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.

Log Cabins and Log Houses

Nicolas Gibbs's Log House

This being Presidents' Day I got to thinking about the much discussed Log Cabin birth. This humble birthplace was a campaign cliche which identified a candidate as an average American. This birthplace became a source of pride. My grandfather Charles Lynn Forgey was said to have been born in a Log House in Jackson County, Indiana in 1898. He could have used this to garner votes if he ever ran for office.
Log structures were the most familiar ones for my early ancestors in American. In the Midwest and South logs were the most popular building material.  The pioneer settlers of the midwest and Southern States, such as Tennessee, found plenty of trees which could be used for building. It surprised me that the Scots-Irish had no tradition of building with logs. However, they quickly adopted this type of construction which was so well suited to the area. Early churches, school houses. and courthouses were often log structures. The initial log cabins of the pioneers were generally just temporary. Once they got established they would build a log house which was built to be permanent and larger than a log cabin. A log house was also given a more finished look with planed logs, which may have been finished with siding.

The Nicolas Gibbs homestead and log house was built in 1793 in Knox County, Tennessee; near where my Forgey ancestors lived (see picture above). The Gibbs family was a wealthy prominent family. An archaeological dig took place at the site of their homestead. The two plate fragments to the right were unearthed during this dig. They are examples of  Pearl Ware which was an early technique for making ceramics more affordable. A bluing was added to the glaze giving this pottery a white luster which looked like the more expensive porcelain. These examples probably date to the early 19th century.  When the house was renovated newspapers from 1850 were found covering the logs inside the house. It was common to cover the walls with newspaper and then put wallpaper over that.

Crawford Log House Built 1792

Nancy Forgey's family lived near the Gibb's family in Knox County, TN. Her husband Samuel Crawford built a two story log house on their Grassy Valley property, which stood and was used by the family into the twentieth century.

The name Abraham Lincoln and the Log Cabin are synonymous. My Mason and Owens family lived in Coles County, Illinois which was where Abraham Lincoln helped build a Log Cabin  for his father and stepmother, and he practiced Law in that area. He worked as a lawyer for the Illinois Central Railroad where my ancestor Peter Mason also worked. My family living in the area did pass down stories regarding seeing Mr. Lincoln in the area.
All of my early American ancestors got their start in these rustic humble homes. Sadly few examples of these houses still stand, and hopefully these will be preserved for future generations.

Lincoln Log Cabin

WikiTree Collaboration

Shakers Mercer County, Kentucy

Working again on Callahan line since I made contact with another researcher through WikiTree. I haven't worked on that line in a number of years. I remember my surprise regarding the fact that Mary and Polly Callahan were the same people in my early research. This was one of my first discoveries when I first started researching. I had no idea Polly was a nickname for Mary before. When I found out that Richard Browning's wife's name was Mary Callahan I immediately searched for her with her parents in 1850 ( my source was my Great-Grandmother Isis Browning/Forgey's Death Certificate). I found a Callahan family right next to Richard and his first wife on the 1850 Census for Jackson County, Indiana. That Callahan family did have a daughter in her age range but her name was Polly? Lucky I was reading a Genealogy how-to book at the time and SURPRISE, I found out Polly was a nickname for Mary. So I figured this was likely the right family living next door to Richard.

Going through my Yahoo Mail I found an email from someone on WikiTree asking me what I had on this family. I am so sorry I missed it earlier. I hate to be rude and not answer emails. The email is dated December 11, 2012. My Yahoo mail is filled to over flowing. I've changed my WikiTree email to my gmail account so this doesn't happen again. What this person specifically asked about was Jesse Callahan's father. We believe he is Dennis Callahan, but the case is just circumstantial. I feel good about this conclusion which several of us have come to. 

Callahan wasn't a common name in America in the 1700's, especially in Indiana. Dennis was not commonly used either; both being associated with Irish Catholics who didn't migrate in great numbers until the potato famine. Jesse had a son named Dennis as recorded in the 1850 Census. In 1813 a Dennis Callahan appears on a Harrison County, Indiana Tax List. He disappears after that. There is also a Dennis Callahan on the 1810 Census for Mercer County, Kentucky with sons. Dennis also appears on Tax Lists for Mercer County, KY from 1797 to 1811. On the 1811 Census there are two Dennis Callahans one Senior and one Junior. One of these is likely the same person who shows up later in nearby Harrison County, Indiana because I don't see a Dennis in later records in Kentucky.

