Motivation Monday: Featured in "May I Introduce To You..."!

Today I was honored to be featured in Gini Webb's (of Ginisology) “May I Introduce To You . . .” series at Geneabloggers.

In the section about "How Amanda Follows the Rest of Us," I forgot to include that I'll also often read posts that appear in the "roll-up" widgets for daily and weekly blog prompts on Geneabloggers. I've discovered some new blogs to follow that way. I also find new blogs to follow with people who comment on my blog posts.

So - please comment! And thank you for stopping by my blog!

[The photo is of me at age 10 and is the inspiration for my username in most places.]

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

ALA RUSA "Genealogy is Bigger in Texas" Preconference - part 3

The third presentation at the American Library Association (ALA) Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) History Section's genealogy preconference at the Midwinter Meeting in Dallas on January 20 was by William Forsyth of Proquest on their genealogy/history database products for libraries.  Proquest sponsored this free preconference and provided yummy breakfast goodies and a delicious lunch.

Thanks to the TexShare Database Program, over 700 libraries in Texas have access to Proquest's Heritage Quest Online database, and to Texas maps in the Digital Sanborn Maps collection.  A number of larger public library systems have access to all the maps in the latter collection (as do some universities), as well as to the Ancestry Library Edition (NOT the same as Ancestry.com).

Heritage Quest has some unique content that's not in either Ancestry.  Its Genealogy and Local History Book Collection has over 24,000 family histories, local histories, and primary sources.  Because the database will mark "hits" in the book of your search terms, you can quickly scan though your results.

Many academic libraries (and some larger public libraries) subscribe to at least one title in Proquest Historical Newspapers.  My university subscribes only to The New York Times, 1851-2007, but I have used it often in genealogical research.  I was pleased to see that ProQuest has a clean new user interface, AND a new way to search obituaries and death notices directly.

It was interesting to hear about a couple genealogy products I was not aware of.  ProQuest Sanborn Maps Geo Edition has geocoded Sanborn maps (1867-1970) that are searchable by address and GPS coordinates. You can also overlay Sanborn maps with current maps (street, satellite, and hybrid layers) to see how an area has changed.  Currently, though, this is only available for certain cities in certain states, and Texas is not one of them.

Another new product to me was Historic Maps Works Library Edition, which is an exclusive distribution and development partnership between ProQuest and Historic Map Works.  The latter is a company that scans and uploads old maps and geocodes them to modern maps.  This allows users to search by modern day address or GPS coordinates (currently only available for 12 states, mostly in the northeast, via ProQuest). Users can also search by keywords, town names, map publishers, or year; or browse by geographic location through a point-and-click world map.

Below is an example (from the Historic Map Works site) of an Abilene 1885 Sanborn map (in color) overlayed onto a Google Map from today (on the left), and an enlargement of one city block overlayed onto a Google Hybrid (satellite and map, on the right):
















Forsyth demonstrated the use of some of these products with an interesting case study of his own:  his great-grandfather, Ellend Erickson, a Norwegian immigrant who served in the Union Army during the Civil War and was later elected to the Minnesota State Legislature.  The handout we got on Proquest is here.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

ALA RUSA "Genealogy is Bigger in Texas" Preconference - part 2

The second presentation at the American Library Association (ALA) Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) History Section's genealogy preconference at the Midwinter Meeting in Dallas on January 20 was by Ari Wilkins, a staff member at the Dallas Public Library and a principal with Black Genesis.  It was entitled "The Story Behind the Fountain Hughes Case Study - Cross Country Research."
Fountain Hughes was a former slave who was interviewed about his life by Hermond Norwood, a Library of Congress engineer at the time, in Baltimore, Maryland, in June 1949, when Fountain claimed to be 101 years old. The recording is one of only 26 in the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center's Archive of Folk Culture and is currently part of the Voices from the Days of Slavery collection.  Ari began her presentation by playing portions of the interview.
Ari decided to follow his life, documenting the places where he lived, and she used a variety of resources.  In the recorded interview, Hughes said he, his mother, and his father "belonged to Burnley" and that he was "born in Charlottesville, Virginia."  Working backward through census and other records, she verifed that he was owned by the Burnley family in Albemarle County, Virginia, which is the same county where Charlottesville is located. Using a tax record of the slave owner that documented his age, she determined that he was probably born around 1860, and thus he was about 89 when he was interviewed, not 101.

