Death Certificate for Theresa Williamson

The second item I received today was the death certificate for my natural great-grandmother, Theresa (Hambsch) Williamson. Theresa died on 12 February 1925 from complications after the birth of my grandmother. This certificate does not do more than document what I already knew, other than providing the cemetery where Theresa is buried (Holy Trinity Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY). After Theresa died, her older two daughters went to live at the St. Joseph's home for girls in Queens, NY, while my Grandmother was taken in by her Godparents.

Links to family history data and "find a grave" entries

Wow! It has been a long time since I've posted here! Sorry -- I'll try to get some of the new information up.

I did change some links on the left. First, I added a link to my family history data on "rootsweb.com". It starts in a pedigree view that should allow you to find all of Gabby and Sammy's ancestors, but note that it calls most living people by the first name "living." You can also use this link.

I also added a link to a list of all the ancestors who have entries on "findagrave.com". Many of these have photographs of their gravestones taken by volunteers. Here is the link.

Ida Siggins Birth Certificate

Ida Siggins is my grandfather's Aunt. Birth certificate provided confirmation of info I already knew, but interesting anyway.

Marie Antoinette Wrigley's Death Certificate

Marie Antoinette Wrigley was my grandmother's natural great-aunt. It turns out that my grandmother's natural father was living with her and her family when they were growing up (I've not yet discovered what happen to the parents -- my grandmother's natural grandparents). It's also a good lesson in why we should look at collateral lines: it is the only place so far that I have found the father's first name (John Williamson).


Note that Marie had a rough fight with cancer. Her death certificate states that "the cause of her death was...cancer, of some 5 years duration, first of the breast which was amputated by Dr. Mallard Wood. It broke out again on the left side of the neck."

Maria Williamson's Death Certificate

As part of my big breakthrough a few weeks ago, I've been able to trace my grandmother's natural ancestors back to the 1870 US census. One of the finds is my grandmother's natural great grandmother, Maria Goodale Williamson. I was able to locate her death certificate (below). This is another great find because I was stuck at the 1870 census for this line, but had noticed a similar family living in Sag Harbor, New York. According to this death certificate, that is where she was born, so that is probably the same family. Other new info: her maiden name is Goodale, her father's name is David Goodale and her mother's name is Elizabeth Paine and she was buried in Sag Harbor. Notice that Maria was born about 1820 and that both her parents are listed as being born in Sag Harbor. If this is true (and death certificates are known to have errors in this type of info), it means that this particular line of the family has been in the U.S. from at least the very early 1800s!

Oh yea, Maria died from Old Age (that's what the certificate says).

Harry Mathias Williamson's World War I Draft Card...and an unexpected breakthrough!

Harry Mathias Williamson is my Grandmother's natural father. This is his World War I draft card.
What immediately caught my eye was his birthdate (4 May 1880) - I didn't have that before now. Also, this gives his address and his occupation (he was a truck drive/teamster, or in this case "Delivery Helper"). But the real breakthrough is also the most curious: he listed a sister, Mabel Thompson, as his closest relative. Why is this curious? Because he was married to my great-grandmother at the time. I would've expected to see her there. So why is this a breakthrough? Because by looking for both Harry and Mabel, I was able to locate their family in 1900. That simple discover has led to two additional generations of Williamsons.

But that's not all. Harry's birthdate, 4 May 1880, which was unknown until now, is exactly 1 month prior to the 1880 census (1 Jun 1880). That made it very easy to find his family in the 1880 census. Again, that coupled with a little luck gave me two more generations on that side of the family.

I'll detail what I found in another post after I organize and file all the census pages that I pulled.

Hambsch Map

Google Maps announced today a new feature that allows you to save and publish customizable maps. Maps are a great tool in family history research because you can use them to help determine where your ancestors may have gone to church, school, etc. Since Martin Hambsch is on my brain (see my previous entry), I used him as my first Google Maps Experiment. Click here to see where Martin lived after he arrived in the U.S in 1891.

Naturalization Records for Martin Hambsch

Martin Hambsch is my Grandmother's natural maternal grandfather (my great-great Grandfather). Today I received a copy of his naturalization records. Before 1906, there were two steps to becoming a U.S. citizen. First, you had to declare your intent to become a citizen, then, five years later, you petitioned to become a naturalized citizen. Martin declared his intention to become a U.S. citizen on 6 November 1893 in the Superior Court of New York City (while living at 34 Rector St in Manhattan). He petitioned for U.S. citizenship on 6 April 1899 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. By this time, he was living at 41 Ralph St in Brooklyn.

