Freedman's Bureau Bank Records

Ancestry.com released the Freedman’s Bureau Bank Records. Basically, after the Civil War ended and all the slaves were freed, they were able to open accounts at the Freedman’s Bureau bank. Not only did they give their names, but other detailed information. For example, I found out my great-great-great grandfather Moses C. had a wife that died in 1869. Plus, I found out the names of his parents, Tom and Phyllis. I may not get any more information before the abolishment of slavery, but I did trace the family back pretty far. His son, Abram/Abraham (the brother of my great-great grandmother Fannie) opened a bank account a year after Moses. This is some good stuff for those who are stuck with tracing their ancestors because of slavery.

Getting Married

I'm getting married next week! Also, I've been busy preparing for my baby girl that should be coming in November. This is a pretty exciting time in my life. It also helps me reflect about my family and its legacy. Here I am, creating branches to an intricate tree. Hoepfully I can find out more about my family so my baby girl can know where she came from at an early age.

Anecdote

My fiancé’s grandfather, E.A., was a businessman in Alabama. He also traveled up north in the 1930s or so to the Chicago area. E.A. married and divorced two women up there, and had a girl with the first wife and a boy with the second wife. He died a wealthy man in the south before my fiancé was born, and the daughter, much older than her younger brother, was the executor of his estate. She usurped all of the estate when my fiancé’s father died a few years later, leaving my fiancé and his brother with no legacy of their grandfather.

His Family

My fiancé wanted me to help him search for his family history. His parents separated when he was a baby and he didn’t know much about his father’s side. His mother’s side was sketchy as well. So, I searched for his father’s side, as they had an unusual last name.

The main information I had to go on was a probate case letter my fiancé had. He was supposed to go down to Alabama to contest the local gas company’s seizure of family land (per imminent domain), but he was a minor and his mother did not pursue the matter further. I searched the probate case on the county’s court website, and they had the judgment online. The judgment was in favor of the gas company; however, the real value was that I had the names of everyone who had claim to the land. This included my fiancé’s father and grandfather.

I found my fiancé’s father and grandfather on the social security death index (SSDI), and I will soon be sending out for their applications. However, finding his grandfather on the old census was a little troublesome. See, his name was E.A. on the SSDI, but the only person that I could find in the census with the same birth year was R.A., which was the same name of my fiancé’s father. Plus, R.A. was living with relatives and not with his immediate family. However, after hours of tracing, I determined that R.A. was probably E.A., and I could ascertain that W.A. was his father, since he was listed as W.A.’s son in the following census. I still have to verify this with my fiancé’s family members in Alabama, if we can ever get a hold of them.

Now, going further gets tricky. I can’t find W.A. or his parents before 1900 (he was born in the tricky 1880s). In addition, the mulatto/black A.’s that lived in the area in the early 1900s were suddenly white in the 1800s. So, although I can trace the A’s all the way to the 1820s or so, I can’t directly trace my fiancé to those early A.’s. Once again, I would need to confer with his family to see what the deal was.

My fiancé was pretty excited about the information I found. His mom’s side is a little trickier, as I said, but if I put a little more time into it later, I can probably dig up some stuff on her side.

One Great Family

I did the trial for onegreatfamily.com. The search engine is lovely! I can search across different databases and sites. Albeit, you have to be a subscriber to some sites in order to view the full information, but just having the option is exciting! The service also searches for you on other family trees while you’re offline. I didn’t get any hits during my trial, but I thought that was a nice feature as well. Other features include family statistics (i.e. top death countries, migration), and it notifies you of missing information and how many people you need to add to have a good search. I didn’t subscribe because I didn’t get enough new information to justify the additional cost, but if you’re just starting out, this service does provide a wealth of information at your fingertips.

Family Tree Software

My brother gave me Family Tree Maker last summer. What a great gift! As my research expands and my family tree gets bigger, the software will help a lot! Plus, I can put my notes all in one place, as far as discrepancies with names and dates.

Previously, I used a pedigree chart from genealogy.about.com. It was cool starting out, but was hellish to type as I went along. I also wrote my notes as I go along, but it’s frustrating to find family tree notes on my desk at work, in the closet at home, etc.

I’m still inputting stuff into the software, since I know so much about my family and extended members now. But when I finish, my family tree is going to be great, I tell you!

It's been a while...

I know I’ve been seriously slacking on my blog, but I’ve been extremely busy, plus I found out that I have a little one on the way. So I’ll have a new addition to my family tree. :)

Today I’ll be briefly discussing genealogy.com. It looks pretty cool, although 2 elements of it preclude my subscription to it. One, it links to ancestry.com, which I already have a subscription to. Two, it has family tree maker software, which I already have. But if I had neither subscriptions, then I would definitely subscribe to genealogy.com.

Anecdote

They say that my great-great-grandfather Mr. B. was a mean old man. No one called him by his first name or even by an affectionate name like "Grandpa"--they called him Mr. B. He was very strong too, probably from working on a farm most of his life.

Well, one day Mr. B and 2 of his grandsons (one great uncle and one 2nd cousin) were traveling on a horse pulling a cart. The cart turned over, trapping the 2 young ones underneath while the horse was bucking dangerously. Mr. B. held the horses legs until the 2 young men could escape from under the cart. Mr. B. surely earned his reputation as a strong man!

