In my line of work, I hear complaints/issues/calls for help whenever a genealogy website is updated or altered in any respect. That goes for all the sites, especially “big” sites such as Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org. There are also issues that pop up when certain collections are released. What is it, how do I search it, can I download it, etc…
The latest series of issues I’ve dealt with has to do with the 1950 US Population Schedule. In this blog, I’d like to discuss one solution to the “missing person” issue.
After one of the recent classes I held, a gentleman raised a problem during the Q&A session. He was about 9 years old in 1950 and was eager to see his own name as well as his parents and siblings’ names. They were nowhere to be found. His entire family was missing. Try as he might, he received no results when using his name or any of the names of those in his family. And it was in a small town in central Massachusetts. There were others in his family, aunts, uncles, and cousins who were easily found. But his entire family had vanished.
First, he assumed that they were never enumerated. Then he thought that they might have lived elsewhere during that point in time. Unlikely in either case, but he had no other theory as to where they were.
I didn’t have too much time to dedicate to him as there were many other questions from the class. I gave it my best shot by changing the search parameters to “Exact and Similar” for the names and “+/- 5 years” for the dates. I tried each name of those who should have been in the family at that time. No luck. And a “failure” in front of the entire class!
Many other hands were raised so I told him that I would use a few more strategies when I got home. Whatever the results, I told him, I’d get in touch as soon as possible.
After dinner that night, I went to the 1940 census, hoping to find someone who lived on the same street or at least close to it. I picked up a few other families who may have been neighbors and hoped they were still around in 1950.
Back to the 1950 census, I searched for his potential neighbors and got an immediate hit. It didn’t take much time at all to locate a neighbor who lived next door to the 1950 family we were trying to locate. The problem? Not only was the handwriting of the enumerator difficult to read, the family name I was looking for was not much more than dark, heavy lines of squiggle on the census record. As you can imagine, the indexer had to take their best shot at what was written in 1950.
When I found the family, their name was indexed with no vowels and what looked like letters weren’t even close to the name. But there they were! Father, mother and three kids including my diligent student, now 81 years old and very happy!
Just a quick afterthought: If this didn’t work, I would’ve gone to page 71….
I feel compelled to address the current pandemic and how it has affected many genealogical researchers. For me, I spend most of my time in my office which is in the basement of our home. So being down there all day (and sometimes all night!) is not a big stretch. But I can completely sympathize with just about everyone else who more than likely aren’t mushrooms! Getting out every morning, going somewhere – anywhere – meeting people face to face is something I don’t think anyone after this is over will take for granted.
So how does this directly affect me? First, I was concerned that I would lose a great deal of business. But clients have been happy to meet virtually or at the very least, on the phone. Remember the phone??? With classes and lectures, I can tell you that I average about 2 Zoom meetings a day! I was pleasantly surprised especially by senior center whose program directors tell me that residents have grown fond of being able to participate in these types of meetings.
I had arranged to hold a fund raiser for our church which was due to start the week the pandemic hit. Rather than meeting at the church which was now out of the question, or cancelling altogether and returning the funds collected, I proposed a Zoom class. All but 1 person participated. They were “all in!” And it went smoothly once I helped anyone new to webinars get accustomed to the right buttons to push. I was happy, the participants were happy and, of course, the church was happy!
I happen to be involved with several genealogical societies. Not one meeting has had to be cancelled including the Board and Delegate meetings for NERGC 2021, the biennial conference of the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium. It was planned to be held at the MassMutual Conference Center in Springfield, MA where it was held quite successfully in 2017
MassMutual Center, Springfield, MA
The actual conference next April is another story, however, as we work out what direction we will go in. We may go totally virtual for 2021 and then hopefully be back to normal in 2023. Or postpone 2021 into 2022. Either way, we’ll come up with a solution that will work for conference attendees, speakers and vendors.
Virtual meetings are not foreign to me at all. My first remote speaker was Pat Richley-Erickson a/k/a Dear Myrtle, your Friend in Genealogy. It was in 2014 and I was a nervous wreck! Pat had been doing webinars weekly which is how I became familiar with how it all works. Thanks to her support and the support of “Cousin Russ,” the event was a resounding success. When the speaker allowed us to record the presentations, we put the recording behind the members only paywall. All speakers appreciate that and only a few will ask us to leave it up for a limited period of time. I understand that especially with a topic that is dynamic and the substance can change as time goes on. DNA is a great example.
Below is the title slide from a presentation by Melissa Barker, a genealogist and the Archivist for the Houston County Tennessee Archives.
