GenealogyandFamilyHistory.com

By: Carolyn L. Barkley

I have always felt closely connected to the Civil War era. My great-grandmother, whom I remember well, was born in 1869. My living room exhibits my great-great-grandfather’s Union officer’s dress sword and a “crazy quilt” incorporating Union regimental reunion ribbons and other Civil War commemorative ribbons. Just to balance the display and represent my husband’s family’s point of view, a portrait of Robert E. Lee looks out over the quilt and the sword.

As a teenager, the Civil War was my favorite period of history, and now, as an adult and a genealogist, my earlier interest insures that the Civil War time period is my favorite research time period. I look forward to the upcoming sesquicentennial commemoration of this struggle and am sharing here some of the essential sources for researching individuals and episodes in that great conflict. Of necessity, the resources listed here represent a brief and personal selection from among a much longer list of resources. Feel free to add your own personal choices.

Understanding the War in Context

It is essential for us, as genealogists, to understand the war from as broad a prospective as possible in order to understand and analyze the records accurately in the context of the time. No single issue brought about the war, nor did any issue alone sustain the conflict. National and local debate, spanning several decades, incrementally fanned the flames and by 1860, issues of economic and social differences between the north and south, disagreements over states’ rights vs. federal rights, passionate discourse between proponents of slave states and non-slave states, the unrelenting intensity of the abolition movement, and finally Abraham Lincoln’s election itself became inextricably intertwined. Taken as a whole, they led to secession, to the outbreak of hostilities, and to a brutal conflict.

While there are many books about the antebellum years (and, I’m sure, many more being written currently), background reading might include the following titles: The Civil War: the Complete Text of the Bestselling Narrative History of the Civil War by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken and Richard Burns (Vintage, 1994); Historic Papers on the Causes of the Civil War by Eugenia Dunlap Potts (Forgotten Books, 2010); This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War by James M. McPherson (Oxford University Press, 2009); Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era, also by James M. McPherson (Oxford University Press, 2003); and The Women’s War in the South: Recollections and Reflections of the American Civil War edited by Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg (Cumberland House, 1999).

Did He Serve?

Probably, the most obvious question is whether or not the person you are researching served in either the Union or Confederate armies or navies. Indices and lists of names of those who served may be the first resources you will want to use in answering this question. Which ones you use will depend on how much you know about the individual. Basic resources include:

• The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System is maintained by the National Park Service. This database may be searched online and may also be consulted at battlefield park visitor centers. In conducting a search, you can enter as much as you know about the individual, including last name and first name; whether Union or Confederate service; state or country of origin; unit and function (infantry, cavalry, etc.). You can also do a surname search and receive a list of all individuals with that surname who served. A typical result will provide regiment number, rank and microfilm publication number and reel number on which the individual’s compiled military service record may be located.
• Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861-65, by Janet B. Hewett (33 volumes, Broadfoot, 1997), and Roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-65, also by Hewett (16 volumes, Broadfoot, 1995), provide similar information. Searching for Confederate soldiers in these volumes will prove slightly easier as the names are arranged in one alphabetical listing. The title listing Union soldiers is arranged in volumes by state. If you are unsure about your Union ancestor’s state of allegiance, you will need to check multiple volumes in order to compile a list of possible soldiers.
• If you happen to be close to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. or one of its regional branches, you can search the microfilm publications that serve as indices to the compiled service records. The caveat, once again, is that there is no comprehensive index to Union soldiers (Record Group 94) and searches must be done state-by-state. Confederate soldiers (Record Group 109) may be searched via a consolidated index to the compiled records (NARA microfilm publication M253) or, if you already know the state, in any one of the state-specific indices. The best source for determining what is available on microfilm is the National Archives’ Military Service Records: A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications.
• Footnote.com, either through a personal subscription or your local library, provides additional index access to Civil War soldiers, both Union and Confederate.

What Did He Do in the War?

Once you have located the correct individual within a Union or Confederate unit, you will want to ascertain his actions and experiences throughout the war. Compiled military service records seldom provide specific genealogical information, but they should be read carefully to determine if they contain helpful personal information such as residence, age, physical description, place of enlistment, etc. They also afford you an opportunity to create a chronology of the individual’s movements throughout a specific time period. Footnote.com provides a wonderful opportunity to access these records efficiently and to print quality copies (no more ugly microfilm copies from worn and scratched microfilm!). If the individual died during the conflict, you may be able to determine his place of burial and cause of death. In some cases, court documents pertaining to his estate have been included. Once again, a caveat…the majority of Confederate records have been microfilmed and are being made available on Footnote. The majority of Union records were not microfilmed, but if you visit the National Archives, you can view the original carded records. Once again, however, Footnote is adding images of Union records to their site. I would recommend checking there first.

You will want to search for any pension records and analyze them carefully for pertinent genealogical detail and anecdotal information provided in the affidavits of soldiers who served with the individual applying for the pension. Remember that Union pensions are available at the National Archives; Confederate pensions are available at the individual state level. You will also find titles such as Martha and William Reamy’s Index to the Roll of Honor (Genealogical Publishing Co., currently out of print) and the various volumes of the Roll of Honor: Names of Soldiers Who Died in Defense of the American Union, Interred in the National Cemeteries (Genealogical Publishing Co.).

How Can I Create a More Detailed Account of His Service?

Once you have located the compiled military service record and created your service-related chronology, you will want to flesh out that document by using such sources as E. B. Long’s classic The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865 (Da Capo Press, 1987). A new book of the same title by Phillip Katchner is due out in August of this year (which will help with my copy of Long,  which is in tatters).

A variety of other resources can yield important findings. Search any record that might pertain to the individual in question, actions in which he may have been involved, or experiences that may have been similar to those he had. Some useful titles include: August V. Kautz’s The 1865 Customs of Service for Officers of the Army and The1865 Customs of Service for Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers (Stackpole, 2001 and 2002) which are handbooks of the duties for each rank or officer grade. Carlton McCarthy’s Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865 will provide detailed information about the life your ancestor may have lived in Confederate Service.

Detailed listings of available government military collections, both Union and Confederate, can be found in such titles as Preliminary Inventory of the War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109 (Iberian, 1994); The Confederacy: A Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America by Henry Putney Beers (NARA, 1986); The Union: A Guide to Federal Archives Relating to the Civil War by Kenneth W. Munden and Henry Putney Beers (NARA, 1986); and Inventory of the Naval Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library (NARA, 2005).

Although your soldier will usually not be mentioned individually, consult the War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies for further background information and details.

Check collections of photographs, diaries, letters, and maps that may be located in an historical society or archival institution. Printed sources that will prove helpful here include collections of Brady photographs, such as Benson J. Lossing’s A History of the Civil War Illustrated with Reproductions of the Brady War Photographs… (The War Memorial Association, 1912). Other primary level details are provided in Robert Knox Sneden’s eye-witness accounts and illustrations, Eye of the Storm (Free Press, 2000) and Images from the Storm (Free Press, 2001). Research in online collections such as the Civil War maps and the Jedediah Hotchkiss Civil War maps at American Memory, and the Civil War legacy project at Virginia Memory will contribute an added dimension to your work.

Finally, be aware of the projects and activities planned for the upcoming sesquicentennial of the American Civil War. States such as Virginia, Arkansas, South Carolina, and North Carolina, among others, have websites providing such information. Not surprisingly, you can also join a Facebook page about the Civil War Sesquicentennial network.

By: Carolyn L. Barkley

Since its summertime, you might like to take a break from the concentration of your regular research to have some fun (after all, genealogy should be fun) and take the following genealogy quiz that first appeared in Genealogical Pointers in February of 2009. If you are a librarian, you will want to use the quiz as the basis for training your staff or in a presentation to the public.

Do you ever run across terms in genealogical documents that you don’t recognize? Or need a greater knowledge of geography to figure out where your ancestor’s records are housed? Or simply want to know more about your ancestor, such as the origin of his surname, or who his battalion mates were?

Below you’ll find a quiz to test your trivia knowledge, as well as descriptions of several books available at Genealogical.com that are filled with fascinating facts and details that will help in your research, allow you to piece together more details about your ancestor, or simply make interesting reading for all trivia lovers:

Weights, Money and Other Measures Used by Our Ancestors

100 deals of lumber equals:

1. 100 pieces
2. 120 pieces
3. 150 pieces

1 warp equals:

1. 4 fish
2. 50 fish
3. 200 fish

In measuring land areas, 1 pottle is equal to:

1. ¾ acre
2. 416 acres
3. 12 acres

Researchers who come across unfamiliar units of weight and measurement when reading books and documents need to find definitions in order to understand the document or text and apply that understanding appropriately when analyzing the effect of that document on the ancestor’s life. The above title will help you do that.