• According to the Censuses Jesse Callahan was born in 1795 in Kentucky
• According to his wife Eve's widow's pension they were married in 1814 by Abner Martin in Washington County, Indiana ( making them my earliest Indiana settlers)
• Jesse was a veteran of the War of 1812 

My WikiTree contact has done extensive research on the Callahan family. A Callahan cousin of his took a Y 67  marker DNA.  He came up with some facts which I missed. 

1. He found a 1798 marriage record between Dennis Callahan and Margaret Bowler in Mercer County, KY
2. He found a Polly Callahan born 1792 buried in Mercer County, KY in 1865. She was a member of the Shaker Community and likely never married since the Shakers practice celibacy. The Shaker records were microfilmed by the LDS and may contain important info about her family?
3. A third important discovery was made using DNA.  His cousin took a 67 marker Y test which produced a match with another Callahan who took the 25 marker test and is a descendant of Dennis Callahan who was born 1790 and lived in Brown County, Ohio. They were a 23 out of 25 marker match. He had a son Jesse the same name as my ancestor. Sounds like it could be Dennis Callahan Junior?
4. Another discovery he made were two Dennis Callahans who served in the War of 1812

I do hope I am related to Polly Callahan the Shaker. I own some Shaker style chairs and love their hymn Simple Gifts. I remember reading Charles Dickens impression of them which was basically "Grim". They were inventive, industrious people with a simple style when it came to design. Probably didn't appeal to the Victorian tastes of most people during that era. I do hope that the Shaker records contain Callahan family info. I also plan on looking more at Dennis Callahan of Brown County, and the Dennises who served in the War of 1812.

Received Knox County, TN Deeds Indexes

Nan's Trip Doc.

Technology is such a wonderful thing! I emailed the Knox County, TN archives asking for copies of deed index pages for Archibald Fisher and I received them yesterday. Technology sure helps when you live on the west coast and you are researching east coast ancestors. I received 5 pages for Archibald Fisher which included the General Index to Deeds and  WPA Indexes. I had not known before that Archibald's land was located on White's Creek in Grassy Valley. This helps pinpoint the land location. I wondered about the sale of his land. I believed that he and his family migrated to Kentucky about 1797, which is not the case. It seems his son-in-law was a resident of Lincoln County, KY in May of 1797 when he sold his Knox County, TN property. Archibald Fisher purchased 10 acres in June of 1797 so he had not traveled with John Beaird but joined him later. I had read that Archibald sold his property in 1804. He died May 1, 1805 in Randolph County, IL. I found out he sold his land through an agent 12 November 1804. I don't know if he had plans to return? Strange he didn't sell when he left. It was 210 acres on Whites Creek so I know it's the same land he purchased from John Adair in 1794 (actually he purchased 200 acres from John Adair and 10 acres from Thomas Cox on 10 June 1797). I am ordering a copy of the sale deed.

North Carolina Grant Book 1794 to 1796

North Carolina Deeds book 1796-1796

It's a lucky stroke that Fisher and Forgey both begin with F. I was so happy to find Hugh Forgey on the same page as Archibald Fisher. I have been searching for a purchase deed or deeds for Hugh's 250 acres on Flat Creek. I've only been able to find sale deeds. This has stumped me for years. Why no purchase deeds? According to earlier researchers Hugh's land was part of James Forgey's 500 acre land grant. Andrew and Alexander split the 500 acres so I know that isn't true. I am ordering copies of the pages for Hugh in the North Carolina Deed book and Grant book. One of my resolutions for the year is to find the purchase deed, or deeds, for Hugh Forgey's land. It would be nice to meet this goal early in the New Year!

Ancestry Family Search Chrome Extension

Google Chrome browser extensions were mentioned at RootsTech. As I understood it at least one of them was not available yet? I decided to check to see if I could find extensions for genealogy. I did find a couple, but only one seemed to be useful for me. I don't know whether this one was mentioned at RootsTech? The one I added allows you to search the Family Search site from your Ancestry.com Tree. This is what the description says: 

"This extension takes the vital information from an Ancestry Family Tree person page and searches FamilySearch.org using those details. (An Ancestry subscription is required to view other people’s Ancestry Family Trees.)"

