A New Webinar: "The FamilySearch/MyHeritage partnership and its tools for members of the LDS Church" on FamilyTreeWebinars.com

https://familytreewebinars.com/download.php?webinar_id=1301

A partnership between MyHeritage and FamilySearch benefits members of the LDS Church with a free subscription to MyHeritage. Many members fail to benefit from this partnership. One opportunity is to synchronize information between MyHeritage and the FamilySearch Family Tree. This webinar highlights major partnership opportunities for members of the Church. 

This webinar is free from MyHeritage. See https://familytreewebinars.com/archived_webinars_free.php

How to read an old document

Genealogists who are involved in doing their own original research inevitably run into handwritten documents that are difficult to decipher. The difficulty arises from a number of factors:

• the document is written in a language unknown to the researcher
• the creator of the document had poor handwriting skills
• the document is written in a style of handwriting unfamiliar to the researcher
• the condition of the document makes reading the document difficult or even impossible
• all of those problems exist in the same document making reading the document seem impossible

Here is a photo of a document that comes close to being unreadable.

There are several distinct steps to reading a difficult document. The first step is identifying the language and date of the document. Let's look at one page of the document at the start of this post. 

I have circled a few of the places that could cause some problems for someone unfamiliar with this type of handwriting. But we first look at the date, 1779, and the place, the Orphan's Court of Maryland, before we try to read the text. The first part of this particular document is an indenture (creating and indentured servitude) for a 5-year-old orphan who must serve until he is 21. You can click on the image to see if you can read the items that are circled. You might notice that this handwriting is exceptionally good. However, even if you can read the handwriting, you may not be familiar with the legal language and the format of the document. The rest of the documents are indentures for other orphans. 

Let's go back a hundred or so years to the 1600s. Here is a will from Plymouth County, Massachusetts dated 1664.

This is a little bit more of a challenge. Remember, you can click on the images to see a larger version. Here are the steps in learning to read this handwriting. Many of the letters will be recognizable but it might help to have an alphabet for this same time period. Here is an example of an alphabet for what is called the Old Law Hand and other for Chancery scripts from this book

Court hand restored, or, The student's assistant in reading old deeds, charters, &c with an appendix, containing the ancient names of places in Great Britain and Ireland: and also, an alphabetical table of ancient surnames. 1778. London: Printed for the Author :;And sold by W. Shropshire.

Here are steps to understanding and reading the old will above.

1. Look carefully at the entire document and pick out words or numbers that you can read.
2. Start at the beginning of the document and write down all the words you can read. Look carefully at each word and if you cannot read all the letters write down the letters you recognize.
3. Go back over the document several times and then look at the alphabet and see if any of the letters you do not recognize match the ones in the document. Do not spend more than an hour, preferably less, looking at the document. 
4. Put the document away and come back to it, preferably, the next day. Go through the same process again. This time try to fill in the blanks of the parts you could not read the day before. Do not spend more than an hour looking at the document. 
5. Put the document away for another day and then go through the same process. Look carefully at each of the letters on the alphabet page. You may need to find several alphabet pages like the example above by searching online. It would also help to have a copy of a book such as this one.

Sperry, Kip. 2008. Reading early American handwriting.

In this book there is an appropriate quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Adopt the pace of Nature: her secret is patience. Go through this process over and over again until you have identified all of the words. Lookup any words that are unfamiliar or unknown to you. 

The document you produce is called a transcription. If you only record selected portions of the document, it is called an abstract. If the document were in a language you did not read, you would make a translation. 

Quoting again from Kip Sperry's on page 4:

It is important for researchers to transcribe documents and include abbreviations, capitalization, punctuation, original spellings, and marginal additions exactly as they appear in the original. It is acceptable and recommended that you place your interpretation or explanation within square brackets [ ], not parentheses, or use footnotes. 

After you have transcribed a few dozen documents from a specific time period, you will probably begin to be able to read the documents without too much difficulty. However, if you move back in time doing research, you will have to start all over again with a new example alphabet and repeat the whole process. 

Wills and parish registers are formulaic. That means they repeat the same words in almost every example. So, when you have mastered one will from a particular period of time, you will probably be able to read almost every other will, depending on the writing skill of the creator of the document. 

Last, remember the dictionary. 

Oh, by the way, I can read the above will. Look at the drawing of the two hands at the end of the will page above the signature. 

Here are a few helpful books. Some of these are hard to find. 

Bentz, Edna M. If I Can, You Can Decipher Germanic Records. San Diego, Calif.: Tamara J. Bentz, 2011.

Kirkham, E. Kay. The Handwriting of American Records for a Period of 300 Years. Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, 1981.

