Volume 43, Number 4 October–December 2017

Inside this issue:

Search StrategiesMisindexed: Finding Lost Families Hidden Treasures on FamilySearchUnderground Gems on AncestryDocket: The Court’s IndexSearch MethodologiesThe National Archives CatalogPeriodical Source Index

October–December 2017 • Volume 43, Number 4

Features Departments

About NGSNational Genealogical Society 6400 Arlington Blvd., Suite 810

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Phone 703-525-0050 or 800-473-0060

Fax 703-525-0052

E-mail ngs@ngsgenealogy.org

Website http://www.ngsgenealogy.org

NGS MIS SIONThe mission of the National Genealogical Society

is to serve and grow the genealogical community

by providing education and training, fostering

increased quality standards, and promoting access

to and preservation of genealogical records.

NGS MEMBERSHIPTo join the National Genealogical Society, see the

Society’s website, http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/

become_a_member; telephone 800-473-0060,

ext. 116; or e-mail membership@ngsgenealogy.org.

NGS BOA RD OF D IREC T ORS

PresidentBenjamin B. Spratling III, JD, Alabama

Vice PresidentTeresa Koch-Bostic, New York

SecretaryB. Darrell Jackson, PhD, CG, Michigan

TreasurerDaryl Jackson Johanson, CPA, Texas

DirectorsJean Andrews, CG, South Carolina

Angie Bush, MS, Utah

Kathryn M. Doyle, California

Pam Stone Eagleson, CG, Maine

George Findlen, PhD, CG, Wisconsin

Ronald V. Hodges, PhD, California

Sharon Cook McInnes, PhD, CG, Virginia

Robert Raymond, Utah

Jordan Jones (Past President), North Carolina

NGS S TA F FAccounting manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Karen Soch

Advertising manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . Courtney Holmes

Conference manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erin ShifflettConference registrar . . . . . . . . . . . . . Courtney Holmes

Education course administrator . . . . . . . . Susan Yockey

Education manager . . . .Patricia Walls Stamm, CG, CGL

IT systems manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gayathri Kher

Research trip registrar . . . . . . . . . . . . Courtney Holmes

NGS MONTHLY ED I T ORAaron Goodwin, New York

NGS QUARTERLY ED I T ORSThomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA,

New York

Melinde Lutz Byrne, CG, FASG, New Hampshire

© 2017, National Genealogical Society.

NGS Magazine (ISSN 1529-4323) is published

quarterly for members of the National Genealogical

Society and sent to libraries by subscription.

5 NGS 2018 CONFERENCE PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTSJanet A. Alpert, FNGS

7 FOUR WAYS TO GIVE BACK TO THE GENEALOGICAL COMMUNITYAaron Goodwin, Editor, NGS Monthly

11 NGS 2019 FAMILY HISTORY CONFERENCE: JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY CALL FOR PROPOSALSAnn Carter Fleming, CG, CGL, FNGS

13 THE GONE, THE MISSING, AND THE MISINDEXED: FINDING LOST FAMILIES J. Mark Lowe, CG, FUGA

17 HIDDEN TREASURES ON FAMILYSEARCHRobert Raymond

23 MINING UNDERGROUND GEMS ON ANCESTRYJuliana Szucs

28 DOCKET: THE COURT’S INDEXLiz Stratton, PLCGS

50 AUXILIARY RECORDS OF WORLD WAR I VETERANSTheresa Fitzgerald, MA

57 THE RECORDS OF JEWS, HUGUENOTS, AND PALATINES IN IRELANDFiona Fitzsimons

2 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEBen Spratling

4 EDITOR’S NOTEDeb Cyprych

8 2017 NGS VOLUNTEERS

35 TECHNOLOGY SEARCH METHODOLOGIES

FOR GENEALOGISTS Jordan Jones

40 NATIONAL ARCHIVES THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES CATALOG

Claire Prechtel Kluskens

45 REFERENCE DESK USING THE PERIODICAL SOURCE INDEX

TO IMPROVE RESEARCHKathy Petlewski, MSLS

62 DNA DEMYSTIFIED MITOCHONDRIAL DNA:

A MATERNAL GIFTDiahan Southard

On the cover: Charles M. Brown [Bowne], 1887, mug book photo and information on reverse side, digitized in the National Archives Catalog, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75447971. Search techniques for the Catalog are described in Claire Prechtel Kluskens’ column in this issue. This series contains identification cards formerly housed in identification books compiled by the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police to assist officers and victims of crime to identify known criminals. Identification Card No. 245, Identification Cards Volume 1, Identification Books, ca. 1883–ca. 1890; Record Group 351, Records of the Government of the District of Columbia, 1791–1978; National Archives.

