Ohio Genealogical Society Annual Conference

Logo from the 2016 Ohio Genealogical Conference

The Annual Ohio Genealogical Society Conference was this past weekend, April 28-30 at Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio. The agenda was packed full of wonderful genealogical opportunities, offering 86 different sessions. As there were 5 time slots a day, meaning the most you could attend was 15 sessions, it was hard to pick out which ones to attend.

The Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS) is the largest state genealogical society with 95 chapters and over 6000 members. The conference had attendees and speakers from all over the U.S. If you are working on genealogy in Ohio, or have Ohio ancestors, you should really consider joining. Their website offers wonderful databases that are only open to members. But more than that, they offer wonderful learning and sharing opportunities.

I could only attend for one day, and with some consideration, picked out the 5 sessions to attend. Since this year's conference was held in the southwest part of Ohio, I didn't expect to see many familiar people. I don't have family or ancestral roots in the area. But a few familiar faces did pop up.

First, there was Margaret Cheney, current president of OGS and past president of both the Medina County and Lorain County Chapters. She gave me some tips on my application for the Society of Civil War Families of Ohio.

Tom Neel, director of the OGS Library in Bellville was there, staffing the exhibit table for OGS, as well as presenting  a couple of the sessions.

Cheryl Abernathy, Deb Knox and Mrs. Blaha from the Wayne County Chapter also had a display table. As Medina County shares her southern border with Wayne County, we often call on each other for research help for citizens that lived near, and often crossed the county line.  It was nice to see their cheerful faces.

So the sessions I  attended were:

1. 'Cuz We're Cousins: Autosomal DNA Tests by Debra Renard - this was a comprehensive look at DNA tests: the peculiarities of the different companies; the meaning of centimorgans, alleles & the acronyms IBS, IBD, IBP, IBC; what do those estimates of ethnic make-up really mean; and the range what percentage of shared DNA you can expect from different degrees of relatives. She got pretty technical at the end with triangulation and downloading the results as an Excel spreadsheet and merging with the matches to see just where the DNA matches occur.

Drew's book - due out in July

2.  Organizing Your Genealogy Files and Correspondence by Drew Smith - Drew is an established & well respected speaker for OGS and is one of the "guys" from the Genealogy Guys Podcast. I was hoping to learn how to tame the paper dragon that accompanies the genealogy hobby. But one of the first things Drew did was confess about the multiple giant Rubbermaid tubs in HIS house of his "waiting to be filed" papers! So it is an issue that ALL genealogists struggle with.  I did learn about a computer file naming technique that I hope to implement. And like me, Drew is not a fan of the color-coded hanging file system.

3.  Turn Tablets & Smartphones into Genealogy Powerhouses by Lisa Louise Cooke - Lisa was a fun presenter with a lot of energy. Her talk was about the many shortcuts and apps that help your mobile device work as well as your desktop computer for doing research. I can't wait to try them out on my iPad and my new Samsung phone!

4.  Crowdsourcing Your Brick Walls by Drew Smith - crowdsourcing is a new term for what genealogists have been doing for decades: networking with other genealogists to help find the answers to our "problem" ancestors. Besides the listservs, message boards, and forums, we now have communities/groups on social networking sites such as Facebook and Google+ communities. Drew spend a fair amount of time covering how to frame your query to get the maximum responses. Choosing an informative subject line, directing your query to the right group, include the alternate spellings, tell where you have already looked, be precise about what you are looking for, limit long "signatures" and what to do once the problem is solved, are all important in getting the best responses.

Confession: I wanted to go to Sunny Morton's session on "Lies, Errors and Bias-- Oh my! Consider your Sources" but couldn't locate the room. Perhaps it was cancelled. So the last session of the day for me was:

5. Analysis and Correlation: Two Keys to Sound Conclusions by Chris Staats -  Chris is also a well-known speaker for OGS. Chris used a personal case study to walk us through solving a

genealogical quandary when you have little direct or primary evidence and what you do have contains conflicting information. You start by analyzing every detail of the information you already have. Then you create a timeline or spreadsheet to compare the information. He had to condense his research to fit into the presentation time slot and he admitted that we might not agree with his conclusions. And I didn't. But it is very possible that there was information he had to omit that would have changed my mind. I was also pleased to realize that I have been using the techniques he described in my own research.