Stryker-Rodda, Harriet. Understanding Colonial Handwriting. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 2007.

Free Collections on MyHeritage This Week!

Last week MyHeritage announced that we’re opening up a historical record collection for free each day during June! The collections we’ve chosen are rare and valuable, and many are exclusive to MyHeritage.

The collections that MyHeritage is opening for free for the Week beginning June 8 through June 14 are the following. Please go to the MyHeritage blog for the links to these free collections. See https://blog.myheritage.com/2020/06/free-collections-on-myheritage-this-week/

https://blog.myheritage.com/2020/06/free-collections-on-myheritage-this-week/

There are additional free collections that will available the every day during the rest of the month of June. Remember to go to the MyHeritage.com blog post for the links to the free collections for the rest of the month. Each collection in free only the day for which it is scheduled. 

Genealogy and Paleography: How are they complementary?

William Shakespeare's Will by an unknown scribe - Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1382708

I can assume that if you have been reading this blog at all previous to this post that you already know something about genealogy. But I am guessing that even some very experienced genealogists have very limited knowledge of paleography. Paleography is the study of ancient writing systems and the deciphering of historical manuscripts. As a genealogist, you may have struggled to decipher old letters and handwritten documents and even done some online indexing but did not know what you were doing was classified as paleography (US; ultimately from Greek: παλαιός, palaiós, "old", and γράφειν, gráphein, "to write"). The study of paleography goes a lot further back in time than most genealogical research. The earliest handwriting systems evolved independently in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and ancient Mesoamerica. See "A history of writing," from the British Library. 

Inevitably, as genealogists research back in time they encounter the twin problems of deciphering handwriting and translating records in a language they do not know. This is true even if all of your ancestors supposedly spoke the same language you speak today. There is a basic linguistic principle that all languages evolve or change over time. Although it may appear that from published books that your English speaking ancestors of the early 19th Century spoke a language similar to your spoken English today, it is certain that if you went back in time, you would have trouble understanding them. 

Many of us who attended U.S. secondary schools were offered classes in "foreign languages" usually specific European languages such as Spanish, French, or German. Today, here in Provo, Utah grade school children can attend dual language immersion schools in Mandarin Chinese, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. But a year or two of a language usually doesn't help older genealogists very much. As far as I know, paleography is not formally taught in either primary or secondary schools in the United States. In fact, the teaching of cursive handwriting in the United States has been on the decline for many years but there are some movements to revive its teaching in a very limited way. 

When does handwriting in the United States become difficult to read? Almost immediately. Handwriting is very personal and has been used in court cases for years to identify specific people. But some handwriting, even contemporarily written is indecipherable. As you go back in time, almost all the handwriting will start to cause difficulties. Here is an example of a probate document from 1851.

"Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YMD-CGG?cc=1803986&wc=SNYZ-2NL%3A146535301%2C146887001 : 20 May 2014), Frederick > Administration accounts 1851-1852 vol 5 > image 31 of 445; Hall of Records, Annapolis.

You can click on the document to see the detail. 

How do you learn to read old handwriting? It is a learned skill and it takes time and effort. There are quite a few online courses in reading old handwriting both free and paid but there is really no substitution for slowly working your way back through old documents and spending time looking up the words you do not know. Here are some paleography courses to consider. 

• BYU Script Tutorial
• Palaeography: reading old handwriting 1500 - 1800, A practical online tutorial
• Folger Shakespeare Library, List of online resources for early modern English paleography

The Folger Shakespeare Library has links to a large number of websites. 

You should also be aware that there are a lot of images of complete examples of alphabets in various handwriting styles. For example, here is an alphabet of the Italic Hand from 1618. 

You have to realize that the examples are sometimes the ultimate goal for those learning to write and not particularly helpful with actual handwritten documents. Here is another example of what you might expect in doing research. 

The worst case I have encountered in the last few years was found in some parish registers from the 1800s in Puerto Rico. Not only was the handwriting terrible, the ink had faded and the pages were water damaged. 

The Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, a hereditary society speaks out about the present controversy

In response to the violent attacks against members of the African-American community in the United States, I received an email from my friends at The National Society of the Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage. This is a hereditary society organized for descendants of individuals enslaved in our country. Their mission is to connect to their ancestors and to each other; commemorate the memory of the enslaved; and educate their fellow countrymen, women, and children, including the citizens of the world, about the horrors of American Slavery. To be eligible for membership, you must be a descendant of people enslaved in the United States prior to the passage of the 13th Amendment. For more information, click here.