You can narrow your search by event, parents, and spouse. It would be even more helpful if you could narrow further by date. Otherwise it works well and can be time saving.

To get it just click the wrench in the top right corner go to tools, then extensions or this link https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/iahjgikepkkgkinlhipagkkdgfbobphh.

Once you have it installed go to your ancestry tree and select a person. A tree will then appear in the address bar near the star. Just click the tree to get your results.

I also got the extension for the screen capture that I heard about at RootsTech. I am just learning how to use it. I generally use my Windows 7 snipping tool, but it doesn't let you copy anything that isn't displayed, i.e you can't scroll down. I generally use FS Capture to copy entire pages. I will see if Google Screen capture is better?

General Hospital (County USC) and a Breakthrough

I was so happy to have finally caught Huell Howser's California's Gold program about the now closed County General USC Hospital. It was so interesting, and moving because some of my family members had been treated there. My mother was in there about the time it was first built (1933). An uncle was patient there in the 1950's with a ruptured appendix. My father always talked about how his brother was put in a bed in a hallway because the hospital was so full, and there were no rooms. My family was appreciative of getting care there during hard times, even though it could be a harrowing experience. It was certainly better than nothing.
I wish the entire episode were posted on the internet; it was so interesting. The spookiest thing they showed was the room where families identified dead bodies. It was a cold room with curtains which would be opened for viewing. The body would be on a stretcher behind glass which reminded me of the nursery for babies. They showed the old operating theater. They also showed the ward rooms which contained 4 to 6 Beds per room. One of the nurses said there was one shower for the 20 patients. One TV per room, and one bathroom per room. Sometimes only one nurse for 12 patients. It was interesting to see the therapy pool from the 1930's. They showed the prison ward. The hospital had no air conditioning in the early days and patients often had to be put on IV's during the summer because they got dehydrated.
I've been looking for old  pictures of the interior of the hospital and wards. I have not found many online http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/simplesearch.htm?page=1&x=1328565589006, but did find this site with some pictures of the 1933 hospital; and the previous one.

My Great-Grand Father Frank Kappel died in Cook County Hosp.

On the subject of County, Charity Hospital's, couple of my Chicago, Illinois ancestors died at Cook County Hospital in the early 1900's. These ancestors were mostly hard working immigrant factory workers, who couldn't afford to go anywhere except a charity hospital. I thought General Hospital was large with 1,600 beds. Cook County had 4000 beds!

Most of my rural ancestors never went to a hospital in early times through the early twentieth century. Even my urban ancestors rarely went to a hospital to give birth. It wasn't until the 1930s that babies were more often delivered in hospitals. My father was born in Chicago Memorial Hospital in 1933.  One exception was my Great-Grandmother Helen Mullen-Mason who gave birth to a baby at Hahnemann Hospital in Chicago, IL in 1906. When I ordered this birth certificate I was surprised by this. I talked to an Aunt, who was a nurse, and she thought there were likely some kind of complications with the birth that's why she was hospitalized. This sounded correct because the the baby girl born at 4 am apparently died.

Hahnemann homeopathic hospital

After receiving that birth certificate for Helen and Fred Mason's, baby about 12 year ago, I immediately tried to find anything about that hospital on the internet. I couldn't find anything about Hahnemann Hospital at the time. When I began searching for hospital info after Huell's show I remembered my brickwall regarding that hospital. I found the certificate today and started searching again, and I was so happy to find info about it!
It was a Homeopathic University Hospital. They believed in minimal intervention, and  minimal drug use for treatment. This may not have been a good approach since my Great Grandmother's baby died? So glad to find  a picture of this interesting building! I will have to read more about this hospital.

Glad again that I saw Huell's show! His show ended up in front of the new USC Hospital which looks really nice! I am glad they are not tearing down the old one. It is an important Los Angeles Landmark. Whenever I pass it I think about my family, and the General Hospital Soap Opera too.

