Designing Your Own Genealogy Charts

Really working hard trying to put my family history book together. I tried to make a pedigree chart using my gedcom file and saved it as a PDF. When I tried to upload it at Lulu the file wasn't accepted. I then turned to designing my own chart. Since my focus in the book is the Forgey line designing my own chart really is the best solution anyway. I decided to make a basic hierarchical chart beginning with my grandparents in two rectangular boxes, with my great-grandparents boxes going down the page. Not sure about how colors and fancy formatting would translate as far as publishing at Lulu, so I decided to just go very basic. Hopefully, Lulu will accept this PDF. Lulu does not accept PDF's without embedded fonts.
Looking at several videos at the Microsoft Charts page I see you can really create some interesting personalized charts. With time and creativity you can produce a work of art. I like the idea of making unconventional charts that will display well in a book format, or on an 8x11 piece of paper.
You can see my entire chart here https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwF6-JJ2FtA1Vm52QUZuY3U5T2s
In other news I received an email from someone descended from the Forgy family of Pennsylvania and Ohio. He took the FT DNA Family Finder test. This family did not match my line as far as the Y test goes. This may have been due to a non paternity event in one branch of that family. I am curious as to whether this person's Family Finder results may show a relationship to our family? Since this is an autosomal test it may not pick up a relationship that far back in time?

Searching for John and Nancy Forgey in Maury County, TN

The search continues for John and Nancy Forgey documents in Maury County, Tennessee. I thought I might find them in deeds records. I sent a request to Maury County Archives and asked for a search of their indexes for the Forgey/Forgy surname. They did not find them listed in the deeds. I might search myself eventually because it's always possible the name was badly misspelled. I should also check the deeds records for Giles County, TN. Numerous entries were found for the Andrew and Eleanor Forgey's children.
So far I've only seen John Forgey listed with Andrew Forgey on Taxlists for Giles and Maury County, TN the 1820 Census for Maury County. We know that John Forgey was in the Giles/Maury County in 1810 when he was appointed Militia Captain. He also appears to have been involved in a lawsuit in 1813:
 "Giles County TN 1813-11-16

On motion of Isaac SAMS by John WHITE his atty. and it appearing to the satisfaction of this court that the said Isaac SAMS has paid as security for John FORGEY, the sum of $11.23 on an execution which issued in pursuance of a judgment rendered at the last term of this court in favour of William BALL against said FORGEY & AMS, it is considered by the court that plft. recover against said deft. the aforesaid sum. (Judg. & Clks. fees paid) GI Cty. Ct. Min. 

John is not mentioned in any records for Maury County after 1820. Although, I believe this 1822 Maury County Deed book entry probably refers to John Forgey, because I have not found a John Forney living in the area at the time:

Maury County Will abstract

 I have not found Nancy Forgey mentioned in any records in that area.

This is the deeds Index for James Forgey the Maury County archives Clerk sent me:

Join the Marines see Nicaragua??

I've been collecting family pictures and scanning them for a Family History book. When I found a song at YouTube called Nicaragua I knew I needed to make a photo video (just click above to watch).
My grandfather Charles Lynn Forgey was a US Marine. He joined the Marines in June 1916 (he was actually under age at the time so he lied about his age). First stationed at Mare Island Alameda, California he shipped out to Nicaragua in 1917.

Isis Forgey death record

My grandfather met and married my grandmother in Nicaragua. He remained in Nicaragua after his June 1920 discharge. He worked in the Chontales Honduras gold mines and for the Asotria Mahogany Comapny which was based in New York. Two children were born in Nicaragua. Isis Forgey (misspelled Hayses in her birth record) and my mother Edna Forgey. Isis was the oldest and sadly died a few months after her birth in 1920. According to the death record she died at half past 2 am on May 13, 1920 of an acute Gastrointestinal Infection. My mother was stung by a scorpion as a toddler and had to learn to walk a second time after that.
The family left Nicaragua in 1925 aboard the mail steamer Venezuela. My mother recalls leaving Nicaragua. She rode on a mule or donkey to the ship. She remembers monkeys trowing twigs. She threw one of her shoes overboard once they got on the ship. She also remembers the cabin steward was Chinese. Most of the passengers were American. They stopped at Mazatlan Mexico where passengers were taken off in baskets for site seeing.
They landed in San Pedro California where the family lived a short time.

Forgey family Passenger list (my mother didn't come over stowed away on a banana boat as my father said lol).

A Software Generated Family History

I've been comparing software generated Family templates for creating a Family History. I started out by using my own Rootsmagic program. I used the modified register report and added more photos for family members. It produced a nice layout, with lots of detail included in the family group layout. It also produced an index which is so helpful.