The petition clearly states he arrived at the Port of New York on 9 Jun 1891, lived 5 years in Manhattan, then lived in Brooklyn from then on.

Here is Martin's 1893 declaration of intent:

These are the two pages of Martin's 1899 petition to become a U.S. Citizen:

Pictures of (Most) Holy Trinity Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

Someone read a query I put out on a Brooklyn Genealogy message board about the (Most) Holy Trinity Cemetery in Brooklyn and sent me some photos of the entrance and an outdoor chapel. My Grandmother's natural mother and grandparents are buried here. No photos of the graves (yet).

Albert and Loretta Bongiovi's Gravestone Photograph

One of the more interesting web sites I have run across in my most recent dive into our family history is Find A Grave. I've known for a while that there are people, usually genealogists or historians, who's hobby is to visit cemeteries and index who is buried there. Find A Grave assists those folks by giving a place to compile that data, but also goes one step further by encouraging volunteers to take photographs of the gravestones and by encouraging users to set up "virtual cemeteries" of the burials they are interested in and to leave "virtual memorials" for those who have died.

In any case, back in February, I came across this site and found that Albert Bongiovi and his wife, Loretta Bongiovi, were listed in this database. Albert and Loretta are my Great-Grandparents and, in fact, Loretta was alive when I was growing up -- I have clear memories of her visits and visiting her apartment in Queens.

There was no new information in the Find A Grave entry -- I already knew both of their Birth and Death dates and that they were buried at Long Island National Cemetery. But, more out of curiosity than anything, I used a Find A Grave feature to request a photo. With this feature, you request a photo, it gets put on a list of requested photos that volunteers can then pull (based on whatever search criteria they want to use). The volunteers then go out to the cemetery, snap the photo, and upload it to the site.

Bottom line: someone (Find A Grave user Paul1957) fulfilled my request. Here are the photos of Albert and Loretta Bongiovi's gravestone he uploaded two days ago. (Note that you are seeing the front and back of the same gravestone in these two photos.)

Click here to visit the "virtual cemetery" I set up on Find-A-Grave to track our ancestors. (WARNING: there seems to be a lot of pop up adds on that site. I recommend you do not click anything inside those pop up ads to avoid getting spyware on your computer.)

Death Certificate for Annie Siggins

The last of the LDS death certificates of interest is the one for Annie Siggins. Annie would be my grandfather's mother's sister and, in fact, died about 1 year before my grandfather's mother was born. Annie died in July 1898 from Cholera when she was about 1 year, 4 months old. If I hadn't requested this death certificate, it is likely I would've never known she existed.

John Siggins Death Certificate

Another Death Certificate that arrived from the LDS FHL yesterday is one for John Siggins, who died in 1931 at about 55 years old. I believe, but am not 100% sure, that John is the son of John C. Siggins and his first wife and is therefore my half-great-great-uncle (my paternal grandfather's uncle). I believe this is true primarily because I already knew he existed from census records, he is buried in the same cemetery as John C. Siggins and was buried by the same undertaker as John C. Siggins. If he is, in fact, the correct John Siggins, his mother, Mary Cavanagh, is John C. Siggins first wife, who's name I did not know.

William Aloysius Siggins Death Certificate

Another death certificate received today (see this post for background) was for William Aloysius Siggins. Although the film is damaged and causes a streak down the middle of the image, there is no doubt who he is. William is my Great-Great Uncle, my paternal grandfather's Uncle. He died in August 1911 when he was 21 years old from Tuberculosis. Even sadder: the 1910 U.S. Census lists him as being single while this death certificate indicates he is married. If both are correct, he died within about a year of getting married. Unfortunately, his wife's name is not given.

Ludwig Hampsch Death Certificate

I am trying to flesh out my Dad's ancestors from Brooklyn. Luckily, there are a lot of great resources. The Italian Genealogical Group has many of Brooklyn's Marriage and Death records indexed online and the Church of Latter Day Saints' Family History Library has the actual certificates on microfilm, which they'll send to you, eight at a time, for a nominal fee. By searching for all the surnames of interest in the various indices, I have a list of records I'd like to review. I hope that, in addition to identifying everyone in the families, they'll give me some other clues to help extend my understanding of my Family's History. The first batch came yesterday. Of those eight, four are of interest.

The first is Ludwig Hampsch, who died of Cholera in 1905 when he was 9 months old. Ludwig is my great-great Uncle (my paternal grandmother's uncle).

Angelina Bongiovi's Death Certificate

Today's mail brought a death certificate I ordered at the end of January, the death certificate for my Great-Great Grandmother Angelina (Gaurdino) Bongiovi, who died in 1950. It does extend my known family history one generation by giving the names of her parents: Albert Gaudino and Frances Crafanzano. I also now knowwhere she is buried: Calvary Cemetery in Queens. Angelina is one of my "at the shore" ancestors -- she immigrated to the United States with her husband Guiseppe Bongiovi in 1890.

John C. Siggins' Death Certificate

Well, I ordered all these death certificates (and a marriage certificate) in a group, so they are arriving in a little flurry from the NYC archives. Today, I received John C. Siggins' Death Certificate. John C. Siggins is Sam and Gabby's great-great-great Grandfather. Once again, a lot of new information that I didn't know:

• He died on 6 September 1913 at St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn, NY.


• He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery on 9 September 1913. (By the way, I googled Holy Cross Cemetery -- seems to be the main Catholic cemetery in Brooklyn. According to the description at internment.com, there are over 725,000 people buried there.)


• Most importantly, it lists his mother and father: John Siggins and Mary Code. These are Sam and Gabby's 4Great Grandparents and, until today, I did not know their names. (Because this is a death certificate, this is not rock solid info, but it is enough to go on to start researching the next generation.)

John C. Siggins Death Certificate (2 Pages):

Entrance to Holy Cross Cemetery:

Martin Hambsch Death Certificate

In the same envelope as Walburga Hambsch's death certificate was Martin Hambsch's death certificate. He was Walburga's husband and my natural great-great Grandfather. He died on 16 July 1918 in Brooklyn. Significant new items from his death certificate include:

• His death date (16 July 1918) and likely birthdate (2 Oct 1865 in Germany)


• Where he is buried (Holy Trinity Cemetery -- See the Walburga Hambsch entry for more on it)


• His father's name (Jenophin Hambsch)

Again, another disappointment: instead of his mother's name, his wife's maiden name (Walburga Algeier or Allgaier) is listed. It is common for mistakes on a death certificate because the person who is giving the information is usually distraught. This may be one of those cases (or a big coincidence).

Walburga (Allgaier) Hambsch Death Certificate

Another item from the New York City Archives showed up today: Walburga Hambsch's death certificate (she died on 2 October 1924). Walburga is my grandmother's natural maternal grandmother. It's a great source that provided me some significant new data on our family:

1. Walburga's death date (2 Oct 1924) and her likely birthdate (22 Feb 1866 in Germany).


2. Walburga's likely maiden name (Allgaier)


3. Walburga's likely father's name (John Allgaier, born in Germany)


4. Where Walburga is buried (Holy Trinity Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY -- don't rush to visit, supposedly this is a very bad part of Brooklyn these days).

There is one big disappointment: the word "Unknown" is written where Walburga's mother's name would be listed.

Walburga (Allgaier) Hambsch Death Certificate (2 October 1924)

Entrance to Most Holy Trinity Cemetery circa 1921

Albert Bongiovi and Loretta Siggins Marriage Records

Today's mail brought Albert Bongiovi and Loretta Siggins' marriage records. Albert and Loretta are my great-grandparents (or Gabby and Sam's great-great-grandparents). I had a certificate transcribed by the church they were married in, but the transcription was done in 1964, 42 years after the marriage, which cannot be considered a reliable source for documenting the marriage. Today, New York City sent me three items:

1. An affidavit, filled out and signed by Albert and Loretta, which was required for them to obtain a marriage license. They signed this on 2 June 1922. It contains great info such as their birthplaces, occupations, residences, and parents name (including their mother's maiden names). Again, although almost none of this is new information, almost all of it can be considered well documented in my research files.








2. Their Marriage License, issued on 27 June 1922. This mostly repeats what they filled out on the affidavit.






3. Their Marriage Certificate, filed by the Priest and dated 12 July 1922, their marriage date. Not only does this document their marriage, but it gives the marriage witnesses (probably the best man and maid of honor) and the priest's name.

(Don't forget to click on the images to see the full size record).

