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This is a continuation of the
information presented on our main page about the types of Genealogy
and Family History Research work that we have been doing, starting
in September 2005. These only represent a recent snap-shot of
what we have done since we have been performing Genealogy and Family
History Research for almost 20 years.
It will be obvious that we don't
specialize in any one area of research though we are strong in
several regions (NC, especially Wake County, US, UK, Finnish
and other areas of research), as discussed on the
main page. What we are best with is a project where
families have roots all over the place ... we like a challenge!
Whether your family spent generations in one town or moved
frequently, even from or within other countries ... we can help you!
That said, if your family all came from one place, there may be
other researchers who can better help you ... as they may live and
breath that town -- if we think that's the case, we'll let you know!
On the other hand, if your family was fairly mobile ... we are
excellent at researching around the globe! We have many
resources at our fingertips and are great at ferreting out
hard-to-find information.
June 2009:
The month is starting off with finishing a project involving
research in Newberry County SC and starting up several Wake County
NC focused ones. A trip to
UNC-CH
has taken place to photograph some estate records in family
collection and also look into the correspondence of an avid
genealogist -- did he leave any clues about his own family's
research? This month will bring some DAR and Sons of Colonial Wars
related research. We continue to try and correlated DNA
results with research performed. Research into NC
Revolutionary War records and early 18th century NC shipping records
will benefit two other projects. As the month progresses, we'll fill
you in on even more exciting projects! Diane will be giving a
talk at the 4th Annual NCGS Speakers Forum program in November --
"Born in NC According to 1850 Census – Now What?” described by: How
often do we have a project and at some point we have an 1850 census
entry that says born in NC (or it could be any other state other
than where the person is currently living!). What do you do? This
talk will present some general strategies for how to approach this
challenge and also look at a case study where we successfully used
these strategies in combination with a family diary (no locations
mentioned) to determine where in NC the father of John Jackson Boyce
came from, starting with the family in Cass County GA c. 1850.
Details will be posted at the
NCGS web-site.
 May 2009:
Today (May 4) was the last planning meeting for NGS 2009 -- I hope
to meet many clients, colleagues and friends as they come visit
Raleigh next week. On Tuesday and Wednesday (May 12 & 13) look
for me at Exhibitor Registration and about the exhibit hall, on
Wednesday at the Local Societies event that evening, Thursday
evening at the History Museum Dessert Reception and on Saturday at
the WCGS sponsored luncheon -- otherwise I will be attending
sessions and out and about the hallways! Don't hesitate to
come up and chat with me -- I'd love to meet you! Otherwise,
articles have been written and proofed for upcoming Moorshead
Publications (Discovering Family History
and
Family
Chronicle) and other now published in
Internet Genealogy
and
Discovering Family History. Compiled some information
on Mecklenburg VA Will/Estate records, pre-civil war to try and
identify the slave owners of a family. Been busy in the
records of McKeesport PA tracking down several families who
emigrated from England and Wales. Researching several families in
Davidson, McNairy, Shelby counties and elsewhere in TN, along with
Cherokee ancestry in western NC! And, the month is just getting
started! The NGS 2009 Conference went well -- it was nice to meet so
many e-mail and facebook friends! And, life is now somewhat
back to normal!
April 2009:
Hope everybody got their taxes filed in time! The last month
we have been writing and reviewing articles for
Internet Genealogy
and
Discovering Family History, blogging for the
NGS 2009 Conference Blog, working on WCGS publications to
have available at NGS 2009, photographing collections at
UNC-CH
and the
NC Archives,
and doing lots of fun research -- which we will report on soon ...
Provided information to Ancestry's new service, Expert Connect --
it's a new way to connect potential clients with researchers.
Took photographs of NC county tax records (1782 forward) at the NC
archives, acquired NC death certificates via the archives and
obituaries via the State Library of NC, checked out NC land grant
indices and documents and had our hands in so many more original and
microfilmed NC records! Continued African-American/slave
research in VA and NC. Also spent time looking into deed
indices, land grant documents, will/estates and more ....
March 2009:
FLU, FLU, FLU -- On and off since the 1st till the 18th, Diane has
been suffering the flu -- she hopes (she says with fingers crossed)
that maybe she is on the road to recovery! ... as soon as she is,
she'll post what she's been up to -- by the time we resurfaced from
the flu, working hard to catch up and then a road-trip to FL, it was
April ... so, know that we were busy in March though look to April
for the details!
February
2009: We don't know where January went and in February
we've been busy with land grant and land research --
Edgecombe/Nash/Franklin counties. We have been tracking a
family with TN roots (Davidson and Maury Counties) which connections
to SC and GA! Continued writing and proofing for
Internet Genealogy
and
Discovering Family History. Another project has us deep in
the records of PA while another has us trawling the records of Burke
County (NC) for a family -- marriage records have really helped with
the latter. Several families continue to challenge us -- by keeping
a low profile in the extant records while other families just loved
to use the same names in each branch for each generation and the
challenge is to separate them out! We continue to be busy with the
NGS 2009 Conference Blog and WCGS activities --
everything from blogging to looking at early 20th century Wake
County postcards. We will go out to
UNC-CH
to photograph documents from 3 collections. We gave a presentation
titled " Exploring Maps for Research or Curiosity" which focused on
using maps (online and offline) in your genealogy and family history
research. We have continued to research African-American/Slavery
roots in Mecklenburg County VA (and later this month will be writing
an article on the same subject for a Person/Caswell county family
researched extensively last year). Additionally, we started a
new project where one branch of a NC family has Cherokee roots and
we have been deeply immersed in the Indian Census, Federal Census,
vital records and other records to learn more about this heritage. Check back with us later in the month and we'll let you
know what else we got up to!
