Why Do We Do Genealogy?

 

I wrote this blog post almost 10 years ago. It still holds true and I decided it was worth sharing again.

A friend asked an interesting question. "Why do you do genealogy?" she asked. Sounds like a simple question doesn't it. And the answer should be simple - "I do genealogy because...."

But guess what? It's not simple. The reasons I currently "do genealogy" are not the same reasons I would have given 20 or 30 years ago. When I began my genealogy quest at a very young age, it was because my father had expressed such curiousity about our Irish McGinnis origins. He died when I was 14 and I made a vow after his death to find out about our McGinnis ancestors for him. In his memory. So my answer to that question, had it been asked, those many years ago, would have been simple. "I do genealogy because I want to find my McGinnis ancestors for my father."

That isn't my main reason anymore. I've grown. This has been a journey - still is a journey, and as on any journey, my needs and desires and goals along the way have changed. For example I've discovered that I can't let a mystery lie without digging into it. I need to find answers. So my answer to that question now would be

"I do genealogy for many reasons. One is my curiousity about my ancestors - who were they, what were they like, what experiences did they live through. My love of history is part of the reason I do genealogy. My desire to solve mysteries is a huge part of my passion for genealogy. And I do genealogy because I want my children and grandchildren to know and recognize the individuals over the centuries whose lives helped make us who we are today."

Genealogy isn't a pursuit well suited for those who require instant gratification. It's a long-term process and seems incredibly boring and tedious to those who are not like-minded. I've spent more hours scrolling through microfilm searching for that one entry with an ancestor's name, then I care to remember. Many people would consider those wasted hours. I don't.

Some of my family are not the least bit interested in our ancestors. Some are interested to a degree. Tell them stories of the more interesting or outrageous ancestors such as our daredevil Peer ancestor who walked Niagara Falls on a tightrope and they listen. Tell them about great great grandpa, the farmer in England, and their eyes glaze over.

I once had a friend say to me "But why do you care? They're all dead!" and yet another said "They're not really your ancestors if they're dead." Hmmm... I can't quite get my head around that mindset!

Some are not interested in the treasured photos of ancestors. To me those are the icing on the cake! They make my ancestor "real" for me. One of my relatives told me she wasn't interested in seeing a photo of our 2nd great-grandfather. Why wasn't she interested? Because, she said "Why do I care what he looked like? I never knew him."

To me that's kind of the point. A photo allows us to "know" our ancestors. With a photo I can study faces and ponder over whether or not great-grandma's nose isn't just like one of my granddaughters.  I can imagine the ancestors in those photos living their daily lives, just as we do today. And I feel a connection to those people.

How about you? How would you answer my friend's question, "Why do you do genealogy?"

20 Traits of a Good Genealogist

Most of us want to be good genealogists. We want to do our best to find our ancestors. We want to find the facts,and know that what we found is accurate.

It's never fun to spend time searching an individual's ancestors and adding them to our family tree only to find out it was the wrong person.

That means we need to be thorough and methodical and cautious. We should not accept an ancestor without verifying and double-checking every clue and document we find.

Here's my list of what I believe are the 10 most important characteristics of a good genealogist.

A good genealogist

1. Finds every document possible on an ancestor. He/she does not stop at census and vital registrations but looks beyond to records such as land records, court records, military records, church records,immigration records, education records, newspaper articles, tax and assessment records, etc. A good genealogist looks for more obscure records such as coffin plates, funeral cards, and other miscellaneous records pertaining to the time and location of his/her search.

2. Learns what records have survived for the location and time period for each ancestor's life. Then learns where those records can be found - online and off.

3. Copies documents exactly as found, not as he/she thinks it should be.

4. Cites sources for all facts found. Citing your sources means others can look up what you have written, and verify for themselves. Sources means you've got proof of some kind to support your fact.

5. Never relies blindly on family stories or online family trees, but searches out a source for each. Verify, verify, verify!

6. Makes an accurate copy of all records found. Carefully notes spelling of names while copying and does not make changes.

7. Keeps a research log of all sources checked, and notes if the search was successful or not.

8. Analyzes each record and document carefully in order to spot clues that may lead to other areas of research and to accurately understand what the record is  and is not.

