Tracing Your Roots on Genlighten!

Very exciting news! Tracing Your Roots now has a professional profile on Genlighten! You can view my storefront here. I offer family history and genealogy research and reporting for an hourly rate of $25.00 per hour. The fee includes PDF copies of records and documents, research time, and report writing. Send me a message or visit the storefront for details.

Indiana Historical Society to host Cyndi's List creator, Cyndi Ingle

When: Saturday, March 22, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Where: Frank and Katrina Basile Theater of the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St., downtown Indianapolis.

The Indiana Historical Society will host Cyndi Ingle, creator of Cyndi’s List, as she leads a workshop covering online genealogy research.

Genealogy Online: Productive, Organized and Successful is a workshop designed to teach individuals about creating a research plan using online tools and services, learning to stay organized and on task and writing effective communications and research notes.

Registration and parking is $40 for the public and $32 for IHS members; box lunch is $12.

For more information, call (317) 232-1882 or visit www.indianahistory.org.

Announcement copied from: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/ihs-hosts-genealogy-online-workshop-saturday/article_442bef71-38d4-5c91-8224-a501f01977fd.html

How popular is genealogy?

An article in Genealogy In Time Magazine seeks to answer this question. Following is an article abstract: 

At GenealogyInTime Magazine, we like to think outside the box. In this article, we tackle a fundamental issue: How popular is genealogy? The answer, it turns out, depends on the specific question being asked. We examine the evidence and take a hard look at the facts. In the process, we dispel some common myths and misunderstandings about the popularity of genealogy. 

Access the full article here.  

Ahnentafel -- the pedigree chart

Whether you are just starting to research your family history or you have joined your local genealogical society, chances are you have heard of the pedigree chart, specifically the Ahnentafel. The Ahnentafel, German for "ancestral table" is a numerical system used to create a pedigree list of one's direct ancestors. This type of genealogical list has been around since 1590.

How does it work? You, or the subject, is labeled as number 1 in the list. Your father is number 2 and your mother is number 3. Then, your paternal grandparents are numbers 4 and 5 and maternal grandparents are 6 and 7. Using this numbering technique, a person's father is their number multiplied by 2 and a person's mother is their number multiplied by 2 + 1. Consequently, though number 1 can be either male or female, all males have even numbers and all females have odd numbers. Some people choose to use binary representations for their Ahnentafel. You can read more about that practice on the Ahnentafel Wikipedia page.

This chart style is useful because you can create a list in a word processor and make additions and corrections to the document as you find more information. Another good way to utilize this numbering system is an ancestral chart, which you can find at your local history and genealogy center or online. For example, Ancestry.com makes an ancestral chart that follows the Ahnentafel numbering style.

Below is my Ahnentafel through my third great grandparents. For privacy reasons, I've chosen not to list the names and dates associated with persons who are still living, or the names of my grandparents. My chart begins with my father's father's father.

Happy searching!