Here is a statement contained in the email sent to me from the Society about the recent incidents involving violence against members of the African-American community here in the United States:

Trenton, New Jersey (June 5, 2020)— We express our condolences to the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, and Dreasjon Reed, and others who were recently and unjustifiably killed, either directly by law enforcement personnel, or by others with the tacit approval of our legal system. Unfortunately, these incidents are not new and have occurred many times over a very long and violent history of aggression towards African-Americans in our country, going back to the institution of slavery. The current violence occurs against the backdrop of a global pandemic that is disproportionately ravishing the African-American community. These are very difficult times.

 

This year has certainly presented its share of challenges, but we are encouraged by the nonviolent protests of so many individuals here and across the world. In the words of Frederick Douglass, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” We stand with protesters who demand justice and a permanent change in the valuing of black lives and black bodies. 

 

At Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, a hereditary society for descendants of people who were enslaved in the United States, we want to see a final end to the racism we and our ancestors have long endured. We believe education and racial reconciliation are key. We plan to extend our efforts to create content and to support the education of the history of slavery in this country and to promote the knowledge that we are all equal and we are all Americans. We continue to plan our 2021 annual conference, tentatively set for May 21, 2021 at Rutgers University, where we will commemorate the memories and contributions of our enslaved and freed ancestors who provided the mortar made of their bones, blood, and sweat, for the stone foundation of our freedom. We will encourage descendants of enslaved people to connect to their ancestors through genealogical research and to connect to each other. We support a full reckoning of the evils of American slavery. 

 

If you want more information, please contact us.

Please be safe and stay well.

Dr. Evelyn A. McDowell, Ph.D.

President and Chair of the Board of Directors

Exciting Ground-breaking Technology from MyHeritage

MyHeritage.com is the clear leader in implementing new, ground-breaking technology for advancing genealogical research. Today (the date of this post) I receive an outstanding example of these advances in technology will measurably increase our ability to do research. Here is a quote from the email notification:

As many genealogists already know, MyHeritage is the website of choice for international genealogy, particularly in Europe. It is also extremely useful for U.S. genealogists whose ancestors arrived in the U.S. from other countries. This strength comes from the fact that MyHeritage is translated into 42 languages and is the most popular genealogy website in most non-English speaking countries, as well as having millions of international users who built family trees found only on MyHeritage, exclusive global record collections, and unique technology for overcoming language barriers.

We are working constantly to improve the technologies on MyHeritage even further and today, we’re delighted to announce a significant innovation: our Global Name Translation Technology™ has been extended to apply to Record Matches as well!

Here is the rest of the explanation from the same email.

Individuals researching their heritage often face a language barrier when researching their ancestors who lived in another country. MyHeritage pioneered Global Name Translation Technology™ to help users overcome this barrier, by automatically translating names between languages. This unique capability, originally conceived by MyHeritage’s Founder and CEO, allows users to locate records that mention their ancestors in different and often unexpected languages (as well as in synonyms in each language). Initially, this was available in our search engine, SuperSearch™, and has now been extended to automatic Record Matches as well.

For example, if you search for an ancestor you know as Alexander, the algorithm may uncover a Spanish record where his name is listed as Alejandro (a Spanish version of Alexander), or a Russian record with the name written Александр in Cyrillic characters (the Russian way to write Alexander), or its common Russian nickname Саша (Sasha).

With this new addition, translated Record Matches are now calculated on an ongoing basis, and you’ll receive matches with historical records and family tree profiles in other languages. When you view them, the names will be conveniently spelled out using your own alphabet. You may already have noticed some records from other languages appearing in your matches.

This feature will help you easily locate records that would otherwise have been very difficult for you to find.

This unique technology is only available on MyHeritage and works hand in hand with our huge database of international records. 

I will undoubtedly have further comments about this new technology as I see records appearing in my own family tree on MyHeritage.com. 

Where was the event? Where are the records?

The questions in the title of this post are two separate but closely related issues. To start, I will repeat a general guideline for all genealogical researchers: 

The place of an event in an ancestor's or relative's life should be recorded as it was identified at the time of the event. 

I could state that principle a variety of ways but it means that before you enter the location of the event you should do some historical research to determine how the place of the event was designated at the time of the event. For example, Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912, and no, it is not called the Valentine's Day State, it is called the Grand Canyon State. If I were going to record and event, such as a marriage of one of my ancestors or relatives, that took place before 1912, it would be incorrect to designate the location place) of the event as occurring in the State of Arizona because no such place existed before February 14, 1912. Finding something as well known as the date of Arizona's statehood is not challenging but if you are looking at the establishment of Apache County in the State of Arizona, how many people might have to do some looking to find that information? Just so you know, Apache County was created on February 14, 1879, well before statehood. 

