Lori (thornton37814) Hopes to Find Time to Work on Her Own Genealogy

My biggest genealogy problem is finding time to work on my own genealogy. I seem to always be working on someone else's. I'll try to give a few snapshots of things I'm reading relating to genealogy, things I discover about my own family, interesting things I run across, etc.

I read a couple medieval England books this month:

       

The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer
The Conquering Family by Thomas B. Costain

In addition to those, we read this for an online social history book club:



The Address Book by Deirdre Mask

>1 thornton37814: Oooh, I have The Address Book on my TBR!

>2 casvelyn: We read that one in Gena's book club. They Were Her Property is the one we are reading in February.

My father's brother Jack Lloyd married Kay Thornton, so I have Lloyd cousins who have Thornton cousins, aunts and uncles. Aunt Kay's sister Mary Thornton married a Connolly. I believe those Thorntons were from Pennsylvania though some of them might be in Maryland now.

>4 Crypto-Willobie: My Thornton line is Quaker. They were in the Carolinas. On the Thornton DNA project, we're group E. Most people descend from some of the Virginia immigrants in A or B groups. My line went through Georgia to Alabama and Mississippi. Some others who remained Quaker a little longer went to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

Earlier this week, my grandniece texted me. She did a DNA test and uploaded it to GEDmatch. Someone contacted her about the match, but she didn't really understand what the person was asking. I interpreted for her and offered a bit of guidance based on the size of the match, etc. I know it is not from our shared ancestry. I've been working her maternal lines to see if I can figure out the match. I'm fairly certain it isn't from my nephew's maternal lines because I'd previously researched those. I'm getting to research in lots of Western states, and I'll soon be back across the Mississippi River. (I've spotted parents born in those states through census records.)

I found time to work on my own genealogy last night and today. Unfortunately Ancestry is so slow it was difficult to make progress. I honestly wish I'd been sitting in a library with a microfilm machine to hand-crank. It would have been faster!

Gone to the Grave: Burial Customs of the Arkansas Ozarks, 1850-1950 by Abby Burnett

Date Completed: 31 January 2021

Rating: 4 stars

Review: This fascinating look at death and dying in Arkansas' Ozark Region goes beyond the stated scope to provide additional context for the reader or researcher. The author used primary sources, oral history, newspapers, and regional and national periodicals in her research body, making a comprehensive study of the subject. Some readers may remember portions of these practices from their own lives. The author traced origins of many practices to places Arkansans or their ancestors previously lived. While one might expect the focus to be entirely on practices from the death of an individual until their interment, the author includes information on causes of death and procedures followed in dealing with disease, the aged, the poor, and more. While the book possesses a very academic tone, it still presents interesting information useful to genealogists and historians working both inside and outside the Ozark Region.

Nearly half the month is gone. I'm busy working on my my handouts and presentations for this year's National Genealogical Society Family History Conference which is being held virtually.

Registration for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh opens February 17, and Institute for Genealogical and Historical Research's registration opens March 6.

These are some of the many great learning opportunities in genealogy.

Lori, just want to thank you for a post I saw over on the 2020 general discussion thread, about "Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks". I don't want to sign up with it or anything, but it got me thinking about trying that approach. I've thought about writing down some of the many stories I've come across, but alas! have not done so.

>10 avaland: You're welcome. She does that every year. A lot of folks participate in it.

I'm reading an advance review copy of The Passion of Anne Hutchinson. As I was reading a chapter over lunch, I came across a reference to my ancestor. I'll probably post more on this mention later, but since it is an ARC, I'm limited in what I can say, and I want to finish the rest of the book to make sure she doesn't address this aspect later before I make any criticism, even though this one is minor. I also want to go back and double-check my original information to make sure my sources hold up since they are not in front of me at the moment.

The Passion of Anne Hutchinson: An Extraordinary Woman, the Puritan Patriarchs, and the World They Made and Lost by Marilyn Westerkamp

Date Completed: 18 February 2021

Category: Cardinal (History & Genealogy)

Rating: 4 stars

Review: Marilyn J. Westerkamp presents her extensive research on Anne Hutchinson's influence in a Puritan culture in a well-documented narrative designed for a mostly academic audience. She discusses the Puritan culture and how they treated all manner of dissidents--from Quakers to Anne herself. The book discusses the migration of many of these persons to Rhode Island and even back to England. The book depicts Hutchinson as a woman with a message from God and a great following who threatened the Puritan leadership, resulting in her being labeled heretical. The author does not believe she qualifies as an early feminist.

