a Collection of Feature Articles from Past Issues of The Beacon
SNOHOMISH COUNTY IN THE 1860 FEDERAL CENSUS? (by Betty Lou Gaeng) - from the May 2011 issue of The Beacon To err is human. Sure does cause difficulties for genealogists though. A few years ago, Sno-Isle Genealogical Society published a short article in our quarterly publication The Sounder, regarding errors made in the indexing and reporting of the 1860 U.S. Federal Census. Now that Snohomish County is celebrating its 150th birthday, I thought it was a good time to once again bring to light those errors. It may help the people searching for ancestors in the 1860 census for Washington Territory. Suppose you are looking for your gr-gr-grandfather Edmund Pendleton in the 1860 census. You heard he left Missouri and went way out west to Washington Territory. Great, you found him! There he is, the first one listed in the 1860 census for Snohomish County, Washington Territory - living near a place called Arkada - Edmund P. Pendleton, age 28, and he’s working as a lumberman. Now, wait a minute! I attended the party in Everett celebrating the 150th birthday of Snohomish County, and I learned it didn’t become a separate county from Island County until January 14, 1861. So, how did Snohomish County get included in the 1860 census? Those names don’t even look familiar. And, where is Arkada? I never heard of a place called Arkada in Snohomish County. Of course, the answer is, there never was a town by that name in Snohomish County and there never was a census for Snohomish County in 1860. It was still part of Island County at that time! The error probably arose because of our unfamiliar names with their America Indian influence. Forget the indexing and go directly to the actual record. Now we know, Gr-Gr-Grandfather Edmund Pendleton lived and worked as a lumberman near a place called Arkada in Sawamish County, Washington Territory, not Snohomish County. Sawamish—now where is that county? According to Everton Publishers’ The Handy Book for Genealogists, Tenth Edition, Washington Territory’s Sawamish County was created from Thurston County on March 15, 1854. On January 8, 1864, Sawamish County was renamed Mason County. So, even though Sawamish County was in existence at the time of the 1860 federal census, and the people living there were included in the enumeration, you won’t find a listing for Sawamish County in the National Archives’ publication Federal Population Censuses 1790-1890, or on their website. Neither will you find an index listing for the county of Sawamish for the 1860 census from Ancestry.com, nor Heritage Quest. In place of it you will find Snohomish County. The poor lost souls of the short-lived county of Sawamish must have been as confused as the rest of us. Congratulations to the hardworking people who volunteer with the USGenWeb Census Project—they got it right. Wait, there is more! To add more insult, plus trouble for genealogists, the people who lived on the mainland portion of Island County (the section that did become Snohomish County the following year), they were completely left out of the 1860 census. Perhaps they were hiding behind all those big trees. More likely though, some political infighting helped cause the oversight, or possibly it was the fact that Island County was split in two by water and travel was not that easy, so no one bothered. EUGENE CASIMIR CHIROUSE (to WA-SNOHOM Mailing List on 18 April 2011 by Marge Reid) from the May 2011 issue of The Beacon In 2007, SIGS member Betty Lou Gaeng began her research into the life and times of Reverend Eugene Casimir Chirouse, O.M.I. Her original story was published in three installments in The Sounder, the quarterly publication of the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society. Betty continued her research, discovering more sources of information that had been overlooked by other biographers and historians. She then re-wrote her earlier story to include these new findings as well as historical documents and images that give the reader a fuller picture of Father Chirouse. The Sno-Isle Genealogical Society is proud to host Betty Lou Gaeng's biography of Eugene Casimir Chirouse - thanks to Betty's generosity in agreeing to e-publishing her book, everyone can learn about a man whose life work influenced so many of the First People of the Puget Sound area. The biography is part of SIGS' Special Projects Collection - a link to the file can be found at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~wasigs/chirouse.htm Be sure to check our website often for new Special Projects. https://sites.rootsweb.com/~wasigs/indexspecial.htm SOME THOUGHTS FROM MISS MARGE ON GIVEN NAMES (by Marge Reid) from the February 2011 issue of The Beacon As a researcher, I have to take some Serious Looks at the way(s) given names are recorded in censuses, vital records and such. For instance, in one census, a young daughter's name is given as "Peggy" - ten years later, on the next census, her name has "changed" to "Maggie". Twenty years later, as a married woman, she's "Margaret". I can't rely on civil records of her birth, marriage and death to give me Her Real Name - I've seen cases where a woman's nickname was used on the birth records of children, and occasionally on her own death certificate (not her headstone however... not YET.) Can I assume that she "changed her given name" several times over her lifetime? How do I know for sure and certain what