Research Resources - Maps

Maps are one of the major tools that I've used to help me visualize where my ancestors lived. The one below was created after I'd been doing research for about 15 years. What I wanted was something small enough that I could take to the library and on research trips yet have it include a summary of all the surnames being researched. I also wanted something that would make sense to non-researching family members. It prints nicely on a standard 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper (click on the image to enlarge it).

As a starting point I scanned a portion of a U.S. counties map, probably from a very early edition of The Handybook for Genealogists. I currently have the Eighth Edition, printed in 1991, and it doesn't include anything like this, so maybe that's not where it came from. Anyway, after scanning it I opened the map in an image editing program and commenced to highlight each of the counties where my ancestors had lived.

The counties highlighted in yellow are the maternal lines and the orange are the paternal lines. Those with yellow centers and outlined in orange indicate that families from both my mother and father resided there. The names in blue are maternal lines and the red are paternal lines.

The only states where some of my ancestors lived that are not included on this map are Iowa, Kansas, and Mississippi. Also, I've just barely touched on researching my New England ancestors so not all of the counties where they resided in Massachusetts and Connecticut are highlighted. In addition to this map, I keep a file of copies of maps for each of these counties and have attempted to identify the township or at least the approximate area where they lived.

One of the other resources I've used extensively is "Map Guide to the U. S. Federal Censuses 1790-1920" by William Thorndale and William Dollarhide. The edition I have was published in 1987, which is a bit old but in decent shape and it still serves my purposes. If, like me, you have ancestors that are listed in a different county almost every census year but never physically moved, this book is indispensable. Of course, there are now web sites and software that dynamically show these county boundary changes.

A third resource that I use in my research is "The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy" which was my major purchase at the NGS Conference in Chicago in June ... Dick Eastman's review of the book covers it much better than I ever could. If I spent more time reading "The Source" I could probably forgo attending the FGS Conference next week, but there is more to going to a conference than attending lectures!

What general research resources are on your bookshelf?

• The Handybook for Genealogists
• Map Guide to the U. S. Federal Censuses 1790-1920
• Family History 101 has animated maps of the county boundary changes
• AniMap is software that dynamically shows boundary changes and allows you to make notations and save them for future use
  
• Dick Eastman's review of The Source

Front Porch Living

Walking through our neighbourhood, it's always interesting to see how many people store their bicycles out on the porch. Passing one particular block, it seemed like every other house had one. Occasionally readers ask whether storing a bike on the porch is a good idea, especially in the winter months. And as usual, it depends.




Indoor bike storage can be tough around here, so it's understandable that for many the porch offers a happy compromise. The bike is protected from precipitation by a roof, so it won't be soaking wet or covered in snow come morning. It is on private property and not out in the street, which offers some peace of mind.And it doesn't take up valuable storage space indoors.






But a porch does not make a bike theft-proof or immune to the elements. It goes without saying that the bike should be locked up securely, ideally with a thick chain. And if you live near salt water, or in an area that gets heavily salted in winter, rust will form despite the roof cover. Components may still freeze, due to moisture getting into them. I have also heard accounts (though have never seen this with my own eyes) of steel bicycle tubes distorting when left outdoors through the winter - most likely due to water condensing, then freezing inside the tubing.




The best candidates for porch living are either beater bikes that you do not care about damaging, or heavy-duty utility bikes with thick tubing, durable paint, and rust-resistant components. Both categories also have some built-in theft protection by virtue of being perceived as too unappealing or heavy to steal. Personally, I would not hesitate to store a bike on my porch, if I had one - though not a delicate or expensive one. And not one heavy enough to make the porch cave in... something I saw the other day during one of my walks.

