The Newest Issue of NGS Magazine is Now Online!

The October–December 2022 Issue  

of the NGS Magazine is Now Online

The October–December 2022 issue of NGS Magazine, Volume 48, Number 4, is being printed and is now available online in the Members Only section of the website. Delivery of print copies depends upon USPS schedules. This issue’s theme is Ancestral Places.

EDITOR'S NOTE by Deb Cyprych

Although genealogists can’t physically travel back to the past, often we can visit the places where ancestors lived, worked, and worshipped. Even if those places no longer exist, traces remain in their history and records. The process of locating, visualizing, and researching specific places improves genealogical outcomes and adds details to family histories.

When a place name is found in a record, it has to be read, interpreted, identified, and located. Pam Vestal demonstrates a variety of ways to overcome obstacles in a search for locations, including difficult handwriting, low-quality images, garbled spelling, repetition of names, variations of names, and other challenging issues.

Land records are among the most valuable records in genealogical research, and fortunately, many are being digitized. Jean Atkinson Andrews discusses the types of public land records commonly found online. Her case study for an early settler illustrates the use of these records to discover details about his experience.

Maps are essential for understanding a place’s geography and proximity to potential record sources. Google My Maps makes it possible to compile historical information on a modern map and access it from a mobile device. Melinda Kashuba explains how to create, edit, annotate, and share maps in Google My Maps for genealogical purposes.

Every house has a story that can open doors into research for the people who lived there. Betsy J. Green explores techniques for researching the history of current and ancestral homes. Aaron Goodwin shares an example of how records in the New York City Municipal Archives provide historical background for a house.

Federal agricultural census schedules between 1850 and 1880 contain details about farmers’ land, crops, production, livestock, and cash values—up to one hundred items of information for each farm. Kathy Petlewski covers the development of the schedules and their locations in digitized and microfilm format, with a case study for how they can be used to enhance research.

The Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has the agricultural census schedules for twenty-four states, as part of the largest genealogy collection in an American public library. John D. Beatty highlights the scope of the Center’s books, periodicals, microtexts, digital collections and databases, expert assistance, and free virtual educational programs.

In this issue’s columns, Carla Cegielski describes the benefits and components of family websites; Rhonda Hoffman concludes her article about society surveys by discussing online survey platforms; and Paul Woodbury explains tools for estimating the probability of different relationship levels based on amounts of shared DNA.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Features

• Where Did They Come From and Where Did They Go? Overcoming Obstacles in a Search for Ancestral Locations by Pam Vestal

• Public Land Records Research Online by Jean Atkinson Andrews, CG

• Using Google My Maps for Research, Analysis, and Sharing Information by Melinda Kashuba, PhD
• Discovering a Home’s History by Betsy J. Green

• The Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library by John D. Beatty, CG

Departments

• PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE by Kathryn M. Doyle
• EDITOR'S NOTE by Deb Cyprych
• NGS NEWS
• REFERENCE DESK
• Using Agricultural Census Schedules in Family History Research by Kathy Petlewski, MSLS
• TECH TIPS
• Creating a Family Website by Carla S. Cegielski
• SOCIETY FORUM
• Surveying Society Memberships: Part 2, Online Surveys by Rhonda Hoffman, MLS
• DNA DISCOVERY
• Surveying Society Membership: Part 2, Online Surveys by Paul Woodbury

NGS Magazine is published quarterly to update members of the National Genealogical Society on NGS activities and to provide genealogists with special information and guidance on conducting effective genealogical research. The magazine is sent to libraries by subscription. Online access to NGS Magazine is available only as long as membership is active.

Foundations in Family History Course: Creating a Research Plan

Do You Use a Research Plan for Your Family History?

Researching family history is a gratifying and addictive pastime. Sometimes we chase down a rabbit hole and don’t find the elusive ancestor we're looking for. That particular ancestor and their parentage may be the key to the next generation we're trying to identify.