Melissa Barker, Genealogist, Archivist for the Houston County, Tennessee Archives
She presented her Power Point and supplied a handout. She was at her office in Tennessee and we were at our meeting room in Agawam, MA. This was just one of the dozens of recorded presentations I’ve been involved in.
With all the colleagues with whom I communicate, I believe most are soldiering along as much if not more than usual. There’s no libraries or archives or court houses to visit. Just about the only source in the short term for any kind of research other than emailing document requests is the internet. This is when I’m grateful for the enormous list of websites that are currently available for research, the Facebook pages that are a well kept secret for genealogists, the webinars that have always been available with many that had a cost attached to them are now free, genealogical societies that have adapted to virtual presentations are all resources that we are collectively taking advantage of.
Speaking of Facebook, I always ask the attendees at any of my classes to raise their hand if they’re an active user of Facebook. Mostly, I get surprised looks with about 25% of the class raising their hands. Sometimes I’ll ask them to guess how many of those pages are genealogically oriented. I usually get “hundreds” and sometimes “…maybe a thousand?” I want to mention Katherine R. Willson, a professional genealogist from Michigan, and her incredibly comprehensive list of genealogy related Facebook pages. You can access her website Social Media Genealogy here: https://socialmediagenealogy.com/genealogy-on-facebook-list/. There you can download a 419 page PDF file with links to over 16,000 Facebook pages! I don’t advise printing it! But getting that document on your computer or tablet or into your GoogleDrive account or other cloud storage that you are using will be a great tool for you to use. Imagine, 16,000 Facebook pages!
Our collective situation is certainly a life changer. But we can fall back on all the plagues and pandemics that have caused massive upheaval around the world. The Black Plague, Spanish Influenza, Covid-19 along with many more. The bad news is that they were all profoundly disruptive and caused tens of thousands of premature deaths of the young as well as the old. The good news is simple: humanity survived.
Standard DNA test kit from 23andME. Also available is the basic test plus health for additional cost.http://www.23andme.com
Debra knew from a very early age that she was adopted. Her mother and father provided an incredibly loving environment where she could grow and thrive. And that’s exactly what she did! While it may sound unusual, when she was 3 years old her Mom sat her down and gently explained that some mothers were not able to provide for their children and for many reasons, those children were adopted by families who had the means and the love to help those children grow up. For this reason and as young as she was, she grasped the concept and simply went on with her life.
Debra’s birth was a bit premature. As a result, she was kept at the hospital for several days to ensure that she was healthy enough to go home. But where was home? Her birth mother was either not allowed or was incapable of caring for her. That’s the short story of how Debra came about being adopted by parents who were very much in a position to raise a child in a healthy, happy home.
Even with the knowledge that she had been adopted, she was loved by her Mom and Dad, she was healthy, happy and she had dreams for her future.
About ten years after her adoption, Debra’s parents decided to adopt another child. This time the circumstances couldn’t be any different. When they brought the new sister home, it was a tragic reality that Lisa had been the victim of a hostile environment. Lisa was covered with bruises, stitches and scars. Her “new” parents were very successful in again providing the same loving care they had been providing for Debra. After a brief period of adjustment, Debra became very close with her new sister, Lisa Marie.
Debra’s life was as ideal as she could have hoped for. Soon, she fell in love, married and had her own house full of children. She never dwelled on her own adoption issue. She was loved, secure, and looking forward to raising her family in an environment such as the one in which she grew up. As her children got older, she was able to discuss her history. With the knowledge that their Mom had been adopted, their curiosity got the best of them. The older kids insisted on knowing more… And more… And they wanted to know soon!
Although I had known Debra and her family for many years, I was unaware of the fact that she was adopted. It was never an issue for her to discuss it with anyone other than her family and even at that, there wasn’t much discussion until the older kids began to get her to wonder about her birth parents. She will readily tell you that the search for her birth story would never distract her from the parents who raised her. But the curiosity began to creep in. As a result, she learned about a class I was conducting at a local library that was designed to teach the basics of DNA, the various tests available, how each of those tests can be used and the companies who administer them. As an enticement, I offered to “raffle off” a DNA test to one of the participants after the session.
A graphic of the DNA double helix.
Frankly, I was surprised but pleased at the same time to see Debra walk through the door! We went through the presentation in a little over an hour. The attendees asked many great questions and I believe we all learned a lot. After the Q&A session, it was time for the raffle. I’ll give you a couple of seconds to guess who won! Debra took the test home, submitted her sample and as everyone who has tested can tell you, waited the 5 or 6 weeks it took for processing. Results in hand, the hunt began!
