Technology and the Future of Genealogy Research

Yesterday I listened to an interesting broadcast on Radio Boston; Boston's National Public Radio (NPR). There was a conversation between David Lambert, Chief Genealogist at the New England Historical Genealogy Society; Steve Brown, radio reporter and amateur genealogist; and the broadcast host, Meghna Chakrabarti.

You can listen to the broadcast at http://radioboston.wbur.org/2013/06/04/genealogys-renaissance

The conversation focused on the impact technology has had on the field of genealogy. Like so many fields, including my own occupation as librarian, technology has changed the way people get things done. Technology has changed the way the general society thinks of about information, connection, research, and truth.

Online databases and DNA tests have really transformed the pastime of genealogy but will the need for paper records really disappear? Will the role of librarian ever die? 

The broadcast was born of a recent article in The Verge, an online technology, science and culture site. The author of the article "Who am I? Data and DNA Solve One of Life's Big Questions," Laura June claims that digitization and DNA is the "endgame" for genealogy. http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/7/4258094/who-am-i-data-and-dna-solve-one-of-lifes-big-questions She puts forth that those innovations resolve the genealogical quest for who we are and where we come from; and that, in short, those human mysteries will be put to rest by the technology within our time.

I do not believe that these questions of identity and our ancestral past will ever disappear from our human nature. Technology has simply intervened in facilitating the search. A need for and understanding of quality research is still very much a concern. Don't you remember your grade school teachers telling you not to believe everything you read? Just because you can type your grandfather's name into a database and pull up a full family tree does not mean that information is correct. 

Additionally, just because you have downloaded every document you can find on your family does not mean you have preserved them for prosperity; data storage is unstable in comparison to paper that yes, can be destroyed as well but has existed for centuries. 

Lastly, as Chakrabarti so keenly points out in the broadcast, what about the dash? That thin line perched precariously between you ancestors date of birth and death; what do you know of that individual's life. Why exactly are you researching your genealogy? 

If you are anything like me, you're researching your family history to glean a sense of place in the world, to understand why your family is the way it is, and to gain a greater respect for the human struggle. Before I began my search into my heritage I truthfully felt very alone in the world and burdened by my gene-pool. I was plagued by pondering why I feel so fucked-up; did my parent's do this to me? Is it environment? Learned behavior? Genetics? How did I get like this? How did they get like that? Why am I physically/mentally/socially in the spot where I am?

I have yet to come across the database that can answer all that for me.

I'm back, baby!

It has been some time since I have written for this blog. My only excuse is that in addition to working full-time I take a graduate class. But I am back, baby, I'm back. I have no class now! None! And I have plans - - lots and lots of plans for summer research.

1. I am going to get my application for membership into the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). I keep putting that off for no good reason.

2. I have a list of headstone hunting adventures in mind; some to cemeteries I have not yet been to.

3. Yet another trip to the NYC Municipal Archives to comb through vital records.

and 4. Of course, I am going to dive into researching some of my less documented branches. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Ah, it smells like a very Irish summer. Watch out Joyces!!

Headstone Hunting

After a successful visit to the New York City Municipal Archives and uncovering my 4th great-grandmother's maiden name, I thought I'd try my hand at finding her burial location. I know Ellen Sweeney-Hughes is buried with her husband, Terrence Hughes, and several other family members at Calvary Cemetery. 

Calvary, for those of you who are unfamiliar with it, is the largest cemetery in New York City. It is the final resting place for over 3 million New Yorkers. It is divided into 4 sections, the oldest being "Old Calvary" which was opened in 1848 and is the cemetery where my Hughes relatives are interred.

Now, if you have read some of my posts you may have heard me rant about how rare it is to find a relative with a headstone. I come from a poor, working-class stock. Headstones are expensive. And let's just face the facts, we're either broke or cheap. Cheap out of necessity - - but nonetheless cheap.

