Tagwhat App, Your Personal Kazoo Tour

I just noticed on the Kalamazoo Public Library (KPL) website a really exciting feature whether you have a smart phone or not (like me). Using a free app you can access historical information about Kalamazoo county sites, with an emphasis on the downtown Kalamazoo area. With 163 locations tagged in downtown and over one hundred spread over the rest of the county there is a whole lot of history at your fingertips.

Information is provided about buildings, schools, churches, cemeteries, neighborhoods, theaters and more. When you click on an item you will see a brief description of the location and if you “view tag” you can read more. Usually there is a link that will take you directly to the KPL website for that location where you can read the full article and find references.

So, if you've ever driven past a building and wondered about its history, this is the app (available for iPhone and Android devices) for you. And if you don't have a smart phone you can still take advantage of this neat resource via your computer. Just click to view the interactive map or to download the app for your phone.  If you hover over a green pin a box will often appear to indicate what is at that location. The numbered circles indicate several sites in close proximity to each other. 

Have fun, exploring!

Michigan County Research Guides

Seeking Michigan is in the process of preparing county research guides listing the original source records held by the Archives of Michigan. The record types include: Court Records, Land, Military, Naturalization, Occupational, Poor House Records, Prison, Probate, Tax Records, Voter Records and more, depending on the county. Within each category, you will find a list of the specific records as well as the year range and record group number. For some counties you'll find quite a list of resources and for others only a few.

Finding aids in the Archives include more detailed information about each type of record. The finding aids are organized by record group.

The counties for which guides are currently available are: Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, Livingston, Kent, Ottawa, Shiawassee, Washtenaw and Wayne.  You can find them here. 

Records for some counties are housed at the WMU Archives (and are noted on the list) so be sure to pay attention so you travel to the correct location to view your records of interest. Note: walk-in research at the WMU Archives has been suspended until they move into their new building in October. 

Seeking Michigan also has guides to help you learn more about some of these records and where they are available.  They have guides for Vital Records, Immigration and Naturalization Records and Military Records.

Where Is My Court Case?

I don't know much about legal cases. Prior to embarking on my genealogical adventure I thought of the courts as just one big entity: one court fits all, as it were. Thanks to my genealogical research I'm learning that is definitely not the case. Until a few years ago, the only court records I had used were chancery records to find divorce cases, see Husband Schmusband. I had also looked in the probate index a few times (most of my people didn't own enough to bother with a will). Then in 2012 I examined court records in two criminal cases (Murderer Gets Off Easy).

Looking through old newspapers I found a few lawsuits that I was unable to locate in the chancery index for Kalamazoo county. The cases were often mentioned in the court section of the paper so there was no doubt that lawsuits had been filed. But where were they? When I asked some of the staff at the WMU Archives everything became clear. I was looking in the wrong place. There was yet another flavor of court case. Of course I had heard of civil suits, but because they weren't on microfilm I didn't even consider that I should be seeking something that wasn't in plain sight (silly me). In my defense I can only say that I can only spend 2-3 hours a year at the Archives so when I can't find something I quickly make a note of it and dash on to the next item on my list while also coordinating my mom's look-up list.

So for those of you who are as legally naïve as I am, here are some of the different types of courts you may encounter (at least in Kalamazoo county) and generally what kinds of records you can find there.

Criminal Court: Speaks for itself.

Probate Court: Estate files, but also cases for admitting people to the asylum.

Chancery Court: This is primarily divorce cases, but also land disputes and business dissolutions.

Law Court: Civil actions in which people sue each other for other reasons.

You are more likely to find chancery records, and often probate records on microfilm because that is where the greatest demand is. Most people are interested to know why their great-grandparents divorced or who and what was mentioned in a will, but not who sued great-uncle Clyde for breach of contract.

The categories I mentioned above might seem to cover the bases pretty well from a layman's point of view, but when consulting a book on the topic of courthouse research I was confronted with a list of no less than twenty-two “common” types of court records that might be found depending on the time period and jurisdiction. [1] Even with the four types of court records I now know of in Kalamazoo county, looking for a particular record is more complicated than it might initially appear. I browsed through the binder at the WMU Archives containing information on the various county court records in their possession and their descriptions. I discovered Justices' court records, miscellaneous court records, miscellaneous circuit court records, court calendars, circuit court journals, special motion books, minute books, special and common orders for chancery, commissioner records and county court records, among other things. And there seemed to be boxes and boxes for kind of record. Based on this, I anticipate that finding my missing court cases will require some real effort.

