International Institute of Genealogical Studies – Page 130 – LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION

Blogging about German Courses: Meet Michele Simmons Lewis

We are happy to announce that Michele Simmons Lewis is joining The National Institute as a blogger. She’ll be blogging her thoughts as she proceeds through the German Records Certificate program. Before you read her posts, we thought we’d sit down and ask her a few questions. The National Institute: How long have you been doing genealogy? What got you started? Michele: I have been doing research for 23 years. My dad accidentally let a family skeleton slip and I was determined to either prove or disprove what he said. I ended up disproving it and I haven’t stopped researching since. What amazes me is how much things have changed in those 23 years. When I first started everything was done on paper and the only way you found information was by doing onsite research. The National Institute: Do you have a favorite research project ? Michele: One of the biggest projects I am working on is determining the parents of James Simmons of South Carolina. He migrated with his family to the Mississippi Territory in about 1798. Right now I am plotting out all of the original land owners in Perry County, Mississippi. I am tackling it one township at a time using the records at the Bureau of Land Management. James had three parcels of land and I want to analyze all of his neighbors to see if I can find any sort of familial links. Perry County is a burned county as was its parent county, Greene County. It goes downhill from there because Greene County’s parent county, Wayne County, is also a burned county. There are very few records to go on. Getting James back to the correct county in South Carolina is a challenge. There are several James Simmons’ in South Carolina in the 1790 census. I am hoping that the people I uncover in the land records also migrated from South Carolina (people tended to travel in groups). If I can associate James’ neighbors to a particular county in South Carolina I might discover which of the James’ in the 1790 census is the correct one. The National Institute: Why did you decide to take courses from The National Institute for Genealogical Studies? Michele: I was born in Germany as was my mother so we are the first immigrants in her line. All of my relatives, both living and dead, are in Germany. Most of the research I have done has been on my father’s side because it…

There’s More to the US Census

By Shannon Bennett, Student How many of you knew that there were other types of US Census schedules? If you did know, did you know how many different types there are? I knew about a couple of them but I had no idea that there were so many. Non-population schedules are great ways to gather more information about the family and the community you are researching. They can tell you about the job people held, if they lived on an Indian Reservation, what animals or crops they raised, about the industries in the town, and even information about their deaths. That is a lot of information, a lot of really good information, which can not only lead you to more information but in some instances it could give you a completely new insight into the environment they worked and lived. Over half of the 1890 Veteran’s Schedule was lost with the destruction of the 1890 Population Schedule, but I have to tell you it is a schedule I love to search (to read more about Veterans Schedules see the FamilySearch Research Wiki). While not many of my direct line ancestors are in it (majority of the Alabama to Kansas forms were destroyed, and my family hails from Indiana) I was lucky enough to find additional information on many of my husband’s trickier lines. I also learned that I need to go back and look at the Agricultural Schedules. Some non-population schedules are available from Ancestry.com . Unfortunately for me, they are not digitized and I will most likely need to go to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. to see them. A majority of my family were farmers and when I went back to look at their population schedules I saw many of them were included on the Agricultural Schedule too. That information could give me a lot of information about their farms and how they lived. Unfortunately, like with a lot of the research I do, many of the schedules I would really, really like to research are not available for the state the majority of my family is from. I have an Ancestry.com subscription and thankfully they tell you on drop down menus what states are available. Those drop- down menus will save you hours of fruitless searches! If you are researching American ancestors think about what you could find in these non-population schedules. I bet you could…

Associations and Occupations

By Shannon Bennett, Student Do you ever read something and feel your head getting full? That feeling of “oh no, this is a lot of stuff, how am I ever going to remember it all?” Well, that’s the feeling I have right now after finishing the next section of the English: Occupation-Professions and Trades course. This last week I learned more than I ever knew about associations. What are associations you ask? Well, there were three main types we studied: guilds and livery companies, trade unions, and professional associations. I thought I knew what the last two were, but I was wrong. However, I didn’t know anything about guilds and livery companies. I was really intrigued to learn about the livery companies of London. No, I don’t have ancestry from there (that I know of) and no, none of my ancestors were of those trades (once again, that I know of) but the history of those companies was simply fascinating. Livery companies were guilds in the City of London known for their livery, or dress colors they wore, which represented the guild on state occasions. The members of the guild entitled to wear the colors were known as the “livery” opposed to the “freeman” who were waiting to be promoted to the livery as vacancies happened. It is important to note that livery companies were not found outside of London. These organizations in other cities or boroughs were known as guilds when located outside of the City. We learned about other membership levels, how the guilds were structured, the way they evolved from medieval times to the 20th century, and what resources for research are key for genealogical research. It was dense reading but very interesting and very informative. Really makes me wish I knew more about my English ancestors so that I had an excuse to delve further into these records. The next modules are going to cover details pertaining to specific types of occupations and where researchers could find information on them. I am looking forward to this. Social history is one of the interesting topics for me and since I am an American I am sure there will be things listed that I had no idea about. See you online!

Sink or Swim: US Census Records

By Shannon Bennett, Student Nothing like jumping in and seeing if you sink or swim. There is no goofing off and easing into the subject matter with this course. You are into the meat of the subject from page one, which is great! Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to start off strong. There is just a lot, and I mean a lot, of information. These first two modules cover the U.S. Census from 1790-1940. There are detailed explanations of what is on the census, why it was there, how it changed, and what the data means. That is a lot of information covered 15 times over. Good, needed, and useful, but a lot of information. I particularly appreciate the breakdown for each census on what was asked. Seeing it typed out in list form made it easier to digest and understand than just looking at it across the top of a census page. It was also fascinating to see how that information changed, evolved, and grew over the decades. I could easily see how the census became an incredible source for statistical information about the population of the United States at that time. The section on strategies for using the Federal Census was particularly good. Three examples were given on ways that researchers can analyze the information on the records, particularly when they are tracing a person or a family through multiple census years. Of course, you might have a way that you like to do it that is not at all like they suggest, but it was great to see how other people might analyze the information. When I am tracing a family through the census I tend to use a timeline approach. Each person is placed on a timeline and the information for each year is placed on the chart. When this is used in conjunction with a narrative (all of the information from the record written out in words) a nice flowing chart comes together. Other people use worksheets, but that makes my head hurt from information over load. What I think is the important takeaway message is that we each have different ways we like to breakdown and analyze the information we come into contact with. As long as we are consistent, don’t miss items, and can understand what is presented our method doesn’t matter. If you don’t have a consistent method though, you…

We Have Winners! Midwestern Roots 2014

We’re back from Midwestern Roots 2014. Congratulations to Jill Hoyle and Tonya Hull who won the prize drawings for free courses. Thanks to all who came by the booth and said hi. We love meeting everyone in person. Not able to go to Midwestern Roots this year? Don’t worry, mark your calendar for July 14-16, 2016. See you there!