9. Searches siblings of a challenging ancestor in order to find more documents that may hold clues pertaining to his/her ancestor.

10. Leaves no stone (record) unturned. Extends his/her search to records not found online such as in local courthouses or archives.

A good genealogist also tends to have the following personality traits:

1. Attention to detail
2. Perseverance
3. Loves a challenge
4. Passionate about family history
5. Methodical
6. Organized
7. Thinks outside the box
8. Good analytical skills
9. Thinks of themselves as a detective
10. Is patient. Building a family tree isn't a quick fix

What would you add to the list?

Calling all Van Alstyne descendants! Check Out the New Book on the Family

 

 Announcing my latest book in my New Netherland Settlers series:

New Netherland Settlers: The Van Alstyne Family: Ancestors and Descendants of Jan Martense & Dirckien Harmense Boertgens

 Available at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca

Jan Martense de Wever (the weaver) was the immigrant ancestor of the Van Alstyne family in America. He and his wife, Derckien Hermanse (also recorded as Harmanse) and at least two children came to New York area from Drenthe Province, Netherlands prior to 1655. 

The Dutch Reformed Church in Meppel, Drenthe where Jan and Dirkje were married, has church records for baptisms and marriages dating back to 1626. 

My search of the unindexed Meppel church records revealed the marriage of Jan and Dirckien. Baptisms for three of their children were also found. 

A 1658 Notarial document in Amsterdam revealed the full name of Dirckien, providing the opportunity to find more records for her ancestry. This book provides details of their ancestors and descendants to 3 generations and includes documents and footnotes with sources.

NEW! Missouri Birth and Death Indexes Online

 Reclaim The Records has not just one but TWO brand new databases online. 

MissouriBirthIndex.com and MissouriDeathIndex.com

 

 

Immortalizing an Ancestor the Sarah Hare Way

 

In 1744 Sarah Hare died of septicaemia, after pricking herself on a needle. In her will she requested that a wax effigy be made of her and displayed in the Holy Trinity Church, Stow Bardolph. Her wish was granted. 

She was a daughter of Sir Thomas Hare, whose family had a reputation for local philanthropy. Her ancestors built almshouses, and Sarah left each resident a small bequest.

This is wax Sarah in her cabinet

More Questions Answered re Relationshp Terms

Ann asked about relationship terms:

What is my sons relationship to a) my first cousin and b) to her children. And what is my sons relationship to my nieces children.
I keep coming up with the same answer to each of the questions but surely they cant be the same??

No they aren't the same. First thing you should note is that you have different generations so there will be some times removed (as in 2nd cousin 3 times removed). Times removed refers to the number of generations between each person.

Then you have cousins versus nieces so right away you have different relationships.

For example the child of your first cousin is your son's second cousin. 
Your first cousin is your son's first cousin once removed

You could try Steve Morse's Relationship Calculator.  Read his instructions and start entering your terms. Also try this Relationship chart as it may be easier to use.

Happy 16th Birthday to My Blog!

Wow. I can't believe I started Olive Tree Genealogy blog in February 2003.

I've always had a structured timeline for posting, and for several years I posted every single day! I don't know how I did it.

For the past year or so I've been writing and posting three times a week. And yes, it gets more and more challenging to think of topics to talk about!

I write about lots of things - new databases online, tips for searching specific records, new projects Olive Tree Genealogy is working on, the new books I've completed and published, genealogy wish lists, genealogy discussions, and occasionally my own ancestors. I like to keep this blog more generic than talking about my own ancestry.

But I'm still hanging in and hoping my readers are getting something worthwhile out of my blogging - because believe me, it's not easy. It is truly a labour of love. The only thing that keeps  me going is my hope/belief that I'm adding something of value to online genealogy.

So... cheers! I'll keep blogging as long as I sense a need.

Archiving a Large Genealogy Collection

2 of 15 boxes. Overflow in front seat

As some of you know, Olive Tree Genealogy recently received a very large collection of genealogy documents and books. My husband and I are slowly going through the 15 boxes of material, and sorting them into groups.

