I am at the proverbial brick wall with my ancestor Saunders Haines. Saunders could be short for Alexander and Haines was later spelled Haynes.The earliest I can find him is in 1775 in Catskill, Ulster County, NY, where he (under name of Alexander) and Christina Halenbeck were married. I know he was in the Revolutionary War, that he had at least 5 children, and that in the Census of 1790, he was in New Paltz, New York. He moved to Rensselaerville, Albany County, where he died in 1813.How can I locate his place of birth and that of his parents, as well as their names?

Answer:

What this question describes is commonly referred to as a “brick wall,” however, the circumstances described should not fall into that category because there are likely many records from that time period that could be searched for further information. In a sense, using the term “brick wall” is self defeating. The answer to this type of question, is usually to suggest additional places to look for more information.

It is difficult to give specific suggestions in this particular situation without much more information from the researcher, but there are several evident places to look.

The researcher indicates that “I know he was in the Revolutionary War” but we do not have any details as to how that information was known or obtained. The first place for further research that comes immediately to mind are the Revolutionary War Pension Files and Service Records. There are several of these large databases in the FamilySearch Historical Record Collections. Try searching for Revolutionary War Records.

The researcher mentions two different counties. Checking the Newberry Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, I find that both Ulster and Albany counties were created in 1683 from non-county areas. But Ulster County in 1775 was further divided into several other counties but by 1813 both Ulster and Albany counties had their present modern boundaries. But Catskill is presently in Greene County and you would have to determine where the older records were located. The two towns, Catskill and Rensselaerville are only about 30 miles apart. New Platz is in present-day Ulster County. So each of those counties may have records on this ancestor and his family.

I suggest checking the FamilySearch Research Wiki for alternative sources for birth records. See United States Birth Records. I also suggest looking for county histories of the three counties involved and also checking for newspapers. See the Library of Congress Newspapers Project. A check with the Library of Congress for the newspapers published in Albany County shows 385 different newspapers published in that county. Many of those will be out of the time frame of the search, but you should always presume the information is there.

My great grandfather on my mother’s side came over from Denmark in 1906 so my research quickly requires someone that speaks and reads a different language, as well as knows the system for vital records for a different country.How do you connect with someone who can do all that? I tried through Ancestry.com and also local universities thinking they might have a Danish language department that can point me to someone but finding someone who is fluent in Danish, let alone also knows the Danish vital records system, seems impossible.

Answer:

Finding a specific professional genealogist may seem difficult, but there are a number of qualified people out there, but as you note, the trick is how to find them. We can suggest a number of different ways to find you Danish professional.

First, I would recommend the Association of Professional Genealogists or APG. You can search their website for genealogists who specialize in Danish research. In a recent search, I found over twenty professional genealogists who were doing Danish research. You might also want to contact Progenealogists.com, this company is owned by Ancestry.com, but has the resources to provide Danish genealogical research.

I might also suggest the article, Hiring a Professional Genealogist Resource Guide in the FamilySearch Research Wiki for more general information.

I might also suggest that you use the FamilySearch Research Wiki to learn about doing Danish research yourself. You might start with the article Danish Research: Getting Started.

As for the translation problems, you might want to try using Google Translate. You can use this free program to translate individual words or whole webpages.

What were the suffrage requirements in 1796 Maryland?

Answer:

This question really involves the more general topic of voter registration lists. Commonly, in most jurisdictions where voting was possible and where registration was required, historic voter registration lists may still be available. Unfortunately, many of these records have yet to make their way online and you may have to search for them in state and local archives as well as historical societies.

One good source for records is the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. You can search the Family History Library Catalog (now called the FamilySearch Library Catalog) online at FamilySearch.org. You will have to click on the “Search” link to see the link to the Catalog. A search by the word “vote” resulted in finding 2,120 different documents. You can also search by location; state, county, city and find records that are specific to your geographic area of interest. Look for the category of Voter Registers. You can also search for voter registration records in other large online databases such as Ancestry.com.