 

Creating a research plan helps us stay focused. An important first step is to formulate a specific research question for one person and focus on records that may answer that question.

 

Next, review the documents collected for information relating to the question and identify additional records available for the time and place. This effort at the beginning of the research project will pay off. Some research plans can be accomplished in a couple of hours (for example, to find when and where John Smith and Mary Jones got married). More extensive research plans (for questions such as “Who were the parents of John Smith and Mary Jones?”) may include several phases and require research over longer periods of time.

Whether you have a simple or complex question in your research, the National Genealogical Society (NGS) can help. The NGS Foundations in Family History online course will teach you all eight steps for creating a research plan and using a research log.

 

The lesson on creating a research plan is just one of the eighteen lessons in the Foundations in Family History course that will help you become a more successful genealogist and researcher. Learn more and sign up online.

 

Register for Foundations in Family History

 

Visit the NGS website to discover additional genealogy courses.

NGSQ September Issue is Now Online!

Andrew Blanchard Marriner, ca. 1890s
(1820–1902)

The September 2022 Issue of the NGSQ is Now Online

The September 2022 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 110, Number 3, is available online in the members-only section of the website and printed issues are being prepared for mailing. The USPS is still experiencing delays in some areas for the delivery of print copies. We apologize if your print copy is affected.

CONTENTS:

FEATURE ARTICLES

• “The Brambach, Mangold, and Beplat Saga: Evidence Supports Sensationalist News Stories” by Amy Larner Giroux, PhD, CG, CGL

• “Parents for Mary Ann (Marriner) Graves of New Jersey and Pennsylvania” by by Debbie Hadley

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS

• “Do Slave Schedules Accurately Report Owners?” by Tony Burroughs 

EDITORS’ CORNER

• Making the Most of What You Have

SIDELIGHTS

• Wall Family Bible
• The Three Bears Revisited

REVIEWS

The National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) is published four times per year, in March, June, September, and December. The journal is edited by Nancy A. Peters, CG®, CGLSM, and Allen R. Peterson, AG, CG®.

The July–September 2022 Issue of the NGS Magazine is Now Online

The July–Sept 2022 Issue  

of the NGS Magazine is Now Online

The July–September 2022 issue of NGS Magazine, Volume 48, Number 3, is being printed and is now available online in the Members Only section of the website. Delivery of print copies depends upon USPS schedules. This issue’s theme is Genealogy Tools.

EDITOR'S NOTE by Deb Cyprych

Genealogical tools of various types can help researchers in charting a new course of discovery. The articles in this issue describe tools genealogists can develop for customized purposes.

Shannon Green explores the importance of correlation in the research process. Her examples illustrate the value of tables, maps, and timelines as tools of comparison and contrast that enable researchers to view data from a different angle, generate ideas for further study, test hypotheses, and assess and communicate the validity of conclusions.

Mind maps offer customized formats for following the trail of evidence. Amy Larner Giroux’s approach starts with a record rather than a central idea. She outlines four steps for using a hand-drawn or electronic mind map to plot the basic elements in the record, analyze information and develop questions, explore possible paths to find solutions, and create a research plan for the next steps.

Locality guides improve research effectiveness by increasing knowledge of a specific area and its resources. Jan Joyce discusses the advantages of creating succinct, individualized guides and presents a step-by-step process for their development and usage: targeting the geographic locality, conducting a literature review, writing the guide, using it, and refining its information.

Timelines are fundamental tools for gaining a new perspective in genealogical research. Cari Taplin describes the benefits, creation, and organization of timelines. Her examples display the use of timelines to notice gaps in research, suggest locations of records, distinguish the identities of people with similar names, and organize multiple items of information, among many other features.

Microsoft Excel’s power for analysis and manipulation of data is significant and can be tapped for many purposes. Jill Crandell provides instructions for calculations of ages and time intervals, sorting large volumes of data to solve research problems, and workarounds to handle Excel’s inability to format dates prior to 1900.