8. Harry E. Martin (6 January 1898 - June 1972)
9. Thelma C. Sayles (26 June 1906 - 1973)
10. Floyd Jack Davis (21 February 1911 - 26 March 1992)
11. Goldie Marie Guthrie (15 January 1919 - 15 September 2004)
12. Herbert Reynolds (24 September 1898 - 13 April 1950)
13. Anna Walker (1905 - January 1942)
14. Hulon Miller (6 March 1911 - February 1985)
15. Cora Hazel West (1917 - 1974)
16. Perry Newton Martin (December 1874 - 1956)
17. Mary Olive Keltner (23 September 1875 - 11 May 1965)
18. Arthur Sayles (8 January 1887 - 30 March 1927)
19. Mary Jane Woodruff (7 July 1887 - 30 October 1918)
20. Claude Davis (9 March 1878 - 13 June 1956)
21. Della Louisa Ruyle (22 March 1890 - 22 October 1954)
22. William Hugh Guthrie (29 April 1886 - 19 November 1967)
23. Elsie Alice Walton (22 May 1895 - 23 April 1933)
24. Lindsey Reynolds (October 1871 - 11 December 1955)
25. Margaret Stinnett (3 October 1872 - 29 May 1944)
26. Nathan Walker (1868 - 13 March 1963)
27. Mattie L. Lowery (11 April 1884 - 13 February 1956)
28. Cyrus Elmor Miller (13 September 1883 - 24 April 1968)
29. Fannie Elizabeth Smith (20 August 1891 - 9 April 1968)
30. James B. West (7 November 1862 - 20 November 1932)
31. Jinsey Carroll (28 April 1878 - 2 July 1952)
32. Valerian I. Martin (21 November 1851 - September 1931)
33. Mary Jane Corn (September 1850 - 23 December 1928)
34. Jacob Keltner (23 November 1843 - after 1930)
35. Margaret Cain (1845 - ?)
36. Tillman Sayles (1863 - 27 February 1933)
37. Florence May Baker (20 June 1862 - 1911)
38. Cornelius C. Woodruff (15 January 1842 - 21 February 1926)
39. Cinderella VanKirk (1852 - ?)
40. John Payton Davis (7 January 1836 - 2 November 1905)
41. Elizabeth Davis (30 July 1838 - 18 March 1904)
42. John P. Ruyle (28 September 1852 - 17 January 1937)
43. Caroline Elizabeth Cummings (10 May 1860 - 5 June 1929)
44. John Adam Guthrie (23 September 1843 - 19 April 1929)
45. Mary Catherine Kent (17 October 1856 - 10 July 1934)
46. Adolph Robert Walton (21 June 1861 - 8 May 1925)
47. Bertha Catherine Borst (25 October 1876 - 15 December 1906)
48. Absalom Reynolds (22 May 1839 - 26 June 1903)
49. Martha Jane Walker (15 August 1836 - 19 June 1909)
50. John William Stinnett (11 June 1843 - 13 August 1913)
51. Samantha "Panthy" Cobb (1845 - ?)
52. Unknown
53. Unknown
54. William Lowry (28 May 1842 - 1 August 1924)
55. Mary Jane Stinnett (July 1850 - 1 January 1926)
56. Unknown
57. Mary T. ? (1854 - ?)
58. James Hayden Smith (9 March 1858 - 12 February 1929)
59. Margaret Ann Adams  (January 1856 - 22 May 1926)
60. Barney West ( 27 December 1927 - 16 September 1914)
61. Elizabeth Carroll (1823 - 1885)
62. Barney Carroll
63. Francis Stephens

Champaign County (Illinois) Workshops

The Champaign County Historical Archives of the Urbana Free Library in Urbana, Illinois will host a number of genealogy workshops this spring. 

Information for the first workshop is located below: 

Ancestry.com: Beyond the Basics

Saturday, March 29   10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Instructor:  Steve Szabados

Ancestry.com is one of the largest and most important Genealogy websites. Its major databases are well known, however, it has many databases that are just as important but are rarely used. Steve Szabados will draw upon his experience to describe how you can find and unlock these databases. He will also review his techniques to simplify your research on Ancestry.com and make it more efficient.

Call the archives (217) 367- 4025 or stop by to register (it's free!)

Click here to download a PDF list of workshops available this spring. 

For more information visit their site: http://urbanafreelibrary.org/local-history-genealogy/workshops-events

New Page! Genealogy Websites (U.S.)

As you may have already seen, I have added a new page to the blog. This page is called Genealogy Websites (U.S.) and contains an annotated list of both free and fee based genealogy websites that I have used. Only a few descriptions are up, but I will add to the page periodically. Suggestions/reviews are welcome, just leave me a message using the contact form. Thanks!

Audie Wilborne Diary Poems

While researching diaries for an article I wrote for the Champaign County (IL) Genealogical Society, I came upon a World War I diary. The author, Audie Virgil Wilborne, was born at Mount Hermon, Monroe County, Kentucky on June 4, 1895 to Daniel and Lelah Wilborne. He enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army National Guard’s Fourth Infantry, Company M in Champaign, Illinois in July 1917. During World War I, Wilborne became a Corporal in the 130^th Infantry, 33^rd Division of the U.S. Army National Guard while serving in France.

In his diary, Wilborne describes enlisting for service in “the World’s War,” and his first weeks of training in New Orleans, Louisiana. After a lengthier introduction, the diary consists of daily entries, mostly one sentence, describing daily training and identifying new locations as the company traveled.  Also included are four poems written by Wilborne during his service, their titles are, “Illinois Waiting Till Her Prairie Boys Come Home,” “The U.S. Rough Necks,” “Your Answer,” and “The Dying Yank.”