Horse Collection

As a little girl I always wanted a horse but couldn't have one. So I took to collecting model horses. Since my dad was in the Air Force we moved around a lot and when we moved my parents would try to see all the sights in the new town. Of course my sisters and I would want to buy souvenirs each time we went to a different park, tourist attraction, or any where there was a gift shop. I started by model horses, pictures, even postcards as my souvenirs and even kept a written record of the description of the horse, where I bought it, and gave each model horse a name. The two matching rubber horses were a team that came with a wagon that I got when I was about three years old. The white horse with saddle was always one of my favorites. The following posts are some photos of different horses in my collection. A few weeks ago I took a count, then repacked them and put most of them away in the plastic container they live in now since I don't have a display case to put them in, or room for that big a display case in my small house. There were over 30 of the small china horses, no more than 3 inches tall. There were more that were 5 to 8 inches tall. There are some that are hard plastic, some that are a metal, a few that are rubber, and a couple that are wood. Most are still not worth anything even though some of them are getting some age on them. Not all are horses, there are about a dozen donkeys and mules and a couple of zebras. I do have a few of the well-known Breyer horses but couldn't dig them out of hiding for easily to take there photo on the day I took the ones shown here. In all I figure there are about 120 models, plus all the stuffed horses, pictures, postcards, and a few other horse related items. As a child this collection of horses ment everything to me.
Now they don't mean much at all. Those five real horse and ponies out in their pens in my yard are the ones that mean a lot to me.

Sunset at Horsethief Campground

Utah is blessed with five National Parks, two of them near Moab – Arches and Canyonlands. I decided to try and find somewhere else to stay for a couple more nights rather than having to “wait and see” if a camp site was available at Arches.

The road to Canyonlands is a few miles north of Arches but then it is a 30+ mile drive to get into the Park and the campground is a little further in. It is a magnificent drive however. Arriving at the Canyonlands campground I discovered that there are only 12 sites! 12. Of course, they were all taken. Ugh. But, the Ranger says “There is a BLM campground ten miles back from the park entrance.” I had passed it on my way in but didn't check it out because it was on an unpaved road. So I turned around and went back.

Horsethief Campground is on a high plateau with little protection from the wind and other elements but it is in a beautiful location. The amenities are few. A place to park, pit toilets, no water. If you put up a tent you have to use rocks to keep it in place – stakes just can't go through solid rock! But there were a couple of the 60 or so sites still available; I ended up staying there for three nights, using it as a base camp to explore the area – Canyonlands, Arches, and Moab.

It was early afternoon when I arrived at Horsethief Campground and as I was walking back to my site from dropping off payment, there was Hunter (the older gentleman with whom I had shared a site last night at Arches)! He was sitting at a picnic table in the site a short distance from mine. We talked for a few minutes then I headed back to my site. I had decided to spend the afternoon just lazying around, reading a book, relaxing.

It wasn't too much later that the sky quickly darkened and gray clouds moved in above us. I grabbed my chair and book and slid into the van just as rain came pouring down. It lasted a good while, well into the evening and cleared up shortly before sunset. Along with about a dozen other campers, I made my way out of the campground to a little rise for a good view of the sunset. I looked for Hunter but didn't see him. I stopped at his site on the way back to mine but he was no where around. I didn't see him again. In the morning I was just getting out of bed when I heard something hit the windshield. I looked out and Hunter was walking away toward his site. By the time I got out of the van he was gone, but he had left me a note beneath the wiper blade, now soaked by the morning dew. It said, simply “Becky – Happy Trails. Hunter.” What a touching gesture. What a sweet man he was.

If I get nothing else out of this journey, the joy and pleasure of meeting some wonderful people, will suffice. I find it truly amazing how quickly friendships form. We meet someone, spend a few minutes or hours together, then go our separate ways. But the thoughts and memories linger and I often wonder about them. Larry, at Big Bend. Sophia, on top of Angels Landing. Hunter, at Arches and Horsethief. I've been astounded by the people I've met on the trail who, after talking with them for perhaps half an hour, have invited me to visit them when I get in their area – they have given me their email and phone number and fully expect me to contact them. And I just might! This has been an incredible experience thus far – almost nine months on the road – and it isn't over yet!

Milldale to Tissington and back

With Harry. Cloudy and drizzly to start with, then cloud lifted. Muddy in places. just under 8 miles.

























Cross Viator's Bridge out of Milldale village, and follow the steep path up to the left, signposted Tissington.



The path climbed up quite steeply, but the usual zig-zag path wasn't too bad, nor too long! At the top the signed route was fairly clear, though it turned muddy, and I think we may have taken a path slightly too far to the north of the route we intended.

In any case, up a bit and down a bit, it led to the (unmarked) minor road to Tissington, just across the A515 Ashbourne to Buxton road.