January
2009: HAPPY NEW YEAR! A governor's inauguration,
inventory and snow all have made getting to the NC archives a bit of
a challenge this month and that hasn't stopped our NC projects from
moving forward! Several projects have us separating several branches
of family who in late 18th century NC loved to use the same
forenames and lived within small geographic areas of a county --
lots of research into land, taxes and election records. Other
projects are focused on NC land and land grants -- what land did a
family purchase, what did they buy, what were they bequeathed and
where would that land be today? The March 2009 edition of
Internet Genealogy
will be hitting the streets and we have several articles included
(as we are writing other pieces for future editions): Read up on
Research: Genealogy Book Reviews, Family Tree Connection and Live
Roots, Family Research Labs: One-Stop Genealogy, Olde-English
Handwriting: An Online Course, and several Net Notes --
1. In the First Person, 2. Slave Trade, 3. Cassini Maps, and 4.
Memeo Share. Projects involving Finnish and Croatian records are
advancing ... with success in locating baptismal records.
Research in MS, OH, PA and other states are slowly revealing those
ancestral trails. With NGS 2009 only a few months away, more
blog entries are to be written and planning for the vendor
area will ensue and WCGS has started prepping for it's conference
luncheon program and wrapping up planned publications. We
abstracted the Wake County Civil Action Papers for 1778-1793 and
finished abstracting some Wake Court Documents found at UNC-CH to be
published in the next edition of the
Wake Treasures. These
and more are keeping us busy this month!
December 2008:
We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a safe, prosperous and
healthy New Year! Though we have been busy with preparations for the
holiday, we have remained committed to our clients and their
projects also! In addition to continuing to write articles for
Internet Genealogy
and
Discovering Family History, we have been busy with
completing some research support (e.g., "I am elated as I
received the message below from our XXXX Chapter DAR Registrar. I
appreciate all you did on finding the information on XXXXX of Orange
County. It was something that I would not have found. I mailed what
you had sent to me - without even abbreviating it - directly to DAR
... Again, thank you ... XXXXX was verified." and application
"filling out" for various Lineage Societies. Two emigrant
projects have kept us on our toes as we work in non-English records
-- for a Finnish project we are communicating with the local Parish
in somewhat butchered Finnish and Swedish to get 20th century
records to help us bridge the emigrant to the older parish records
available online -- for a Croatian project we will be delving into
microfilmed parish records at the local FHC. We have also done some
research, both genealogical and a survey of surviving local
newspaper to support two in-the-works documentaries! In support of
NC-focused projects, we have researched the records of Halifax,
Granville, Buncombe, Lincoln, Randolph, Madison, Sampson, several
coastal counties and other NC counties. We are wrapping up an
extensive NC family research project which will be produced as a
print publication for extended family members. For another
project, we will be shifting from the paternal side in Eastern NC to
researching the maternal side. We continue to support clients
from around the world -- recent clients call Australia, Thailand,
Norway and England home. We have just started another
African-American research project -- a slave-era born gentlemen
shows up in Northampton county and marries -- where did he come
from? These and other unique ancestral and historical projects have
kept us busy, challenged and excited!
November 2008: We wish you all a
Happy Thanksgiving! As genealogists and family historians --
this is one of the holidays most
special for sharing with family --
enjoying good food and good company! If you are meeting with
family members whom you see infrequently or are increasingly frail
-- please do spend time with them, learn their stories and share
them with others! Several net notes have been written and
three articles are in process for what will hopefully be included in
the January issue of
Internet Genealogy.
The December edition of
Discovering Family History is now available -- besides our
recurring piece "First Things First" it contains an article on
reCAPTCHA and one titled "If I were to start my genealogy now." Treks to
the
Manuscripts Collection at UNC-CH
(photograph part of the J.M Dent collection -- a British book
publisher) and the NC archives (many projects across several
collections) took place. We continued work with
Deedmapper,
WCGS publications, the local NGS 2009 Planning Committee and the
NGS 2009 Blog.
Projects involving Finnish, German/French, Croatian and other
emigrants have kept us busy with passenger, naturalization and
related paperwork. Colonial research in North Carolina helped
clients with DAR, OFFNC and Society of Colonial Wars applications.
The research of African-American ancestry continues to keep us
challenged. Four projects involving ancestry in Randolph County have
kept us busy in the records of that county, while several other
projects have expanded how many different NC counties we have
researched in to 66! DNA testing and results continue to both help
with research and puzzle us! All too often the results do not
match the surname that we are accustomed to and that necessitates
trying to document how that happened. And, as always, other unique
projects keep us challenged as we search out illusive ancestors!
