Thursday Thoughts on Genealogy and Everything Else
Hi genealogy friends! Thursday’s Thoughts here again. Nothing profound, just observations and who knows, maybe something here will spark a conversation or two!
• I have updated Genealogy Circle with a new look and logo! I hope you find it easy to read. I continue to work on the broken photo links on some of the old posts. I am a little more than half finished but will have that completed soon. I also added new family charts to my surname links on the front page. (Again the old links were broken.) Hopefully I’ll have the site update completed in the next week!
• Last week on Thursday Thoughts I mentioned looking through the Roster of Ohio Soldiers 1861-1866. I received a comment on the post from from Debbie Mayes.
Did you know there’s an index there for the Roster of Ohio Soldiers 1861-1866? It’s on microfilm and is called the G.A.R. Index. It’s in alphabetical order by surname so if your ancestor had brothers or other relatives who served, you’ll find all of them listed together in the index. Next to their names, it tells what volume and page the soldier is listed on.
No, I didn’t know that. Thanks Debbie for the info! You can read more about Debbie at her website—Deborah A. Carder Mayes Genealogy & Family History. You’ll enjoy her easy reading style and informative posts.
• I receive Genealogy Tip of the Day by Michael John Neill. Showing up in my inbox daily I’ve learned so much! Yesterday’s tip was very helpful since I’ve been transcribing documents recently.
Read the Stuff You Know
When having difficulty transcribing or reading a specific word on a document or record, focus initially on words and phrases you know. Many records contain boilerplate text with words that you can reasonably “guess” without initially being able to read. This can help you see how the writer makes certain letters, helping you interpret those words with which you are not so familiar.
Excellent advice! I’m keeping this in mind as I tackle my next document!
• I’m adding “Family Tree Boards” to my Pinterest site. So far I have a Williams Family Tree board and a Marshall Family Tree board. I will add a board for each of my surnames. I’m hoping to find some distant cousins on this wildly popular site.
• Me and my genea-buddy sister will be attending the Family History Jamboree in Dayton, OH this Saturday. We attended this event sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last year. It was loads of fun and an info packed day. I’ll write a blog post next week about our day. I hope you’ll stop back to read it. (I know that’s yet another attempt to keep you coming back to my blog but I hope it works and you’ll be back!! LOL!)
Thanks for stopping by.
We of the 4th OVC have been working on the roster of the 4th OVC now for over 10 years from the Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio War of the Rebellion 1861 to 1865 pub in 1891 under the authority of the Ohio State Assembly. We have found many, many mistakes in it. Names are misspelled (such as Crepps for Krebs), many names have even been omitted, records are wrong (they show that James Van Meter was mustered out when he died in Salisbury as a POW), and we’ve discovered other errors such as their rank. It’s a good place to start and I highly recommend searching there but do take it with a grain of salt. After all, it was published by the government!
I understand completely Bill! Thanks for the comment!
The idea of a family tree board is really appealing. I wish that I had that many pictures, and yours have such good resolution! Before I do that, I need to get together with my Fraser 2nd cousin and identify some more relatives — otherwise I’ll have too many “mystery pictures.” It is encouraging how genealogical know-how accrues bit by bit, and tip by tip, as you are explaining in this post.
Yes, I do like your new look! The font is nice and easy to read. I think I get the point that the blue is for SEO “tags” and the read is for links — is that right? I went to the Marshall Family Tree Board and much enjoyed it. Thanks for your thoughts!
Your new logo looks awesome. And I absolutely love your idea for family tree boards on Pinterest. What a great idea. I’m definitely going to try this too.
Hi Jana! Thanks for your comment about the logo. I appreciate it!
You know I’ve already had one person contact me about my Marshall Pinterest board. The family lines didn’t match but at least someone saw it and contacted me. Hopefully the next time will be a match! I love the internet!!
Thanks again for coming by!
I want to know more about the Roster of Ohio Soldiers 1861-1866. I have a relative who enlisted but I don’t know what happened to him after that.
Dnoellee – Thank you for stopping by my blog and commenting! I appreciate it! The Roster of Ohio Soldiers 1861-1866 is a great resource in tracking down your Ohio Civil War ancestor. Many library’s have the 12 volume set. My local museum library has it but you may want to call them just to double check before going. Google books also has the series online. Just “google” Roster of Ohio Soldiers 1861-1866 and you’ll be able to click through and research each volume.
If you haven’t already checked, another source I’d suggest is the National Parks Service – Soldiers and Sailors System http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm
Their database is as accurate as possible in documenting all soldiers who fought in the war.
Good luck in your research and thanks again for your comment!
No need to go to the library, most of them won’t have it. Plus the 12 volumes are on line through archive.org You’ll have to know what regiment he was in. This will get you a start: http://archive.org/details/ohiowarroster03howerich Click on where it says Ohio Roster Commission under author and it will take you to the list of volumes. Each volume lists the units by numerical number. #1-10 deal with infantry, 11 is solely cavalry, 12 is all other types, i.e., engineer, artillery, etc.
Bill,
I’m sorry your comment didn’t publish!! I had two comments that were stuck in a file on this blog! Weird! Never happened before. I promise wasn’t ignoring you! As always thank you for reading my blog, sharing info and commenting!
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I’ll be adding this information to my To Do list.
Devon, Thank you for stopping by my blog and commenting! I’m so glad you found something helpful! Please come by again! I appreciate it!