I also downloaded a free trial of The Family Historian software. I created another modified register here. It produced a slightly different layout. I believe that company is based in the UK where they have a different protocol for the arrangement of the data. Rootsmagic provided more details for individuals at the family group level whereas Family Historian only gave date ranges and no spouse info at this level. I could not manipulate the pictures in the Rootsmagic program but could with Family Historian. I was able to make the pictures small, medium and large. I could also move them. I later found out I could change the size of the pictures at Rootsmagic by going into setting then options and resizing them. I don't think you can move them in Rootsmagic?

I like the uncluttered, neater, layout Family Historian produced. It's easier for family members to read. Genealogists would probably prefer a more detail oriented layout like Rootsmagic.

Interchangeable Ancestors? The Family Search Tree

Musical Ancestors?

The game I've been playing at FamilySearch Tree . First an explanation of the situation at FamilySearch Tree. I am not sure whether this is now open for everyone to look at? If you have access it is the Tree which is displayed when you sign into FamilySearch and click the link to your own tree. This is the shared Family Tree created by FamilySearch which merges info that you may have contributed with contributions from other researchers. FamilySearch is also attempting to combine duplicate entries. All this merging has led to the merging of separate individuals, with the same name, being merged into one person.  So when you display your ancestor's individual profile you might see something like the profile to the right. What's the matter with that info? Well could someone born in in 1732 have been a resident of Calumet, Pike, Missouri in 1850? Also Andrew Forgey died in 1809. So obviously two separate Andrew Forgey's are being referred to in this one profile.
Another problem is disagreement among researchers regarding facts. If several separate facts are available for an ancestor all remain attached to the person. This can be useful. Research can then focus on resolving these discrepancies.
The biggest problem is once we have solved these discrepancies the bad information remains posted. The visible information may be changed to that verified with documentation as correct, but all of the bad information remains and can be added back at anytime.

Here is an example in my own family. There is a disagreement among Forgey Family researchers regarding the father of Andrew Forgey b. 1794. Some believe his name was James Forgey. I've done extensive research and believe his name was Hugh Forgey. Some researchers will never accept this. The parents I found for Andrew Forgey when I looked at the New Family Search Tree were James Forgey and Margaret Caldwell. We have their bible, and they didn't have a son named Andrew Forgey listed. According to his date of birth he does not fit into the birth order of their children; unless, Margaret had twins born 6 months apart?  I was able to add the parents I believe to be Andrew's parents at New Family Search (apparently you cannot add parents at the Family Search Tree).  You can see in the example image that Andrew Forgey now has four possible parents. These can switched be at anytime; hence, musical ancestors. I guess if you get tired of one set you can switch. Seriously though, this creates a muddled family tree with contending relatives switching parents back and forth. Hopefully, an arbitration situation can be created in the future where only the ancestors proven by a preponderance of the evidence can be displayed. 

Converting Your Blog to PDF Free

My blog contains information which isn't recorded anywhere else . I've used it as a log for my research and consult it often.   I've backed it up downloading it from Blogger. This file can only be opened using blogger. I wanted to save it in a format not dependent on Blogger to open and view. I've looked into Blog Publishing Companies Blog 2 Print and Blurb. These companies charge from $20.00 and up to print your blog in book form. I plan on printing my Forgey Family History in the near future so I would rather not devote that money to printing my blog. It sounds like my blog would cost about $70 to print in a soft cover at Blurb. As I stated I basically just don't want to lose all this work. A digital copy in a usable  Format was my goal to create today. I could print it later. I discovered I could save it as PDF. I used two different techniques to to do this. One technique was using the BlogBooker website. The final results were fair. The formatting is different from the actually format found at the blog. Different fonts and picture arrangement made everything a little confusing. It's not bad though and has a table of contents.

Create PDF from Print Screen

Another way I was able to create a Blog PDF was by using the print screen on my computer (see an example bottom). From print I was able to save the Blog as a PDF. This produced a result closest to the original blog layout. There was one hiccup. Two posts contained pictures over the text. This probably had to do with my layout not being correct for those two posts. I was not able to display all my posts on one page at blogger. I made seven PDF's and combined them together using this free software PDFbinder. I could have appended the PDF's when I saved them too. You can compare the two PDF layout here:

1. Created by BlogBooker  http://archive.org/download/AksGenealogyBlogBook/t13vfm04-book.pdf
2. Created by saving with Print Screen  http://ia701206.us.archive.org/25/items/MyGenealogyResearch/AksGenealogyResearchCompleteBlog.pdf