Cook County Hospital 

What I learned from RootsTech 2012

I've spent many hours the past few days listening to the streaming sessions at Rootstech . I did the same last year. I've learned many new interesting things this year. You would think after spending many hours reading about genealogy, attending webinars, etc., there would be nothing new to learn. There are so many facets to the field of genealogy that there are endless new things to learn! The field of genealogy and technology is always changing, and will always change, so it's important to keep up to date on the changes, and new records available online. As Lisa Louise Cooke said in her Genealogy Poscasts session continuing education using podcasts, blogs, etc., is essential.

It's hard to pick a favorite session. They were all GREAT! Ron Tanner's session about the Family Search Tree was excellent, and really got me stoked up! At the end of it I felt like let's not stop with correcting Family Trees at Family Search.  Let's get millions of  people to correct EVERYTHING on the internet! A little too ambitious probably lol? So what about doing the same thing with the trees at Ancestry and Rootsweb? I have been correcting some the mistakes on my own Gedcom which is a modest step forward when it comes to cleaning out the rotten genealogy Fridge. 

Something I was thinking I would like to see on the internet is a central location where family bible pages can be shared. Something like find-a-grave for bibles would be great!

What I've learned

• I learned what Metes and bounds mean, finally lol!! “Typically the system uses physical features of the local geography” Wikipedia. I learned about mapping software for this too. Now I can attempt to map out my ancestors land.
• Do I trust the cloud? Session inspired me to actually start using drop box; which is now 19% full for my free account! 
• The One Note demonstration during the Idol competition encouraged me to take a look at that.
• Web searching is tricky . Try many search sites. I've had problems in the past when I've gone back to find something and it did not come back up in the search. I've also used the same phrases for years and get different results sometimes. I've found things that have been on the net for years but just came up in the search recently? So it's important to repeat searches often.
• Only 5% of web genealogy content is indexed.
• First 5 results in search are the most often clicked on.
• Large number of broken links a problem
• New GedcomX, to include links to other source material.

Using Google for genealogy

• Use tilde at end of words in search means find words like ~
• In image search upload a picture and click camera in image search to find pictures like it (see image above).
• You can click on black white color images only or just faces.
• Try google news again! It's not going away completely; new content is not being added now.
• Can save free google books as pdf or other formats to read later.
• Watch Google Genealogists videos for more tips.
• You can save and annotate maps using Google maps.
• There is a screen capture chrome extension.

Final Ancestry Panel Keynote

• DNA 100 errors in 6 billion genes.
• Computational genealogists work out interpretations of results.
• DNA integrated into records in future.
• Need to crack handwriting recognition to make these kinds of docs available for search.
• 12 percent of people using mobile devices at ancestry.com site (I was thinking how expensive accessing the web is this way, at least for me)

New Family Search Tree

• You will be able to contribute to it and make corrections.
• You will be able to add source images.
• You will be able to  remove old Gedcoms. Like Ron Tanner said you could not remove bad info in the past. I remember when I found errors in some of my earlier submissions I had to submit a new gedcom to correct it, and the bad info was also still there. Can't wait until I can remove my bad info!

Maybe next year they could get Leo Leporte out there! Would love to hear him speak there! http://twit.tv/

WDYTYA Premiere Problems

Awkward? That's the word that comes to mind when I think about this episode. Martin's ancestors were involved in some very interesting historical events, and I think it all could have been presented in a more interesting way with better transitions. We moved from 1920's Ireland, to 1940's Spain, and then quickly back to the 1700's. All of this wasn't woven together very well.
I also had difficulty understanding which sides the in the Civil Wars his uncles  fought on? I was a history major in college, and I am familiar with these Civil Wars so I did finally catch on ( my great-grandparents lived in Ireland during the Civil War).
Now that I've seen most of the British series episodes I have a framework to compare with. The original is the best model to follow; which the American show doesn't always do well. Their formula consists of  rich, interesting historical detail presented in an understandable way. They use great location shots of ancestral locations. Research library and archive footage are nearly always shown, and are fun segments. It's fun to watch individuals do their own research, and make interesting discoveries on their own. This adds excitement to the shows, and makes genealogy look like an adventure. I thought last night's show fell flat as far as showing the excitement of the research chase. Martin did very little of the research on his own.
Not enough cliff hangers, and just plain not enough substance to build a show around last night. They could have brought in more ancestors and more pictures. They could have visited family churches, and cemeteries. The church where his earliest ancestor was buried would have been interesting. More excitement, and just plain more of everything would have been better!