her Real Given Name was? Is "Margaret DORR", b 1856, daughter of Nicholas DORR and Maria Anna GRATZ the same person as "Maggie DORR", b 1856, daughter of Nicholas DORR and Maria Anna GRATZ? Of course she is. "Margaret" and "Maggie" (and come to think of it, "Marge" and "Gretchen" and "Peggy") are all from the same Given Name Set, just as "Edward" and "Ed" and "Eddie" and "Ted" and "Teddy" are from the same Name Set. (Of course, as has been pointed out several times, "Ted" and "Teddy" are ALSO part of the THEODORE Given Name Set...) Could it be that the given name I find on a census page is the name used for that person by the informant who spoke with the enumerator, and not necessarily the "real name" of the person being enumerated? Remember Eugene Field's classic poem "Jest 'Fore Christmas"? "Father calls me William, sister calls me Will, Mother calls me Willie, but the fellers call me Bill". In other words, depending on WHO gave the information to the census-taker, that same young man would be known forever as "William" or "Will", or "Willie" or "Bill" or maybe even "Bubba". So, I have to remind myself to be flexible when dealing with given names found on Official Documents and in other reference sources - after all, my own family tree contains the name of a person who for the first three years of her life was called "Twinkie", not to mention another family member called "Mugsie" as a teenager. And, no, I won't tell who they are, either. I value my life, doncha know. To learn more about nicknames (probably more than you really NEED to know), visit Wikipedia and read a great article on that very subject - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickname 1870 CENSUS ROADBLOCK (by Betty Lou Gaeng) from the September 2011 issue of The Beacon Last spring The Beacon published an article about a roadblock discovered in the 1860 federal census records for Washington Territory. It concerned the short-lived Sawamish county (later Mason County), Island county and a non-existent Snohomish county. This month another roadblock comes to light, and this one is right back in the same areas of Washington Territory, only now it involves the 1870 federal census records. I will bet the people in Mason County didn’t realize the headquarters of the Tulalip Indian Agency located on the Tulalip Indian Reservation was part of their county. Well, it never was in Mason County. When Snohomish County came into existence in 1861, the reservation and the agency became part of that county. However, for some reason the Tulalip Indian Reservation was misplaced, and its census schedule ended up with the Mason County census records. Actually, Mason County had the Skokomish Indian Reservation. Once again the people who volunteer with the USGenWeb Project can be credited with knowing the difference. Of course, the United States only did a census of the Tulalip Agency and the mission and school officials, not the native people living on the reservation. Thus, the record does not contain many names. Also, the image of the census is of very poor quality. The much researched Charles Finkbonner family was living at Tulalip in 1870. Don’t try to find them indexed under Snohomish County. That would make it too easy. Instead look under Mason County. Finding our ancestors can sometimes be very challenging—but never dull. WASHINGTON REPORTS - STATE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS (by Betty Lou Gaeng) from the March 2010 issue of The Beacon Was one of your ancestors involved in a court case that eventually reached the Washington Supreme Court? If that's the case (pun intended), you might be interested in The Washington Reports, 277 volumes containing Supreme Court decisions from Territorial days until 1969. Each volume has its own Table of Cases which serves as an index or finding aid. The Tables have been photocopied and bound into notebooks, which can be found in our Washington Collection WA-107a through WA-107g (DR-W). The three volumes that cover Territorial Court proceedings are also shelved with the Washington Collection; the remaining volumes are archived downstairs; staff will bring requested volumes to researchers. The Washington Reports series will be a great resource for genealogists as well as historians, writers and students. MISS MARGE DISCOVERS AN ONLINE TREASURE (AND IT'S FREE!) (by Marge Reid) from the January 2011 Issue of The Beacon I was trying to decipher a Mystery Document that was written in "Olde-timey German Handwriting That Looks Like DaVinci's 'Mirror Writing'”, and not having much luck at all. One of my FHC Staff buddies heard my moaning and groaning, and mentioned that I should be able to find a research aid on the Family Search web site. That's when I discovered an online (and free) Research Treasure! It turns out that some VERY exciting things are happening at familysearch.org, and it's more than just a New Look, too! I found an online class that explained Old Timey German Handwriting, and (here's that word again!) a PLETHORA of classes dealing with other subjects as well! Class format is video, individual classes vary in length from 10 minutes to almost an hour and most classes have handouts in PDF format that you can download. Take a look at a summary of the online classes offered on the Family Search web site at https://learning.familysearch.org/researchcourses Area-specific Classes -I'm willing to bet (at least a quarter) that one (or more) of the Family