To specifically answer the question above, Maryland did not have universal, free white, male suffrage until 1801. Even in the law passed in 1801, suffrage was limited with a residency requirement of twelve months in the state and six months in the county. For detailed information, see:

Pole, J.R., “Suffrage and Representation in Maryland from 1776 to 1810: A Statistical Note and Some Reflections,” The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 24, No. 2 (May, 1958), pp. 218-225.

Previous to the 1801 law, the qualification for voting in assembly elections was the ownership of a fifty-acre freehold. or of thirty pounds of current money. See Barker, Charles A. The Background of the Revolution in Maryland. [Hamden, Conn.]: Archon Books, 1967, as cited above in Pole.

Let me introduce you to a relatively new book about the Dutch settlers in New York:

Dutch New York:  The Roots of the Hudson Valley Culture. Edited by Roger Panetta.  2009.  Prepared to accompany an exhibition at the Hudson River Museum with the support of Westchester County and Fordham University Press.

This very interesting volume is a series of 13 chapters on varying aspects of the culture through the Hudson Valley from influences of slavery, commerce, Indian villages, architecture, the romantic tradition in literature, historical documents and artifacts, family traditions, and even Santa Claus.

Dutch influences in America:

1. Practical tolerance that allowed immigrant peoples of differing backgrounds to live together without persecution or war.  New York became the immigrant capital of America.
2. Free trade permitting small colonies, of limited exposure in world markets, to experience an explosive prosperity in a short time.  New York is almost synonymous with American marketplace.
3. America’s view of itself includes the entrepreneurial, independent, tolerant, immigrant-driven society that had its beginnings in New York.

The book is richly illustrated with paintings and historical views from the exhibition.  And each essay is based upon copious footnotes–which, as you know, is of great interest to me.  These notes identify in considerable detail the sources from which each author draws conclusions.  Footnotes also allow each author to share specific differences among the sources and why the differences are significant.

When I begin to study a book, I look for its source background.  What original records has the author found, that have not been used to document a family tree?  I make notes on individual calendar sheets for those sources, so I can look them up.

Does the Family History Library have them in their collection? If not, can I find the references on the internet–at Google Books or similar sites?

Does the University of Utah have the references in their catalog?  This university library is one of the largest in the United States and has ample parking for former students.  They also participate in a statewide book delivery system enabling me to draw on the resources of other university and college libraries in Utah.

Recall that I am interested in finding the original sources, not just studies based upon those records.  Original sources that could provide the very answers about hard-to-find ancestors that my clients have hired me to find.  Many primary sources for the background of American genealogies have been printed in scholarly editions or issued under the auspices of national governments.

Original sources that can demonstrate why the ancestors appear in some records and do not appear in others.  Sources that can link ancestors from one place to another and from one family to another.

This book is a beginning for Dutch ancestors coming first to New York, and from there spilling into New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania and through the southern counties of Pennsylvania which became Delaware and out west into Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.  I have even discovered some that traveled into Tennessee and Kentucky.

Good hunting!

Question:

I have a relative who was born in Alabama in 1868 and died in Texas in 1927. I have always been told she was Comanche Indian, the two census records that I have located her on do not state that she is Native American. I can’t find any death certificate for her, I do have a location for her burial. I am wanting to know how do I go about proving Native American lineage or disproving it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you for your time.

Answer:

In time period and places mentioned in the question, there is really not much difference between doing research for Native American ancestors than there is for any other people living in the United States. However, the mention of the “Comanche” tribe is problematical. The Comanche are plains Indians whose historic territory included the areas now in eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma and most of northwest Texas. The federally recognized Comanche Nation is headquartered in Lawton, Oklahoma. If the ancestor was born in Alabama in 1868, there would be an immediate question as to how a Comanche Indian came to live in Alabama in that time period, immediately following the U.S. Civil War?

If you look at the FamilySearch Research Wiki article for Indians of Alabama, you can see a number of tribes listed, none of which are Comanches. Four of the tribes are included in the designation as the Five Civilized Tribes, were native to area included in Alabama; the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek. Note that all four of these tribal names start with the letter “C.”