Hugh Forgey reference Deeds Knox County, TN

I've been so busy with the 1940 Census I haven't had time to do an analysis of the deeds I received from Knox County Archives for Hugh Forgey. I had hoped one of these deeds would be a purchase deed for Hugh Forgey's 250 acres on Flat Creek. Unfortunately none were purchase deeds. In fact none of the deeds were transactions for Hugh. He was a witness or mentioned in these deeds. They are all helpful, however, because they name associates and neighbors. Since no census records exist for this time period (1790's) the deeds help to identify the Forgey neighbors. The deed to the right top contains a property description. Hugh Forgey's property is mentioned as bordering this very large tract. It's a 4000 acre tract so it doesn't narrow the area of the possible location of Hugh's land by that much. I need to map out these tracts to get a better picture of where the land may have been? That's my next project. The John Meek (to the right) was witnessed by Hugh Forgey. I don't know whether this Meek is a relative of Agnes Meek who married Hugh's Uncle Alexander Forgey in Washington County, VA? I do think it is highly likely that Alexander Forgey and Andrew Forgey of Maury County, TN were son's of Alexander Forgey Sr. of Washington County, VA. I had been a little troubled about not find Andrew or Alexander listed in taxlists for Washington County, VA. Actually there are several possible reasons for this including living in someone else's household, possibly working on another farm or as an apprentice? There are unnamed young men living in Alexander's household, but they are not listed on every taxlist.

Another deed to the right bottom was witnessed by Hugh Forgey and John Reynolds, Hugh's Uncle and neighbor on Little Flat Creek. They witnessed this deed for the prominent citizen of the area Nicolas Gibbs.

I am happy I ordered these deeds. I think it's important to collect and analyze any scrap of paper involving the family in that area.

Finding My Family 1940 Plus Indexing the First 1000 are the Toughest

Kapple/Kappel family home on Forest in Chicago, Illinois

A week has passed since the harrowing 1940 US Census debut. The first day left us wondering if we would ever actually see any of the census images. A tsunami of people hit the servers on that first day bringing the Official Site down. It looked like we would not be able to index that first day. By about 5 pm pacific time I was able to get my first batch to index. Since then I'v pasted the 1000 name mark. I am sure my first few batches of 1940 Census Index pages weren't the best. I am learning the indexing game as I go along; on the job. I heard someone complain at a recent 1940 Census Webinar that indexers are not following instructions. For the most part the instructions for each field on the Census are plainly explained in a box to the right of what you are indexing. When you are getting started, however, these numerous instructions can be overwhelming. It is necessary to keep referring to them until you have gained some skill. It takes time to learn how to interpret handwriting etc. plus remember all of the instructions. After a week I predict those who stick with indexing will be on their way to near perfection when it comes to indexing. The arbitrators will have to bear with the newbies for a while.
As far as the handwriting goes interpretation has been much like what I am familiar with regarding my research in original records. You have to keep looking at the words and names you know to untangle the ones you don't know. I have also used Google Search to find the correct place names and Family Search to find hard to decipher family names. I often find the same families on the 1930 US Census. If you like solving these handwriting puzzles you will love indexing. It is rewarding when you finally correctly identify some of the  scribbles.
So far I have worked on indexes for Delaware, Colorado, Kansas, California, Illinois, Oregon and Virginia. The readability of these pages ranges from nearly completely illegible and sometimes very blurred images, to excellent quality, very legible handwriting. Most images are 90 some percent readable with a few   indecipherable entries. I have noticed many misspellings of places and names. The Census takers often used phonetic spellings. I would have thought by 1940 the names would have been spelled correctly. 
I think a problem for young indexers is going to be the outdated first names. Post baby boomers likely don't have much contact with this older generation. I remember a young saleperson at Macy's had never heard of the name Marjorie before. My mother's best friend was Marjorie and she was surprised that this young woman never heard of it before. Names like Marjorie, Mildred, Doris etc. coupled with outdated handwriting styles, might be a little tricky for the younger generation.

Mary Kappel and family 1940 US Census

As I said earlier the first day the Census was released was a day of frustration and confusion. After all the build up to this day I was inpatient to find my family. I did all the preliminary research at the Steve Morse One Step 1940 Site. I had my ED districts ready. I got up early which was unnecessary because the official site crashed. Ancestry.com was the first site to get viewable images up for a few states. Lucky California was one of those states which was available by midday. That night I found out the My Heritage Site had Illinois images posted so I began searching there about 10pm. So by the end of that day I found my Great-Grandmother Mary Kappel in Chicago, Illinois with some of her family, and my mother's family in Puente, California. Sadly the Forest address is not where my grandparents Rudolph and Dorothy Kapple lived in 1940. I have tried to search the area for them but Chicago is such a large city I quickly found it would be nearly impossible to find them that way. I may have to wait for the index. I do have a list of people to search for in the index when that is ready.