Search class offerings will catch your eye! Meanwhile, MY eyes will be staring at that “document of mystery” - is it possible that the reason why I can't figure out the handwriting is simply because I'm holding the document UPSIDE-DOWN? USING ORPHANS COURT RECORDS (by Margaret Summitt) from the December 2009 issue of The Beacon Do not overlook orphans court records in your brick wall search for the elusive parents of your ancestor. www.branchesofthebay.com/orphanrecord.html This Maryland site has an excellent outline of what information MAY be found in Orphans Court Proceedings, Annual Valuations, Guardian Bonds, Guardian Accounts, and Indentures. First of all, what is an orphan? You may be surprised to learn that a child was considered an “orphan” after the death of one parent if an estate was involved. Orphans Court Proceedings are the records of each court day’s activities. All estates in which the deceased left no written will are overseen by the Orphans Court. Indentures and Apprenticeships name the child, the responsible adult, and the child’s age. The Appointment of Guardians names the child and the guardian and the child’s age, and may name the child’s deceased parent. The guardian was required to have sureties post a certain amount in bond. (Since my orphaned William WALKER’s father was not named in the 1811 Orphans and Guardians records of Knox Co., TN, I have been obliged to refer to other records, such as Wills and Administrations). The guardian would present annually to the court the expenditures required to maintain the orphans and their estate throughout the year, as well as the amount of money remaining in the estate. When the orphan came of age or, in the case of a female, married, the guardian would then pay out the distributive share of the estate to that orphan. If a decedent left an estate as well as minor orphans, then the person serving as guardian would request an annual valuation of the estate until the orphans came of age. These valuations name the minor orphans and the guardian, along with the name of the land tract and acreage, and a description of all buildings on the property. Usually the court would appoint administrators and executors. Sometimes a relative would come to court and request to be appointed. For example, Matthew WALKER requested in 1809 to be the administrator of John WALKER’s estate in Knox Co., TN. Matthew WALKER was administrator of the will of George WALKER in 1822. John and George WALKER were brothers. Matthew WALKER was one of the sureties who posted bond for my orphaned William WALKER in 1811. I think it highly likely that Matthew WALKER was related to all of these WALKERs (but I have no proof HOW). Orphans Court records are best used in combination with other property records including land records, tax records, and probate. The amount of detail varies with time and place. They are just one more weapon in your arsenal of proof against brick walls. TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: BLOG CARNIVALS, ANYONE? (by Deborah Dale) from the June 2010 issue of The Beacon We may all know what blogs are, but what is a blog carnival? A blog carnival is an online blogging community that publishes blog articles on a particular topic. You might think of a carnival as a blogging magazine. Here are a few Genealogy Carnivals you might be interested in: Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy: http://tracingmytreeroots.blogspot.com/2010/05/29th-edition-of-carnival-of-central-and.html Carnival of Genealogy: http://creativegene.blogspot.com/2010/05/carnival-of-genealogy-93rd-edition.html Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture: http://irishheritagecarnival.blogspot.com/2010/04/upcoming-20th-edition-i-speak-from.html Graveyard Rabbits Carnival: http://www.thegraveyardrabbit.com/  SNOHOMISH COUNTY GAZETTEER ONLINE (by Betty Lou Gaeng, SIGS Historian) from the November 2011 Issue of The Beacon Possibly while researching your family’s connection in Snohomish County, you were told by relatives that during 1890 Great Grandfather Abercrombie lived at a place called YEW. When you checked the map, no place by that name could be located. Where can you turn for help in solving this problem? A few years ago, Sno-Isle Genealogical Society’s clever and efficient web manager Marge Reid put together an online Snohomish County Gazetteer, A Sense of Place. It is in this Gazetteer you will find your answer. YEW was a place five miles southwest of Maltby. Established in 1889, platted 31 January 1891, its name was changed to Maltby in 1893. Just as have many such place names in our county’s history, the name of YEW has faded away. Some of the names in the Gazetteer’s listings refer to townships; others are voting precincts that defined the location of a person during the census enumerations. There are stops on rail lines. Some names are still in existence and some names are only used by locals. Of course, many are completely obsolete—to be found only in a collection such as this. As Marge says, “Have you heard of The Thumb? Or Gypo City? Or Punkintown? Yes indeed, these ARE honest-to-goodness Snohomish County place names!” She also cites the sources for her information about each locality. These are listed at the end of each entry. Some of the sources she used were: Whitfield’s 1926 History of Snohomish County, The GNIS online data base, Tacoma Public Library’s online data base, Postmark-Washington, some historical