We are not studying the material or taking an inventory at this point. We simply want to organize the documents so we can choose our first set of records for inventory while storing the rest.

Then we plan to methodically go through each "group" or set of documents, taking a careful inventory and deciding how/if we can make the records accessible to genealogists and historians.



I neglected to take a photo of all our groups but here is how we organized the materials as we went through each box:

• Published genealogy books
• Published genealogy booklets
• Family genealogies 
• Newspaper clippings
• Genealogy research notes
• Garbage

Start of the "Groups" That's me in the chair

Garbage? Did Someone Say GARBAGE????

Yes there was garbage. This collection has obviously been underway for many dozens of years. There were binders of printouts from Ancestral File (Remember that?) and other assorted printouts that had no current genealogical value. We spotted printouts dating back to the early 1980s. Most pages were in plastic sleeves in binders, so we spent some time (several hours) removing pages from binders, then removing the paper from the sleeves. We shredded the paper, kept the sleeves for the hundreds of loose documents we spotted, and will be tossing the binders if we find we do not need them for other loose documents in this collection.

We'll move on to more of the groups in the next blog post. If you want to follow along on our progress on this journey, just click on one of the tags or keywords at the bottom of this post.

Receiving a Large Collection of Genealogy Documents!

Genealogy Boxes Arrive

A few months back  Olive Tree Genealogy was offered some newspaper clippings from a donation a historical society had received. I was very excited to be asked and of course I agreed. A very large package soon arrived by mail consisting of hundreds of loose obituaries from newspapers.

As I was planning on how best to organize and inventory the clippings, another surprise came my way. I was told there were about a dozen large filing boxes full of miscellaneous genealogy items from the same donated materials.

This was too good an opportunity to save important historical records to pass up even though the thought of dealing with so many boxes was somewhat overwhelming.

My husband kindly offered to drive to the Society, some 3 hours distance from our home, to pick up the boxes. To my astonishment, there were over 15 large boxes full of genealogy binders, genealogy books, loose newspaper clippings, and more.  Here they are arriving at our home.

What To Do with So Many Boxes?

My husband and I are planners. We like to be organized. So we took a breath and decided we needed to sort the collection. First we needed a place to put the boxes where they would not be in the way but would be accessible. Then we could slowly and methodically "triage" the contents into organized groups of items.

Step One - Move & Triage!

So we moved to step one - moving the incoming boxes into our living room. Some had gotten wet in the journey in the rain to our home so removing the contents from wet boxes was our first priority.

My dogs helping me start the process

We took a break at this point but we plan to triage the contents ASAP. We saw at a glance that there are various items - hardcover genealogy books, genealogy booklets, binders of newspaper clippings, binders of research notes, family genealogies, and more. This next step will be a fun sort to organize into groups that we can either move to our basement until we have time to work on the contents, or keep in my office for starting an inventory.

The Journey Begins

Please follow along on our journey to inventory and preserve these documents. We aren't archivists but we plan to do our best. We also hope to figure out a way to make the documents accessible to genealogists and historians. If you have ideas or suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments on this blog post.

Using JSTOR, an Overlooked Genealogy Resource

JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. According to a Twitter friend Finding Folk (@maki_ellen) journals often post obituaries of members.

With a personal JSTOR account, you can read 6 articles per month for free. I joined and then searched using the term "obituary" to see what I could find. 

Here's an example from Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 96, No. 4756 (NOVEMBER 21st, 1947), p. 22 (1 page) - the obituary of Sir Alexander MacCormick born in Scotland 1856.

 

I'll definitely be spending more time on JSTOR in the future!

Easter Bunny Returns!

This was announced previously on Olive Tree Genealogy blog but I felt it was worth repeating!

 

Easter Bunny's Family Tree Found! 

 

Breaking news - yesterday a little girl named Alice was playing in the garden of an old house in England when she fell down a large rabbit hole. Before climbing out she made a unique discovery. In a small wooden box under a pile of rabbit fur hats Alice spotted a yellowed letter. The letter was addressed to "Dear Easter" and signed "Uncle Wiggily", and it provided details of an interesting family tree!