FT DNA BUSY? Or are they torturing us?

This is the message we received from FT DNA regarding why Craig Forgey's results were delayed

Forget watering boarding When Craig returned his DNA test kit so promptly last November I thought we would get results by late December of early January. I was wrong, it's now February and passed the scheduled return date. As you can see in the message above the holiday sale was very successful; which is good because it gives us new samples to compare with. Although it doesn't make the wait for our results any easier. 

Another factor adding to this slow torture is the fact the results are now trickling in backward. Craig took the 67 marker test. We received the results for markers 61 to 67 on January 26. Today we received the results for markers 38 to 60. They have not posted any of the numbers for the completed tests? No matches either? I suppose they can't provide matches until the first markers are tested? We can't compare with the other Forgey/Forgys yet anyway, because the others have not tested passed the first 37 markers.

We have generally received results for our earlier tests well before the projected return dates. This has been an unusual situation. 
It kind of reminds me of when Illinois was offering free death certificates a few years ago lol (actually it was in 2002).  They were deluged with requests, and quickly stopped the program. I remember calling to ask why it was taking so long to get one lol. I was told there was some kind of AWFUL genealogy fad going on, and they were swamped with requests. I eventually received two different copies for one ancestor free :). Since an inquest was held there were two different copies. So it was worth the wait. 
Oh well, we're getting there. I think?

Publishing Your Family History or Making Your own Reference books

I've put together a brief narrative and descendant report using my Genealogy Software program, and Microsoft Word. I then saved it as a PDF, which is the format needed to produce a book at most publishing websites. Blurb requires you use a specific PDF format, PDF/X-3.
It can be tricky when it comes to laying out your book correctly. You have to be sure that your fonts are embedded in your PDF; and you should not use unusual fonts. You should use commonly supported fonts. You need to follow instructions for margins carefully; otherwise, you may find some of your text is missing. The Amazon publisher (Create Space) and Blurb give you a list of problems which it detects on your PDF. I got a message stating my image resolution was too low so the pictures may not come out clear. Lulu does not provide these suggestions.
The best place to publish an ebook you want to share with your family for free is at Internet Archive which allows readers to read it using many different format options:  www.archive.org


You can make books to share with your family, or just as reference books for yourself. I think putting together  documents, maps, pictures, progress reports etc., in a published book would be a great way to access them easily. Even if you just print your important source material and three hole punch it and put it in a report cover it would be a very helpful resource. I've used binders in the past, but they are bulky and heavy, a light weight report cover is more compact too. I have quite a few documents etc. in digital format, but find I get tired of looking at the computer screen too long. I like a printed format sometimes. It can be quicker to access a book.
I plan on ordering a copy of my book at LuLu. This is definitely an amateur production. I've never tried anything like this before. I haven't used any professional advisers for the layout; so I am not sure how it will come out? We'll see what the results are? I do plan on adding an index to the book and making additions this summer, so it's a work in progress. This copy is my test run: http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html

Here is my test copy at Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/AndrewForgeyMargaretReynoldsAScotsIrishFamilyInAmerica13112

Since I am using this blog as a research log I plan on publishing it using Blog to Print.

Some publishing websites

• Free ebook publishing and storage www.archive.org
• Create an ebook or Printed Books lulu.com
• Publish your own ebook http://www.feedbooks.com/share/
• Amazon Publishing for ebooks and Printed books https://www.createspace.com/
• My Canvas Ancestry http://ancestry.mycanvas.com
• Create a an ebook from a webpage http://dotepub.com/
• Help laying out your book  http://www.storiestotellbooks.com/
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When fact and speculation become confused

