New York Records Online

The New England Historic Genealogical Society has created a new web site devoted to New York genealogical research. In addition to the massive amount of New England material the society has accumulated over it's long history, it has also amassed a great deal of New York material. That information is now available to genealogists at http://www.newyorkancestors.org/. Members of the New England Historic Genealogical Society have access to all the databases on the new site.

The Dark Side: Genealogy Rip-Offs Listed

The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.

Ninety-nine percent of the businesses that sell products and services to genealogists are legitimate companies that work hard at supplying the best products possible. This article will focus on the other 1%.

It seems that scam artists have been around forever in the world of genealogy. They existed centuries ago, and they exist today. I have written about a number of them in past newsletters, and you may encounter still more such scams if you use any modern Internet search engine.

As a convenience for newsletter readers, I am compiling a list of alleged genealogy scams. In short, this list will be updated as often as necessary and will contain the name and web site of each company that reportedly delivers less than what they advertise to the genealogy marketplace. Whenever possible, the listing will include a link to other web pages where the reader may find further details. These are the web sites and e-mail messages that generate the majority of messages that I receive from concerned newsletter readers.

A listing here does not mean that the company has been proven guilty or even that it has had a court appearance. While a listing here does indicate significant customer dissatisfaction, the listing should not be construed as proof of guilt. The information is provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. I believe the information contained in this report is reliable, but there is no guarantee as to accuracy. Reports are subject to change at any time.

Morphcorp Corporation, also known as “Family News” or the “Family News Network” or the "Mountain Pacific News Service"

Many consumers who purchase the product have alleged that it does not represent their specific family genealogy information. Complainants allege that the company sends similar genealogy information to a wide range of customers.

The company paid a $ 30,000 civil penalty in 2006 and also paid the State of Colorado $25,000 in attorney fees and costs and have agreed to significant changes in the way "Family Yearbooks" are marketed. However, the company's business practices have changed little, and the company continues to send out misleading advertisements for the "Family Yearbook." If your name is Smith, you will receive an ad for the “Smith Family Yearbook.” Anyone with a last name of Jones will receive ads for the” Jones Family Yearbook.” In fact, both publications will contain nearly identical generic information with nothing specific to either the Smith family or the Jones family.

While these are called “yearbooks,” the publications do not seem to change from year to year. Each booklet contains generic information about the origins of surnames, a list of references for “how to research your own ancestry” and similar, material. You can find more and better information within a few minutes by using any search engine. Unlike these so-called yearbooks, the information found via search engines is mostly available free of charge. This company charges $39.85 for the so-called "yearbooks."

The company had a web site at www.ourfamilyyearbook.com, but the company apparently has since switched to http://familynewsabout.com. Mountain Pacific News Service's new web site does offer the following disclaimers at http://familynewsabout.com/acks.php?id=27401:

FAMILY HISTORIANS NOTE : This data is for you to do your own genealogical research.

OUR PRODUCTS ARE NOT PUBLISHED YEARLY . New data is added from time to time. New major changes are advertised on the web.

Our products CONTAINS NO PICTURES OF FAMILY MEMBERS unless otherwise noted.

OUR PRODUCTS ARE NOT INTENDED TO BE ABOUT YOUR FAMILY but about the entire family nationwide.

IF FOR ANY REASON WHATSOVER you are dissatisfied with this product, return it within 15 days for a full refund.

For more information, look at the Better Business Bureau's web site at http://denver.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=33&bbb=0885&firm=11038 and at this newsletter's earlier articles at http://tinyurl.com/4ht3j8.

SearchYourGenealogy.com, Ancestry-search.com, and Australian-Ancestry.com

These sites claim to have “the largest online genealogical search tool” and promote themselves as the foremost resources for genealogy; however, they are nothing more than a series of web pages with links to other services. On each site, potential customers are lured to purchase under what we feel to be false, misleading, or deceitful promotional material, and the buyer gets little or no value out of money spent at these websites.

Further information may be found at http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2008/04/10/potentially-fraudulent-sites-posing-as-genealogy-websites

Clett Island

Clett Island is situated on Loch Dunvegan in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. The island's owner is selling small plots on Clett Island as "Heritage Land Plots." His advertising is mostly aimed at Americans and Canadians, apparently appealing to those of Scottish descent. However, the Scottish National Parliament (SNP) claims that the deeds issued are not worth the paper they are written on. In fact, SNP media and culture spokesman Mike Russell is furious, claiming the scheme is illegal and also exploits Scotland's culture. "This is a cynical exploitation of Scottish history and culture and I want it stopped," said Russell.

