Thursday, February 8, 2018


Clayton Staff meeting minutes 6 February 18

Meeting lead: Sue Kaufman

Attendance: Becky, Irene, Frank, Joy, Steven, Rodney, Melissa, Sue,

Ice Breaker: Steven introduced us to the game Cranium. Players use nonverbal communication skills to answer questions. Players can choose drawing, clay or pantomime to answer the short questions on players card.  Rodney, Sue and Irene took the stage to play the game. We learned to observe the payer, perceived what they player was trying to convey and became aware of our interaction with the player through body language.  

5-minute resource share: Becky Shared the book; Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Lafayette, Louisiana: Cemetery and burial records by Shelby and Betty Mier.  CLA M632 La Fay LA with supplement volume.  The book has funeral records for interment in the cemetery and funeral’s using the church.  Notes Slave burials with owner’s name as well as slave’s name, age, family and date.

Managers meeting report:  Melissa reported on the highlights of the Manager’s meeting January 26th at Central.  Robinson-Westchase is scheduled to sometime in April.  Reminder to nominate Harvey’s Hero’s by February 29th.  Please fill out outside employment form if you have a second job. Review the policy for clarification.   Read the emailed Minutes when they are sent out.

Meeting rooms forms: Reminder to sign the forms when handed to you and note event in the calendar. If the form is not signed but in the calendar issues can arise.  Remember to add time, location event and contact info in the calendar.  Write room on top of form. 

Shifting update: Sue reported that we will be getting shelving where the 1st floor filing cabinets are.  Large print materials will be moved up stairs after the Heritage books temporally. Shifting USA section on Monday’s, Irene is the supervisor of the shifting project.  Phillips will be volunteering to assisting in the shifting project on Tuesday Feb 13th. 

Researchers List:  Steven is updating the researchers list and adding more content to the list and form to be added to the list. He will contact the current list researchers for more updated information.

FY Discussion and Team Reports not addressed due to lack of time.

Sue mentioned Training to help the branches in the future for all staff members. We will/might be needed to cover staffing issues at other branches due to budget issues depending on the FY19 budget. Hours of operations might be impacted due to budget.  Our open part-time position will not be filled at this time. If you want a Saturday off you must replace yourself.

 

MH2/8/18

Friday, February 2, 2018

New York Slavery Records Index Records of Enslaved Persons and Slave Holders in New York from 1525 though the Civil War

The John Jay College for Criminal Justice in New York has created a database relating to the history of slavery in the state of New York from the Dutch colonial era to the years before the Civil War. The database was abstracted from over 35,000 records collected in New York relating to slavery. The abstracts contain names, places and dates valuable to anyone with ancestral ties to New York.

https://nyslavery.commons.gc.cuny.edu/search/




RS

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Sign up for Family Search News.  To get the latest information sent to your inbox!  Get the month's new webinars and information.   For example:

Free Family History Library Classes and Webinars for February 2018

Sign up today and get the list!

MH

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IBW

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Louisiana Colonial Documents Digitization Project


 The colonial records of the French Superior Council (1714–1769) and the Spanish Judiciary(1769–1803) have been digitized as part of the Louisiana colonial documents digitization project. There is also a searchable database where historians and genealogists can search records my surname and geographic location. There is also a category where the names of slaves and free persons of color were abstracted. This resource should benefit historians of Louisiana and curious genealogists alike. 

http://www.lacolonialdocs.org/post/1/overview



RS

Friday, January 19, 2018

Journal of Genealogy and Family History

The Journal of Genealogy and Family History is a one-year-old peer-reviewed journal began by an organization of  professional journalists. Anyone is free to publish articles to the journal where the reviewers will apply research standards like the GPS[Genealogical Proof Standard] to ensure high quality material.  Issues are free to view and download. http://www.qualifiedgenealogists.org/ojs/index.php/JGFH


RS

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Reconstructing the Genome of an 18th century immigrant to Iceland of African ancestry.

Ever since the Human genome was sequenced in 2003, genetic sequencing technology has advanced at a remarkable rate. The evolution of DNA technology has made it possible for genealogists, archaeologists and historians to look at the past in a way deemed impossible prior to the discovery of the DNA molecule. Now, we can read  genes inherited from our ancestors and find unknown cousins by spitting in test tubes and submitting DNA samples to commercial DNA company giants like AncestryDNA, 23andme and FamilyTreeDNA.

The field of ancient DNA makes it possible to partially reconstruct the genomes of ancient humans and see how similar they are genetically to living people. The falling prices of full genomic sequencing enables genealogists, scientists and anthropologists to find answers to questions that would have never been answered 30 years ago.
It is now possible to reconstruct the genomes of ancestors who died over 200 years without analyzing human remains by looking at the genes of living descendants.  The unique story of Hans Jonathan is a remarkable example of how using the tools of science can rewrite and recover lost histories.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/hans-jonatan-iceland-genome-reconstructed/550667/
Grandson of Hans Jonathan with his family in Iceland


Happy hunting!


RS

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

FREE AFRICAN AMERICANS OF VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, MARYLAND AND DELAWARE

Paul Heinegg's classic study "Free African-Americans of Virginia, North Carolina , South Carolina, Maryland  and Delaware "illuminates  the shadowy origins of colonial free persons of color in British America featuring over 2500 pages worth of family histories.  For years, I've been fascinated by the social world and historical processes that created this unique population of Americans. Little did I know, some of my ancestors were part of this group. My GIBSON ancestors originated in 17th century Jamestown and I get occassional DNA matches from people with surnames such as LOCKLEAR and CHAVIS covered in Heinegg's volumes. If you have deep colonial roots in America, you may discover a few ancestors in Heinegg's list. His companion website, http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/ is a companion website to his volumes occasionally updated with new research findings valuable to historians and genealogists alike.