Now that I finally know where I need to look it will be another long wait (over a year) before I can try to get my hands on the records. But, I've learned a little and that will only help me in the future when I'm sure I'll be looking for yet another obscure court case. These cases may not have juicy details like some of the divorce files I've read, but you never know what little clue will help to solve a minor mystery or flesh out a long-dead relative.

1. Christine Rose, Courthouse Research for Family Historians: Your Guide To Genealogical Treasures (San Jose, California: CR Publications, 2004) 112.

Why Don't Beginners Cite Right?

While I have been researching my family history for about a decade I have to confess that the sources in my tree are not what they should be (either incomplete or I haven't actually cited the source that I have). It is embarrassing to admit, but there it is.

I have been thinking about how I ended up in this bind and I have come up with a few reasons.

1. When I began doing genealogy I was doing it for myself. I wasn't trying to prove anything to anyone.
2. When I began doing genealogy I didn't have many different sources (primarily obituaries, family lore and copies of census records that I made from microfilm at NARA) so it was usually clear where my information came from.
3. I didn't realize how important proper citing would be later on.
4. It was easier to put census and city directory information in the “Notes” section of my genealogy program because there was unlimited space compared to the “Facts” section where only a snippet can be readily seen.

Now, of course, I know better and have decided that this year I will make amends. When I think about the task ahead of me it is completely overwhelming because there are a lot of people in my tree. I am dreading this very time-consuming chore, but it simply has to be done. What I need to do is to focus on my ancestral line (siblings and more distant relatives will have to wait) and pick a family to begin with. Then I can start re-examining sources and citing them correctly. The biggest barrier is trying to figure out exactly how to cite sources in my family tree software.

I have tried on numerous occasions to tackle this problem, but citing sources in Family Tree Maker is, in my opinion, most definitely NOT user-friendly. Each time I've started over the past few years I've invariably thrown my hands up and stormed off in frustration. Case in point: one time I tried to add sources for two divorce decrees I found. I filled out the fields for the source and added the details for the first decree. Then I did the same for the second record (same source, different case/page number). When I went back to the first record it had the details for the second record. I fixed it and went back to the second record. You guessed it, now it had details for the first record. Time to give up. Another time, I was trying to cite obituaries that I had found in online digitized newspapers. I tried to use a template hoping it would guide me in correctly filling out the numerous fields. I finished and immediately realized that I hadn't found a place to put in the website where I found the digitized newspapers. Wrong again! When attempting to cite vital record images accessed online (again using the provided template, though trying to choose the right template is another puzzle) I spent I don't know how long, trying to discover the repository where the original records are held, though I never viewed the originals. Time to throw up my hands or pull out my hair? I was too frustrated to decide.

All I know is that I must dig myself out before I get any deeper in the mire. I know that there will be some benefits, besides the obvious one of feeling a tremendous weight lifted from my shoulders because my sources will be properly cited. First, I'll become so familiar with citing sources in my software that it will no longer be a barrier (and I plan to make a cheat sheet so, lest I forget, I will know exactly what to do). Second, I'm sure that in the process of perusing my records I'll notice things I hadn't before. At least I know that finding most of the records should be simple because I have a good system for organizing both my paper records and those on my computer. The only ones that will take longer are those buried in military pension application files, but those can wait.

This nightmare ends now! I'm taking an online course starting today to help me through this process. I don't know how long it will take to accomplish my task (a long time, I know), but at least I'll be making progress and I'll know how to do it right.

Stop! Don't Toss It Yet

Scenario: You just received the collection of papers from great aunt Gertrude. How do you decide what to keep and what to get rid of?

Your first thought may be “Aaaack! I don't have room for more boxes. Maybe I should do a fast sort and dump.” However, I would advise against this. Here's the most important reason why: some of the things that seem unimportant or mundane now may later provide clues to tracing someone or understanding their life better.