The complete letter has been transcribed below:

Dear Easter,
I'm glad you asked about your family. Time is getting short for me and I think I'm the only one left who knows the stories of our family.

Your great-grandfather, Bugs, was one of three brothers (Bugs, Peter and Brer). The brothers left their home and sailed for America in the late 1800s. The ship they were on was caught up in a terrible storm and the brothers had to tie themselves to the mast. The ship sank but Bugs, Peter and Brer were lucky enough to find a plank and they climbed up on it and drifted for several days until they were rescued by the SS Lollipop.

When they got to Ellis Island, the customs officials changed the brothers' last names before allowing them to leave the ship, and so the three branches of our family began.

Bugs, Your great-grandpa, kept his Bunny name. Peter's was changed to Cottontail and all his descendants have kept that name. Brer's name was changed to Rabbit and it is from his line that our famous cousins White and Velveteen descend.

Great grandpa Bugs later met and married your great-grandmother Bunny Fufu. I don't know anything about her parents. My cousin Willy Bunny has photos and her family bible but he is stingy with the family information and refuses to share. Apparently Bunny Fufu's family bible was tossed into a fire by Indians when they attacked the settlement where she and her parents lived, but Bunny's father leapt into the flames and saved the bible. I wish Willy would not be so secretive with the information!

It gets a bit confusing, but Velveteen Rabbit, your mother, was your father Energizer's second wife and his third cousin once removed. It wasn't unusual for cousins to marry each other, but it does get confusing as we all seem to have large families.

Velveteen's father (your maternal grandfather) was Peter but I don't know too much about your mom's side of the family. I did hear there was an Angora in there somewhere way back. Some say she was a Princess and Peter rescued her from pirates!

Of course you know your grandparents - Buster and Trix. One day you should ask your grandma Trix why she calls your grandpa Buster by his nickname "Hassenfeffer" whenever she is mad at him, it's a cute story.

I've done some research on our family but am stuck on your great-great-grandmother. That would be your Great-Grandpa Bugs' mother. Great-Grandpa Bugs' father (your great-great-grandpa) was named Cadbury but I think your great-great-grandma was left by aliens. She is my brick wall. I know Cadbury called her Flopsy and they had 54 children but even though I've searched everywhere, I can't find what her SIRname was.

I guess I should tell you about the family scandal involving your Great great grandpa Cadbury Bunny. My Aunt Babbity told me she heard the grownups whispering about this when she was little. It seems that Cadbury's father fell in love with a chicken and Cadbury was the result of that love match! This might explain Cadbury's strange behaviour....

Well Easter, I think I've given you enough details to confuse you, but I hope I've gotten you interested in learning more! I know where some of the graves are of your ancestors and will take you there one day if you want to go. It's just a hop, skip and jump away.

Give my best to all the little children when you make your rounds this year,

As ever,
Uncle Wiggily

Since that exciting discovery in 2009, Easter Bunny has found more genealogy goodies!  In 2010 Easter found a family tree chart! You can see it here

In 2011 Easter was delighted to discover a Family Bible that once belonged to his great-grandmother Bunny Fufu! He's been hunting ever since, tracking down leads on the Bunny Trail and exploring every nook and cranny he can find.

New Netherland Settlers Van Slyke Family

"New Netherland Settlers Van Slyke Family: Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke 1604-1676 & his French-Mohawk Wife Ots-Toch" 

  30+ years of research pulled together. 3rd Edition of my Van Slyke book. 366 pages, over 1200 footnotes

Now available on Amazon

In 1634 the Dutchman Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke set out on a perilous journey to New Netherland (present day New York). He was a thirty year old carpenter and mason whose skills were desirable in the new colony. Little did he know that a lifetime of adventure and hardship awaited him.

Within a few years after his arrival in the New World he would meet a French-Mohawk woman named Ots-Toch. Together they carved out a life in the wilderness, raising three children who became valued interpreters for the Dutch, British, and Iroquois.

This is the story of Cornelis and Ots-Toch, and of Ots-Toch’s father Jacques Hertel, interpreter in New France (present day Quebec) to Samuel de Champlain, the Father of Canada.

