Prison records--pictures and all

Ancestry.com is posting more and more prison records. They can be very useful for working on your family tree, but are also entertaining in their own right. Just take a relatively unusual name on your tree and enter it--see what the relatives or distant cousins might have been up to. The search is easy and the records very interesting--sometimes with pictures.

Records recently available are:

New York, Sing Sing Prison Admission Registers, 1865-1939

California, Prison and Correctional Records, 1851-1950

 

Prudence Crandall and Edward S. Abdy: Civil Rights in Connecticut in the 1830’s

This essay was written for a class in American history. This topic was chosen as one that fits with the author's interest in the life of Prudence Crandall.

Edward S. Abdy recorded and commented on his observations of race relations in the United States in the 1830’s. Writing for a large audience, he had his work published in 1835. As a visitor from England, he was not a product of the culture he was describing, and thus had a somewhat distanced perspective of events. He published his observations in the 1830’s under the title A Journal of a Residence and Tour in the United States. It is a journal with entries marked by dates, written firsthand by the author. Volume one of this three volume work provides readers with many details of the difficulties and challenges which faced Prudence Crandall in her efforts to set up a school for black girls in Canterbury, Connecticut. Abdy provides many observations of American culture and government in his journal, and it is well worth reading. My particular interest is in his descriptions of the efforts of Prudence Crandall and the reactions of the townspeople of Canterbury.

Crandall encountered extreme opposition in the traditionally peaceful town of Canterbury, Connecticut where she lived. The opposition escalated into violence. Her school was attacked, and Crandall was denied access to local shops. Her family and students were denied access to church services (Abdy, Chapter 6).  Some of Abdy’s comments are based on first-hand observations of events, while other comments are based on conversations, sometimes with a person who has observed an event, and sometimes with a person who has read or heard of the event. Abdy spoke with a number of people involved in the situation, and was able to report the observations of various people and groups as a result. Abdy does not pretend to have objective opinions about the topics he reported on, and in fact he advocates for the rights of Prudence Crandall and her husband  Calvin Philleo by  explaining their rights, as he understands them, to town officials.

My access to this primary source is by reading through the filter of a digitized version, which has preserved the words, but not the page numbers, nor all of the publisher information, from the original text. My surrogate primary source is the transcription of the text of A Journal of a Residence and tour in the United States (Abdy) as accessed on the website maintained by Hal Morris,  “Tales of the Early Republic: A History Resource and an Experiment in Hypertext Style.”

Although Abdy was a visitor to the United States, which makes his perspective as an outsider objective in certain ways (he was not U.S. citizen, he was not a product of U.S. culture, and he was not a neighbor to anyone he described) he was subjective in ways that can be seen in his editorial remarks.  In his journal he often comments on the inequality that he sees between black and white Americans.  Such comments make it clear that he is completely against and appalled by the inequality and injustice he sees, and that he would not support the view of those who wished to suppress the rights of black people. At the time of his writing, some Americans shared his views of equality, and many, of course, did not. Slavery had not yet been outlawed in Connecticut. As we read his works today, we now are inclined to agree with Abdy, and to sympathize with his outrage at inequality.  We have benefited from the changes in law, society, and outlook that have evolved in the United States since the 1830’s. His words and style suggest that he wishes to influence his readers. It appears that he wants the reader to think about civil rights, and to be aware of injustice. He provides enough detail and passion in his writing that the reader may be swayed to look at civil rights issues and to act in such a way as to promote equality.

 Demonstrating that he is not an impartial journalist, but a writer with an interest in advancing equality, Abdy tells in his journal of how he himself approached town officials in Canterbury on behalf of Crandall and her school. He was able to speak to a selectman, Mr. Bacon. Abdy asked what sort of measures would be taken to prosecute the townspeople who had damaged the school.   Mr. Bacon responded that nothing had been done, nor would it be done, for no formal complaint had been made. Abdy points out that Philleo had attempted to speak to the town clerk, but the town clerk refused to hear the complaint. As Abdy pursues the matter, Bacon tells him that Crandall had broken a State law. This is a very interesting and ironic aspect of the story, because as Abdy points to Bacon, this law was passed after Crandall had opened her school, and as a matter of fact was passed  in consequence of the school having been opened to girls of color (Abdy, Chapter 6). 