A concrete example might be finding an obituary for someone whose name you don't recognize. Perhaps it was just a friend, but in a few years when you have done more research you might recognize it as someone who married into the family. A closer look may reveal a new married name for one of your people or a city of residence that you were unaware of. Either way, that little clue may be just what you need to track someone down, just like sometimes it only takes one additional letter in a crossword puzzle to allow you to fill in an entire corner.

I'm sure we've all come across notes we took when we were just starting our genealogical adventure. It is always rewarding to see that we've made progress over the years. We now have a history for the sister who had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. We now have land records and newspaper articles to teach us about people we only had the barest vital records for before.

My mother and I keep encountering this phenomenon. When she comes to visit she brings a bag or envelope with family stuff enclosed. Some of the items I've gone through before, but each time something there has new meaning because I have learned more. In the most recent batch I went through notebooks my grandmother kept when she and my grandfather were building their house during WWII. They built on a lot where the previous house had burned. My mother told me my grandfather salvaged everything he could, nails, bricks, you name it. He measured every board he saved and then used that information to determine how much house he could build. My grandmother's notebooks list how much everything cost, down to the price for a box of nails. On the surface, it may not seem interesting, but when put in the context of the war and knowing this was my mother's childhood home, I'm glad we saved these notebooks.

I now try to put notes with each collection of items as I sort through them. The notes may be brief descriptions of the contents and notations of what I scanned. What I now realize needs to be added is the date I examined them. This way I will know how long it has been since I perused the documents and therefore, how likely it is that I will find something I didn't know was important way back when. As much as I want to decrease the clutter in my life, I don't want to be too hasty in my efforts and discard something I might regret later. My advice would be to keep it (for now) if you are in doubt. You can always change your mind later and toss it, but you will never be able to retrieve something that went to the landfill or the recycling center months or years ago.

Packing Up The WMU Archives

There are only a little over two months before the new home of the Western Michigan University Archives and Local History Collections is scheduled to open.  While work is progressing on the new building, the arduous task of moving all of the materials will begin soon.

I was fortunate enough to squeeze in one final trip to the old WMU gymnasium before it closes for good.  The site on East campus is now closed to walk-in research until the new facility opens.  Though the space appeared essentially the same when I was there, boxes were going in and out.  Some of them likely to replace deteriorating or non-standard size boxes previously in use. [1]  In addition to boxing and moving items to the new stacks, most of the books and boxes of records are being bar coded for the first time. [1]  This will be essential for locating materials in the new compact shelving.  No more will items be found by saying they are on the left side of the swimming pool.  With as many resources as the Archives possesses (about 28,000 cubic feet) the next two months or so will be very busy for the Archives staff as they organize everything under one roof. [1]

So long, East Hall.

1.  Friends of the University Libraries.  Friendly Notes.  Vol. 3, Issue 1 (Jan 2013). 

Actions Speak Louder

We all know the adage “actions speak louder than words.” I think this holds especially true in genealogy research when we often don't have any “words” to refer to. By words I mean personal words in the form of letters, journals and the like. Lacking this we have only the “actions” a person took in their life such as where they lived, their occupation(s), whether they accumulated land, etc. to guide us in our attempts to uncover elements of personality.

When I began writing about my gg-grandfather's brother, Lawrence Flynn (1844-1916) I had to find a way to understand what kind of person he was. By looking more closely at the “actions” in Lawrence's life I came to believe that he was a passionate, ambitious young man. Here are the actions in his early life that lead me to that conclusion.

In 1860, Lawrence was working on a neighbor's farm, though surely he would have been needed on his parents' farm, being the oldest one still at home. [1]

When only sixteen, Lawrence may have tried to enlist at the same time as his brother, Edward, shortly after the Civil War broke out. [2]

At seventeen Lawrence enlisted on 17 Oct 1861 in the First Michigan Lancers, a unit that was disbanded soon thereafter. When Lawrence enlisted it was only one day before his brother John joined a different unit. [3, 4] Lawrence enlisted at Saginaw, about 40 miles from his parents' home, again possibly indicating he was not living at home. [4]

When Lawrence enlisted again (in the 1^st Michigan Mechanics and Engineers) in 1863 he stated his occupation as “carpenter” and his residence as Detroit (again not where his parents lived). [5]

