The marriage of Carl Paul Preiss and Kate Nunn

Marriage Affidavid for Carl P. Preiss and Kate Nunn

Thanks to Reclaim the Records, I was able to solve some of the mystery surrounding my grandfather’s sister, Kate Nunn (b: 21 December 1893). I knew very little about Kate after the 1920 census where she continued to reside with her sister, Elizabeth Siebert. Kate worked as a silk mill harness maker, probably a skill she got from her father, Joseph Nunn, who earn a living as a harness maker in the late 1800s.

From my second cousin I heard that Kate married around 1927 and died in childbirth the next year. Another second cousin wrote that Kate died of a miscarriage. Since marriage and death certificates were not available for the city of New York, (because I didn’t have an exact date) I had not been able to verify this information.

When the Reclaim the Records organization was able to convince New York City to release their marriage record index for this time period, I was able to view the index and find the exact date of marriage – 17 September 1927. I wrote a letter to the Municipal Archives and specifically requested the affidavit, marriage certificate and marriage license.

Within a short period of time I had all three documents. I now had a lot of information about the couple - the groom's full name, his parents' names, who stood up for the couple, when and where they were married, occupations of both.

From information supplied by my second cousins, I know that Kate died in 1928. She is buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Queens, New York.

But . . .since I still don’t have a death certificate, I began to wonder. Did she die in childbirth, or a miscarriage? If childbirth, was there a slim chance that the baby survived? That is when I decided to check on the whereabouts of her husband, Carl Paul Preiss.

Checking various records, I ran into inconsistencies with his date of birth. He states on his WWI Draft Card that he was born 24 March 1899 in New Jersey. Other documents state 1900. His parents were Edward (b: abt 1861) and Anna (Greulich)(b; Dec 1883) Preiss, both born in Germany. [Preiss is sometimes listed as Prices in various documents) Carl had two older sisters, Lena and Theresa.

The search continues as I have found little information on Carl until the 1940 census when I found him living with his mother, Anna. There are many more sources to check, but I suspect no child was born. Darn.

And, Happy Birthday, Kate! 

Is it a coincidence that I am thinking and writing about you on this day, your birthday? Hmmm. . .

Writing Your Family History – Part II

Every writer needs to figure out their audience. Will you write a more research-oriented monograph, or write a short family story for the younger audience? Whatever you decide, you need to Hook your reader with . . .

- A favorite family story; or

- A favorite/interesting ancestor; or

- An interesting time in your ancestor’s life, or

- Why/how you got started in researching this family line?

- Start with action – start with a compelling story, place, or thing;

- Add context as you go.

To hook readers of my Nunn family history monograph, I used a technique called “I imagine.” I imagined how my grandfather felt when he learned of his sister's death in early 1947. This is the last paragraph of the prologue.

He sat down and closed his eyes as flashbacks of his childhood overtook him. They had survived, most of them, because of Lizzie. The acrid smell of unwashed bodies, dirty diapers, overcooked onions and cabbage in that small crowded Manhattan tenement came back to him like it was yesterday. Eleven babies had arrived; some didn’t survive. Despite all this Lizzie cared for them when their mother couldn’t. Harry never mentioned his childhood. He didn’t remember much about his parents, but he never forgot the day the authorities arrived.

Harry Nunn and his family, by Mary Nunn Maki ©2014

This is how I do it. I write my family history in Word. I develop a descendant line, and then find as many children as I can utilizing the census and other resources, adding dates as I find them. Direct line ancestors are in bold.

Descendants of Joseph Nunn b: 1857; d: May 1900 and Catherine Kurtz Nunn b: 1859 m: 14 Apr 1883; d: 12 May1917

Joe Nunn b: 1884; d: 6 Nov 1894 age 10

Unknown Nunn *

Elizabeth Nunn b: Oct. 1886 m: Louis Siebert b: 1881; d: 22 Apr 1916

Kathie Nunn b: 9 Apr 1888; d: 16 Aug 1891 (?)

