Family Search Labs

The Calgary Family History Center held a workshop last week to review the tools at Family Search Labs. Some are currently available and others are in development. The tool I was particularly interested in was the Family Search Research Wiki. I didn't find too much on first glance in a specific way but the fact that all the research guides and general tools are found in one place is a great start. As links and resources are added, this will be a rich resource. Going to the workshop also reminded me that I want to get back into the indexing project. Anyone can volunteer to help digitize the archival records to assist in search efforts. The site has really improved since I first got in and tried it out. More research helps in deciphering the writing and a lot more projects are underway. We spent some time with the Standard Finder with mixed feelings. I like the idea that I can see variations on spelling - not to correct but to assist in my own searches. I don't see it as a correction tool and agreement on a standard may be difficult in some cases, but it will at least allow you to see what has been used by others. I have a hard time being consistent in my own records and this is something I need to be more conscientious in my record keeping.

For now, I find these tools are designed to be very useful in the future but other sites like Cyndi's list and tools available with my Ancestry.com subscription meet most of these needs now.

Where are the Sharps?

Gibson Condie

Listening to General Conference, I heard President Monson share the story of his ancestors, Gibson and Cecilia Sharp Condie, from Clackmannanshire. Our Hunter line comes from Clackmannanshire and Jean Patterson Sharp Hunter, the mother of Elezebeth Grace Mulholland Toone, is the connection to President Monson's line. But how?

I jumped onto the web first. Confirmed the names I had heard and found a website about his family and their journey to America. http://emily.farrer.googlepages.com/sharpandcondiedatesandplaces
Lots of similar names, Janet, Adam, Cooks and Hunters mixed in with the Sharps and Condies. But do any of them belong to us?

Adam's family would have been contemporaries of Gibson Condie's family. He traveled to America in July, 1849 with his brother and Thomas Sharp. The family joined him later. Gibson Condie traveled with his family for America earlier that same year - January, 1848.

I went to my Ancestry.com file and the new Family Search tree- looking for the Sharp family to see if I could find a common name to link the families.

I've now discovered a research problem for someone to take on. Two conflicting lines.

Adam Hunter

The question to answer is: Who are Adam Patterson Hunter's maternal grandparents? I have two possible choices.

Are they David Patterson and Janet Sharp? This introduces the Sharp line but there are no records for Janet's parentage. This is my Ancestry.com file.

Or are they George Paterson and Elisabeth Blair?

If anyone in the family has source records to confirm either family line - the parents of Margaret Patterson (1794 - 1854) please let me know! I'll put it in my questions to answer log in the meantime.

Until we confirm this, I can't confirm how we may be related to President Monson.

Files, files and more files

I've been spending time labeling files .... and finally have the beginnings of the Mary Hill system set up in my filing drawers. I've adapted it somewhat - I prefer legal sized folders and because of this, I didn't buy folders with the middle tabs for siblings. I've colour coded the hanging folders, inside folders and labels with the four colours. I will have to come up with a plan for siblings - maybe plain coloured folders with only coloured labels for siblings - not as easy to visually scan as middle cut tabs though. I also only started with enough folders for direct line families up to 10 generations. I have MANY more families to create folders for. But I also realized that I only cleared space for the folders, not for any contents so I have some more decluttering and expanding to do.

The process is only highlighting all the gaps - all the family information I have no sources for and the possible errors strewn throughout my records. It really does need to be a back to basics approach once I have assessed what I have.

NEW information... on the Moorhead/Muirhead line

Pictures have been wonderful to find but the "meat and potatoes" still really is the names and dates. I was about to shut down the computer for the night but after looking at the family tree one last time I wondered if I might have some success if I just directly googled Moorhead(a spelling I had not used in past searches) and Racavan (where I now know the Moorhead family lived before Sam and Jennie's children immigrated to Canada.
BINGO! I found a family history site with details I had never known before! My line stopped at Elizabeth Davison - mother of Jennie in the previous blog. And here is her line. With her mother - Agnes McCloy and her father - William Davison. Even a street address for Sam and Jennie - likely the location of the home they are sitting in front of in the previous post! Okay - a trip to Ireland is definitely on the planner for 2010!
This information was posted in 1999! I had tried to do Muirhead research in the 80s and early 90s and then took a long break from searching. If I just had been looking for the right spelling in the right place - this wouldn't have taken me 10 years since it was posted to find it. A good example of how you can overlook checking on a line - with all the Rhodes names I've been focussing on - I hadn't really been looking for Muirheads for some time.
I've posted a small part of the information from this family site - Earls Family Chronicles or go directly there to see this laid out much more visually friendly. (only the direct line and the children of Sam and Jennie here - check out the link to see the whole family)
Agnes McCloy, also known as Nancy, was born about 1799. About 1828, she married farmer William Davison of Shillanavogy, parish of Racavan, County Antrim, born about 1799. The Davisons had lived in the parish of Racavan for some time; Andrew Davison of Ballygelly townland and James Davison of Broughshane Upper townland are both included in the 1669 Hearth Money Rolls. William and Nancy Davison lived out their lives on their farm in Shilnavogy. Their grandson Samuel used to visit James Earls and his sisters in Islandmagee, County Antrim. William died in Shilnavogy on Oct.27, 1874, at the age of 75; his son John was present at his death. Agnes died in Shilnavogy on Oct.7, 1877, aged 78. Her son William Davison of Shilnavogy was present at her death. William and Nancy Davison's children:

Eliza Davison was born in 1824. About 1842 she married William Muirhead or Moorhead, born in County Antrim about 1820. William was the son of John Muirhead and his wife, Jennie Mills, and inherited their farm called ``Hillhead'' in the townland of Ballynacaird, parish of Racavan, where he and Eliza lived out their lives. William died in Ballynacaird on Nov.11, 1886, at the age of 66; his son Andrew was present at his death. Eliza died in Ballynacaird on Feb.6, 1892; Andrew was also present at her death. An obituary which appearred in a local paper described her as ``quiet, amiable and unassuming''. Both William and Eliza are buried at Buckna Presbyterian Church, parish of Racavan. The children of William and Eliza Muirhead:

Jane Moorhead, known as Jennie, was born at ``Hillhead'' in 1843. About 1863 she married Samuel Moorhead, a farmer and travelling butcher. Samuel's parents were James Moorhead and his wife, Esther Jane McNeill. Samuel and Jane lived in Cravery near Kells for many years. Much later they moved back to the farm of their son, Thomas, at "Causeyend" in the townland of Kilnacolpagh, parish of Racavan. The present address for ``Causeyend'' is 21 Kilnacolpagh Road, Aughafatten, Ballymena. Jane died at ``Causeyend'' on May 31, 1913, and Samuel died there on Jan.2, 1934. They are buried in a family plot in Racavan cemetery. Jane and Samuel's children:

• James Moorhead was born in 1864 and died in 1889 at the age of 24.
• Sarah Jane Moorhead was born at ``Causeyend'', Kilnacolpagh, on Feb.12, 1866. On Jul.28, 1884, she married shoemaker William Millar Muirhead (or Moorhead) of Ballynacaird in the Second Presbyterian Church, Racavan. William had been born on Mar.1, 1861, in Teenis, County Antrim, the son of William Muirhead and his wife, Mary Ann Millar; he had a twin sister, Martha. William and Sarah Jane emigrated to Canada about 1890 and lived in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia. William died in New Westminster, British Columbia, on Jul.30, 1921. Sarah Jane died in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Jul.23, 1939, and was buried in Ocean View Burial Park. William and Sarah Jane Muirhead had at least 12 children:
  
• Elizabeth Anne Moorhead, known as Lizzie, was born on Mar.22, 1871, and emigrated to Canada. On Jan.6, 1892, she married James Routly in Carberry, Manitoba. She died in July 1955 in Calgary, Alberta.
• 
  Thomas Moorhead was born at ``Causeyend'' on Apr.16, 1875, and inherited the farm from his Aunt Sally. He lived and farmed there for the rest of his life. He married Margaret McAuley whose father James was a blacksmith and whose mother was Eliza Rea, born Dec.3, 1854. Thomas died at ``Causeyend'' on Apr.10, 1942. Thomas and Margaret had nine children all born at ``Causeyend'' as follows:
  
• Mary Moorhead, born on Mar.9, 1872, married a man named Departy[this seems odd] and died of Ptomain poisoning when she was quite young.
• 
  Andrew Moorhead was born on Jun.6, 1879, and emigrated to Canada. He married Elizabeth Mary Martin and died in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Nov.23, 1950.
• 
  Esther Moorhead, born on Jan.21, 1877, married William McCleary.
• 
  Margaret Moorhead emigrated to Canada and, on Sep.5, 1904, was married in Fernie, British Columbia, to William John Sanderson.
• 
  Jack Moorhead emigrated to Canada. He married a woman named Betsy and died in Montana, USA, at the age of 94.
• 
  Martha Moorhead was born on Apr.9, 1885, and emigrated to Canada. She was married twice, her first husband being Jack Allison. She emigrated to USA with her second husband George F. Logan and died in Toppenish, Washington, in 1987 at the age of 102.
• 
  Samuel Moorhead was born in 1883 and emigrated to Canada where he took part in the Yukon gold rush of 1898 and then emigrated to USA. He died unmarried in Washington in 1958 at the age of 75.
• 
  Jennie Moorhead emigrated to America. She married George Rhodes and died in the U.S.A.

I think there is a mistake happening here. Jennie died in Calgary and is buried next to George here in the city. It is George's mother that passed while in the states - visiting one of her children in Oregon.
The formatting for this blog is pretty wonky. I will have to learn HTML before I can make it look better than this. Thanks to Christopher Earls Brennan for posting on the Earls Family Chronicles. I will explore this more now that I have truly stumbled across it!!