This morning I traveled to Calvary with hope in my heart though. With my head held high I drove into the pack cemetery with camera in pocket. 

The Hughes Family is buried in Section 3, Range 1, Plot A, Graves 1 through 4.

Now what does that tell you? That sounds to me as if they are going to be right up front in Section 3. They might very well be the front absolute first spot in a corner of Section 3.

This quality is also quite common among my relatives' plot locations; they are often right near the curb. Not only are we poor, I guess we know we're lazy...or maybe just super tired from all that working to maintain poor. ("Give us your tired, your poor"...no wonder my people came to America). Ain't no one gonna come visit your grave if we have to trample all over the cemetery to find you. However, that is exactly what I did. 

Despite being pretty sure the plot would be in the first, foremost corner of the section I walked up and down those ranges. I also drove around and around that section trying to read the few headstones which had cemetery location numbers chiseled into them. 

Well guess what, people. I did not find a headstone for my Hughes family. Surprise, surprise, surprise. The very corner of Section 3 has 4 small square tiles that are flush with the ground; that mark the perimeter of Graves 1-4. And that is it! No marking of the corner stones, no names, no dates, you can hardly even see them. I didn't even bother to photograph them.

According to my Cousin Roseann and some of my own substantiating research we know that corner to be the resting place of:

1. Terrence Hughes, my 4th great-grandfather on my father's most maternal line; died 22 September 1873.
2. Ellen Sweeney-Hughes, my 4th great-grandmother, bearer of my father's mitochondrial DNA who died 12 March 1884 at the age of 81. 
3. Edward Hughes, their son who died 24 March 1874 at the age of 25.
4. Patrick Henry Hughes, another son and purchaser of the plot who died 25 June 1883 at the age of 40.
5. Anna Hughes-Gray, my 3rd great-grandmother who sometimes appears as Anna M., Mary Ann, or Mary A., died 17 April 1904.
6. Thomas Gray, my 3rd great-grandfather, who died at the age of 55 on 30 March 1899.
7. Mary Gray, also known as Mamie was a daughter of Anna and Thomas Gray. She died 24 May 1929 at the age of 55.
8. Margaret Gray-Fitzpatrick, another daughter of Anna and Thomas Gray who died 24 June 1968 at the age of 91 .
9. Michael Fitzpatrick,  Margaret's husband, died 25 Jan 1956 at the age of  81.    
10. Elizabeth V. Gray,  another daughter of Anna and Thomas Gray, who died 2 June 1970 at the age of 90.

Finding a Maiden Name

Well it is that point in the semester when things start to become a little overwhelming and so I have not been able to find the time to post or research lately. However, working for a Catholic university provided me with a much needed day off yesterday (Holy Thursday) and today (Good Friday); thank God for Jesus, I always say.

Yesterday I ventured into Manhattan and had the opportunity to visit the NYC Municipal Archives. I have written about my experiences there before in this blog. It is one of my most favorite research facilities because one can view primary resources of vital records at a much discounted rate than ordering them online. And if you don't want to order a copy of a record your welcome to view and take notes from as many records as you would like for FREE.

I went with a list of a dozen records I wanted to see. Right now I am poking around on my Irish ancestors; some on my dad's side and some on my mother's side. The Irish are probably the most elusive of all my ancestors.

In any case, these dozen records were partly guesses. After combing through the NYC death record index online. I found some records that could potentially be related to me; siblings of my great-great-great grandparents. Some of my guesses were right, some were not. And why would I through away money on ordering documents for guesses? I wouldn't. That is why I look at guess in person for free at the Municipal Archives.

Lately, I have become quite interested in my 3rd great grandmother, Anna Hughes-Gray. My paternal grandmother, Nanny, has passed down to me Anna's memorial card. Anna was born in Ireland in 1843. She died in Queens County, New York on April 17, 1904. Her parents were Terrence and Ellen Hughes. I want to know more about the Hughes family.