I found the book fascinating for many reasons but perhaps my happiest moment came when an ancestor Stephen Bachiler received a paragraph of treatment. (She spells it Batchelor; it is also often spelled Batchelder.) Her wording made me feel she did not realize the church at Lynn was formerly the Saugus church as she listed them separately. I expected she might mention the belief he stood up for Hutchinson in her trial, but it was never discussed either to confirm or repudiate the claim made by other researchers. (I must confess that researching her trial transcripts to find evidence for the claim remains on my to do list.) I realize this is a minor quibble as the passage demonstrated other pastors who differed from the Puritan mainstream rather than showing my ancestor's interaction with Hutchinson.

Persons interested in Hutchinson, colonial women, Puritans, early New England, New England Quakers, and American religious history should read this book. I received an advance electronic review copy, but I intend to purchase my own copy upon publication.

Note: Current release date is 1 July 2021.

>13 thornton37814: This looks like a book of interest for me. The religious history of this time is something that I want to learn more about. Anne Hutchinson's brother in law is an ancestor of a friend of mine; and Stephen Bachiler is an ancestor of mine.

>13 thornton37814: If you get around to it, Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul is a great background read.

>14 Michael-: Hello, Cousin!

>15 southernbooklady: I'll add that one to my TBR list! We own a copy at my library.

Roger Williams is on my list of historical people I'd invite to dinner.

>17 southernbooklady: He could tell us so much!

The Tombigbee River Steamboats: Rolladores, Dead Heads and Side-Wheelers by Rufus Ward

Date Completed: 18 February 2021

Category: Cardinal (History & Genealogy)

Rating: 4 stars

Review: The town in which I grew up was along the Tombigbee River. In fact my grandmother's property had only a gravel pit between her home and the old river course (before the Waterway came through). Since some ancestors resided in the area during the steamboat era, I wanted to read this book even though I feared the author would mostly treat the Alabama portion of the river. As I began reading, I realized his interests also laid in the northern portion of the river, specifically in the steamboats reaching Columbus and Aberdeen. He even mentioned a few reaching Cotton Gin Port, the forerunner of my hometown of Amory. Cotton Gin Port merchants moved businesses to Amory when the railroad arrived, creating a "ghost town" in the former location.

Until the railroads came through, steamboats were the main way cotton made its ways to the port of Mobile for trade. Because the water became too low during late spring through early fall, the upper river could only be navigated a few months of the year. Depending on the year, it could be four to seven months. The earliest steamers seemed to meet disaster quite often so most ships lived a short life. The process of loading the ships, which included slave labor as well as other hired hands, actually placed the slaves in more favorable positions because of their value to those selling the goods.

I found this an interesting piece of social history that will find a place in narratives of some of my Monroe County, Mississippi ancestors. The author used the Columbus and West Point Public Libraries and Mississippi State's special collections in his research as well as an Alabama museum. I cannot wonder how much he missed by not going to Evans Memorial Library in Aberdeen whose special collections were almost certain to include information as well as the Southern Historical Collection in Birmingham and the state archives in both Mississippi and Alabama. He did include writings of a couple of Monroe County historians whose papers are in the Aberdeen library.

>13 thornton37814: Interesting! I'm pretty sure one Hutchinson book is probably enough for me. I read in 2015 this one: The Times and Trials of Anne Hutchinson: Puritans Divided (Landmark Law Cases & American Society) by Michael P. Winship. My review is on the book's page. It was excellent, dense but short. I picked it up because it had been endorsed by Mary Beth Norton, a favorite historian of mine.

>19 thornton37814: So, you grew up in Alabama? Just curious.

>20 avaland: Mississippi

I'm having a lot of fun with the RootsTech Relatives feature of the RootsTech Conference which begins later this week online. As of this moment, I have 14,738 relatives registered for the conference who are participating in the relative connect part. The closest so far is a third cousin. I've been adding Facebook friends who told me they are participating in it. I can confirm my line on a few of those even though they are distant, but most I can only document to a certain point. (Some are probably unlikely--or at least on the line being shown. Some (mostly matching New England lines) are probable.)

>22 thornton37814: I'm up to 12,889 "relatives" at RootsTech, the closest being a 3rd cousin twice removed. Some of the closer ones I've been able to verify, but there's a lot of wishful thinking in those trees too.

I recognize some of my RootsTech matches' names from my DNA test results at Ancestry, so that's fun! I also like being able to see the different countries people are from, although mine all seem to be Americans living abroad rather than descendants of the family that stayed in the old country.

>24 thornton37814: I'm at 17,268 as of this moment. It's been growing a little bit all day--not quite as quickly as it grew yesterday though.

I've not had a chance to listen to any of the RootsTech recordings yet, but I hope to tune in to one or two today. I have taken a short while each evening to look at some of my matches in the connect feature. I've begun clicking on a few ancestral profiles where I have lingering questions about an ancestor to see if I can pick up a clue. I found one last night I was too tired to pursue at the time. I noticed a "death date" for a female I'd been unable to "kill" (as Dr. Deborah Abbott would put it). While no source for the date appeared in the profile, one clue may help. It included a third marriage. I'll need to see if I can "kill" her second husband and see if I can find this marriage record. The profile included no source or location for the marriage, but it did include the date. I want to tackle this while it is fresh on my mind!