I would suggest doing some basic research about your ancestor and her family and children. You could start by contacting the cemetery where she was buried to see if they have any records about the burial and/or the family. You could also start with Texas Deaths and Burials, 1903 -1973 and the Texas Death Index, 1903-2000 available for free on the FamilySearch.org website. You should begin concentrating on marriage, church and school records to see if there is any mention of her ethnic background. The issue of Indian heritage may resolve itself as you gather more detailed information about her life and that of her children. You may still be able to find someone living today who knew her personally.

How do I find an obituary of a person who died in 1945 in the Ft. Bayard VA Hospital, Grant county, New Mexico?

Answer:

Finding an obituary can be a frustrating experience. It would be simple if all of the obituaries were collected in one place and available online, but that is far from the current situation. Putting obituaries online is a relatively recent activity and very few online collections go back further than the 1970s. However, the newspapers containing the obituaries are being digitized and becoming available online in huge collections. Unfortunately, many of the larger collections of online newspapers are available only on subscription websites.

The first step in this process is to see what newspapers were published in the area at the time of the ancestor’s death. This can be done easily on the Library of Congress, Historical Newspapers website. By clicking on the link to Historic Newspapers, you can do a free search of over 6 million digitized pages of newspapers around the country or use the US Newspaper Directory, 1690 – Present to find specific newspapers in the county where the person died. The better practice is to search all of the newspapers in existence in the county at the time of the death.

A search in the US Newspaper Directory shows that in there were 33 newspapers published in Grant County, New Mexico and three of them were being published during the 1942 time period. From the list of newspapers found for the County, you click on the name of the relevant newspapers to find detailed information about when and where each newspaper was published. The Directory also gives detailed information about exactly where copies of the newspaper can be located.

If you find a newspaper that may have had an obituary of your relative, you can either contact the repositories where copies of the newspaper are kept to see if they can search the archives and provide a copy or you can also go to the online collections and search for copies. Make sure you search to see whether or not your state or county or the state or county of your deceased ancestor, has an online digitized newspaper project.

Some of the larger online newspaper collections are available for free at FamilySearch centers around the world and a local libraries. Here are some of the larger collections of U.S. newspapers in addition to the Library of Congress:

• NewsBank.com $ or free at libraries, there is also a companion website called GenealogyBank.com.
• NewspaperArchive.com $ also available for free in the FamilySearch Centers.

You can also see a list of online newspaper archives on Wikipedia:List of online newspaper archives.

You may also wish to review the offerings in Family History Expos’ Online Catalog. For example, the 2103 St. George, Utah Family History Expo’s syllabus is still online for sale and has excellent articles on using newspapers.

Trying to connect with family members who are still presumed living? Have a genealogical service or product to buy or sell? Did you know that you can advertise your genealogically related service or product with a Family History Expos Classified Ad?

Family History Expos can assist you by placing your ad in our classifieds. Ads will also be distributed to each attendee at our upcoming Family History Expos in the Expos schedule, and posted on the Family History Expos website for the whole world to see. Ads will run for three months from the date they are posted.

Have your ad read by all attendees at our Family History Expo and others around the world!
Just imagine, the most dedicated researchers in the geographic area of your ancestors reading your classified ad! Expo attendees are coming from throughout the United States and Canada, get listed today!

Click here for the cost and to place an ad.

Setting realistic research goals or objectives for a trip to a repository such as the FamilySearch Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, involves more than just looking at your data file and picking a person to research. The preparation involves an assessment of the types of information you need and matching those needs with the records that may be available at the Family History Library. For example, it is disappointing and inefficient to choose to investigate military records only to find out that the records you need are in the National Archives and not in the Family History Library.

First Step: Examine your data to see what is needed

It is tempting to choose to investigate ancestors based on “holes” or missing ancestors in a pedigree chart or fan chart and automatically assuming that a lack of information identifying that ancestor is something you want and can research during your trip to the Family History Library. But, choosing to do this violates the very first rule of genealogical research: search from the known to the unknown and look at recent generations before earlier generations. I have found that nearly all efforts to find an unknown ancestor (missing ancestor in the pedigree) are unsuccessful unless there is adequate research about the generations of that ancestor’s descendants who are closer in time.