We walked into Tissington, as far as the Tissington Trial, but on a dankish Monday at 3pm nothing of interest (i.e. a coffee shop) seemed to be open, so we made our way back, following the same route mainly. The views were good, but not great - a little too misty, though the cloud did lift a little later in the walk.

Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico

This sign sits in the park or town square in Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico. My friend and I decided to take a walking tour around the shops and sights while she was visiting on July 15, ... She had never been but I have been going now and then ever since I was born. Although it has been about seven years or so since I was last there with my two aunts on one of their trips to Albuquerque. http://www.albuquerqueoldtown.com/ The town of Albuquerque was founded in 1706. The church of San Felipe de Neri Church sits on one side of the square and the other three sides are full of shops, and cafes, as well as one old, large, and famous restaurant named La Placita. When visiting you need to remember that Old Town now is mostly for the tourist trade and prices may be higher here than in other, more modern, parts of Albuquerque. There are lots of gift shops, jewelry stores, and artist shops and galleries. Some shops have the cheaper tourist trade gift items but lots of unique, and very high quality items can be found in other shops.
http://www.virtualalbuquerque.com/VirtualABQ/OldTownPlaza/ This website has lots of photos, history information, and tourist information about Old Town.
I have posted a lot of the photos and some brief descriptions of the day that we toured Old Town. I have tried to put them in a semblance of an order of the way we walked and so that it would make since to those readers that have never been there. Hope you find it interesting and that maybe if you are ever in Albuquerque you will find time for a visit to one of my favorite places in my home state.

Contact Strength

Susy Goldner spent eleven years, long hours, every day of the week,perfecting her contact skills.

As Manager of Contact Centres for Virgin Blue.










It's the same meticulous approach she brings to her climbing.

A reliable sourceinformed jjobrienclimbing that Susy was caught in Kalymnos with detailed sequence notes, including a breathing and resting strategyfor her project in her chalk bag. Meticulous? More than a bit.








For a girl who has spent so many years helping customers get into planes she has spent a disproportionate amount of time jumping out of them. She told me one day how many skydives she has made, I don't remember the number but it gave me vertigo.












That's a Kaly' tan right there.









Working for an airline has it's perks, there's those handy refresher towelettes, and then there's the travel.

U.S./ Kalymnos / China / Nowra / back and forth to the Bluies.








Getting things sorted.





Susy sends "Wholey Calamity" 26 at Coolum Cave





They call her the G-Star












A decade of fronting an airlines' customer contact could go either way.

It could make a girl jaded or it could feed a commitment to improvement and a desire to excel.

Guess what Susy chose?





to be continued

The Winter Carnival has Arrived!

Jasia has posted the 64th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, the topic this time around was Winter Photo Essay. Thirty contributors featured a variety of "winter" photographs. A chilly trip back in time to be sure, but heartwarming nevertheless.

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: "The Happy Dance. The Joy of Genealogy. Almost everyone has experienced it. Tell us about the first time, or the last time, or the best time. What event, what document, what special find has caused you to stand up and cheer, to go crazy with joy? If you haven't ever done the Happy Dance, tell us what you think it would take for you to do so."

This next edition will be hosted by yours truly, right here at kinexxions. The deadline for submissions is February 1st. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link.

So that we genea-bloggers can plan ahead (yeah, right!) Jasia has provided a list of topics for future carnivals (in the lower left column at Creative Gene). Several dates are still available for hosting. If you're interested, contact Jasia.

The COG posters are a creation of footnoteMaven.

Foal in Jacket

Here is the foal in the jacket.

Walk on the Desert

went for a walk on the desert the other day and saw some interesting plants. The dogs trailed something that was most likely a rabbit. Was a nice day.

Cars - A Necessary Evil

When Jasia announced the topic of this edition of the COG, I'll have to admit that I cringed a bit. Cars have never been a "big" thing in my family. They were pretty much seen as a necessary evil, a utilitarian object required to get from one place to another. So much so, that I don't think that I have even one photograph of any of our cars. Well, that is, except for the one below, and several others of cars that were involved in accidents in which the cars were totaled. Those pictures aren't pretty and my brother and I were fortunate to walk away from the accidents uninjured with only a few bruises and scratches. I had a love-hate relationship with many of my cars. However, several other, more favorable, incidents involving cars and my family came crawling out of the recesses of my mind.