Charles and Graciela Forgey family 1940 Census

I found the information for my family very interesting. I did not know my grandfather Charles Forgey still worked for the WPA in 1940. I knew that he had worked for the WPA in Glendale when he was supposed to make a list of all the City Trees in Glendale giving their species. In 1940 he seems to have been working on a School Construction site. I am thinking that may have been Hudson School or El Monte High School? I have some lighting fixtures and a few other items from Hudson School which was demolished in the 1980's. My mother remembers when her family was getting relief during the depression. The government gave jackets to poor families which my mother did not want to wear because then people knew you were on relief. Soon after this my grandfather was able to get defense work. He worked at Douglas in Long Beach as a shipping and receiving clerk during WWII. 

Major League Pitcher Denver Lemaster

A picture my family has of Denver Lemaster makes more sense now. When I looked at the entry before my grandparents I found the Lemaster family with their child Denver. Apparently this child later became a Major league baseball Pitcher; Denny Lemaster.
My mother was selected to answer more questions in the 1940 Census which actually didn't provide any info I didn't already know.
I noticed that my Forgey Grandparents land was valued at $2000.  
It was wonderful that my Great Grandmother Mary Kappel still lived on Forest in Chicago in 1940. Her daughter and son-in-law and couple of her children and grandchildren also lived with her. Apparently her son-in-law and his family moved in when my grandparents moved out. It's great to get more family names. I will have to research the newly identified family members. As I said previously my Grandparents divorced and my Grandmother Dorothy Kapple brought her family to California. My grandfather Rudolph Kapple remained in Chicago. The family in Chicago was rarely referred to. I never knew that Rudolph had 10 siblings until I began researching. I am just now learning the names of more of his nieces and nephews. We have no pictures of the early Kappel family in Chicago. My father was young when his parents divorced. One of the fond memories my Father had regarding his father was a tour he was given of a steel mill by his father. I wondered about how my grandfather had access to a steel mill? Now I see that his brother William and his brother-in-law were working in the steel industry 1940. I will see if Rudolph also worked in the steel industry when I locate him.

1940 US Census: Separating Communists from Patriotic Americans

Actually Communists and Patriotic Americans were allies during WWII.  So Communists, leftists, rightists and everyone is encouraged to help index the 1940 Census beginning April 2nd  (except Fascists)!

"
What You Can Do Now

1. Download and install the indexing software
   Watch an Overview | Get Started
2. Learn how to index the 1940 US Census
   Watch a Video | Try the 1940 Census indexing simulation
3. Let others know about the 1940 US Census Community Project
   Like the Facebook page | Follow @The1940Census on Twitter | Follow the page on Google+ | Tell friends about the1940census.com

You can keep up with the latest updates by visiting the1940census.com often over the next few weeks.

Thank You!
The 1940 US Census Community Project Team"

I've mapped out my strategy for tomorrow.

I went to Steve Morse's On Step Website http://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html

I found the following enumeration districts using addresses and a 1930 enumeration district:

1. 103-602 for 11321 Forest Avenue Chicago Illinois for the Kappel/Kapple Family. Half the family living in that house spelled the name Kappel and the other half Kapple LOL. I am not sure whether any members of the family lived there in 1940? I have not been able to locate the address of the Rectory House the family later purchased and may have lived in 1940? I am going to try some more to locate the address.
2. I found 3 districts for 4th Avenue Puente, California 19-166 A-D, 19-167, 19-168. This is for the Forgey family. They also may have still been in Glendale, California on 124 Cypress enumeration district 19-210?

I am fairly sure I can find the Forgeys tomorrow? Will probably need Rectory House Address for Kapple's ? Anyway I will be here http://1940census.archives.gov/ at around 6am pacific tomorrow

Lonely Civil War Soldier Needs Your letters

Some people are letter writers and some not. Nancy Forgey/Moss was in the latter. I never enjoyed writing letters either. Typing a letter is much more enjoyable than handwriting one, however.

Lick Creek April 1, 1862
"Dear Wife
I received your letter baring date April 1st and was glad to here from you. I have nothing of interest to write from the fact that I have wrote to you every other day since I came here whether you ever received my letters or not I can't say as you have not wrote whether you have received any one of them or not you must write oftener and write whether you ever received my letters or not you must take care of your self the Best you can. I was joking about writing every other day but I have wrote five or six letters to you beside peases that I have wrote in others since I came here. This leaves me well hoping it ma reach and find you enjoying all the pleasures of life you must answer this immediately. So no more But Remain your affectionate Husband. John R. Moss"

Lick Creek April 1, 1862
"Dear Father
I was informed yesterday by West Eavens that you was at home which I was glad to here. But at the same time sorry to here that you was not well. I want you to do Nancyes writing for her and all so want you to write to me your self. Give me all the News as I have a bad chance of geting any here you must let me now where you left Harry so that I can write to him. tell Mother I would have come By when I started up here but I new it would hert her.


