A couple years ago I decided to learn how to dowse. Dowsing is an ancient practice that is stereotypically categorized as a pseudo-science much like astrology or casting lots.
The dictionary definition for dowsing doesn't fare much better:
Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate
ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and
many other objects and materials without the use of scientific
apparatus.
First, I would like to rebut the accusation that Dowsing is a "type of divination". According to the definition, dowsing is a "type of divination" employed in "an attempt" to find a large assortment of things.
I may have a Master's Degree but I don't pretend to know how any of this works. All I know is... it does. And it works very well.
There is no divination involved. I am not invoking spirits or practicing magic when I dowse for hidden gravestones... but I do find headstones and lost graves through this practice.
I merely hold the specially-designed rods in my hands and walk over a grave. The rods pass over one another when I am atop a body and they spread apart when I pass from the body. I am even able to determine whether the person buried is an adult, a child, or an infant based on the length of my walk while the rods remain crossed.
A stranger thing still is how I am able to tell whether the person is a male or female. Holding a single rod and standing about midway over the body, the rod will turn and point to the head if it is a male, and at the feet if female.
How does this work? I don't even pretend to know. There are scientific theories on how the rods react to magnetic fields and/or lay lines. I don't know. I just know that they work for me... and that I've been able to locate the whereabouts of hidden headstones using this method.
No more useless prodding along the ground in hopes of striking a headstone. The rods tell me where graves lie and thus the location of the headstone based on this information.
I have located over 25 headstones in a huge field using this method. Does it work? I've proven it to myself that it does.
I am writing a short book on the topic which I'll publish to Kindle and as a downloadable PDF guide complete with pictures and tutorials.
I'll explain where to purchase the best rods I've found... without breaking the bank.
And I'll detail the exact methods I've personally used to find graves in a huge unplotted burial field.
For more information please visit my website at...
http://www.grancestors.com/dowsing-for-graves.html
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
LostGraves.org - 23 and Counting
23 reclaimed headstones and counting...
On Memorial Day 2014, after stumbling upon several empty grave sites, I came across a t-bar tool that someone had misplaced. Not a believer in coincidence but rather serendipitous moments such as these, I took it upon myself to appease my curious nature by plunging the half-inch tube into the empty ground where a headstone should be. I think I surprised myself when I hit something hard less than an inch below the heavy sod.
I came back the next day armed with tools of the trade: a trowel, a bucket, gardening gloves, and a couple bottles of water. I then proceeded to reclaim the lost grave.
I've since recovered 23 headstones - all in the Grand Rapids area. Each has been properly identified and photographed with photos added to the popular recent Ancestry.com acquisition, Find-a-Grave.com, in addition to my own website at... lostgraves.org.
I am amazed at how many headstones are lost and buried due to the passing of time. Prior to the early 1900s most burials were not of the modern vault-style. Today, caskets are placed inside a concrete vault to protect both the ground above as well as the casket itself. Prior to our modern era caskets would be placed into the ground where the heavy weight of the soil added with retained water would crush the casket resulting in a recessed ground at the surface.
Headstones fell and sunk into the ground and years of sod, soil, and debris buried them completely.
My purpose at lostgraves.org is to reclaim these headstones from the earth. I've found some that were buried as deep as 4 inches below the surface. Each is fully documented with photos on my website.
On now to the cemetery for some further digging...
On Memorial Day 2014, after stumbling upon several empty grave sites, I came across a t-bar tool that someone had misplaced. Not a believer in coincidence but rather serendipitous moments such as these, I took it upon myself to appease my curious nature by plunging the half-inch tube into the empty ground where a headstone should be. I think I surprised myself when I hit something hard less than an inch below the heavy sod.
I came back the next day armed with tools of the trade: a trowel, a bucket, gardening gloves, and a couple bottles of water. I then proceeded to reclaim the lost grave.
I've since recovered 23 headstones - all in the Grand Rapids area. Each has been properly identified and photographed with photos added to the popular recent Ancestry.com acquisition, Find-a-Grave.com, in addition to my own website at... lostgraves.org.
I am amazed at how many headstones are lost and buried due to the passing of time. Prior to the early 1900s most burials were not of the modern vault-style. Today, caskets are placed inside a concrete vault to protect both the ground above as well as the casket itself. Prior to our modern era caskets would be placed into the ground where the heavy weight of the soil added with retained water would crush the casket resulting in a recessed ground at the surface.
Headstones fell and sunk into the ground and years of sod, soil, and debris buried them completely.
My purpose at lostgraves.org is to reclaim these headstones from the earth. I've found some that were buried as deep as 4 inches below the surface. Each is fully documented with photos on my website.
On now to the cemetery for some further digging...
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Remembering Forgotten Souls through the GRAncestors Reclamation Project
Back before the use of modern element-proof headstones the common stones were not built to last. Constructed from a soft porous material like limestone, the stones, exposed to the harsh elements, either toppled to the ground, became illegible or both.
These old stones are magnificent and beautiful. Monuments of remembrance, it is sad how time forgets the sleeping soul. Those who remembered the loved one's existence too have passed. There are none left to care for the grave. The memory of the life once lived is no more. Such is the sting of time.
I love reading old inscriptions: the mourning loved ones poured forth their souls through verse, scripture, and poetic readings. Very touching to read.
This Memorial Day as I was walking through the Oakhill Cemetery in Grand Rapids searching for a requested grave photo as a Find-a-Grave volunteer, I stumbled upon a small bit of stone peeking through the grass. Not very large, less than a foot in diameter.
I knelt beside the hidden grave removing a few large clumps of sod. When a bit more stone was cleared I could see that the grave was quite large, an old inch-thick limestone monument toppled to the ground many years ago.
I ran back to my car and grabbed my toolbox consisting of: soft-bristle brush for removing debris, a gallon jug of water to clean the grave, camera, pen and paper for recording the inscription, and a gardening trowel to remove the soil from around the headstone's perimeter.
Here is how the stone appeared before cleaning.
I worked on the stone for less than an hour removing large clumps of sod and brushing away heavy amounts of soil. Finally I was able to see what had not been visible for many decades: the ornate headstone of William T. Per Lee, Esq.
Because so many headstones are falling into states of disrepair I started the GRAncestors.com Reclamation Project in hopes of preserving and viewing these hidden or illegible stones, recording the information found, and uploading to both GRAncestors.com and Find-a-Grave.com giving the forgotten soul an eternal memorial.
Here is the finished product.
The inscription reads:
OUR FATHER
WILLIAM T. PER LEE
DIED
Aug. 8, 1878
Aged 64 Yrs, 7 Ms, 8 Ds.
(Calculated Birth Date = 31 December 1813)
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well
To learn more about the GRAncestors.com Reclamation Project, please visit our website at:
http://www.grancestors.com/reclamation-project.html
These old stones are magnificent and beautiful. Monuments of remembrance, it is sad how time forgets the sleeping soul. Those who remembered the loved one's existence too have passed. There are none left to care for the grave. The memory of the life once lived is no more. Such is the sting of time.
I love reading old inscriptions: the mourning loved ones poured forth their souls through verse, scripture, and poetic readings. Very touching to read.
This Memorial Day as I was walking through the Oakhill Cemetery in Grand Rapids searching for a requested grave photo as a Find-a-Grave volunteer, I stumbled upon a small bit of stone peeking through the grass. Not very large, less than a foot in diameter.