 October
2008: It seems like I was just reporting on the September
issue of
Internet Genealogy
and now the November issue is issue is available -- it includes 4
net notes and 2 articles (Explore Maps From the Comfort of Your
Home! and What's With All the Fuss About Wikis?) from Diane. A
news flash --
Internet Genealogy
is now available in an online edition! And, next month look for the
next edition of
Discovering Family History with our recurring piece "First
Things First"
and maybe more! We've had several projects this month where we have
made use of 19th century NC (e.g. Craven County) school records and
voting lists! These are both great ways to identify who one's
neighbors are and/or who lives in the same geographic area.
And, for the school lists -- the children's names are grouped by
family! You can also watch the evolution of districts and the
families living within a district! Several projects have had us in
the records of Randolph County NC. And another project has
branched from MN to now OH and IN as emigrant siblings dispersed
around the country in the early 1900s as we continue and start
projects focusing on NJ, RI, PA. Lineage society research for DAR,
Society of the Cincinnati, and Order of First Families of NC have
kept us busy. Several projects are winding down -- some where we
have continued to be frustrated in our inability to make connections
and others where we successfully learned more! And, land (with
and without using
Deedmapper)
continues to be a focus of NC research in the late 18th and early
19th centuries -- Chatham and Iredell and other counties.
Other projects are waiting on DNA testing results -- cases where the
paper trail is a little muddy and we need some guidance -- e.g.
somewhere in the tree we know the mother and not father! We continue
to photograph documents in the
Manuscripts Collection at UNC-CH
and at the NC archives (select
online finding aids and MARS catalog) -- we have done so for
family researchers and also individuals involved in radio, tv or
book projects. Last and not least -- wrapping up a project intended
as a November birthday present and will be starting a Christmas
research project soon!
September
2008: Hope you all had a super Labor Day weekend ...
We've been working hard on a land tracing problem -- e.g. what do
you do when the property you are tracing is now under a man-made
lake ?!?! We hope to bridge that and identify the original
land grant for the property! Several of our client projects with
"brick walls" are turning to
DNA testing! In one case, only the mother is known and in
others, which "branches" of a family tree to investigate, is
unknown! Otherwise, we are collecting Land grants, doing deed
research and generally "following the land" for several NC projects.
This has necessitated spending quite a bit of time with
Deedmapper, trying to plot and make sense of those NC deeds
(e.g. thence from the pile of stones N 86 E 15 poles, to a stake,
thence ...) Also we are doing lots of research in our neighboring
state SC for a family that seemed to weave it's way through time and
space along the NC/SC border! Another project has us
extensively looking into death notices and death certificates to
complement census research for a family which appears to have no
tombstones in the cemetery where they are buried and so family
connections are a bit vague! And, so much more!
August 2008:
A busy month researching pre-Revolutionary War records in
Mecklenburg County, Land records in Lincoln, Buncombe and Rockingham
Counties amongst other locales, writing pieces for the next edition
of the WCGS Updates newsletter, the
NGS 2009 conference blog, and the next edition of
Discovering Family History, spending a day in the
Manuscripts Collection at UNC-CH photographing early 19th
century letters and 20th century documents, doing research in St.
Louis County MN on an emigrant family (Yugoslavia), researching some
deaths in TX, working with DNA results on a couple of projects --
coupled with traditional documentation research, work on several
lineage focused research projects -- DAR, OFFNC, Sons of Colonial
Wars, and Society of the Cincinnati. And, the September edition of
Internet Genealogy
hit the newsstands contains two net
notes "FamilyRelatives" and "Bloodlines of Salem" and articles
about "Project StoryKeeper and LifeLenz" and "CPS Alumni: School's
In on the Web!" The former article was appealing to Diane as she was
able to include some information about her deceased mother and
family in the article while for the latter article her examples are
from her husband's family! Another busy yet interesting month
of research and writing!
July 2008:
Half of this month was spent preparing for vacation and then
actually taking it! We traveled to the beautiful Canadian
province of Quebec -- toured Quebec City, the Gaspesie Region,
Montreal and more. Additionally, we enjoyed traveling
Interstate 81 through NY, PA and into VA -- just a delightful drive!
Though we were away, we still did some proofing for pieces for the
September/October edition of
Discovering Family History and that is pretty much it for
work in the latter part of the month! Before leaving we did
some work on almost every project that we are currently involved
with and actually closed a few out including one of trying to
determine did a specific person serve in the Revolutionary War and
if so, is he the same person connected to the target family --
little evidence of Revolutionary War service and even less evidence
of a family connection. We also made a break through on some
African-American research -- looking at Person and Caswell county
estate records we found mention of a slave consistent with the one
we were seeking -- listed on 5 children's death certificates as
their father. Given no surviving wills for the target
slave-owners, his wife's remarriage by the early 1860s and no
documentation for this individual, this was a real find! In addition
to NC-focused research, we also did some 19th and 20th century
research for individuals in TX and elsewhere in the US to assist
with some MA estate issues. Basically, we did a lot more in the
first part of this month and our memory of that flurry of work has
dimmed as we return from vacation and resume researching and
writing!
June 2008:
As we are writing this is the day before July starts, it's obvious
that this month just flew by! The
July/August edition of
Discovering Family History is printed and carries our new reoccurring
column "First Things First" as
well as an article on "Blacksheep".
We also finished writing articles for the next edition as well as
planned some future articles and Net Notes for
Internet Genealogy.