Columnists in this issue present information about genealogy tools as well. Paul Woodbury explains how the Leeds Method, SmartArt and Lucidchart, and What Are the Odds? can help with interpreting DNA evidence. Rhonda Hoffman discusses the development of questions for surveying society members. Kathy Petlewski describes her method of creating digital catalog cards to keep track of books and make them easily accessible.

On a different topic, Craig R. Scott uses a case study for an Illinois soldier to outline the sources available for researching US soldiers, sailors, volunteers, and militiamen in the Mexican War. More than one hundred thousand US servicemen participated in the 1846-1848 War with Mexico, which resulted in the United States obtaining a half million acres of territory in the West and Southwest.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Features

• NGS 2023 Family History Conference: Specialize Research Facilities in Virginia by Teresa Kelley
• Correlation: A Powerful Research Tool by Shannon Green, CG
• Enhancing Source Analysis with Mind Maps by Amy Larner Giroux, PhD, CG, CGL
• Creating and Using Locality Guides as Genealogical Tools by Jan Joyce, DBA, CG, CGL, AG
• Using Timelines to Gain Perspective on Research Problems by Cari A. Taplin, CG
• Unlocking the Power of Microsoft Excel for Genealogical Research by Jill N. Crandell, MA, AG 
• Researching US Servicemen in the Mexican war by Craig R. Scott, CG, FUGA

Departments

• PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE by Kathryn M. Doyle
• EDITOR'S NOTE by Deb Cyprych
• NGS NEWS
• Make Connections on FORUM by Kate Smith
• 2022 NGS Awards and Competition Results Announced by Judy Nimer Muhn
• DNA DISCOVERY
• Charts and Diagrams for Genetic Genealogy: Organization, Analysis, and Reports by Paul Woodbury
• SOCIETY FORUM
• Surveying Society Memberships: Part 1, Questions by Rhonda Hoffman, MLS
• REFERENCE DESK
• Maintaining a Personal Genealogy Library Catalog in the Digital Age by Kathy Petlewski, MSLS

NGS Magazine is published quarterly to update members of the National Genealogical Society on NGS activities and to provide genealogists with special information and guidance on conducting effective genealogical research. The magazine is sent to libraries by subscription. Online access to NGS Magazine is available only as long as membership is active.

NGSQ June 2022 is now online!

Mary Stevens (Sangston) Gwyn (1812–80) who married into the Gwyn family,
the subject of the feature article by Anita A. Lustenberger, CG.

The June 2022 Issue of the NGSQ is Now Online

The June 2022 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 110, Number 2, is available online in the members-only section of the website and printed issues are being prepared for mailing. The USPS is still experiencing delays in some areas for the delivery of print copies. We apologize if your print copy is affected.

CONTENTS:

FEATURE ARTICLES

• “The Children of Robert and Ann (Ransone) Gwyn of Gloucester County, Virginia” by Anita A. Lustenberger, CG

• “John and Nicholas Leonard of Trumbull County, Ohio: Sons of Nicholas Leonard of Berkeley County, Virginia” by David M. Lawrence, JD

• “One Man, Three Surnames: Identifying Parents for Louis Adolph Fairweather of New York, Illinois, and California” by Sharon L. Hoyt, CG

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS

• “Did You Know? A Survey of the Growing NGS Research in the States Series” by Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS

EDITORS’ CORNER

• Life's Milestons

SIDELIGHTS

• Manumissions by Rachel Moore, 1780
• Elopement Before the Tide
• Believe It or Not
• A Taxing State of Affairs

REVIEWS

The National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) is published four times per year, in March, June, September, and December. The journal is edited by Nancy A. Peters, CG®, CGLSM, and Allen R. Peterson, AG, CG®.

Commemorating Juneteenth and Discovering Family History

Juneteenth is more than a remembrance of the stain slavery left on our nation. It is our nation's way to honor Black Americans' long march toward freedom and the profound impact those many steps have left on our national conscience and our pursuit of a just and equitable society.