The syllabus for the conference was 330 pages long and it includes outlines from all the sessions. A copy is included in the conference price.

A banquet on Friday evening was held for all members who were being inducted into the lineage societies, First Families of Ohio, and the Society for Civil War Families of Ohio. Around 100 people attended. Most were being inducted into the First Families of Ohio. To qualify, they had fill out an application and present solid, documented proof that an ancestor had settled in Ohio prior to 1820. Many family members were being inducted together, fathers/daughters, mothers/daughters, sisters and one whole family that included dad/mom/4 teenage children.

I was inducted into the Society for Civil War Families of Ohio. This was for proving my ancestor, William Preston Williams served in the Union Army as part of the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry. The medal and ribbon presented to me, pleased me much more than I had anticipated. A very kind lady helped me pin it on when I got back to my table. Certainly, there was a feeling of accomplishment. But maybe my ex-military days were surfacing?

I think it is pretty cool looking! What do you think?

Certificate and medal with ribbon for the Society of Civil War Families of Ohio

Research Problem

Purported picture of William Preston Williams
from the Gallia CountyGenealogical Society
 web site.  No one can tell me the source of the photo,
so it will not be included in my application.

William Preston Williams is my 2X great grandfather. He enlisted in the 3rd West Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War. It is through him that I joined the Civil War Families of Gallia County and will be joining the Society of Civil War Families of Ohio next spring.

It is through his father, John Williams, that I believe I qualify for First Families of Ohio. John Williams came to Gallia County circa 1806-1810. Here is the problem:

I need to prove that William Preston Williams (1839-1910) is the son of John Williams (1796-1880). The only source that I have that links William Preston and John Williams is the 1882 History of Gallia County by H.H. Hardesty.

The biographical sketch of William's brother, Elijah Williams, states:
"His father, John Williams, was born February 20, 1796, and was one of the first settlers of this township (Guyan), enduring may privations... Louisa T. (Sartin) Williams, the mother of Elijah, was born April 20, 1803, and died November 19, 1876. Mr. Williams had three brothers in the late war. John S. Williams enlisted for three years, and, after serving two years, he died of measles; William P. and James H. Williams both served three years, and the latter died in the hospital at Washington after the war had closed."  History of Gallia County, H.H. Hardesty, 1882.

The Ohio Genealogical Society does not consider the biographical sketches in the 19th century histories as evidence, and for good reason. The sketches were paid for by the subject of the sketch and usually represents a sanitized view of what they could remember of their family history.
Further:

• His death record does list his parents, with a wrong last name for his mother. Death records are not considered a primary source for a birth record. The person giving the information, most often an adult child, would NOT have first person knowledge of the individual's birth. This record needs to be combined with other records to prove the relationship.
• His marriage record does not list his parents
• There are no government issued birth records in Ohio prior to 1867.
• 1850-1860 census records do not list relationship between members of a household
• By 1870 & 1880 William P. Williams is in his own household.
• No will or estate record has been found for John Williams or William Williams in the county records
• Even his Civil War Pension records do not list his parents.

William P. Williams death certificate #31993.   Notice his mother's name is given as "Lucy Pillman".
The information is given by Ann Johnson, William's sister.
SOURCE: Ohio Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics

Excerpt from the 1870 Census for Guyan Township, Gallia County, Ohio, showing William P. Williams living right next door to John & Lucy Williams. Note that it does not mention relationships between people in the same household.
SOURCE: Ancestry Library Edition

Marriage record of Willam P. Williams and Rebecca Tagg, dated 12 March 1869. No parents are listed.
SOURCE: Gallia County Marriage Records, Court of Common Pleas

Excerpt from 1850 Census for Guyan Township, Gallia County, Ohio, showing William Williams listed with John &
Lucinda Williams. Note that it does not list their relationship.
SOURCE: Ancestry Library Edition

There were five John Williams in Gallia County at the time of William's birth. And to complicate matters further, he is not the only William Preston Williams to live in Gallia County, Ohio during this period. In the 1830's the area had an influx of Welsh settlers that included a number of WILLIAMS families. Luckily, the other William Preston Williams is too young to have been my ancestor. Oh, and the family tree on Ancestry has the WRONG William Preston Williams in the 1900 census.
My last place to search: Land Records.