We are on the local planning committee for NGS 2009 which is coming
to Raleigh in May 2009. We are responsible for the
NGS 2009 conference blog and got it up and running this
month -- check it out! We took a trek out to an
African-American cemetery in Wilson to take photographs of some
surviving tombstones. On the research front we have researched
numerous NC families, families along the TN/MS border, families that
migrated from VA to NC and those that migrated from NC to GA!
Several projects involve those challenging individuals for whom we
only know -- born in NC! We have successfully traced one of
these individuals back to NC to only learn that it appears
that the family lived near the border area of NC/SC and originally
came from SC! So, now we start again to see if we can determine
where in SC! On a less successful note, there are a few
long-term projects where we appear, for now, to have exhausted
"what" to research -- we will now pause for a bit an wait on some
serendipity or the availability of new research sources as
increasing amounts of materials are digitized and put online. We
have also started or continue to do research in support of lineage
society applications -- Order of the First Families of North
Carolina, Daughters of the American Revolution and Society of the
Cincinnati. And, as usual, so much more!
May 2008: The
May/June edition of
Discovering Family History carries our new reoccurring
column "First Things First" and we also
finished writing and proofing articles for the next edition.
Currently researching several families for whom the oldest ancestor
is one of those "ubiquitous" "born in NC" and that is all we know!
These are always such a challenge -- the best hope is to get "clues"
from records in the state to which they migrated! The
next
WCGS Updates is in process and pieces have been written for
that and the 1st compilation "Apprenticeship
Bonds" should be going to press any day. Have agreed to
give the talk "Explore NC through maps from
the comfort of your home!" next month for the
Durham-Orange Genealogical Society of North Carolina. Many hours
have been spent in the deeds, wills, court minutes, marriage, tax
records of many counties from Nash to Davidson to Wayne and several
other counties! And, several recent projects have had links to
MS and TN! A recent project has us tracking both the lineage
and land of an individual whose family has early 18th century NC
roots as we try to untangle and connect the NC/VA connections for
another family. The most recent
Internet Genealogy
(June/July 2008) will be hitting the stands with our pieces on
A New and Improved World Vital
Records and Net Notes on
Ghost towns, ResourceShelf
and The
Poorhouse Story.
April 2008:
The month started with a vacation, preparing for the NCGS
Speakers Forum (4/12/08), proofing articles for the next edition of
Internet Genealogy (June/July 2008), scheduling articles for future editions of
that publication and it's sister publication,
Discovering Family History. We also jumped back into
some projects -- one with a focus on MS and St. Louis MO, another
with historic Onslow county (NC) roots, and a new project that
currently focuses on Cleveland, Gaston and Polk Counties (NC) --
we'll have to see where that project might take us! Before
months end we'll be exploring the records of about 15 NC counties
(some familiar friends and some we haven't researched in before) as
well as starting research on a new project with a Rhode Island/MA
focus.
March 2008:
Busy with WCGS activities -- preparing and giving a talk titled
"Online Maps, Focusing on North Carolina" (this same topic will be
the basis of "Explore NC through maps from the comfort of your
home!" to be given next month at the
NCGS Speakers Forum), finishing the newsletter
WCGS Updates (now posted), working on miscellaneous publication
projects and more. For NGS 2009 -- continued preparation for
that exciting event! Arranged a tour for our local NC APG
group to visit the
Wilson
library at UNC-CH. Also visited UNC-CH to photograph an
extensive family document collection and research in another
collection looking for references to an individual who married into
the family. Busy with research at the NC archives on several
families representing several counties across many different time
periods! Also doing research into an African-American family
that migrated from post-Civil War MS to St. Louis and appears to
have roots in VA. This month has seen several "clients" with
previously closed projects ask us to work on new projects or
continue efforts on old projects. And, we continue to plan and
write articles for Moorshead Publications. And, we are doing
so much more! This month's mail included the May 2008 edition of
Internet Genealogy
-- which includes our pieces "Accessing Family History Books
Online" and "US Passport Applications Online" as well as
a Net Note on "Paper of Record." The
month ended with the office closing for vacation.
February
2008: We received our most recent issue of
Internet Genealogy (March 2008) -- we have a Net Note on "LostCousins"
and an article about "Passenger Records and Naturalization
Records." And, the newest edition of Family Chronicle
actually includes a pilot version of a new publication
Discovering Family History (you can download the full
preview edition). We are pleased in that we authored what is to
become a regular feature "First Things First." The first week of this month we will work with an
out-of-town client with NC connections who is coming to Raleigh --
we will meet at the NC archives/State Library building and work
together on advancing his research. We will also resume work
on a couple of extensive NC projects where the families have been in
the state for at least 200 years and also a couple of projects where
we are trying to use DNA results to further the research and make
connections, sometimes to individual with differing surnames
(meaning the male client has one surname and yet the DNA results
point to a different surname based on genetics!). Regular
visits to UNC-CH, Olivia Raney Local History Library, State Library
of North Carolina and the NC Archives.
 January
2008: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Regrettably, the rising costs
of parking, office supplies, gasoline, subscriptions and the like
have necessitated an increase in our fees -- the first in over 4
years! Please check out
Genealogy_Pricing for the new fee structure. Existing
clients will continue to pay as before until the current project is
completed. Published a new resource guide at lulu.com --
Internet Resources for Genealogy and Family Research
in North Carolina.