In the interview, Fountain Hughes said, "My grandfather belong to Thomas Jefferson," and "my father got killed in the Army" [in the Civil War].  It's not clear who Fountain's father was.  He may have accompanied a Burnley master in the war as a servant.  His grandfather was probably Wormley Hughes, who became the head gardener at Monticello, and whose mother was a sister to Sally Hemings.

She also found contact information for the sole surviving direct descendant of Fountain, using the Reference USA database.  She recorded an interview with her which she played for us.  Shallie Barrett Marshall remembered her great-grandfather living with the family when she was a child.

This was a fascinating case study, and Ari provided a handout listing resources for African-American and slave era genealogical research, including a list of misconceptions about such research.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

ALA RUSA "Genealogy is Bigger in Texas" Preconference - part 1

Yesterday I was fortunate to be able to attend the American Library Association (ALA) Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) History Section's genealogy preconference at the Midwinter Meeting being held January 20-24 in Dallas.  It was titled "Genealogy is Bigger in Texas" and ran from 10 AM to 5 PM at the Dallas Public Library. The preconference was free (thanks to sponsorship by Proquest, who also provided yummy breakfast goodies and a delicious lunch), but required preregistration due to limited seating.

The day was so chock-full of good information that there was barely time for bathroom breaks, let alone a visit to the Dallas Library's awesome genealogy and Texas/Dallas history collections.  In fact, the first speaker was Lloyd Bockstruck, who retired July 31, 2009, as supervisor of that genealogy section (where he served since 1973), on "growing a collection during harsh economic times."  My photo of Bockstruck is blurry, so I'm using one from his days as a genealogy columnist with the Dallas Morning News.  My mother clipped a number of his columns when my parents lived in Lancaster (a Dallas suburb) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and she still has them in her files.

The only time I might have been able to tour the rest of the library was from 10 to 10:30 AM - but if I had, I might have missed out on winning a door prize, awarded by Michael J. Hall, Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer of FamilySearch.  My prize was the set of the first two volumes of Texas First Families Lineages (volume 3 will be published in November), a $60+ value that I'll be adding to my library's genealogy collection.

Other presenters were Ari Wilkins of Black Genesis on an African-American genealogy case study, William Forsyth of Proquest on their genealogy/history products, Aaron Holt from the National Archives in Fort Worth on their Native American holdings, and Sue Kaufman of the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research of the Houston Public Library on their holdings and services.  Watch for blog posts on each of their presentations in the near future.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Wordless Wednesday: Stop SOPA and PIPA

End Piracy, Not Liberty

 Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Tombstone Tuesday: Elizabeth Baker Williams, 1737-1762, Jamaica

 Elizabeth Williams
Wife of  Col Tho Williams

Daughter of Will^m & Martha Baker
Departed This Life
April the 2 1762
Aged 24 Years & Five Months

This grave is in a ground floor room at the Good Hope Plantation Great House in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica (near Falmouth).  Thomas Williams built the house for his first wife who sadly died, probably of malaria.  The tour guides said Jamaica has a rich history of Santería and Obeah (sometimes spelled Obi, Obea or Obia) voodoo and the natives say the room is haunted by a “Doppi” or ghost.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Happy New Year! Motivation Monday - Genealogy Goals for 2012

Okay, I'm about two weeks behind on this one, but I have a good excuse - I was out of town January 6-15 and trying to get some 2011 year-end stuff done in the days before I left - I've been playing catch-up in my life since Thanksgiving!

I'm not much for New Year's resolutions, at least not speaking them aloud or putting them on paper, as inevitably I don't achieve them. But maybe that's been part of the problem; not enough accountability.

Part of what's motivated me to try to set some genealogy goals for this year was a conference stipend from the Texas Library Association's archives, genealogy, and local history group. As it turns out, I will be unable to attend all of this year's conference (one of the requirements to receive the stipend), but I doubt that I would be a high-ranking candidate for the stipend this year anyway.  I have not been as involved as I should be in local genealogy and historical societies (joining Hood County's at their January 23 meeting) and even in the library association's district/system meetings (other than annual conference and North Texas Library Partners' TechNet,) although I am attending the Reference and User Services Association's History Section free genealogy preconference at the ALA (American Library Association) Midwinter Conference in Dallas this Friday..  I just did a presentation on "Social Media in Genealogy and Family History" at Tarleton's Texas Social Media Research Institute's first Social Media Conference, and I'm hoping to do that presentation somewhere else.  Maybe

Besides attending the local genealogy/historical society meetings (monthly except for July, August, and December), I'm going to try to post in this blog at least once a week (Amy Coffin's 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy should help, as should Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Blog Editorial Calendars) and back up my data once a month.