Vicksburg, Miss March 9th 1863
"Dear Wife,
As I have an opportunity of writing to you and sending it by hand I conclude to drop you a few lines which will inform you that I am well. Trusting at the same time these lines may reach and find well. I have nothing new to write to you at present more than all the boys here safe and appear to be very satisfied. When we will get away from this place I can not say as I see no prospect at present tho I am in hopes we may get away soon. Take good care of yourself and rest assured that I will do everything in my power to render you happy so no more write soon and give me all the news."

John R. Moss and Nancy Forgey Civil War Letter

John R. Moss and Nancy Forgey

Lick Creek Tennessee April 1, 1862
"Dear Wife,
As you will not write to me I have concluded that I will write to you a gain. hoping whenever this reaches you it may find you well for I would be very sorry to no that you was unwell or dissastisfied in any way whatever. I want you to content your self  as best you can and not bee uneasy about me as I take the best care of my self  That I can and live till I die I unless I get killed. I want you to write to me immediately if you have not all ready written and if you have write again. I want you to write at least once a week and I will do the same you nead not bee uneasy about me drinking as their is no whiskey up here that is fit to for a hog to drink.
I am well and getting fit on Bull Beef and Biscuit. I thought I would give you a specimen of the house I intend building when I come home you must have it framed and a glass put over it and keep it untill I return. If you or  any of the you family should get dangerously sick you must write to me no. I can get a furlow under them circumstances. I ? you must give me all the news and let me no how you are geting along farming. Be shore and not let the stock astray my wheat as I intend coming home at harvest if possible. Give my best respects to all inquiring friends. J. R. Moss "

The House he intended to build 

Happy St. Patrick's Sister Mary Kathleen!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My Great-Great Aunt Sister Mary Kathleen (Bridget Mullen) was a Roman Catholic Nun. Her life story is very inspiring. Born in the Townland of Pollaturick Co. Galway, Ireland in 1888 she migrated to Chicago Illinois around the turn of the twentieth century. Firmly committed to her calling as a Nun she she talked a resistant church official into allowing her to join inspite of apprehensions about her age. I guess they thought 23 was told old to join that order? She worked at various Catholic Boarding Schools during her long career with the Church. She lived to a very old age, dying at the age of 103!! She received a letter from the Pope when she turned 100.

The first mention of the maiden name of my Great-Grandmother Ellen (Helen) Mullen-Mason's mother was in an unexpected place, her sister's eulogy. I had never heard of the name before and thought it didn't sound Irish. I thought maybe someone got the name wrong? I did some research and found it is indeed Irish. It's a variant of the surname Hoban common around Irish Town Co. Mayo, Ireland. Here is a link to my website with more info about the surname http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~huvane/huvane0.html.

Funeral Reflection

Sister Mary Kathleen Mullen

October 17, 1991

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood."

"For 103 years Sister Mary Kathleen Mullen searched the reflection in the mirror and added to the vast store of knowledge her years had accumulated. Today we celebrate because at last that dim reflection is fully revealed and her knowledge is complete.

Mary Kathleen Mullen was born in County Galway, Ireland on February 1, 1888, just two months after Mary Frances Clarke died. The BVMs motherhouse was still St. Joseph's on the Prairie and Mt. Carmel was only a dream.

The year Kathleen was born there were only 440 sisters in the Congregation. They did their reading and sewing by kerosene lamps, they pumped their water from the well, and they traveled by horse and buggy.

Kathleen's parents Mary Huvane and Patrick Mullen baptized her Bridget, and Bridget's crossing from Ireland to the United States was very similar to that of Mary Frances Clarke's and the early founders. Bridget entered the BVMs on March 19, 1911 from St. Ita's Parish, Chicago and received the name Kathleen."

PRAYERS FOR THE FAITHFUL

"For Kathleen's parents, Patrick and Mary Huvane; her brothers and sisters Ellen, Michael, Thomas and Winnifred; her nieces and nephews who preceded her in death, that they all be reunited."

Happy Dance Day plus email Address Log

As you can see above I had Rachel listed as unknown. NO MORE. Nan Harvey has been working to breakdown a brickwall in her own Tyree line and discovered a court record with Rachel's maiden name. She found this document (see image right). She found it here Chancery Court Records for Scott County, VA. I have looked at this collection several times but didn't run across this. It doesn't seem to be indexed for every name? I could not find it looking for Forgey? You have to be very cautious indeed when using indexes, Never assume someone isn't in a record collection just because they are not on the index!