The good news is that she was uncommonly successful. Her first “hit” led her to a biological uncle who is a brother to her biological father. Uncle Jack was more than just pleased to hear from her. I suspect that Jack was aware that he had a niece out there somewhere and that niece turned out to be Debra. He was more than happy to help. He led her to her full biological brother named Brian who lived just a few towns away, close enough to possibly visit from time to time.
It’s worth noting that adopted children who choose to seek out their biological families can run into a myriad of problems. The parents they are looking for may have split up long ago and gone their separate ways or possibly even died; the siblings, if there are any, may live too far away to be able to develop any meaningful relationship or they simply are untraceable; contacting anyone may be a negative experience for the individuals being contacted; and, in many cases, you simply can’t find anyone in the bio family and frustration ensues.
Fast forward to Brian. He was thrilled to finally hear from the woman who turns out to be his full biological sister who he never had the opportunity to meet much less have any type of relationship with. The good news, no…the great news, is that Debra and Brian have not only met, but have formed a meaningful bond with one another. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that they are not only somewhat similar in appearance but share many common interests. The outdoor life appeals to both: fishing, hiking, spending a great deal of time outdoors. Since they live fairly close to one another, they meet often and spend a great deal of time together.
But wait, there’s more. Her bio father left New England for the west coast. To date, Debra has been able to locate 4 half-siblings. One of them, Charles, has been very open to establishing some type of relationship in spite of the fact that he lives out west. Fortunately for Debra, she has been able to travel out there and meet him and talk about their individual experiences. Two of three other half-sisters, however, were less than enthusiastic about staying in touch with her. Regardless, Debra was very excited to make the progress she had made to put together the pieces of a life she never knew.
Nuclear DNA known as autosomal DNA or atDNA. The 23rd chromosome is the sex chromosome. It can be XX (female) or XY (male). Moms always contribute an “X” while Dads can contirbute either an “X” or a “Y”.
Keep in mind that adoption notwithstanding, nothing diminishes in any way the relationship she has enjoyed her entire life with her parents who did the right thing in so many ways. And Lisa, the sister who Debra grew up with, has been a source of support in Debra’s efforts to discover her “other life” but has so far not expressed any interest in following the same path Debra has followed.
One final chapter to this story. Debra’s biological father has a sister who lives nearby. She is Debra’s aunt. The aunt has a daughter, a full first cousin of hers who also lives nearby. Debra’s daughter recently moved in to a new house. Debra’s cousin is her daughter’s new next door neighbor! They have all had the chance to meet and spend time together.
The conclusion is a simple one: When and only when you’re ready to go out to make these discoveries, it’s well worth the journey in most cases. No one could be happier than Debra! And I am proud to say that I was a part of this great story.
Dave Robison
All the names in this blog have been changed to insure privacy.
It doesn’t happen very often when I get a chance to brag. The upside is that a local TV station, Western Mass News Channel 40, came into one of my classes at the West Springfield, Mass Senior Center and took some shots of one of the session I was giving there. Actually, I don’t even think it was 15 seconds! OK, my 12.5 seconds of fame!!
RootsTech is the largest genealogical conference in the world. In 2017, more than 30,000 genealogists of all stripes attended what has been described as a phenomenal event. Their website describes the event: “RootsTech is a global family history event where people of all ages learn to discover, share and celebrate their family connections across generations through technology. At RootsTech, there is something for everyone, no matter your experience in family history or your skill level in technology.”
But, of course, most of us missed it for a variety of reasons. Well, there’s good news!
RootsTech has put up most of the presentations that anyone can view. BUT!! It’s only for a limited time. I’ve searched around the site and there’s no indication as to how they define “limited time” so my advice is to check out the website and view what you can while you can. You won’t regret it as the conference was chock full of presentations by the best in the business. As far as subjects are concerned…best to check out the website!
Click here RootTech to access the home page and read about the conference itself and plans for RootsTech 2018 and RootsTech 2019 in the FAQ’s section accessible from the menu in the upper right-hand corner. Or just click here: Frequently Asked Questions.
And since we’re talking about genealogy conferences, don’t forget about NERGC 2017 being held this year in Springfield, Massachusett from 26 April to 29 2017. Wednesday the 26th is “Library and Teacher’s Day with a track on Technology. Thursday through Saturday is the main event with 130 presentations, workshops, lunches and banquets. NERGC takes place in venues around New England on the odd numbered years. Organized by the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium, the event is quite a bit smaller than RootsTech with a usual attendance of approximately 1,000. However, with 70 speakers, there is no shortage of quality presenters and with 130 presentations, no shortage of subjects covered.
