Dorman Family and Allied Lines”. My first cousin once removed had written it. They did have it; Sidney Ford, Schuyler Ford and Reuben Ford were all listed. That’s as far back as that book took my Ford line. I also checked the extensive collection of other family lineage books. To my surprise, my Reuben Ford was listed in another book entitled “Ford Family Genealogy” by H. C. Ford. This book took my Ford family back another five or six generations to Pembroke and Marshfield, MA in the early 1600’s and before. I still need to verify the information from primary sources, but it certainly provides a great avenue of research.

Let’s review how we did on our research questions
• When and where did he die?
• Where is he buried?
• Where did he live throughout his life and when?
• Can I locate his 1860 US Census record?
• Can I find an exact date of birth and marriage date for him?
• What else might be found at the CSL about Sidney Ford?

We may not have found all the details we were looking for but we found a lot more detail on a number of the research questions we started out with.

At this point I need to stop and think about what the next steps are in researching Sidney Ford’s life. I should contact the city of Hartford, which maintains Zion Hill Cemetery to see if they have any burial records.
• I should plan a visit to Zion Hill Cemetery to see if I can find Sidney Ford’s grave. Perhaps his name was just missed when the Hale Cemetery Transcription Project was undertaken. If his gravestone is not there, at least his wife and daughter should be there.
• I should get a copy of Mary Elizabeth Ford death certificate. How many of you recognized when reading this article, that this was a missing piece of evidence.
• I should Go to a research facility in New York to look for Sidney’s birth or marriage certificate. Perhaps the local family center has records for this area and time on microfilm.
• I should plan a research trip to Rensselaerville, NY. See if I can find the property where Sidney grew up, visit the cemeteries where Schuyler Ford, Reuben Ford and Abel Ford (Reuben’s father and revolutionary war veteran) are buried.

I realize that while researching this one ancestor, I used quite a variety of records available at the CSL. Although I consulted quite a number of record collections within the CSL, there are quite a number of record collections I didn’t even get to. Some of these records include;
• Land records
• Early Connecticut Church records
• Military records (I found no evidence that Sidney Ford served in the military)
• Bible records
• Ship passenger records
• Extensive collection of Connecticut newspapers on microfilm
• Collection of databases (ancestry.com, heritage quest, on-line newspaper archive)

If you have ancestors from Connecticut and have not visited the CSL, plan a research trip. I’m sure you’ll be glad you did. I believe the Connecticut State Library has a subscription to Ancestry.com