The sale was conducted on the seller's Web page at http://www.clett.com but the site now appears to be defunct.

The BBC has an article about this at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2577095.stm and I wrote about it also at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/05/update_own_a_pi.html.

Family Trackers

http://www.familytrackers.com

The owner of Family Trackers also owns several other web sites, including Market Profiles at www.MarketProfiles.net. According to that web site's main page:

Market Profiles is a full-service research company that surveys members of our online panel about the web sites that they visit and sells the results to web site marketers through affiliates and directly through our online store.

In other words, a genealogist receives unsolicited mail from Family Trackers, believes it, signs up, and "even recruits and organizes indexers and transcribers on Family Trackers." All of these folks then have their information collected by surveys, and that information is then sold to other marketers. While this is misleading, it is probably legal. Still, you might want to know the “full story” before filling out any surveys.

Details may be found at the owner's own web site at http://www.MarketProfiles.net.

Independent Committee of Eminent Persons

This is a very pathetic scam. You receive an unsolicited e-mail message stating that a bank official in Switzerland has “discovered” millions of dollars left in an account by a now-deceased relative of yours. Most of the time, there is a reference to the deceased person being a Holocaust victim. The sender of this message usually has a forged return e-mail address; clicking on REPLY doesn’t work. However, the body of the message tells you how to supply your personal banking information so that “the money may be deposited directly to your account.” The unsolicited message may even say, “There is no risk involved.”

Of course, once you supply your personal banking information, the scam artist is able to drain all the funds already in your account. Then the thief promptly disappears.

NOTE: There is a real organization called the “Independent Committee of Eminent Persons.” It is part of the International Monetary Fund. However, it doesn’t search for money left in bank accounts, doesn’t notify relatives of “newly discovered funds,” and doesn’t send out tens of thousands of e-mail messages with bogus return e-mail addresses.

You can find hundreds of references to this on Google by starting at http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=Independent+Committee+of+Eminent+Persons&btnG=Google+Search

“Your Wealthy Relative Died in a Car Crash”

This is a variation of the well-known Nigerian scams. You receive an e-mail message from someone claiming to be a lawyer, a solicitor, or a bank employee. The letter says that someone with the same last name as yours was killed in a horrible automobile accident a few years ago, and the bank that is holding his funds is trying to find heirs. The person writing the message has decided that you are the likely heir.

At this point, the scam becomes the same as the various Nigerian scams or the Independent Committee of Eminent Persons scam described earlier. You are asked to supply your bank account information so that “the money may be deposited directly to the account.” Of course, once you supply your personal banking information, the scam artist is able to drain all the funds already in your account and then promptly disappears.

If you receive such a solicitation, quickly click on the DELETE key.

Whenever you receive an e-mail message from someone you do not know, hang onto your wallet tightly! Never accept such messages at face value. Ask a friend, preferable some who is very experienced with online activities. Before you ever divulge personal banking information, ask your bank to review the message you received. Banks are experts at recognizing scams, and they offer their advice at no charge to their customers. Use that service!

Finally, if anyone ever says they will give you money, be suspicious. That simply doesn’t happen often. In addition, if anyone asks you to first send money before they give you money, ask yourself, ”Why?” The sender of the message may claim that he or she has to pay fees in advance. Ask for documentation and receipts.

If anyone sends you a message claiming that you can obtain large sums of money, say to yourself over and over, “This is too good to be true.” Then believe it. It is a scam.

Kith and Kin - Cluster Genealogy

Here is a simple tip to help you get around the inevitable brick walls you will run into. When you reach the point where you are unable to trace an individual's ancestry any further, try researching that persons siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. It's obvious that your 8th great-grandfathers parents are also the parents of his brothers and sisters and his grandparents are the grandparents of his cousins. So, why do we get so focused on the subject of our research that we ignore the other paths to the same goal?

This family line research is a subset of cluster genealogy. To go even further, we should be researching neighbors and associates of our subject too. Our ancestors lived in close knit communities. They married the neighbors sons and daughters. They migrated together and engaged in land deals. It can be very fruitful to explore the connections.