This book also follows the descendants of Cornelis and Ots-Toch to 5 generations.

See the full list of available New Netherland settlers books

New Netherland Settlers - The Straetsman Sisters

New Netherland Settlers: The Straetsman Sisters Barentje & Teuntje and Their Six Husbands Authored by Lorine McGinnis Schulze

 Available on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca,

8.5" x 11" (21.59 x 27.94 cm)
92 pages

The Straetsman sisters Barentje and Teuntje were from Culemborg Netherlands. In 1630 the West India Company conquered part of Brazil and the colony of New Holland (now present-day Recife) was founded.

Dutch troops were sent to Recife and Olinda in Pernambuco Brazil and no doubt Barentje and Teuntje’s first husbands were among those sent to maintain order. They settled first in Brazil before 1637 and then New Netherland circa 1657.

Descendants of Teuntje Straetsman will find sourced details of Teuntie and her four husbands Jan Meyering, Jueriaen Haf, Tieleman Jacobsz vander Meyen & Gabriel Corbesy.

Descendants of Barentje Straetsman will find sourced details of Barentje and her two husbands Hans Coenradt Barheit and Jacob Janse Gardenier aka Flodder.

See the full list of available New Netherland settlers books

Captain Adriaen Crijnen Post - a New Book!

New Netherland Settlers: Captain Adriaen Crijnen Post & Claartje Moockers

Available on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca


The Dutchman Adriaen Crijnen Post and his wife Claartje (Clara) Moockers are found in Recife Brazil in 1646. By the time Brazil fell to the Portuguese in 1654 Adriaen and his femily had left for the Netherlands. From there they sailed to New Netherland. 

As a representative of Baron van der Capellan, Adriaen established a thriving colony on Staten Island. The colony was burned to the ground in the Peach Tree War in 1655 and 23 colonists were killed by Indians. Adriaen, his wife, 5 children and 2 servants were among the 67 colonists taken prisoner. 

This book follows Adriaen and Clara in New Netherland and also provides information on their children and grandchildren. 

See the full list of available New Netherland settlers books

Book on the Vrooman Family in New Netherland (New York)

 
New Netherland Settlers: The Vrooman Family: Ancestors & Descendants of the Brothers Hendrick Meesen Vrooman, Pieter Meesen Vrooman and Jacob Meesen Vrooman of New Netherland (New York)

8.5x11"
56 pages
Available on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca

The three brothers Hendrick Meesen Vrooman, Pieter Meesen and Jacob Meesen came from the Netherlands who came to New Netherland in the early part of the 17th century. Pieter arrived circa 1655, and he and Jacob settled in Albany. Hendrick settled first at Kinderhook, then Steen Raby and finally Schenectady in 1677.

This book traces the Vrooman ancestry back to the brothers' great-great grandfather Gerrit Jans Kerstantsz born in Holland circa 1457, and follows the family down 5 generations.

More books on New Netherland Settlers available here 
 

New Book: Jan Sipkens W.I.C. Soldier, and His Sipken and Sippe Ancestors & Descendants

New Netherland Settlers

Jan Sipken, W.I.C. Soldier, and His Sipken and Sippe Ancestors & Descendants

50 pages. Available on Amazon


Jan Sipkens was a Dutch soldier who settled in New Netherland sometime before October 1674. His marriage intentions were recorded in the New Amsterdam Reformed Dutch Church that month, and they revealed his origins were in Amsterdam Holland.

A search of the Amsterdam church records found his baptism in 1656 to parents Sipke (aka Zipke) Auckus and Baefje Jans. The surname in North America eventually became Sippe as well as Sipkens.

A search of available Amsterdam records revealed baptisms of Jan Sipken’s siblings and the marriage of his parents.  This book details the family in Amsterdam Holland, and New Amsterdam in New Netherland (present day New York).