We are
honored that
ThinkGenealogy has just listed Diane L. Richard (of Mosaic Research
and Project Management) as the most prolific of the "Top 10
Genealogy and Technology Most Published Authors of 2007!"
It has been confirmed that we will be part of the NCGS 2008
Speaker's Forum (Explore NC through maps from the comfort of
your home!). We continued to some research to identify
heirs-at-law for estate issues. Have posted some of our 2006
articles from
Internet Genealogy.
Started to crumble some brick walls -- one connecting someone
from NC to NY and another connecting someone from NY to NC!
Continue to research in Colonial and late 18th century records
to find the origins of some Welsh and other emigrants! Two
projects have us doing research to prove an
African-American/Negro ancestry from post-civil war to slavery
and possibly earlier. And, so much more! The month ended
with a trek to
UNC-CH the
Manuscript Department -- photographed a mid 1800s map, several
early 1960s television program scripts and some early 1800s
family papers.
December 2007: This month passed
in a flurry of activity, not all genealogy research related! A
binder was compiled for a coast-to-coast research project, many days
were spent at the
NC
archives and
NC
library doing NC research -- including one project that involved
collecting many, many documents and getting them certified for
submission to a UK ancestral authority. A trek to
UNC-CH the
Manuscript Department was made -- about 1600+ photos of
documents were taken! A few projects were finished just in
time for the holidays. For one project involving adoption and
an African-American born in NYC with NC roots -- after 18 months of
on again, off again research, there was a big break! As the
year ended, we can point to some wonderful successes though also a
few projects where brick walls were not "broken down!" Time was also
spent creating a NC internet genealogy research guide -- hopefully
in early 2008 this will become available! As usual, some time was
put into WCGS (finalizing Vol 17, Issue 2 of Wake Treasures)
and other activities.
November
2007: The NC archives has re-opened in it's new home -- it's a
nice arrangement that makes researching easier and more efficient!
The rest of this month and December will be very busy with NC
projects including the continued research into several projects
started earlier in the year, several new projects where there is DNA
information suggesting familial relationships that need to be
proven/documented, plans to work in tandem with a novice researcher
at the local research facilities, acquiring wills/estates, court
records, deed copies etc to support the research of others, and so
much more! A set of binders went out to a client, documenting
maternal and paternal family back several generations -- connecting
Russia, Wisconsin, Canada, Oregon, and many other locales!
Most recent edition of
Internet Genealogy
(January 2008) has been published -
"Lineage, First Family and Pioneer
Societies on the Web,
"National Genealogical
Society,"
"World Vital Records"
and net note
"Free Public Records Directory."
Another edition of the
WCGS Updates is in process and includes our contributions.
We hope that whether you celebrated
Thanksgiving or not this month, whether you visited with family or
not, that your family and ancestors were a part of your thoughts
this month!
October
2007: Several projects are winding down and binders have
been produced (using page inserts and with dividers) to be
distributed to clients and their extended families. Articles have
been written and reviewed for publication in the December/January
issue of
Internet Genealogy.
Wrote an article on visiting UNC-CH Wilson Library and the
Manuscripts Department that includes information on some Wake County
related finds for the next edition of
the
Wake County journal, Wake Treasures. Have been busy
plotting land deeds in Hertford and Wayne County for two projects to
locate land -- using civil war era maps, topographic maps, flood
plain maps, soil survey maps, division of land maps, etc! Gave a
program to a local genealogy club titled Emigration, Immigration
and Naturalization Research. Continued working on projects
involving about a dozen NC counties and so much more!
September 2007: September is ending in a flurry of
activity -- with the NC archives closing for 4 weeks to relocate to
it's permanent space, it was the month to work on every project with
a NC connection -- and we did! Also traveled to
UNC-CH the
Manuscript Department to photograph a civil war era diary,
information on the contents of an 1825 New Bern bank and circa 1850
guardian documents. The
Wake County newsletter,
WCGS Updates, will be published shortly and the
Wake
County USGenWeb site was updated. Gave a talk to the local
NC APG chapter
on internet resources (based on items published in WCGS Updates,
the Family Chronicle article from earlier this year and an
updated version of
Internet Resources for Searching Anywhere USA).
This month sees
published three articles and some net notes for Internet Genealogy
(October 2007) -
"Chronicling America,"
"Black Studies Center,"
"When Disaster Strikes: Genealogy and Mother Nature"
and net notes
"GenWeb Search," Encyclopedia of Genealogy"
and
"Geni and Zooof." And, several
projects with non-NC connections were also worked on and are almost
completed. So, the typical smorgasbord of projects!
August 2007: As always with the end of a vacation, a large
stack of mail and e-mail awaited as the month started .... working
on several projects across many NC counties ... these same projects
span from the late 1700s to the early 1900s from individuals that
just popped into the state for a few years to families with long,
long roots! Proofed some articles for
Internet Genealogy
and dug into a variety of projects -- finishing out two complete
family tree research projects that took us coast-to-coast,
continuing researc in several NC counties and so much more!
July 2007: Been busy at the Wake County Local History Library
(Olivia Raney) and with the
NC
archives and
NC
library now open, all NC research is going full steam ahead!