Several months ago, I had ordered the indexes to the land records of Gallia County from the Familysearch.org website. They had come in and I was slowly going through them. My father's family had settled in Gallia county from 1810 through 1870's. As long as I have the index, I wanted to check for all of his family lines. And with names like Williams, Johnson and Barry, there are a LOT of records to go through. Luckily, I had finished the Williams surname and so when I went to Gallia County for the Lineage Banquet/Research Trip, I had the volume and page numbers of the records I wanted to copy.

VOILA!

Note the second line where the arrow is. It lists William P. Williams and his wife Rebecca Tagg. The fourth line
states "the heirs at law of John Williams. The date of the document is 5 December 1881. John Williams died
26 February 1880. He didn't leave a will and no estate record has been found.
Deed Records of Gallia County, Vol 50, pages 141-142.

So there it is! Proof positive that William P. Williams, husband of Rebecca, is "an heir at law" of John Williams. 

Once I get all the paperwork filled out, I will be sending in my application for First Families of Ohio!!

YES!!!

BTW, if you want read an interesting article on the latest information on Neanderthals and how advanced they were, check out the February 2015 copy of Scientific American. I am interested in Neanderthals ever since I learned I have 1.8% Neanderthal DNA!!

Lineage Society Update

I got in! My application to The Society of Civil War Families of Ohio was accepted!

Next April, in Mason, Ohio, I will attend the Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS) Conference and The Society of Civil War Families of Ohio banquet and receive my certificate and my pin!

You might remember that I was a little nervous about this application, as OGS is known for its stringent lineage society application process.

I covered the application process in two earlier blog posts:

• New Year's Resolution Update

• New Year's Resolution

Now, my dilemma is... Do I apply for First Families of Ohio?

First Families of Ohio pin.
Isn't it pretty!?!

The application would be nearly identical. I would just have to prove one generation past my Civil War ancestor and prove that his father was in Ohio before 1820. This gets a little trickier, because of the lack of birth and death certificates in this time period. I will have to rely on wills/estate records and land records to prove First Families eligibility. But I am so close!!

If you still don't understand why anyone would want to apply to a lineage society, or have questions about how to go about it, the Medina County Genealogical Society has a very nice article about it in their latest newsletter:

THINKING ABOUT A LINEAGE SOCIETY ??
Do any of these statements reflect your genealogy research:
 My parents and/or grandparents and/or ancestors lived in Ohio before 1914.
 My great grandfather or great uncle served in the Civil War and lived in Ohio.  I learned that my family once lived in
Medina County.
 Whenever I tell my family about these ancestors that I have found, they politely smile, nod their heads and change the subject.
For once it would be nice to have someone tell me “Congratulations” with regards to my research and place on “A+” on the papers I would show them!!”
If you have answered “Yes” to any of these statements, you should consider submitting your research to a lineage society. When your papers are accepted, your work is acknowledged as meeting genealogy standards. Your ancestors are remembered
forever in the collection of the lineage society. Fellow genealogists are acknowledging your accomplishments and publish this in their publications.
Still, you may hesitate to take the time to follow through on this effort. For most people, they are intimidated by the application process. The purpose of this article is to advise our membership that lineage support will be available before and after all future chapter meetings. Board members have lineage experience with Ohio Genealogical Society, our own chapter lineage society, as well as Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and Sons of the American Revolution (SAR.) The members will be happy to answer your questions, review paperwork suggest areas of research and/or share our previous applications. We hope to show you that the process to honor your ancestors in a lineage society is very rewarding and not as difficult as you think.