I knelt beside the hidden grave removing a few large clumps of sod. When a bit more stone was cleared I could see that the grave was quite large, an old inch-thick limestone monument toppled to the ground many years ago.
I ran back to my car and grabbed my toolbox consisting of: soft-bristle brush for removing debris, a gallon jug of water to clean the grave, camera, pen and paper for recording the inscription, and a gardening trowel to remove the soil from around the headstone's perimeter.
Here is how the stone appeared before cleaning.
I worked on the stone for less than an hour removing large clumps of sod and brushing away heavy amounts of soil. Finally I was able to see what had not been visible for many decades: the ornate headstone of William T. Per Lee, Esq.
Because so many headstones are falling into states of disrepair I started the GRAncestors.com Reclamation Project in hopes of preserving and viewing these hidden or illegible stones, recording the information found, and uploading to both GRAncestors.com and Find-a-Grave.com giving the forgotten soul an eternal memorial.
Here is the finished product.
The inscription reads:
OUR FATHER
WILLIAM T. PER LEE
DIED
Aug. 8, 1878
Aged 64 Yrs, 7 Ms, 8 Ds.
(Calculated Birth Date = 31 December 1813)
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well
To learn more about the GRAncestors.com Reclamation Project, please visit our website at:
http://www.grancestors.com/reclamation-project.html
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
The Resurrection of the Ottawa Poor Farm
Eldon Kramer was a man with a mission. He was bound and determined to find the resting place of his ancestor, Isaac Kramer. Isaac came to America in 1845, established himself in the city of Holland in 1849, married in 1855, had seven children, and then tragedy struck.
Isaac's house was leveled in the Great Holland Fire of 1871. The family became homeless along with 200 other families. Isaac struggled to reclaim what was lost. His wife died in 1895 and Isaac sunk into deep depression. He would neither eat nor leave his home. Unable to care for himself, his daughter petitioned the Probate Court to declare Isaac "mentally incompetent".
Everything Isaac owned was sold at public auction in order to satisfy debts owed and to pay other expenses. Isaac, destitute and alone, was committed to the Ottawa County Poor Farm where he remained an "inmate" for three and a half years.
Isaac died in 1899. He was 74. Family members attended his funeral but not one of them claimed his remains. As such, Isaac was buried in an unmarked grave on the Poor Farm property.
The Ottawa County Poor Farm sits on a 229-acre rolling property on the north side of Leonard, west of 68th, in the city of Eastmanville. This was in a pre-welfare era when the old, the sick, the mentally disabled, and the destitute poor unable to care for themselves, had nowhere to go. Called "inmates" this was really a generic term meaning "resident".
This was a working farm. Those who were able were put to work in order to earn their keep.
Inmates who died at the farm were buried in unmarked graves deep in the property. They did not want to be buried there. They did not choose this upon themselves. They had no choice.
Inmates were no longer buried at the Poor Farm after 1931. It was then that Louis Peck, the Poor Farm keeper, purchased a lot of 100 graves in the potter's field at Maplewood Cemetery in Lamont at the cost of $1 per grave.
After 1931 the cemetery was abandoned and became overgrown. Until Eldon Kramer.
He not only discovered the resting place of his ancestor but he set to work to resurrect the Poor Farm cemetery. Here is how he did this.
Isaac's house was leveled in the Great Holland Fire of 1871. The family became homeless along with 200 other families. Isaac struggled to reclaim what was lost. His wife died in 1895 and Isaac sunk into deep depression. He would neither eat nor leave his home. Unable to care for himself, his daughter petitioned the Probate Court to declare Isaac "mentally incompetent".
Everything Isaac owned was sold at public auction in order to satisfy debts owed and to pay other expenses. Isaac, destitute and alone, was committed to the Ottawa County Poor Farm where he remained an "inmate" for three and a half years.
Isaac died in 1899. He was 74. Family members attended his funeral but not one of them claimed his remains. As such, Isaac was buried in an unmarked grave on the Poor Farm property.
The Ottawa County Poor Farm sits on a 229-acre rolling property on the north side of Leonard, west of 68th, in the city of Eastmanville. This was in a pre-welfare era when the old, the sick, the mentally disabled, and the destitute poor unable to care for themselves, had nowhere to go. Called "inmates" this was really a generic term meaning "resident".
This was a working farm. Those who were able were put to work in order to earn their keep.
Inmates who died at the farm were buried in unmarked graves deep in the property. They did not want to be buried there. They did not choose this upon themselves. They had no choice.
Inmates were no longer buried at the Poor Farm after 1931. It was then that Louis Peck, the Poor Farm keeper, purchased a lot of 100 graves in the potter's field at Maplewood Cemetery in Lamont at the cost of $1 per grave.
After 1931 the cemetery was abandoned and became overgrown. Until Eldon Kramer.
He not only discovered the resting place of his ancestor but he set to work to resurrect the Poor Farm cemetery. Here is how he did this.
This weekend I visited the Ottawa County Poor Farm - now an Ottawa County Park. While the old housing structures have been razed, the barn still exists. The County has transformed the property into many walking and horse trails.
I parked my car, grabbed my gear, and commenced my walk into the field behind the farm. The cemetery sits about a quarter of a mile behind the farm upon a grassy knoll.
I wasn't certain what to expect as I ascended the path leading up to the cemetery. I wasn't at all expecting what I discovered. The cemetery has been landscaped complete with fencing, reflection benches, trees, and gravestones adorning the manicured graves. Absolutely beautiful invoking feelings of peace.
The graves were discovered using ground-penetrating radar waves and using Eastmanville burial records it was determined who was buried here. There may be others. A stone plaque serves to memorialize these forgotten souls.
What a beautiful experience this was. All of this because of the determination of one man... Mr. Eldon Kramer, who sought after his emigrating ancestor. Though he does not know which grave is his ancestor Isaac's, in an unselfish manner he brought the resurrection of this humble little cemetery into existence that all may enjoy it. This is true honor.
Thank you Mr. Eldon Kramer.
Proper Techniques in Cleaning Gravestones
I find myself in a cemetery or two nearly every week during the Spring/Summer/Fall season. Many old stones are difficult to read as the inscriptions have worn thin due to wind and rain erosion.
I am appalled to find gravestones covered with chalk dust: a mistake that injures soft porous stones. Please do not ever use chalk to scribble over an inscription. Yes, this technique will work as the chalk fills in the areas surrounding the thin outlines of letters making these easy to read. However, the chalk will soak in to the stone causing a discoloration.
Here is one method that I personally use. All that you need is:
1) a soft-bristle brush (no wires or other hard materials)
2) a jug of water (or several if no water supply in cemetery)
3) a bottle of Palmolive Oxy dish soap
You may have seen this Oxy degreaser advertised on TV as a laundry detergent. It works great. It suds easily and removes much dirt and debris.
The first thing I do is wet the inscription by leaning a gallon of water against the top of the stone and allowing the water to pour down the surface.
Once thoroughly wettened I then add a few drops of Palmolive Oxy to my soft bristle brush and proceed to lightly scrub the stone to loosen dirt and debris.
I will again add water to remove the dirt I have loosened. This sometimes will take several scrubbings to remove all the dirt to the point that the inscription becomes legible. That is why you will need access to plenty of water.