German-English Genealogical Dictionary

Lehrjunge is:

1. Feudal law
2. An apprentice
3. An inheritance tax

Erbteilung means:

1. Distribution of an estate
2. A hereditary disease
3. Probate court

Genealogy can often open up new avenues of research in foreign countries and languages. Accordingly, genealogists must become familiar with the terms used in that language for church, census and civil registrations, passenger lists and emigration records, journal entries, and correspondence. German ancestor hunters facing this problem will find this dictionary indispensable.

Our Italian Surnames

Most Italian names that start with the prefix In- or Im- are from:

1. Lombardy
2. Piedmont
3. Palermo and vicinity

Which surname is derived from the name of an insect?

1. Culicchia
2. Spinola
3. Pantanelli

Knowledge of names and naming patterns is very important in extending pedigrees. In addition to surnames alone, it is useful to know about pet names, botanical names, geographical names, bird names, insect names, occupational names and more.

Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution, April 1775-December 1783

Massachusetts provided the most troops to the Continental Army. Which state provided the second most?

1. Connecticut
2. Pennsylvania
3. Virginia

If you are interested in tracing an ancestor whose age suggests military service, you will want to determine if he was in the Continental Army, the militia, or state troops. This listing of 14,000 officers includes the soldier’s rank, dates of service, when and where wounded, taken prisoner, exchanged or killed, the name of the state in which service was rendered, and a designation by company and command is invaluable.

A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland

The smallest and most ancient of Irish land divisions is:

1. The barony
2. The townland
3. The poor law union

Which is a Parish of County Antrim?

1. Clomantagh
2. Clonduff
3. Carrickfergus

Irish research can seem difficult at first given the variety of geographic and administrative divisions that exist. A knowledge of geography is crucial to understanding in which administrative division a specific record might be located. In addition to geographical distinctions, you will need not only  a knowledge of counties, baronies, civil parishes, diocese, poor law unions, and probates, but also an awareness of the records available in the major religions denominations: Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, and Presbyterian.

The Indian Tribes of North America

At the end of King Philip’s War, the only important tribe remaining in southern New England was:

1. The Mohegan
2. The Pequot
3. The Wampanoag

True or false:

The Cherokee language is the most aberrant form of speech of the Iroquoian linguistic family.

Not all Native American genealogical research involves the Cherokee Nation. A useful addition to any library is this definitive guide to all nations, confederations, tribes, subtribes, clans and bands. This title is formatted as a dictionary or gazetteer. Each state’s listing includes all known tribal groupings within the state and the villages in which they were located.

I hope you’ll enjoy this genealogy trivia quiz. After all, if genealogy isn’t fun, we shouldn’t be doing it!

By Carolyn L. Barkley

Part Two: Records Relating to Impressed American Seamen

Last week’s article discussed seamen’s protection certificates, first authorized by a Congressional act (1 Stat.477) in 1796. These documents were intended to protect an individual from being “pressed” into service, principally into the British Navy, but occasionally by French or Spanish vessels, by documenting his American citizenship. Some mariners either did not obtain a protection certificate or the certificate did not achieve its intended goal, and as a result were pressed into service against their will. Three years later, in 1799, the problem continued to plague shipping and Congress passed an additional law (1 Stat. 731) to track and repatriate impressed seamen.

Taken together, these statutes authorized inquiry “into the situation of such American citizens or others sailing, conformably to the law of nations, under the protection of the American flag, [who are] impressed or obtained by any foreign power, to endeavor, by all legal means, to obtain the release of such American citizens or others…” If such action occurred in a foreign port, masters of sailing vessels were expected to protest the action to the American consul. If the action occurred at sea, the master was to report the episode to the Collector of Customs at the first American port in which the vessel arrived. The captain was also required to transmit a copy of his protest directly to the Secretary of State, containing information about the manner of impressments or detention and by whom the action was taken, as well as the name and residence of the individual who had been impressed or detained. The report would also indicate whether or not the individual was an American citizen, and if not, to what country he belonged. The customs collector was required to submit a periodic report, also to the Secretary of State, who in turn was required to submit an annual report to Congress including abstracts of the reports received concerning impressments. Statistical summaries reveal the extent of the impressment problem:

For the period 11 March 1803 through 31 August 1804, 1,538 applications for release were made to the British government in cases of impressed Americans. Of those, 306 were duplicates, 373 were refused discharge as the individuals had no documentation, 437 were ordered discharged, 105 were not found on board the specified ships, 120 refused to be discharged as they had taken bounty or entered British service, 17 had married in England, 13 had deserted, and 2 had drowned or died. Six appeared not to have been impressed, 6 were lost when their ships sank, 88 had protections from consuls or vice consuls, 49 refused discharge as they were said to be British subjects, and 2 were prisoners of war.

Here are a few examples taken from NARA microfilm publication M1839, “Miscellaneous Lists and Papers Regarding Impressed Seamen, 1796-1814”? (Record Group 59):

• 23 January 1797 [date of protest]; Ship Independence out of New London, Connecticut; Master Ichabod Goodrich. Impressed, 22 January 1797: James and Alexander Anderson, William Gray, Ezekiel Holding and Simon Hubal, all of Connecticut, by the British Ship of War Ceres. In the column titled “whether they had protection,” was written “it does not appear.”

• 10 February 1797 [date of protest]; Sloop Polly & Betsy out of Providence, Rhode Island; Master Benjamin E. Gorton. Detained Simon Humphrey, John Armington, William Holdridge, Matthew Allen, all of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, impressed by French privateer, name unknown, taken and carried to Basseterre [St. Kitts] 1 November 1796, put in prison and detained until 8^th; all had protections.

• Joseph Bailey, protection [certificate] from Joseph Huler, Collector of Salem No. 2233, on board the British ship La Franchise, 2 April 1804.

• Affidavit of Robert Stanley, master of the Schooner Adelaide of Baltimore, dated Baltimore, 1 June 1796 “in a voyage from [  ] the said schooner was captured by the British ship of war Argonaut, Capt. Ball, and sent to Jamaica.”? On making the capture all the men were taken out of the schooner, but were restored at Jamaica. Whilst she continued at Jamaica, Samuel Brown and Joseph Richards, both natives, and William Jones, a citizen of the United States, were impressed by the British Ship of War Jamaica, Capt. Bingham, but they were afterwards restored.

These abstracts are useful for genealogical purposes, providing place of origin, frequently indicating a wife and/or number of children and where they resided, as well as whether the individual had a protection certificate.

• John Gynett [Gunell?] has a certificate of his marriage 15 June 1804 by Reverend John C. Punze [?] Protestant minister at New York.

• William McDonald pressed from ship Charles Cutter of Norfolk, protection 8 October 1804, White Plains, New York, born in 1777.

• William Cox, “a native of Amsterdam, came to America when a child with his Parents has been twice married in Philadelphia and has three children living. He was Impressed at Jeremie by his Majesty’s ship Scorpion, but has since been turned over to the Dictator where he is now detained.”

• William Clark, a “native of New York and a citizen of the United States has been impressed and is now supposed to be detained on board the Leviathan. Said William is the son of Richard Clark of New York, by trade a beggar.”

These abstracts can also be rich in anecdotal information. Here’s one of my favorite entries:

• Edward Lennord, a “Citizen of the United States and a native of New [York?], was impressed from on board an American Sloop the Salley, Joseph Taylor Mastor [sic] by one of His Majesty’s Ships of War, her name unknown and the officer commanding the impress boat refused to give the information. Said Taylor had a protection, but on producing it to the officer, he [the officer] tore it in pieces and then threw then over board in the presence of the Master of the Sally.”

If your ancestor was a seaman named George Warren from Dorset, you would be delighted to find the following deposition:

“George Warren, now on board H.M.S. Royal William at Spithead, having been impressed at Poole by the Press Gang there on his oath saith That he was born in Wimborn in Dorsetshire, and is now about 24 years of age. That he was employed by different farmers in the neighbourhood of Wimborn until he was about 10 or 11 years of age; that he was the apprentice to a gentleman at the Island of Jersey as a servant until he should attain the age of 21 years; but left the employ in about a year and a half after he was apprenticed and shipped himself on board an American merchant ship called the Mentor commanded by Richard Patrick, then at Jersey, and sailed in her to Marblehead in the state of Massachusetts in North America, and on her arrival there bound himself as an apprentice to the said Richard Patrick for the term of five years to serve at Sea, being then about 13 years of age, that he served out his apprenticeship in the Mentor and made a variety of voyages to France, Spain and the West Indies; That after his apprenticeship expired, being then about 18 years of age, he sailed from Marblehead in the Schooners Mary, Friendship, and the Three Sons in similar voyages until the Embargo in North America was laid on, and then staid [sic] on shore at Marblehead for about 14 months; that he married a native of Marblehead; that after the Embargo was taken off on March 16 (but the year he does not recollect) he sailed in the American Merchant Ship Eliza, from Salem to Gibralter [sic] and returned to Salem; That he then proceeded to New York and shipped on board the American Merchant Brig Ann, and sailed in her to Greenock in Scotland and returned to New York and then made a voyage in the American Merchant Ship Ores to Liverpool and back to New York and about the month of February 1811 he entered at the Rendezvous at New York for the American Frigate Constitution and received 20 dollars bounty and joined her in New London in the State of Connecticut in North America in the month of March last; that she sailed from thence shortly afterwards and proceeded to Boston, and thence to Annapolis, and left America about the 5^th of August last; and arrived at Cherburg in France, and sailed from thence after staying about four days, to the Downs and from thence to the Texel and returned to Cherburg and after staying a week or fortnight, then came to Spitalhead at the Port of Portsmouth. That about 8 or 9 weeks since which he believes was about the 16^th or 17^th of November last, he deserted from the boat of Constitution at Portsmouth point, together with another Seaman of the name of William Smith, who is now on board the Royal William and is an Amen Englishman as he was informed by him, that he immediately went to Wimborn to his mother and afterward shipped at Pool in a Brig belonging to M. Garland of that place called Hope, and was impressed from her. That he does not know that any of the crew of the Constitution were British subjects except the said William Smith, never having heard any of them say that they were so. That he had a protection as a Citizen of the United States of North America, which he delivered to M. Wadsworth, the third lieutenant of the Constitution. Sworn at Portsmouth, 22 January 1811.

Further reading reveals that William Smith was really John Taylor, born in Colnbrook near Windsor in the year 1789, the son of George Taylor.

Similar records can also be found in NARA microfilm publications M2025, “Registers of Applications for the Release of Impressed Seamen, 1793-1802 and Related Indexes,” Roll 6 of M588, “War of 1812 Papers” of the Department of State, 1789-1815.” Textual records involving impressed seamen are housed at the National Archives at College Park in Record Group 59.

Records pertaining to seamen’s protection certificates and to impressed seamen may fall outside of the usual research scope of many genealogists. Diligence in searching out such records, however, can provide valuable information in the form of clues, such as Willliam Clark’s three marriages in Philadelphia or William McDonald’s birth date in 1777, and may provide historical context for a life at sea as in the story provided to authorities by George Warren. If you have a sea-going ancestor in this time period, these records are an essential resource for your family research.

By Carolyn L. Barkley

Part 1: Seamen’s Protection Certificates

Between the end of May and the beginning of July, Americans observe two holidays, Memorial Day and Independence Day, that celebrate generations of statesmen, soldiers, sailors, militia men, merchant seamen, and others who helped form and preserve this nation. When we celebrate Independence Day, we are not only commemorating the birth of our nation, as represented by the Declaration of Independence, but we are also celebrating the outcomes of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Both of these events represent periods in our history when the future of the new nation was in real danger.

Even after the close of the Revolutionary War, Great Britain did not let its former subjects in the colonies go easily. None, perhaps, were more in danger than those who followed the sea, venturing into the oceans where Britannia clearly ruled the waves. With its active European military campaigns, blockades of foreign ports, and a need to control its wide-spread empire, Britain was in constant need of manpower for the Royal Navy. One frequently employed method of acquiring sailors was the press gang whose members habituated pubs and brothels in Britain, rounding up deserters and innocent citizens alike. Not content with preying solely on British subjects, these gangs began to “press” seamen from neutral commercial vessels, including American ships. In addition, ships of the Royal Navy began to stop these neutral ships while at sea in order to inspect crew lists and remove individuals whom they considered to be British subjects.

American ship captains appealed such seizures to their government. As a result on 28 May 1796, an Act for the Relief and Protection of American Seamen (1 Stat. 477) was passed by Congress, establishing procedures for the issuance of certificates of citizenship. The Collector of Customs at an individual port of entry would issue these certificates to merchant seamen and masters of merchant vessels engaged in foreign trade. The intent was to document a seaman’s American citizenship and thus prevent his detention or impressment into the Royal Navy. An application for the “protection” certificate cost $.25 and was entirely voluntary. The certificate itself was issued only after the individual provided proof of citizenship. The Collector did not retain a copy of the application itself, but did keep copies of the proofs provided and did record the issuance of the certificate. He also provided regular reports to the Department of State listing all of the seamen he had registered under the act during the previous quarter. As time passed, the need for protection certificates was reduced significantly and few if any were issued between 1875 and the beginning of the First World War when, in 1917, seamen once again felt a need to prove their citizenship. National Archives Record Group 36, Records of the United States Customs Service, includes seamen’s protection certificate files from 1796 to 1869. (Records for those issued between 1917 and 1940 can be found in Record Group 41, Records of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation.)

National Archives Microfilm Publications M1826 (Port of New Orleans), M1825 (Ports of Bath Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire), and M1880 (Port of Philadelphia) include “Proofs of Citizenship Used to Apply for Seamen’s Protection Certificates.” Inclusive years vary for the various ports. The majority of these declarations, arranged chronologically by year and then by the number assigned by the Collector, were most frequently recorded on printed forms. These forms disclose the number assigned by the Customs Collector, the name of the witness, the name of the seaman, his age, place of birth, residence at the time of the declaration, port and date of declaration, height, hair color, eye color, and complexion (ruddy, white, brown).

For a genealogist, these declarations can provide a treasure trove of information often unavailable elsewhere. Here are a few examples:

• On 30 September 1817, Manuel Gonzales appeared before Philip Pedesceaux, N.P., to attest that he had been an inhabitant of the Province of New Orleans since 1810. He indicated further that he was a native of Briana[o], Portugal and was 36 years old with dark hair, dark eyes, and a dark complexion. He stood 5’4” tall and signed the document with his mark. Joseph Fereyra and Joaquim Lozano witnessed his application. (M1826, reel
• On 6 January 1818, John Allan [Allan], seaman, appeared before Carlisle Pollock, Esquire, N.P. to attest that he was a native of Philadelphia and a citizen of the United States. He was 24 years of age, stood 5’3”, and had black eyes, black hair, and black complexion. He signed his application with his mark and the document was witnessed by Nicholas Marchand. (M1826, reel
• On 7 January 1818, William C. C. Claiborne, Governor of the Territory of New Orleans, certified that the oath of allegiance had been “duly administered to Etienne Augustine, a free man of color on 4 January 1811.” Augustine then attested before Narcissas Broutine, N.P., that he was a native of the city of St. Nicholas (St. Domingue), but had been a citizen of “this place” previous to       30 April 1803 (the date of the cessation of the Louisiana Purchase to the United States) and was still a resident in 1811. He was 5’10”, had black hair, blue eyes and a “honey” complexion and signed his own name to the document. Witnesses, described as “two additional freemen of color,” were Lewis Daunoy and Lewis Simon. (M1826, reel 5)
• On 16 January 1848, James Turner, described as “small in comparison,” applied for a certificate in Bath, Maine. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and described as aged 25, standing 5’ 3¼”, and was an African with “wooley” hair and black eyes. (M1825, reel 2).

National Archives Microfilm Publication M2003 provides access to the “Quarterly Abstracts of Seaman’s Protection Certificates for New York City (1815-1859),” although some quarters do not have extant abstracts. These records include the certificate number and its date, the seaman’s age, height (or description of stature), complexion (often noted as only light or dark), nativity, state, and remarks such as “naturalized.” In later years, hair color was added as a descriptor. A review of one page of abstracts finds seamen with a variety of places of birth including Massachusetts, Maine, South Carolina, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. An interesting example was found in the third quarter of 1862: Abbot Kinsman’s certificate, issued on 9 August 1862, listed his age as 17, his height as 5’8”. He had dark hair and a dark complexion. He was born in China of American parents. If your ancestor was Abbot Kinsman and you had been searching in vain for his place of birth, this record would be invaluable to advancing your research.

It will be important for you to check as many extant records as possible regardless of the indicated port. I found that in smaller ports such as Bath, Maine, the applications tended to be from seamen from the immediate region (and perhaps neighboring states). In large ports such as New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia, seamen’s places of origin spanned a large American and European geographical landscape. In particular, these records represent an important source of documentation for African Americans.

While I chose to do my research for this article by using microfilmed records at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., you can also access seaman’s protection certificate information online. If you are in the Archives building, you can search for them on the Archival Research Catalog (ARC).

If you are working from home or your local library, consider the important site is provided by Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. This site provides access to a “Seamen’s Protection Certificate Register Database” including approximately 31, 047 certificates issued by the Customs Collectors in Fall River, Gloucester, New Haven, and New Salem. These ports were not included in the microfilm collection at the National Archives, but the originals are held by NARA’s Northeast Region in Waltham, Massachusetts. By searching this database I was able to locate certificate information for my 4^th great-grandfather, Oliver Lanfair [Lanfare] of Branford, Connecticut, who at age 22 was issued certificate #1452 on 2 March 1804 in the port of New Haven. Ten years later, his older brother, Horace, was issued certificate #1 on 23 March 1814. Even more satisfying, was my discovery of Oliver’s grandson (and my 3^rd great-granduncle), Aaron S. Lanfair’s certificate #46 issued in Newhaven on 13 March 1840, when he was 15 years old. While I had known through my research that the Lanfairs were spice merchants sailing out of Branford and New Haven, I had not looked for their protection certificates previously. Needless to say, I plan to correspond with the NARA Northeast Region to request copies of these three documents.