Ignortz Nunn (Harry) b: 10 Sept 1890; d: 8 Nov. 1957

George Nunn b: 5 April 1892; d: abt 1985

Kate Nunn b: 21 Dec. 1893; d: 1928

Joseph Charles Nunn b: 23 Aug 1896

Amelia (Emilie) Nunn b: 8 March 1897 d: Aug 1980

Emma Nunn b: 8 Feb 1899; d: 18 May 1959; m: George Dorn

Charles Caspar Nunn b: May 1900 d: 8 Sept 1900

* Catherine consistently reports she had eleven children. I can find birth records for ten. I placed the unknown child in the biggest gap between Joe and Elizabeth.

Chapters or Sections

Each person has their own section or chapter in which I drill down and find out as much information on them as I can. I leave my direct line to last as a lead in to the next section. This way, if I can’t find much on one person, I move on to the next, and keep working on those giving me trouble. New information is coming online every day, and connections are made with those who might have the information I need.

Introductory paragraph on Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Nunn) Siebert. It took me nine years to break through the brick walls (yes, there is an “s” on that). It was Elizabeth who held the answers.

When Elizabeth Nunn married Louis Siebert in June 1905 she had one thing on her mind – bring her siblings out of St. Joseph’s Home and get them back under her roof.  To do this she needed to retrieve the $300 she gave her neighbor Mrs. Louis in June of 1900 for safekeeping.  And therein lies the problem. Mrs. Louis no longer had the money, which left Lizzie only one course of action.

That course of action:  Elizabeth sued her neighbor Mrs. Louis for the money. This normally would not have been newsworthy to the New York Times, but in this case, it went to a jury trial, the verdict was in favor of Elizabeth. Mrs. Louis and her 8 children were in the courtroom and their heartbreak was so apparent that the jurors decided to take up a collection to pay Elizabeth so that Mrs. Louis wouldn’t have to go to jail. That short article in the Historic New York Times broke down a big brick wall for me in understanding what happened to this family. You never know where that small piece of information will appear to give you the breakthrough you need.

Other examples:

Some genealogists write their stories in prose only – no citations

“She was often called Veronica, although her given name was Verona. I called her “Grandma.” She came to America in 1922 via Ellis Island, just as some 6,000 other Slovak immigrants did that year.” Three Slovak Women, by Lisa A. Alzo ©2005 

This paragraph in John Phillip Colletta’s book was found at the very end. I think it would be a great hook – why not at the beginning? If you run into him at a conference, please ask and report back. I also included this because of the sensual details. He takes you right into that dining room with his grandmother.

“In 1963 when I was a boy, my grandmother came to our house in a suburb of Buffalo. Smoothing out a length of cotton fabric on our dining room table – I think it was a floral print in soft yellows and greens – she told me while she cut out a dress that my great- great grandfather had been murdered. And I did not believe her. Since that distant summer afternoon, 30 years of searching in thousands of historical sources have vindicated my youthful skepticism. Grandma was wrong. Joe Ring was not murdered after all.” Only a Few Bones, by John Philip Colletta @2000.

Colletta used chapter notes at the end of his book for his citations.

Important stuff to remember

- Source citations – Cite as you go

- Copyright laws

- Footnotes and explanatory footnotes

- Numbering system –Register Style begins in the past and moves forward; Ahnentafel or Ancestor Table begins at or near present time going back to earliest known ancestors. The man’s number is even; the woman’s odd.  Our software does this for us.

- Online doesn’t necessarily mean forever. Retain control of your information!

More stuff to remember

- Ancestral names in small caps bold.

- One space after a period

- Punctuation inside quotation marks;

- Decide on appropriate cover art – a family photo? If you take something off the Internet, get permission!

- Do you include living persons? [It is our personal policy not to include living persons, because we share our monographs with public institutions. If you decide to include living persons you must have their permission.]

- Questionable data, missing information; [For questionable data, use qualifying words like perhaps or probably. Write so that uncertain information is paired with certain facts. If you know that Mary Smith was born in Richmond, Virginia, but are not certain of the date, state Mary Smith was born in Richmond, Virginia probably around 1840.]

The beginning and the end – this is how your document will flow

-Title

-Introduction - How did you get started with this family line? Did you have some interesting adventures along the way? This is your chance to connect with your readers.