Abdy describes Crandall’s personal response to the new law:

They had, however, miscalculated the temperament of their victim. She set both her oppressors and their ex-post-facto statute at defiance. She persisted in keeping her school. She was prosecuted; and declining, by the advice of her lawyer, to give bail, she was sent to prison, and confined (not intentionally it was afterwards stated) in the very room which a murderer had just quitted (Abdy, Chapter 6).

Abdy describes the trial of Prudence Crandall in a tone which is highly critical of the unfair treatment she was shown by the justice system:

Miss Crandall's trial came on at Brooklyn in August. Judge Eaton, who tried her, was one of the committee of the legislature that drew up the law under which she was indicted. He charged the jury three times to convict her; and evinced throughout a marked spirit of hostility against her. Five of the jury were for her, and seven against her each time. As they could not agree, she was discharged. The second trial ought to have taken place in December following before the same judge; but, in October, she was indicted under a new writ, and brought before Judge Daggett, who was well known, both for his attachment to the colonization cause, and for the active part he had taken against a projected college for colored young men at Newhaven, the University of which, it was alleged, would be injured by its establishment. It was not likely, therefore, that the question at issue would meet with an impartial and unbiassed consideration in that quarter. The prisoner was convicted; and appealed, from the sentence, to the Court of Errors, where the original proceedings were quashed on the ground of an alleged informality — a very convenient loop-hole to creep out at (Abdy, Chapter 6). 

Edward Abdy’s views and attitudes towards those he spoke with may have been at times subjective rather than objective due to his relationships with these persons. He had many acquaintances and friendships with Americans, and this may have affected his choices in what to write and about whom to write it, in addition to having affected his interest in supporting certain individuals with his words or actions.

He explains the beginnings of the boarding school for girls of color, the first of its kind in Connecticut. She had originally set up a school for young women, and had “admitted, as a scholar, the daughter of a respectable neighbor, whose quarterings were unfortunately not of the pure European tinge” (Abdy, Chaper 6). Soon after this, Crandall admitted another young woman of color, who asked to enroll at the school. The white parents of the other girls began to withdraw their own daughters from the school, “annoyed at the ‘violation of the established order of things’, ” and in response, and after consultation with Reverend May, Prudence “changed her white school into a colored school."( Abdy, Chapter 6)

Abdy spoke personally to Calvin Philleo, who married Crandall (Abdy, Chapter 6) in the midst of her difficulties with the Canterbury townspeople, and also spoke to Crandall herself. At one point, Abdy describes the conversation between Philleo and the town clerk of Canterbury, Andrew T. Judson. Philleo wanted to complain about the damage that was done to the school. Although the conversation is described in dialogue form, using quotation marks, as Abdy himself says, “…the following conversation, as well as my informant can remember the words, took place.” (Abdy, Chapter 6).  The reported  dialogue which follows may be close to accurate, as it was remembered by Philleo, and recorded by Abdy. The gist of the conversation itself is clear. Philleo attempted to speak to the town clerk, and was refused (Abdy, Chapter 6). Abdy  also reports  a firsthand conversation with  Crandall  on the topic of her interest in leaving for England, fearful for her safety in Connecticut (Abdy, Chapter 6). 

 

Instead, Crandall left for Illinois, where she lived near relatives in a farming community and continued her abolitionist work. She later moved to Kansas. The Connecticut government eventually acknowledged that it had wronged her, and provided her with a small financial compensation (National Womens’ History Musem).
In 1995 the State recognized her as its State Heroine. Her house in Canterbury was declared a National Landmark in 1991 (CT.gov).

The events in Canterbury surrounding Prudence Crandall’s school took place over the span of a few years. The significance of her actions in her time and for Americans today is remarkable. Abdy’s journal is an excellent record which sheds light on the events as he perceived them. The  journal and the insights of its writer offer contemporary readers and excellent view into an important moment in the past.  Readers of this text have the opportunity to ponder Prudence Crandall's actions, Edward Abdy's work as a journalist, and the implications for their time and for ours.

Works Cited:

Abdy, Edward S. A Journal of Residence and Tour in the United States of North America.  J. Murray. London: 1835. Reprint of the original. Tales of the Early Republic. Hal Morris' Home Page. Web. 05 Feb. 2012. <http://jmisc.net/>.

