Ordering FHL Microfilms 15-20 Years Ago

This week I started working on converting my (messy) craft room into a genealogy room/office. I have piles and piles of papers, notebooks, and books to sort through. It's kind of overwhelming, but I'm sure I'll make some neat discoveries that I'd forgotten!

Today I came across some old microfilm order slips from when I first started doing genealogy. Back then, we didn't order the microfilm online. We went to our local family history center and filled out an order card. Then we waited for notification that our film had arrived via snail mail.

The oldest card I found was from the year I started doing genealogy in 1998. Today, films cost $7.50, but back then they were only $3.25. It sure is nice to be able to order online!

"God is His Keeper, and It Was God's Will That He Go."

When my husband's grandmother was 16, her 7-year-old brother died from injuries after he was hit by a car. He was hit while crossing a highway on his way home from school. The newspaper account says that an officer had stopped to tell the children to face the traffic to safely cross the highway. Little Obel Jene ran from behind the police car and was hit by a car. His little body was then thrown into traffic coming from the other direction and he was hit a second time. Another motorist picked him up, but Obel Jene died before he reached the hospital.

Obel Jene Payton (1931-1938)
Son of Ben Payton (1887-1985) & Viola (Points) Payton (1888-1942)

On newspapers.com, I clipped an article about this accident several years ago. But, as I looked at the article again recently, I realized there were two other articles about this incident on the same page.

One short article speaks of the great faith Obel's mother had. The article reads: "I can not think of anything as comforting to any one in a time of sorrow as the words uttered by Mrs. Ben Payton; the mother who lost her baby so sudden and tragic, when she said 'God is his keeper, and it was God's will that he go.' How comforting that must be, not only for her, but for those who were responsible. There could not be a more comforting expression and hold so much grief and sorrow back of it. What a wonderful mother she must be."

The third article was an editorial about the safety of children crossing highways on their way to and from school. The author, John A. Woods, explains that some "Western states" have "school lanes" where yellow lines are painted to indicate where children should cross the highway. Signs indicating "Slow... School Crossing" are placed before this lane for approaching traffic to see. He said "if motorists are caught disregarding these crossing signs they are fined and their license revoked." He also explains that other children are appointed Junior Police to assist in the crossing of the highway.

He defends these precautions and says if they should "prevent one such accident as occurred last week on highway 62, would be well worth interrupting traffic for and I would like to believe that the little fellow whose life was snuffed out, did not die in vain for surely will make us all more cautious for children on the streets and highways."

Source: Obel Jene Payton Services Held Monday, Fort Gibson Independent, Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, 31 March 1938, page 1, column 3, digital image, newspapers.com (http://newspapers.com) accessed 7 February 2017. [The 2nd & 3rd articles are on the same page, but the first column.]

What's a "Half Wagon?" (Dorothy's Will, Part 2)

Last week I shared about Dorothy/Dorothea Klein/Kline's "interesting will." I also shared about it at my local special interest group genealogy meeting on Friday. We all had some laughs, but a few things were pointed out to me.

What's a "half wagon?"

First of all, I shared how two of Dorothy's sons, Daniel and Nicholas, were each given a "half wagon." When I first read about this, I thought it must be a type of wagon. But, someone suggested to me that it was literally half a wagon. In other words, the two brothers were sharing a wagon. That made sense, so I shared on my blog and at my group about the two brothers sharing a wagon.

However, someone in our group spoke up and said a half wagon was actually a small wagon. Yikes! I needed to do more research. When I got home, I started the research and had a hard time finding anything. But, then I found an explanation on a genealogy.com webpage under "notes for General Marion Hooper." Regarding a half wagon, it explained:

General built several roads in Graham County and Tennessee with a shovel, axe, pick, and whatever tools he had. The roads were just wide enough for the wagon wheels to pass through trees and thickets. Once he had a horse and a half wagon made from pin oak. The half wagon was about half the size of a regular wagon and could go where regular wagons could not go. In 1897 several surveyors were surveying the mountain land and were stuck below the Hooper Bald with their supplies and equipment. General came upon them and used his yoke of oxen and his half wagon to haul their belongings to their camp site. He did the job in three trips.