The OXY soap will create a lather. I find that sometimes the inscription becomes legible with the lather left in place. In the picture below I have completed scrubbing a small section of a hard-to-read inscription. You can see how easy it has become to read it.
After I removed the dirt with water the inscription was still easy to see but it was not as legible.
Another trick I will use with light inscriptions is the flashlight technique. Hold a powerful flashlight at a slight angle against the stone in close proximity to the inscription. You will find that the light casts shadows within the faintest of outlines making the inscriptions "pop out" even without cleaning.
I will often use a combination of these two techniques when photographing hard-to-read inscriptions. And I can feel relieved that I have done nothing to harm the grave for future generations.
I am appalled to find gravestones covered with chalk dust: a mistake that injures soft porous stones. Please do not ever use chalk to scribble over an inscription. Yes, this technique will work as the chalk fills in the areas surrounding the thin outlines of letters making these easy to read. However, the chalk will soak in to the stone causing a discoloration.
Here is one method that I personally use. All that you need is:
2) a jug of water (or several if no water supply in cemetery)
3) a bottle of Palmolive Oxy dish soap
You may have seen this Oxy degreaser advertised on TV as a laundry detergent. It works great. It suds easily and removes much dirt and debris.
The first thing I do is wet the inscription by leaning a gallon of water against the top of the stone and allowing the water to pour down the surface.
Once thoroughly wettened I then add a few drops of Palmolive Oxy to my soft bristle brush and proceed to lightly scrub the stone to loosen dirt and debris.
I will again add water to remove the dirt I have loosened. This sometimes will take several scrubbings to remove all the dirt to the point that the inscription becomes legible. That is why you will need access to plenty of water.
The OXY soap will create a lather. I find that sometimes the inscription becomes legible with the lather left in place. In the picture below I have completed scrubbing a small section of a hard-to-read inscription. You can see how easy it has become to read it.
Another trick I will use with light inscriptions is the flashlight technique. Hold a powerful flashlight at a slight angle against the stone in close proximity to the inscription. You will find that the light casts shadows within the faintest of outlines making the inscriptions "pop out" even without cleaning.
I will often use a combination of these two techniques when photographing hard-to-read inscriptions. And I can feel relieved that I have done nothing to harm the grave for future generations.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Finding Jessie... a Case Study in Locating Female Ancestors
One of my recent clients hired me to solve a missing person case. In her recent travels to Friesland she visited with family who told her of a sister to her grandfather who allegedly traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan. But they knew nothing further. What had happened to her? Did she make it to Grand Rapids or did she decide against it? Did she marry? Die young? Bear children?
My job was to find her and to determine what became of her.
Female relatives can be quite the daunting task to decipher: they marry and change their names. And if you don’t know where to look, or who they married, it is easy to lose track of them. For instance, in order to follow any sort of paper trail on a female relative it is pertinent to know: 1) whom they married so as to continue the trace and 2) where they married in order to locate the marriage document. Without any of this information it is a total crapshoot. You would have better luck in Vegas.
I took the case not expecting to find her. I really had some serious doubts because I had nothing to go on. I had no proof that she ever stepped foot in Grand Rapids and a preliminary check in immigration databases drew a blank.
So what to do?
Her name was Tjitske POSTMA. Tjitske POSTMA was born 8 May 1887 in Wymbritseradeel, Friesland. Her father was Hendrik Pieter POSTMA (1841-1921) and her mother was Petronella GROENHOF (1850-1919). This was the information I was armed with.
I knew I had to first place Tjitske in Grand Rapids. That would be my first step. Ancestry.com is placing many city directories online: Grand Rapids, Michigan is included. My client’s grandfather arrived in New York City in 1906. Tjitske would have been 17. The earliest that I would think Tjitske might come to America would be 1907 when she was 18. But why?
What would be the reason for her coming to America? It makes sense that she would go where she had relation, and in this case that would be to South Dakota where her brother, Douwe, resided. But she didn’t. Family legend claims she went to Grand Rapids.
I could think of two reasons why Tjitske might have chosen Grand Rapids as a destination. First, she may have married OR planned to marry. Perhaps her husband (or fiancé) had family in Grand Rapids.
I searched the marriage records for the Friesland Province within the Netherlands but came up blank. Tjitske did not marry there or anywhere else within the Netherlands. So she did not marry and then decide to come to Grand Rapids as a new couple to make a better life for themselves.
And the fact that I could find no immigration record for Tjitske was elusive.
I poured through the city directories for Grand Rapids. Voila… there was a Tjitske Postma listed in the 1910 directory, page 884, as a maid living at 618 Wealthy Avenue. Could this be her? Did she come to Grand Rapids because of the promise of work?
The next logical step was to determine who she was working for to see if there was some possible connection. I cross-referenced the address of 618 Wealthy Avenue within the street listing of the same directory, page 1471, and determined that the home was owned by a Mr. Harm Hamstra. Now who was he?
Come to discover that Harm Hamstra owned a huge Dutch import business based out of Grand Rapids. He was the one to go to for anything “Dutch”: wooden shoes, food products, decorations, etc. His booming business venture had him traveling to and from the Netherlands to trade for goods – and this meant returning to his homeland… in Friesland.
It is possible, though not proven, that Harm Hamstra during one of his visits was in search of a maid. And perhaps his family knew the Postma family and he was aware of Tjitske.
Looking back at the 1910 Federal Census I was able to find the Hamstra family listed but not with Tjitske. They had another servant girl listed by the name of Cora Monsma. Cora left the family to pursue a teaching position in Muskegon, Michigan, so there was a vacancy.
There was no evidence that Tjitske came to America to work for the Hamstra family, that is only theory. She could very well have come to America and learned of the maid position through her church.
In any regards Tjitske curiously disappears from Grand Rapids after 1910. I searched the City Directories post-1910 and could not find her.
This could mean that she married and changed her name or… worse case scenario, she had died.
I had discovered that the Hamstra family attended the Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. There was at that time three main Reformed bodies: the Reformed Churches of America, the Christian Reformed Church, and the Heritage Reformed Church (or True Dutch). That the Hamstra family attended the Christian Reformed Church made the church archives of this body the logical place to search for marriage records.
Again I came up blank. No banner ads (marriage announcements) had been published.
I then decided to search whether Tjitske had died.
Using FamilySearch.org I searched for “Tjitske Postma”. There were 1155 results. I refined this by adding the surnames of both father and mother: still way too many results and nothing relevant. Thinking that if Tjitske had been married and died young OR if her name had been Anglicized as so many Dutch names were, perhaps a better search might be for her parents.
I did another search for “Postma” adding a spouse surname of “Groenhof”. The first result on the list looked very promising. Found in the Michigan, Death Certificates database, 1921-1952, was a Jessie Veltman with parents, Heindrich Postma and Petermella Groenhof.
I clicked the link to discover that this Jessie Veltman died on 16 February 1929 at the age of 41. She was born on 8 May 1887. There she was!
Tjitske’s name had been Anglicized to “Jessie”. And apparently she had married into the Veltman family.
I then turned to SeekingMichigan.org where the State Archives have digitized many death certificates from the years 1897-1920. Jessie’s death didn’t occur until 1929; however, I have found numerous post-1920 death certificates that have been scanned.
I was in luck. Jessie’s death certificate was on file and it proved, without any doubt, that this was my client’s Great Aunt. From the certificate the following information can be gleaned:
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1) that Jessie Veltman’s name was “Tjitske”.