Always look for the families that would be the easiest to research first. You will eventually get to the more difficult questions, but since you time in the research facility is limited you will want to gather those sources that are likely and possibly found and not spend your entire time looking for records or sources that you do not find within the time you have to do your research. Don’t skip back to a remote ancestor, assuming that you know when and where the person was born or lived. By skipping a generation or more, you have no assurance that the person you are researching is the correct one and related to you.

Look at the amount of information and documentation with source references that you have for a family and then work from that point. You may wonder why you have to document your own parents, but there is always a possibility that you do not know the entire story.

Second Step: Work on one family at a time

Be sure to work on an entire family group at one time. Not only is this more efficient, but it also is more likely to produce valuable information. This is especially true when you have reached an ancestor with an extremely common name. In this case, you have to rely on other family members who have less common names or on the entire pattern of names in the family. Relationships in the family group can provide valuable clues to the identity of more remote family members. Looking at the family in context, as a family, helps to reveal inconsistencies in our data and to add correlative and corroborative information. Sometimes, you can only establish parentage by identifying all of the children in the family. It may also be useful to research clusters of families that lived near to each other before moving on to the next generation. If you are interested in identifying a more remote ancestor, then start with a family that already has adequate documentation and work backward, documenting every step of the way.

Third Step: Stay focused on one event at a time until you find at least one source

Once you have selected a family to research, you can more easily choose which of the individuals you will research. You can skip around among the family members or even very close relatives, but if you start to jump between families and especially between generations you may find yourself lost and forget your original research objectives. Documents that are more easily obtained will lead to clues for finding other more difficult documents.

As you accumulate information about a specific family, then compare all the events on all family group records. Notice which events have the most documentation and any that have little or no documentation. You may wish to check on your already cited sources to verify your own records and make sure they were recorded correctly. Of course, if you are relying on information you did not research, you may wish to be more particular about checking the sources. Then one event in a person’s life at a time, add additional sources to any poorly sourced event. You should be able to identify the particular person and the event in his or her life you want to research for additional sources.

Fourth Step: Set a goal to obtain complete genealogical information for the selected ancestral family and each family member

Having complete information fully identifies any individual and identifies him or her in the correct family. It is common for children to be out of order, identified with the wrong mother or father, especially when there has been more than one marriage, and listed with dates that do not fit in the family structure.

Fifth Step: Review your progress

As you go through this process, you may get fatigued looking for one single family. Depending on the time you plan to spend in the repository, it is a good idea to have a backup of two or more families to use for additional research goals.

Good luck with your next research trip!

The recent additions for sale in the catalog under Books & Charts, include the following:

This is a complete list of commissioned officers of the U.S. from the organization of the Army, September 29, 1789, to the year of the list’s original publication in 1903, giving the officers’ full names and showing their services as cadets and all services as officers or enlisted men, either in the regular or volunteer service. The heart of the work, Part II, an alphabetical listing of the officers, runs to some 20,000 entries. Each entry contains a brief paragraph on the officer giving his state or country where born, state from which originally appointed, date of induction, rank, date of discharge, promotions, medals, battles participated in, and, in about a fifth of the entries, date of death after leaving the Army. This monumental book is actually a lot more than a listing of the officer corps, as crucial as that is. Rather, it is a handbook on the men, events, and terminology of American military life during the years of its coverage.

This Official Records Index assists you in accessing details in quite possibly the most revolutionary – and popular – Civil War research tool currently on the market, The Official Records of the American Civil War (O.R.) all 128 volumes.

No serious study of the American Civil War is complete without consulting the Official Records, generally known as the ‘OR’ officially titled, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. These records are compiled in 127 volumes and a general index. The 128 volumes provide the most comprehensive, authoritative, and voluminous reference on Civil War operations. The reports in the Official Records are those of the principle leaders.

This CD contains the full text – over 100,000 pages in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format.

To see these and many other items for sale in the catalog, click here.