One of the earliest cars that I remember my family owning was the Nash Rambler. And, of course, we all absolutely adored the song "Beep Beep" when it came out in 1958. I wonder if that guy ever got his car out of second gear? It was a nice car though a bit small for a growing family. It was a bit crowded when we were all riding in it at the same time.

We lived out in the country, about 10 miles from the largest town (Warsaw) and nearest movie theatre. All of us (Mom, Dad, and 4 kids) would drive into Warsaw every Saturday to get groceries and once in a great while we would be treated to a movie. The Saturday Matinee at the Lake Theatre was a special event. We'd get a big bag of popcorn and a large pop to share. On this particular day it was "101 Dalmatians" that was showing, the original animated version, so it would have been 1961. Don't know why but that has stuck with me through the years. It is really irrelevant to the story. Anyway, the movie was over and we left the theatre. It was early evening and the street lights had just come on, shedding an eerie green light over everything which changed colors so they didn't look like they usually did. We were all excited and talking about the movie as we piled into our car. Dad put the key in the ignition and turned it, but nothing happened. The car wouldn't start. It was then that we started noticing that something wasn't quite right. We had gotten into the wrong car! We quickly got out and strolled down the block a little ways where we found our car, right where we had left it.

When my brother got out of the Navy in the spring of 1968, he bought a Chevrolet Corvair convertible. I don't remember the details but one day, for some reason, he wanted to go into North Webster, probably to hang out with some friends, and didn't want to leave his car in town. So he wanted me to take him in. Mom was at work so his was the only car available since I didn't have my own car at that time. Problem was, the Corvair was a stick shift, and I had only driven cars with an automatic transmission. No problem, he said, he'd teach me! And so he drove the car to the field out back of the house, I slid into the driver's seat and we chugged and jerked our way around that field until I could smoothly get the car out of one gear and into the next. And that is how I learned to drive a car with a manual transmission.

The first new car that I owned, and subsequently fell in love with, was an American Motors Hornet Hatchback. I spent the year 1973 in Iceland, at the Keflavik Naval Air Station, and one of the "perks" that I took advantage of at the end of my tour of duty was a discount on the purchase of a new car. I remember spending hours going over the various brochures that were provided. Sure, I wanted a car that looked nice, performed well, was dependable, etc. But most of all I wanted something that I could travel well with. Something that would even allow me to sleep in the car, if necessary. Billed as "a sports car with room to travel in" the AMC Hornet Hatchback seemed to fit my needs and also happened to fall within my budget!

The car was delivered to a dealership in Elkhart where I picked it up while I was on leave in January 1974. It was metallic blue, and beautiful. Over the next three years that car, dubbed "Old Blue," and I criss-crossed the United States several times. From northern Indiana to Florida, then to California, then to Rochester, New York, back to Indiana, back to California, and various places in-between. I just couldn't bear to part with the car in 1977 when I was transferred to Japan so it was put in storage for two years. The car was paid for. It had a lot of miles put on it but had been taken care of quite well and was in good shape. I figured it would be cheaper to pay for storage than to have to buy a new car when I returned.

A friend stationed at Point Mugu retrieved the car from storage and prepared it for my return. When I picked up the car in May 1979 it was as good as new, better even, since I didn't have car payments to make! That summer was, without a doubt, the best summer of my life and a journey I'll always remember. After a quick trip to San Diego to visit friends I headed north, along the coast highway, taking plenty of time before finally reaching friends in the Seattle, Washington area. To say that I took advantage of the fold-down back seats for sleeping would be an understatement. I lived in "Old Blue" that summer. Eventually, I made my way back to Indiana in time to start the fall semester at Indiana State University in Terre Haute.

Old Blue got me through school and held up well for a few more years. But during the winter of 1984 the heater quit working, which meant the windows couldn't be defrosted. And with winters in northern Indiana being what they are, I really needed a heater and defroster. When I took it in to get it checked out I was told that it would cost more to repair than the car was worth. So, it was with great sadness that I traded in Old Blue and purchased my next car. When the dealer looked at the odometer and saw that it said a bit over 80,000 miles he was impressed. "Wow, a ten year old car with only 80,000+ miles, and in great shape." For a moment the thought went through my mind, maybe I shouldn't tell him the actual mileage. But then, honesty, or perhaps some thoughts of bragging rights, came over me and he was astounded when I told him it actually had 180,000+ miles. Needless to say, the trade-in value plummeted, and I got next to nothing for Old Blue. Nothing except a lot of very good memories. And those are priceless.