To locate these relatives and neighbors, use census and town records to find out who was living close by. Of course, you will want to be especially curious about those with the same surname. Also, look for other family naming clues. A child's first or middle name just might be the mother's or grandmother's surname. Look for those names in the local records too.

Be creative in your research. Don't get so focused on one person that you neglect to look at the other people associated with him or her. Those connected individuals can lead to whole new branches of your family tree.

A Very Grave Matter

Who but a genealogist would be interested in a web site devoted to cemeteries and gravestones? A Very Grave Matter is a somewhat specialized but, none the less, very interesting site. If you have New England ancestors, there is a good chance you will find some of them listed. Even if you don't, the site might still be of interest to you. Gravestones, especially early ones, can be true works of art. Look at the one over the grave of Abigail Frost.

Not all of the stones pictured are ancient. Many, like this one for John and Jane Clough, are more recent replacements of the originals. These are also valuable sources for dates and names but, remember that they are more subject to error than the original stones. As you can see on the last linked page, transcripts of the stones are usually provided and that can be a huge help. Many of those old stones are almost impossible to read in a photo.

The web site also includes a blog about gravestones, cemeteries, and New England history. Good reading if you are interested in the subject and, as a genealogist, you should be. Short histories of the towns and cemeteries are provided. You will also find articles on cleaning gravestones and other features.

A Very Grave Matter is a very good web site. Well worth the time to visit.

AF and IGI - What Good Are They?

Ancestral File and The International Genealogical Index are, probably, the most widely used genealogical reference sources. Unfortunately, they are also two of the most common sources of erroneous information. Both are products of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are widely used by church members and non-members alike. So many researchers use these sources that any errors (and there are a great many) get propagated far and wide. Other resources, like Ancestry World Tree, family history books, family web sites, and individual researchers' files often include incorrect data from AF and IGI without citing them as the source. So, how can we make use of these databases while minimizing the chance of spreading the errors? We can be choosy about the data we use from them and, we can warn our readers of the imprecise nature of these sources.

Ancestral File is the less reliable of the two databases. All the information in AF has been donated by individuals and consolidated into a single database. While the names and address of the submitters is included, and there is no good way to determine the original source that those submitters used. Any information you find in Ancestral File should be considered as only a possibility that must be verified by other, more reliable, sources. If used that way, AF is a valuable source of leads for further research.

If you do cite Ancestral File, be sure to qualify the source by adding a caution to the citation. I word mine like this example:

Jonathan HOLCOMB (AFN: 45L1-DJ) ; Ancestral File, v4.19 , The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Online: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., 1999-2003), http://www.familysearch.com, accessed 11 December 2003. CAUTION - Information in Ancestral File should be considered a clue only. Whenever possible, information should be verified with other sources.

The International Genealogical Index can be a more reliable source depending on where the information came from. The big advantage we have with this database is that the original source of data is, usually, given. Unfortunately, most of them will reference lists like sealings for the dead, baptisms for the dead, etc. These are records provided by individuals and are no more reliable than the records in Ancestral File. To find the quality data, look for sources that reference actual birth, marriage or death records from the states, counties or towns named. Then, if possible, consult the original records to verify the data was transcribed correctly. Most of these records can be found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City or through your local Family History Center. If you can't not view the original source for yourself, at least record it in your citation.

If no definite source is given, you should qualify any citation to IGI just like in the Ancestral File example above. If you are lucky enough to find a source that looks reliable, the citation should include a reference to it like this:

Mace R. Clough entry; FHL Film Number M503786; International Genealogical Index (IGI), v5.0 , The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Online: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., 1999-2003), http://www.familysearch.com, accessed 20 March, 2006, original source of data:
Item 1 Records of marriages and marriage intentions, 1814-1910; index to marriages, 1748-1912 Portland (Maine). City Clerk
Item 2 Records of intentions of marriage, 1837-1891; index of intentions of
marriage, 1733-1886 Portland (Maine). City Clerk.

Don't let the reliability issues with Ancestral File and The International Genealogical Index keep you from consulting them. Just remember that what you find there is not proof. Look at the as collections of clues to guide you to the names, places and records that deserve further research. The LDS church has provided us with valuable tools. It is up to us to use them correctly.

