Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 234
In this episode we take a look at a subject that is difficult, and yet ultimately faced by all genealogists: Downsizing. Whether you need to help a relative downsize, or it’s time for you to move into a smaller place or just carve out more room in your existing home, this episode is for you. You’ll hear specific action steps that you can follow to the make the job of downsizing easier and more productive.
Also in this episode we’ll cover the latest genealogy news, and take a quick look at the 1830 census.
Listen now, click player below:
Episode #234 with Lisa Louise Cooke
October 2019
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Genealogy News
New and Returning genealogy-themed television Shows:
A New Leaf on NBC
A New Leaf will be included in the Saturday NBC morning programming block called The More You Know beginning October 5, 2019.
From the Ancestry Blog:
“Each week ‘A New Leaf’ will follow people on the cusp of key life inflection points, who using family history, genealogy, and sometimes AncestryDNA® analysis will go on a journey of self-discovery and learn from the past while looking to the future. In partnership with Ancestry, Fuentes will join families as they learn the importance of appreciating and understanding their family history and ancestors in order to make important life decisions. ”
Website: https://www.nbc.com/a-new-leaf
Finding Your Roots on PBS
Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s sixth season of Finding Your Roots on PBS will have two new episodes this fall and eight more in January 2020.
The new people featured include Melissa McCarthy, Jordan Peele, Isabella Rossellini, Gayle King, Terry Gross, Queen Latifah and many more.
Check your television schedule and cable provider.
Website: http://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/home/
The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes on Oxygen
Another new show that taps into genetic genealogy is The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes.
It premieres October 12 at 8 p.m. on the Oxygen channel.
Website: https://www.oxygen.com/dna-of-murder
New Services for Genealogists:
Legacy Tree Genealogists Offers a New Consulting Service
Visit: https://legacytree.com/genealogygems
From the press release:
“Genealogist-on-Demand: Legacy Tree Genealogists Launches Virtual Consultation Service Offering Access to Family History Experts, Any Time, Any Where.
Legacy Tree Genealogists announced today the launch of a new service—45-minute, virtual one-on-one consultations with a professional genealogist. At only 100 USD, these consultations provide users with a cost-effective resource to have their research questions answered in real-time by a professional genealogist, from the comfort of their own home.
Users have the option to schedule either a DNA Consultation with a genetic genealogist who can explain their DNA test results, or a Genealogy Consultation with access to one of their worldwide researchers with expertise in regions around the globe, including England, Ireland, Scotland, and Australia.
Tailored to your specific research questions, the one-on-one consultations are conducted utilizing screen sharing technology that allows the user to share documents, records, or DNA results with the genealogist in a secure, virtual environment.
Legacy Tree will continue to expand its consultation offerings to include additional regions in the near future in order to continue to serve the global genealogy community.”
Larsen Digital Now Digitizes Your Old Negatives
Visit the Genealogy Gems page at Larsen Digital here and use the coupon code GENGEM.
In the past I’ve told you about the incredible work that Larsen Digital did for me getting some of my old home movies digitized. Well, they’ve just launched a new service where you can send them your old negatives and they will convert them into beautiful high-resolution digital images that you can use. We’re talking 4000 dpi images!
I’ve had boxes of negatives in my closet that I inherited from my paternal grandmother. She had negatives for all sorts of pictures that are either long since lost or the photo album went to someone else in the family.
I really had no idea what these old photos would turn out to be, but I ended up with wonderful images of my great grandmother, my grandparents, my Dad when he was a kid, and countless relatives.
The service is called Value because it’s less expensive than the Pro which includes restoration. It’s a great way to get all your old negatives digitized. Then you can decide if there’s further restoration you want done on select images.
DIY: You can do color correction and repairs yourself with a simple free app like Adobe Fix. See my book Mobile Genealogy for much more on using this and other apps for genealogy.
Negatives can deteriorate over time just like photos. The sooner you get them digitized the better condition images you will have.Larsen Digital is offering Genealogy Gems listeners a great discount on both the new value service and the Pro negative digitization service, as well as 35mm negatives & 35mm Slides. Visit the Genealogy Gems page at Larsen Digital here and use the coupon code GENGEM.