Best of luck!

RS

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Missouri releases original birth certificates to adoptees

If an individual was born during or after 1941 in Missouri and adopted, and are at least 18 years old,  those individuals now have access to their original birth certificates.

The Missouri Adoptee Rights act from 2016 opened adoption records in two stages.  In 2016 those born prior to 1941 could obtain original birth certificates.  As of 1 JAN 2018, those born after 1941 are now able to receive the same document.

There are some stipulations still attached to the law:

First: the adoptee must be at least 18 years old.

Second: the birth parents had the right under the statue to register their objections ewith the state.  Where one parent objects, the other parent's name will be disclosed but the name of the objector redacted.  Where both parents object, the original birth certificate won't be provided.  

Third, access to the certificates is limited to the adoptee: if you’re the child of a deceased adoptee, the access doesn’t pass to you.

Original post: The Legal Genealogist -  http://www.legalgenealogist.com/2018/01/03/new-light-show-state/
More information: Missouri adoptee rights act:      http://health.mo.gov/data/vitalrecords/adopteerightsact.php

SK

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Digitized Sacramental Records in the Archives

Among the most important Louisiana resources available to scholars are the extensive, well-maintained, and searchable sacramental registers, which record baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials of individuals.  Because sacramental registers detail the life history of the local community over time, they have always been recognized by church officials as having unique and enduring value. More importantly, they illustrate the Catholic heritage of families that are passed from one generation to another. 
Since 1954, records have been microfilmed for disaster recovery purposes.  With the advances in technology, scanned images have become more widely used as this type of media becomes more standardized in .tif, .jpeg and .pdf formats.  Through the conservation program, the registers are unbound, de-acidified, encapsulated in mylar and rebound.  Ten years ago, the archdiocese had some of its records scanned into individual .tif images.  Among these images are the registers of the slaves and free people of color from St. Louis Cathedral.  These images have now been migrated to .pdf format in order to place them online for all researchers.  In 2012, in order to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Louisiana’s statehood, the archdiocese began placing online the registers dating from 1718 to 1812.  There are 43 registers from the French and Spanish colonial period as well as the American territorial period. 
Scholars have used the sacramental records to study immigration patterns, community development, ethnic origins, social history, linguistic practices, family history and cultural diversity. The records speak for themselves with all the variations in spellings, translations of names in Spanish, French and English, lack of surnames, omissions, mistakes, etc. Over time, names change due to a variety of life changing events, such as a manumission where a former slave chooses a last name or a marriage where a women takes the name of her husband.  There are variations due to the record keeper, who often wrote the name as he heard it.  Due to changes in the governments which controlled Louisiana, names appear in French, Spanish and English.  For example, the name James is Jacques in French and Santiago in Spanish; or, for example, the name Martha appears as Marthe in French and Martonne, Marthonne or Martona in Spanish. Names in church records usually contain a baptismal name of a saint which often was never used by the individual.  But with prudent research and gathering other evidence from records existing in courthouses and family papers, the record can be verified.  One should not confuse the differences and variations of names as a lack of consistency and conformity on the part of the recorder, but rather see it as a journey of an individual and his/her name across a lifetime. 
In many entries, priests, witnesses and sponsors wrote in a hand that formed different letters in exactly the same way. U/N, U/V, C/B, S/Z, A/O, and E/C are the most common instances where the letters are simply indistinguishable. This uncertainty must be kept in mind, particularly in regard to unfamiliar surnames.
The Spanish priests also introduced several new variations that were not evident during the French period. "B" and "V" as well as "S" and "C" are often used interchangeably. "H" appears and disappears before such vowels as "A" and "E" while "X", "G", and "J" are all pronounced "H" and thus are sometimes used interchangeably in entries. "I" is often replaced by "Y" in Spanish entries.
The number next to the name in the index refers to either the page number or the entry number.
Please note, some of these files are quite large and may take some time to download. Please be patient.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is the Archdiocese of New Orleans Archive  www.archives.arch-no.org
 
BG

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Basics of Roman Catholic research

Archives.com has a good basic overview of how to do research in Roman Catholic records as well as links that provide more detailed information.http://www.archives.com/experts/alzo-lisa/researching-roman-catholic-church-records.html




RS

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Texas Transportation Archive

Before planes and automobiles, one of the ways of getting around was via Stagecoach.  I recently saw a post that lists stagecoach routes throughout Texas from the 1861 Almanac.

This list gives information that includes: 

  • From
  • By way of
  • To
  • Connecting with (including railroad connections)
  • Leaves
  • Arrives at
  • Contractors
  • Vehicles: (how many horses, etc)


This list is part of a larger website, The Texas Transportation Archive. The Texas Transportation Archive (TTA) is the volunteer effort of researchers Murry Hammond and Lester Haines to provide access to their private collections of rare photographs, maps, and manuscript material related to Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Everything on the TTA site is free to access, and they encourage the liberal use of our materials for educational purposes and personal research. Credit is always appreciated where appropriate. 

There are also other parts of the website - have a look.  I will say that I did a search in the photographs for stagecoach, and did not receive any hits, so there are limitations (or I just wasn't searching correctly!) 

As an added bonus, interested in stagecoach etiquette?  Let's start with: "Bathe your feet before starting in cold weather, and wear loose overshoes and gloves two or three sizes too large,”

For more information regarding that, click HERE.  



 SK

Staff Meeting Notes

  Staff Meeting 20 DEC 2022 notes Agenda and notes can be found here: CLATeam>FY23>Agendas>Rolling Agenda