A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England

If you have New England ancestors who arrived in America before 1692, then you are probably already aware of the work of James Savage. His monumental Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England to 1692is one of the first places you should look when researching early New England families. I do not, however, recommend that you buy the physical four volume set. The books have been digitized and are available in more than one place online, including Google Books.

While seeing the digitized pages of the original books is helpful I prefer a different site. Like most genealogy books, Savages does contain errors. For that reason,I like the revised version by Professor Robert Kraft and his assistant, Benjamin Dunning. The extensive work done by the pair to review and add corrections makes theirs even more valuable that the original books. You can access Kraft's version at http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/savage/. You may copy selections from these pages and paste them into your own database provided that you give proper credit (you do cite all your sources don't you) and you are not doing the copying for profit.

Finding Places

Have you ever found a reference to a town name but had no idea what county it is in? How about a cemetery name but not the town where it is located? The first resource I turn to for answers to questions about places is the U.S. Geological Survey GNIS.

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. To access the system, go to http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic. If you book mark the page, use this address rather than the longer one that you are redirected to when you enter the site. A FAQ entry on the site explains why you must book mark the site with the preceding address this way:

When you log on, the system adds temporary session identification numbers to the URL, so it looks like this:

http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=921:10:6315419807150552990

If you bookmark or copy and paste this entire URL with numbers, it will not work in the future. Delete all after the word “gnispublic.” The correct URL is:

http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic

You can search for towns and cities, unincorporated villages, cemeteries, bodies of water, schools, hospitals, mountains and more. Just about any geographical feature that has a name is in the database.

Not only is the GNIS an excellent tool to help you get correct place names for your database, it can also help you find them when you want to visit. Suppose you learn that your great great grandparents are buried in a small country cemetery but have no idea where it is. If you find the cemetery name on GNIS, the latitude and longitude will also be listed in the entry. If you have a GPS receiver that will accept coordinates, you can enter the location and be guided right to the cemetery. If you don't have a GPS or yours doesn't accept latitude and longitude, you can usually put the coordinates into Google Maps. Click on the place name in GNIS to get to the detail screen then select the numbers under Latitude(DEC) and Longitude (DEC). Paste those coordinates into Google Maps to see the location. For the example in the picture (click it to enlarge), you would enter 42.6030665 -89.1695577 in the Google Maps search box.

You can convert the Google Map into data for your GPS but, that is beyond the scope of this post. If you are interested, try http://www.elsewhere.org/journal/gmaptogpx/ for details on how to do that.

The Geographic Names Information System is a valuable tool that should be in every genealogists tool box. You will find many more ways to use it than I could possibly list in a single post.

One-Step Searches

Immigration, census and vital records databases have the potential to be treasure troves of online genealogical information but, finding that information can be challenging. First you have to know the database exists and where it is, then you have to master the nuances of searching it effectively. Most users never make the most of the data available because they don't take the time to master that final step of learning to conduct the most effective searches. Thankfully, there is an easier way.

Stephen P. Morse has invested the time and considerable effort to learn how to effectively search these databases and created tools that make them more accessible to all of us. Go to http://www.stevemorse.org/ to see the growing list of searches available. You will find much more than the immigration, census and vital records mentioned above. Maps, interviews, genetic genealogy and much more in made accessible. If you do online research, you can't help but find something to help you here.

I can't give instructions for using the searches because each is a little different. For a good introduction to using the web site you should go to http://www.stevemorse.org/onestep/onestep.htm. Don't worry too much though. The search forms are intuitive and easy to use even without much instruction. Thank you Dr. Morse!

Fiction in Genealogy Reports?

What should we do with those family stories that have been passed down through generations but, we realize, are more fiction than fact? Should they be discarded in the interest of only recording accurate and factual information? I don't think so. I really believe those stories should be preserved and passed on to future generations. However, they should be clearly identified as family stories and not claimed as fact. Here is an example of a story from my own family history. I saw this basic story in a couple books about the Hatch family and wanted to include it on my web site. In the storytelling tradition, I didn't just repeat what was in the books but, I also added my own embellishments.

The Harvest of Thomas Hatch

Thomas Hatch had been left a widower by the death of his first wife. Needing a mother for his two young children, Lydia and Jonathan, he began to court the daughter of his neighbor, a farmer named Lewis. Grace Lewis was apparently a very attractive and popular young woman for she had several suitors in addition to Thomas. At last, the field was narrowed to Thomas and just one other but, the lovely Grace could not seem to choose between the two. Finally it was decided that the two rivals would take part in a contest to determine who would win the hand of Grace. Since it was harvest time, it would be a reaping contest. The one who reaped his portion of Farmer Lewis's field in the shortest time would be the winner.

