Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Return to Spring Grove

The Friends of the Cemetery host a tour of Spring Grove Cemetery every year. This year it will be this Saturday on August 3rd at 1 p.m. and is FREE!



Highlighted people include:
  • Sophia Huntington Parker: Her estate provided the funding for the Sophia Huntington Parker home for women. Of course her home is a hot topic of discussion currently in Medina.
  • R.M. and Elizabeth McDowell and their daughter Bessie: Prominent members of Medina community. Their home has been in the news as the Medina County Historical Society is raising funds to buy it.
  • Florence Phillips: Daughter of F.O. Phillips. Well known and loved history teacher.
  • James Collins: died tragically due to suicide in Spring Grove Cemetery.
  • Earl Foote, Sr.: was a local housing developer
And this year, the tour will include the Mausoleum:

The 1920's Mausoleum is seldom open to the public and was restored in 2013.
Mausoleum highlights:
  • Cornell W. Starr and his wife Sally He was a deputy sheriff and she was a teacher in the Medina Schools.
  • And other familiar names: Branch, Spieth, and Foskett.
Join Teresa Merkle and the other Friends of the Cemetery at 1 p.m. for a pleasant and informative stroll around this Medina Landmark.

Meet up at the Chapel.

Tour will be over at 2:30 P.M.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Mid-Year Review of 2019 Genealogy Goals



My Genealogy Goals for 2019  are to organize my genealogy files, digital and paper.

Several weeks ago Lauren asked me about the progress on my resolution and I thought it would be useful  to review how the Goals are coming along.

It keeps me accountable to accomplishing my goals and lets you know how we all struggle with our genealogy research.

First a quick review. I broke up the process into six steps:
  1. Dedicate a  minimum of 2 hours per week on the project. It is important to schedule time for this task.
  2. File all of my loose papers that are currently covering multiple surfaces in my home.  
  3. Organize my digital files.
    • Assign naming scheme to ALL my files. 
    • Convert JPEG files into a format that isn't "lossy", such as TIFF. 
    • Do this before tackling my paper file folders, so that any papers that I want to scan can go into the newly cleaned up digital folders.  
    1. Keep both digital and paper files. L.O.C.K.S.S. - Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe.  I back up my computer files regularly.
    2. Tackle my paper file folders. Again, I have created a system that works for me, but it needs to applied to all the file folders.  
    3. Clean up my binders (remember #4!) 
      • Binders that family members can browse. 
      • Updated, and cleaned up
      • Using archival materials.
      So how are my Genealogy Goals coming along?
      1. Dedicate 2 hours per week on the project. I will admit that I don't always get in 2 hours every week. But then there are weeks that I work 4-10 hours on the project, so it evens out. I have gotten distracted several times. A first cousin once removed contacted me about our DNA connection. Since we had lost contact with that branch of the JOHNSON family, I couldn't let that sit. I now have filled in that branch considerably. Several "cousins" were very active on a Facebook page dedicated to the home county. We were comparing notes on what we knew about the many, many, many offspring of our common Great Great Grandfather.
      2. The loose papers are filed. And while it seems that I am constantly generating more and more paperwork, I am keeping up with it.
      3. Organize my digital files. Oy vey! First, know that I only meant the digital files that comprise my FAMILY HISTORY Research. Not all my photo files from the 90's onward taken with various digital camera devices. But still, I should have evaluated just how many files that encompasses.  Several months into the project, I did an inventory and this is what I discovered: 
      Screen shot of my Family History folder on my computer. Each
      surname has a folder. Folder names that are all in capital letters
      have been "cleaned up."





        1. I had over 10,000 files in 30 main folders and 344 subfolders. 
        2. The smallest folder, the COCKERELL surname, had only 1 file in it. 
        3. My largest folder, the JOHNSON surname, contains 78 subfolders and 3,018 files.
        4. Another inventory shows that only 1,403 files have been "cleaned up", or only 14%.

      WHEW!

      The project suddenly seemed really overwhelming.

      Okay, knowing this, maybe it isn't reasonable to get this all done in one year.

      But that doesn't mean that I have to give up on my goals.

