Ashland County, Ohio - What a fun & friendly group!

Last week was my re-entry into the foray of public speaking.  Oh, how I've missed it!  I couldn't have asked for more attentive or friendly folks.

I was invited to speak at the summer potluck for the Ashland County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society.  It was a patriotic evening, complete with red, white and blue tablecloths, FANTASTIC home cooking - and lemonade.

Ashland Co. 45th anniversary potluck

It was also a night to celebrate anniversaries...not only their 45th birthday as a society (congrats!), but the bicentennial of the beautiful city of Ashland falls this year; as well as the celebratory end of two critical and genealogy-rich wars from here in the US - 150 years since the end of the Civil War, and 200 years since the end of the War of 1812.

As I prepared to talk about these two wars, I was filled with pride for my great state of Ohio, and its citizens' valiant efforts in support of our young nation.

from Henry Howe's History of Ashland County Ohio

I discovered the neatest things about this hospitable and pretty county in the north-central part of the state. Not the least of which, the first person in Ohio to step up to offer his services to his country on the cusp of the Civil War was born there.  His name was Lorin Andrews - the President of Kenyon College. He tragically died of typhoid fever early in the war, as did so many others.  But he started a floodgate of volunteerism in the Buckeye state: per capita, no other state in the Union provided as many soldiers to fight in the Great Rebellion.

I learned about Daniel Beach, the first settler in these parts, a true pioneer of the Western Reserve, who traded his farm in Connecticut for one in the Firelands.  I found a picture of the home he built, nearly 200 years ago, as well as the early struggles of so many at the time, who were trying to make their home on what was then, the outer fringes of the western frontier.

I learned they have a wonderful librarian in Ashland County- named Sarah Hootman Kearns - who put together a fun and useful little website about the early settlers of the area, called Ashland in the Margins.  You can find it here.

The Daniel Beach house - from
Ashland in the Margins
by Sarah Hootman Kearns

Finally, I didn't put two and two together until shortly before my talk that their Chapter President is the one-and-only Tom Neel - the Library Director of the Ohio Genealogical Society library in Bellville.  You can take a look at their brochure here.  What if he hated my talk? I mean, he has some clout! Thankfully, Tom is a great guy, with a true passion for genealogy and likely a soft heart for fellow speakers.  He's forgotten more about Ohio genealogy than I'll ever know.

Chapter President Tom Neel

Oh, and I almost forgot!  Thank you to Amy Johnson Crow for her help with this talk, as well as Cliff Eckle - the Chief Curator at the Ohio History Connection (OHC), John Haas - Curator of Documents at OHC, and Russ Worthington (of  "Cousin Russ" fame).  Also, a big thank you for the kind invitation and publicity from the Society's affable Vice-President, Brian Hartzell.  All just terrific folks.

I am so looking forward to my other five talks - all on various subjects - before the year comes to a close.  I've learned much from so many, and I look at myself not so much an educator or lecturer on our great subject of family history, but more so as just another person to keep the dialogue going, helping to stoke the fires of passion and purpose, and a facilitator of the kind, informative and innovative collaboration this great community has always thrived upon.

Blessings,

Cate.

My Ties to The Salem Witch Trials

On this day in history, the infamous Salem Witch Trials began.  And just a couple of years ago, I discovered how closely my family is tied to these tragic events.

[Note: the remainder of this blog post is taken from from an excerpt of our personal family history blog - which I wrote on 4 Nov 2013.]

For those of us who may have forgotten the details, the trials were a series of so-called hearings, jailings, prosecutions and hangings of dozens of individuals who were accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts in 1692 and 1693.  It began with a couple of adolescent girls, who were caught using the white of an egg and a mirror to conjure a primitive ‘crystal ball’ to determine the occupations of their future husbands.  When they were caught, they blamed everything on a slave from Barbados who the girls claimed practiced voodoo magic. The slave only confessed after she was brutally beaten, and then it was only after 19 hangings, 1 crushing, several deaths from wasting in prison, and dozens of jailed Salem residents, that the mass hysteria ended.

A drawing of Rebecca Nurse

One of the most poignant mini-stories in this much larger story of American history involved the Towne sisters, Rebecca, Mary and Sarah.   Rebecca was the eldest and was 71 years of age when she was ‘tried’.

Rebecca was by far the least likely to be accused of witchcraft, as she was described as, “this venerable lady, whose conversation and bearing were so truly saint-like, was an invalid of extremely delicate condition and appearance, the mother of a large family, embracing sons, daughters, grandchildren, and one or more great-grand children. She was a woman of piety, and simplicity of heart.”

Despite the fact that 39 prominent members of Salem signed a petition to have her freed, and the fact that the jury originally found her innocent and then redacted their verdict, Rebecca was sentenced to death and hanged the very same day: 19th of July, 1692.