The Hambst Family in the 1900 U.S. Census

A few weeks ago I found the Naturalization Index Card from 1899 for my grandmother's natural grandfather, Martin Hambst (Hamsch, Humbsch). Tonight I was able to use the address listed on that card to find him and his family in the 1900 U.S. Census. I had been having problem because Martin and Walburga Hambst were not turning up in any of the indexes for that census year. It turns out there were two good reasons. First, they are listed as Kaumphs or Kamphs (I think they must have had heavy German accents as they only immigrated in 1889 and 1891 or 1892. The enumerator probably wrote what he heard). Second, someone later did some sort of annotations or notes on the actual census page that obscures the first names of Martin, Walburga and their son, who I think is Andrew. Luckily, Grandma's mother Theresa's name is clear. Also, all the other data matches data from other sources, so I am pretty confident this is them.

By the way, the 1900 census is great because it gives a reported month and year of birth while the others usually only have the year of birth or just an age.

Here's some of the detail from the census page listing the name, birth dates, and ages. Also, it shows that at this time (1 Jun 1900), Walburga was the mother of three children, two of whom were still living.

Source: Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls. Census Place: Brooklyn Ward 28, Kings, New York; Roll: T623 1067; Page: 23A; Enumeration District: 512.

Free Genealogybank.com access = no new finds for my research :-(

GenealogyBank.com, a research site specializing in historical newspapers, historical papers, and obituaries, has provided free access until Tuesday. I took a few minutes to search for the most likely of my family to be found in their databases. Unfortunately, I found absolutely nothing new. I will probably take a few minutes later today and see if I can find something using more generic searches, but I'm not very hopeful...at least it saves me the big subscription fee to find nothing new.

Naturalization card for Martin Hambsch

Found my first naturalization record today, which, much like finding an ancestor on a ship's passenger list, is exciting because it's a big step towards my goal of tracing all my children's ancestors back "to the shore" when they immigrated to the U.S.

Here's an image of the index card for Martin Hambsch born 2 Oct 1865 in German. I believe Martin is my Grandmother's biological grandfather.

Citation: Ancestry.com. New York Petitions for Naturalization [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. Original data: Soundex Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts located in New York City, 1792-1906. New York, NY, USA: National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Region.

You've got to remember the basics...

Ancestry.com saved me from a stupid mistake of not following one of the basic premises of census research: I didn't look at the rest of the page while searching for my Grandmother's natural parents. I was looking in the 1920 for Harry Williamson, with his unnamed wife (who's maiden name was Hambst), and either one or both daughters: Claire or Francis. Using Ancestry.com's great search feature, I found them fairly quickly (see line 29-31 of the attached photos), even learning that my natural great-grandmother's name was Theresa:

Even though I store very little of my research on paper by putting most in the computer, I do like to pull out a census form and copy everything down so I can think about each item. So that's what I did. But, I never looked around the rest of the page. Luckily for me, as I was backing out of the form, I noticed that Ancestry.com had three other people listed as part of the household. Duh! So going back into the form, I quickly realized that not only had I found my natural great-grandmother, but her mother and two brothers (see lines 32-34 for Walburga Hambsch and her sons Anthony and Peter). Wow. What luck!

Research Map for the Bongiovi Family in Brooklyn, NY

I've been using the location of some of the homes for the Brooklyn Research a lot, lately, so I whipped up this map in Google Earth to help me place everything. Very easy!

Found the Bongiovi's in 1900

I took on finding my great grandfather and his parents in the 1900 census last night. Once again, a simple Ancestry.com search for "Albert Bongiovi" or his parents Giuseppe (Joseph) or Angelina (Angela) did not return anything. So, much like my 1910 search, I decided to see if they were listed at the same address.

Once again, I turned to the excellent Brooklyn Genealogy web site I found. Particularly useful was this map of Ward 26 and this list of the 1900 census enumeration districts.

After a few turns of Ancestry's online images for enumeration district 457, I had them: Joseph Bongiove, his wife Angela, and four of their children (Josephine, Lilly, Francis, and Albert). Here's the detail from the image.



This is the part I like about family history research -- locating your ancestors in the distant past!

Legacy Web Pages and my Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone

Had to go on a business trip this week. At the last minute I decided to export my whole family file as a web page using Legacy's web page creator and try them on the phone, so I could contemplate my next steps while on the road.

Wow! What a great idea! It was only a few megs of files and, using mobile Internet explorer on the phone, I was able to view all of my data (I set it to pretty much export everything including the pictures and images of sources). I could zip along in the tree mode and find anyone in the name index.