Below I have included transcriptions of the four poems. The collection is available for browsing at the Champaign County Historical Archives of the Urbana Free Library. No copyright infringement is intended as I am posting these for educational purposes and for the purpose of showing the value of diaries as a family history resource. 

Illinois Waiting Till Her Prairie Boys Come Home

Do not languish, Boys, for fear

we forget you over here

we are waiting, waiting, waiting,

till our prairie Boy come home.

All your gallant deeds are known

& our pride and welcome grow

they may surge & then engulf you

as a tidal wave comes in

till we claim that whole division,

as our Blessed Kith & Kin.

As your hearts are Brave & true

so our hearts are warm for you

with a greeting & a welcome

you have never known before

so let courage lead you still

tho you miss the Battles thrill

till the good ships bring you homeward

to your own united shore

to the minds with Rules & reason

when the good ships cut the foam

with our gallant thirty-third

Intrepid thirty-third.

Beloved thirty-third.

Our thirty-third.

The U.S. Rough Necks

                        I

Only rough necks for soldiers

you say can’t stand the army

you say the life is too rough

for him. Do you think he is

any better than some other

mother’s Tom or Jim.

                       II

You raised him up like a

girl. He don’t smoke or drink

as you brag. But if all the

boys were like him. What

would become of our flag.

                       III

You say rough necks do the

fighting. They are used to the

beans and the stew. But I am

glad I am classed with the

rough necks. Who would

 fight for the red white & blue.

                         IV

You say his girl couldn’t stand

it to send him off with the

rest. But do you think she

would be glad to feel the Huns

breathe on her breast.

                        V

Just think of the women of Bel-

gium of the cruelties they had

to bear, do you want the same

thing to happen to your innocent

daughters so fair. But you can

Thank God the stars in old

Glory are not blessed with

that kind of a stain, because

there are ten million rough

necks who have red

blood in their veins.

                        VI

They go to drill in bad weather

and come in with a grin on

their face. While your darling

boy rests in the parlor and

lets some other man fight

in his place.

                        VII

Maybe we do smoke & gamble

but we fight as our fore fathers

did. So go warm the milk

for his bottle. Thank God we

didn’t need your kid.

                        End

Your Answer

                I

What will you say sonny

What will you say

when the troopship brings you home

kneeling at last by mother’s chair

you & your mother alone

what will you say sonny

what will you say sonny

as she searches your face to see

if the Boy she gave to the Company’s call

is still her Sonny -- Free.

                II

Free of the Taint of lust & drink

Free of all Hidden shame

Free of the Bonds that slave the soul

HER SON -- In heart and name

                III

What will you say sonny

what will you say,

Will your heart be filled with mirth,

Holding her close on your

young strong arms

The Mother who gave you Birth

what will you say sonny

what will you say

as her dear eyes turn to you

The Mother who guarded your Boyhood years?

Say, was SHE ever untrue.

                IV

And now what answer have you for HER,

Her fair regard to Him --

That for the faith she placed in you,

you fought your fight with Sin.

                V

What will you say sonny,

what will you say.

What will you -- answer Mother of mine

look in my eyes -- look in my Heart.

Yea, read them line on line?

Days of fighting on field or trench

nights mid the Citys lore,

Battle by day, or Battle by night,

I kept your son’s heart pure!

Finis

The Dying Yank

Beside a muddy shell hole on the Verdun front one day a dying Yankee lay.

And his old pals that lay close to his side was listening to what he had to say.

Boys I am going to a better land where everything is bright where they never do no bayonet fighting or hike at night.

Yes: Boys I’ll never fight any more Boys or eat the army stew. I’ve done my bit. And stand to quit. You tell the world I’m through.

I’ve seen all there is Boys of Huns and fighting men. I’ve had my share of those big worldly cares.  And I guess God is calling me there.

So to my sweetheart and friends back home, Boys I leave for you to tell. How I met my death at Verdun by a dirty German shell.

His face grew white and cold as the last words he said. And that night friends we buried him for the Yankee soldier was dead.