-Table of Contents and Photo list (page numbers can be put in at the very end)

-Text

-Appendices (Obits, family group sheets)

-Index – A must have – not negotiable. If you can’t do this, find someone who can. Hint: Index as you go; add page numbers when final draft is run. This is another good way to catch errors.

Title – This is serious business!

- Ancestral Journey – NO!

- Our Funny Family – NO!

- Cutter, Davenport & Butterfield Families of Elkhart, Indiana – Yes!

- Hardenbrooks of Upstate New York 1830-1996 – Yes!

Edit – You’re almost done! Read through, double check names, dates, copyright on your work, find qualified genealogists as beta readers.

Practice – Write a genealogy Blog, newsletter articles, or submit to a genealogy publication.

Decide how many copies you will need – Share your work

Family, repositories (historical societies and libraries where your ancestors lived), Allen County Public Library, Family History Library, Library of Congress.

My genealogy writing bookshelf

Guide to Genealogical Writing – Penelope Stratton and Henry Hoff

The Chicago Manual of Style

Evidence Explained – Elizabeth Shown Mills

Producing a Quality Family History – Patricia Law Hatcher

But most of all, have fun!

Writing Your Family History – Part I

Last night I gave a presentation to the Fredericksburg Regional Genealogical Society on Writing Your Family History. Below are a few ideas I shared with them.

At a New England Regional Genealogical Society Conference several years ago we attended Warren Bittner’s session on Writing to Engage Your Reader. In that presentation he stressed the importance of writing up your research – now! He admitted research is never done but, share what you have now. That’s when we learned about monographs. Technically, a monograph is a learned treatise on a small area of learning or a written account of a single thing. For genealogists it means following one ancestral line from the earliest to recent.

Why Bother?

Because birth, marriage, and death dates are not enough. As family historians we want to learn about our ancestors; we want to tell their stories, we want to bring them to “life.” And …

Writing helps us make sense of our research. It tells us what we are missing, names, dates, and especially citations; Writing can catch the interest of family members, and maybe nurture future genealogists; Writing/publishing your carefully researched family history will help other researchers and maybe connect us with cousins.

Most of us have our family trees online. Future generations may not be interested in online family trees. But if there is a well-written book about their ancestors, they are more likely to keep that and read it. Remember: Online doesn't necessarily mean forever. Really Important: Retain control of your information.

Your audience - Will it be ...

Immediate family?

Libraries, historical societies, or other repositories?

Will you produce a monograph (focusing on one family line), Photo book, Cookbook, scrapbook, memoir?

Once the ancestor line is identified, gather you materials

Assuming you have done an exhaustive search following the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) - 

1. Reasonably exhaustive research has been conducted.
2. Each statement of fact has a complete and accurate source citation.
3. The evidence is reliable and has been skillfully correlated and interpreted.
4. Any contradictory evidence has been resolved.
5. The conclusion has been soundly reasoned and coherently written.

Gather vital records, deeds, military information, wills, maps, letters, recipes, interviews, photos, timeline.

Organize!

- Develop a style sheet – A reference list for consistency – Some decisions to make:

-Will main ancestor be in small caps bold?

-State names abbreviated? How?

-Maiden Names are in parenthesis

-Will you use WWI or World War I?

-How will dates be written? 1 July 1930 or July 1, 1930?

[End of Part I]

A Finger Lakes Mystery – Second in the series

Publishing Fatal Dose is the reason I have not done much genealogy lately! Fatal Dose is set in the Willow Creek area, so I thought it appropriate to let my genealogy blog readers know about the book. As you will read below, both books have area roots, not only in the story, but with the cover photos.

Graphic artist Caitlyn Jamison is back in scenic Riverview, New York, working on a winery photo shoot—and hoping to reconnect with Sheriff Ethan Ewing. But the sheriff has a serious situation on his hands: an undercover agent posing as a professor disappears on the same morning a college student is found dead. When Caitlyn learns the missing man is her friend’s uncle, and against Ethan’s wishes, she insists on helping with the investigation.