Sam and Jenny Muirhead

Sam and Jenny at their home in Antrim, Ireland

Sam the Butcher and Big Jenny

Until now, I'd only seen one picture of Sam and Jenny Muirhead.

Sam "the butcher" - with his wife Jane sitting in front of their home in Antrim, Ireland. (I'm sure that means he was a real butcher... nothing sinister in the nickname... I hope). But now, I have a new picture of this couple -such good news as photos are something really precious on my Dad's line - I think that is partly due to losing everything in the Fernie fire when the Rhodes line Great grandparents first came to Canada. Here is a picture of them found on Ancestry.com posted by M_McKague. I love that I can see other pictures of these relatives I have come to know as names and dates in my records. Someday I hope to visit Ireland and visit the villages where they lived.

The Scottish Matriarch

More treasures located on Ancestry.com When I was in Salt Lake, I went looking for the Hunter family - found tombstones and the street I thought they may have lived on. But this little treasure was there all the time on the web... The photo is of Elizabeth Patterson Hunter (1822 - 1914). She immigrated to the US to follow her husband Adam Hunter with four young children. After 2 years preparing in St. Louis, they were ready to trek west in the spring of 1952. They travelled with Jon Higbee's company, ferrying across the Missouri River and then traveling on through Winter Quarters. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on August 13 at 11:00 a.m.

Years later in 1894, for the "Days of '47", Elizabeth celebrated in her native tradition. Quoting from the Ogden Standard Examiner (21 Aug 1894) "Mrs. Elizabeth Hunter, although almost 72 years of age, danced the Highland fling in Scottish costume, to music furnished by the old Nauvoo Band."

Thanks to Marsha Lindgren and Robert Folkman for posting the information!

My Swedish Family

Swen Neilson (left) (1831 - 1915) was born in Boglarehult, Orkened, Kristiansted, Sweden. His wife, Karna Pehrsson (right) (1836 - 1888) was born in Saxtorp, Malmo, Sweden. They traveled to Utah and settled in Spring City, San Pete, Utah. Their daughter Emily Neilson is my Great Grandmother. She married Frederick Puzey and they immigrated to Canada and farmed in Champion, Alberta on the farm I spent my childhood summers and Christmases visiting.

I had only seen photos of Frederick and Emily but I had no idea what Swen and Karna looked like. I was always fascinated with Karna's name - like Karen with a twist. I was working on my family research on Ancestry.com and found a tree with attached photos for these relatives in the Hogan Family Tree. The bonus of working on this site as well as FamilySearch is that the next time I go online, more names are added to the family tree.

I had a successful session- finding records, and adding names and photos. I'm ready now to print off an index and start setting up the filing system for my documents and materials for each family. Then I may have a better idea of what I actually have lurking in corners of filing drawers and boxes and binders I drag out at reunion times.

Recital with John Toone's cello

The concert was held in Salt Lake City, Utah July 26, 2008 with Kayson Brown on John Toone's cello and Douglas Dickson at the piano . The concert has been posted on YouTube. Thanks Julie! Here is part one.



Part two.



Part three.



Part four.



Part five.



Part six.

Legacy Software

I sat in on a Sunday School family history tutorial today and was introduced to some of the features of Legacy software. I have it but haven't used it so this was a good introduction for me. I chose to try it out after reading reviews in Family Tree Magazine but it is clearly becoming the software of choice in my ward. I have run across many conversations as people have adopted it to use other than staying with PAF.

I was also introduced to an organizational website... File Your Papers. I shouldn't really be looking for more help for my files - I just need to get busy and do something - which was the intention for this afternoon. However, a family dinner and a thought that I just wanted to check the site out before committing to Mary's colour system put that all on delay for today. What appealed to me the most is the familiarity of the system. When I was just starting out and worked my way up to 3000 names, this is the way I set up my binders - indexed and sorted by the MRIN (marriage number for the family). I never got to the point of organizing any documents by the same system but I do know that I never had a problem finding the family I wanted using this binder system. I kept an alphabetical chart and a pedigree chart in the front of the first binder (the files filled at least 3 2.5" binders) for quick reference.

There are some things that are similar to Mary Hill's system. There is still a need for locality files. And an acknowledgement that a single record may belong to multiple individuals with the same surname. But using the MRIN to file allows for descendancy and collateral individuals/families to be easily integrated into the system.

It is early for me to really commit to one or the other... I need to sit down with both systems, look at what I am trying to organize with it and make the choice.

So no pictures yet...

Elezebeth Grace Mulholland (Toone)

Okay - a request from Daveeda has been the motivation to get things moving again. I arrived home from Utah and the box of files went back into a corner and has other boxes piled on top. She asked about what information I have on Elezebeth Grace Mulholland... who married George Toone. I have all the materials for setting up my filing system but until I take the time - a question like that can't be easily answered. So this Sunday afternoon - before my sister's birthday dinner, my goal is to begin the file reconfiguration. I'll take pictures!

(Elezebeth Toone with baby Jim)