Her sister, Mary, was hanged on the 22nd of September 1692, along with seven others. Her parting words to her family were said to be, “as serious, religious, distinct, and affectionate as could be expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present.”  From the gallows, she prayed aloud for the end of the hunt and the sparing of her dear little sister, Sarah – who had been imprisoned.

All of the charges against Sarah were dismissed by a grand jury on the 3rd of January, 1693.  Her family had to pay her prison fees before she could be released.  Sarah fought the rest of her days to clear the names of her beloved sisters; however, it’s incredible to me that all of the accused/hunted/jailed/killed in the hysteria were not fully cleared of ANY wrongdoing until Halloween 2001, when Massachusetts governor Jane Swift signed the resolution.

These brave, pious women are a huge part of the Salem story – and are even the subject of a film starring Vanessa Redgrave (see here.) Their father is a direct great-grandfather of mine. These three incredible figures in American History  are my 9th great grand aunts.

- Cate.

[Note: This statue of the 3 sisters is located at the Salem Wax Museum of Witches & Seafarers]

Genealogy in 2015 - Online Up & Comers?

Recently, Crestleaf shared this detailed infographic on their blog and included the following:

"GenealogyInTime Magazine’s top 100 list profiles and ranks ancestral websites based on traffic estimates from Alexa; resulting in accurate, unbiased and comprehensive results."

And I have to admit, the findings didn't really shock me. The interest in genealogy has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, and the greatest addition to this "old-school" hobby is how quickly technology is being used (and created!) to help us in this industry.

Still, I took a closer look at this great graphic, and looked at the portion which mentioned 'Top Rising Stars'. (click the graphic twice for a large image of it)

As the child of a genealogist, I was bored stiff with what I saw as a jumble of names, dates and places.  I could not, for the life of me, understand why my mother was so involved and genuinely excited with this hobby for over 25 years.  In the days before the Internet, she would write letters by the handful - late at night on her father's WWII typewriter.  She would make out little checks for 50 cents, or a dollar or two, requesting copies of these names, dates and places from all over the world.  It was only when I became older, and really listened, and began putting pictures or historical events with these names, did I understand.  I was who I was, because of who THEY were. I got it. The stories were what mattered.

So with that in mind, I set out on my own genealogy adventure as an adult. And believe me, I've done everything from handwritten forms, handwritten letters, and out-of-the-way repository searches, to trying dozens upon dozens of online sites proclaiming to help me with my family tree.  As you all know, out there you'll find the good, the bad and the sheer ugly.  But back to this graphic - here are the four I wanted to talk about - all listed as 'Top Rising Stars':

Newspapers.com:  This site is owned by Ancestry.com - granted, it contains mostly different newspaper records than that which can be found on their main site; however, it is still behind NewspaperArchive.com in number of newspaper pages available.  That being said, it has really ramped up its collection in recent months and boasts nearly 88 million searchable pages.  NewspaperArchive.com boasts over 160 million pages. It's important to note that if you're an Ancestry.com user, (and a Fold3 user), subscribing to this service means you're paying three hefty subscriptions to the same company. Newspapers.com's monthly fee is $7.95/mo. and $79.95/yr - while NewspaperArchive.com is $99.95 every six months. GenealogyBank.com has fallen to a distant number three in the newspaper archive business.

Familytreenow.com: I seriously could not figure this site out.  It was the only surprise I found on this graphic.  This free site encourages you to list your entire family (including all living); and by all accounts I could find, and because there are no ads, they make their money by selling your information to third parties.  Sorry familytreenow.com, I will be staying away.

LostCousins.com: This site has been gaining some ground, and focuses on other users you may be related to. Frankly, I like the 'anonymous if you want to be' and optional usage of Ancestry.com's Member Connect service and in-site email system.  But the best part of this site may be its price: about $15 USD per year. Great value, lostcousins.com.

Crestleaf: This is the new, up and coming site that got me the most excited. Remember, it were the stories that finally turned my mom's passion into my own. The pictures, the relationships and how they all weaved into historical happenings.  And this is where Crestleaf really shines. You get a whole gig of space for your pictures for your tree with your free account.  If you wish to add more, you can upgrade for a fee.  As genealogists, we struggle with how to document the stories sometimes (not just the dates/places), as well as share our stories with family and friends.  I think Crestleaf has created the perfect site for just that.  It's a lot like Treelines, but better!

Today is National Inventor's Day, in honor of Thomas Edison's birthday, and it's also the date that RootsTech is holding their Innovators Summit & Challenge. Can't wait to see what's on the horizon, and how it may change the industry!

Cate.