post office records groups on microfilm from the National Archives, a gazetteer from Washington from 1901, various maps and atlases, several reference books on old railroads, community histories, lists of precincts from census records and from the Snohomish County Auditor’s office, and personal assistance from experts. Marge believes that information for genealogical research should available free-of-charge, and that is what she has done with the SIGS web pages. Using her talent and a great amount of her own personal time, she has put together a website to aid people in their family research. Use the resource—and give thanks to Marge and other people just like her who freely offer their time and expertise for projects such as this. For myself, while I am working on research projects, I frequently make use of A Sense of Place, as well as other informational offerings which Marge has included on these pages at: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~wasigs/ HERE'S ONE FOR THE BOOKS.... (by Marge Reid) from the March 2009 issue of The Beacon Recently I received an email from a researcher in Italy asking if I could help him locate a branch of his family last seen in Snohomish County in 1920. I found the family in 1910 (in Cut Bank, Glacier Co, MT) and discovered a marriage record for one of the children, Dannie (described as "of Glacier Co, MT") in 1935 in Vancouver, Clark Co, WA. I subsequently visited the Montana State Gen Society's Death Records Index, and, by golly! there was Dannie, his wife Gladys and his brother Romalo (all deaths in the mid to late 1960s, and all in Glacier County). Now I had full dates of death and at least the county of death. Obviously, I need to find obituaries for these folks (and any other kin who died in the 1920s and 1930s). Those obits may well give married names for Dannie's sisters, and perhaps even the names of Dannie's children. I Googled my way to the website of the Glacier County Library System, and used their "Ask a Librarian" live chat function with the idea of getting the name of the newspaper that would be most apt to have published those obituaries, and to learn if the microfilmed papers were available by Interlibrary Loan. As it turned out, the Montana librarians were not available for live chat, but - and here's the "one for the books" - answering my question was Sno-Isle Library System's very own Christa! I told her that I was "Marge from SIGS". "NO WAY!" she replied. "WAY!", was my response. Turns out that on HER screen I was a patron (named Marge) using the Glacier County Montana portal! Christa said she'd forward my request to her Glacier County counterpart and that I'd get a reply via email. Indeed, that is what happened, and the Glacier County librarian will be mailing the obits to me. I just LOVE "Ask a Librarian"!!!. Have YOU used this great (free) resource? Once again, Google will be your best research buddy - if you want to find an "Ask a Librarian" (AAL) service associated with, say, the public library of Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, enter "Public Library Pittsfield Massachusetts" into the Google search screen. With the URL to the main page of Pittsfield Library's web site, and with a bit of searching you'll access the system's Ask a Librarian function where you can present your research question. More and more library systems are offering a "live chat" option on their web pages, and ALL library sites will give (at a minimum) an email address to which you can send your research question. Some things I've learned - Just because the Ask a Librarian portal is part of the website of a particular library, it does NOT mean that the reference librarian who joins you in the chat channel is actually IN that library. Reference librarians are smart cookies, though, and if they can't immediately answer your question, they can at least kick-start you in the right direction. There are some library systems that limit this service ONLY to system card-holders. There might be a way around this restriction, though. Visit the Ask-a-Librarian service at our own SnoIsle Library System and explain the situation. Again, reference librarians are VERY creative when it comes to solving problems for their patrons. As a rule of thumb, it's best to NOT ask the online librarian to do extensive research for you. For instance, if you use the AAL service at the Washington State Library's web site http://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/ask.aspx to locate an obituary from Spokane, be sure you have the full date of death. This will make the search much quicker for the AAL staff person. Don't forget to ask the librarian to suggest other sources or strategies. These folks know the resources in their communities and are very willing to share with you!