Meanwhile, Caitlyn’s Aunt Myra hears about a different kind of mystery from her friend, retired teacher Verna Adams. Verna is searching for her long-lost brother, who once lived on the abandoned road where the student’s body was discovered. As Riverview’s town historian uncovers the unsettling truth about Verna’s brother, Caitlyn and Ethan defy the town’s officials and keep their investigation going—with dangerous consequences.

Fatal Dose is the second book in the Caitlyn Jamison Mystery Series. The stories are set in the Finger Lakes, and the book covers are by local photographers. The first book, An Unexpected Death, has a cover featuring vineyards on Seneca Lake by photographer Richard Welch. The cover of Fatal Dose is of Grove Cemetery, Trumansburg, New York by Ithaca photographer Joseph Scaglione, III.

Both Caitlyn Jamison mysteries have interesting subplots, and current social issues are worked into the plot lines of both books.

Fatal Dose can be ordered through Amazon.com.

Family Cookbook with a Dash of Genealogy

Ten years ago I decided to develop a family cookbook. I typed recipes from index cards and scraps of paper of my mother and grandmother's recipes. I then added my own favorites and those shared by my husband’s family and our friends. Along the way, I put these recipes into categories, developed a table of contents for each category, and then made an index. This compilation was put into a pretty 3-ring binder. Over the years, I have clipped more recipes that I thought looked interesting at the time, and popped them into the divider sleeves.

I’ve decided it is time to pull all the categories together and have the cookbook permanently bound. I’m lucky that most of the recipes have been typed, and the index developed. I went through the sleeves and threw out most of my clippings. I do have a small pile sitting next to my keyboard that need to be included. Typing recipes is not fun!

Since many of the recipes came from loved ones, I decided to give this book a genealogy flavor. I will have a contributor page in the front matter that will have the name of the person, a photo when I have one, and a short bio/genealogy of that person. The sample below is what I will include for my grandmother’s brother, Kenneth Hardenbrook. I’m sure as I work on this I will come up with more ideas to make this publication even more personal and fun.

Kenneth Hardenbrook (shown above with his mother Laura Hardenbrook) was the son of Enos and Laura (Wortman) Hardenbrook. He was born 10 May 1909. He and his sister, Maude Emma were raised in Jacksonville, New York. In 1936 Kenneth was proprietor of Ken’s Lunch located at 212 South Cayuga Street in Ithaca, New York and then in 1941 Kenneth co-owed R&H Diners with L. Gerald Rich. They were proprietors of the Cayuga Diner located at 235 South Cayuga Street, and the Sterling Diner located at 333 East State Street, in Ithaca. Kenneth’s father, Enos, worked as assistant chef at the Sterling Diner. Kenneth married Mildred Elston. Kenneth was a born chef, and his Ken’s Meatballs recipe can be found on page ___.

George Henry d: 13 July 1868

On our hike at Lake Anna State Park (VA) last weekend, I had the opportunity to walk for a time with a neighbor who told me she had inherited some vital record documents from her father. The documents meant nothing to her, and she didn’t think her daughter cared, so she was going to throw them out. The genealogist in me said, “If you’ll loan them to me, I’ll scan them and put them on my blog. That way if there is anyone out there researching this family, they can find them.” She agreed.

Early yesterday morning I scanned fourteen large documents of her father’s relatives in England and Ireland. There was also a folder of responses her dad received during the 1950s and 1960s from letters he sent to Irish custom houses, circuit courts and hospitals looking for records on William Henry and George Henry. The letters were to officials in Dublin, County Cork, The Waterford Heritage Society, and the Huguenot Society. I did come upon one letter – finally – dated 22 January 1952 when he received a positive reply from the Hospitals for Diseases of the Chest. His death was registered in the County of Middlesex, and is in the General Register Office, Somerset House, London. That letter is shown below.

Over the next period of time I will post more of these documents with the hope they will prove helpful to some researcher here or abroad.

A Mystery to Solve - Now Solved!