From information provided by father's cousin Roseann, I know that a lot of the Hughes-Grays are buried together in a plot in Calvary Cemetery. Gratefully, I have dates of death for many of the family members but still, I wanted to look at their death certificates. 

Just because someone hands me information does not mean that I shouldn't verify that information with my own research. I am so very glad that I did look up the death certificates! I looked at Anna Hughes-Gray's mother's death certificate; Ellen. Ellen Hughes, my 4th great grandmother, died on March 10, 1884 in lower Manhattan - 535 West 11th Street to be exact. Ellen died in a time period when NYC began to collect the deceased's parents names and there - - there it was - - Ellen's maiden name which I had never seen before. Ellen was the daughter of Denis and Mary Sweeney. 

Holy Thursday, I'm a Sweeney!!

I love, love, love to find maiden names! I do realize women received their maiden names from their fathers and that it's still a patriarchal thing but a woman's maiden name connects you further into your roots. It leads you to her life before she took someone's name. It gives you another generation to search for. I love, love, love to find maiden names.

NY Times Article: Evolution of the New York Driver's License

I follow the New York Public Library Milstein Division of US History, Local History, and Genealogy on Facebook. Today they shared an article from the New York Times; "Evolution of  the New York Driver's License." I found the article interesting and to anyone researching the New Yorkers in their family, you too might find it interesting.

The first line of the article states, "New York State first began issuing paper licenses to chauffeurs in 1910..." This really grabbed my attention because, as I have blogged about in the past, I own a digital image of my Great-grandpa Charles Henry's driver's license from 1917. I did not realize that licensing driver's was such a relatively recent practice at the time Charles received that card in 1917.

The article provides images of NY State licenses from 1910 through present day with notation about the changes made over time.

I am sort of lucky that Cousin Timmy found the 1917 license because according to the article, in 1918 the first regular driver’s license, as opposed to a chauffeur's license, was offered. The regular license followed the same format of the chauffeur’s license but the regular one did not have a photo. I have a photo!!

A driver's license does not provide much genealogical information really. That is to say that it does not document a relationship. It does, however, provide an address which can be useful in genealogical research. And often it will provide a photograph. If you happen to acquire one while cleaning out the family attic, it is a gem you should hold on to.

Brush with the Law Proves Location and Name Change

When I started my genealogy research 22 years ago, I began on my father's side of the family trying to unpuzzle for myself some of the modern day connections I did not quite understand. I stayed on that side of the family for a very long time. I did not truly dig into my mother's lineage until after my grandpa passed away in 2004; about 9 years ago.

One of the big obstacles in researching my mother's side has been the fact that there was a surname change. My Great-great-grandfather, Damas Desjardins, French-Canadian by birth, Anglicized his name to Thomas Gardner. I suspect this was in order to obtain more work and avoid ethnic discrimination. I cannot find anything official about the name change and back then, before Social Security, it was easier to assume an identity.

In some records he appears as Damas Desjardins, in others as Thomas Gardner, in others as Damas Gardner, and still others as Thomas Desjardins. To make matters even more confusing, his offspring indiscriminately used either last name as well. His son, my great grandfather, Almond Desjardins, like his father also chose to use a more American sounding first name; Albert. Almond/Albert was indeed born in the United States; his name just sounded very French.

This flip-flopping of names not only makes constructing searches challenging it makes proving anything a daunting task. I often hear myself saying, "Well, yes, I know it says that but it is the same man." Anything I can find that helps me to solidify this family's surname change is precious to me.

Mind you, this branch of the family has also had some run ins with the law in nearly every generation. Which brings me to an article from the Brooklyn Daily Star titled "Sing Sing for John Miller: L.I. City Man who Swindled Magnus Larsen Sent Up on Suspended Sentence - Five Others Given a Chance to Reform" from December 21, 1907. In it is mentioned Almond Gardner. The first time I have seen my great grandfather listed with his very French-sounding birth name and Anglicized surname. In addition to showing his name in that way, it also documents that the family moved. What a gem of a find!!

