Indeed, what if…

I recently read Jasia’s post on Creative Gene regarding genealogical societies. In it, she makes some excellent points about genealogical societies, specifically that some people don’t feel they get their money’s worth for membership. Reasons include meetings that don’t fill the members’ needs, publications that don’t hold enough information, and websites that don’t offer anything of value to members (and, by extention, to potential members.) She posed the question, “What if everyone includes a letter to the society when they send in their dues?” (or when they don’t renew, tell the society why.)

As a long-time volunteer for several different genealogical societies (local, state and national), I say, “Indeed, what if everyone would give the societies some feedback!”

I’ve overheard it at libraries, courthouses and even at genealogical conferences: “I won’t join my (local, state, national) society. They don’t [fill in the reason here.]” How often I wonder if they’ve ever told the society that.

It’s like I tell people who don’t vote: if you don’t vote, you’ve forfeited your right to complain about those elected. If you don’t tell the society what it is that you don’t like, how can you expect them to change? Folks, nothing will change if nothing is said.

I take the challenge for feedback one step further: offer to be part of the solution.

Societies are run almost exclusively be volunteers. What happens in many societies is that the same few people end up having to do everything — newsletters, websites, books, library, lineage societies, etc, etc. They may very well want to do some of the things you want them to do, but they simply lack the people to do it.

I can hear some of you saying, “Yeah, Amy, but my local society doesn’t want volunteers. They’re hostile to newcomers.” This is sadly the case sometimes. Maybe your local society doesn’t want newcomers, but I bet there’s another society that would welcome your talents. Perhaps a society in a county where your ancestors are from or your state society. More and more societies are finding creative ways to involve long-distance volunteers.

Remember, too, that change is scary for some people. Doing something different takes them out of their comfort zone. Going into your first meeting and saying “Hey, everything you guys are doing is out-of-date” probably isn’t the best method for affecting change.  In fact, making suggestions at your first meeting might be put-offish to some people. (Right or wrong, some people don’t want advice from strangers.) Get to know some of the “regulars,” then as time goes on, gently make your case for why having all their meetings at 10:00 Wednesday morning might not be the best idea or why not updating their website in 4 years is actually harming their society.

I don’t intend this post to sound like an apology for genealogical societies. I’ve seen my share of behavior and attitude from volunteers that leaves me shaking my head. But I’ve also seen my share of behavior and attitude from those who are adamant “society non-joiners.” Trust me, there’s enough blame to go around as to why some societies aren’t thriving.

I truly hate to see people with an “us vs. them” attitude, whether it is a society volunteer or a genealogist who has never been part of a society. Everyone has something to contribute to the greater cause of genealogy. There’s enough work to go around for everyone to be involved!

Ancestors I’d like to have dinner with

The 41st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy poses an interesting question: If you could have dinner with four of your ancestors who would they be and why?

My first one would be my Grandma Johnson, because I miss her and would love to share a meal, some smiles, and some conversation.

The second would be my maternal grandmother. She died when my mom was only 8. I would love to meet her. I have one picture of her and she looks so loving.

Third would be my ever-elusive 3rd-great-grandmother Matilda Debolt Skinner Crossen Brown McFillen. I’ve managed to account for the demise of only one of her husbands (William Skinner); I don’t know what happened to the other three. Were there more? And what happened to her after she married J.W. McFillen?! She married him in Williams County, Ohio in 1886; after that, she falls off the face of the earth. I’d love to have her tell me about her life, her marriages, the different places she lived, and why in the world she keeps hiding from me!

The fourth one is tough. Do I go with one of my Civil War-era ancestors? Do I go with another elusive ancestor? As tempting as each of those choices is, I’m torn between my 4th-great-grandmother Elizabeth Peden Ramsey and my 5th-great-grandfather John McClelland, who was killed in 1782 in Col. Crawford’s ill-fated campaign in present-day northwest Ohio.

I think I’d go with Elizabeth. For some reason, she strikes me as a very strong woman. She is one of the few women recorded as having purchased land from the federal government in present-day Perry County, Ohio. Why did she, her husband John and son James move from Adams County, Pennsylvania to Perry County, Ohio? What did she think about moving? How did she make ends meet after John died?

So there are the four ancestors I’d like to have dinner with — two from the 20th century, one from the 19th century and one from the late 18th century. I think that would make for a very interesting girls’ night out.

Strange, but True, Names

In a recent post on GeneaBlogie, Craig Manson posted his “recently read” list, including Bertha Venation by Larry Ashmead, a book about strange, but true, names that some people have been saddled with. He posted a follow-up with some of the names. I have to read that book…!