Here are a few examples of old negatives that I had digitized by Larsen Digital.
My Dad with this family’s first TV set!
Never before seen image of my great grandmother (seated), her daughter and grand daughter. Watch the video that autoplays on this page to see how I restored this photo after receiving the digitized image.
It’s really kind of amazing to think I’ve sat on these negatives for so long. I’ve been sending the pictures to my Dad and he’s been emailing me back not just the names and dates, but the stories behind many of these photos.
Findmypast Now Supports Tree to Tree Hints
Long gone are the days of having to search for genealogical records all alone. When you have any part of your family tree online on any of the “Genealogy Giants” websites (Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch) they do a lot of the hunting for you. They deliver hints that have a good chance of matching up with your ancestors. Your job is to carefully review them and determine if they are your ancestor’s records.
(Genealogy Gems Premium Members: Listen to Premium Podcast Episode #175 devoted to hints at Ancestry that includes a bonus download guide on Genealogy Hints at a Glance.)
Up until now, Findmypast offered hints on birth, marriage and death records. Now they are joining the other Genealogy Giants in offering hints based on other user’s family tree on their website.
Read the rest of my article here.
The free podcast is sponsored by:
Lisa Louise Cooke uses and recommends RootsMagic family history software for her master family tree. Visit www.RootsMagic.com
GEM: Downsizing with Family History in Mind with Devon Noel Lee
Get your copy of Downsizing with Family History in Mind here.
(We hope you enjoyed the interview. Disclosure: Genealogy Gems is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Thank you for supporting our free podcast by using our link.)
Click the image to order your copy.
At some point we all face downsizing. Whether we are helping our parents downsize to a smaller house, or we need to downsize our own belongings to carve out a spare bedroom or just make room in a closet. it’s never really an easy task. And I think it’s safe to say it’s even more difficult for the family historian, because we collect a lot of paper, photos and other things that are often near and dear to our hearts.
Devon Noel Lee and her husband Andrew Lee of the Family History Fanatics YouTube channel have taken on this challenge themselves and they’ve written a new book called Downsizing with Family History in Mind. Here to help you make the tough choices and clear the clutter is Devon Noel Lee.
There are many reasons for downsizing:
- To move to a smaller place
- Absorbing inherited genealogy
- Divorce
- To free up space in your own home
Downsizing the sentimental items is the hardest part of downsizing.
Question: A lot of us just think, well it’s a Saturday morning, I think I’ll just do some decluttering. But you say in the book that decluttering doesn’t work. Why is that?
Devon’s Answer:
“There are three things that experts teach us that are absolutely wrong:”
- We don’t give ourselves enough time for nostalgia.
- We’re really bad at evaluating what’s going to last for the long term
- We use the wrong boxes when decluttering – all the experts say to use Keep, Sell and Donate.
Devon recommends the following boxes:
- Keep
- Giveaway (combining sell and donate) – to family, societies, archive, university special collections, libraries, etc.
- Trash (or recycle)
- Process
How to “process”:
- Digitize
- Process the information in your binders and get rid of the binders if no one wants them.
Use it:
- Sad to say, most people don’t want your family china. Give yourself permission to use it and enjoy it now. Make memories with it!
- Let your children play with things.
Four Basic Downsizing Principles in the book:
Reduce: Divide things into the boxes.
Preserve: This is when you’re going to digitize the things in your process box. Photograph objects. Transfer your genealogy into software and online trees.
Reclaim: Take everything out of the process box after processing, and divide into Giveaway, Trash and Keep. Don’t put things into storage!
Showcase: Put on display what you found worth keeping so it can be enjoyed. Transform what you have into something that is easier to pass on like videos, podcasts, scrapbooks. Focus on story-based items.
From Lisa: It puts us back in control as to what happens to it. Making sure the right people get it.
I’m a big fan of displays. If we haven’t taken a moment to get something on the wall – to put a display together – how can we expect our family to appreciate it and embrace our family history values?