Information pertaining to certificates are also available on ancestry.com which provides two online databases: “Indexes to Seamen’s Protection Certificate Applications and Proofs of Citizenship,” from original data published in Ruth Priest Dixon’s Indexes to Seamen’s Protection Certificate Applications and Proofs of Citizenship (Genealogical Publishing Co., 1998), and “Register of Seamen’s Protection Certificates from the Providence, Rhode Island Customs District, 1796-1870,” from original data published in the Rhode Island Historical Society’s book by the same title, published by Genealogical Publishing Company in 1995. Dixon’s title includes the ports of New Orleans; New Haven; Bath, Maine; Mobile, Alabama; Middletown, Connecticut; Alexandria, District of Columbia [Virginia]; Newport, Rhode Island; Rockland, Maine; Salem, Massachusetts; New Bedford, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and New London, Connecticut.

You may also want to consult some of the print sources that are available:

Although Ruth Priest Dixon’s Index to Seamen’s Protection Certificate Applications and Proofs of Citizenship, Ports of New Orleans, LA; New Haven, CT; and Bath ME… as well as her Index to Seamen are both out of print, you can search the Genealogical Publishing Company’s website for either title, and by selecting “Notify Me,” you will receive an e-mail when they return to print later this year. A third Dixon title, Index to Seamen with Supplement 1796-1861 is currently available (Clearfield, 2001). In addition, Ms. Dixon’s research materials are open for research at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Other resources include a dissertation, in manuscript form at the Rhode Island Historical Society, by Jeremiah Olney and others entitled United States Customs House (Providence, R.I.) Records, and Maureen Taylor’s Register of Seamen’s Protection Certificates from the Providence, Rhode Island Custom District, 1796-1870…” (Clearfield, 2008).

Next week’s blog article will continue this topic with a review of the records pertaining to impressed seamen.

By Carolyn L. Barkley

I began writing articles for this blog in January 2008 and it’s hard to imagine that almost 130 articles have been posted between then and now. In that inaugural article I discussed the small world of the 1600s and mentioned how Stephen Hopkins, a passenger on the ill-fated Sea Venture, en route to Virginia with much needed supplies, was shipwrecked off Bermuda in 1609. Hopkins, although he finally arrived in Jamestown in 1610, returned to England two years later, and was a passenger on the Mayflower, landing at Plymouth in 1620.

I did not think about this Virginia/Bermuda connection until May of this year when my husband and I took our first cruise, choosing Bermuda as our destination. On the last day of our stay in Hamilton, I (of course) sought out the local bookstore and, while I found very few genealogical titles, I did buy Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith’s The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown: the Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America (Henry Holt, 2008). The title reminded me of my first blog article and prompted me to want to learn more about this island connection.

James VI of Scotland and I of England issued three sets of letters patent (1606, 1609, and 1612) for exploration and settlement of the eastern cost of North America in order to prevent or reduce Spanish, Dutch,  and French colonization efforts. The first charter (10 April 1606) specifically mentioned the names of Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers and resulted in the establishment of Jamestown. The second charter (23 May 23 1609) added merchants to the earlier group of investors. These merchants were interested in keeping Atlantic shipping lanes free from a Spanish/Portuguese monopoly.

It was under this second patent that Sir George Somers was named Admiral of the Virginia Company’s nine-vessel third supply relief fleet (the Diamond, the Blessing, the Falcon, the Unitie, the Lion, the Swallow, the Catch, and the Sea Venture) that sailed from London, with a stop at Plymouth for supplies and additional settlers for Jamestown. Somers’ ship was the newly-built Sea Venture. The ships had reached the Azores by late July 1609 when on the 25^th, a strong hurricane struck, lasting for several days. The ships of the fleet were separated, and the Sea Venture was blown hundreds of miles off course. Miraculously, it wrecked on the reefs of modern-day Bermuda’s Discovery Bay and those aboard gained the shore with no loss of life. Among these individuals was not only Sir George Somers, but also Governor-Elect of the Virginia Colony, Sir Thomas Gates, Christopher Newport, and John Rolfe. They named the island “Virgineola,” in honor of the former Queen, Elizabeth I. Later, the King, perhaps not too well-disposed toward the Queen responsible for his mother’s execution, sought a more fitting name. In honor of the bravery and leadership of Sir George Somers, the islands became known as Somers Isles. Word of their safe landing would not be known immediately, although seven of the original nine vessels would reach Virginia in August of 1609. The story  of the perilous voyage of the Sea Venture would later provide Shakespeare with the basis for his play, The Tempest.

Stranded on the Somers Isles, the passengers, over the next ten months, set about insuring their ability to reach Jamestown. William Strachey’s diary recorded the details of their lives while they built the thirty-ton Patience and the eighty-ton Deliverance, using pieces salvaged from the Sea Venture as well as local cedar. They also built St. Peter’s Church in St. George’s Parish. Finally in May 1610, 142 survivors sailed from Bermuda headed for Jamestown, with several individuals volunteering to stay behind. Their arrival there, after a ten day voyage, was fortuitous for the Jamestown settlers whose numbers had been reduced to a mere sixty (down from 490) individuals due in large part to sickness and famine. The settlers had decided to abandon the colony, but the supplies that arrived on Somers’ ships meant that the settlement could continue to survive, at least temporarily. Some of the food brought from Bermuda was new to Virginia and included hogs as well as the first onion fig, and olive plants. In any case, the Jamestown colony was saved by the arrival of the Patience and the Deliverance.

Jamestown’s viability was not assured and in June, just one month later, with food again running short, settlers once again decided to abandon Jamestown. As they were leaving, however, they met ships, under the command of Lord de la Ware, bringing supplies enough for at least another month. Somers volunteered to return to Bermuda to collect additional food and fish. He arrived safely, but died on           9 November 1610. He left instructions for his nephew to remove his heart and bury it in Bermuda and to then return his body to Virginia. Instead, after burying his uncle’s heart as requested, he returned the body to Somers’s birthplace of Lyme Regis, Dorset, where he was buried in 1611.

King James’ third charter (25 March 1612) extended the boundaries of Virginia to include “the bermoodies.” The islands that make up Bermuda today, while retaining the Somers Isles as their alternate name, would later be named after the Spanish captain, Juan de Bermudez, who first sighted them in 1503.

Although Bermuda became a British colony in 1684, it would continue to play an important role in United States history. During the American Revolution, the islands, dependent on food from the American colonies, fell under the Continental Congress’s embargo on trade with Britain and its loyal colonies. To insure that they were able to continue receiving their food shipments, a group of Bermuda citizens stole gunpowder and sold it to the Americans and, as a result, the embargo was lifted. During the Civil War, Bermudians ferried supplies and munitions to the Confederates, often providing “safe harbors” for blockade runners. In early 1940, the United States leased a large portion of the island in order to construct military installations. This relationship would continue until the mid-1990s, when both America and the British closed their bases on the islands.

In addition to The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown, mentioned earlier, Julia E. Mercer’s Bermuda Settlers of the 17^th Century: Genealogical Notes from Bermuda (1982, Clearfield, 2008) helps illustrate the island’s connection to America. These notes were originally published in Tyler’s Quarterly between 1942 and 1947, and represent the earliest known records of Bermuda settlers. As such they are a useful supplement to Hotten’s Original Lists of Persons of Quality (1874, Clearfield, 2007) and Martha W. McCartney’s more recent Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary.

A variety of other sources will assist you in researching Bermuda genealogy:

Bermuda Index, 1784-1914, an Index of Births, Marriages and Deaths as Recorded in Bermuda Newspapers by C. F. E. Hollis Hallett (Juniperhill Press, 1989).

Bermuda Past and Present: A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Somers Islands by Walter Brownell Hayward, (Dodd, Mead, 1912).

Civil Records of Bermuda under the Somers Island Company 1612-1684 by A. C. Hollis Hallett (Juniperhill Press, 2004-5).

Early Bermuda Records, 1619-1826: A Guide to the Parish and Clergy Registers… by A. C. Hollis Hallett (Juniperhill Press, 1991).

Early Bermuda Wills, 1629-1835 by C. F. E. Hollis Hallett (1993, out of print).

Nineteenth Century Church Registers of Bermuda by A. C. Hollis Hallett (Juniperhill Press, 2005).

Nineteenth Century Bermuda Wills, 1835-1913 by C. F. E. Hollis Hallett (Juniperhill Press, 1993).