Interested? Early bird registration ends on 28 February 2017!
One of the many people I’ve met while mentoring researchers at the Chicopee Library’s Genealogy Department is a 76 year old woman who has never married but has an adopted daughter. Taking on a 10 year old daughter while single is in and of itself a large challenge. But that’s just the surface of the story which I plan to write about over the next few weeks. About 35 years ago, this woman flew to El Salvador by herself to finalize the adoption and take her daughter home. Now, the daughter is interested in a DNA test to determine if any siblings or other family members got out safely. For historical perspective, just a few weeks after they came back to the States, several Catholic nuns were murdered and left by the roadside. Not a fun place to be. So the story will take a while to cover as she won’t be sending in her sample for a couple more weeks and then she’ll have to wait for results.
I mentioned to her that AncestryDNA might be the best place to start. This is not a case of research first then use DNA to verify the paperwork. This is starting from dead ZERO. We have no information to go by. Anything she can find will be a blessing to her. Hopefully, she’ll order this evening from www.dna.ancestry.com. I hope there’s a sale going on!
It was Friday evening about 8:30 pm. Karen and I pulled into my sister’s driveway in Cortland, New York. She greeted us warmly with hugs and kisses, but I kept looking over her shoulder to get a look at the woman I came here to see. Apparently having nodded off after her long flight from Alabama, Aunt Cissy looked perfectly comfortable but not so much that I wasn’t willing to go over and wake her up!
By this time, my brother-in-law, Ray, had come out of the house to watch the big event. Karen and I walked slowly toward Aunt Cissy followed by Diane and Ray as he came down the steps to the back yard. Aunt Cissy wasn’t really sleeping. She was hoping to give me a bit of a scare. It worked! She leaped up in a big “Surprise!” moment…
Diane Robison Lillie – Cissy Robison Hunter – Dave Robison
When I finally got my arms around her, I said to everyone that I felt as though I was hugging Aunt Cissy, my grandfather Cecil Lee Robison, his parents Erskin and Linnie Otto Peace Robison, their parents Samuel and Mary Hardin Robison, their parents Green Coleman and Eliza Ann Francis Rochelle Robinson and lastly, Green’s parents, Hezekiah and Tabitha Grantham Robinson. Hezekiah’s father might have been Jonathan Robertson a mid-1700’s Scots-Irish immigrant. But that, so far, has yet to be proven. What a crew!
My aunt is the daughter of my paternal grandfather and his second wife. That means she is my half-aunt. But that’s just a technicality. To Diane and me, she is a full-fledged aunt!
Cissy was no disappointment! She came loaded with stories, photographs and documents along with her excitement and genuine happiness over finally getting to meet Diane and me. She also brought 2 crocheted Christmas decorations, hand-made 5 X 12 wall hangings that have the word “NOEL” set crocheted into them.
Onto to Cissy’s story, blended with what I know based on the few stories I heard as a child or more recent genealogical research.
Cissy knew my father, Henry Dunn, but he was at least 15 years her senior. By the time she was born, Henry was living back in Evergreen with his mother, Mary Virginia, and his overbearing grandmother, Gilma Robertson Dunn. Gilma was widowed in 1918 when her highly successful businessman husband, Henry Wright Dunn, was driving out of town and heading up the hill on his way to pick up a nurse he had hired to work in his household. His car stalled on the hill and he rolled backwards and into the oncoming L&N train heading through town. He died 2 days later and his gravestone is marked, “Death Loves a Shining Star.” He had been a Ford and Buick dealer (a mega dealer in the early 20th century!), a hardware dealer and the owner of extensive rental properties in and around Evergreen. These stories I had learned through my own research, trips to Alabama, newspaper articles, cemetery visits, vital records and other family records that were made available to me. Henry Dunn had traveled up to Anniston from time to time to visit his father and step-mother. The visits were very short and long on antipathy.
Gilma Robertson Dunn (1873-1954)
Back in Evergreen, Gilma had long ago managed to have my father’s birth records destroyed as she was no fan of the man her daughter had married and it seemed as though she didn’t want Cecil’s name to be associated with her grandson, Henry Dunn. Perhaps she was hoping to marry off her daughter to another man and have that man adopt Henry. Whatever the motivation, this turned out to have been a convenient decision on her part for her own nefarious purposes. Not only was Henry Dunn sent from one aunt and uncle to another, he was sent off to a boarding school in Mississippi, back to his father in Anniston and wherever else they could put him. Amazingly, the 1930 US Population Schedule shows 5-year-old
Henry’s parents, Cecil Lee and Mary Virginia, living on one side of town while Henry was in the household of 3 single African-American domestics on the other side of town. Fast forward to December 7th 1941. My grandparents were divorced with Cecil remarried and Mary living in Evergreen either alone or with my father whenever that was convenient for the family. But what were they to do with 15-year-old Henry? To Gilma, that was easy. She had a son who was a Lieutenant Commander in the Army Air Corps. Gilma had the connections to obtain an affidavit claiming the Henry was 2 years older than he really was. Voila, “17-year-old” Henry Dunn Robison joined the US Navy, enlisting in early January of 1942, 4 weeks after the Japanese attack.