I've listened to a few RootsTech recordings today. I'm being pretty picky about the ones I'm selecting at the moment. I listened to both of Judy Russell's. The info about the "Caselaw Access Project" sponsored by Harvard but with other partners was worth it! I began exploring the site and just was kind of randomly clicking on some of the Mississippi Reporters. When I clicked on the one that held 1853 cases appealed to the state's highest court, I ran into one of my surnames. I clicked on the case, and I discovered it was my ancestor's case! I was astonished. I immediately contacted a cousin on that line who had worked at the county courthouse where the case originated and asked if he'd ever seen it. He had not, and he's the one who could put his hands on anything in that courthouse back in the days he worked there. I made a find! I'm sure he's going to go to the courthouse and see if any county level records remain. If not, I will.

I'm looking forward to having time to work on my own genealogy a bit next week. I'll also be finalizing some presentations, but I plan a relaxing week for the most part.

Worked on one of the two genealogy presentations today. It's mostly done. I think I need anew image or screen shot in a couple places, but it's mostly good-to-go!

Yesterday I worked on my second presentation. It's shaping up well, but I only worked on it during the morning, allowing myself time to do a few things like track down fresh seafood, cook a really good meal last night, and enjoy the cats. I also needed to prepare they merged syllabus for North Carolina Genealogical Society's upcoming virtual conference. I sent it to my proofreaders yesterday. If they say it is good-to-go, it will go to the person who will make it available to paid attendees.

I worked with a few DNA matches today, but Ancestry was not cooperating very much. I did connect a few cousins to my tree and use the DNA tags for matches/connections/common ancestor with them.

North Carolina Genealogical Society's virtual conference is today and tomorrow. It's a varied line-up. I'm looking forward to many of the sessions.

Today's line-up includes Craig Scott, Sunny Morton, LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, and Diahan Southard. Tomorrow's offers Mark Lowe, Jean Wilcox Hibben, Ari Wilkins, and Jeanne Larzalere Bloom.

>30 thornton37814: I was working on a few DNA matches this morning. I like to at least note the connection. I find that more often than not, DNA matches are more interested in their ethnicity profile than any connections, but over the years I found a few who have more of an interest (one set of GGP's had 13 children, so lots of connections there, and another GGP had four wives and children with each, so that's been a goldmine of sorts (and really interesting). There is still a mystery there....

>32 avaland: I was actually contacted by an adoptee yesterday. I need to spend a little time looking at the match before responding. I think it's a pretty distant connection, but I'll see.

I recorded both lectures for NGS this week--one yesterday and one today. I'm glad that is over. I'll be working on a presentation for a nearby library next. I definitely need a little R & R time first though.

What a busy week! I finished preparing (except for the edits I'll make over the weekend) a Tuesday evening Zoom lecture for a nearby library. I also worked on homework for a workshop in which I enrolled this Saturday. We read a couple articles and solved a couple of case studies. Tonight I host a Zoom genealogy chat. Those are great fun. You never know which direction they'll take until we begin talking. I predict everyone will be discussing the horrible new way Ancestry displays new hints. I doubt they tired of it in the Facebook discussions yesterday--and I suspect a few more will discover them by this evening. Of course they rolled it out just to make me capture some new slides for my presentation. I will recommend they right click and open the hint in a new tab so they can properly evaluate the hint (the old way). I will screen capture the new way, but I will recommend doing it the old way. I hope the promised video on the new way is posted by tomorrow so I can include it in the handout.

A cousin needs my help with sorting a little DNA evidence with a paper trail on a line on which we are not related. I don't think it will take that long so I'm going to work on it a bit. I told her it would probably be after Tuesday before I worked on it.

A new DNA match with an adopted mother keeps trying to be related to me on the Thornton line, but all the evidence points to a Parish/Parrish match. I keep re-emphasizing that's not how we we relate when he tries to go down the Thornton hole. All the in common with matches share Parish/Parrish DNA. It's not even that large of a match. Most people working with DNA on case studies would not even look at our match.

My library genealogy talk last night went well. Attendees claim to have learned things they didn't know previously. That's always a good thing.

I'll probably do some relaxing after a 6 pm genealogical society committee meeting. I hope it doesn't last long--but I don't think this one will.

I'm glad your presentation went well. I'm sure a lot of effort went into it, and it's good to get positive feedback.

Summer is here. I attended GRIP in June, taking the Hands-On Forensic Genealogy course. This week I'm attending IGHR virtually, taking the Virginia course.