After the war, Lawrence moved in with his brother, Michael, in Three Rivers to learn the carriage-making trade in his brother's successful shop. [6,7]

After only a few years Lawrence moved out from under Michael's wing to work in a buggy shop in Constantine. [8]

By 1877, Lawrence had moved to the carriage-making hub of Kalamazoo and had joined forces with prominent carriage-maker Nelson A. Newton. [9, 10, 11]

A few years later Lawrence started a business with a colleague, blacksmith Frank Whaling, though this endeavor was ultimately unsuccessful. [12, 13]

Re-printed with generous permission of the Kalamazoo Public Library! [14]

In 1894, Lawrence and Frank started a business for the second time, establishing City Carriage Co. Again, the business failed when the partners had a falling out that resulted in a lawsuit. [15, 16, 17]

Then I look at those things and ask myself “what kind of a person would do these things?"  To me, these actions suggested a few things. First, the fact that Lawrence left home at an early age indicated that he wanted to be on his own. He may have wanted to emulate his elder brothers and prove that he was ready to be a man, though it may also be a result of tension between Lawrence and his parents. I'll never know for certain. Similarly, when Lawrence enlisted or tried to enlist he may have been trying to be like his older brothers. Second, after only a few years working in Michael's carriage-making shop Lawrence moved on, first to Constantine and then to Kalamazoo. Perhaps he felt he had learned everything he could from Michael or he wanted to prove to himself or his family that he could be successful in his own right.

While Lawrence actually did start a carriage business twice, neither lasted more than a couple of years. Part of the reason for these failures was likely Lawrence's health. This was certainly the case for City Carriage. [17] Lawrence's back had been injured during the Civil War. [18] One of his lower vertebrae was pushed out of alignment and seems to have pressed on his spinal cord causing neuralgia in his legs such that the only time he reported he wasn't in pain was when he was lying prone. [18, 19]

Lawrence continued working in his chosen trade until a few years prior to his death. For at least a few of those years he worked at the Michigan Buggy Company and would have been there when they began getting their toes wet in the new automobile trade. After examining Lawrence's actions I came to believe that he was a passionate, ambitious young man who was not afraid to take a chance and strike out on his own. He also may have had a bit of a temper based on his testimony in a couple of lawsuits. [17, 20] By the time I finished writing my story about Lawrence (and as I wrote it became more about him and less about the carriage to car age) I believed he would have been excited by the burgeoning car industry. He may even have wished he had been born a little later so he could have had an active role in this new world.

This is just one more reason why we need to write down the stories of our relatives. If we look at all of our documents and read between the lines of a person's actions we can start to discover the hints of personality. Even if we have few (or even no) actual words from that person we can flesh them out at least to some extent. The process of writing forces me, at least, to really look at everything I have to tease out what makes that person tick to the best of my estimation. It's true that I can't prove the elements of personality that I attribute to him in my story. First of all, I can't. Second, that's not the object of my story. My goal is to create a narrative about his life that can help to explain the facts that I have. Who wants to read a recitation of whats and wheres? I have yet to find a family member beating down my door to read my notes in my family tree software. The whys are what makes everything else interesting. Naturally, I try to make reasonable guesses based on the evidence I have and clearly state that they are just that, guesses. But, it is often enough to give my family a story worth reading. One that makes them think about a person they never knew and want to know more. So, even if you never thought about writing about someone in your family because you never knew them and have no personal writings, take a look at their actions and if you listen carefully they may reveal some little hints of personality you can't find elsewhere.

 