So, it is likely the two brothers did not each inherit "half a wagon" that they had to share. Instead, they both inherited small half wagons.

P.S. Reader David Samuelsen posted a link which shows a photo of a half wagon—just scroll down to Nineteenth Century traps at this link. (Thanks, David!)

Five Pounds specie

I also discussed how three of the four granddaughters listed were receiving their five pounds "out of the money which their said father" was indebted to Dorothy, their deceased grandmother. However, I left off a word, because I didn't know what it meant. The will actually says each granddaughter will receive "Five Pounds specie." I kept thinking it meant "apiece" or each. But, someone in the meeting pointed out that the word is, in fact, specie, which is a type of money.

I just completed a little research about specie. Wikipedia explains that there were "three general types of money in the colonies of British America: specie (coins), paper money and commodity money." It also states that "cash in the colonies was denominated in pounds, shillings, and pence."

In light of this explanation, I believe the girls were each inheriting an amount of five pounds, and the five pounds was in coin, or specie, form. Do you agree? Am I still not understanding correctly?

No one had a good explanation about the money being out of the money "indebted to" Dorothy by her sons who were the girls' fathers. How were the girls expected to receive their five pounds? I still don't understand.

Dorothy to Her Namesakes

The last part of the will I discussed was about Dorothy primarily giving inheritance to her granddaughters who were named Dorothy or Dorothea. Three of the four girls listed were named Dorothy. I also have another will where a woman named Catharine only gave inheritance to her granddaughters who bore her name. I think this is a very odd practice, and I asked if anyone knew anything about it.

One person spoke up about German naming patterns, and yes, this family was German. But, although I understand she would have granddaughters named Dorothy, why would she primarily leave an inheritance to only them?

Another person suggested that Dorothea was likely the sponsor of these grandchildren named Dorothea/Dorothy, and would act as a godparent. It would make sense that, even in death, Dorothy would continue to take care of her godchildren. However, I have information on the baptism of Nicholaus' daughter, Dorothy, and her sponsors were did no include her grandmother. Instead, she was sponsored by William and Dorthea Gesell. So, it seems likely she was not named after her grandmother, but instead was named for Dorthea Gesell.

Have you had experience with a woman "only" (or mostly) leaving inheritance to her namesake? Do you know any background about this practice? Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net.

Source

Will of Dorothy Klein of Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, signed 27 June 1794, proved 14 September 1799, provided by Lititz, Pennsylvania Public Library, 3 pages. [All images on this post are from this will.]

Mrs. Singleton: The "Oldest Woman in the World" in 1853

While searching for a newspaper article about relatives who had measles in 1853, I came across this article about Mrs. Singleton, the oldest woman in the world.

The Charleston Standard,  Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, Illinois, 28 May 1853, page 2, column, 3, digital image, newspapers.com, (http://newspapers.com), accessed 5 February 2017. 

The Charleston Standard says that the oldest woman in the world is now living in Williamsburg district, South Carolina. Her name is Mrs. SINGLETON. She is now in the one hundred and thirty-first year of her age—enjoys good health—retains all her senses, except that of sight of which she was deprived by an attack of the measles at the age of ninety-nine—and is still able to walk briskly about her room. Mrs. S. has outlived all her children: her oldest descendant being a grand-daughter, upwards of sixty years of age. The most of her life has been spent in Williamsburg.

1850 U.S. Census, Williamsburg County, South Carolina, Williamsburg District, population schedule, page 298 [written], dwelling #480, family #480, Elizabeth Gibson household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 February 2017), citing National Archives microfilm M432, roll 860.

I decided to check the 1850 census to see if she was listed as being approximately 128 years old at that time. I found Mrs. Singleton, whose first name was Ann, living with a 49-year-old woman, possibly a granddaughter, named Elizabeth. Gibson. Ann Singleton's age on this 1850 census? 100 years old. I know censuses can be wrong, but was she truly 131 years old in 1853? (And, yes, she is listed as blind on this census record.)