I was about to drop some money on getting a Windows Mobile program that would sync with legacy, but after this experiment, have decided not to. Why? Because it was very easy to access all the data on the web system in my phone and, since I don't believe in editing my database in the middle of researching something, I don't need to pay just to be able to edit the data on the road!

Results of New York Trip

Well, just back from New York...and the trip was a success personally (because I really think my Grandparents are neat people and they really enjoy catching up with Gabby and Sam) and for my family history research.

My grandfather was really interested in what I had discovered. He was really happy to see the passenger list with his grandfather and grandmother's name in it. He also liked seeing his name in the 1930 U.S. Census. In the end, he walked me through his whole family and gave me a box of family photos, his World War II dog tags and enlistment records, his regimental histories and funeral mass cards for many of my ancestors (which list the death dates)!

My grandmother doesn't like to discuss her past as much for reasons I'm not going to publish online. But, she also filled in the holes in her background and disproved this research I discussed earlier.

All in all a great trip to visit with family...and a great trip for moving my research along!

Got 'em!

As I was preparing for my trip to New York, I was reminded that my trail back to my Great-Grandfather, Albert Bongiovi, and his parents, Giuseppe (Joseph) Bongiovi and Angelina Guardino skips about 30 years from the 1920 U.S. Census and Albert's WW I draft and enlistment records back to 1890, when his parents arrived in America (as I discuss in this link).

I remember, back in the day, doing a Soundex search in the 1910 census, but no luck. With my new fangled Ancestry.com account, I tried to search the 1910 U.S. census, but again, no Giuseppe, Angelina, or Albert. They all should have been alive and should have been together.

So, I decided to take the dive into a manual scan of the census images on Ancestry. But, as they lived in Brooklyn, NY, I thought it might be a big project. Luckily, I had a flash of brilliance (or just common sense) and decided to start at the address listed in Albert's World War I documents and in the 1920 Census (where Albert is living alone with his mother Angelina). A quick google search turned up this site, that returns the Enumeration District given a set of cross streets. Unfortunately, my 1899 map of Brooklyn was not very easy to read and some of the road names have changed, so my first attempt was a few blocks to the east of the address I was looking for. But, I found what looks to be a great Brooklyn Genealogy site that had some better maps. With a better set of cross streets, I went right to ED 756 and very quickly found them at the same address!

What happened that they weren't indexed? Well, they were listed as Bonheor instead of Bongiovi (see the clipping below). But, the similarities are too great: Joseph (Giuseppe), Lena (Angelina), and Albert all living at the same address as in 1917 and 1920, with the correct birth years and immigration year. As an added bonus, found 4 new siblings (or my Great-Great-Great Aunts and Uncles) that I can discuss with my Grandfather. Now, I wouldn't call this a slam dunk source, but it sure helps me find some!

Also, I found something else out: using the same techniques I used in the small towns of Wisconsin when researching my wife's family works in the "big city" of Brooklyn. What a great lesson!

Done preparing for my trip to my Grandparents in New York

Finally stopped playing around researching long enough to set up for my trip to New York to visit my Grandparents. Not taking a computer (have a PocketPC phone to check email and surf the web on), so set up a binder. Used an old tried and true method. Since I am only worried about the one branch of my family research, printed out a pedigree chart -- four generations is all I need on that side. I then set up a small binder with a tabs labelled 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 corresponding to the numbers of the male boxes on the pedigree chart. Into each section, I put the primary family group sheet up front (the one represented by the box on the pedigree chart), then the family group sheet for any other marriages by the two ancestors, then family group sheets for any children not in my line. (I actually only know with some certainty boxes 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. I put a family I am speculating is the correct family in section 12 so I can discuss with my Grandparents.)

Finally, I printed copies of the sources I've digitized and dropped them in the right section.

Still need to print out a few blank forms and put some blank paper in the folder, but that should be quick.

Found another trail to the shore...

My goal is to trace back to the immigration point for all of my family's branches. I found one more this week! By using Ancestry.com's New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, I found my great-great grandfather and grandmother's entry in the passenger list for the S/S Iniziative, travelling from Italy (Naples and Palermo) to New York, arriving 30 Jul 1890. They were travelling with a son as well (a new great-great-great uncle!). Very lucky - the entry was on a very clear part of the page!