1. 1860 U.S. census, Washtenaw County, Michigan, population schedule, Webster, p. 62 (handwritten,), dwelling 469, family 469, Lawrence Flynn; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 27 Nov 2006), citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 548.
2. Camp Fire Tales, Kalamazoo (Michigan) Gazette, 30 Jan 1916, page 7, column 2; digital image, Genealogy Bank (http://www.genealogybank.com: accessed 26 March 2011), Kalamazoo Gazette (1837-1922) Collection.
3. Compiled Service Record, John Flynn, Pvt., Co H, 14^th Michigan Inf.; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
4. Muster In Rolls, Lawrence Flynn, Pvt., Co E, 1^st Michigan Lancers; Ovs 78 Folder 03 Doc 27 Regimental Service Records, Michigan Adjutant General, Record Group 59-14: Records of the Michigan Military Establishment; digital image, Seeking Michigan (http://www.seekingmichigan.org: accessed 29 Sep 2011), Archives of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan.
5. Pension fact sheet signed by Lawrence, Lawrence H. Flynn (Cpl., Co. M, 1^st MI Eng. and Mech., Civil War), application no. 279,062, certificate no. 382,696, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications. . ., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
6. Lawrence Flynn deposition for Edward Flynn (p. 21), Edward A. Flynn (Pvt. Co I, 2^nd MI Inf., Civil War), application no. 83,138, certificate no. 63,675, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications. . ., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
7. “Died.” The News Reporter (Three Rivers, Michigan), 25 Sep 1880, page 4, Microfilm Collection, Roll No. Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History Collections, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
8. 1870 U.S. census, St. Joseph County, Michigan, population schedule, Constantine Post Office, p. 6 (handwritten), dwelling 46, family 48, Lawrence Flynn; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 27 Nov 2006), citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 700.
9. “Wanted.” Kalamazoo (Michigan) Daily Telegraph, 13 Mar 1877, p. 4, col 6, digital images, Kalamazoo Public Library (http://www.kpl.gov: accessed 24 Feb 2012), Kalamazoo Telegraph Collection.
10. “The County Fair,” Kalamazoo (Michigan) Daily Telegraph, 26 Sep 1877, p. 4, cols 3-4, digital images, Kalamazoo Public Library (http://www.kpl.gov: accessed 24 Feb 2012), Kalamazoo Telegraph Collection.
11. The Gazette directory of Kalamazoo County : containing complete village directories for all villages in the county, and a complete record of landholders by townships with number of acres, post office address and sections (Kalamazoo: Kalamazoo Gazette Book and Jobs Rooms, 1878) 53.
12. Kalamazoo (Michigan) Daily Telegraph, 21 Oct 1879, p. 1, col 2, digital images, Kalamazoo Public Library (http://www.kpl.gov: accessed 25 Feb 2012), Kalamazoo Telegraph Collection.
13. “Jottings,” Kalamazoo (Michigan) Daily Telegraph, 23 Mar 1883, p. 3, col 2, digital images, Kalamazoo Public Library (http://www.kpl.gov: accessed 25 Feb 2012), Kalamazoo Telegraph Collection.
14. Kalamazoo (Michigan) Daily Telegraph, 13 Aug 1880, p. 6, col 2, digital images, Kalamazoo Public Library (http://www.kpl.gov: accessed 25 Feb 2012), Kalamazoo Telegraph Collection.
15. “City Carriage Co. A New Institution Nearly Ready For Business,” Kalamazoo (Michigan) Gazette, 30 Sep 1894, (clipping, page no. not recorded – older/wiser now), digital images, Genealogy Bank (http://www.genealogybank.com: accessed 26 Mar 2011), Kalamazoo Gazette (1837-1922) Collection.
16. “Injunction Granted,” Kalamazoo (Michigan) Gazette, 13 Dec 1895, (clipping, page no. not recorded – older/wiser now), digital images, Genealogy Bank (http://www.genealogybank.com: accessed 26 Mar 2011), Kalamazoo Gazette (1837-1922) Collection.
17. Kalamazoo County, Michigan, Chancery Court, docket 8, Case 120, Lawrence Flynn v. Frank Whaling, filed 12 Dec 1895, Microfilm Collection, Roll No., Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History Collections, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
18.  Lawrence's statements, Lawrence H. Flynn (Cpl., Co. M, 1^st MI Eng. and Mech., Civil War), application no. 279,062, certificate no. 382,696, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications. . ., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C. 
19. Doctor's statement, Lawrence H. Flynn (Cpl., Co. M, 1^st MI Eng. and Mech., Civil War), application no. 279,062, certificate no. 382,696, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications. . ., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
20. Kalamazoo County, Michigan, Chancery Court, docket , Case , Lawrence Flynn v. Andrew Holmes, filed 1893, Microfilm Collection, Roll No., Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History Collections, Kalamazoo, Michigan.