Draft Card

I found my great-grandfather (grandfather’s father) World War I draft card while searching around again on ancestry.com. I don’t know how I missed it before, but it could be because the birth date my great-grandfather gave on the draft card was 7 years different from what was reported on the 1920 census (the only other record of him).

Speaking of my great-grandfather, I have been having a tough time finding him. The 1920 census says he was born in Tennessee. Even with the new birth date, it’s hard to find a concrete path of where he was before 1920. He has a common first name but unusual last name for an African-American. I found a few instances of a “J.M.” on the previous censuses, but I can only really rule out one family. The other J.M.’s were married in 1900 and 1910 (to different women!) and had other families. However, the women and families disappear in the 1920 census, where I found my great grandfather J.M. with my great-grandmother and grandfather.

He could have possibly been married to these other women. Afterwards, he could have abandoned their families to marry my great-grandmother. This is especially plausible since the family lore is that he eventually left my great-grandmother. However, this story kills the Michigan connection. How did my grandfather end up being born in Michigan? Supposedly, that’s where the M.’s are from. I will have to do more digging to find out the answer.

My Grandfather

I am told that my grandfather was a private man. He was born in Michigan, raised in Tennessee, and came to Ohio as a young adult. What made my grandfather move so much? The story about his youth was that grandfather was in Michigan until his father died when he was 9, so he moved to Tennessee with his mother’s family. I found my grandfather in Tennessee on the 1920 census, when he was just a toddler, but traces of the family is all but gone in 1930.

What secrets do our ancestors hold about their lives? Before talk shows, reality tv, youtube, and even blogs, most people kept their personal lives personal. Our private pains were kept to ourselves, and our past was erased by simply moving to another state.

I only knew my grandfather’s mother’s name because one of my aunts was named after her. I didn’t even know his father’s name until I ordered his social security application. My grandfather was a teenager living in Tennessee at the time of the application. A zip code search by my brother showed people with our last name living in that same zip code. Are these our long lost relatives that my grandfather left behind? For now, I don’t know.

If my grandfather were alive, my inquisitive self would probably ask him some questions about his family. I know in my parents’ time, such questions were deemed inappropriate and rude, but now with genealogy being so important, especially in the African-American community, I could at least know one thing: where is my family?

The Price of Research

There are many ways to research free. I’m a frequent visitor of Genweb and I get plenty of information from family members and local genealogical societies. However, to really dig in, sometimes you have to pay a price. I’ve subscribed to ancestry.com off and on for the past few years. I’ve also spent money sending off for social security applications for deceased family members.

Some people might think that the costs of doing these things are too much, but I think it’s worth it. Especially since the research and transcription that these services provide is worth a lot more than the $20 or so a month I pay for my subscription or for the copies of the records. I also use my purchases wisely by researching as much as I can while I have a subscription.

So, once you get at a point where you need to take your research to the next level, I’d say that you pay to get access to these records.

Welcome

My passion for genealogy started when I was a mere 10 years old. “Queen,” the 1993 movie about Alex Haley’s grandmother, was a miniseries on television. Just like when “Roots” came on in 1997, families, especially African American families, began tracing their family tree more extensively.

My class took a field trip to the Paul Lawrence Dunbar house, where I bought My Family Tree Workbook by Rosemary Chorzempa. I eagerly sat with my parents and asked them questions about their family. My mother’s story took me across the Pacific to Fukuoka, Japan, where her family owns a restaurant. My father’s stories told me of this mother’s side in Cartersville, GA, and a family mystery of his father, who was born in Michigan and raised in Tennessee, but never discussed his family.

When I was around 12, my class had a family tree assignment and we were given the same workbook that I had purchased a couple years earlier. I filled it out with my previous information, plus some new information that my parents remembered. Even with the Internet in its infancy, I didn’t think to look up any more information about my family and I rested on my information until I became and adult.

After going to college, I discovered ancestry.com. I had a trial, which I looked up my grandfather’s name. I found him on the social security death index. Eager to learn more information about him, I sent off for a copy of his social security application. I almost forgot about it until it came in the mail. I happily showed my father, who learned the name of my great-grandfather. We already knew my great-grandmother’s name since one of my aunts was named after her. I interviewed a couple of my aunts and gathered some more information, and sat on this information for a few more years.

In 2005, I subscribed for a year of ancestry.com. I dug deeper into my family tree, and found my grandfather and his parents in Tennessee. I then turned to my grandmother’s side and dug deeper there. Through 2006, I was able to trace that side back to 1870. I compiled my information and created a book that I printed and bound for a few family members by Christmas 2006. I was happy to give my father the book, and it brought up more memories for him.

I expanded my family search on my grandmother’s side to her cousins, but my search died down when my subscription expired in 2007. Unfortunately, my father passed away unexpectedly in July 2007. I was devastated and my life changed a great deal. I moved back home to take care of things and started a new job. However, this year, I’m back on the search again to tie up my family’s legacy. I have also started to help my friends trace their family trees.

I started this blog to take note of my journey of genealogical research, and I hope to help my friends and others who may need help in their family search.