Jame A. Forgey Slander Case 1837 Jackson County, Indiana 

I went back and looked at the info I gathered on James A. Forgey and Rachel Tyree's family. I had not been able to find too much about them. I know they migrated to Jackson County, Indiana after the 1830 Census ( from Scott County, VA). I also found a slander court Case filed in 1837 between Jesse Hubbard and James A. Forgey in Jackson County IN.  I couldn't find any more details regarding the case in the microfilm I ordered. The Family also live in Bartholomew and Jennings County, IN. James Forgey's name was listed as Hugh J. A. Forgey on a Census and may have been his full name? The family did have a bible with some family dates in it. According to their family tradition two brothers came to America from Ireland and settled in Virginia; which sounds like Alexander and Andrew, who did live in Virginia briefly?. I couldn't find James or Rachel's place of burial either? Sadly, one of their descendants was put to death in the Electric Chair in Texas.
I was contacted by one of their descendants a few years ago asking for more info about the family. I've been trying to locate their email address. I have not been able to locate it so far. I've been having all my emails routed to Gmail from other email boxes. Some of my emails have been lost in the rerouting. I've printed out a stack of emails about two inches thick and filed them. Sadly that one is not one of them. I have paper everywhere so I may have printed it and missed filed it? I need a log outside my email boxes to keep addresses so they don't get lost if something goes wrong with my email box. I found this form http://www.cs.williams.edu/~bailey/genealogy/index_files/CorrespondenceRecordSheet.pdf . Sorry I can't contact this person with the good news. I'll do some filing this weekend and I may find a copy of the email?

Was an Ancestor Presidente de Nicaragua?

My Mother Edna Forgey/Kapple and Grandmother Graciela Del  Castillo/ Forgey in Nicargua

Ever since I found information on a short term President of Nicaragua I wondered if I was related? His name was Nicasio Del Castillo and he was President for an entire month 13 Aug 1856 - 12 Sep 1856 . My great-grandfather was also named Nicasio Del Castillo. According to Enrique Mejia, who had studied Nicaraguan History for his own family research, the del Castillo family had been one of the most important families during the colonial era.  He also said a that a Juan Arguello Del Castillo was Vice President at one time. I had found that a number of Del Castillo's served on the Nicaraguan Supreme Court. My mother thought that her grandfather may have been a lawyer?

At this point I have not been able to trace my family very far back in Nicaragua. The only clues I have about my family there is from my Grandmother's death certificate. It gives the names of her parents as Nicascio Del Castillo and Elena Garcia. Unfortunately only the Civil records for Managua, Nicaragua have been filmed by the LDS Church and are now available online. I've written to the Church in Granada where my mother was baptized for additional family info but it sounds like my great-grandparents were not members of that Church. I was informed that the name Forgey was not a local name. No, actually my grandfather was a US Marine stationed in Nicaragua and Scots-Irish and German. My Forgey family really stands out in the records there!

I've written to several addresses I've found for Civil Registration Records but never received any kind of response. My new strategy is to contact the Nicaraguan Consulate in Los Angeles; and I've also found contact info for the Family History Center in Granada, Nicaragua. I will continue to keep trying to get someone's attention. Hopefully the Granada records will be microfilmed eventually? I just discovered that Managua Church records are now online at Family Search. I will being doing research there for the next few days, probably more than that (it's not indexed).

• The Best Source for Nicaraguan research are these Civil Registration Documents: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://www.familysearch.org/searchapi/search/collection/1601210
• This is a great research outline for Nicaraguan genealogy: http://net.lib.byu.edu/fslab/researchoutlines/LatinAmerica/Nicaragua.pdf
• Municipal Archives of Granada Nicaragua: http://aer.mcu.es/sgae/servletAerCga_ServletManagerCGA?pantalla=0&pantallaCuerpo=3
• Link to info for Nicaraguan Archives: http://aer.mcu.es/sgae/servletAerCga_ServletManagerCGA?pantalla=0&pantallaCuerpo=3

Nuestra Mercedes Church where my mother was Baptized built between 1534 and 1539

How would you interpret these DNA results?

Click on this image to enlarge

Let's take a look at the final results in our first round of our Forgey DNA testing. I highlighted some of the differences. I focused on differences which were shared. There was mutations in both of Samuel's descendants' lines which separates each of their lines, and are not shared by the others.
This is my impression of the results if anyone else has a different take or is able to draw any other conclusions please let me know?