Often researchers have speculated about events which they did not have direct evidence for. Sometimes these specualtions become more than that, and are later represented as fact by others. This often involves a misreading of notes left by previous researchers failing to notice qualifying statements, such as approximately or circa. I've been researching the Archibald Fisher family. As I search the internet I am finding the year 1767 as the year of their immigration to this county. This was copied from a book. Whoever copied it missed the fact that it actually says immigrated before 1767. It's easy to miss that, but important to read through these entries in books etc. to make sure there are no qualifications. I had to go back to the book to verify what it said. I was getting confused and thinking maybe they did immigrate in 1767. Looking at some of the other records for Augusta County, VA it seems that a lawsuit involving Archibald Fisher and his wife Susanna Shaddon was filed in 1766. So it seems Archibald may have been in Augusta County in 1766?
We do not know where his children were born and most may have been born in the US (speculation)? I am also speculating that it is possible that Catherine Fisher may be a daughter of  Archibald and Susanna? I base this on the fact that it's likely Catherine's husband, Hugh Forgey, was born in around 1766. We don't know how many times Archibald was married. According to a Randolph County History Archibald came from Scotland and first settled in South Carolina?

 Here is what we know for certain about Archibald Fisher.

1. We know he married Susannah Shaddon sometime after November 1765 when she was appointed administratrix for her late husband ( it looks like Archibald and Susanna were married before 9 August 1766 when they filed a suit together?)
2. We know he purchased land in Augusta County, VA on 5 March 1767 
3. Sells his land in Augusta County on 9 Dec 1777
4. We know he was in Sullivan County, TN in 1777 when he signed Holston Men Petition.
5. We know he received a patent for land in Sullivan County, TN (later part of Hawkins County) on 10 November 1784 
6. We know he sold his Hawkins County land on 27 May 1789
7. We know he married Elizabeth Sharp on 11 December 1797 in Knox County, Tennessee
8. He died 1 May 1805 in Ellis Grove, Randolph County, Illinois

We also know the names of his children because they are named in his will.

What we don't know is when he came to America? Did he settle in South Carolina first? Where was his property in Knox County, TN? When did he sell it? Most importantly, what was Catherine's mother's name?

Can you spot the problems?

The following family group was compiled by a researcher who used the Scottish Church records at Family Search. The last child, Mary Fisher, does not appear in these records, but the researcher assumed she belonged in this family anyway.

Archibald Fisher b. 17 April 1734 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland. Father: Patrick Fisher b.1701
married Isobel McDougal
Children of Archibald and Isabel

1. Janet Fisher b.  16 July 1742 in Alloa, Clackmannan, Scotland
2. John Fisher b. 19 September 1746  Alloa, Clackmannan, Scotland
3. Archibald Fisher b. 24 December 1749  Alloa, Clackmannan, Scotland
4. Isabel Fisher b. 5 July 1751  Alloa, Clackmannan, Scotland
5. Catharine Fisher b. 5 August 1754  Alloa, Clackmannan, Scotland
6. Janet Fisher b. 9 September 1757  Alloa, Clackmannan, Scotland
7. Mary Fisher b. 18 January 1758 (from tombstone)   Scotland

The first contradictory fact that stands out is that Archibald Fisher was born in 1734 and his first child was born in 1742. So he would have been 8 yrs. old when his first child was born? He probably married at 6 yrs. old. Not likely! 

A second problem is Janet and Mary were born 4 months apart. Not likely either!

There were also two Janets, so apparently, the first one died. 

Archibald Fisher came to America in 1767; without his wife who probably died in Scotland? We have not located the name of his spouse on any records in this country. A Fisher researcher assumed that because Archibald had a daughter named Catherine she was the same one born to Archibald and Isabel in Scotland. There were several Archibald Fishers in Scotland at the time. To verify they found the correct one they should have looked at all the birth records for this couple. If they had they would have discovered these contradictory facts. The easiest way to find the other children born to this couple is by using the batch number along with a surname search. All of the records for the same Church were batched together (this same method is also helpful when searching any other record extractions in the IGI).

The same researcher also states that Archibald's second wife was Nancy Agnes Firney ( seems close to Forgey?) I've seen this same info copied several times by different people. No one has any source for this. I have not found her in the IGI for Scotland either. It seems a little unusual that a person born that early would have a middle name? 

Someone else has an Ann McNaughton as his wife. This is another improbability. This particular family was still in Scotland in 1768, when a child appears in the Church records. I've seen about half a dozen different women recorded as Archibald wives. He may have actually been married about 3 times?  