More books on New Netherland Settlers available here 

Book on Willem Pieterse Van Slyke and Descendants

New Netherland Settlers: Willem Pieterse Van Slyke aka Neef - A genealogy to five generations of the descendants of Willem Pieterse Van Slyke who settled in New Netherland (New York) in 1660 Available on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca

 Settlement in New Netherland (New York) did not begin until Fort Orange (Albany) was built in 1621. Willem Pieterse Van Slyke sailed from Holland to the New World in 1660 on De Trouw. His uncle Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke had settled in New Netherland in 1634. 

This book follows Willem Pieterse and his descendants down 5 generations. It is fully sourced with footnotes. It also reveals for the first time the origins of Willem and his uncle Cornelis in Breuckelen in the Netherlands.

See the full list of New Netherland Settlers books 

Don't Trust Everything You Read

Take It With a Genealogy Grain of Salt

I've been sorting through old papers for the past two days. Tucked away in a folder in a filing cabinet in the basement was a magazine dated 1988. It's a  Financial magazine, all about making money, investing wisely and so on. This particular issue featured stories of people who had invested wisely and retired early, or were successfully juggling a career with pursuing a dream.

I was puzzled as to why I'd saved it but figured there had to be an article featuring someone I knew. Sure enough there was. The article was a glowing report of a man, we'll call him Sam. Let me preface this with the fact that I knew, and still know, Sam very well.

The article revealed that Sam had a  high-paying career and was also a rather successful emerging artist (I use the word artist to describe actors, writers, poets, painters, sculptors). Sam worked part-time to support his art and his yearly wages which were given in the article were extremely good.

The article portrayed Sam as a very successful person pursuing his dream while earning a more than decent living. A descendant finding this article 50 or 100 or more years from now would be thrilled to think their ancestor was such an amazing person!

But the author of the article only knew Sam for a brief moment in Sam's life. I've known him for a very long time and also know what has happened to Sam over the past 24 years since the article was written. 

The truth is that Sam has made bad choices in his life. The details are personal so I will simply say that his path in life was a downhill one, not the successful one portrayed in the magazine. He is not a successful artist. He no longer has a high-paying career.

He's a very different person from the person portrayed in the magazine article. Reading it made me realize that as genealogists we should not rely on one article or one obituary to paint the full picture of an ancestor's life. These are all subjective views written at a specific moment in time. Take it with a grain of salt. Or at least recognize that it's only one small piece of a person's entire life.

In genealogy research remember it's okay to be sceptical. It's okay to question every document you find. Think about it. Analyze it. Be critical. Don't trust every document you find and read. You'll be surprised at how many errors there can be in one small document.

Finding Genealogy Books on Amazon

Did you know it is easy to find genealogy books on Amazon? Decide what subtopic you want - do you want a Genealogy Guide? How about a Genealogy Guide specific to Ontario Canada? A Family History? For a family history you need to search using the surname of interest. For example maybe you want a book on the Van Slyke family. A Genealogy Mystery?

You can also choose to see the top 100 genealogy books on Amazon. This of course changes over time, but right now, two of my published books are in the top 100. That's super cool but I could use some help to get them higher in the rankings, or to get some of my other books into the top 100.

Try it. You might just find the genealogy gem you've been looking for.

Avaialble now! 3rd edition of New Netherland Settlers Van Slyke Family: Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke 1604-1676 & his French-Mohawk Wife Ots-Toch

30+ years of research pulled together. The 3rd Edition of my Van Slyke book. "New Netherland Settlers Van Slyke Family: Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke 1604-1676 & his French-Mohawk Wife Ots-Toch" with 366 pages, and over 1200 footnotes is now available on Amazon
 
In 1634 the Dutchman Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke set out on a perilous journey to New Netherland (present day New York). He was a thirty year old carpenter and mason whose skills were desirable in the new colony. Little did he know that a lifetime of adventure and hardship awaited him. Within a few years after his arrival in the New World he would meet a French-Mohawk woman named Ots-Toch.

Together they carved out a life in the wilderness, raising three children who became valued interpreters for the Dutch, British, and Iroquois. This is the story of Cornelis and Ots-Toch, and of Ots-Toch’s father Jacques Hertel, interpreter in New France (present day Quebec) to Samuel de Champlain, the Father of Canada. This book also follows the descendants of Cornelis and Ots-Toch to 5 generations.