Question: Many downsizing projects are much more than a single day. When you’re faced with a really big job, where do you recommend that people start, and where should they put their primary focus?
The book includes action plans for folks who have:
- just an hour
- Weekend
- 3-6 months
- 6-12 months
Capture what is right now:
- Photograph the outside of the home.
- Photograph what’s inside.
- Then focus on photographing the collections in their context.
Mentioned by Lisa:
Genealogy Gems Podcast episode #21 includes a Gem called Thanks for the Memories. In it, I share an example of mentally walking through my Grandma’s house and capturing all of my memories on paper.
Get a piece of paper or pull up a word document. Close your eyes for a moment and visualize a favorite memory from your childhood.
In my case I started with a favorite place, my maternal grandma’s house. But perhaps yours is the back alley where you and your friends played baseball, or your great uncle’s garage where he showed you how to work on cars. Whatever is meaningful to you.
Now, open your eyes, and write your thoughts one at a time. Just free flow it. They don’t have to be complete sentences.
Later you can try your hand at writing more of your actual experiences or memories of a person. Again, it doesn’t have to be a novel or sound really professional. It’s just the memories from you heart.
Family Photos:
Question: If we have piles and piles of family photos, particularly ones we’ve inherited, how to do we decide which to keep and which to toss? Or do you ever toss?
Devon’s answer:
Get rid of the duplicates!
Keep 1 of the biggest and best and throw the rest away. Don’t bog yourself down with hours spent trying to track down someone else to give them to.
Get rid of blurry, overexposed, underexposed, and meaningless photos.
Unlabeled photos:
There will be some circumstances where you will not be able to keep them. You can’t go into debt for unlabeled photos. You want to separate them from the labeled so that other family members don’t throw them all out together.
If you have time, try to identify them by asking relatives, and posting them to DeadFred.com.
If you can, donate the remaining unlabeled photos to orphaned photo collectors, or toss.
You did the best you can. Don’t feel guilty because your ancestors didn’t label their photos.
Question: What advice do you give your readers who are faced with what to do with their genealogy when they don’t have descendants or when no one in the family wants it? What encouragement can you offer when there is no one who descends from you, or there is no one who wants them.
Devon’s answer:
If you think you don’t have anyone in your family who is interested, you’re wrong.
Downsizing and organizing will increase the chances of someone willing to take it later.
If you don’t have anyone in your immediate family who wants your stuff, start looking for distant cousins actively working on a surname. They won’t want everything. You will have to divide the material. They want it organized.
Do it while you’re living – don’t leave it to someone else.
Digitize it and get it online where it can be shared.
From Lisa:
Getting your stuff in good condition makes it more desirable.
Our collection, broken up, may have much more value to other people.
Get your copy of Downsizing with Family History in Mind here.
(We hope you enjoyed the interview, and thank you for using our link.)
The free podcast is sponsored by:
MyHeritage.com is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. Click the logo to learn more.
GEM: Profile America – The 1830 U.S. Federal Census
Saturday, October 5th.
The national census to be taken April 1 next year will be the 24th time this once-a-decade count has been conducted since 1790. The fifth census in 1830 profiled a quickly expanding nation, counting nearly 13 million residents — an increase of more than one-third in just 10 years.
New York remained the largest city, while second and third places were a near tie between Baltimore and Philadelphia. Also, among the 10 biggest cities were Charleston, South Carolina, and Albany, New York.
In the decade to follow, Cyrus McCormick invented the grain reaper, opening huge sections of the Great Plains to agriculture, and Texas declared its independence from Mexico.
Sources:
POP Culture: 1830
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40 Million New Genealogy Records To Help You Locate Your Family History
In December the genealogy records website Findmypast.com released new and exclusive historical records that highlight significant life events of the past. According to the the company, more than 40 million new records are included. Here are all the details from their press release:
LOS ANGELES (Dec. 17, 2012) – …“The number of records released offers findmypast.com’s users a staggering amount of new data, ranging from exclusive United Kingdom records from as early as 1790 to modern-day vital records from the United States that will add new layers of information for researchers,” said D. Joshua Taylor, lead genealogist for findmypast.com, “Findmypast.com is constantly expanding our collections with thousands of new records being added each month. Moving into 2013, we look forward to increasing our record offerings to include rarer, more exclusive materials, in our dedication to provide the most comprehensive family history resource available.”