40

The National Archives Catalog at https://catalog.archives.gov is a significant web-based tool for locating federal records in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) that are useful for genealogical and historical research. It contains over seventy­five million entries as of 21 November 2017, and is updated with new material frequently. The Advanced Search page is at https://catalog.archives.gov/advancedsearch.

There are a few things to keep in mind when using the National Archives Catalog. The Catalog contains over thirty-seven million images of records, but that’s well short of the billions of records in the National Archives. The Catalog includes many

millions of personal and place names, but that is only a small fraction of the names found in billions of records. It is not an every-name or every-place index.

The records held by NARA are arranged by record group or federal agency, and then in the manner in which the agency kept its records. Record series may be correspondence files, case files, indexes, financial records, and so forth. Records may be arranged alphabetically, numerically, alpha-numerically, by subject, or by some other means that made sense to the federal agency at the time it created and used the records. Each creating agency had different sub-agencies that changed frequently over the years.

What are those seventy-five million Catalog entries?Everything in the National Archives Catalog has its own unique National Archives identifier (NAID), a number that is assigned sequentially as information and digital images are added to the Catalog.

Claire Prechtel Kluskens, a senior reference and projects archivist at NARA, served as NGS registrar (1996–98) and director (1998–2000). She can be reached at birdlady2011@icloud.com and blogs at twelvekey.com.

Register Showing Gains and Losses of Hospital Matrons on Duty at Army Posts (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/57276173).

� NATIONAL ARCHIVES | Claire Prechtel Kluskens

The National Archives Catalog

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Record Group. Every Record Group (RG) has a Catalog entry that indicates the name of the Record Group, the NARA locations that hold original records, the number of record series in that RG, and links that allow researchers to either browse through the record series descriptions or to search within the record group for specific search terms. As an example, see the Catalog entry for RG 28, Records of the Post Office Department (NAID 357), at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/357.

The Search within This Record Group function (reached by scrolling down the page) is not intuitive. Clicking on this gray box causes the system to load the first twenty record series for that record group and indicates a search for *:* which means “everything.” Replace the *:* in the search box near the top of the screen with specific search terms and then hit the magnifying glass button. The web page will refresh with Catalog entries that match the search terms.

Record Series. Every record series has a Catalog entry that identifies the name of the series and its date span, the RG in which it is located, a description of the records and their arrangement, the amount of materials, which NARA unit holds the records, other useful information, and links that allow researchers to either browse through the file or item descriptions (if available) or to search within the series for specific search terms. For example, see the Catalog entry for Post Office “Reports of Site Locations, 1837–1950” (NAID 608210), also in RG 28, at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/608210. To search within a series, use the instructions in the preceding paragraph for searching within a record group.

Files. Most individual files are not yet described in the Catalog, but those that are in the Catalog include the name of the file and its date span, the record

series and RG in which it is located, a description of the records, which NARA unit holds the records, other useful information, and links that allow researchers to browse through either the file or its items if digital images are available. Two examples, again in RG 28, are “Ohio: Fulton—Geauga” (NAID 68615326) at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/68615326 (includes digital images) and “Michigan” (NAID 40482249) at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40482249 (no digital images).

Items. Items can be textual (paper) records, photographs, artifacts, and so forth. Most individual items are not yet described in the Catalog, but those that are in the Catalog include the name of the item and its date span; the file, record series, and RG in which it is located; a description of the item; which NARA unit holds it; other useful information; and a digital image if available. Examples of items include § “Petition from Lewis Douglass and Others to the Secretary of War” (NAID 594720) at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/594720 (textual record);

§ “Photograph of Private Hubbard Pryor After Enlistment in 44th U.S. Colored Troops” (NAID 849136) at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/849136 (photograph); and

§ “Sampler of Chester Goodale” (NAID 1656127) at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1656127 (artifact).