2) that Jessie died from “cancer of the stomach”.
3) that Jessie was married to a Sijske Veltman.
4) that Jessie was born May 8, 1887 in the Netherlands.
5) that Jessie’s father was Hendrich Postma.
6) that Jessie’s mother was Peternella Groenhof.
7) that Jessie’s last residence was at 1200 Hall St. in Grand Rapids.
8) that Jessie died on February 16, 1929.
9) that Jessie was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery on February 19, 1929.
Some very decent information. From that information I was able to trace Jessie back to 1910, discover the man she married, follow them up to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, find the names of their children to include a pair of stillborn twins, follow them back to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and to the place of Jessie’s death.
I was also able to find living family who had an old picture album that once belonged to Jessie. It contained pictures of her family… pictures that the present owner of the album knew nothing about.
So the point of this article is: never, never, never, give up. You never know where you will find an important lead that will snowball into further information. All it takes is one simple document, one tiny piece of information, to unlock the door for you.
I had never expected to find Tjitske Postma. Finding her was a real treat for me… and for my client. And I definitely never expected to find pictures of her and of her family: pictures that may have been lost to all time. In order to break through brick walls in your family tree you need to think differently: look for hidden resources and consider all the possibilities.
And should you ever need a lending hand... my services are available at GRAncestors.com.
My job was to find her and to determine what became of her.
Female relatives can be quite the daunting task to decipher: they marry and change their names. And if you don’t know where to look, or who they married, it is easy to lose track of them. For instance, in order to follow any sort of paper trail on a female relative it is pertinent to know: 1) whom they married so as to continue the trace and 2) where they married in order to locate the marriage document. Without any of this information it is a total crapshoot. You would have better luck in Vegas.
I took the case not expecting to find her. I really had some serious doubts because I had nothing to go on. I had no proof that she ever stepped foot in Grand Rapids and a preliminary check in immigration databases drew a blank.
So what to do?
Her name was Tjitske POSTMA. Tjitske POSTMA was born 8 May 1887 in Wymbritseradeel, Friesland. Her father was Hendrik Pieter POSTMA (1841-1921) and her mother was Petronella GROENHOF (1850-1919). This was the information I was armed with.
I knew I had to first place Tjitske in Grand Rapids. That would be my first step. Ancestry.com is placing many city directories online: Grand Rapids, Michigan is included. My client’s grandfather arrived in New York City in 1906. Tjitske would have been 17. The earliest that I would think Tjitske might come to America would be 1907 when she was 18. But why?
What would be the reason for her coming to America? It makes sense that she would go where she had relation, and in this case that would be to South Dakota where her brother, Douwe, resided. But she didn’t. Family legend claims she went to Grand Rapids.
I could think of two reasons why Tjitske might have chosen Grand Rapids as a destination. First, she may have married OR planned to marry. Perhaps her husband (or fiancé) had family in Grand Rapids.
I searched the marriage records for the Friesland Province within the Netherlands but came up blank. Tjitske did not marry there or anywhere else within the Netherlands. So she did not marry and then decide to come to Grand Rapids as a new couple to make a better life for themselves.
And the fact that I could find no immigration record for Tjitske was elusive.
I poured through the city directories for Grand Rapids. Voila… there was a Tjitske Postma listed in the 1910 directory, page 884, as a maid living at 618 Wealthy Avenue. Could this be her? Did she come to Grand Rapids because of the promise of work?
The next logical step was to determine who she was working for to see if there was some possible connection. I cross-referenced the address of 618 Wealthy Avenue within the street listing of the same directory, page 1471, and determined that the home was owned by a Mr. Harm Hamstra. Now who was he?
Come to discover that Harm Hamstra owned a huge Dutch import business based out of Grand Rapids. He was the one to go to for anything “Dutch”: wooden shoes, food products, decorations, etc. His booming business venture had him traveling to and from the Netherlands to trade for goods – and this meant returning to his homeland… in Friesland.
It is possible, though not proven, that Harm Hamstra during one of his visits was in search of a maid. And perhaps his family knew the Postma family and he was aware of Tjitske.
Looking back at the 1910 Federal Census I was able to find the Hamstra family listed but not with Tjitske. They had another servant girl listed by the name of Cora Monsma. Cora left the family to pursue a teaching position in Muskegon, Michigan, so there was a vacancy.
There was no evidence that Tjitske came to America to work for the Hamstra family, that is only theory. She could very well have come to America and learned of the maid position through her church.
In any regards Tjitske curiously disappears from Grand Rapids after 1910. I searched the City Directories post-1910 and could not find her.
This could mean that she married and changed her name or… worse case scenario, she had died.
I had discovered that the Hamstra family attended the Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. There was at that time three main Reformed bodies: the Reformed Churches of America, the Christian Reformed Church, and the Heritage Reformed Church (or True Dutch). That the Hamstra family attended the Christian Reformed Church made the church archives of this body the logical place to search for marriage records.
Again I came up blank. No banner ads (marriage announcements) had been published.
I then decided to search whether Tjitske had died.
Using FamilySearch.org I searched for “Tjitske Postma”. There were 1155 results. I refined this by adding the surnames of both father and mother: still way too many results and nothing relevant. Thinking that if Tjitske had been married and died young OR if her name had been Anglicized as so many Dutch names were, perhaps a better search might be for her parents.
I did another search for “Postma” adding a spouse surname of “Groenhof”. The first result on the list looked very promising. Found in the Michigan, Death Certificates database, 1921-1952, was a Jessie Veltman with parents, Heindrich Postma and Petermella Groenhof.
I clicked the link to discover that this Jessie Veltman died on 16 February 1929 at the age of 41. She was born on 8 May 1887. There she was!
Tjitske’s name had been Anglicized to “Jessie”. And apparently she had married into the Veltman family.
I then turned to SeekingMichigan.org where the State Archives have digitized many death certificates from the years 1897-1920. Jessie’s death didn’t occur until 1929; however, I have found numerous post-1920 death certificates that have been scanned.
I was in luck. Jessie’s death certificate was on file and it proved, without any doubt, that this was my client’s Great Aunt. From the certificate the following information can be gleaned:
2) that Jessie died from “cancer of the stomach”.
3) that Jessie was married to a Sijske Veltman.
4) that Jessie was born May 8, 1887 in the Netherlands.
5) that Jessie’s father was Hendrich Postma.
6) that Jessie’s mother was Peternella Groenhof.
7) that Jessie’s last residence was at 1200 Hall St. in Grand Rapids.
8) that Jessie died on February 16, 1929.
9) that Jessie was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery on February 19, 1929.
Some very decent information. From that information I was able to trace Jessie back to 1910, discover the man she married, follow them up to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, find the names of their children to include a pair of stillborn twins, follow them back to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and to the place of Jessie’s death.
I was also able to find living family who had an old picture album that once belonged to Jessie. It contained pictures of her family… pictures that the present owner of the album knew nothing about.
So the point of this article is: never, never, never, give up. You never know where you will find an important lead that will snowball into further information. All it takes is one simple document, one tiny piece of information, to unlock the door for you.
I had never expected to find Tjitske Postma. Finding her was a real treat for me… and for my client. And I definitely never expected to find pictures of her and of her family: pictures that may have been lost to all time. In order to break through brick walls in your family tree you need to think differently: look for hidden resources and consider all the possibilities.