I’ve been working on reorganizing, archiving and indexing my genealogy material. While adding items to my Agard Box #1, I came across a letter my great-grandfather, Arthur Agard wrote to his son, Merritt Agard, who was wintering in Florida. The letter was dated 17 February 1968, just two weeks shy of when Arthur died in his sleep.

My great-grandmother, Jessie Tucker Agard, started the letter and then handed it over to Arthur to share his news. And that is where the mystery comes in.

Below is a transcription of Arthur’s news and I wonder to what issue he is talking about. It refers to a road reconfiguration, so I thought maybe they were considering building a road diagonally from Route 96 to Route 89. But that doesn’t make sense. My cousin thinks it might have to do with zoning. Or, could it be gerrymandering? The Ulysses Town Historian is checking with his colleagues at the historical society, and my cousin is checking with the local zoning officer. I was hoping any Blog readers from the Town of Ulysses, Jacksonville or Trumansburg might have an insight as to what this issue was in winter 1968.

Arthur wrote:

“People are curious about the road and make all kinds of remarks. The Boulevard suburbanites held a meeting at Glenwood Pines and asked Bill (Agard) to come to it as he had the most inside information. As he and Bennett Stover went to Syracuse and saw the maps and since has had a set here to study, but did not take them to Glenwood meeting. It goes south of Scotts and crosses the creek and takes the old Spicer (?) house at top of hill and crosses the old Fowler 9 acres and woods and crosses the swamp on Furman and crosses Kraft and hits us (Agard Road) about 500 feet wide. Railroad counted out. Takes English’s and Ogden’s and schoolhouse (Willow Creek School) and all of Frasiers and 9 acres of the Atwater place and on to Paul Vann’s. There are no crossovers on the map. They work them out as demand calls for.”

14 June 2017 
Thanks to cousin Nan Agard Colvin, Sarah Koski, Ulysses Deputy Town Clerk, Darby Kiley, Environmental Planner, Town of Ulysses, and Carissa Parlato,Clerk, Town of Ulysses, the answer to my mystery is solved. In a link to the Official Minutes Books 1959-1976 I found a mention in the March 6, 1968 minutes that the state was planning an extension of Route 96 that goes between Ithaca and Trumansburg. I don't know what the plan was exactly, but according to Art Agards letter, it might have planned for the road to veer down to connect with other roads in the Willow Creek area, run across the top of the ridge, and come out near the hospital. That's only a guess. 

Writing a Family History – The Nitty-gritty

The book Guide to Genealogical Writing by Penelope L. Stratton and Henry B. Hoff was mentioned in a couple of sessions I attended at NERGC. I decided to purchase a copy and am glad I did!

This book gets down to the nitty-gritty of producing a written family history. The first chapter sets the stage: “Shifting Mental Gears.” In other words, you have to stop thinking like a researcher and get into the mindset of a writer. Now, this is the heart of the matter and what I struggle with for my September presentation - how to encourage genealogists who love the chase, but feel they have no writing skills.

Some suggestions: After deciding the scope of your project, one ancestral line or several, determine your audience and time frame. Those decisions will narrow down your focus. From the research you have completed, develop a table of contents. This is not set in stone, but will serve as a guide to keep you on track.

Chapter two explains the genealogical numbering systems, and I admit I have not followed either in my previous monographs. That is something I have on my to-do list.

Chapter three explains how to make a style sheet, and this is something I have done. It is necessary to ensure consistency in your writing. I also use it for citation styles I use the most – utilizing the formats in Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

The above is a sample of the wonderful information contained in this book, taking the genealogist from the very start right through publication. I encourage anyone thinking about writing up family stories to purchase this book. It even gets down to the detail that there is only ONE space after a period! Not what our generation was taught.

A Worlds Collide Moment - I was surprised to see their example of a narrative geographic setting on page 48. The narrative, “On the Coast of Ireland,” starts by saying “… among the markers in St. Rose Cemetery in Sandy Hook, CT … “ That information, I believe, they got from the Irish Tombstone Transcription project I did in 2005!!!  My transcription of the Irish tombstones was published in Connecticut Ancestry (November 2005 Vol. 48, No2), and also resides on the Genealogy Club of Newtown’s website. It proves once again genealogy is a small world. After completing the transcriptions in St. Rose Cemetery, I then did the Irish tombstones in Old St. Peter's Cemetery, Danbury, CT, with the help of Harlan Jessup. Harlan took our project to the board of Connecticut Ancestry, who assembled volunteers to record the rest of Fairfield County's Irish tombstones.