"African American Historic Places - Beth L. Savage, National Register of Historic Places." Google Books. Web. 05 Feb. 2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=wjZIkchWX5AC>. 

 "CT.gov: "The State Heroine." CT.gov Portal. Web. 05 Feb. 2012. <http://www.ct.gov/ctportal/cwp/view.asp?a=885>.

"Education & Resources." National Women's History Museum - NWHM. Web. 05 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/prudence-crandall/>.

"Miss Crandall in Prison.” New-Hampshire Sentinel 1833-07-18 Vol. XXV Issue 29, page 2. Early American Newspapers, Series I, 1690-1876.  New England Genealogic Historical Society (online). November 27, 2005. <http://infoweb.newsbank.com>.

Image source:  http://www.ct.gov/cct/cwp/view.asp?a=2127&q=302260

Also posted to my business website blog

Don't have that genealogy database subscription? Here's what you do.

What genealogy databases do you access or would you like to access? Historical newspaper databases? Newspapers.com? Major genealogy databases with access to census records, vital records and more? Ancestry.com? HeritageQuest? Without breaking your budget, you can most likely get access to many databases without subscribing to them.

Two excellent resources for access to databases are Family History Centers and public libraries.

Family History Centers may provide access to many databases at no cost. The computers are all set up for you to use. You will also probably be able to download the data to your own flash drive, or make photocopies, or scans. I had all of those options open to me at my last visit to a Family History Center, and having forgotten my flash drive, I simply "clipped" articles from historical newspapers and had them sent to my email, where I can download them to my own computer files. It was a breeze.

Public libraries often have subscriptions to genealogy databases and/or historical newspapers. If your county library doesn't offer these, you may be able to acquire a library card for another county in your State. Databases might be available from remote locations, provided you enter the card number, or you may have to visit the library to use a computer there to get access.


For some researchers, from the novice genealogists to the advanced masters of historical data, it may be worthwhile to consider options which broaden access to databases without adding cost to every new search. And you might even have the chance to share a smile and rub elbows with others passionate  about searching the documents of the past..

Easy trick for merging identities on Family Tree Maker

Ever see names kind of stack up in the index of Family Tree Maker? Then you take a look and see that some are duplicates--same person listed several times. You want to see all relationships possible--all the children of all these parents.

Example: You've listed Joe Martin as father of Jeremiah Martin. Elsewhere you have him as father of Lisette Martin. You want to see all siblings listed under the same father (Joe), which you have suddenly noticed is the same for both kids. This is very helpful in any genetic matching or in family tree matching. Maximum info=maximum results with minimum effort.

Ordinary merges take time and attention to details such as birth and death dates.

Simpler is this method-choose a special letter, such as "t" to temporarily attach to the ends of the names of the mergers. Appelman becomes Appelmant temporarily. His merge also becomes Appelmant. You merge the two Applemants, without having to sort them out from any other Appelmans in your file. Once they have merged, you remove the "t" ending and voila--a quick merge. Very useful with common names such as David Johnson or Sarah Brown.

Using Gedmatch "one to many"

For autosomal DNA matching, Gedmatch offers a feature which allows you to see where your autosomal DNA matches others who upload their results. Gedmatch takes uploads from ancestry.com, FTDNA, and from 23andme, so even if you only test with one company, as many do, you can see many matches to your DNA segments from people who tested with the other companies.

It is very easy to use this feature, and it is worth checking back every few weeks for the new matches which are uploaded. The moniker and email for the match are sometimes helpful, yet ofttimes not helpful at all--really attempts by the test subject to obfuscate his or her identity. The best scenario, and it is occurring more and more often, is that the match has uploaded a gedcom, which is worth way more than a name. After all, we researchers are looking for the match's grandparents and beyond. It is genetic history that is of interest in this game.

If a match seems useful, ways to look further are to check the match's list of matches (click on "L"). The individual that you match may not list his or her name, but may have a match within one or two generations who has done so. That is quite valuable, and worth working with to find clues to creating the tree for the match (an important step in finding the common ancestor). Another step is to find the chromosome segment where you match, and then to find the others who match (triangulation), which is another feature on gedmatch, and discussed elsewhere on this blog.