Sea Venture: Shipwreck, Survival, and the Salvation of the First English Colony in the New World by Kieran Doherty (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008).

Online sources:

• Bermuda National Library

• Bermuda Genealogy and History

In addition to the Bermuda connection, you may also want to research connections to the Bahamas and Barbados in the following:

• Early Settlers of the Bahamas and Colonists of North America by A. Talbot Bethell (3^rd rev. ed., 1937, Clearfield, 2007).

• English Settlers in Barbados [on CD] (Genealogical Publishing Co. 1999).

• Tracing Ancestors in Barbados: A Practical Guide by Geraldine Lane (Genealogical Publishing Co., 2007).

By: Carolyn L. Barkley

Heightened interest in African-American genealogical research, combined with the upcoming 150^th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War, highlights the importance of the records of the United States Colored Troops (USCT).

Federal laws, dating from 1792, barred blacks from bearing arms for the United States Army. Just a few years earlier, many blacks had served during the American Revolution. One of the first individuals to die in that conflict, was Crispus Attucks, during the Boston Massacre in 1770. Attucks, a fugitive slave, had escaped from his master many years earlier and had served as a merchant seaman for twenty years. Despite federal law, Andrew Jackson authorized black regiments and acknowledged their services during the War of 1812. Because of this history of service, when Fort Sumter was shelled in 1861, freedmen rushed to enlist in the United States military. They were turned away. In Boston, disappointed would-be volunteers met and passed a resolution requesting the government to modify its laws to permit their enlistment. With national opinion focused on preserving the union, they were told that the conflict was “a white man’s war.”

With secession, the issue of Colored service became far more complicated than it had been during the years of the Revolution and the War of 1812. Lincoln, while he opposed the idea of black service, was concerned that their recruitment would prompt the border states of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky to secede and join the Confederacy. Despite the War Department’s official policy, there were isolated cases of black enlistment. Union Generals John C. Fremont in Missouri, and David Hunter in South Carolina, issued proclamations that emancipated slaves in their military regions and permitted their enlistment. Needless to say, their superiors in the War Department were upset and revoked the orders. By late 1862, an exception was allowed when men were needed in remote outposts under Union control, but the almost total ban on black enlistment and service would continue until well into the third year of the war.

Four circumstances prompted a change in policy, however.

• The high casualty rates experienced in the military engagements of 1861 and 1862 dramatized the need to recruit more men.
• An increasing number of slaves, representing a significant labor force for the Union military, were fleeing southern plantations.
• Congress passed a confiscation act in July 1862 that “freed slaves of owners in rebellion against the United States,” and a militia act that “empowered the President to use freed slaves in any capacity in the army.”
• The Emancipation Proclamation, issued in September 1862, declared the freedom of all slaves in any Confederate state that did not return to the Union by 1 January 1863.

On 1 March 1863, the Adjutant General’s Office (Special Order #97), established a board to examine and report on a system of tactics for colored troops and the Adjutant General was sent to the Mississippi Valley to organize recruitment. Two months later, on 22 May, the Bureau of Colored Troops was established in the Adjutant General’s Office (Order #143) “for the record of all matters relating to the organization of colored troops.” Prior to the Bureau’s establishment, colored regiments had already been raised in Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, the Department of the Gulf (Corps d’Afrique), and the Valley of Mississippi (under the AGO). The Bureau, therefore, turned its attention to recruitment in the middle and eastern states.

The Bureau’s actions were applauded by abolitionists, one of the most persistent of whom was Frederick Douglas. He appealed to “Men of Color, to Arms” and argued that “liberty won only by white men would lose half of its luster…” “Let a black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder, and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship.”  By the end of the war, 120 infantry regiments, twelve heavy artillery regiments, ten heavy artillery batteries, and seven cavalry regiments comprised of African Americans had been mustered into service. The number of troops commissioned or enlisted totaled approximately 186,097, with losses of 68,178 from all causes (approximately 37%). Of these, only about 38,000 were raised from northern free states; 42,000 came from the Union border states of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky. The majority came from the slave states of the Confederacy. These numbers do not include the approximately 100,000-200,000 civilians who served as scouts, cooks, corpsmen and nurses, steamboat pilots, guards, teamsters, etc. The states with the highest recruitment rates were Louisiana (24,502), Kentucky (23,703), Tennessee (20,133) and Mississippi (17,869). Black soldiers participated in 449 engagements, thirty-nine of which were major battles. Twenty-five black soldiers and sailors received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Their lives as black soldiers were not easy ones. While they shared the day-to-day hardships of their white counterparts, they were paid less until an Act of Congress in June 1864 and often had inferior uniforms and equipment, or were denied them entirely. They were discriminated against with regard to promotion, and were barred from service as commissioned officers except as doctors or chaplains until the very end of the war. Even more significantly, they faced either enslavement or summary execution if captured. The Confederate government was adamant in refusing to grant them POW status and the issue became so divisive that it derailed the entire prisoner exchange program.

A primary source for USCT research is Record Group 94, the Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served During the Civil War. Although National Archives Microfilm Publication M589 provides an index to the consolidated military service records for the USCT, the actual records themselves are textual (i.e., not microfilmed). You might want, therefore, to start your research from your home or local library using Footnote’s collection of Union Soldier Service Records which provides digitized images of these textual records. From a genealogical perspective, these records may include descriptive information about age, residence/occupation at the time of enlistment, and physical descriptions, etc. (Remember: these units almost always had white officers. If you are unable find a white civil war officer, he may have served with the USCT and you will need to search for him in those records.) These descriptive elements are very important as only free blacks (as opposed to slaves) were identified individually in the federal census until the enumeration of 1870). Descriptive information example:  Julius Caesar, age 19, 5’6 ¼ ”, black complexion, black eyes, black hair, born in Alexandria, Va., baker, enlisted 25 June 1863 at Masons Island, Va. for three years in Co. G, 1^st Regiment, United States Colored Infantry.

But what about using the National Park Service’s “Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS),” you might ask. While this source may be helpful in searching for a soldier’s unit, my search provided twelve Julius Caesar entries from which to choose the appropriate individual. Because CWSS does not provide enough detail to assist in such a choice, I instead used its list of possible Julius Caesars  in consulting Footnote and was able to locate the correct individual. You will also want to read carefully any personal papers that might be found in records of hospitalization or death while in service. These papers may include information about residence, family or business, heirs, or perhaps deeds of manumission. You will also want to check Record Group 15 for Indexes to Pensions Including Civil War and Later Service (NARA microfilm publication T288) to determine if your individual or his widow/dependents received a pension, and then search for that pension either on Footnote or in the textual records at the National Archives. My search for a pension for Julius Caesar on Footnote was not successful as the appropriate records have not been digitized.

For its part, the Library of Congress has developed the online African American Odyssey exhibit. One segment of this exhibit concerns the Civil War and includes digital images of such things as the diary of Christian Fleetwood, African American Medal of Honor winner, in which he described his meritorious actions during the battle at Chaffin’s Farm near Richmond, Virginia, in September 1864, and a picture of the 107^th U.S. Colored Infantry Band at Fort Corcoran, Arlington, Virginia in November 1865. Other helpful websites include “Soldiers of Glory: U. S. Colored Troops in the Civil War,” the “Civil War Archive,” the United States Army’s For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots,” and the website of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum. Many other online sites are available for specific regiments, states or organizations, including the 54^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, New Jersey’s description and box list for USCT service files, and the United States Colored Troops Living History Association.

Print sources for research include Kenneth W. Munden and Henry Putney Beers’ The Union: a Guide to Federal Archives Relating to the Civil War (NARA, 1986); Dudley Taylor Cornish’s The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865 (1956, University Press of Kansas, 1987); Edwin S. Redkey’s  A Grand Army of Black Men: Letters from African-American Soldiers in the Union Army, 1861-1865 (Cambridge University Press, 1992); and Ira Berlin’s (et al) Freedom’s Soldiers: The Black Military Experience in the Civil War (Cambridge University Press, 1998).

By: Carolyn L. Barkley

I originally intended to write about why, as researchers and librarians, it is important for us to read genealogical blogs. As I began to consider the article’s contents, however, I realized that I had something more important to talk about that provided a larger context for the original idea. This insight occurred as I read a column by Garrison Keillor, entitled “Missing the Heyday of Books,” that appeared in the May 29, 2000 issue of The News Leader (Staunton, Virginia). In the article, Keillor noted that “… [ours] is a very literate time in which people are reading freely and writing a lot.” That writing, however, may be the short and ungrammatical format adopted by texters and Twitter posters. Reading freely does not necessarily mean that reading is frequent, but rather that the reading is at no cost. In that context, “…you’re not committed to anything the way you are when you shell out $30 for a book…”. Everyone can publish and as Keillor comments further, “The upside of self-publishing is that you can write whatever you wish, utter freedom, and that also is the downside. You can write whatever you wish and everyone in the world can exercise their right to read the first three sentences and delete the rest.”