1. The Maury County, TN Andrew Forgey (died 1820 see image above) line had a unique mutation on DYS-442 which is 13 and everyone else is 12. If someone in the Alexander Forgey line tested and shared the same DYS-442 mutation 13 that would be very helpful!
2. My uncle's line which goes back to Andrew Forgey and Anna Roller had a unique mutation on DYS-438 which is 11 and everyone else is 10.
3. DYS-576 is the most confusing. We've got 3 of the 5 with the result 20?  Two got the result 19? So was the earliest common ancestor 19 or 20?  You would think that both of Samuel's descendants would match but they don't. We've got one of Samuel's lines matching the Maury County Andrew. The other matching the Hawkins County Andrew. 
4. All of the Forgeys matched the William Forgie line of Co. Down to some degree. I am guessing that is where all of the common lines originated? We need someone from the Hugh Forgey line of Co. Antrim to test. That line is confirmed to be from Co. Antrim. Would like to know if they are related?
5. A Forgy line in Pennsylvania did not match. I am curious as to whether that was a non paternal event? We still don't know whether everyone carrying the name is related?
6. The testing has proven that all of the Forgeys above share a common ancestor at some point. My Uncle Charles Forgey and Roger Forgey seem to be the most closely related with a mismatch of only one. 

Hopefully we can get more Forgeys to test. It seems like a few people have looked at my postings at the Forgey message boards regarding testing. If we can get more testers to compare with we might be able to determine when the mutations occurred which might tell us at what point we are all related?

Using the 1940 Census to Build an Interesting Family History

All of the excitement around the April release of the 1940 Census has gotten me planning my and pre-researching to get a head start. What I am hoping the 1940 Census will do for me is add some additional color to my existing family history (actually I think there was a question about hair coloring on that census?). I hope to find out more about the living conditions of my family in 1940. I can use the addresses to do google street view searches to see whether their homes still stand today. I also hope to get additional names of children born to great-aunts and uncles after the 1930 Census for my Kapple/Kappel family. My Kapple grandparents divorced. My grandfather Rudolph remained in Chicago while my Granmother Dorothy Kapple relocatd with her children to Los Angeles, California. So the Kapples in California lost touch with their many Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins in Chicago. I have no pictures of the family in Chicago. I have only one faded picture of my Grandfather Rudolph. I would love to see more family pictures and hope that the 1940 might lead me to more living relatives.

1934 Passenger List

A much talked about relative of my Nicaraguan grandmother Graciela Del Castillo-Forgey is also a target of my 1940 research. His name was Francisco Antonio Alvarado Granzio. My grandmother nicknamed him Padrino meaning Godfather. Another of his nicknames was Pancho. He was born in Granada, Nicaragua in 1876. I've heard so many stories about. I've not been able to confirm them until a few days ago. I had been told he was a Diplomat and had met with FDR. I thought that was wonderful, and wanted to find out more. I've been searching off and on using Google search for years. Nothing was coming up about him. He had a Los Angeles home so I tried finding him on existing Censuses. I did seem to find him in 1920 but he was not listed as a Diplomat, instead, he was in the import/export business. I could not find him in 1930. Thinking about 1940 Census brought him to mind again. I decided to use my new access to New FamilySearch Tree to search him out there. I found something interesting that looked like him and contained his additional last name, which I did not know before i.e. Granzio. I immediately started searching using that name and found more information about him! I had not searched Ancestry for him in a long time. When I searched there this time I got a flood of matches for him.
The passenger lists at Ancestry are helping me to build a timeline for Francisco Alvarado. His occupation is given as Consul for Nicaragua in France in many of these records. They also confirm his residence in France as Nice, which I had been told. I even got his address 4 Rue La Martine.

This is where Franciso Alvarado lived in Nice

My family relayed many anecdotal stories about visiting "Padrino" at his Los Angeles home. He had a live in girl friend named Germaine who he met in Nice. She was always very well dressed as my mother has told me. She had a little lap dog which she was very fond of , and had a very fancy pillow for it which my mother remembers. My mother also remembered going to dinner at Padrino's house, and the fact he always served wine with dinner. She also remembered he enjoyed gardening. He attended one of the World's Fairs and brought back souvineers for the Forgey Children. He also brought back a Palm Tree from Nicaragua for my Grandparents Yard, which grew much taller than anyone expected!! He gave a trunk he traveled with to my family, which had stickers on it for all the locations he traveled to which included Asia.
He loved my Grandmother's Arroz con Pollo and insisted she prepare it for him when he was in town. She kidded him about being bald. She would say he used his brain too much which caused his hair to fall out.
I would love to learn more about "Padrino" his relationship to our family etc. ... I am hoping to add more to my collection of information about him with the 1940 Census. I am excited and hopeful he will be in it. I will eventually make a memorial page for him at Fold3. I consider him Mi Padrino tambien!