On the day of the event, Grace announced that she too would take a part in the contest. She would start in the middle of the field and cut her swaths toward the edges, one side and then the other. The two suitors would start at opposite edges and cut toward the middle. The first to join his swath with Grace's would also join his life with hers.

In the early morning, the contest began. The two rivals paced off the distance to the center of the field and agreed that each patch was even. Grace cut her first swath straight up the middle of the field with an expertise gained through years of harvests. Her two suitors worked furiously to cut their way to the center and to the lovely Grace. The two young men were evenly matched. First one and then the other would take the lead. By ten o'clock, every neighbor for miles around had arrived to cheer on their favorite in the struggle for the hand of Miss Grace.

The noon hour arrived and the onlookers brought out their picnic lunches but the rivals would not stop to eat. Both kept up an almost superhuman pace so great was each ones desire to win. Grace too kept up her work without a rest first cutting a swath toward Thomas and then one toward the other until finally, just before two in the afternoon, Thomas swung his sickle through the last thin row of grain and joined his harvested ground with Grace's. The young couple clasped hands and raised them high between them for all the town to see.

The happy pair, the relieved father and the jubilant neighbors hurried off to the Lewis home to celebrate the betrothal. Left behind, Thomas's rival gazed forlornly over the harvested ground. Something did not seem quite right to him. As he paced to and fro over the stubbled ground, he saw that the portion he had cut was definitely a little larger that that cut by Thomas. A closer study showed him that each row of wheat that Grace had cut toward his side of the field was just slightly narrower than the rows cut toward Thomas' side. It seemed that Grace had made up her mind after all! The rival suitor chuckled to himself then set off after the noisy crowd. There would be a party this evening and the young ladies of the town would all be there. It was time for him to set his sights on another prospect. This time he thought, he would not choose a farmer's daughter to court.

To make it clear that this is not to be taken as fact, I added a disclaimer after the story.

Is the story true? Certainly not, although it may have some basis in fact. It is a true part of our family heritage though and, I think, worth passing on.

Please, add those stories and rumors to your research. They are fun to record and fun to read. Just make sure you make clear just what they are.

Two Keys to Good Family History Research

Probably the most important guideline for good genealogy research is to work from the known to the unknown. Choose a single subject for your research and work up and down from that person. In most cases, the subject will be you. If you also want to trace your spouses genealogy, I strongly recommend that you create separate databases for each of you. You will find it much less confusing if you research a single subject at a time (there are exceptions like single name studies but, those are outside the scope of this blog post). There is no one you know better than yourself so, when you start with yourself, you are starting out right by following the principal of working from the known to the unknown.

The second principal I want to emphasize is good citation of your sources. You should cite every source you use. If two sources contain conflicting information, you should still cite both. You will have to make a judgment call as to which information is the best, but you should record the differing information too. Good genealogy research is not just copying want you find in other works. To really do good research you must consciously evaluate every piece of information you come across and make informed decisions as to which bits of data are best. When doing family history research, we are dealing with dates, places and names that were recorded by fallible humans. We can never be 100% sure our conclusions are precisely correct. Still, we must make every effort to adhere to strict standards for good research and quality of proof to keep those errors to a minimum.

Citing every source you use does not mean that you have to use every source you come across. If you have good evidence that a particular writer or compiler consistently puts out false or mistaken data, you can legitimately ignore that source. You might, however, want to make a note about why you believe the information to be incorrect so that other researchers can be warned.

You will also have to learn a little about the mechanics of source citation. Cyndi's List has links to several resources you can find online. One good tool you can use to help create the actual citations is Landmark's Citation Machine. Certainly the most used reference for genealogical citation is Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills. Ms. Mills is widely considered to be THE authority on documentation of family history research.

While learning to format your citations correctly is important, I think it is even more important to make them clear to your readers. The people viewing your genealogy are likely to be family members and distant relatives who don't know anything about source citation. Try to make your citation clear to them. I like to spell out words like page rather than using the more correct p. I will also make images of documents and attach them to the citation. Not everyone would agree but, adding more detail works for me.