Identifying the place as it existed at the time of the event gives genealogical and historical researchers a place to start looking for records of the event. So this is the connection between recording the place an event occurred and finding a record of that event. 

So, for example, let's suppose I am looking for a christening date and I find a christening record with the date of the event. How would that be recorded? Here is an example of the source for a christening date and place for one of my ancestors whose name is James Parkinson. 

Christening 16 July 1826

Ramsey, Huntingdonshire, England, United Kingdom

Is this enough information to find the record that I looked at? Well, it might give you a start at finding the record but was is also important is that I identify the "source" or place where I found the record. Here is an explanation of the source for that christening record with an image of the record itself. 

From the Parish of Ramsey, County of Huntingdon, the parish record of James Parkinson's baptism (Christening) into the Church of England. 

This same record also records his actual birth date. 

It reads James son of Charles and Hephizbah Parkinson  born:

October 22, 1808

Baptized (christened): 16 July 1826

Abode is listed as the Parish of Farcet. 

Dad (Charles) profession is listed as a Labourer. 

It is interesting to note that even though the family lived in the nearby Parish of Farcet, James was christened in Ramsey. 

At the time of his christening James was 17 years of age, almost 18. 

Is that enough? Well no, actually none of what I have said tells anyone where I found the record. Did I go to Ramsey and look in the parish church? Perhaps, but it is more likely that I found a copy of the record online. It is possible that given the location of the record in Ramsey, Huntingdonshire, England, I could find the record but life would be much simpler if I just recorded the place where the record was found. 

The citation in the FamilySearch.org Family Tree where this ancestor's records are located is the same as quoted above:

Christening 16 July 1826

Ramsey, Huntingdonshire, England, United Kingdom

If I were a very astute researcher, I could probably find the record quickly somewhere besides spending the time and money to go to England. But what if England happens to be the only place this record is found. I could spend a great deal of money and time looking for the record here in the United States before I realized that the only location where the record could be found was in England in the Ramsey Parish. 

Now, what about the source? Even though there is a digital image of the parish register showing the entry for James Parkinson, there is nothing that tells me where I might find a copy of the same parish register. Why would I like to see the parish register? The first reason is to find more people in the same family. The second reason would be to see if there was something that explained why this person was christened when he was 17 years old. 

If I do a quick check of the records on FamilySearch.org, I find that the parish registers for the Ramsey Parish are only available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah which happens to be closed for the pandemic that is raging across the world at the time I am writing this post. Where did the person who posted the copy get the image? In this case, after investigating I find out that the person may have gone to Ramsey and personally taken a digital image with his camera of the original parish register. Hmm. So my hypothesis of having to travel to England is not so far fetched as it may otherwise seem to be. 

In this particular case, James Parkinson emigrated to Australia with his family so finding them in the parish register after 1849 when they left England will not be possible. If I look at the death information for James Parkinson, I can see this:

Death 2 September 1870

Brookfield, New South Wales, Australia

So why is there such a big deal about recording where the records are found? In this case, a quick search on Findmypast.com shows that there are approximately 17,361 records for men with the name of James Parkinson and a birth date + or - two years in England on Findmypast.com. How do we tell all of these thousands of people with the same name apart? We don't without careful attention to the exact location of the events in each person's life. In addition, when someone does something unexpected, such as moving from England to Australia, without careful attention to each place where the person lived you would quickly lose the family completely. For example here the note above with the parish register says that this person lived in Farcet, England. We can track him to Australia because there is a New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896 entry for the following:

Name: James Parkinson

Birth Year: abt 1807

Age: 42

Arrival Date: 13 Mar 1849

Vessel Name: St Vincent

Origin Location: Fassete, Huntington

This and other records showing specific locations assist us all in finding and tracing the movement of this person across the world. By the way, as also noted the parish register has his birth date:

Birth  22 October 1808

Ramsey, Huntingdonshire, England, United Kingdom

But without a specific location, in this case to a village in England with a current population of about 8,000 people, finding this person would be very expensive and very difficult. But as successive genealogical researchers carefully document their work, the records are finally located. Just in case you think this all took just a few minutes online, you might want to take a look at the following book, if you can find a copy.

Parkinson, Diane, and John Parkinson. James Parkinson of Ramsey: His Roots and His Branches : England, Australia, America : A Biographical History and Genealogical Record of the Family of James and Elizabeth Chattle Parkinson. Austin, Tex.: Published for the James Parkinson Family Association by Historical Publications, 1987.

The Parkinson family descendants of James Parkinson have spent thousands of hours researching and recording this family but without careful documentation, none of that work would have been productive and the research is ongoing.