Same blog, new look!

I'm very excited to re-launch Talking Box Genealogy!  TBG now has a new look and a new home at http://talkingboxgenealogy.com/.  Please update your bookmarks to reflect my new address.  RSS feeds can be updated by using http://talkingboxgenealogy.com/feed/.  No more posts will be added to this blog so please direct all future interactions to http://talkingboxgenealogy.com/.  Thanks for stopping by!

Surprise!

With the time off from work I had around Christmas time I devoted some time to beginning work on D1's genealogy.  I had no idea what I would find or if it would be difficult to find information on his family but I was prepared for some quality time on different genealogy sites in search of information.  I was pleasantly surprised with my first foray onto Ancestry.com to discover there were others out there who had done quite a bit of research into different parts of his family.

Like a good genealogist I began entering the information to prove into my database.  I'm always hesitant to use GEDCOM files I find online.  I'm just a little overly cautious, so I choose to re-enter the information manually.  It's more time consuming but it also allows me to get to know each and every person I enter so I can usually remember one or two things about each person I add, plus I can verify the information I add.  In my opinion, those reasons alone balance out the time and effort it takes to enter the information manually.

I spent hours each day on my time off looking at different family trees on Ancestry, checking source documents and adding names to the family file.  D1 thought the amount of time I spent doing genealogy over Christmas break was pretty humorous and he began to joke about it with his family.  It's all good though, because I got the last laugh.  I made it back to his 10th great grandfather and began entering the information and was surprised to get the following error message from Family Tree Maker:

Whaaaaa?????  What was this??  This was an error message I'd never received before!  No, there was no way we shared an ancestor.  I was sure I'd made a mistake in my entry of individuals.  So I checked the list of children for each Caleb and Hannah Knapp...and they matched.  To the name, date and place of each event listed for each child.  So I checked the source documentation to make sure these were the correct connections.  And they were.  Unbelievably, my husband and I share a common relative from the mid-1600s!  My 8th great grandfather was his 10th great grandfather.  I couldn't help it, I started to laugh.  Poor D1 didn't really find as much humor in it as I did.  He just didn't get why it was so funny, but it was hilarious for me.  The maternal unit thought it was pretty funny and dear brother thought it was pretty funny, so maybe it's a genealogy humor thing.

I haven't done any research into the Knapp side of my family but after I told the maternal unit about my discovery and the possibilities of additional Daughters of the American Revolution patriots, she mentioned she had heard they were a pretty large and prominent family in early American history.  I'm having a very hard time focusing on just one genealogy project right now, LOL.  I want so badly to start working on supplemental patriots for DAR, even though I haven't even received notification of acceptance of my initial DAR paperwork.  On the other hand I really want to see what else I can find on D1's family.  His 2nd great grandfather died in France during World War I and is buried in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.  I definitely want to look into him a little more and see what I can find out from the National World War I Museum's research center.  Then there's the rumored Native American connection in D1's family, the woman who lived in the dugout that my mother-in-law remembers, and the part of the family my mother-in-law would like to know more about.  I feel so ADD right now, LOL.

So many projects, so little time for genealogy...what surprises have you found in your family?

Genealogy Basics: Divorce Records

The last three weeks we've talked about birth, marriage and death records.  These three types of vital records are the records most genealogists think about when you say the words "vital records".  But there's a fourth type of vital record that isn't immediately thought of: divorce records.  Obviously divorce records aren't going to exist for every person and prior to the 1900s they'll be virtually non-existent since divorce was rare.  In some places it was even illegal.

So what kind of information can you find in divorce records?

• Husband's name
• Wife's name
• Marriage date
• Divorce date
• Current residence of husband
• Current residence of wife
• Property of husband and wife
• Name(s) of child(ren)
• Birth date(s) of child(ren)
• Reasons for divorce

The information provided in the divorce records may vary from location to location and all the information in the above list may not be included in the records you find.

Divorces are handled by the court system so the location to contact to obtain these records will vary by location.  They may not be indexed so some searching may be required.

If you have some family information or situation in your genealogy that just doesn't add up, consider the possibility that there may have been a divorce in your family.  

My family had that situation with my second great-grandma Sarah (McKee) McCabe and second great-grandpa Chester Eaton McCabe.  After some digging my mother stumbled across another branch of the family we had no idea existed!  Initially we suspected Chester had run off and simply re-married.  We eventually discovered Chester and Sarah divorced, Chester met another woman and married her while Sarah came to Kansas City to be with her children in this area.  It was a fun mystery to solve and couldn't have been solved without the help of some cousins and a Civil War pension file.  We don't have the divorce documents yet but that's definitely on my list of things to get.