Many of the new records that can only be accessed through findmypast.com offer a unique glimpse into history. The Harold Gillies Plastic Surgery set, dating back to World War I, contains fascinating records of some of the world’s first restorative plastic surgery, while the White Star Line Officers’ Books include officer records from the Titanic.
Newly added employment and institutional records including the records of the Merchant Navy Seaman (aka the Merchant Marines) provide unique color to family history that can’t be created from just names and dates. Other record sets include probates and wills, such as the Cheshire Wills and Probates, which often offer crucial clues to link North American family trees back to the United Kingdom.
The full set of exclusive records recently released by findmypast.com includes:
United Kingdom Court & Probate
- · Cheshire Wills and Probate
- · Suffolk Beneficiary Index
United Kingdom Education & Work
- · Cheshire Workhouse Records, Admissions and Discharges
- · Cheshire Workhouse Records, Religious Creeds
- · Derbyshire Workhouse Records
- · Match Workers Strike
- · White Star Line Officers’ Books
United Kingdom Military
- · Army List, 1787
- · Army List, 1798
- · British Officers taken Prisoners of War, 1914-1918
- · De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honor
- · Grenadier Guards, 1656
- · Harold Gillies Plastic Surgery – WWI
- · Harts Army List, 1840
- · Harts Army List, 1888
- · Manchester Employee’s Roll of Honor, 1914-1916
- · Merchant Navy Seamen (aka Merchant Marines)
- · Napoleonic War Records, 1775-1817
- · WWI Naval Casualties
- · Paddington Rifles
- · Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 British Navy & Air Force Officers
- · Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 Officers of Empire serving in British Army
- · Royal Hospital, Chelsea: documents of soldiers awarded deferred pensions, 1838-1896 (WO 131)
- · Royal Hospital, Chelsea: pensioners’ discharge documents 1760-1887, (WO 121)
- · Royal Hospital, Chelsea: pensioners’ discharge documents, foreign regiments, 1816-1817 (WO 122)
- · Royal Hospital, Kilmainham: pensioners’ discharge documents, 1773-1822 (known as WO 119 at the National Archives)
- · Royal Navy Officers Medal Roll, 1914-1920
- · War Office: Imperial Yeomanry, soldiers’ documents, South African War, 1899-1902 (WO 128)
- · WWII POWs – British held in German Territories
In addition to the exclusive records sets, this recent release includes additional records from the United States, Australia and Ireland. An update to the World War I Draft Cards collection provides registrations and actual signatures of more than 11 million young Americans from the beginning of the twentieth century.
Additional records released include:
United States Military
- · Japanese-Americans Relocated during WWII
- · Korean War Casualty File
- · Korean War Deaths
- · Korean War Prisoners of War
- · Korean War Prisoners of War (Repatriated)
- · U.S. Army Casualties, 1961-1981
- · Vietnam Casualties Returned Alive
- · Vietnam War Casualties
- · Vietnam War Deaths
- · WWI Draft Cards
- · WWII Prisoners of War
Life Events
UNITED STATES:
- · Kentucky Birth Records, 1911-2007
- · Kentucky Death Records Index, 1911-1999
- · Kentucky Marriage Records Index, 1973-1999
- · Texas Divorce Records Index, 1968-2010
- · Texas Marriage Records, 1968-2010
AUSTRALIA
- · Northern Territory Anglican Baptisms and Confirmations, 1900-1947
- · Northern Territory Anglican Burials, 1900-1968
- · Northern Territory Anglican Marriages, 1902-1953
IRELAND
- · Irish Catholic Church Directories, 1836-37
Census Land and Surveys
AUSTRALIA
- · Northern Territory Census, 1881-1921
- · Northern Territory Electoral Rolls, 1895-1940
Institutions & Organizations
AUSTRALIA
- · Northern Territory Parliamentary Index, 1884-1890
Newspapers, Directories & Social History
AUSTRALIA
- · Northern Territory Section of the Queensland Post Office Directory, 1920-1921
Episode 193
The Genealogy Gems Podcast
Episode # 193
by Lisa Louise Cooke
Episode highlights:
- Genealogy milestones, anniversaries, new records, upcoming conferences and new free video tutorials;
- Email response to The Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode #192: another tip on the U.S. Public Records Index, a family adoption story and his own research on the changing coastline of Sussex;
- More response to the “Where I’m From” poetry initiative;
- Announcement: the NEW Genealogy Gems Book Club title;
- A key principle in genetic genealogy from Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard.
NEWS: FOIA Turns 50
What is the FOIA? The Freedom of Information Act opens federal records to the public. The FOIA applies to certain kinds of information about the federal government and certain information created by the federal government. It DOESN’T apply to documents that relate to national security, privacy and trade secrets, or to documents created by state or local governments.
FOIA for genealogy research: Use the FOIA to request:
- SS5- applications (Social Security) and Railroad Board Retirement
- Post-WWII Selective Service records: draft registrations and SS-102 forms (with more draft/military information on them), through the end of 1959;
- Naturalization certificate files from 1906 to 1956;
- Alien registration forms from 1940 to 1944;
- Visa files from 1924 to1944;
- Registry files for 1929 to 1944 (these document the arrival of an immigrant whose passenger or other arrival record could not be found for whatever reason);
- A-files, alien case files for 1944 to 1951;
- Certain FBI files and certain CIA records (here’s a link to the slides from a National Archives presentation on using FBI files for family history.
Click here to read an article on the 50th anniversary of the FOIA and more on FOIA for genealogy
NEWS: NEW RECORD COLLECTIONS ONLINE
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, Honeymoon and Visitor Registers, 1949-2011
The Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast #133: Peggy Lauritzen on “Gretna Greens,” quickie wedding destinations (Premium eLearning membership required to access)
Announcement of Freedmen’s Bureau Project completion; In September 2016 you can access the full Freedmen’s Bureau Project at www.DiscoverFreedmen.org.
New videos to help find your family history in Freedmen’s Bureau Records
Where to find Freedmen’s Bureau Records online, and the Freedmen’s Bureau indexing project
NEWS: AncestryDNA Hits 2 Million Samples
Ancestry.com blog post: AncestryDNA Reaches 2 Million Samples
Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard talks about these AncestryDNA features in:
- AncestryDNA improves genetic matching technology
- Confused by your AncestryDNA matches? Read this article
- DNA Circles: When they DON’T mean genetic connections on AncestryDNA
- AncestryDNA Common Matches tool
- AncestryDNA Works Toward Genetics + Genealogy Integration
NEWS: UPCOMING CONFERENCES
- Midwest Roots, July 15-16, 2016
- The Genealogy Gems Podcast episode #178 CeCe Moore talks genetic genealogy on genealogy TV shows
- Northwest Missouri Genealogical Society 3rd Annual Conference, July 30, 2016
- 3rd Annual Northwest Genealogy Conference, Arlington,
3rd Annual Northwest Genealogy Conference
- Hosted by the Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society, north of Seattle in Arlington, WA on August 17-20, 2016
- Theme: “Family Secrets Uncovered — Lost History Found”
- Keynote speakers include Blaine Bettinger, Claudia Breland and Lisa Louise Cooke
- Free Day Wednesday afternoon: Beth Foulk will address beginner’s issues — which is also a good refresher for the more seasoned genealogists
- Other features: Meet a distant cousin with the “Cousin Wall;” participate in the genealogy-related scavenger hunt on Free Day Wednesday, and enjoy the free taco bar at the evening reception. Wear a costume from your ancestors’ homeland on the Friday dress-up day.
GEMS NEWS: NEW VIDEOS ONLINE
- How to create captivating family history videos: Animoto video tutorial series
- Tech Tip Tuesday tutorial videos
- NEW Genealogy Gems Premium Video: All About Google Drive (Genealogy Gems Premium website membership required to access)
- Evernote blog post about changed pricing
MAILBOX: CHRIS WITH US PUBLIC RECORDS INDEX TIP AND MORE
Follow-up email regarding The Genealogy Gems Podcast episode #192 from Chris, who blogs at Leaf, Twig and Stem
Chris’ post about a compelling story of an adopted child in his family
Chris’ post about the changing coastline in Sussex
MAILBOX: “WHERE I’M FROM”
The Genealogy Gems Podcast episode #185: Interview with George Ella Lyon
“Where I’m From” video and contest results
Tips for writing your own “Where I’m From” poem
Santa Clara County Historical and Genealogical Society “Where I’m From” contest: “Anyone near and far may join our Contest. Each entry receives a gift from the. We will have a drawing from all entries of cash or a nice prize. Deadline for entries is Aug. 31, 2016. More information on scchgs.org.”
NEW GENEALOGY GEMS BOOK CLUB SELECTION
Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
It’s a story inspired by love letters exchanged between his grandparents during World War II, when they were each in dangerous places: he on the island of Malta and she in London, both of which suffered some of the worst sustained bombing campaigns of the war.
Everyone Brave is Forgiven is a fast-paced book. It begins in London in 1939 with Mary North, a wealthy young lady from a privileged family who, on finding out that war has been declared, immediately leaves her finishing school and signs on for the war effort without telling her parents. She fulfills an assignment as a school teacher long enough to make a meaningful connection with a school official and one of her students. Then her students (along with the rest of London’s children) are evacuated to the countryside, leaving her to figure out what to do next.
The plot gets a lot more involved from here. There’s a love triangle, a long-distance romance, a series of scenes that take place on the heavily-bombarded island of Malta, harrowing descriptions of the London Blitz, homeless children who return from the evacuation only to find themselves parentless, homeless and in constant danger. It’s intense and eye-opening, but it’s compassionate and it’s still very readable for those who have less of a stomach for blood and guts but still want to understand some of the human experience of living and loving in a war zone, and then picking up the pieces afterward and figuring out how to keep living.
Video: Chris Cleave on the U.S troops coming to Europe in World War II
Click here for more Genealogy Gems Book Club titles
DNA GEM: GENETIC PEDIGREE V GENEALOGICAL PEDIGREE
A key concept in genetic genealogy is that your genetic pedigree is different than your genealogical pedigree. Let me explain.
Your genealogical pedigree, if you are diligent or lucky (or both!) can contain hundreds, even thousands of names and can go back countless generations. You can include as many collateral lines as you want. You can add several sources to your findings, and these days you can even add media, including pictures and copies of the actual documents. Every time someone gets married or welcomes a new baby, you can add that to your chart. In short, there is no end to the amount of information that can make up your pedigree chart.
Not so for your genetic pedigree.
Your genetic pedigree contains only those ancestors for whom you have received some of their DNA. You do not have DNA from all of your ancestors. Using some fancy math we can calculate that the average generation in which you start to see that you have inherited zero blocks of DNA from an ancestor is about seven. But of course, most of us aren’t trying to figure out how much of our DNA we received from great great great grandma Sarah. Most of us just have a list of DNA matches and we are trying to figure out if we are all related to 3X great grandma Sarah. So how does that work?
Well, the first thing we need to recognize is that living descendants of Sarah’s would be our fourth cousins (though not always, but that is a topic for another post!). Again, bring in the fancy math and we can learn that living, documented fourth cousins who have this autosomal DNA test completed will only share DNA with each other 50% of the time.
Yes, only half.
Only half of the time your DNA will tell you what your paper trail might have already figured out: That you and cousin Jim are fourth cousins, related through sweet 3X great grandma Sarah. But here’s where the numbers are in our favor. You have, on average, 940 fourth cousins. So if you are only sharing DNA with 470 of them, that’s not quite so bad, is it? And it only takes one or two of them to be tested and show up on your match list. Their presence there, and their documentation back to sweet Sarah, helps to verify the genealogy you have completed and allows you to gather others who might share this connection so you can learn even more about Sarah and her family. Plus, if you find Jim, then Jim will have 470 4th cousins as well, some of which will not be on your list, giving you access to even more of the 940.
This genetic family tree not matching up exactly with your traditional family tree also manifests itself in your ethnicity results, though there are other reasons for discrepancies there as well.
In short, this DNA stuff is not perfect, or even complete, but if you combine it with your traditional resources, it can be a very powerful tool for verifying and extending your family history.
Additional readings:
- 23andMe blog post: “How Many Relatives Do You Have?”
- “How Much of Your Genome Do You Inherit from a Particular Ancestor?”
PROFILE AMERICA: First hamburgers at a 4th of July picnic
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!
United States Colored Troops (USCT) Service Records Digitization Project
Here’s the latest from the National Archives:
National Archives Marks 150th Anniversary of U.S. Colored Troops
Sic semper tyrannis – 22th Regt. U.S. Colored Troops, 1864. Bowser, David Bustill, 1820-1900 , artist
Washington, DC. . . Marking (the) 150th anniversary of its creation, the National Archives announces the completion of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) Service Records Digitization Project, in partnership with Fold3. For the first time, this collection – nearly four million images of historic documents with detailed information on former slaves – is available online to anyone, anywhere.
On May 22, 1863, the War Department issued General Orders 143, establishing a Bureau of Colored Troops in the Adjutant General’s Office to recruit and organize African American soldiers to fight for the Union Army. These service records – including those of the men of the famed 54th Massachusetts Infantry featured in the movie Glory – are a treasure trove for genealogists and a rich source of documentation on the black experience in America during the Civil War.
Researchers may be surprised to find that the USCT military service records hold not only muster rolls but also a huge array of personal papers that can include enlistment papers, correspondence, orders, prisoner-of-war memorandums, casualty reports, and final statements. Starting in October 1863, slave owners could enlist their slaves and receive up to $300 upon filing a “manumission” or deed of ownership. Unique to some of the records of the USCT are these deeds of manumission and bills of sale. For genealogists, these records may offer the only source of documentation of an enslaved ancestor in the absence of other vital records.
For the first time, these valuable historical records are available online, thanks to Fold3, and to National Archives staff and volunteers who spent years preparing, preserving, microfilming, and digitizing them. The collection is available free of charge to non-subscribers on www.fold3.com/category_268 today through May 31, and can be accessed for free at any time on computers at National Archives research facilities nationwide.
In total, the USCT consisted of seven cavalry regiments; 13 artillery regiments plus one independent battery; 144 infantry units; two Brigade Bands; and other miscellaneous smaller units. Records are arranged by regiment and then alphabetically by surname of the soldier.
The USCT fought in 39 major engagements and more than 400 other ones. Sixteen African American soldiers received the Medal of Honor. The last USCT regiment was mustered out of Federal service in December 1867.
One soldier chronicled in the records is Edmund Delaney, a slave who served in Company E of the 117th USCT Infantry. Delaney was 25 years old when he enlisted in August 1864. His owner, Harvey C. Graves of Georgetown, Kentucky, filed a compensation claim for Delaney’s military service in December 1866, stating that Delaney was “purchased at private sale when he was quite a small boy.” Graves attached to his “proof of ownership” a rare photo of Delaney, and letters Delaney had written to him while serving in Brownsville, Texas.
Another soldier’s file reads like an ultimate page turner and details the tragic story of Fortune Wright, a free black man before the Civil War who served in the 96th USCT Infantry. Read USCT project manager Jackie Budell’s fascinating Prologue “Pieces of History” blog post.
More information:
- African American records at the National Archives
- More information on records of the Freedmen’s Bureau
- Prologue Magazine’s special issue on the use of federal records for African American historical and genealogical research
- The National Archives Archival Research Catalog’s section on African American history