Separating the Wrong Records, New FamilySearch Tree

Here are some of my thoughts after 4 days working with the New Familysearch Tree. The tree I found for my family contained several wrong ancestors. My immediate reaction was to try to remove these people. I should have looked at the how-to videos located in the Help Center section. Instead I began changing names, which is the wrong way to fix the problem. You must unlink the person from the tree because this is a shared tree, and each person has a fixed person ID and is linked to other trees. So you will anger a lot of people if you change a name. Luckily I discovered my error quickly and was easily able to change everything back and delete my changes. Since all changes remain linked to the individual you are able to easily change back to the previous info if you make the wrong change. If you submitted wrong info you can delete it all together.

Screen for Separating Records

The correct way to remove wrongly attached individuals from your tree is to go to the detail screen for the son of daughter of the wrong person. Then click on combined records link under the person's info. At the combined records screen check mark each record with the wrong parents for separation. This is more advice from Familysearch; "If the combined record contains 3 or more individuals, separate all of the records for one individual. Then repeat the process for the next individual." There can be many wrong records so it's best to check mark view 100 records at a time. Once you selected the records to remove then click separate then click confirm, which should remove the person.

This James Forgey and Margaret  mistaken match is found
everywhere in my tree cannot fix this

I am finding sometimes you cannot fix records which might contain a wrong spouse, children etc.. It's likely because the originally submission made years ago was wrong. Only the person who made the submission can change it. I was under the impression that anyone could make changes? So at this time you can unlink records,  but cannot change all relationships. This means that earlier wrong family connections can be uncombined and then may be recombined by someone thinking they are being helpful. If you click on the watch link you will be notified when any change is made to an individual record. I've put in a many hours separating records and will keep checking for changes.
I like the idea of working with others and discussing conclusions on a shared tree. We can make more progress this way as opposed to working alone. Eventually we will be able to add document images which will make this and even more powerful resource.

My intro to New Family Search Tree: From Sublime to Ridiculous

I emailed Ron Tanner asking to become a part of the Beta Test for the New Family Search Family Tree. I just received an invitation today. I had to wait around today for a water heater repair person so was able to get started on my Tree right away. I was a little confused about how it all worked but soon was rocking'n rolling. First I had to sign into the New Family Search which I was able to do with my Family Search Password. I then clicked the Me and My Ancestors Tab. From there I needed to add myself and living relatives until I could get to the point where I could link with an existing tree. You are given options regarding which individuals to link with. For instance I submitted two trees with my father's name. One of those trees was actually just my mother's line so I didn't provided much info about my father. I was given both of my submissions to choose from.

Like I said, it took me a little while to get with the program. I guess I was thinking the Tree I was looking at was mine alone. No it isn't; it's a collaborative tree. I thought I was looking for my own tree submissions intact. No you won't find your own separate submissions laid out that way. Instead my tree has been merged and re-merged  with everyone else's; in some cases creating a confused jumble. I found several cases of siblings listed as someones children etc.. It's really a tangled mess in some of my lines. I don't have the power yet to make the necessary changes. Since I am not LDS I can make only limited changes. I don't seem to be able to delete  people such as wrongly attached children or spouses. It's a little frustrating to see all the errors and not be able to correct them. 

Yes my Grandfather traveled from Indiana to Nicaragua then
California 

I am happy that I was able to make some corrections. One problem I am noticing is that one of my corrections has already be changed back. I have documentation proving my correction is correct. If my corrections are changed I will continue to re-correct them indefinitely until the other person gives up LOL. I've decided to check the tree daily and re-change any changes. I will also add my sources and some notes about why I believe my conclusions are correct. 

I can see some uninformed people have made some of the wrong connections, but I am not sure that accounts for every error? It's possible some things got jumbled up due to bugs in the new system?

Merging Screen

I found the Family Tree set up to be intuitive; and easy to learn to use. It's set up very much like all other genealogy software. It's a stripped down version of these programs with only basic functions for viewing individuals and families. Matching and merging is the MOST  important feature which is fairly easy to use.  Although I thought some of the wording was a little confusing. There is a screen showing all merges for an individual and who did the merging. The map feature is fun. It's interesting to see my grandfather's moves mapped out like that. At this point it doesn't look like you can add sources for events? You can add sources for an individual from a limited list of catagories.

I would say that maybe 80 percent of the info I've seen looks good. I even found a lead I need to look into. According to someone Margaret Caldwell wife of James Forgey was born in Dromara Co. Down Ireland? I've just scratched the surface today. I will see if I can come up with anymore leads and maybe useful collaborations? I like the New Family Search Tree and will like it even more when I can make more changes.