And should you ever need a lending hand... my services are available at GRAncestors.com.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
DNA Testing - Which Company? Part One.
DNA testing for genealogical purposes can be an exciting
venture, but it can also be a very costly and confusing one as well. Many people jump in at the thought of finding
lost ancestors, breaking through brick walls, and meeting new cousins around
the globe. But these outcomes are not a
guarantee. The only ancestors you will
discover are the ones you already know – unless you are willing to spend a lot
of time researching the past to trace into the future (I’ll explain more on
this later). And brick walls can be
broken through but again it will take a lot of hard work and
determination. Cousins? You will meet a few; however, you will
discover that their family trees and your own don’t have any noticeable matches
and this will leave you feeling confused and oftentimes bewildered.
So what then? Should
you NOT be DNA tested? I’m not
attempting to steer anyone away from being tested. I think it is a wonderful opportunity to
assist in your genealogical practices: a method of extracting your deeper roots
via a genetic code that can be wisely used to match against probable prospects.
I myself have utilized DNA testing in this manner. As a male I have the opportunity to test for
all three available DNA packages on the market: Chromosomal (Y-DNA) which tests
the father’s line; the Mitochondrial (mt-DNA) which tests the mother’s line;
and the cheapest option, Autosomal DNA which tests everything to include all
the in-betweens.
Y-DNA testing will go back many centuries from father to son
on up the line. Similarly, mt-DNA will
do the same for the mother’s line. Both
of these tests can be a bit pricey. And
then there is the cheapest option, Autosomal DNA which tests the genetic
composition inherited from both sets of parents, thus being able to establish
or suggest our ethnicity.
At the time of this writing the following companies offer
DNA testing:
23andMe.com
This company, claiming to be the largest DNA ancestry
service in the world, sells a single Autosomal DNA test for $99 for which they
write, “trace your lineage back 10,000 years and discover your history from
over 750 maternal lineages and over 500 paternal lineages.” They used to offer health-related information
based on that genetic composition that suggested probable dis-eases a customer might
be prone to but the FDA got involved and shut the marketing of the health
information down. The FDA believed this
outcome to be unsubstantiated. Customers
that were grandfathered in were allowed to view their health profiles but new
customers will not be given any health-related information.
Personally I think the health information is quite
accurate. For instance I was tested to
have an increased risk for Type 2 Diabetes, Gout, Gallstones, Multiple
Sclerosis, High Blood Pressure, Scoliosis, amongst other things. When I served in the Marines they monitored
my blood sugar because I was borderline Diabetic. I do have (or had) high blood pressure which
is now controlled by eating properly and taking certain whole food supplements,
and I was discovered to have scoliosis (curvature of the spine) when 13 years
of age. Co-incidence? I don’t think so. I think 23andme.com is moving genetic science
forward into new territory… and anything new has always been feared and or
ridiculed UNTIL it was finally accepted as mainstream science.
So I fully support 23andMe.com in their foresight and wisdom
to launch into new territory. In my opinion
they should be allowed to continue their health investigations, questionnaires,
and publishing of possible risk factors WITH a disclaimer to the end-user that
these claims are not definite but probable.
My Experience with 23andMe.com
My ethnicity was determined to be 99.9% European with the
following breakdown: 18.6% British & Irish; 9.1% French & German; 1.4%
Scandinavian; 66.5% Nonspecific Northern European; 4.3% Nonspecific European;
and .1% Unassigned.
This composition comes from 31 tested populations
worldwide. Because it is Autosomal it
includes DNA inherited from both sides of my family – with no way of telling what
percentages I received from what parent.
If I were to have any complaints with the genetic
composition determined by 23andMe.com it is that it is not specific
enough. As you can see there is a large
segment (70.8%) that in labeled ‘nonspecific’ European. I would like to have that segmented
percentage broken down. Certainly there
are populations that can be tested in these European countries that can offer a
bit more in regards to ethnicity suggestions.
Other testing companies don’t seem to have a problem with this.
23andMe.com matched we with 991 relatives, two 2nd
cousin relationships (which I knew), two 3rd to 4th
cousin relationships (which I didn’t), and many 3rd to distant
relationships. A pet peeve of mine, and
it has nothing to do with any testing company, is that many testers hide behind
a shroud of privacy never revealing their ancestral surnames or even their own
name for that matter. What is the sense
in being tested if you don’t plan on making matches with other people? I’ve introduced myself to many matches only
to have my introduction declined or never answered. I just don’t get it.
Most of my 991 matches (and this number grows constantly as
new testers are matched) will NEVER be linked to my family tree. The surnames they give do not match my
own. And the distance between us could
be too great to make any sort of relationship finding useful.
AncestryDNA
A newcomer to the scene of genetic testing is Ancestry.com’s
own AncestryDNA. AncestryDNA offers a
full-range of testing: Y-DNA, mt-DNA, and Autosomal DNA. The Y-DNA test costs either $149 for a 33
Chromosome test or $179 for a 46. The
mtDNA test will cost you $179. And
combined the cost is either $328 or $358.
The Autosomal DNA test is regularly priced at $99.
Personally I don’t feel AncestryDNA’s Y-DNA testing at the
33 and 46 chromosome levels is sufficient to establish any sort of relationship. In my opinion this low level of testing can
establish too many false leads. I would
think this testing should be amped up to either 67 or 111 levels. This higher level of testing paints an
entirely new picture sifting low-level results while keeping only the best.
My wife and I have both been tested through
AncestryDNA. I paid for the mtDNA on
myself, manually entered my Y-DNA results from another company, and took the
Autosomal DNA test. My wife only took
the Autosomal DNA test.
AncestryDNA’s Autosomal test reveals a bit more than does
23andMe.com. With AncestryDNA it is
estimated that I am 100% European with the following genetic breakdown: 34%
Europe West (Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg,
Liechtenstein – also found in England, Denmark, Italy, Slovenia, and the Czech
Republic); 33% Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales – also found in Ireland,
France, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and
Italy); 16% Scandinavian (Sweden, Norway, Denmark – also found in Great
Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, the Baltic States, and
Finland); 11% Ireland (Ireland, Wales, Scotland – also found in France and
England); 3% Italy/Greece; 2% Finland/Northern Russia; less than 1% Iberian
Peninsula; and less than 1% Europe East.
These figures are quite a bit different from that suggested
by 23andMe.com. I think AncestryDNA’s
suggestions are closer to the truth. My
father is Dutch. He comes from a long
lineage of Dutch marrying only Dutch.
And my mother’s line does have English, Scottish, and Irish with a bit
of German… all which are suggested by AncestryDNA.
Because Ancestry.com is such a large company I have many
more matches with varying degrees of confidence that there is a common ancestor
we share: some as high as 96%. And the
user testees are much more likely to have an established family tree for
comparison. I like that.
Unlike 23andMe.com I HAVE found new cousins with proven
relationships through Autosomal testing.
And I’ve even been privy to new information learned from these cousins –
information I would not have come across on my own. But I have learned nothing new through
either Ancestry.com’s Y-DNA or mtDNA testing.
I think AncestryDNA’s claim to fame is in its Autosomal DNA
test. The other tests have fallen to the
wayside. They are still there, they are
still being offered, but they are not as popular.