You will probably also want to click on A, which shows you the chromosome segment where you match the other tester. You can make a note of this segment and then check for matches elsewhere on gedmatch or on HIRsearch to that particular segment. Because the segment match may be on either side of your ancestry (paternal or maternal), the fact that it matches a third party may not reflect a true match. It could be coincidental, and the match may be to  the parent who would not match the second party and yourself. This is where triangulation is of great help, because gedmatch will show you where your matching segments of chromosome overlap with more than one other match, and the information on the utility will even indicate for you that this is likely an indication of shared ancestry.

Now what can you do with shared ancestry? Ideally the people you match with have more information on their ancestry than you do, and you can see who might be the common ancestor, or at least the direction that the ancestry will have to be. Less ideally, you may have more information to work with. Geography, names, anything can be helpful. You should note all of the information you receive (a good place to do it is on a digital family tree--easily revised) so that it can come in handy when you get more information, which is likely to happen given the recent surge in autosomal testing.

Don't forget that if you get intrigued by a chromosome segment that you can easily see matches who also share that segment by uploading your data to HIRsearch.

The gedmatch.com site has many features. It may take awhile to tackle all of them. I do recommend trying this one, and taking the time to figure it out. It is one you are likely to return to and to find useful as you try to establish your genetic ancestry, which, as we all know, may just not quite match the family history you have on paper.

Gedmatch no longer down! (updated March 24)

Update March 24: Gedmatch is up and running again!

Yes, just as we got used to gedmatch.com being there and adding new features right and left, we were met with the recurring server failure notice. It is unexpected even though it happens often, and what a blow it is at this time. The new features were making chromosome segment comparison easy and fun, and changes were almost moving too fast. As before, my advice is to be patient, just as we are with receiving matches from the companies we are subscribed to, and once gedmatch is up and running again, just be sure to take advantage of the features there for your most interesting genealogical problems. For those who have been in this for awhile, finding matches, using utilities, and so on, you know that it has been a very up and down process with many long detours and stops along the way. If you are new to all of this, be glad of the many options we have. And while you are waiting, be sure to check out HIRsearch and promethease--both interesting and fun to use.

With all of the options out there, those who are working hard at finding common ancestors should be finding at least a few previously unknown ancestors out there. Let me know if you have done so or if you are narrowing down those names and places!

Triangulation of chromosome segments--Amazing new feature at Gedmatch.com

This is a very useful feature, and one that will really save time when trying to understand how your match matches you and others by chromosome segments. It is very simple--all you have to enter on the utility is your kit number. Your closest matches for each chromosome appear, and the matching segments are color coded to indicate where you match, where matches match each other and not you, and best of all, where there is a three-way match, where two matches match each other AND you. As noted on the utility: "This indicates ancestry." What an amazing utility to work with. This is exactly what autosomal DNA testing is all about. You don't have to break your brain seeking out segments, measuring them, and comparing them to potential matches. It is done for you in a flash.
Even better--while the comparisons show the kit numbers which match you, all you have to do to find out who the person (or pseudonym) is behind the match is to hover your cursor over the
number.

Gedmatch.com has taken an important step towards the future. Imagine a time when we will be finding matches with little effort, and that means extending our family trees with certainty. Slowly but surely we are getting closer to that experience.

Genealogy Researchers can find tiny cemeteries with google maps

It's one thing for locals to give directions to a cemetery (whether online or in person) and often quite another thing for far-away visitors to find the gravestones. If you plan to visit a tiny cemetery  out in the rural countryside in an area you are unfamiliar with, you will probably want to be armed with more than a street map.  As I learned, street names are not always the same on a sign as they are designated on a map. Some roads seem to have no names. Some arrows point in nebulous directions.

You will want to avoid the long and often circular drives with all passengers peering out the windows for sights of a little cemetery. To be sure that you can find the place, plan ahead with the new google maps. You can locate the general area of the cemetery via the maps, by using the information you have at hand and and then can use the google earth feature to  get a bird's eye view and plan just how you will get there and where you can park your car. Yes, you can actual see the headstones--not close enough to read, but close enough to see where they are.

See this example of Bishop Cemetery in rural Henderson, New York: Bishop Cemetery.
I was able to find this cemetery before there were google maps, but only with great difficulty.

You can also use the google maps views to see where the cemetery was for purposes of comparing it to where old farms, roads, and structures once stood.

A new plus on the new google maps is an easy-to-use coordinates feature. You click on the part of the map view that interests you, and the coordinates appear just under the left side search box.