These are the verified children of Archibald Fisher (none of which appear in the IGI Scottish Church Records)

1. Catherine Fisher b.?
2. Mary Fisher b.1757
3. John Fisher b.1762
4. William Fisher b.1766
5. Eleanor Fisher b.1765
6. Nancy Fisher b.c.1767

The Mysterious John Beaird

Nan Harvey just found a marriage record for Eleanor/ Elinor Fisher and John Beaird. I suspected they had married in the late 1780's or early 1790's in Tennessee. I was surprised to find out that they had married in 1799 in Pulaski County, Ky. I had understood that at least one of their children, John Beaird Jr., was of age by 1809 when  his father John Sr. died.
My relationship to the Beaird family is through my ancestor Catherine Fisher who was the sister of John's wife Eleanor. I've only found a couple of references to Catherine Fisher/Forgey in records. I've never been able to find anything giving her age. I found an estimated year of birth for her sister Eleanor of 1765. Another sister Mary Fisher/Steele was born 18 January 1758.
 John Beaird's family being more prominent he does appear in several local histories. I am hoping to find more info about my own family by following these collateral lines.
The newest discovery of  a marriage record for John and Eleanor does raise some questions. Was Eleanor John's first wife? I had suspected that John and Eleanor were neighbors of  my ancestors' Hugh and Catherine in Knox County, Tennessee, but now it looks like they were not married when they lived in Tennessee. It does look like they may have had a common law marriage before the official marriage in 1799, because it is suspected that their daughter Harriet was born to them in Tennessee.
I also found out that John Beaird sold his Flat Creek Knox County, TN property in 1797; when he was living in Lincoln County, KY. This was unexpected too. According to family tradition the family left Tennessee in 1801 for Randolph County, Illinois. The story also states the Fisher in-laws accompanied the Beairds in 1801? Did they really travel together or meet up later? Evidence does seem to point to a relationship between them in Tennessee. Maybe there was a common law marriage, and out of wedlock births?  I've found references to John Beaird living in Wayne County Ky, Lincoln County, Ky, and Pulaski County, Ky.  Apparently this is because the area he was living in was Lincoln County when his first settled there in 1797. This same area became Pulaski County, Ky in 1798 , and in 1800 it became part of the newly formed Wayne County, KY.  So lots of jurisdictional changes occurred in a short time. It does appear they left Kentucky for Illinois in 1801. I don't know whether the Fishers did the same?
I was also a little confused about where the Beairds and Fishers settled in Illinois. It appears the Fishers settled in Randolph County, and the Beairds in neighboring St. Clair, Illinois.  John Reynolds described the place the Beairds settled as 4 mile northeast of Kaskaskia, Illinois. The Fishers lived in the Ellis Grove area a few miles away. Now I am getting a better picture of where the families lived and when. It might be helpful to do some research in these new jurisdictions, which might produce more Fisher family documents.

Breast Complaint a Misdiagnosis?

Now I am wondering whether "Breast Compliant" was a misdiagnosis? I am sure an accurate diagnosis would be hard to come by in early America and rural Tennessee especially. The James Forgey and Margaret Caldwell family may have been completely decimated by Tuberculosis which was commonly known as "Breast Compliant" in early America. Or could it have been breast cancer? Four Forgey sisters all are described as dying of  "Breast Compliant".  TB sometimes spreads to the ducts and nodes of the breasts causing lesions. Could breast cancer lesions be mistaken for TB lesions? I would think that could be a possibility. Did the women have a cough? No one gave the details of their symptoms so it's impossible to say.
I wondered how common it would have been for that many members of one family to die of TB? My great-grandmother Isis Browning-Forgey died of TB and remained at home with her children until her death. None of her children caught TB from her. I found this about the famous literary family the Brontes: "Anne and Emily Brontë and other members of the Brontë family of writers, poets and painters were struck by TB. Anne, their brother Branwell, and Emily all died of it within 2 years of each other.Charlotte Brontë's death in 1855 was stated at the time as having been due to TB, but there is some controversy over this today." It is possible the Forgeys contracted TB from one another. Their only brother James Reynolds Forgey died at age 44 of unknown causes. It appears that no one lived until the age of 50.
A fifth daughter may have died of the same thing. Here are the dates for all the Forgey daughters (except Sally, I don't have any death info for her)

1. Margaret Forgey (1794-1817) died age 23 (don't know her cause of death?)
2. Mary Forgey (1796-1833) died age 37 of  "Breast Complaint"
3. Ellen Forgey (1798-1837) died age 39 of  "Breast Complaint"
4. Betsy Forgey (1805-1837) died age 32 of  "Breast Complaint"
5. Rachel Forgey (1812-1837) died age 25 of  "Breast Complaint"
6. Matilda Miller (1802-1839) died age 37  (don't have her cause of death?)