I started to think about his comments and how they might relate to genealogical research. It is very enticing for many genealogists, particularly beginners, to become a part of the instant-gratification generation. I know individuals who have searched online for a family name, reporting “it was all there.” The impression given in Ancestry.com commercials is that if you just enter a name, you will retrieve a family tree complete with green leaves. Even the very enjoyable “Who Do You Think You Are?” television series makes the process look easy, without sharing with the general public the hundreds of hours of research that occurred before the completion of an episode. Genealogy should be enjoyable, but – and it is a big qualification – quality genealogical research is hard work and there is no place for instant-gratification. For me, the goal of genealogical research is not completion, but a process of continual mastery of skills and discovery of information.

Our first obligation as researchers is to read (whether online or in print) in order to learn about a variety of subject areas including history, geography, law, cartography, record types, and much more. A part of this reading process is an awareness of the quality of what is being read. In the same way that you need to consider whether a website is authoritative, you also need to consider the reliability of a printed work. Questions need to be answered such as: Is the publisher a reputable firm? Is the work documented? When was the work written? What are the qualifications of the author? This reading and learning process never ceases.

Our second obligation is one of quality analysis. An alarming percentage of genealogical information available online (and in print) is drivel. Think of the family trees that you may have found in which, for example, children’s birthdates predate those of their parents, or a wife’s name is given as Mrs. [fill in surname]. What was the individual who posted (or printed) the information thinking? When someone discovers a piece of information, that information requires careful consideration in light of available, reliable documentation as well as other information known about the specific individual, place or event. Anomalies and discrepancies need to be identified, explored further, and resolved. Careful reading and critical thinking skills allow for quality analysis.

Our third obligation is to share the outcomes of our research with others. In order to do so, we must learn to write well and to cite our sources correctly every time. If our writing is well-reasoned, well-presented and well-documented, it will be easily read and understood by others.

How then, do these thoughts relate to my original topic of why read blogs (and more)?

Some genealogical blogs post regular articles on specific topics, such as discussions of methodology and resources. Reading this type of blog helps to fulfill our first obligation – the obligation to read. One of the best examples is Kimberly Powell’s About.com:Genealogy. Information from these types of articles can be used in many ways. I have received comments about several of my blog articles, including an individual who felt that the recent article on coats of arms was the clearest she had read and that the information would be useful in her client work. A guest author, writing about her experiences researching at the National Archives, was contacted by an individual with links to one of her examples, who later became a research client. I received an email from an individual in Ireland who, it would appear, is related to an Irish family that is part of my son’s paternal line in Frederick County, Maryland. An article on continuing education for genealogists was reprinted by a California genealogical society in its newsletter. Librarians have used blog articles as a basis for training programs (for staff and public) and for the purchase of genealogy and family history materials.

Knowledge and diligent application of the genealogy proof standard will fulfill our second obligation – the obligation to analyze. Books such as The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual (BCG, 2000) and Christine Rose’s Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case (CR Publications, 2^nd rev. ed., 2005), and an About.com: Genealogy article on the topic are essential reading. In addition, you will want to read the “Professional Research Skills” section of Professional Genealogy (Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009).

Quality writing skills will make our research readable by others, thus fulfilling our third obligation – the obligation to share our work. Whether you are sharing research with a client or a family member, or publishing an article online or in a print publication, writing well is essential – and unfortunately an increasingly lost art. Hone your skills with practice, by reading the work of authors published in such journals as the NGSQ, The American Genealogist, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register and American Ancestors, among others. You will also want to read Sharon DeBartolo Carmack’s You Can Write Your Family History (Genealogical Publishing Co, 2008) and Henry Hoff’s Genealogical Writing in the 21^st Century: a Guide to Register Style and More (New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006). In order to cite your sources correctly, you should consult the Evidence series from Genealogical Publishing Company (Evidence!; Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace; Quicksheet: Citing Ancestry.com Databases and Images Evidence! Style; and Quicksheet” Citing Online Historical Resources Evidence! Style).

Garrison Keillor provides a caution about reading and writing that we would be wise to heed. As genealogists, we are consummate readers and writers. We can be leaders in reading wisely (but not necessarily freely), analyzing carefully, and expressing ourselves well. Read blogs – but read lots more as well.

By Carolyn L. Barkley

One of the reasons I find family history research so interesting is the occasional discovery of ancestors who are a little out of the ordinary, perhaps an occasional black sheep or even a saint.

Kate E. Duncan was my great-great grandmother (aka my brick wall). In 1880, her brother, George H. Duncan, was a Civil War veteran living in Springfield, Massachusetts. When I began my family research many years ago, I was unaware of his existence, but once identified, I set out to learn more. My mother could add very little information, but did remember that my grandfather had also searched for information, but for some reason (at least unknown to my mother) stopped abruptly. Using census and city directory information, I found that following the war, George changed jobs frequently, seldom holding one for very long. In addition, he and his wife moved frequently, living with her parents from time to time. During a visit to Massachusetts, I visited the Pioneer Valley Historical Society Library in Springfield to check the local newspaper at the time of his death to see if an obituary had been printed. Instead, what I found was a short item in the “Police Blotter” that reported that George H. Duncan had died after falling and hitting his head on the floor, while incarcerated in the city “lockup” in the basement of the City Hall, following an “extended spree” – a polite term for a period of prolonged drunkenness. I had found my black sheep and now understood why my tee-total grandfather might have ceased his research. In the years since finding this police report, I have tried to learn more about George and the circumstances surrounding his death, but have as yet been unsuccessful in locating the Medical Examiner’s records for the time period or any other mention of the actions that contributed to his death.

I was reminded of George and the circumstances of his untimely death in April while working in the Genealogical Publishing Company booth at the National Genealogical Society’s Conference in the States, in Salt Lake City. In the booth beside us, author Ron Arons of California featured the second edition of his book, Wanted! U. S. Criminal Records: Sources & Research Methodology (Criminal Research Press, 2009).

Arons’ book grew out of his own research into a criminal ancestor and serves as a finding aid for prison records, criminal court documents, parole records, pardon records, executions, investigative files, and police files. The content is arranged by state and includes information about repositories holding these records, as well as websites where online records or indices may be located. In addition to the fifty states, a chapter is provided for the District of Columbia, as well as one for federal prison records and other related resources. The information provided for each state differs in quantity, coverage, and inclusive years. Listings for Kentucky, for example, include seven pages of entries from the Kentucky Archives and three pages of listings held by the National Archives (Southeast Region). While many entries are for twentieth-century records, Kentucky possesses nineteenth century records, too. The indexed prisoner description books for the State Penitentiary in Eddyville, Kentucky, begin as early as 1889; civil and criminal case files for the Kentucky Circuit Court in Bell County begin in 1876; and the Governor’s official correspondence files containing petitions for pardons begin as early as 1829. Massachusetts, on the other hand, has only two pages of resources, but among them are textual records from the United States Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts beginning in 1789.

A variety of web sites are included that provide more immediate access to information. For example, the Denver  Public Library provides an online index to inmates held at the State Reformatory in Buena Vista between 1887 and 1939. My search located a M. O. Barclay, inmate # 5027, listed in prison record volume 11; and Bill Barkley, inmate #7651, listed in volume 16. If you find a person of interest in this index, you will definitely want to locate the original record volume cited in the index as inmate records include inmate number, names, alias, crime, county of conviction, court, date of sentence, date received at Colorado State Reformatory, nativity, name of parents and their address, age, weight, height, complexion, color of eyes and hair, size of hat and shoe, education background, occupation, religion, use of intoxicants, narcotics, tobacco and cigarettes, previous criminal record, story of plea, medical and special reports conduct & grading record, date paroled and to where, and photo.

You may learn about a criminal ancestor through family stories, census records taken while the individual was incarcerated, newspaper articles, and other sources.  As criminals often crossed state lines, you may find that you will need to conduct your research in multiple jurisdictions. As Mr. Arons points out, you must also contend with individuals who lied about their names and origins and with jurisdictions that have privacy restrictions. You must be diligent in pursuing your research goal, and perhaps file Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests to obtain documents. Nevertheless, the information you may eventually locate will provide you with a richer understanding of your ancestors and certainly will enliven your family’s history. Wanted! U. S. Criminal Records is a useful resource in aggregating state and federal criminal record resources as well as their locations.