TRIED AND TRUE RESEARCH TOOLS (by Betty Lou Gaeng) from the June 2009 issue of The Beacon Reflecting on the different methods we can use for doing family research, I started thinking about the early days, which I am sure many of you remember. That was before computers with Ancestry.com, Heritage Quest, chat rooms, forums, and all the technological methods of research. It is nice that we have more avenues to travel in doing our research in the present day. However, every now and then it is good to go back to the basics—the tried and true methods. My own personal favorite has always been, and I imagine will remain so—the courthouses. For those new to genealogy, a good look at courthouse research is covered in a book that I have found to be especially worthwhile. It is “Courthouse Research for Family Historians, Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures” by Christine Rose (First Printing 2004), published by CR Publications of San Jose, CA. This book covers a wide range of information on research using court records, and explains our legal system. The book also touches on the new technology in research. The price of the book is under $30, and is a worthwhile book to add to your own personal library. One of the research aids at Humble House is “The Handybook for Genealogists” (10th Edition), A. Lee Everton, Publisher. Nobody can beat Utah’s Everton family for providing the essential knowledge of what, where and why regarding court records. The Evertons published the first edition of the Handybook in 1947 and since that time have improved and enlarged the information offered. Sno-Isle Research Library’s holdings contain many helpful books for getting started and continuing your research. Take time to visit your society’s research library at Humble House in Heritage Park. WASHINGTON STATE PIONEER CERTIFICATE (by Carolyn Walker) from the January 2010 issue of The Beacon Several months ago, we had a representative of the Washington State Genealogical Society at our meeting. He mentioned the existence of the Pioneer Certificates for those with ancestors in the Washington Territory prior to statehood, 11 November 1889, and the First Citizen Certificates for those with ancestors in Washington State on or before 31 December 1900. He also had printed information about applying for these certificates. Since I had great-great grandparents who settled in Port Townsend, Jefferson County, in the early 1880’s that I had been researching recently, I thought it would be interesting to apply for Pioneer Certificates. I completed the forms and attached birth, marriage, death, residency, and lineage data to them and in just a few weeks received Pioneer Certificates for my relatives Henry and Susan (Weimer) Bash. This is especially meaningful for me, although I did not know my pioneer relatives, I did know and remember vividly two of their daughters, my great grandmother, Clementine, and her sister, Evangeline. As a child, we would visit my grandmother and great grandmother in Tacoma and then travel to Port Townsend where Evangeline (Aunt Eva) lived in the old Bash Family home, which was built in 1885. It was filled with “interesting things”, like lots of stuffed birds, bear skins on the parlor floor, and various Asian “treasures”. Outside there were cherry trees from which the adults made cherry cobblers, all the raspberries to eat that you were willing to pick, and large lavender plants from which my grand aunt taught me to make lavender wands. We always visited North Beach at low tide to observe the limpets, sea stars, sea anemones, and once we found an octopus. During the days we spent in Port Townsend, I also heard the older relatives tell lots of stories of their earlier days. So visiting Port Townsend and the old family home has left me with lots of happy memories of family. The Henry Bash House at 718 “F” Street in Port Townsend was listed as a State Historic Place in 1985 and is now The English Inn Bed & Breakfast and many of the contents of the house are in the museum in Port Townsend. I’m hoping to stay at the Bed & Breakfast sometime in the near future and relive old memories. ONLINE RESEARCH SITES (by Betty Lou Gaeng, SIGS Historian) from the December 2011 issue of The Beacon Did you know that Footnote.com has now become fold3? A triangle-shaped image of the fold of our U.S. flag showing the star field follows the new name. The reason for the change in the name is explained: "As we refocus our efforts on gathering the best online collection of military records and stories, we wanted a name that would reflect military history and honor." URLs to note for help with your research. A new research website I recently discovered has already solved a problem for me: http://www.militaryindexes.com/index.html. Entitled Online Military Indexes & Records, this genealogy guide is a directory of links to online military indexes and records for USA genealogy research. Included are rosters, databases of soldiers and listings of military and war casualties. It also includes some links to sources for military records in other countries (for WW I and II). Always a good free genealogy research site: http://www.accessgenealogy.com/. They recently added new data. The Native American genealogy research pages have also been updated. If you are interested in the upcoming 1940 census release, take a look at these two: http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1940/ The website of the National Archives, this NARA site provides general information on how to prepare for your 1940 census research. NARA states that the images will be accessible free of charge at NARA facilities nationwide through their public access computers as well as on personal computers via the internet. http://www.1940census.net/1940_census_release_date.php. Included on the home page are downloadable sites such as: Genealogy 101 Tips for Beginners and free forms, Genealogy Forms (Free Downloadable Charts and Forms), SteveMorse.org (One Step Search – including 1940 Census), plus other helpful researchable sites. |
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