Looking at the years of death I see 3 in 1837, which would point to a contagious disease, like TB. All who died of  "Breast Complaint" died in the 1830's. It's difficult to say if they were diagnosed correctly? They may have died of something hereditary, such as breast cancer; or, may have been TB after all? It's very troubling when you think about the short life expectancy of this family line. My own Forgey line tended to live into old age.

What was "Breast Complaint"?

Early medical terminology can be confusing. I've been looking for definitions of some of the diseases my early family had. Some of the names they used could be misleading. For years I was thinking breast complaint must be breast cancer. Four women in the same family died of this, i.e, Polly Forgey, Ellen Forgey, Betsy Forgey, and Rachel Forgey. I was thinking it was hereditary breast cancer. When I googled "died of Breast Complaint" I found several references to tuberculosis. I found a google book called, "Language of Mormon Pioneers." Here is their definition of breast complaint:

According to the Crawford family letters (written in the mid-nineteenth century) a number of Forgey family members suffered from "ague". I had no idea what that referred to? I found out it most likely referred to malaria. It could also have been a fever with symptoms similar to malaria. I remember reading about how diseases I thought were tropical were present in early America. Malaria and Yellow Fever epidemics were common in early America.
Apoplexy also perplexed me. Apoplexy would be referred to as a stroke today.
Before clinical tests were developed the cause of death or disease could only be surmised from previous experience or autopsy, and may not have been accurate. Scholars still debate the causes of some early epidemics.

West Fork of Flat Creek Found?

Field Stone marking Boston Grave's burial site on Little Flat Creek

I've been continuing to trace the land of Hugh Forgey's neighbors in order to find the location of  his Flat Creek property.  It seems like Little Flat Creek was not identified as such until the mid nineteenth century; which leaves me with the question was the West Fork later identified as Little Flat Creek? Early deeds never seem to refer to it. I've found a number of transcriptions for Flat Creek deeds on the internet. Flat Creek, and the West Fork of Flat Creek were common names used on deeds for the area. 

I found a website with many of John Beaird's deeds transcribed on it : http://thebeardfamilyhistory.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Beard_Family:_Where_They_Were,_What_They_Were_Doing

John Beaird  (brother-in-law of Hugh) owned 400 acres at the Headwaters of the West Fork of Flat Creek. I figured if I could find his land I would then answer my question. I had searched for Boston Graves earlier (knowing he was a neighbor of Hugh). I had found out that John Beaird had sold land to Boston and his son. Boston was said to have lived on Little Flat Creek according to a descendant. I wasn't sure if that Little Flat Creek land was previously owned by John Beaird? I did find references to the sale of this property by John Beaird to Levi Hinds as follows:

Levi Hinds sold the Beaird property to Boston. This still didn't connect Little Flat Creek and the West Fork. I later found this about Boston's burial which does make the connection:

I was able to establish the connection using all of these facts and going to Find-a-Grave and looking for Boston's burial place. Luckily he was listed there, and the address of the Graves Cemetery was given. I looked it up at google maps and found out it was located on Little Flat Creek. I now have some evidence that the West Fork of  Flat Creek and Little Flat Creek are the same. Along with previous statements by family researchers, everything is pointing to  Hugh Forgey's property being located on Little Flat Creek.

I found Hugh Forgey mentioned on other West Fork deeds. Some of the men sharing property lines were: William Beaird (John's brother?), Absalom Hankins, and a Reynolds no first name ( may be his cousin John?) Mynatt's and Gibbs also lived close. Hopefully, I will be able to find the exact location of the property eventually!

Boston Graves Burial site location at A pinpoint located on Jim Wolfe Road