Why is that? I think
most people take the DNA test hoping to discover their ethnicity. And only the Autosomal test is able to
suggest this. Plus because the price of
the Autosomal test is so low compared to the more exhaustive test, it is in
better reach for most people financially.
My wife’s own testing was a bit more generalized than
mine. She descends from Central American
native Indians that mixed with the Conquistadors. She is tall, slender, with high cheekbones,
dark hair, and definite “indian” features.
AncestryDNA did account for this Indian composition categorizing it as:
57% Native American (North, Central or South American). This is NOT specific enough.
It was interesting however to see where the other 43% of her
genetic composition derived.
Surprisingly it was not all Iberian Peninsula (Spain). This only made of 8% of her genetics. Her breakdown was 10% Italy/Greece, 8%
Iberian Peninsula, 7% Great Britain, 3% Asian, 3% Irish, 3% European Jew, and
less than 1% each: Finland/Northwest Russia, Europe West, Pacific Islander, and
West Asian.
Because I did not feel that lumping all Native Americans
into one category was sufficient enough to establish my wife’s tribal
composition I turned to a lesser-known company that specializes in this
information. And I wouldn’t doubt that
Ancestry.com one day purchases this company because of the phenomenal job they
have done with testing native cultures around the world: information that is
valuable for summarizing genetic matches.
DNA Tribes
Found at DNAtribes.com, this company also tests the
Autosomal DNA inherited from both parents BUT this company compares that DNA
with over 1,200 ethnic groups found in 32 regions around the globe! But would this test reveal my wife’s Native
American tribal composition?
Soon after testing we received a 10-page PDF report
detailing my wife’s genetic profile. The
first 6 pages explained the process with colorized maps showing the various tribal
regions. And they are quite
detailed. The 6th page
explains the scoring methods used by the company to suggest match likelihood
with any given native culture. The final
4 pages were labeled as strictly confidential in nature. Page 7 shows all alleles tested and their
results. Page 8 shows native population
match results with map. Page 9 shows
global population match results with map.
And finally page 10 shows world region match results with map.
According to the report my wife tests high for:
Otomi (Ixmiquilpan Valley, Mexico); and Hna Hun (Otomi)
(Hidalgo, Mexico); Huastec (Hidalgo, Mexico), amongst others. These are all Mexican native cultures. But there were also a few Peruvian cultures
that matched.
Interesting to say the least. My wife remembers hearing her father talk
about the Huastec culture, how his side was descended from this mountain-dwelling
people. Her father is quite tall,
perhaps the mixture with Europeans originated in his lineage. Her mother is much shorter. It may be assumed, not proven, that her lineage
descends from the Otomi culture.
The Huastec culture is a pre-Columbian culture that constructed
cities and step pyramids, carved elaborate sculptures, painted pottery, but
wore no clothes. They were defeated in
1450 by the Aztec armies under Moctezuma and again in 1519-1530 by the Spanish
Invaders who quickly converted the natives to Roman Catholicism and/or sold the
natives into the Caribbean to be used for slave labor.
Because my wife knew about the Huastecs, to a certain
degree, and because DNA Tribes placed the Huastec culture near the top of my
wife’s ethnicity, it proves the reliability of this test. We found the test to be extremely accurate in
its predictions.
The test costs either $139.99 for a 22 marker test OR
$159.99 for a 26 marker test.
The one thing I didn’t like about the test results was the
way the results were delivered. Instead
of pointing us to their website where we could log-in and view the results,
they emailed a PDF report. This report
if lost cannot be reclaimed. It is lost
forever. I had a hard time finding it
for this article. I have since printed
it out.
I feel DNA Tribes is able to give those lumped into “native
cultures” by other testing companies a more accurate picture of their genetic
composition. It certainly did for my
wife. She now knows with a near absolute
certainty what ancient tribal cultures she descends through.
FamilyTree DNA
Then finally there is the grand-daddy of them all…
FamilyTree DNA. There is a reason that
90% of all genealogists recommend FamilyTree DNA. I will be exploring these reasons in Part 2
of this article.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Photo Mystery Solved
I am a trained Screenwriter. One of the first things we are taught, and what separates "good" screenwriting opposed to "novice" or
"bad" screenwriting is the adage, "pictures speak louder than words". We write in terms of visuals allowing the pictures to describe the context or subtext.
In Genealogy, pictures hold the same meaning. We can get a lot out of a picture oftentimes breaking through an unidentified picture through visuals contained within: people, place, and setting.
One such picture is the following (resized for web composition).
I scanned this photo in at a 600dpi resolution saving file as a TIFF. The TIFF format is a lossless file type meaning that no information is lost; and saving at 600dpi is a good quality resolution capturing the most pixels from the original photo.
I use both Windows and Mac computers. One program that I really like is PhotoScape. PhotoScape was initially written for Windows PCs but they recently released a Mac version, though the Mac version has fewer features.
PhotoScape allows me to zoom in, play with contrast and brightness, amongst other tweaks. There are many other programs for both Windows and Mac computers that do the same thing, I just use PhotoScape as a matter of preference.
The above photo was found in an inherited collection. It was not identified. We had absolutely no idea where the photo was taken or whose grave monument was pictured. Neither did we know who was pictured facing away from the camera.
I decided to put the photo to the test. First thing I did was to auto-level and auto-context the photo. I then zoomed in on the stone to see if I could read any words thereon. I could see some very light text that I had never seen before: this can't be seen on the photo in its regular square size.
Playing with the brightness and contrast I was able to make out a few words inscribed on the stone:
SARAH WELLS and WM BULL, the latter transcribed twice, both above Sarah's name and beneath it.
I took these names to FindaGrave.com to see if anyone had created a memorial for either name AND to see if perhaps a photo had been taken of the same stone as pictured.
To my luck and amazement... it had! http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=19421740&PIpi=17253609
The stone is taken from about the same point of view. You can see the same markers behind the monument. It is definitely a match.
This monument belongs to William BULL (1689-1755) and his wife, Sarah Wells BULL (1694-1796). They were buried in Hamptonburgh Cemetery, at Orange County, New York.
The monument was erected by William and Sarah BULL'S descendants.
The next thing to determine is the date of the photo. I will contact the Hamptonburgh Cemetery to determine the date of the monument's erection. That might be a clue as to the photo's date. Perhaps, and my best educated guess, the woman pictured in the photo was one of the descendants who donated funds to have the monument erected.
I will post more as I know more. At least I have taken a previously unknown photo, unmarked in any way, and determined who it belongs to. I have posted this photo the memorial page of William and Sarah BULL found at FindaGrave.com.
In Genealogy, pictures hold the same meaning. We can get a lot out of a picture oftentimes breaking through an unidentified picture through visuals contained within: people, place, and setting.
One such picture is the following (resized for web composition).
I scanned this photo in at a 600dpi resolution saving file as a TIFF. The TIFF format is a lossless file type meaning that no information is lost; and saving at 600dpi is a good quality resolution capturing the most pixels from the original photo.
I use both Windows and Mac computers. One program that I really like is PhotoScape. PhotoScape was initially written for Windows PCs but they recently released a Mac version, though the Mac version has fewer features.
PhotoScape allows me to zoom in, play with contrast and brightness, amongst other tweaks. There are many other programs for both Windows and Mac computers that do the same thing, I just use PhotoScape as a matter of preference.
The above photo was found in an inherited collection. It was not identified. We had absolutely no idea where the photo was taken or whose grave monument was pictured. Neither did we know who was pictured facing away from the camera.