I'm also hoping to combine partial attendance at this year's state library conference in April in Houston with some research there (assuming I figure out in advance exactly where I need to go and what I need to look for) on my mother's ancestors, some of whom immigrated there from Lithuania, as well as in Bremond and Hearne which are on the drive there.

Finally, after a bad experience trying to have microfilm sent to the local Family History Center (which I'll blog about later), I will make lemonade out of lemons by trying out the Family History Center in the town of my place of work - one of the lemons being that the upcoming retirement of my workplace's local history expert means that I'll be working Thursday evenings this spring, meaning I could take some Thursday afternoons to do some research there


© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Candlelight Tour: Historic Houses

Back on December 3, we served as docents for the Hood County Courthouse on Granbury's annual Candlelight Tour of Homes (and other historic structures).  One of the benefits of our two-hour shift was a free ticket to see other sites on the tour, which I have featured all this week.

Most of the 20 sites on the tour were private residences.  Therefore, I could not take photos inside the homes, but here are the exteriors of the ones I toured, plus some interesting information on each.

The Estes House is just a few blocks from my home.   It was built in Fort Worth around 1910 and moved here in 1994, creating quite a scene as it rolled down Highway 51 from Weatherford.  It has a pressed tin ceiling inside. At one time Billie Sol Estes lived here. [ETA:  In February 2014 a fire destroyed a significant portion of the house, and it was demolished the next month.]

The Walthall House was built in the early 1940s, by dentist Robert Walthall, based on plans his wife Mary found in Holland's magazine. Building materials were in short supply due to World War II, so its concrete foundation had to be reinforced with scrap metal from junked automobiles. Mr. Cockran, a rock mason from nearby Tolar, laid the exterior rock in a random "peanut brittle" pattern, and used large slabs of limestone for the window lintels, arches, and sills.  Metal of any kind was scarce, affecting the family's ability to find door hinges and faucets. The Walthall family lived through the winter of 1943-1944 with limited heating, electricity, and plumbing.  The redwood door was propped into place and the family went in and out of the house through a window.

The Daniel-Harris House is one I pass each day on my commute.  From the state historical marker in front:

Early Granbury merchant and saloonkeeper Robert Randolph Daniel (1864-1918) had this house built about 1892. In 1899 it was sold to Wesley Smith Harris (1854-1930), a prominent local furniture dealer and undertaker. Representative of elegant turn-of-the-century homes in Granbury, the Victorian residence reflects influences of the Italianate and Eastlake styles and features an ornate square tower and intricate ornamentation.

Notice also the limestone mounting block in front of the home, used to step in and out of carriages or mount a horse, and the stained glass in the front door and upstairs windows, which is original.  During World War II this home was divided into three units, which will be advantageous in its upcoming use as a bed and breakfast.

The Holderness-Aiken House is next door to the Daniel-Harris House.  Also from the historical marker:

Contractor E.J. Holderness, credited with building numerous Victorian structures in Granbury, erected this home for his own family, in 1896. The front porch features intricate Eastlake style decoration. Enlarged before 1910, the one story frame house was occupied by Holderness until 1913. It was acquired in 1926 by Mary Narcissa Rylee (Mrs. Ed) Aiken (1856-1931), member of a Pioneer Hood County family.

This tiny house had lots of interesting details, including the state seal carved into the paving stones of the walkway.

The Rickenbrode Residence is across the street from the Daniel-Harris House. This early-Craftsman style bungalow was built for Charles E. Brady and his wife Annie in 1913 by local contractor Jim Stout, at a cost of $550.

The Cogdell "Yellow Rose" House was the last one I visited on the tour, just before it ended at 5 PM on Sunday (hence the darkness of the photo).  The house was built around 1895 by Daniel Calhoun Cogdell, a prominent businessman and banker, supposedly for one of his daughters.  Cogdell also built the large house next door (not on the tour) as his main residence, and at least two other houses in Granbury for other children.

© Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.