Other web sites that may prove helpful include Black Sheep Ancestors, where you can search in “free genealogical prison and convict records, historical court records, executions, insane asylum records and biographies of famous outlaws, criminals and pirates in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.” One of my favorite sites, however, is the online Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913. This fully searchable (free) database contains accounts of over 197,000 criminal trials of then “non-elite” held at London’s central criminal court. My Barclay search found 326 entries beginning in 1716 and ending in 1912. Among the entries I found the case of David Barkley, tried for theft on 2 May 1753. Barkley, who apparently felt the need to acquire a new wardrobe and some pocket change, was charged with the theft of one cloth coat, value 1 shilling; a cloth waistcoat, value 1 shilling; a pair of buckskin breeches, one Holland waistcoat, seven shirts, three pair of worsted stockings, two pair of cotton stockings, two guineas, and 3s/6d in money belonging to John Connolly, in the dwelling-house of William Crookshanks, on March 15^th of that year. Testimony was provided by John Connolly, servant to Mr. Crookshanks, at the Rose and Crown in Dean Street, at the corner of St. Ann’s Court. He testified that the clothing in question was in his room (up three pair of stairs) and that when he went to the room on 15 March, “found my box broke open, and the things and the money gone.” He had seen them at 4:00 p.m. on that day and missed them at 8:00 p.m. He further stated that the accused was arrested on the 19^th at the Star in Piccadilly, and before him and others admitted that he had taken the clothes and the money. Robert Apley testified that the accused had brought a pair of buckskin breeches to his house to pawn on the 18^th of March. Isaac Joseph, another witness, indicated that on the 16^th of March he bought the coat and waistcoat from the defendant at the Red Lyon in the Haymarket and had then resold them. Crookshanks, the pub/inn owner, testified, indicating that the defendant had stayed in his house four years previously and had admitted that he knew the way upstairs. In his defense, the prisoner stated that he “knew nothing at all of the matter.” The verdict was guilty; the sentence – death.

At the other end of the human spectrum, you may have a more exalted ancestor. If so, you will want to consult Alan J. Koman’s A Who’s Who of Your Ancestral Saints (Genealogical Publishing Co., 2010). This recently published title outlines the lives of 275 early European saints and provides lineages connecting these saints to twenty-four well-known men and women in medieval Europe. Part I provides these lineages. For example, William the Conqueror had seven saints as director ancestors including St. Cunedda Wledig (400-460/70), founder of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, and St. William I “Longsword,” Duke of Normandy (900-942) in addition to having ten saints as either aunts or uncles. These latter saints include St. Non, mother of St. David of Wales (d. 601); and St. Jestin, son of St. Geraint, King of Brittany.

I must admit, that I was not familiar with these saints. Part II provides a short biographical history of each saint who serves as a direct ancestor and Part III provides the same for those saints who were either aunts or uncles. In addition, the author identifies each saint’s descendants. St. Cunedda Wledig, it turns out, was, in about the year 430, the leader of the northern British tribes resisting invasions by the Picts in the area around Hadrian’s Wall. Following that effort, he and his family moved to northern Wales where he held court at Carlisle. He drove out the Irish there and is remembered today as one of the founders of Wales. St. Jestin was the son of St. Geraint, King of Brittany, and all three of his brothers (Cado, Cyngar and Salamon I) were saints as well. He took vows and lived a hermit’s life in Brittany.

Well documented, A Who’s Who of Your Ancestral Saints is an intriguing book, even if you doubt that you had a saintly ancestor. Not only does it cover many early European historical events, but readily illustrates the interconnections among these early historical and religious figures. In looking through the entries, I was surprised to discover how frequently saints “ran in the family.” In addition to St. Jestin and his father and brothers mentioned above, consider St. Hereswitha, the daughter of a prince of Northumbria. St. Hereswitha’s family included several saints: her sister (St. Hilda of Whitby), her uncle (St. Edwin, King of Northumbria), as well as the five children from her first marriage (Erconwald, Ethelburga, Etheldreda, Sexburga, and Withburga) and her daughter Sethrida from her second. Hers was definitely not your normal family!

I hope you will continue to look for ancestral sinners and saints in your family and enjoy the resources mentioned here.

By: Carolyn L. Barkley

If there were a twelve-step program for office supply addicts, I would be both a charter and life-time member. While I am fairly safe around an office supply catalog (I make great lists, but usually never get around to placing the order), I am completely ungoverned in an actual office supply store – or heaven forbid, in the exhibit hall at a genealogical conference.

I spent a recent Monday morning cruising the aisles of my local Staples store looking for interesting items to share with you, as well as an evening cruising some web sites that offer products that will tempt you, even if the office supply compulsion is not one you currently share. I have made no attempt to be inclusive in my sources for supplies, nor in the supplies themselves, and have used representative companies and examples. You may have your favorite sources, either locally or on the web, and I hope you’ll share them and your favorite office supplies with other blog readers, or send them to me via my Facebook page.

• Organization is one of our biggest ongoing projects. It is also one of the areas in which the office supply store provides many creative and effective solutions. A clear arrangement of our documents, photographs and other materials allows us to locate individual items, analyze our ongoing work, and plan our research objectives more successfully.

• File folders are one of the best ways to organize our (non-electronic format) work, whether arrangement is by family, by location, by year, or some other category pertinent to your research. Hanging file folders provide flexibility, whether you use a filing cabinet or a series of banker’s boxes. If you have a lot of material, you will want to look for the “box-style” hanging folders that can accommodate up to 3½ inches of material in one folder. I like to use individual file folders within a hanging file folder for additional flexibility and to allow for subcategories within a topic. Using different colored folders can provide visual orientation. Take the time – and spend the money – to purchase acid-free folders. If your office supply store does not have them (look for Pendaflex™ folders), they can be purchased from University Products. I personally don’t like to use the type of folders called “pockets” that are shaped like envelopes (three sides closed) as I find them awkward to see into and retrieve materials from.

• If you prefer to organize some of your materials in a binder, there are many choices from which to choose. My favorites are D-ring binders as I think they lay flatter when opened. If you plan to carry a binder on research trips, consider its weight and choose one that will be convenient to transport (think airline space restrictions and costs). You may want to choose one of the lighter weight varieties with more flexible and light-weight covers. You can arrange materials within the binder using tabbed dividers. There are many choices: alphabetical dividers; numbered dividers with 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 24, 31 or 32 tabs; dividers with write-on/erasable tabs; dividers with tabs that can be printed on your computer, and more.

• Regardless of your organization, clear labeling is important. Avery™ makes labels that can be attached directly to your folder or sheet protector. In addition, this company makes removable label pads in sizes such as 1×3 and 2×3. These brightly colored labels are perfect for labeling photograph boxes, file drawers and other larger storage items. Also, consider using clear labels as a convenient way to complete a large pedigree chart. These labels blend with the background and can be easily removed when updates or corrections become available. Post-it-Notes™ also provide a simple way of tagging a file with your reminders or new ideas for future research.

• I recommend using top-loading sheet protectors to protect the materials placed in binders – and even in file folders – rather than the side-loading variety. I have no real reason for this preference. I simply have found the top-loading format easier to use. Sheet protectors are available in various weights. I recommend the heavy-weight as they are less prone to tear and provide better protection. Archival quality/acid free sheet protectors are readily available in office supply stores.

• If you want to store family photographs or negatives, you will want to purchase archival quality boxes and sleeves. A wide variety is available on the University Products website.  If you are organizing and storing CDs or DVDs, consider the Avery CD/DVD jewel case insert paper (Avery #8693) and the CD/DVD label system (#8942 for the label, requiring use of the Avery CD applicator). While all of my CDs have often not-so-neat labels handwritten in Sharpie pen, I can picture a much more professional looking result if I started using the labeling options.

Organization, labeling and sound preservation practices will insure the continued safe and accessible storage of your materials.

• Research trips provide a great excuse to buy office supplies!

• “Cite Your Sources! Sticky-Notes,” one of my all-time favorite items, is available from Fun Stuff for Genealogists, Inc. How many times have you found THE document necessary to provide long-sought proof for your research and then have forgotten to document completely where you found it – or you can’t remember which citation in your notes went with which document in the stack of copies? These sticky notes are just the thing for you. Sold in a pack of three pads (fifty sheets per pack), these 3×4 pre-printed sheets provide a place to write title/name, author, publisher/address, date, repository, call number/page number, ISBN, date found, web or email address, and miscellaneous information. Simply stick the completed note on the copy of the document and you will have everything you need to cite your source when you write your report or enter the source in your genealogical software program. These notes have saved my sanity (and the timeliness of my research report) many times. They are so popular, that they quickly sold out at the recent National Genealogical Society conference in Salt Lake City.

• Carry a sheet of pre-printed, self-addressed labels (Avery labels work well with any printer). These labels are helpful if you are ordering photocopies for pick up at the institution where you are doing your research or for copies to be mailed to you. Pre-printed labels save you a great deal of time when you are filling out request slips and prevent someone’s mis-reading your handwriting.

• A piece of yellow translucent film placed on the microfilm-reader screen can often help you read pale images by providing additional contrast. It is possible to buy sheets specifically for this purchase, but I have found that a piece of yellow overhead transparency film does the trick.