Authority records are records that describe units of federal agencies, such as § the Post Office Department Office of Railway Mail Service, 1864–1873, at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10479783;

§ important persons related to Catalog descriptions, such as “Lincoln, Abraham, 1809–1865” at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10580370;

§ geographic locations such as Dinwiddie County (Va.)” at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10036719;

National Archives Record Group 15: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773–2007; Case Files

of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, ca. 1800–ca. 1912; Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land-

Warrant Application File of Chester Goodale of Connecticut; Sampler of Chester Goodale (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1656127).

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§ or subjects such as “Lawyers” at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10637317, “Postmasters” at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10646051, or “Military Pensions” at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10643990.

Searching the CatalogFor twenty­five years I’ve told people that thorough research in federal records in the National Archives requires them to think about how their person or subject might have interacted with the federal government—beyond the obvious census, military, immigration, naturalization, and land records; identify relevant record groups and relevant record series; and then search those record series for mention of the person or subject.

That’s still good advice. However, in today’s digital era, it is now possible to use the National Archives Catalog to find nuggets of information that would have taken hours, days, or years to find in pre­digital days—or perhaps would never have been found at all.

Genealogical researchers should search the Catalog annually for surnames and place names of interest. When searching common surnames, pair the

surname with a first name, a state or other geographic term, or a subject to narrow the search.

Let’s try some searches, beginning on Advanced Search at https://catalog.archives.gov/advancedsearch.

Venable. Type in Venable as the search term, click on File Unit under Level of Descriptions, then hit Search. As of 21 November 2017, there were 609 file units with Venable in the title or file description. These units included an Alien Case File for Venable Nesbitt, Confederate Applications for Pardon and Amnesty from James Venable and James M. Venable of Virginia, appointment papers relating to Abraham B. Venable of the Sacramento, California Land Office, and 605 other files of various kinds with the name Venable.

Roy Knapp. Click the box next to Limit Search to Archival Descriptions and type in Roy Knapp (without quotes) in the search term box. That nets four series, 379 file units, and 100 items in which the words Roy and Knapp occur in the title or description. Now do it again, but put quote marks

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around “Roy Knapp.” Only one file and one item are found. “Knapp Roy” with quote marks finds fourteen file units. The use of quote marks can narrow searches significantly. This strategy may help with common names.

Geographic names. Catalog searches for geographic locations are also beneficial as they may help locate useful records. A search for Geauga found one series, 329 file units, and 109 items whose descriptions mentioned that Ohio county. A search for Ashland Ohio (without comma or quotes) found eighteen series, 1,008 file units, and 373 items that used both of those terms in the description. This does not mean that all hits are relevant, however, as some are false positives. One “Ashland Ohio” false positive is the hit for “Photograph of the Rodney MacBain Family from Ashland, Kentucky, Camping at Vesuvius Recreation Area” (NAID 2131440) at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2131440. Vesuvius is in Ohio, but not anywhere near that state’s Ashland.

Catalog searches for personal or geographic names along with specific

terms such as postmaster, the name of a military unit, or other terms can also be productive. Play with the Catalog, and try different searches.

The National Archives Catalog also allows researchers to transcribe, tag, or add comments to documents. For more information, visit the Citizen Archivist Dashboard at https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist.

ConclusionHuge improvements have been made in the quantity and quality of information contained in the National Archives Catalog since it was first launched in 1998 as NAIL (National Archives Information Locator),

then renamed and upgraded to ARC (Archival Research Catalog) a few years later.

The National Archives Catalog now contains over seventy­five million entries including millions of images of actual records—a mere dream in 1998—and continues to expand.

Search it for ancestors at least annually—and be prepared to be surprised at what turns up!

The National Archives’ Citizen Archivist transcription project, https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist, includes collections of images that require the input of name and location tags. One of the collections in the project is Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793-1999. This photograph’s title is “Teacher and Children Standing Behind Four Large Squash, 1939” (Photographs, 1900-1960, id/285302).

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