The National Genealogical Society is proud to help Ancestry® announce the premiere of a powerful new film, “A Dream Delivered: The Lost Letters of Hawkins Wilson,” which brings to light a family reunion over a century in the making. 

Visit Ancestry.com/Blackhistory starting on June 17 to watch the film and learn more, and to get started exploring your own family story. 

Join us for the next MemberConnects! for an encore of Andre Kearn's NGS Conference banquet presentation, "Revealing Our Full American Mosaic."  The Zoom meeting is Wednesday, 29 June, at 8:00 p.m. (ET).

The National Genealogical Society will be closed Monday, 20 June 2022, in observance of the Juneteenth holiday.

NGS Releases Two New Research in the States Books

 

NGS Releases New Research in the States Books:

New Mexico and Oregon

Two new Research in the States books— Research in New Mexico by Karen Stein Daniel, CG, and Research in Oregon, 3rd Edition, by Connie Miller Lenzen, CG, FNGS—are now available in the NGS store in both PDF and print versions.

In Research in New Mexico, author Karen Stein Daniel discusses where to find records of both indigenous and non-indigenous people. The state is home to three Apache tribes, the Navaho Nation, and nineteen Pueblo tribes. Since 1598, Hispanics including Crypto-Jews have settled in New Mexico. By the late 1860s, Black Americans began to arrive along with French, German, Greek, Italian, and Jewish immigrants; Los Árabes from the Middle East; and South African Boers. Research in New Mexico offers readers an extensive review of genealogical resources of the people who have populated America’s 47th state.

In Research in Oregon, 3rd Edition, Connie Miller Lenzen introduces family historians to a wealth of repositories and other archival resources throughout the state. The book covers both Oregon’s many Native American tribes as well as its non-indigenous population, including White pioneers who settled in Oregon in the 1840s. Chinese began to arrive in the 1850s. They were followed by Japanese. By law, Blacks were excluded from the state until 1868 when the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution was ratified. Ethnic groups from Europe included Basques, Greeks, Irish, Swedes, and Volga Germans. Hispanic and Jewish Americans and later Iranians, Russians, Vietnamese also settled in Oregon. Research in Oregon provides genealogists with a concise guidebook for researching their ancestors.

Research in the States series is edited by Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FUGA, FVGS.

To purchase, Research in New Mexico and Research in Oregon, 3rd Edition, visit the NGS online store.

NGS Presents Awards at Conference Banquet

NGS Awards Excellence in Genealogy Scholarship and Service at

Family History Conference in Sacramento, California

NGS held its annual banquet on Friday evening, 27 May, at its 2022 Family History Conference in Sacramento, California, to present awards that acknowledge and honor genealogical scholarship and service. The banquet speaker, Andre Kearns, spoke about the opportunity genealogy offers us to uncover the stories of people traditionally excluded from historical narratives in his presentation, “Revealing Our Full American Mosaic.” Awards Committee Chair Judy Nimer Muhn opened the awards portion of the banquet.

National Genealogy Hall of Fame
Beginning in 1986, the National Genealogy Hall of Fame program, administered by the National Genealogical Society, has honored outstanding genealogists whose achievements in American genealogy have had a great impact on the field and who have been deceased for at least five years. Their contributions to genealogy in this country need to be significant in a way that was unique, pioneering, or exemplary. Entries are judged by a panel of genealogists from various parts of the United States.

This year, Clarence Almon Torrey, FASG, nominated by the American Society of Genealogists, was elected to the National Genealogy Hall of Fame.

Torrey was born 28 August 1869 in Manchester, Iowa; he died 5 February 1962 in Newton, Massachusetts. For forty-one years (1921-1962), he was actively engaged in the field of genealogy. From 1927 until his death, he compiled information on New England marriages. The compilation became a twelve-volume manuscript, titled "New England Marriages Prior to 1700." It includes approximately 37,000 New England couples and was drawn from many thousands of references from printed sources. First published (without the references) in 1985, the manuscript has gone through many printings, eventually with notated references.