• Other items you may wish to consider include a (very) small stapler with extra staples, paperclips, as well as mechanical pencils with extra lead and erasers. The “Genealogists Never Make Mistakes” retractable eraser solves the problems caused when the eraser in your mechanical pencil has been used to the point that it can no longer be removed in order to add lead. You will also want a retractable highlighter (for your copies only, because highlighter on items to be photocopied does not show up well); or perhaps one of Post-it’s combination highlighter and flags, or pen and flags.

Magnifiers are very handy items to use when you research. I love my Magnabrite™ dome magnifiers. I have a big one that lives on my desk and a smaller one for travel. More inexpensive magnifiers can be purchased in your office supply store. In the visit to my local store, I found a 4x dome magnifier, a 2x 8½x 11 sheet magnifier, a 2x bar magnifier (looks like a ruler), and a 2x pop-up light magnifier, all for under $10.00 each.

You may also want to consider the following:

• When you are buying printer paper, make sure it is acid free. It is usually readily available at office supply stores in a variety of weights and brightness factors. If you always use acid-free, you will have eliminated a preservation concern.

• Do you want to provide family histories for your relatives, historical society or library? If you do so frequently enough, it might be worth investing in a manual comb binding machine. Such a machine can be purchased beginning at about $100.00.

• Do you frequently visit an archival institution or library that provides minimal (or no) space at microfilm readers to set your laptop? Instead of balancing it clumsily for several hours, consider purchasing a small lap desk. There are many designed specifically for laptops (full size or mini).

The ideas I’ve shared here only scratch the surface of possibilities – I could go on and on. Office supplies are indeed a joy to genealogists and a trip to your nearest supplier, or an online search, will provide you with many applications for your research. Have fun!

By: Carolyn L. Barkley

Emily Bronte said, “Oh, for the time I shall sleep without identity.” This sentiment is not one popular with genealogists! The need for documented death information is very important to our research. While such information can add chronological context to the lives of our ancestors, more importantly, it can help distinguish between individuals of the same name living in the same location at the same time.

As with much genealogical research, however, information can be difficult to find. Statewide death record registration often did not begin until the late nineteenth century or even the early twentieth century. Earlier death records were maintained at the local level (town, county, etc.) in some jurisdictions, but not in all.

Locating information about the death of individuals requires creative thinking and diligent research. Here are a few strategies you may wish to use. Taken together, they can add significantly to your ancestral search.

Death Certificates

Always look for an official death certificate, whether at the state or local level. You may wish to search online for state-specific record availability or use print sources such as Thomas Kemp’s International Vital Records Handbook (5^th edition, Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009). If you locate a death certificate, it may include information about the funeral home and/or the cemetery in addition to all of the specific vital record information it will contain. In some cases, the funeral home and cemetery information, in addition to the cause of death, will be some of the most reliable information in the record, depending on the relationship of the informant to the deceased.

Obituaries

Search for an obituary in the local newspaper. Submitting the obituary to the press was (and often still is) one of the responsibilities of the funeral home or mortuary. The obituary will contain information of genealogical value (but make sure to document it) and may also include the funeral home and cemetery used. In some time eras, obituaries were less common but death and funeral notices were published. While death notices often provide only minimal information about the deceased, they may provide cemetery or funeral home information.

Funeral Cards and Other Ephemera

Funeral cards, sometimes referred to as mass or remembrance cards, were used to inform family members, friends, and members of the community about the date and time of a funeral. In addition to artwork, they might include name, residence, death date, age, date, time and place of the funeral, and place of interment. This latter information can be particularly important if the place of interment was located at a distance from the site of the funeral. Today, these cards may be found in collections of family papers, placed in the back of family Bibles, at flea markets and auctions, and in historical society collections.

Coffin plates were decorative plates or plaques that were attached to coffins and provided the name of the deceased and the date of death. While coffin plates became affordable to most families by the time of the Industrial Revolution, it became common practice, at least in the northeastern states, to remove the plate before the burial or to place the plate on a table near the casket. These coffin plates were then kept as family mementos.

Information on funeral cards, coffin plates, and other such ephemera is scattered; however, two web sites may help you in your search for them:

Ancestors at Rest is a web site that provides a searchable database of death record-related information including funeral cards and coffin plates, either under surname or location. Please be sure to scroll down the page, as the top of each contains a separate search box for Ancestry.com. Scroll further down to find the responses to your surname or location funeral card search. One of my surname searches turned up a funeral card for Emma Dorothea Schrader. The card listed that she was born in Ripley Co. Indiana, on March 16, 1864, and died in the same county on 7 June, 1920, aged 56 years, 2 months, and 20 days, but no mention of cemetery or date of her funeral was included. A locality search provides a list of all the items available for that state. Searching in Connecticut, I found listings for three coffin plates, one as early as 1719; three family Bibles; and two funeral cards. The coffin plate for Martha Huntington (1719-1774) included the information that she was the consort of Samuel Huntington, the Governor of Connecticut, and that she died on June 3, 1774. You may submit transcripts or photographic images of death records to ancestorsatrest@netscape.net.

Genealogy Today also provides free access to an online collection of funeral cards. I looked at the card for Genevieve E. Dodd, who was born December 29, 1879 and died May 15, 1974. Her funeral was held on Saturday, May 18^th, at 10:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Good Hope Church in Miamisburg, Ohio. The cemetery is listed as Catholic Cemetery, and the funeral home was Gebhart and Schmidt.

While I would not normally classify city directories as ephemera, I have on occasion found vital record information, such as death dates, included in the volume published in the year following an individual’s death.  Moral of story: Think creatively!

Funeral Home / Mortuary Records

Funeral home and mortuary records may prove extremely helpful. First, you may find a record of the funeral arrangements themselves. For example, when Felix Connolly died in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1915, the bill included costs for a casket, hearse, embalming services, carriage, candles, notice in the paper, and copy of the doctor’s certificate. Deaths within families were more frequent in other eras, and families often used the same undertaker. A surname search  through a funeral home’s records may locate information about other family members or may identify children whose births may have been stillborn or were otherwise unknown. A funeral bill sent to Harry McKearnan in New York in 1915, for example, listed only the cost ($5.00) for the burial of “an infant.”

Information about the location of funeral homes is readily available in such standard library reference section publications as The National Directory of Morticians: The Red Book Funeral Home Directory. This publication, currently providing listings to over 23,000 funeral homes in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, has been published since 1936. It now also provides an online Funeral Home Directory. My online search for Springfield, Massachusetts, provided the name, address, and phone number for fourteen funeral homes in Hampden County.

Even if a funeral home is not listed, contact one in the same town or city and inquire if your funeral home of interest still exists. If they are no longer in business, ask who might have acquired their records. You may also be able to locate funeral home records in local and state historical societies, libraries, or archives. Occasionally, such records can be found online. For example, the records of the Kent Funeral Home in Green City, Sullivan County, Missouri, from mid-1915 to 31 December 2000, are available online. The original funeral home records have been augmented by cemetery listings, early birth and marriage records, genealogical research by individual families, published obituaries, and other sources. My standard Barclay/Barkley search located six Barkleys, four buried in Green Castle Cemetery in Green Castle, and two buried in Fairview Cemetery in Green City. Entries included parents’ names, name of wife or husband, birth and death dates, and marital status (widowed, married). From this information I could quickly construct a three generation pedigree chart that linked the Fairview Cemetery Barkleys to the Green Castle Cemetery Barkleys.

Cemetery Records

The cemetery office may be one of your best sources of information. I make it a practice to call ahead to make sure that someone will be available in the office when I want to visit. I have found staff to be extremely helpful, often having copies of information waiting for me when I arrived. One cemetery, knowing that I was bringing my mother along, made two copies so that we wouldn’t have to share! Cemetery office information may include a map of the family plot indicating who might be already buried there (and perhaps not included on the stone), the owner of the plot, and when it was purchased. In addition, for each individual buried in the plot, birth and death dates may be noted as well as cause of death (and funeral home). When I went to Oak Grove Cemetery in Springfield, Massachusetts, to locate my grandfather’s grave site (which I had not visited for many years), the records available included a newspaper clipping of my grandfather’s obituary, as he had been City Clerk in Springfield for many years. Cemeteries may be located through such online sources as FuneralNet, through Google searches, and by contacting local historical societies and libraries.

Information on the deaths of our ancestors can be found in many places. By aggregating the information found on death certificates, obituaries, funeral cards, coffin plates, funeral homes, and cemeteries, and by documenting all non-original source information, we can add a great deal of detail to our understanding of the lives – and deaths – of our ancestors. When conducting this research, remember that many of these sources are records of private businesses having no obligation to share them with us. After all, libraries/record repositories and businesses may have limited staff to assist us in our search. As always, these institutions will appreciate your clear, concise written requests for information accompanied by a willingness to pay for any research time or copying costs.