Follow Friday: Ascending the Stairs

TGIF!  I hope you're as excited about the weekend as I am.  Friday means another edition of Follow Friday and today we're looking at the blog Ascending the Stairs.  Rachelle's blog chronicling her genealogy research is an interesting read and her post Just another clue, that will lead you to another clue and to another one made me smile, nod my head and giggle just a little because what she writes about the tiny morsels of data that genealogists find is true.  Those tiny morsels do keep one "engaged in the hunt, but never satisfies the immense hunger."

And I completely understand finding information that isn't cited.  My maternal grandfather, bless his heart, was a fantastic genealogist.  Careful with his work and tireless in his research efforts, he provided our family with some great information.  Unfortunately none of it is cited and not all the supporting documents were collected so those of us working on this genealogy now are retracing Grandpa's work.

Back to Rachelle's blog, I found her posts to be well written, with very little rambling (genealogists don't ramble, do they? LOL) and interesting post subjects.  I especially like how she periodically posts about her Genealogical Resolutions.  And having never been on a genealogical research trip, Rachelle's posts about Texas on a Wing and a Prayer and Genealogy Trip Planning - Success! really helped to open my eyes about planning versus execution of a research trip.

Take a few minutes today and go check out Rachelle's blog.  It's well worth your time.

Follow Friday: Ancestry Sisters

TGIF and welcome to another edition of Follow Friday.  Today I'm highlighting Ancestry Sisters' blog.  Here's a quick disclaimer: Ancestry Sisters is a professional genealogist's blog.  I have not received any compensation from Ancestry Sisters for this post.  My Follow Friday posts are as unbiased as I can possibly make them and my criteria for Follow Friday is simply that the blog has (fairly) current posts and that I feel the posts are interesting and relevant.

Anyway, I was originally drawn into Ancestry Sisters for their post series on Was Mary Doefour really Anna Myrle Sizer? Help us find new clues and confirm this mystery (it should be noted the series is a re-post of a series of articles written by Rick Baker for the "Peoria Journal Star") but delving into their post history a little further I was excited to discover The Scary Side of Your Family Tree and The Importance of Researching Siblings.  While I don't personally have the need for the information given in The Scary Side of Your Family Tree (at this time), it was an extremely interesting post and, heck, knowledge is power right?  The Importance of Researching Siblings, however, was a different story and provided me yet another avenue I might approach with one of my brick walls.  We're always taught to focus on our direct lines in genealogy but here is an instance where researching non-direct lines assisted Ancestry Sisters in breaking through a brick wall they had.  Looks like I may be going off on a tangent in the next few weeks to see if I can find anything for my brick wall via her siblings.

Take a bit of time today and go check out Ancestry Sisters.  I bet you'll find something there that may be helpful in your research.

Follow Friday: Ancestry Search

Welcome to another edition of Follow Friday!  Today I'm highlighting Ancestry Search, a family history blog written by Kathleen.  I admit, this one I started reading purely because the first post I saw was Kathleen's post on Researching in the Kansas State Census.  Anyone who knows me fairly well knows I love living in Kansas.  Not tolerate, not like but LOVE so anything Kansas (or Missouri since I was born there and spent many happy summers there) automatically catches my attention.

Enough of my rambling.  Focusing back on Kathleen's blog post about the Kansas State Census, she notes in her post an obvious mistake which was made during indexing two children on the census.  This is a great reminder that indexes (and enumerators) are only human and can make mistakes, thus checking AROUND the family you're looking for in the census records is always a good idea.

Kathleen's posts are just right in length (in my opinion).  I've said before that we genealogists have a tendency to ramble and get off on tangents (noooo, not us!) so a post that focuses and gets straight to the point catches my attention and keeps me reading.

And one last item of interest.  It was Kathleen's post on Reading County History Books - Clues in the Biographies that caused me to Google one of my ancestor's names and discover a Who's Who book that has been digitized for the area in which he resided.  The book is a collection of biographies of the longstanding citizens in the area he lived in and I was tickled to find him in there.  So a big THANKS to you, Kathleen, for writing that post!

Take a minute today and read just one of Kathleen's posts.  I think you'll find it worth your time.

Follow Friday: Are My Roots Showing?

It's Friday again, which brings us to another edition of Follow Friday!  Today I'm highlighting Jenny Lanctot's blog, Are My Roots Showing?  Now, I have to admit the original reason I chose to look at Jenny's blog was because of the blog's title.  It's a cute title and I giggled as I pictured a woman looking over her shoulder in a mirror behind her, asking her husband if her roots were showing.  And my reasoning for looking at her blog is a good lesson in marketing.  Give your items an interesting title and it will bring people in.

Jenny's posts are informative and, at times, humorous.  I found her post on FGS 2013 - Helpful Hints for Conferences to be very helpful.  I've not attended a large genealogy conference yet but I hope to in the future and I think her tips will be very helpful.  I thoroughly enjoyed her post Does This Count as an Ephiphany?  Not only did it provide some interesting insight into what could have happened when ancestors disappear during a census year but it also gave a good tip to about checking the pages before and after your ancestor's census listing to see if there are any other possible family members.

I recommend taking a few minutes and checking out Are My Roots Showing?  It'll be well worth your time.

Follow Friday: AK's Genealogy Research

Welcome to another edition of Follow Friday.  Today we're looking at AK's Genealogy Research.  Annette's blog was created for the same reason most of the amateur blogs were created - to document her research and progress.  And that's why I love these blogs.  Blogs like AK's Genealogy Research show the ups and downs and successes and mistakes of genealogy research.  A good number of her blog posts make reference to the use of DNA in genealogy research, which I haven't been able to take advantage of yet.  However, I will be marking those posts for later reading.

Annette's writing falls somewhere between conversational and instructional, which I feel makes her posts a very good read.  She had a very interesting post on Service Records of Volunteers, 1784-1811 and another really really good one on Learning Evernote. I've just started using Evernote so finding posts about how others use it is like a goldmine to me.  Take a minute to check out her blog, it's well worth your time!

Follow Friday: a3Genealogy

It's Friday again (and who doesn't love that?) so here's another edition of Follow Friday!  Today we're going to look at a3Genealogy.  A brief disclosure: a3Genealogy is a professional genealogy consultant, but in my opinion, Kathleen also writes a great blog post.  Her post on Tips to Researching WWI War Brides focused on a subject I hadn't thought of before, though my darling husband's family did have a war bride in the family (though it was not WWI).  That post may have hooked me, but she has several others that also contain very good information.  As a matter of fact, there are few that I didn't read in their entirety.  Even though her post on Tips for Researching Performers and Showmen doesn't apply to my family (that I know of) I found it worth reading, if for no other reason than it was interesting.

Kathleen's posts are well written and very informative.  I find myself looking forward to her next post to see what wonderful new information she'll impart.  I encourage my blog readers to take a minute and read one of her posts, I'm sure you'll also end up hooked on her blog.

Follow Friday: Ancestoring

Here we are at another edition of Follow Friday.  Today I'm spotlighting Ancestoring, a family history blog written by Michele Simmons Lewis is a professional genealogist who writes a blog geared toward the beginner and intermediate researcher.

As I was cruising thru the plethora of posts on her blog, I ran into one that grabbed my attention.  My grandfather the "Nazi" was a good reminder of why genealogists should not make assumptions.  The story of Michele's grandfather is quite interesting and reminds that, when researching, it's important to look at the history surrounding the time and person you're researching because there may be some facts that would make a difference in your research.

Michele's blog contains information on everything from numbering systems to timelines.  I appreciate that she will occasionally stop and answer questions she receives.  Her post on Questions About Wills and Probate was very helpful (as are many of her other posts).

This is not a blog you will want to rush thru.  There is a LOT of information on Michele's blog and I've had to Pocket it so that I know I need to stop and really read what she has on there.  I appreciate that, while she imparts a lot of information on her blog, she does so in a short and sweet manner.  I tend to get distracted easily so long blog posts tend to lose me part way thru.

Follow Friday: A Southern Sleuth

It's Friday and we all know what that means...Follow Friday!  Today we're looking at A Southern Sleuth, a journey along with Michelle Taggart as she searches for her southern roots.

I don't limit myself to only reading blogs about genealogy that only applies to my genealogical situation.  I read about Croatian genealogy, Jewish genealogy and Southern genealogy to name a few that don't currently apply to my genealogy.  Why?  Because you never know, one day it might apply to my genealogy.  Or, that blogger might have tried something that I didn't think about trying.

What I like best about Michelle's posts are the fact that, in several posts I read, I noticed she was wondering about her ancestor's thoughts or actions, what their lives were like and wishing she knew all their stories.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Gift of Time and Giggling With the Pig and I also remember giggling about the name Piggly Wiggly as a child (and, yes, it still makes me smile today).

Take a few minutes today and go enjoy the stories told by Michelle on her blog.  It'll be well worth your time.

Follow Friday: A Family Tapestry

I'm loving being a member of the Geneabloggers community.  There are so many new blogs for me to look at so it was very difficult to make a decision on which one to highlight for today's Follow Friday post.  Today's lucky winner is A Family Tapestry.  Jacqi's post on The Other Family was a great discussion about the mystery surrounding one of her ancestors and their half-siblings.  Her posts come across as very conversational, as though she is standing in a room speaking directly to you about this mystery she's currently researching.  That single post made me sincerely hope she finds the answers she's currently seeking on this family.

I'm looking forward to her future posts and am hoping maybe some of her research techniques will be of use to me in tracking down my own mysterious Sarah Ann Craig and family.