      I will just keep plugging away at it and if I don't get everything done by the end of the year, I won't beat myself up about it.

      But I won't stop working on it either...

      Since I started this blog last week, I have finished 3 of the 78 sub-folders in the JOHNSON folder...

      How are you doing with your 2019 genealogy goals?












        Wednesday, July 10, 2019

        Rutherford B. Hayes OHIO OBITUARY INDEX

        Several weeks ago, the MCDL Genealogy Team took a trip to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum for training on the Ohio Obituary Index. I blogged about it HERE.


        In the blog, I promised that in a future blog to provide some hints on how to get the best results when searching the index.

        TA-DA! This is that blog!

        Basic information;
        • This is an INDEX and as such does not give you all the information that the original death notice would. It just points to where to find a copy of the original.
        • The spelling in the index is as the name as it appears in the newspaper. If the newspaper got it wrong, the index will reflect that.  
        This obituary of my Mom appeared in the 25 June 1995
        Marion Star. Her first name is misspelled. Although on
        her birth certificate her name is given as "Janette" she
        always spelled it as Jeannette - double n and double t.
        The nickname shown is "JJ" which some of her friends
        used. But by the majority of people called her
        "Jeannie".

        • Alternate spellings - try all the variations of spellings that can be applied to the name. Ex. SMITH, SMYTH, SMYTHE.
        • The index covers all sorts of death notices, such as administrative & probate notices, news items and obituaries. It is called an OBITUARY index for simplicity. Not every entry is for a full biographical sketch.
        • Periods, quote marks and hyphens are not used.
        • If the name is hyphenated, it is entered under both names separately. Ex. PALMER-WILCOX, will have a listing under PALMER and a listing under WILCOX. 
        • If you are searching a common surname, like JOHNSON, it is best to also use the first name.
        • For uncommon names just using the surname may suffice.
        • The Ohio Obituary Index has over 3.5 MILLION RECORDS. Medina County District Library only has about 150,000 ENTRIES - or less than 5% of the records. So you will see many entries from other libraries in Ohio.

        SEARCHING TIPS

        Before jumping in, take a look at the menu on the right side of the page. It has lots of useful features to know about. Here are some of the most important features:

        • List of Newspapers Indexed - 528 newspapers from around Ohio are indexed for obituaries. Maybe your ancestors' hometown is among them.
        • Map of participating counties -  42 out of Ohio's 88 counties have participating libraries. See map below.
        • Table of participating Libraries - 73 libraries participate in the indexing. Why is this more than the number of counties? Because some counties have multiple library systems participating - like MCDL and the Wadsworth Library!
        • The Shopping Cart is only for items that can be ordered from the Rutherford B. Hayes Library.

        Map of Ohio counties participating in the Ohio Obituary Index.




























        BASIC SEARCHES

        • A last name MUST be entered.
        • Optional fields are; First Name, Middle Name and Year of Death.

         ADVANCED SEARCHES - Requires patience.  Fields are:

        • Last Name - search as Exact Match or Begins With
        • First Name - search as Exact Match or Begins With
        • Middle Name - search as Exact Match or Begins With
        • Nickname - search as Exact Match or Begins With
        • Spouse's Last Name - search as Exact Match or Begins With
        • Maiden Name - search as Exact Match or Begins With
        • Anywhere in Notes
        • Year of Death Between ______ and ______

         LIBRARIES and NEWSPAPERS

        • MUST enter a Last Name.
        • Optional fields are; First Name, Middle Name and Year of Death.
        • Choose one of the 73 participating libraries from the drop down menu and/or
        • Choose one of the 528 newspapers.

         LIBRARIES and OTHER SOURCES 

        • Some libraries have indexed other Sources on the Ohio Obituary Index.
        • All of the other Sources indexed can be viewed on the menu.

        ORDERING COPIES 



      1. The Shopping Cart is only for items that can be ordered from the Rutherford B. Hayes Library.
      2. For all other libraries, use the HOW TO ORDER button that is provided within  each listing and follow the instructions on that screen.