I tend to hang on to cars until the very end. I'm on my third vehicle since Old Blue, a Chevy Cavalier, also a hatchback style, but without a name, that I've had for eight years now and it's getting close to 140,000 miles. It too has been a good, faithful car but the miles that have been put on it haven't been nearly as much fun as those with Old Blue.

Somewhere in my boxes of pictures I would like to think that I have a photo of Old Blue, but I haven't found it yet, and a picture isn't really needed for me to remember. But this picture shows what she looked like.

While trying to locate a picture on the 'net I discovered that in the 1974 movie "The Man with the Golden Gun" James Bond drove a red AMC Hornet hatchback special coupe. And, if you are a collector, for $39.99 you can actually purchase a 1/43 scale die cast model of the car. Cool, yes, but not really something that I want. The memories are sufficient.

Local crag feature "Irishtown" past and present

Well the start of the winter season /11 is underway and slowly I'm getting back into the groove of using tools and crampons on rock and ice again. Like with most previous local seasons, our first few days are spent scratching around on dismal ice, but mostly rock. Yes the cold has hit the Laurel Highlands and the ice is building fast, but the mixed climbing is our best option right now and getting even better. We really haven't seen many climbers out yet, but I'm sure this weekend will have ice climbers out at the easy access crags. With the early season mixed climbing in such good shape, I've decided to try to increase the amount of opportunity for ice climbers to try their hand at the abundance of mixed options we have in the area. I decided to revisit a climb that I top roped last season at a local crag named Irishtown. I've dubbed the route Dynamite.It's located on the lower wall at Irishtown.

equipping the route "Dynamite" at Irishtown

You can see footage of the climb at the end of this short Irishtown video by Ray Burnsworth of Wildfilm productions. Its the last climb of the clip. Now all you young whippersnappers don't be laughing too hard at the vintage '90s climbing attire. This clip shows some of the ice at Irishtown and theaboveroute is located on the lower cliff (the first of the two walls.)

This crag is an old abandoned Limestone mine that seeps water out over the front forming several nice lines. There is a lower and upper wall. The lower wall is obvious, but the upper wall is reached by going right of the lower wall andfollowing the trail to the upper wall. Its about a 5min. walk. The center of the Lower Wall is highlighted by an old mine opening, withmanymean lookingdaggers hanging off the lip. Use Caution - The warm air seeping out of the mine prevents thesolid attachment of the sickles hanging over the mouth. THEY FORM AND FALL CONTINUALLY all season long, so be careful!Since it's an old quarry/mine and some of the rock isn't the best quality, it makes for a fun mixed and drytooling crag whenother ice isn't fully formed. There are several pure ice lines which have been the main attraction of this crag in past years. Just to the right of the quarry opening is the ice route Mouth of Madness WI4-5.One of the earlier climbs of the cliff which was first climbed via top rope in the mid '80's. Not until recent years have the mixed options become so apparent. This season I hope to establish some new bolted mixed climbs to expand the options at this fun roadside crag. Another quality line at the main cliff is called The ProwWI3+,M4. Its located to the right of Mouth Of Madness. It ascends several shorter vertical sections before pulling through the rock. Finishes at the trees. You can also traverse left and finish that way if the overhanging rock intimidates you. I highly recommend this line.

Laura Hahn seconding The Prow WI4- M4 Feb

The Prow's conditions today

Myself on the Prow '09-'10 season

One of the most common email questions I receive is: I'm a newer ice climber, where do you recommend I go? Irishtown is a great choice. The Upper tier is home to several nice, (but short 15'-30') WI 3 to 3+ routes that areusually easy to top rope or great for a newer leader to get their feet wet. Here's a few photos of their condition as of today.

The main central flow of the upper Irishtown wall

Some short mixed options exist on the upper wall as well

The rightmost flow of the upper Irishtown wall

There you have it a brief introduction to Irishtown. By this weekend most lines should be in reasonable shape for this time of year. So come out to Southwestern PA and enjoy cragging at Irishtown.