NERGC 2017 – Writing a Family History

I looked forward to this session, since I am to give a Writing Your Family History presentation to our genealogical society at its September meeting. There is no better person to learn about writing from than Warren Bittner.

It’s important to know the concept of your story. Are you using information from diaries, letters, or first hand accounts? To fill out your ancestors, search all the records: Military, court, probate, contemporary letters and diaries. Analyze each document and understand it in its historical context. Read local histories and family histories. Know the law at the time your ancestor lived. Understand their ethnic and religious background. How did those affect your family? What was the educational philosophy of the time? Know their medical history.

When you have completed an exhaustive search following the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS), according to the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG), you can then start writing.

Hook the reader from the first sentence. This applies to all writing, but might not be so apparent when writing family history. Choose a significant event or an interesting ancestor. Start with action, and begin the story in the middle or near the end. Get the reader hooked, define the story’s theme, and add context to your ancestor’s lives.

Use active voice, strong verbs (Warren included an extensive list), and make every word work. Make every sentence advance the story. Describe (if you can) your ancestors and the places they lived. Did your ancestor (s) change over the years? If so, how?

There are a number of ways to present your family story. Find what works best for your family, and enjoy the writing journey.

P.S. The writing process will show you what details you are missing.

NERGC 2017 – Searching for Living Persons

We’ve all wished we could talk to someone who might have that critical piece of the family puzzle. If only we could talk to Aunt (or Uncle) So-and-So. They are in their 80s or 90s now, and we don’t know where – or if - they are living. How can we find out? That’s the reason I attended Thomas MacEntee’s, They’re Alive! session at NERGC.

Besides expanding our genealogy research, other reasons you might need to find long lost relatives is if you are planning a family reunion, or find cousins who might be working on collateral lines.

PeopleFinder.com website is free to search, and it might give you enough information in order to use other sources to drill down. When I put hubby’s name in and the state, the site came up with four cities he was associated with, along with a list of people. The site wants you to click through to their paid section for more information, but Thomas warned the audience about doing this.

PeopleSmart.com is another reputable site. When I put hubby’s name and state into this site’s search function, it was very fast. It gave two locations in which he had lived, and one in which he hadn’t. It gave a list of people, some with middle initials, and one more than PeopleFinder.

ZabaSearch was fast, provided hubby’s current address and includes a Google map of the location. It listed the same associations, but the phone number listed was outdated.

Anywho.com is another interesting site, providing much the same information as the others. All these sites have paid options for more information, and Thomas said – Use at your own discretion.

Other ways to find folks is to utilize Google, Bing, and Yahoo!. These sites might have the information you need. White pages, Facebook, Ancestry public trees, Twitter, Google Blog search are all options for finding people. Alumni associations – high school and colleges, court records are also possibilities.

My Best Takeaways: Learning about ZabaSearch with its Google map feature. Whether you find a family tree online or information from one of the people finder sites, always verify the information yourself. Thomas allows information he produces to be used in genealogical society newsletters. All the newsletter editor has to do is contact him and ask permission. Very generous.

NERGC 2017 – Planning a Future for Your Family’s Past

Marian Burk Wood at NERGC 2017

The session we were waiting for was at 3:00 on the first day of the conference. Our good friend, Marian Burk Wood was presenting information on how to organize and preserve your genealogy materials for future generations.

I didn’t need to take notes. I already had her companion book Planning a Future for YourFamily’s Past. This book is a must-have for every genealogist.

The room was packed, even though Marian’s time slot competed with presentations by well-known speakers like Thomas MacEntee. Elissa Scalise Powell, and Helen Shaw.  It was apparent that conference attendees craved information on how to preserve their genealogy collections.

Marian introduced the audience to her PASS Process: Prepare by organizing materials; Allocate ownership; Set up a genealogical “will,” and Share with heirs.