Next, I decided to search for a mention of her death in the newspapers. I tried the next three years and didn't find anything. I expanded it to 10 years, and got another article about her. She was still alive 5 1/2 years later! Was she now 136 or 137 years old? According to the newspaper account, she was now 140 years old! (She ages quickly!)

The Oldest Lady, The Clarke County Democrat, Grove Hill, Alabama, 16
 December  1858, page 2, column 5, digital image, newspapers.com,(http://newspapers.com), accessed 5 February 2017. 

The Oldest Lady.—The Methodist Conference of South Carolina held its session last week at Columbia. From the reported proceedings in the Charleston Mercury, the following is extracted:

Among the donations was one of $400 from Rev. W. L. Pegues, to make the oldest member of this church, and the oldest woman in the State, with others of her family, life members of the Parent Missionary Society. This lady is Mrs. Singleton, of Williamsburg, aged 140 years, who has been blind for 60 years; her youngest grand-daughter, Mrs. Dukes, is aged 50.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find Ann Singleton on Find A Grave, nor was I able to find any record of her death in the newspapers. I need to get back to my own family, but I hope someone else is able to determine when Ann Singleton was born and how old she was when she died.

IGHR

For the past three years, I've attend GRIP (Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh) each summer. This year, I'm doing something new: I'm going to the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR)! And, IGHR is doing something new this year, too. They have moved to Georgia. 

I will be taking my first course with Tom Jones as the coordinator and primary instructor. I understand he always offers a lot of homework, which is a good thing! In fact, we have homework before we arrive.

The course, course 4, is "Writing & Publishing for Genealogists." Besides Tom Jones, we will have three other instructors: John Phillip Colletta, Elissa Scalise Powell, and Craig Roberts Scott.

Registration opened yesterday, and so far only one course is sold out: Advanced Methodology & Evidence Analysis coordinated by Judy G. Russell. Also, Debbie Parker Wayne's beginning DNA course has only 3 seats remaining at this time.

I will miss my GRIP friends, but already know of a handful of friends who will be attending IGHR. I can't wait!

Are you going to IGHR? If so, let me know. I hope to meet some of my fellow bloggers and blog readers in person!

January Review/February Goals

JANUARY REVIEW

Blogging

My goal was 8 posts; I had 12!

Education - Book

Instead of reading Biedler's German book, I read Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, 4th Edition Revised by Christine Rose and participated a little with the DearMYRTLE group which was studying the book. I wrote two blog posts: week 1 is here, and week 2 is here. 

A quick review of the book: The booklet is short at only 56 pages. The five chapters do a great job of explaining the genealogical proof standard. One of my favorite sections was on page 39 when the author listed "six critical questions" for "analysis of evidence." The questions are:

• Was it based on primary, secondary or indeterminable information?
• Was it from an original, derivative or authored source?
• Was it direct, indirect or negative evidence?
• When was the record created and recorded?
• Why was the record created?
• Who supplied the data?

On a bit of a negative, though, the font size changed fairly often and some of it was quite small. 

Education - Webinars [Each title is a link.]

My goals were to watch at least 4 webinars and finish reading Biedler's Trace Your German Roots Online: A Complete Guide to German Genealogy Websites. I did a couple of "hangouts" instead of traditional webinars, and I read a different book than the one I'd originally intended.

DearMYRTLE's WACKY Wednesday - Digital Scrapbooking

This is the first WACKY Wednesday I've watched live. In it, Christine Woodcock demonstrated how to use Forever.com to create family heritage books and store photos. If you're interested in this site, the hangout is especially useful in explaining how you can save money by becoming your own ambassador.

Acumen Presents: Chris Anderson's on Public Speaking 

As I am interested in speaking as a genealogist in the future, I started watching a public speaking course through Udemy by Chris Anderson of TED Talks. One concept he discussed, which is also relevant to writing, is the "through line" which he defined as a "connecting theme that ties together each narrative element." When you are speaking or writing, every piece should connect to this through line or key idea. If it doesn't, even if it is interesting, cut it out!

