Update 12/23: It is a great resource, but why does it so often, after all the work the researcher puts in matching the indexing information to the page of the will or land record--not a quick task--tell the researcher to "try again later," or just spin indefinitely? What can we do to get it to be an efficient search effort? The scans are truly fantastic and it is great to have access, but very frustrating when that access just falls away.
Familysearch.org has put online some lovely scans for counties in New York. Working with the scanned info is time-consuming, but I am loving it.
Probate records were put online a few weeks ago, and by working with the index and then with the other microfilmed images we can all see many wills and probate records. Be sure to see the indexes. Then you can find the correct page in the will or probate records. Say it says your ancestor's name for will book 18, page 240. You find the scan of will book 18, then you plug in guesses for the page. Maybe you start with 100 and find that that is a bit short of the scanned page referred to. Keep trying, and you will get it. And there you go. You've got a will you wanted to see and then you can go on to others.
Even more recently, land records were put online. Again, going to each county you are interested in, looking at indexes, and then looking at the actual records, you will find very good information. Number one, you will see who was alive in that place at that time, and secondly, land exchanges were often between relatives, which provides a great clue for genealogy research.
Going through this process is time-consuming, and sometimes the website fails, but we now all have access to information that formerly we would have had to order as microfilms and view at a Family History Center, or order from town clerks or other sources as vital records.
If you are watching a slow-moving show on t.v., this is a perfect multi-tasking complement to that .
And I suggest, when you find a gem of information that you haven't seen online, share it with the rest of us.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Gedmatch admix utilities are going strong!
The admix utilities (where you see your proposed ancestral populations in color graphics) at Gedmatch.com are continuing to grow and amaze. They work very efficiently with the data that the DNA tester provides. It is very simple to do, and the process is guided the whole way. You download your files from your testing company quickly and neatly, and then load them up into Gedmatch just as easily, and then the results are ready for you to see. There are several admix programs you can look at, and some of them link to the Oracle population analysis, which gives you predicted populations for your ancestry. It is all in the process of refinement and development, so don't be expecting firm conclusions about your heritage, but as you compare one program against the other, and compare that to what you know about your ancestry, you can project some likely possibilities for ancestry. It is quick, easy, and a lot of fun to play around with. I highly recommend trying it out if you have that autosomal DNA data to upload.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
In response to the challenge of ...Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - 100 Word Challenge - Grandparents
Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - 100 Word Challenge - Grandparents
Grandparents are important because they are really all that a genealogist needs in order to succeed in tracking someone's ancestors. We don't need any information about the descendants but we do need the birth dates and places of those grandparents. Once they are found in the census, all of their ancestors can be found (theoretically at least!). This principle applies especially to autosomal DNA matches, who are usually living and who may wish to have their privacy protected. All we researchers need are their grandparents! The information gleaned provides a gateway to the places and times of their own ancestors.
Grandparents are important because they are really all that a genealogist needs in order to succeed in tracking someone's ancestors. We don't need any information about the descendants but we do need the birth dates and places of those grandparents. Once they are found in the census, all of their ancestors can be found (theoretically at least!). This principle applies especially to autosomal DNA matches, who are usually living and who may wish to have their privacy protected. All we researchers need are their grandparents! The information gleaned provides a gateway to the places and times of their own ancestors.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Creative searching for the Diabo family of the Mohawk tribe
I had some good luck in my search for the Diebo family of Canada and New York. The person I was searching for was Joseph Diebo or Diabo (as I found out through the 1915 New York Census--thank goodness for those in-between State censuses). He does not appear, at least not together with his wife and children, on the 1920 or subsequent census records. His children can be identified by the last name Deibo or Diebo.
Although he stated on that census that he was an alien and had been in the U.S. for ten years, I found him listed in the 1900 census in a school in Seneca, Erie, New York for Catholic Indian boys. It pays to check for people in times and places that might work, even if there is a statement to the contrary! I could tell it was the same person because in 1915 he has family members living with him who also appear in the 1900 census. He was identified as Indian on that census, with 1/8 white ancestry.
I looked then for the brothers of Joseph, and found a scholarly write-up on line of his brother Paul, who had challenged deportation from the U.S. to Canada in the 1920's. The article gave the names of the parents of Paul and of Joseph: James Diabo and Therese Montour. Further research on those names revealed that the family came from Sault St. Louis, and Caughnawaga in Canada.
I was surprised to find this much information on families with Native American ancestry, and was pleased to see that there were a number of websites listing marriages, graves, and family lines of the Mohawk tribe in that area. I found a nicely transcribed census record of the Indians in Canada in 1901, and learned that "Diabo" was sometimes written "Dailleboust." Of course--sounds similar!
The research wasn't easy at first, but I kept telling myself that there was always one more place to look, and it was a quick look at familysearch.com that gave me the clue that led to all the others--that 1915 New York census record.
Although he stated on that census that he was an alien and had been in the U.S. for ten years, I found him listed in the 1900 census in a school in Seneca, Erie, New York for Catholic Indian boys. It pays to check for people in times and places that might work, even if there is a statement to the contrary! I could tell it was the same person because in 1915 he has family members living with him who also appear in the 1900 census. He was identified as Indian on that census, with 1/8 white ancestry.
I looked then for the brothers of Joseph, and found a scholarly write-up on line of his brother Paul, who had challenged deportation from the U.S. to Canada in the 1920's. The article gave the names of the parents of Paul and of Joseph: James Diabo and Therese Montour. Further research on those names revealed that the family came from Sault St. Louis, and Caughnawaga in Canada.
I was surprised to find this much information on families with Native American ancestry, and was pleased to see that there were a number of websites listing marriages, graves, and family lines of the Mohawk tribe in that area. I found a nicely transcribed census record of the Indians in Canada in 1901, and learned that "Diabo" was sometimes written "Dailleboust." Of course--sounds similar!
The research wasn't easy at first, but I kept telling myself that there was always one more place to look, and it was a quick look at familysearch.com that gave me the clue that led to all the others--that 1915 New York census record.
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