She went on to explain how to sort your “stuff,” and various organizational techniques. She had examples of storage materials and showed how to use and label.

After placing documents and photos into acid/lignin free archival boxes, Marian inventories the items. She explained how this process makes it easy for her and other family members to know what is in box.

She covered the delicate situation of family feuds. What to do if more than one person wants possession of your genealogical materials. She also explained what to do if no one steps up. She suggested donating your material to your ancestor’s local historical society or other interested repository. She found repositories for items that were of no value to her family, i.e. she donated a WWII war bond wallet showing General MacArthur to the MacArthur Memorial Museum in Norfolk, VA. Make sure you contact the organization and find out their specific donation requirements.

My best takeaways: “By the inch, it’s a cinch.” I have to remind myself that in order to tackle the job of preserving my genealogy research, I have to do it in small increments. Although I have acid free boxes and photo envelopes, they aren’t adequate for our documents and photos. Nor have I inventoried the boxes. Many items are in Pendaflex folders and we have photos that are not labeled. I have ordered more archival boxes and protective sleeves. Not enough to take care of everything hubby and I have, but it is a start – remember – by the inch, it’s a cinch. We also have to develop our genealogy “wills.” Good luck with your preservation efforts.

NERGC-2017 - Finding Someone Who Eluded Census Records

Directions to the Springfield, MA Civic Center provided by the New England Regional Genealogical Society were easy to follow. We exited I-91 at Columbus Street, onto Main Street, and within a few blocks was the Civic Center where the Fourteenth New England Regional Genealogical Conference was being held. Excitement was mounting!

Parking was right across the street; registration was easy. While we waited to meet our friends Wally and Marian for lunch, we had a long chat with speaker DonnaMoughty. We first met Donna when we lived in Newtown, CT, and she spoke to our newly formed genealogy club. Donna now lives in Florida, is a member of the Manatee Genealogical Society, as are we, so we see her there as well. It was nice to have a chance to visit in Springfield. Donna is a professional genealogist specializing in Irish research along with U.S. research, methodology and technology including Macs, iPhones and iPads.  She provides research, consultations and training. She is one busy lady!

After a delicious lunch at the Red Rose restaurant, my first NERGC session was Finding Someone Who Eluded Census Records, by Carol Prescott McCoy.

There are different types of censuses. The population census is the most used, but there are also industrial, agricultural, Veteran’s, some state censuses, and slave schedules. Note the date when the census was taken, i.e. in 1920, the date was 1 January. Check every year, every type. People moved and could have been missed. Or they were too far out in the country, in dangerous territory, where the census taker didn’t want to go. Sometimes ancestors are listed twice, if they were traveling between residences. And these could contain different information!

Copy/download entire census page to capture neighbors for future searches. Record all members of the household. Sometimes boarders or “servants” can be relatives. Record names, ages, and places exactly as in the census.

Name spelling issues are the most common. Try every variation. If that doesn’t work, find neighbors from previous census. If your ancestors stayed in the same place, finding the neighbors will locate your people. This was the only way we were able to find my New York City Nunn family in the 1900 census. When the census taker was told the last name was Nunn, he thought he was being told “none.” After several attempts at this misunderstanding, he finally wrote the deceased father’s first name “Joseph,” as the last name, scribbled in with the wife’s first name – a real mess. I located them because I found a 1905 New York Times article where Elizabeth Nunn (eldest daughter) sued her neighbor for return of money Elizabeth had entrusted with the woman in 1900. When I untangled that mess, I found the family!

Census Substitutes. Town records, tax lists, school lists, old maps, town histories, voter lists are all places where your ancestors’ histories reside. Hubby and I developed an 1890 Census Substitute for Newtown, Connecticut by using tax records, school and voter lists, and some church records. It was our hope that other towns would follow suit in order to fill in this 20 year gap.

My best takeaways: Develop a census database. This can be done for each person or by family, to sort by last name as well as date. Develop a timeline (I did that years ago, but it is a good reminder to review and update.) FAN Club - Follow friends, associates and neighbors. Be flexible!