I decided to put the photo to the test. First thing I did was to auto-level and auto-context the photo. I then zoomed in on the stone to see if I could read any words thereon. I could see some very light text that I had never seen before: this can't be seen on the photo in its regular square size.
Playing with the brightness and contrast I was able to make out a few words inscribed on the stone:
I took these names to FindaGrave.com to see if anyone had created a memorial for either name AND to see if perhaps a photo had been taken of the same stone as pictured.
To my luck and amazement... it had! http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=19421740&PIpi=17253609
The stone is taken from about the same point of view. You can see the same markers behind the monument. It is definitely a match.
This monument belongs to William BULL (1689-1755) and his wife, Sarah Wells BULL (1694-1796). They were buried in Hamptonburgh Cemetery, at Orange County, New York.
The monument was erected by William and Sarah BULL'S descendants.
The next thing to determine is the date of the photo. I will contact the Hamptonburgh Cemetery to determine the date of the monument's erection. That might be a clue as to the photo's date. Perhaps, and my best educated guess, the woman pictured in the photo was one of the descendants who donated funds to have the monument erected.
I will post more as I know more. At least I have taken a previously unknown photo, unmarked in any way, and determined who it belongs to. I have posted this photo the memorial page of William and Sarah BULL found at FindaGrave.com.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Seeking Michigan - a Treasure Trove of Resources for Your Michigan-based Ancestors
Family historians with Michigan-based ancestors have something to cheer about... it's called, Seeking Michigan.org.
Seeking Michigan is run by the Michigan Historical Center and it includes Archives of Michigan research guides, indexes, a blog, and other resources all from the Michigan Historical Center and Archives of Michigan staff.
As a genealogist I use this phenomenal website for two main reasons.
MICHIGAN DEATH RECORDS 1897-1920
First, Seeking Michigan's most popular online collection is its Michigan Death Records, 1897-1920. With more than a million records, and with new material being added on a regular basis, this database allows the download of death records for your ancestors if they occurred in Michigan AND if that death took place in the time frame given.
There are some records post-1920.
And this is FREE. There is no cost to you. What a wonderful tool! I have personally downloaded hundreds of death records from this Seeking Michigan database. The records for download are high-resolution scans of the actual death certificate, not a transcription.
You can search using an advanced tool that allows you to refine the results by County. If you don't find your ancestor at first, try entering name variations. Here is what I do:
1a) search by known last name
1b) search by known last name and county
2a) search by first name
2b) search by first name and county
I had a recent client who hired me to find her Great Aunt who was rumored to have come to Grand Rapids, Michigan around the early 1900s. No trace could be found of her.
Without much to go on I decided to search Seeking Michigan's Death Record database. Perhaps she died early. It was worth a shot.
I entered her known last name. Nothing.
I then entered her first name which was in Dutch. A few results, but no matches.
I then reran the search but used English variations of her given Dutch name. This time I was successful in finding her. Though there were numerous matches, one stood out from all the others because, fortunately, her maiden name was also inserted on the death certificate.
MICHIGAN 1884 AND 1894 CENSUSES
Another important database that I use frequently is the Seeking Michigan 1884 and 1894 Census.
While the 1890 Federal Census was destroyed leaving a large gap between the Census years of 1880 and 1900, this gap can be overcome with the Michigan 1884 and 1894 Censuses if available: some of the 1894 Michigan Censuses are missing (destroyed).
This database can help the family researcher determine children born and/or deaths during this 20 year gap (1880-1900). I have found so many important clues using this database that I might otherwise never have found.
There are several other databases found on Seeking Michigan but the two mentioned in this article are the two I utilize the most, both for myself and for my clients.
So bookmark SeekingMichigan.org and browse the numerous resources to be found there.
Seeking Michigan is run by the Michigan Historical Center and it includes Archives of Michigan research guides, indexes, a blog, and other resources all from the Michigan Historical Center and Archives of Michigan staff.
As a genealogist I use this phenomenal website for two main reasons.
MICHIGAN DEATH RECORDS 1897-1920
First, Seeking Michigan's most popular online collection is its Michigan Death Records, 1897-1920. With more than a million records, and with new material being added on a regular basis, this database allows the download of death records for your ancestors if they occurred in Michigan AND if that death took place in the time frame given.
There are some records post-1920.
And this is FREE. There is no cost to you. What a wonderful tool! I have personally downloaded hundreds of death records from this Seeking Michigan database. The records for download are high-resolution scans of the actual death certificate, not a transcription.
You can search using an advanced tool that allows you to refine the results by County. If you don't find your ancestor at first, try entering name variations. Here is what I do:
1a) search by known last name
1b) search by known last name and county
2a) search by first name
2b) search by first name and county
I had a recent client who hired me to find her Great Aunt who was rumored to have come to Grand Rapids, Michigan around the early 1900s. No trace could be found of her.
Without much to go on I decided to search Seeking Michigan's Death Record database. Perhaps she died early. It was worth a shot.
I entered her known last name. Nothing.
I then entered her first name which was in Dutch. A few results, but no matches.
I then reran the search but used English variations of her given Dutch name. This time I was successful in finding her. Though there were numerous matches, one stood out from all the others because, fortunately, her maiden name was also inserted on the death certificate.
MICHIGAN 1884 AND 1894 CENSUSES
Another important database that I use frequently is the Seeking Michigan 1884 and 1894 Census.
While the 1890 Federal Census was destroyed leaving a large gap between the Census years of 1880 and 1900, this gap can be overcome with the Michigan 1884 and 1894 Censuses if available: some of the 1894 Michigan Censuses are missing (destroyed).
This database can help the family researcher determine children born and/or deaths during this 20 year gap (1880-1900). I have found so many important clues using this database that I might otherwise never have found.
There are several other databases found on Seeking Michigan but the two mentioned in this article are the two I utilize the most, both for myself and for my clients.
So bookmark SeekingMichigan.org and browse the numerous resources to be found there.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Citing Your Sources
How important is it to cite your sources?
So you do genealogy as a hobby... your family knows you as the 'family historian', how important is it that you cite your sources?
I am always amazed at the number of family trees on Ancestry.com that go unsourced.
When I conduct preliminary searches for information, I rely on sites like Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, and FamilySearch. Many people place a lot of information online that is not sourced through Ancestry.com failing to indicate where they get their information.
This makes it harder for the next person that comes along who may want to check/verify the information.
I have found many written reports from ancestors that dabbled in genealogy. Some offered information that is not found anywhere else. Perhaps they asked a living relative who knew the facts because they were only one generation removed. Or perhaps it was hearsay.
Without proper documentation, citing your sources, it is impossible to duplicate the information.
I had one relative who had the privilege of asking the last living daughter of our immigrating ancestor questions about that immigrating ancestor. And she did a wonderful job writing up a brief report concerning the family. But...
She failed to cite her sources. I haven't a clue what information was taken from the immigrating ancestor's daughter and what was not. Furthermore, she states information as if they were facts: information pertaining to the childhood of our immigrating ancestor. Where did she get this information? Did she find it in a book? Did she have privy to a lost document?
Even documents that I order: birth, death, and marriage certificates, these should be properly sourced on the certificate itself. This allows any family member either now or after I am dead, to find the same document.
So how do you properly source your information?