A great name that I recently found was in the 1870 census of Mifflin Township, Franklin County, Ohio — 2 year old May Bea Frank.

Perhaps her parents wanted to instill in her a sense of self-assurance so she’d always speak her mind

Ohio Research 101

When I started tracing my family tree (more years ago than I care to admit to), I found myself lucky that I was living so close to where several generations of my ancestors lived. I was happy as a lark going to courthouses, libraries, and the Ohio Historical Society. As I became more involved with genealogy and started talking to people from outside Ohio, I kept hearing what I thought was a strange comment: “Ohio is such a hard state to research.”

I didn’t think so; perhaps it was because that was what I got used to first. But I can see how some people would be frustrated by researching in Ohio. Ohio, being the first state carved out of the Northwest Territory, became the guinea pig for how the Federal government would do land surveys. We have more surveys with different setups than any other public land state. (I’ll devote a post to Ohio’s land surveys later. It really is a topic unto itself.) Ohio didn’t take any state censuses and our Federal census for 1810 is no longer extant. Early marriage records typically don’t record parents’ names.

All that being said, there are some wonderful things about Ohio research. Marriage records go back to the creation of the county. Civil birth and death records date to 1867 (and in some counties, 1857). Land and tax records are remarkably complete.

Let’s take a quick survey of some basic records and where you will find them in Ohio:

Vital Records:
Marriage records date to the creation of the county. (Which is true for all states formed from the Northwest Territory.) They can be found in Probate Court. Many have been microfilmed. The Ohio Genealogical Society has published two volumes of early Ohio marriages: through 1820 and 1821-1830.

Birth records date back to 1867. (A handful of counties participated in a pilot program to record births and deaths in 1857 and 1858.) They can be found in Probate Court. After December 1908, births began to be filed in the city or county health department. A copy was also forwarded to the State Vital Statistics office in Columbus. You can find copies in both the county and with the state.

Death records also date to 1867 (again, with a few counties recording them in 1857 and 1858.) Like birth records, the records from 1867-1908 are in the county Probate Court. Deaths after December 1908 can be found in either the city or county health department or with the state. Death certificates from 1908 to 1953 are at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus. Death certificates after 1953 are at the State Vital Statistics office.

A new developement for researching Ohio death certificates dated 1908-1953 is that they have been digitized and are available for free on the Internet! FamilySearch has also created an index of the name of the deceased and the parents’ names. It is an invaluable tool. Go to http://labs.familysearch.org to register. After they process your request (usually a couple of days), you will be able to go in and research not only the Ohio death certificates, but also the 1900 census and numerous other records.

Wills and Estates:
Found in the probate court. Many have been microfilmed.

Land and Tax Records:
Found in the County Recorder’s office. Again, many have been microfilmed.

Military Records:
Ohio has a long, rich history of military service. Ohio contributed the third most soldiers to the Union during the Civil War (following only New York and Pennsylvania.) Many of the records of the State Adjutant General have been transferred to the Ohio Historical Society. One fantastic resource the the statewide Graves Registration file at OHS. It records the burial place of veterans buried in the state of Ohio through the early 1950s. It is also available on microfilm. Many County Recorders still maintain the files for their counties (meaning that they have not only the early burials, but also the post-1950s as well.)

Major Repositories:
Ohio is fortunate to have an incredible network of archives, libraries, and societies with resources for genealogists. I will devote a future post to this topic, but here are a few:

• The Ohio Genealogical Society, the largest state genealogical society in the nation. Their library in Mansfield has nearly 30,000 volumes and a sizeable microfilm collection. They publish the Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly, the OGS News, Ohio Records & Pioneer Families and the Ohio Civil War Genealogy Journal. They also sponsor lineage societies such as First Families of Ohio, devoted to honoring those who lived in Ohio by the end of 1820 (a great resource for those with early Ohio ancestors.)
• OGS Chapters. There are Chapters of the Ohio Genealogical Society in almost every county of Ohio. They have published countless volumes of records for their counties. Be certain to contact the society in the counties you’re researching.
• The Ohio Historical Society in Columbus serves as the official state archives. They have a tremendous collection of original and published materials. Be certain to check their website, including their online catalog, before visiting.
• The Columbus Metropolitan Library. In early 2007, they received what had been the genealogy collection at the State Library of Ohio. If you haven’t been to CML for awhile, you really need to check them out.
• Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. Indispensible resource for northeast Ohio research.
• The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. One of the largest genealogy collections in a public library in the Midwest, if not the nation.

More to come!
Each of these topics will be covered more in-depth in future posts. I hope this has at least whetted your appetite for Ohio research!