Genealogy is more fun when you are finding stuff!!!

I have been having too much fun with research to take time to blog. I have recently taken a membership to an online newspaper archive and I have found quite a few articles about one of my ancestors. There are also many interesting articles from many newspapers. You can print the actual image or you can copy and paste as I have done here. Memberships are available to individuals or institutions. Check your local library.

http://www.newspaperarchive.com/

Steubenville Daily Herald Steubenville, Ohio

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1874.

Timothy Sharrock, the oldest man in
Guernsey County, died on Friday, the
17th inat. His age was one hundred
years three months and seven days.

__________________________________________________________________

Brownsville Daily Herald Brownsville, Texas Friday, March 20, 1903

The passing of Judge Roy
Bean, who was commonly called
"Law West of the Pecos," Texas
loses one of its most unique and
picturesque characters. It was Roy
Bean that was said to have hold an
inquest on the body of an unknown
man found in his precinct, and,
finding on the corpse a pistol and
$40 in cash, found the dead man
guilty of carr-ying a concealed
Weapon and fined him $40, which
was forthwith collected from the
pocket of the offender. Throughout
his career, Judge Bean was noted
for his rare interpretations and applications
of the law, but it is not
related that he was ever unjust or
over severe to any living delinquent.

Native American genealogy - Dawes Roll

This is only a brief overview about the Dawes Roll and how to go about finding if your ancestor had a roll number.

First, do your genealogy. On an earlier blog I give some tips to help get started with genealogy, in that post there is a link to a pedigree chart. Fill one out from yourself back to your ancestors who would have been living in 1900. The ancestor had to be living in Indian Territory. Indian Territory encompassed most of the eastern portion of what is now known as Oklahoma.

If you find you have an ancestor listed in the 1900 U. S. Federal Census as living in Indian Territory then check the Dawes Final Roll index for that person. http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/finalindex.php

If you find an ancestor listed in the Dawes Final Roll index you need the census card number. This number corresponds to an application file and a census card. The census card names the people in the household, and sometimes the parents of the applicants. The applications are a series of questions which were answered by the applicant. Sometimes the files contain birth records, marriage records or affidavits as well as correspondence.

The applications and census cards have been microfilmed and are available at these locations:

Southwest Region National Archives (Fort Worth, TX)
http://www.archives.gov/southwest

Oklahoma Historical Society (Oklahoma City, OK)
http://www.okhistory.org/

Fort Smith Public Library (Fort Smith, AR)
http://www.fortsmithlibrary.org/

About the Dawes Rolls:
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/tutorial/dawes/#before
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/heritage/native-american/ancestor-search.html#pre

NGS conference 2008

Recently I attended the 2008 NGS conference which was held in Kansas City, Missouri.

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/

I do not know the exact number of attendees, but I heard it was around 4,000. There were many good speakers at the conference. Particular seminars I enjoyed were presented by John Philip Colletta, Ph.D., Kathy Huber, Barbara Vines Little, and David Rencher. There were other skillful presenters but the topics covered by the ones mentioned were of special interest to me at this time.

http://www.genealogyjohn.com/

http://www.samford.edu/schools/ighr/faculty/little_b.html


There were enough vendor exhibits to be interesting but not so many you cannot see them all. They covered almost anything to do with genealogy. One of my favorites was the Sons of the American Revolution. The gentleman dressed in period costumes.

http://www.sar.org/


On one evening the conference attendees were given a reception at the National World War I Memorial Musuem.

http://libertymemorialmuseum.org/display.aspx?pgID=886

Virtual tour: The tour will give you an idea of the memorial but it is so much more "awesome" in person.

I found some photos on the internet so you can see what it looke like.

Liberty Memorial sits atop a hill in Kansas City, Missouri. When I arrived at the the memorial I was amazed by the size of the structures. Then I walked past a reflecting pool down toward the huge doors to the museum entrance. To get in to see the exhibits you cross over a glass (plexiglass?) bridge which spans a field of poppies. Is is breathtaking and sad at the same time.

http://libertymemorialmuseum.org/display.aspx?pgID=887

Genealogy Links

When I am helping someone get started with genealogy I have a few favorite websites to recommend. On any internet sites you must remember the research may have mistakes in it. You should always double check the information you find against the census and other records.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com

Click on the "family trees" tab at the top of the page to find others researching your family.

http://genforum.com

Use the forum finder to search for a surname. To post to this site you must register.

http://www.familysearch.org

This is the LDS site. It has the transcribed 1880 U.S. census.

http://usgenweb.org

Click on the state and then the county you are researching. Some counties have more information posted than others. This is a wonderful site maintained by volunteers.

http://www.accessgenealogy.com

http://www.genealogytoday.com

http://academic-genealogy.com

Getting started with genealogy

Begin with yourself & work back.
Record your own name & vital information, then your parents information. Move on to your grandparents & so on. Write down what you know & ask family members to fill in anything you have missed.

Get yourself a pedigree chart (ancestor chart) & start filling in the names. I suggest using a pencil as you may need to make a few corrections as you go along.
www.misbach.org/pdfcharts

http://genealogy.about.com/od/free_charts/

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/Rg/frameset_rhelps.asp?Page=./research/type/Form.asp&ActiveTab=Type