The authoritative guide to citing your sources that covers everything offline and online is: Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
This hefty volume will assist you in how to properly cite any source. Then you'll know where you got all your information and so will your family.
So you do genealogy as a hobby... your family knows you as the 'family historian', how important is it that you cite your sources?
I am always amazed at the number of family trees on Ancestry.com that go unsourced.
When I conduct preliminary searches for information, I rely on sites like Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, and FamilySearch. Many people place a lot of information online that is not sourced through Ancestry.com failing to indicate where they get their information.
This makes it harder for the next person that comes along who may want to check/verify the information.
I have found many written reports from ancestors that dabbled in genealogy. Some offered information that is not found anywhere else. Perhaps they asked a living relative who knew the facts because they were only one generation removed. Or perhaps it was hearsay.
Without proper documentation, citing your sources, it is impossible to duplicate the information.
I had one relative who had the privilege of asking the last living daughter of our immigrating ancestor questions about that immigrating ancestor. And she did a wonderful job writing up a brief report concerning the family. But...
She failed to cite her sources. I haven't a clue what information was taken from the immigrating ancestor's daughter and what was not. Furthermore, she states information as if they were facts: information pertaining to the childhood of our immigrating ancestor. Where did she get this information? Did she find it in a book? Did she have privy to a lost document?
Even documents that I order: birth, death, and marriage certificates, these should be properly sourced on the certificate itself. This allows any family member either now or after I am dead, to find the same document.
So how do you properly source your information?
The authoritative guide to citing your sources that covers everything offline and online is: Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
This hefty volume will assist you in how to properly cite any source. Then you'll know where you got all your information and so will your family.
Using DNA for Family Research
Have you hit a brick wall in your research? Has the paper trail brought you to a seeming end? If so your DNA may hold the answers.
Your gene pool... it is unique. There is no-one else just like you. All of the ancestors before you have added to your pool. And it is from this pool that you have been created: your appearance, your personality, your likes, your dislikes, your genetic makeup.
You are the sum total of all the ancestors that walked before you.
And because of this... it is possible to use your DNA to trace your ancestors, many generations removed.
Modern technology has made it possible to discover the genetic composition of your entire family tree using what is called "Autosomal DNA". This differs from both Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA that follow a single line backward: either the father's or the mother's lineage. Using Autosomal DNA it is possible to see ALL the in-betweens.
Your gene pool... it is unique. There is no-one else just like you. All of the ancestors before you have added to your pool. And it is from this pool that you have been created: your appearance, your personality, your likes, your dislikes, your genetic makeup.
You are the sum total of all the ancestors that walked before you.
And because of this... it is possible to use your DNA to trace your ancestors, many generations removed.
Modern technology has made it possible to discover the genetic composition of your entire family tree using what is called "Autosomal DNA". This differs from both Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA that follow a single line backward: either the father's or the mother's lineage. Using Autosomal DNA it is possible to see ALL the in-betweens.
Autosomal (or Nuclear) DNA is clearly the better choice when it comes to defining one's genetic composition but it may be lacking in definition. Let me explain.
In my own Family Tree I was fairly certain that I was of 100% European ancestry. Through testing my Autosomal DNA I was able to confirm this percentage with a certain accuracy. I say 'near' because there were a few differences amongst the various testing companies.
AncestryDNA defined my genetic composition as:
100% European: 34% West Europe; 33% Great Britain; 16% Scandinavia; 11% Ireland; and trace amounts - 3% Italy/Greece; 2% Finland/North Russia; <1% Iberian Peninsula; and <1% Europe East.
23andMe defined my genetic composition a bit differently:
99.9% European: 18.6% British/Irish; 9.1% French/German; 1.4% Scandinavian; 66.5% Nonspecific Northern European; 4.3% Nonspecific European; and .1% Unassigned.
FamilyTree DNA broke away from the 100% European with the following:
93.09% Western European (Orcadian) and 6.91% Middle East (Palestinian/Bedouin/Druze/Jewish/Mozabite).
With all three of these companies I was placed into a database with hundreds (some thousands) of DNA matches which is great. And the companies can even break it down to whether the matches are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or distant cousins.
The problem is that there is no way of knowing exactly HOW we are related and along WHAT line. Some testee matches have placed their family trees online and this simplifies the process in helping to determine possible lines, but these are seldom easy to trace but it is possible.
Autosomal DNA is the cheapest option but I don't feel that it should be a standalone product. What do I mean by this?
I think Autosomal DNA complements either the Y-DNA test, the Mitochondrial DNA test, or both.
For what purpose would you use these other two tests?
Y-DNA (see figure) traces one lineage - your father's. It follows the male chromosome up the line. Thus, your Y-DNA is virtually the same as that of your grandfather's or your 2nd great grandfathers. This type of DNA test is available for MALES ONLY. Women would have to have a brother or male cousin tested on their behalf.
What are Y-DNA uses?
I have used Y-DNA to assist in breaking through a brick wall in my family tree. Way back across the pond in the year 1765, I had a male descendant born out of wedlock. There is no paper trail to assist: his parish baptismal record is missing, and his mother's ancestry is not known. All we have to go on is a single document that tells us he was illegitimate.
Using my Y-DNA at a 67 level (sufficient for genetic testing), I did not find a single match. There were several at the lower levels (25/37) but blank at the 67 level. The Y-DNA test looks at certain areas of the chromosome for short-tandem repeats (STRs) which indicate, if there is a match, relationship. Testing at the Y-67 level means that I had 67 of these areas defined with no matches.
This does not mean that I give up just because I had zero matches. With any sort of DNA testing you need to be proactive. Take the initiative.
I sought out cousins who live in the Netherlands - known relationships to assist me in my efforts. Looking back through parish and civil records I found a couple possibilities: people who lived in the same areas, with similar names, who might possibly be the father of our ancestor.
So what I did, with the help of my cousins, is trace a potential candidate's lineage forward. We ran into a dead end when a male heir failed to produce a male descendant. So we backed up. We found the father of the possible match and other sons that would carry the same Y-DNA. We moved a line forward and found a living descendant of this son, brother to our possible match.
Because my Dutch is "niet zo goed", my Dutch-speaking cousins were able to reach out to this male descendant, explaining our situation, proving that we had the right guy, and having him tested for a match.
We anxiously awaited the result. This was our best candidate - one that made complete sense: this man was married, his wife was pregnant at the time our ancestor was born, and his surname matched our own (surnames weren't generally defined in the Netherlands until 1811 under a mandate by Napoleon who had ransacked the country).
He was not a match.
But he could have been. And that would have been a remarkable breakthrough in our brick wall. But now we are back to researching other possible candidates.
And it is very possible that a male heir (distant cousin) of my ancestor's father, some male who possesses the same Y-DNA as my own, will one day be tested. But sitting around waiting for that to happen... that could take decades.
Mitochondrial DNA works the same way as Y-DNA exact it follows the mother's lineage upwards: from mother to mother.
I have tested with the three largest companies and must admit that, while I am somewhat suspicious of their findings concerning my genetic composition, they are the absolute best for testing because they offer more than just a standardized autosomal DNA test. It is no wonder why 80% of the world's genealogists recommend FamilyTree DNA over all other companies.
Their database is the largest.
I hope I have helped you in your decision to take a DNA test, whether man or woman. I recommend FamilyTree DNA for combined testing AND AncestryDNA for autosomal DNA genetic composition.
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