Resurrecting this project

So it's been a while since I last added anything here.  Last week I just upgraded to RootsMagic version 8, and I spent all of my free time going back through what I have and creating a new database with better citations to source documents.  I shared some of what I had with family at Thanksgiving, and decided to resurrect this blog to simplify distributing some of the more interesting tidbits that I find.

I have a couple stories that I found over the weekend that I haven't yet told here, so I'm putting those together now.  Hopefully they'll be up here sooner than later.

I'm open to collaborations, but the way things have gone since I was last active on this project, please be patient on receiving any replies from me.

Dead men don’t register for the draft … or …How searching for the FAN club confirms direct ancestor data

So in recent weeks, there have been a few comments on some of my Mosley research (most recently on a blog post showing marriage license index cards for a few families that I’m researching).  One of the comments suggested that I had the incorrect death date for Richard Washington Mosley (b. 22 Feb 1834 in Pennsylvania).  The comment noted that his obituary puts his death in February 1918, and suggests that the 1942 death date was actually for his grandson, who was also known as Richard Washington Mosley although he was born as Richard Washington Graham.  My curiosity was sparked, and it seemed an interesting little quest to find out more while I waited for my current work project to upload.  Richard wasn’t a direct ancestor that I was researching, but part of the FAN (Friends, Associates and Neighbors) club of a direct ancestor.  So here is a little bit of what I found this afternoon…

I wonder what happened?

I had a little extra time this week in between other tasks, so I decided to try some new searches on the recently upgraded FamilySearch website.  I found a few items that with scans of original documents that directly answered a few questions, but I also found one that had a bit of a surprise…

Transcription errors are fickle beasts

Ancestry.com has opened up marriage records for free access this week through Sunday.  I was able to carve out a little bit of time today to see what I could find in a quick search on a couple of the lines I’m researching, and found some interesting results…

Of the arts and self-employment…

Wow, has it really been that long?  I guess it has.  I’ve spent the majority of my time trying to get my photography business going and wasn’t able to devote much of any of my time to personal projects this year.  But through all of it, I haven’t forgotten about my research.

20 years ago today…

So there we go leaving the reception in style on our first car ride as a married couple on August 2, 1992.  The Continental was owned, restored and driven (in an appropriate chauffeur’s uniform) by a friend of Jennifer’s father.

New cousins, but no way to contact them

I’m trying to find out a little more about my Brown line this week.  I’ve traced back to my second great grandfather James M. Brown (b. circa 1853, Bloomington, Indiana).  I can’t quite get much farther back yet except that the 1880 U.S. census says his parents were both born in South Carolina.  I found a potential lead on more information in the Ancestral File database on FamilySearch, but I have no way to contact the contributors.  Aaaarrrrgggghhh!

A couple more answers but more questions in Denver…

I can’t seem to get away from looking at records from Colorado this week.  I’m still waiting for the 1940 census index for Colorado, but still trying to find more information from the area.  Today I searched for a cousin in Jennifer’s Dunn line, Roy J. Dunn.  I found him with some unexpected family members.

More Mosleys but in Philly…

For the longest time, I’ve had George H. Mosley (b. 1799, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; d. 12 Feb 1872, Troy, Doniphan, Kansas), his wife Letitia Parsons (b. 28 Feb 1802, Philadelphia; d. 8 July 1850, Philadelphia) as the end of the Mosley line in my database.  I haven’t gone farther back yet (maybe there’ll be something once more of the 1812 pension files are online), but I found out a little bit more about them this week.

Mosley matches in Colorado

I’ve been waiting for the 1940 U.S. census indexing to finish Colorado this week.  The progress map shows that the state is fully indexed, but the index isn’t quite available to search yet on FamilySearch.  So today I took a quick look at the other record sets available for Colorado and found some new information in our lines…