BCG's Writing Up Your Research by Michael J. Leclerc, CG

I watched BCG's free monthly webinar "live" in January, but it is also now available on Legacy Family Tree Webinars. A few things I learned:

• A proofreader is your best friend; they keep you from looking like an idiot.
• Even a blog should be scholarly and include citations.
• Your family history book doesn't have to be as thick as War and Peace.

DearMYRTLE's DNAGen with Blaine Bettinger

On Wednesday, January 18th, Dear Myrtle hosted Blaine Bettinger as he discussed the first chapter of Blaine and Debbie Parker Wayne's book, Genetic Genealogy in Practice. What a treat to work through this book with Blaine! The first chapter and hangout were about basic genetics. Blaine discussed two terms which I've just started seeing in the past few months:

• endogamy - "intermarriage in a group for a prolonged amount of time" so they share more DNA than would typically be expected
• pedigree collapse - "recent intermarriage for just a couple of generations" which I see in, for example, my Tennessee ancestors/cousins who are often related to each other in multiple ways

DNAGenStudy Group 2 is on Wednesday night, February 15th, and you can register here.

Volunteering

Although I had volunteered with indexing at FamilySearch several years ago, I hadn't done any work with them in several years. For January, I had a goal of 100 records, which I met. I spent the time indexing obituaries from 2010, and it was fascinating! A few highlights:

Tony Curtis (image from Wikipedia)

• An obituary for Tony Curtis, actor and father of actress Jamie Lee Curtis, which mentioned Princess Diana and Arnold Schwarzenegger. 
• Dr Herbert Spiegel, a psychiatrist who used hypnosis and treated "Sybil" whose multiple personalities inspired a book and two movies.
• An older woman who survived an explosion when she was 5 years old. The explosion killed her sister, her parents, and another child.

Email

My goal was to catch up on my email. This goal was NOT met. 

FEBRUARY GOALS

Blogging

Share at least 12 blog posts.

Education -Webinars & Hangouts

Watch at least 4 webinars and/or hangouts.

Education - Books & Magazines

Read Blaine T. Bettinger's The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy and spend at least one hour reading "old" genealogy magazines which have piled up.

Volunteering

Index at least 100 records at FamilySearch.

The Interesting Will of Dorothy Kline

Tomorrow is our monthly internet research group genealogy meeting and we will be discussing wills and probate packets. We were asked to pass along any "interesting" wills or probate packets we had in our files to discuss at our meeting. I chose one I recently received from a newly found cousin. The will, which was proved in 1799, is my 6th great grandmother's.

Will of Dorothy Klein of Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, signed 27 June 1794, proved 14
September 1799, provided by Lititz, Pennsylvania Public Library, page 1 of 3.

Highlights from the Will

I found this will to be both curious and entertaining. First of all, under "secondly" she gives her son Daniel the two blind mares and an half waggon [sic] and to her son Nicholas she gives the old black mare and the grey Colt and one half wagon. I hope the brothers get along as they share this wagon! And, I think Nicholas might have got the better deal with his old mare and colt versus his brother's two blind mares. [NOTE: Please see a follow up post which corrects this misconception!]

She also bequeaths five pounds each to the following grandchildren:

• Catharine, the daughter of George 
• Dorothy, the daughter of George
• Dorothy, the daughter of Lenohard
• Dorothy, the daughter of Nicholaus

The first three of these granddaughters are getting their five pounds "out of the money which their said father... is indebted to me." So, do they only get the money if their fathers are able to pay it to them?

Transcript of Dorothy Klein's will

Also, note that three of these granddaughters are named Dorothy. And, yes, the deceased is named Dorothy: Dorothy Klein or Kline. She is giving inheritance primarily to those who share her name! I have another will like this where the deceased grandmother, Catharine, is only giving items to those granddaughters who were named Catharine. Very interesting! I can't imagine this happening today. Can you imagine my putting in my will that my granddaughters named Dana would be the only grandchildren to inherit? I hope someone knows more about this practice, as I find it quite strange!