Candlelight Tour: Nativity Display and Presbyterian Church

Back on December 3, we served as docents for the Hood County Courthouse on Granbury's annual Candlelight Tour of Homes (and other historic structures).  One of the benefits of our two-hour shift was a free ticket to see other sites on the tour, which I will continue to feature this week.

One of the houses on the tour (the Neely House) was recently acquired by the City (it has a nice view of the Lambert Branch, below), to be rented out for events.  During the tour, it was used for the "Away in a Manger" display of local resident Faye Landham's collection of over 700 nativity scenes from all over the world.  Unfortunately, the lighting in the home was not conducive to photography (particularly on a rainy day), so my pictures did not turn out very well, but here are some of the sets of most interest to me.  I'm not sure why I took the photo below right (the identifying tag did not show up in the picture), but it may have been because the set was from Lithuania, where my maternal great-grandparents are from. [ETA:  I saw one almost identical to this in Cozumel on January 10, 2012, so it's from Mexico, not Lithuania.]

The set below left was made by a nomadic tribe in Kazakhstan and shows their native shelter.  The one below right was made by the Amish.  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph have no faces because the Amish believe everyone should use their own minds to imagine what they looked like, and because the Amish traditionally don't put faces on dolls.  Ms. Landham says she had a hard time finding someone to make this set because the Amish rarely make "decorative" items.


The one below left was made from a bald cypress knee hand cut in a swamp near La Beau, Louisiana, where it is the state tree.  No two knees are alike, making this a unique piece.  The next two were also handmade in the United States.



The one above right was made in Argentina of a variety of woods, and the one below right in India of wood from Benares.  The one below left is from Nigeria.


I thought the one below left was rather unusual, but it turns out it's a "Pillars of Heaven" nativity and you can find it rather easily.

Another stop on the tour was the First Presbyterian Church near the courthouse square, below right and at bottom.  It was built in 1896.





© Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.

Candlelight Tour: Granbury Railroad Depot

Back on December 3, we served as docents for the Hood County Courthouse on Granbury's annual Candlelight Tour of Homes (and other historic structures).  One of the benefits of our two-hour shift was a free ticket to see other sites on the tour, which I will continue to feature this week.

The Granbury Railroad Depot was built in 1914, replacing an earlier frame structure that burned in 1912.  It has a bay window on the north side (facing the tracks).  Wide eaves surround the building to protect passengers and baggage from the weather.

The building has a red tile roof.  The local garden clubs decorate the outside for the holidays, and it's a popular place for family photographs.

The station sign, visible from approaching trains

The interior features pine floors, twelve foot high ceilings, and two chimneys for potbellied stoves. Below, volunteer Yvonne Ables points out the features (including a curved reflector at the top) of a candle sconce from a late 1800s-early 1900s railroad dining car, to the right of the old ticket window.




The old bay window area now has a working telegraph display.  I learned that the original straight key apparatus (below right) caused "glass arm," a repetitive motion disorder (like carpal tunnel syndrome)...


...so the Vibroplex (below left) was invented to reduce stress on the hand.  It also made transmitting Morse code faster.

A volunteer (I did not catch his name) demonstrated the operation of a Y-shaped train order hoop (or fork).  A train order provided instructions or information on timetable changes from the dispatcher to the train's engineer (with usually a second copy to the conductor at the rear) at stations where the train did not stop, in the days before radio became common.  The message was tied with a slip knot to the center of a pre-cut string.  The string was then looped through notches (like those in an arrow so it would fit into a bow string) cut into the tops of the dowels forming the legs of the Y, and secured at the bottom in a spring clip.  The telegrapher or an assistant would then hold up the pole so that the top of the Y would be within arm's reach of the train crew.  The crew member would slip an arm in the loop and the string would pop off.

Here's a short (35 second) video where "hooping up" train orders is demonstrated twice:

The old freight and baggage room area of the depot is now an archive for county historical and genealogical records, many of which were rescued when they were being discarded out of the courthouse:

Passenger service ended at the depot in the 1970s, and freight service ended in 1983.  At that point, the county's genealogical society and historical society formed a joint committee to restore the building and operate it as a museum as well as the records repository.  The groups have a joint monthly meeting at the Depot except in July, August, and September.  The depot museum and genealogy research library are open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment.

© Amanda Pape - 2011 - click here to e-mail me.