Lost Ancestors

Today I signed up for Ancestry.com's free trial. My, how easy some of the basic genealogy research has become. Within minutes, I had found my grandfather's and grandmother's 1930 census entries.

My grandmother's entry led me down a really interesting trail. She was living with her father, his wife and a younger sister. But I found something interesting -- my grandmother's grandfather seems to be living either in the same apartment or just next door. Not conclusive, but a good start to go off and prove.

Here's where things get fun. That assumed grandfather (my great great grandfather) was living with his second (or later) wife, a daughter and a step daughter. When I searched the 1920 census, I can't find my great grandfather. I find my great great grandfather, living alone as a lodger and listed as widowed. I find that daughter from the 1930 census living alone in the New York Catholic Protectory. And I find that second wife, widowed, and living with 2 daughters. So, where is my great grandfather, and, wow, what a tough life it looks like they had. Of course this was all in New York City in the depression, so I imagine it could be really bad!

This could keep me going for months!

On my visit next weekend, hopefully I can get my grandmother to help sort this out a little.

JLog -- another Genealogy Technical Geek

I think Family History appeals to me because I am a little bit of a closet geek -- I have all the latest gadgets and I like areas where technology is applied in unique ways. Genealogy is definitely undergoing a revolution in organizing, storing, and preserving your data because of technology. Technology is also radically changing how you do family history research -- I'm still amazed how much Ancestry.com seems to have online now compared to the late 1990's.

Along these lines, I like this new genealogy blog: JLog. Check it out!

More on scanning...

I was a little afraid, after beginning to scan in my sources, that my knowledge of that art was a little dated, too, so I did a little research. Through Cyndi's List, I found this great little site of scanning tips. Based on this, I think I need to be scanning at 200 dpi and saving as a PNG file (not to a Tiff file). This will also make it easier for me to upload photos to the blog, too (I couldn't directly upload a tiff to my post last night)!

Archiving the Sources -- Digitally

While reorganizing my data, I had found that, although my source documentation was pretty well organized during the time I was actively doing my family history, the things people gave me in the slow period of the last ten years or so, just kind of ended up in a box. Even the copies of the source documentation I had carefully filed was starting to show its age. So, I took some time to start scanning the copy of the source documentation into my database.

I would have preferred to keep things in PDF format, as they are a very common way to handle documents, but, as this post from the legacy user groups discusses, a "documents" button is still in the works. For now they recommend you attach the under the "sound" category.

A "documents" button is on the request list. In the meantime, using the Sound or Video button the workaround we recommend for non-graphic files.

Thanks for using Legacy.

Sherry

Customer Support

Millennia Corporation

However, legacy seems to have good support for pictures (and maybe even sound and video). So I scanned each document as a .tiff and linked it to both the source record and, if appropriate, the event it documents. Seems to work well and even prints out a thumbnail print on the family group sheets! But, makes large (3-4 meg) files. Not an issue for me as I have a lot of disk space (about 500 GB). The other problem is that I can only scan one page at a time. For death certificates and the like, this should be fine. But, I'll probably scan some of the larger documents (letters, etc) as PDFs and link them into the database.



Here's one of my favorites, a transcription of my Great-Grandfather's 1894 Baptism as transcribed in 1922 (in Italian, though the church is in Brooklyn, NY).

A new start

Over the past few weeks, I have been restarting the work I've done on our family history. I've had two reasons to do this. First, my kids are starting to get to the age where they will be able to ask questions about this. Second, I like to do it and I need to get reengaged on it.

So, I dusted off my copy of Legacy Family Tree software (and ended up upgrading to 6.0 because of their generous upgrade policy. Then I completed the conversion of my data file from my old Mac Reunion file to Legacy (this slow task may have been what kept me from doing this in the past). Now I am polishing my father's ancestors records by ensuring the facts are straight and reviewing the sources from when I researched them last. Why? Because we are heading to New York next weekend to visit my Great Grandparents, who are in their 80's. So, I am hoping I can get a little info out of them (and maybe some copies of more sources!), so I can expand that part of the tree a little.

What else do I plan to do? Well...

1. Explore the Internet resources now available (and it is a LOT more than I remember from the late 90s).
2. Work hard on getting our family history documented to the dates they immigrated to the U.S. This is mostly on my side of the family, which is centered around New York City and Chicago.
3. "Make the leap" oversees

Along the way, I also plan to publish our research on line, but I'm not there, yet...

First, off to Ancestry.com to see what they have to offer (and get some Census research done).