My Very Own #SonsOfLiberty

  While the current Sons of Liberty mini-series that just aired on The History Channel is pure historical fiction, my hope is that it inspires people to seek and find more of the truth surrounding our country’s founding. As a family researcher, I’m even more interested in making historical events become more “real” to us when we have an ancestor (or ancestors) directly involved in the significant historical happening. I count myself fortunate to have (and share!) a couple of my own Sons of Liberty from my family tree. 

My 7th great-grandfather was a real rabble-rouser. Part Daniel Boone, and part smart-aleck, he stood up for what he believed in, both personally and for the colonies. Involved in several border disputes between Maryland and Pennsylvania, and a shrewd “real estate businessman”, Col. Thomas Cresap was born in 1694 and died in 1787. While researching him, I was thrilled to read the following: 

“The newly formed Sons of Liberty in Frederick County under tough old Tom Cresap were the most stalwart resisters of the Stamp Act and provided a stimulating example to similar groups forming in Baltimore and in Anne Arundel County.” (excerpt from this site: http://bit.ly/1Cga1y5 and written for the Virtual Marshall County Genealogy Society by T. Vernon Anderson) 

He even hosted a young surveyor’s apprentice by the name of George Washington in 1748. And though he eventually settled and passed away on the western edge of Maryland, he was highly involved with the Ohio Company - which helped settle much of the Ohio Valley surrounding my great state.

I’m also honored to be the descendant of another Sons of Liberty member,  William Hall - my 5th great grandfather. Just a few short weeks ago, I found his Revolutionary War pension record, filed when he was 95 years old. He served three different times with three different companies during the Revolution, but I was most interested in his time while in his home county of Frederick, Maryland and the city of Winchester. He served at General Washington’s Fort Loudon, guarding British POWs. He even served under the famous Colonel Daniel Morgan there. 

There were several other men and women in my family history who sacrificed during this incredible time in history. And whether it’s a documentary, or “just historical fiction”, remember - these people LIVED - and their lives matter. 

A proud daughter of the Sons of Liberty, 

Cate. 

“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.” ― Samuel Adams

Do you use Flipboard to create?

Hi, everyone - just a quick poll for a possible future post. Do you use Flipboard? Have you just read from it? Or do you use it to create?  Looking forward to the response to this easy 1-2 question. Thanks so much!

Cate.

Do you use Flipboard to create?

yes

no

pollcode.com free polls

Great new tech tool for your graphics!

OK - I’m no graphics or media maven, but I like a good image as much as the next gal (or guy!) I have a decent website, but I have to admit most of it was done with templates from GoDaddy’s Website Builder - in the interest of time and all of course, *cough*.  

However, I have spent oodles of time configuring graphics, images, banners and profile pics for all of my social media outlets and some of my (former) website pages.  Well, no more my friends!

If you’re looking for a quick solution to creating that perfect-sized facebook, twitter, instagram, etc header - or simply some banners for your blog - look no further than Canva.com!

I should disclose that I’m not getting paid by them to write this, I’m just an overnight fan!  Some of us blog for pleasure or business, most of us have a facebook or twitter account (or any array of social media accounts) - so why not include images that are unique, fast AND easy?

It’s free to sign up, and loads of its components are free - I haven’t spent a cent yet.  Best of all, if you tell Canva what type of item you’re creating (like a standard facebook, or other “set” image size), it will automatically set up a canvas for you to create on that is the perfect size for that website.

And PLEASE don’t let the idea of something new scare you.  Not only is it intuitive and simple to use, but there’s a whole free Design School included that will more than get you started!

Some of you may remember the name Guy Kawasaki back in the ‘90s.  He was the chief “buy Apple - it’s great” guru back then. And even if you’re not a fan of Apple, you have to admire their marketing skills! At any rate, Guy is now with Canva.com - and that’s not a bad endorsement if you ask me.

So, try it!  Just head over to Canva.com - and get started.  And let me know if you have any questions or need help - I will do my best to assist.

Okay - I’m excited.  Off to create some stuff for future posts.  But first, coffee.

Cate.

(p.s. did I mention that if you’re feeling generous, you can share your designs via their site? ok - I’m done!)

Northeast Ohio’s Catholic Cemeteries

After reading Cody’s (with Meet Me in Ohio) blog post today, I was inspired to write about a relatively new development with Cleveland’s Catholic Cemeteries.

After a very long wait for any online information, the following cemeteries have been uploaded into the diocese’s centralized database: All Saints in Northfield, All Souls in Chardon, Resurrection in Valley City and St. Joseph in Avon. Work is ongoing on the following cemeteries: Calvary in Cleveland, Holy Cross in Akron, and Holy Cross in Brook Park.

You need to create a login - but the service is free. If you need a Northeast Ohio gravesite photo or other genealogical documentation, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email.

                      

Here are the details: http://bit.ly/1uvx4gp

Happy searching!

Cate.