Researching everything from property to people across several NC
counties and from the mid 1700s to the early 1900s. Working on
a few projects involving post-Civil War African-American research
and also 20th century European/Slavic emigrants. The last few weeks
have seen the
Wake County Journal, Wake Treasures, and it's newsletter,
WCGS Updates, both published. And, as always, working on
some articles for
Internet Genealogy. Wrapped up some at-heir research
involving several families coast-to-coast and winding down on a
project focused on OR, MN, WI and mid 1800 emigrants from Russia and
Ireland. Took some time out for a vacation and so much more!
June 2007: We can honestly report that June just zipped
by! Finished the article for
Wake Treasures and gave the related talk for
North Carolina
Genealogical Society -- "Looking for Scots Heritage Becomes a
Lesson in the History of Wake and Johnston Counties."
Worked on several Wake County projects and traveled to
UNC-CH the
Manuscript Department to look at Civil War era diaries and early
19th century correspondence to Ireland. Also continued research to
settle some estates by finding heirs-at-law, literally
coast-to-coast in the US! Started several projects for
individuals with 18th century NC roots in Halifax, Duplin, Wake and
other counties. Additionally, started a project to research
one of those pesky immigrant ancestors for someone -- you know the
type, a surname that can be spelled a seeming zillion ways!
And, worked on researching several families with African-American
heritage in NC -- a challenge whether looking at 19th or 18th
century records! In parallel, started an African-American Research
Guide that will be posted shortly on the
Wake County GenWeb site.
May 2007: Where did April Go?!?! The early part of May
was spent recovering from working as much as possible at the
NC
archives and
NC
library the latter half of April as they are both closed then
until July 11 and early June, respectively! Once they closed,
this month has been spent writing on an article for
Wake Treasures and a related talk for
North Carolina
Genealogical Society (to be given June 30th), doing Wake County
research (since ORL is still open), wrapping up the project on
Finnish ancestry and working hard to finish two projects that
spanned the US, attending the National Genealogical Society
Conference in Richmond (VA) where I attended numerous invaluable
programs, picking up some new research projects looking for
heirs-at-law with MA connections, writing two articles and a net
note for the next edition of
Internet Genealogy and
these were just published in the June/July edition,
Family Search Labs: You Be the
Judge, Searching Digital Documentation on HistoryKat, Immigrant
Servants Database, Prologue, WorldCat, and Free on Ancestry,
while in
Family Chronicle was published
"40 Fabulous Websites You've Got to Try!),"
working on a project with NC, VA and KY connections,
continuing to do some challenging African-American research, and so
much more!
April 2007: Spring is arriving and spring break is over ... we
will be continuing with most of the projects listed for March,
starting a few new NC projects (various families with roots in
Bladen, Burke, Montgomery, Surry & Yadkin Counties), trying to
locate the NC ancestral origins of some individuals who lived and
died elsewhere though were born in NC (the proverbial
needle-in-a-haystack project, though, we have had success finding
the ancestral county and ancestors for a few!!), writing some more
articles/net notes for
Internet Genealogy,
plus finishing research on these projects: Finnish-Canadians, TN/KY
families, and a pesky character that has been tracked from NE to IL
to WI to OR to WA to NM ... never mind at least 3 marriages along
the way! And, as usual, so much more!
March 2007: Made regular treks to the NC archives & State
Library, kept busy working on Civil War era records for Onslow
County, late 18th century records for Wake County, searched for
Revolutionary War connections in several counties and prepared for several other soon-to-be-started projects involving
several NC counties. Continued to do research coast-to-coast
searching for heirs-at-law to help close out MA land cases while
also doing 20th century and civil war research for authors of
upcoming books. For a change of pace, published an article for
Family Chronicle "Web Sites Worth
Surfing," wrote an article for the June 2007
issue, wrote several Net Notes and published two articles for Internet Genealogy
(May 2007) -
"20 Billion Names: One Year Later"
and
"Are You Ready to
Unlock Your Genealogy." Also started a new
column for the WCGS newsletter titled
"Research the Cosmos - Learn about internet
resources all over the planet."
Continued work on all the projects started or continued in February
and so much more!
February 2007: Hit the road running finishing an article for Internet Genealogy
on two new web-based databases that were improving and updating in
real-time (several re-writes involved to keep the article current)!
Continuing work on a project involving Irish and Russian emigrants
with OR, WI and MN connections and another project with connections
to Christian County KY and Giles County TN! More work on an adoptee
trying to trace his historical family connections to NC and for
another individual with Canadian and Finnish connections. And,
several NC projects are in motion involving Wake County and several
other counties spread throughout NC. Another trip to
UNC-CH the
Manuscript Department to look at Civil War era documents for 3
different families as well as documentation on an African-American
choir c. 1930. Add to that projects
involving research in LA, OH, WI, FL, NJ and elsewhere.
Updated the Wake County Genweb site and wrote articles for the WCGS
update (newsletter) and so much
more!