      3. If you have any questions not answered here, contact the MCDL Genealogy Team at:330-722-4257 or me-team.genealogy@mcdl.info or the staff at the Rutherford B. Hayes Library at: 419-332-2081 or hayeslib@rbhayes.org

        Wednesday, July 3, 2019

        How to Find Church Records

        Guest Blogger: Lauren Kuntzman, MCDL Family History & Learning Center Manager

        In this next installment of our instructional blog posts, we will take a look at church records.  This post will focus on the United States -- but many of the research strategies could be applied to your ancestors regardless of the place where they lived or the faiths that they practiced.

        Church records aren’t always easy to find.  Since the United States has no state church, there is more variation in the records, both in terms of their completeness and how they have been archived, than what is seen in other countries.  While more of these records have been digitized in recent years, the vast majority remain held by churches, libraries, historical societies, and archives.

        Records from Island Creek Presbyterian Church in Toronto, Ohio. 
        Records include child's date of birth and parents' names. 
        Image from Ancestry.   
        Despite these challenges, church records are worth the effort to locate.  Most frequently, church records include Baptisms (or Christenings), Marriages, and Burials.  These records can act as substitutes for civil birth, marriage, and death records -- especially during the years before vital records were kept.  Church records can provide evidence of major vital events in one’s life and may help connect children to parents -- and sometimes even their grandparents, too!

        Beyond baptisms, marriages, and burials, church records can also include documents when individuals joined or left a church.  These documents can help track a family’s migration from one part of a country to another.  Other church records include membership lists, financial reports, excommunications, newspapers/newsletters, and more.  All of these records have details that can help give you a better understanding of your ancestor’s life.

        As author Val D. Greenwood points out, finding church records is a two-step problem.  First you need to know which religious denomination your ancestor practiced; then you need to find the records for your ancestor’s church. 
        Medina Sentinel. May 4, 1905.
        Page 5.  Obituary notes that Spellman
        belonged to the Methodist
        Episcopal Church.  

        To determine which church your ancestor attended, try the following tips:

        • Read your ancestor’s obituary - it may list a church where their funeral services were held and/or name a member of the clergy conducting the service.
        • If your ancestor is buried in a cemetery, consider if the burial ground had a religious affiliation. (This could be the cemetery in its entirety, or the specific section in which your ancestor is buried.)
        • Look at maps.  Which churches are closest to your relatives’ home?
        • Consider you or your parents’ religious denomination.  Has this been passed down through your family?


        Once you’ve determined which church your ancestor attended, it’s time to try to locate their records.  According to the FamilySearch Wiki article on "United States Church Records," there are over 25 major religious denominations practiced in the USA  (see the full list here).  Since there is no way to cover all of these religions in-depth in a single blog post, here are some strategies for research that can be applied to any religion:



        If you still aren’t having luck finding your church records, connect with others and ask for help.  You can do this…

        • online through social media/message boards
        • in-person at genealogy conferences
          • Note: Later this month, Cleveland will host the International Conference on Jewish Genealogy.  This conference is a great resource for anyone with Jewish ancestors.  Learn more at https://www.iajgs2019.org/index.cfm.
        • at your local library -- you can always reach out to the MCDL Genealogy Team for help!  Contact us at me-team.genealogy@mcdl.info.  


        When you find records for your ancestor’s church, here are a few tips to make the most of what you find:

        • Cite your source and analyze it.  Note the repository who holds the records (library, church, etc.), as well as details about the particular set of records you’re searching.  Make notes about the following topics: What time period does the records cover?  Can you tell who the author was?  How are the records arranged - by record type or chronologically?
        • If it is a bound volume, check the front/back of the book for an index.
        • Even if there is an index, browse other pages of the book.  (You might find other relatives!)  This is especially true with online records, many of which aren’t completely (or accurately) indexed.
        • Be prepared, that depending on the denomination and your ancestor’s ethnicity, some of the records might not be in English.  FamilySearch’s Wiki offers great word lists that can help with reading these records.  (Here’s a link to their Latin Word List as an example.)


        Want to learn more?  Here are a few resources that were used in writing this article: