Fall 2002

Upcoming Events:

January Meeting: January 15, 2011 from 1pm to 3pm at the Pollard Library, 401 Merrimack St., Lowell. Our speaker, Leslie Albrecht Huber, will be speaking on “Telling the Stories of Your Distant Ancestors.”

February Meeting: February 19, 2011 from 1pm until 3pm at the Chelmsford Public Library. We will have a video available for use if the group wants to view it. Computers will also be available, too.

March Meeting: March 19, 2011, 1pm until 3pm at the Chelmsford Public Library.

April Meeting: April 16, 2011 1pm until 3pm tentatively at the Chelmsford Public Library

May Meeting: This year the pot luck dinner will be on May 22, 2011 from 1pm to about 3pm or at Laura and Roland Bedard’s home in Hudson, NH.

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January Meeting:

We will be hosting Leslie Albrecht Huber. Her topic for the day will be, “Telling the Stories of Your Distant Ancestors.” You can create an interesting story of your distant ancestors when all you have are a few bare-bones documents. Broaden your perspective and you can make your ancestors come to life.

Leslie will talk about Digging Deeper, Relying on the Personal Accounts of Others, Creating Historical Context, and Forming a Story from the Information.

If you are interested, Leslie also has the following websites:

www.understandingyourancesors.com

www.thejourneytakers.blogspot.com

February thru April Meetings: We’ve grouped these meetings together because we’ve decided to use each month to do what the club members have asked of us. Everyone wants to use the next few meeting at least to have computers available to help break down brick walls. We will have at least two if not more computers at each meeting for research.

If you want help, PLEASE BRING THE FOLLOWING :

Complete names and all additional information you have on the person, any family information you might have, dates and places even places (if known) where the person or family lived or died.

Following is an example of a brick wall from Barbara Poole’s blog:

JOHNSON ELIZABETH / BETSEY (Father was William, need more information and her mother)

Born November 07, 1751, Lynn, Essex Co., Massachusetts

Died March 19, 1799, Dublin, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire

Married October 21, 1773 DAVID MEAD / MEED at Lynn, Essex Co., Massachusetts

(Two children born Lynn, one in New Ipswich, New Hampshire)

Come on in…to the meeting that is….have some fun.

We will also have videos with us if you change your mind and want to watch one or two!

May Meeting: Our fifth annual Pot Luck picnic will be at Roland and Laura Bedard’s home. For those who couldn’t attend last year, we had a great time. Lots of great food and good conversation.

BOARD MEMBERS:

President –- Maureen Famolare –

978-663-6491 – [email protected]

Vice President Laura Bedard –

603-598-0834 – [email protected]

Secretary – Barbara Poole –

978-454-8046 – [email protected]

Treasurer – Karen Jeffers –

978-663-3664 - [email protected]

Directions to Laura’s house are:

Take Rt. 3 north to exit 2 to DW Highway/ Hudson. Keep left at fork in ramp and cross bridge to Hudson. At end of road, (Hudson Walmart will across the street from you) turn left onto Lowell St. After 2.5 miles, take a right onto Library St. Follow Library St. to second light at center of Hudson. Take a sharp right onto Highland St. A little more than a mile down the road, turn left onto Scottsdale Drive (also labeled Highland Woods). Take second left onto Logan Court. Look for the Pumpkin Colored House, this is Laura and Roland’s home. If you get lost, call Laura at 603-598-0834 and she will be happy to guide you there.

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Past Happenings:

September Meeting: Our speaker, Marcia Melnyk lectured on, “Getting the most out of On-Line and CD Databases.” We all found the topic very interesting and as usual Marcia’s quick wit and stories kept us all on our toes.

One very interesting statement was, “However, just because the information comes off a computer does NOT make it true, As in printed genealogies and other books, there are many unproven “facts” and assumptions flying around in cyber-space. Use the information gleaned from submitted family pedigrees, record extractions, indexes, etc. for what it is – second hand or secondary information, which may or may not be correct.” This is something many people do not understand. Always verify original sources. I have a few copies of Marcia’s handout. If you would like one, come to the next meeting or email me.

People in attendance: John and Jane Pappas, Bob Henderson, Diane Shields, Peg Leedberg, Diane Laferriere, Edna King, Maureen Famolare, Karen Trearchis, Judy Sylvia, Paula McCarron, Jill Brow and Sarah Brow-Hill.

October Meeting: Yes, we had our annual pot luck and it was almost better than the last one. The one problem we had was a lack of members. The company we did have was fantastic and the food plentiful, but we all wish more members were there to enjoy the food and conversation..

Members in attendance: Laura and Roland Bedard, Iona and Bob Henderson, Karen Jeffers and Maureen Famolare

November Meeting: Well, now we know our members carry a big stick but walk softly. We planned to show a video, but never did it. People wanted to talk genealogy, so that’s what we did. The chatter was remarkable and we ended up going past closing time, but no one cared.

We just talked and talked and talked. It was a wonderful meeting for all. This was why the club was formed and it seems to be where we will go back to in the future. Pure genealogy and good conversation.

Members in Attendance: Judi Clermont, Barbara Poole, Karen Jeffers, Maureen Famolare, Peg Leedberg, Diane Laferriere, Laura and Roland Bedard and Edna King.

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Special Censuses counted more than people

BY SHARON TATE MOODY

Published: December 26, 2010

From Tampa Bay Online

How much corn, potatoes, flax, sugar and honey did your great-great grandfather farmer produce in 1860? How successful was your great grandfather's small manufacturing business in 1880? How many men and women did he employ and what did he pay them?

Where would a researcher find such revealing information about their ancestors? In the census — but not the one we usually refer to as "the census."

Researchers are most familiar with the national population survey taken every 10 years since 1790. Those records vary in the information they provide; the census initially began to determine population for elected representation.

But the government also wanted other information, so it created a variety of surveys, called schedules, which provided insight and clues for researchers.

•Agricultural Schedules (1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880). In 1850, you'll find only farms that produced more than $100 a year worth of products. By 1870, farms less than three acres or those that produced less than $500 worth of products were not included.

•Manufacturing Schedules (1820, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900 and 1910). The enumeration includes information about the articles manufactured, such as the item's market value, and the kinds, quantities and costs of raw materials; also, the number of men, women, boys, and girls employed; the quantity and kinds of machinery; and the amount of capital invested.

•Mortality Schedules (1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880). These have limited value because only individuals who died the 12 months preceding the population schedules were included. For example, anyone who died between June 1, 1859 and May 31, 1860 could be listed on the 1860 Mortality Schedule. Since most states did not require official reporting of deaths until the 20th century, these mortality schedules may be the only record of a cause of death.

•Veterans Schedule (1890). This can be used as a substitute for the 1890 population schedule, which was destroyed by fire. It was intended to record Civil War Union veterans but some Confederates are listed as are some veterans of the War of 1812. The schedules for 1890 are available (alphabetically) for states Alabama through Kansas, and also half of Kentucky. The last half of Kentucky through Wyoming were destroyed or lost.

•Slaves (1850, 1860).These are lists of slave owners by name with a count of their slaves. The slaves are not listed by name but by sex and age.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK? SURVEY RESULTS ARE IN Some members have suggested we do some field trips to different venues. So, what do you think about a trip (by bus) to the State Archives in Boston on a Saturday morning? The only weekend hours for the archives are on the second Saturday of each month from 9am until 3pm. In order for this to happen we would need a definite count before hand. If possible the club might offset some of the cost of the bus. Also, since no food is available on site, do we want box lunches or just to bring our own?

Is there another site members would like to visit? Please let us know. Come to a meeting or email any board member.

Question about disbanding the club. A huge NO. Really, we’re not kidding. Only one undecided with the rest saying, “NO!”

What do you like question - Research was number 1 and lectures was second closely followed by social gatherings.

Look for a new survey in this newsletter.

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Letter from the President

Well, another year has come and gone. We’re still here, thank goodness. The past year has been a good one with the addition of some new members, but also (as mentioned previously) a sad one due to the loss of a valuable member, Yvonne Miller.

I would like to thank the board members, Karen, Barbara and Laura for all their help. It certainly is good to have more than two hands running the club. Speaking of that, Barbara Poole has stated she would like to step down as secretary. Now, we don’t ask much of our board members, but do want their input into the club, such as new ideas. So, please think about helping the club. Speak to one of the board members at the next meeting.

In closing, I would like to say, “I would not take back any time I have spent on the board.” I have enjoyed working with everyone and look forward to many more years of the club, whether on the board or not.

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Tips From Barbara Poole:

Every once in a while there is a good free site to use for genealogy research. We are glad because it is just that, good and free. However, one of the old standby sites has gotten better. That being the Mormon site of FamilySearch.org. It has been around for years. More recently, it was in a new beta format and volunteers were transcribing records and putting original documents on this site. This month, it was announced that the beta is removed, and the new updated version is now available to all. If you click on the What’s New tab, you will find out more information about the change and what’s new. Please check out https://www.familysearch.org/

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