It reads as follows:

"Almond Gardner, a former Astoria boy whose folks now live at Patchogue, took a quantity of lead pipe and brass sewer traps from a house belonging to George B. Ruthman on Main street last November. He is only seventeen years old and has promised to behave."

Interestingly enough, 24 years later, Almond's baby brother, Damas Jr. is also arrested for burglarizing a house while in his teens. That time, though, the house was out in Patchoque and Damas Jr. stole an electric pump with his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Elbert King. I found that in a March 31, 1931 article in the Patchogue Advance titled "Young Men Arrested for Stealing Pump." Tsk, tsk, tsk. What is with these boys?

Had Almond not committed his juvenile crime, though, I might never have had such concrete proof that he was known by variations of the names Almond Desjardins and Albert Gardner. Additionally, I knew the family had moved to Patchoque between the 1900 and 1910 censuses. This article, though, helps me to narrow the date of the family's move to after November 1906, when the crime was committed, and before December 1907, when the article was written.

Lawrence Fay in the 1880 U.S. Census Mortality Schedule

I have developed a personal catalog of all my genealogy documentation. Recently, I have been working through all the census records in my collection; making sure I have produced a transcript for each one. By the way, one can find many blank U.S. Census forms available online to help with transcription.

Then I came across my copy of the 1880 U.S. Census Mortality Schedule listing my 3rd great-grandfather, Lawrence Fay. These Census Schedules are unlike the regular U.S. Census records. The U.S. Census Mortality Schedules list individuals who died in the preceding year; not the calendar year, mind you, but a census year. If the 1880 census started on June 1, the schedule list deaths from June 1, 1879 through May 31, 1880. I learned that fact this morning by reading a posted by Michael J. Leclerc on the Mocavo blog.

I found this Mortality Schedule by doing one of those broad sweeping, Hail-Mary type of searches in Ancestry.com. That's what I call a search when I am at my whits-end  and hoping to find anything I can by just searching for a last name; in this case, Fay. Sometimes I have success trying to see everything a database might have but most of the time that type of search results in too many hits and is just too overwhelming. I don't really recommend it but in this case I found a record I might not otherwise have found because he was indexed as Laramie Fay. Although, the record clearly looks like "Lawrense" to me.

These schedules provide the name of the deceased, age, sex, race, marital status, place of birth, parents' place of birth, occupation, month of death, how long a resident of the county, address at which he/she died, and attending physician.

At the time I found this record, I knew Lawrence Fay was buried in Saugerties, NY at the cemetery of St. Mary of the Snows Roman Catholic Church. I didn't know for sure where Lawrence died, though. I had found his wife, Bridget, and their children in a curious 1880 census record in which Lawrence's name is listed but then crossed out. I didn't know if he died in New York City or Saugerties.

Here is a detail from the 1880 U.S. Federal Census record I have for Bridget Fay and her children:

She was living on 44th St. in Mahnattan between 9th and 10th Avenue in 1880. See those Kellys listed between the two halves of the Fay entry?? Well, I have information that indicates Bridget's maiden name to have been Kelly. This record has me wondering if the Kellys living in the same building as the Fays in 1880 were perhaps Bridget's sisters or cousins of some degree. Maybe Larry & Bridget moved from Saugerties to Manhattan to be near her family because he was sick with Bright's Disease; an obsolete classification for nephritis, a kidney condition.

This 1880 census record has put me on a hunt for the Kellys but the other 1880 record, the Mortality Schedule, clarified for me why Lawrence's name was crossed out and helped me determine a date of death for him.  Lawrence's death certificate, which is held by the New York City Municipal Archives, indicates that he died on December 23,1879 and was buried on Christmas Day in Saugerties. What a very sad Christmas that must have been and what a very important record the 1880 Mortality Schedule proved to be.