Aunt Cissy knew my father. She was frightened by him given his age and height. He was over 6 feet tall, even as a teenager. He was also a much different person than Cissy’s 4 brothers. The dynamic in that household was far different than anything that my father ever experienced. So I can only imagine how “pleasant” Henry Dunn’s infrequent visits to his father and step-mother would have been.
My grandfather, Cecil Lee Robison, and his 7 siblings. Cecil Lee is in the upper right hand corner.
Henry Dunn’s father, Cecil Lee Robison, was also a tall man. He was a successful businessman in Evergreen working as an accountant and had been a deacon of his church. In other words, a well-respected citizen of his community. However, his home life was less than the typical 1940’s or 1950’s home life. His relationship with his family was not particularly warm and cozy. However, he was a loyal and faithful father and husband who, along with Hilda Mae, his wife, raised 5 children who were respected in their own right: a mayor, a teacher, a State Fire Marshall,
an independent business owner, an early DNA researcher… All quite successful.
There are quite a few more details I’d like to share. I’m sure you’ll want to hear about Uncle Michael, the early 1960’s DNA researcher at Duke University.
So as much as I’ve tried to put this whole amazing story into 2 parts, I’ve got to stretch it out with at least one more installment and maybe two.
Here are a couple of links to research opportunities. The first is an article I found in the Huffington Post and the other is an announcement by Fold3,
This was my post to the Western Massachusetts Genealogical Societies (WMGS) Google Community:
By the way, WMGS is centered on Western Massachusetts. But there are many who have ties to the area and choose to become a member. There are members in California, Maryland, Texas and many other states. Click here to access a membership application.
We are even working on perfecting remote broadcasts whereby the membership can sit at home, wherever they live, and participate in real time. Generally, we have a remote broadcast meeting (Google Hangouts) on odd numbered months and live appearances on even months. Our members have been able to participate and interact with nationally known genealogists.
The Chicopee Public Library at 449 Front Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts has been designated a Family History Center by the
Family History Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS). These are the folks who bring us billions of genealogical records to research at their website Family Search and they do it for free!
On Thursday, 19 November 2015, representatives from LDS will be presenting the library with a very generous check to support the genealogical activities there. For example, along with 5 or 6 other genealogists, I’ve been volunteering to assist library patrons with their own family research. In addition, the library sponsors a variety of genealogy research classes, lectures and presentations. I’ve been invited to participate in the presentation ceremony.
Keep an eye on my schedule of activities at Old Bones Genealogy of New England and click the “Workshops/Classes” tab. You might also take a look at “Useful Documents” where I post dozens and dozens of genealogy documents, charts, spreadsheets, lists of genealogically oriented Facebook pages and a list of good websites to take a look at.
Here’s a quick post regarding Loretta Gillespie’s blog, this time about Ancestry.com.
Are you a subscriber? I have been a “faithful” customer for over 10 years. Lately, they’re a little more difficult to keep track of. For example, their newest membership packages are a little confusing. We discussed it today on a Google Hangout (which all of you can participate in) called “Mondays with Myrt.” Click this link to Loretta Gillespie’s blog, “Barking Up the Wrong Tree.” It’s worth a look.
This was a large part of the discussion today on Monday’s with Myrt. If you’re interested, it’s a great place to listen to all things genealogical. Check out http://bit.ly/MyrtsNext. That link will take you to DearMYRT’s Google Community. All are invited to join the Hangout every Monday at noon eastern, 11 AM Central and 10 AM Mountain time. I’m on the “panel” nearly every week, but an unlimited number of people can watch through her Community page.
It doesn’t happen very often when I get a chance to brag. The upside is that a local TV station, Western Mass News Channel 40, came into one of my classes at the West Springfield, Mass Senior Center and took some shots of one of the session I was giving there. Actually, I don’t even think it was 15 seconds! OK, my 12.5 seconds of fame!!
But, of course, most of us missed it for a variety of reasons. Well, there’s good news!