January 2007: HAPPY 2007! As the NC archives was closed the
first half of the month, the main focus early in the month was Finnish
ancestry, writing more articles for Internet Genealogy
(and wrote an article for the companion publication
Family
Chronicle),
gave a talk "Preserving your families history" at Oak View
Historic Park on Genealogy/Family History, continued research into a
myriad of events of the early 20th century (including filing FOIA
requests) for a book project, compiling an individual's research
data, planned the next visit to the
UNC-CH the
Manuscript Department to photograph a manuscript and some family
papers and check out an interview transcription, researching various
families outside NC and starting research into several new
NC-focused projects. As the archives opened, worked on
projects involving Wake, Northampton, Lincoln, Hertford and many
other NC counties, while also tracking a family from MA to CA to OH
and learned more about a Louisiana born family, assisted in many
searches for heirs tied to probate, submitted a presentation
proposal for the 2008 NGS Conference and confirmed a talk to be
given in June for the NCGS titled "Looking
for Scots heritage becomes a lesson in the history of Wake and
Johnston Counties" and so much more!
December 2006: Just this month ... in advance of the holiday
season wrapped up work on several familiar projects and started some
new ones. Proofed some future articles for Internet Genealogy,
visited the
UNC-CH the
Manuscript Department to photograph a lawyer's letterpress book, a civil-war era hymn book
and more modern documents dealing with lynching in the south, started compiling a persons genealogy
files by putting the details into Family Tree Maker, started new
projects on emigrants from the early 1900s, 19th century Irish
emigrants, another family with Wake County connections, and other NC
focused research. Also continued research into a myriad of
events of the early 20th century (including filing FOIA requests)
for a book project. Have several new NC-focused projects on
our plate that will be started in the New Year, put the finishing
touches on the recent edition of
the
WCGS Updates and as usual, so much more!
November 2006: Just this month ... Published the resource list
that we use with our talks (Lulu.com
 ),
gave a talk titled "Research the Cosmos - Learn about internet
resources all over the planet," wrote several articles for the
WCGS Updates, wrapped up some
Revolutionary War service searches and also looking for mysterious
roots in Cumberland County. Cont'd with projects involving
Finnish, Irish and other non-US origins. Performed some
research on historical figures who lived during WWI and WWII that
involved tracing emigration records. Started a project to help an
orphan trace his mother's North Carolina roots using information
collected after her death. Will also be searching the
Wisconsin, Irish and other roots for someone else. Always
checking for new resources to continue research on various Wake
County records projects. Started another new project to trace a very
mobile family that migrated from NC to various mid-western and
western locales. Spent much time in the court records of
Rowan County (NC) -- one individual over a 10 year time span was
involved in four different court actions in the 1760s,
ranging from not paying rent, to something to do with a horse and
eventually "papering/bad money!" Starting a project to
help someone organize all the data they have collected (10+ paper
files) in Family Tree Maker. And, as always, so much more ....
October 2006: Just this month ... besides
continuing some previous projects into Finnish records and
historical figures tied to McKinley's assassination, we've started a
new project that has taken us to
UNC-CH the
Manuscript Department to look into Railroads and Texas in the
mid 1850s, done some old-fashioned research into some NC Families
(Cleveland, Buncombe, Alexander, Cumberland, Sampson and other
counties) at the
NC
Archives/Library, connected an individual who died in Dallas TX
to his roots in Guilford County NC in the late 1800s, researched
into Native Americans with NC connections, and have continued to
trace families in Brooklyn NY and southern California. Wrote
an article for Internet Genealogy
the December/January issue about several new exciting databases now
available or to be available in early 2007. Will be
starting a project to document the Revolutionary War service of
several North Carolinians and another one to search for "rumored"
Irish Roots ... and so much more!
September 2006: Just this
month ... cont'd several projects started in August and earlier!
Recently explored North Carolina Civil War Records (Pension
Application, Compiled Service Record, etc) for a Wake County
individual. Will be starting a new project to explore a 1905
Murder Trial and another new project looks at Anarchists and the
assassination and President McKinley. Yet another project is
exploring the ancestry of a North Carolinian with purported Native
American ancestry. Let's not forget research for a family with
lots of pieces already researched (Harnett County and successor
counties) and our task is to confirm the relationships and if
possible, make a key "connection" between two generations.
And, what's a month without writing a couple of articles for future
editions of
Internet Genealogy
and the just published November edition has "Iron Range
Research Center" !?! Also visited UNC-CH, the Southern Manuscript
Collection to look at a Civil War era diary and look at the
correspondence of a WWI era attaché and so much more!
August 2006: Just this month ... started with a week's
vacation in New England, then proposed and wrote a few articles for future editions
of Internet Genealogy, picked up on several projects started
in July or earlier including the project tracking 11 siblings, the
Finnish research, the Wake County project, the Bertie County (NC)
project, the illusive mid-westerner (eventually found in New
Mexico!), and also started a new project
with an Edgecombe County (NC) focus (and some Quaker connections,
with ties to VA) and another involving several
NC
counties and another project to
photograph correspondence of a famous Civil War Confederate General
(out at
UNC-CH Wilson Library),
learned more about a diary author connected to an interesting piece
of late 19th century history, updated the
Wake
County GenWeb site, wrote articles for the
WCGS Updates and so much more!
July 2006: Just this month ... continued looking into
the records of Bertie, Wake and other counties (NC projects),
continued trying to track someone who did not want to be found in
the 1930s, continued on a big project tracking 11 siblings to
identify spouses, children, grandchildren (mostly located in the
Midwest though as far as CA), research into some CA families,
continued work on Finnish and French-Canadian projects, looked into
a NC individual who committed a crime in the mid 1800s, starting a
project tracking some purported Scots in NC, did some research into
North Carolinians involved in the Civil War, met with someone to
obtain a letter written in the early 1930s by a brother-in-laws
great grandmother, had more pieces published
in Internet Genealogy and so much more!