Torrey was elected a fellow in the American Society of Genealogists in 1942. As a contributing editor for its publication, The American Genealogist, Torrey provided numerous articles including "Marriages in England of Early American Immigrants," "Some Early Marriages at Reading, Massachusetts," and "Errors in Printed Massachusetts Vital Records." He also published a number of genealogies and family histories including David Roe of Flushing, Long Island, and Some of His Descendants: A Record of Six Generations.

Torrey specialized in uncovering English origins and identifying the maiden names of the wives of seventeenth century New England and Long Island colonists. He was a careful, meticulous researcher. His long and extensive labors in the field of New England genealogy made him an "elder statesman" to other genealogists.

The Lou D. Szucs Distinguished Service Award recognizes exemplary contributions to the mission of NGS. At the banquet, the Board of Directors presented the award to Janet Bailey, Frances Millhouser, Connie Jeremiah, and Shirley Langdon Wilcox, CG, FNGS, FVGS, for their outstanding service to NGS. When NGS moved to new offices in 2017, the paper archives of the society were stored in a basement which flooded in 2021. This team of volunteers dedicated more than 300 hours through the summer and fall of 2021 to the preservation of these documents. They dried and organized over forty bankers boxes of documents during the pandemic, providing all the necessary work needed to save these historical items of the Society.

The Award of Merit is presented to an individual or non-profit genealogical or historical organization to recognize exceptional contributions to the field of genealogy over a period of five or more years, which have significantly aided research or increased interest in genealogy. This year the NGS Board of Directors presented the award to Kathleen Hrenko Rubano. She has been a member of the Bristol Chapter of the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc. (MSOG) for more than ten years with six of those years as president of the Chapter.

Rubano has devoted much of her time helping to promote the study of genealogy beginning with novice learners to those with advanced skills. As president of Bristol Chapter (2013-2019), she was the driving force in the recruitment of new members and arranging for quality monthly presentations. She also presented a "Getting into Genealogy" program to community groups, local libraries, and other organizations interested in genealogy, a project in which she continues to participate. She was instrumental in creating an "International Ancestry Day" when members volunteer to share family stories and the techniques used during their research as well as ethnic food associated with the topics of the day. Rubano continues to offer her volunteer service to the local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) chapter and Massachusetts State Archives.

Awards for Excellence are presented for a specific, significant single contribution in the form of a family genealogy or family history book, a publication discussing or demonstrating genealogical methods and sources, or an article published in the NGS Quarterly. Entries serve to foster scholarship and/or otherwise advance or promote excellence in genealogy.

Award for Excellence: Genealogy and Family History Book
This year’s recipient is Pamela Stone Eagleson, CG, for Descendants of Thomas Stone, ca. 1720-1791 of Prince William County, Virginia. Amherst, Mass.: P. S. Eagleson, 2021. Second place went to Karen Stein Daniel, CG, for Victor Massé and Emilie Lucile Vincent from the First French Republic to the Republic of Texas. San Antonio, Tex.: K. S. Daniel, 2020.

Award for Excellence: Genealogical Methods and Sources
This year’s recipients are Sunny Jane Morton and Harold Henderson, CG, for How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2021. Second place went to Robert. W. Johnson, JD, CG, and Elizabeth Williams Gomoll, CG, for Husförhörslӓngder: Swedish Household Examination Records: Framing the Solutions to Your Swedish Ancestry Puzzles. St. Paul, Minn.: Johnson & Gomoll, 2021.

Award for Excellence: National Genealogical Society Quarterly 

Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FUGA, FVGS, received the award for “Correct Interpretation of an Eighteenth-Century Virginia Will Restores the Parents of Allerton Newton of Westmoreland County, Virginia.” published in the December 2021 issue of the NGSQ.