June 2006: Just this month ... started a family
research project with ties to Bertie and Currituck counties,
completed a project that tracked a family from IA to WA to OR to NV
to CA and also created a compilation of the work done on the Czech
families in Chicago, continued work on a family of French-Canadian
origin, on a Finnish ancestry project, and also on several families
with strong Wake County roots. Did several small projects
involving a will in Surry County, locating someone in Long Island,
someone else in Brooklyn, tracking a family around the mid-west, a
Kansas-based family and was busy with the most recent edition of the
Wake Updates (newsletter of the Wake County Genealogical Society)
and a "Net Notes" for
Internet Genealogy Magazine.
May 2006: Just this month ... wrote more "Net Notes" for
Internet Genealogy Magazine and had two articles published (one
in a print version and one in an
online version), continuing our "Wake County"
records project, completed another phase of a Quebec -> NY -> MA
project, researching in CA records & Marshall County IL and OH for 3
very-hard-to-find individuals(!), continuing work on the Bohemian
(Czech) families who lived in Chicago, completing a project that
looked at Slave owners, slaves and their progeny in NC, starting
projects related to the Spencer family, a family that migrated from
Iowa to Oregon with a stop in Idaho thrown in and a MA family of 12
children, we are getting more heavily in to 18th & 19th century
Finnish records for project of Finns who migrated to WA and also
Canada. Also posted many new links to the
Wake County Gen Web site.
April 2006: Just in the past month ... we started with looking at NC Bastardy
Bonds at the NC archives, continued research of Bohemian
(Czechoslovakian) families in Chicago, continued projects involving
Wake County, Northampton & Halifax & Vance Counties and also
Beaufort and Hyde Counties (all in NC), started a project on Finnish
families with ties to Washington USA and Ontario Canada (so, we have
looked at Emigration, US, Canadian and Finnish records), a
project connecting a family from MA to NY and now hopefully Canada!
We again revisited California records for a new project.
March 2006: Just in the past
month ... we have continued doing research at the NC Archives, done
research on Laura Keene (the actress who was with President Lincoln
when he was shot), gave the talk on "Help, I Live in Raleigh and My
Family Comes from Outside North Carolina), traced a 19th century
family from Massachusetts back to New York, continued research on
projects involving families in Beaufort, Wake, Warren and other NC
counties, started a project involving slave owners, slaves, their
plantations and their progeny (white and mulatto), wrote several
pieces for "Internet Genealogy," and tracking some families living
in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
February 2006: Just in the past month ... we have done
research at the NC archives and Library and at the Wake County
History Library (Beaufort, Warren, Edgecombe, Wake & other
counties), research on Bohemian / Czechoslovakians from Chicago,
obituary research around the country, writing Net Notes for
"Internet Genealogy," preparing to give a talk on "Help, I live in
Raleigh and My Family Comes From Outside North Carolina," provided
research consultations to over 30 individuals, finished the TX
research, keep revisiting New York, Ireland and Scottish records for
another project, and so much more!
January 2006: Just in the past month ... we have done
research in California (Los Angeles County etc.), Brooklyn NY (Kings
County), Dallas County, Bexar County, Deaf Smith County and other
parts of TX, Pitt County, NC (at the Archives), visited the Southern
Historical Manuscripts at Wilson Library (UNC Chapel Hill), back
again in the Chicago records, starting a Raleigh, NC project,
writing an article on the Illinois online databases for a new
magazine "Internet Genealogy," and so much more!
December 2005: Just in the past month ... we have
done research in California (Kings County), Brooklyn NY (also Kings
County!), Oregon, Dallas and other parts of TX, and passenger
records and a glimpse at Canadian and Scottish records ... and, we
just kept researching through the holidays.
November 2005: Just in the past month ... we have
done research in California, Chicago, Ohio (Warren, Hamilton and
neighboring counties), New Jersey (Ocean County), Massachusetts
(Weymouth area and Boston), DC, North Carolina (Wake & Chatham Counties),
Indiana (Hammond area) -- projects have involved 19th & 20th century
records some projects are to locate descendents of individuals to
help with Probate or Land issues.
October 2005: Just in the past month ... we have done research
in Florida (St. Petersburg and Jacksonville records), Illinois
(Warren County & Lake County & Chicago), Indiana (Lake County),
Lancashire UK & UK Military records, California, Massachusetts,
Wales, Ohio, Alsace France, a mobile family in North Carolina, and
Pennsylvania -- projects have involved 19th & 20th century records
-- one project was to find a common surname between non-related
individuals ("Great news on "Wilson" ... Thank you so much!") -- other projects are to locate descendents of
individuals to help with Probate or Land issues.
September 2005: Just in the past month ... we have done
research in Chicago and Illinois counties, Pennsylvania (several
counties), Alsace France, Belarus (Minsk area), Glamorgan & Monmouth
Wales, the UK (several counties) ... making use of census records,
passenger records, church & cemetery records, newspaper articles,
archives near and far, newsgroups and anything we can think of and
get our hands on!
|
Mosaic
Research and Project Management
