Finally Here ... the 1940 Census

Anxiously I waited Monday morning, like millions (apparently) of others, for the release of the 1940 US Census.  I had told students and genealogy friends in the last ten years to say healthy, eat their Wheaties and they would be able to use the census.  There I was parked in front of the computer, healthy and ready for ... nothing.

Apparently they underestimated the number of people who would access the census. The server crashed.  Wasn't that expected?  I recall the same thing happening in 1999 when FamilySearch went public.  Over and over I tried with only minor flashes of what might have been a frame of census on my computer.  By afternoon I drifted over to Ancestry.com where I was able to find some extremely distant cousins in Indiana ... and I pretended to be excited about them!

Throughout the day, You Go Genealogy Girl #2 and I would talk on the phone and exchange e-mails.  You should realize she's a devoted genealogist to get up that early in the morning.  I'm so proud of her.  I used Steve Morse's web site and she did also, in hopes we would be prepared for those images.  Eventually I was able to get images I wanted for North Carolina and Tennessee.  I looked at neighbors along the roads and it was a great walk back in time to my grandparents' house.

Aunt Lavaughn is a railroad brakeman!

Since Monday I have been using mostly Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com.  Occasionally I have viewed images on FamilySearch.   I am not concerned at this point about the indexing.  It has been fun going through pages of images and looking at enumeration districts, piecing together the landscape.  In time those indexes will make searching much easier and faster.

Yesterday afternoon You Go Genealogy Girl #2 called to see if I had noticed our Aunt Lavaughn had an occupation in 1940.  She was living with her husband and young son in her parents' house in Alliance, Box Butte Co., Nebraska.  All along I was slinging blame at the National Archives and Archives.com, but now I realize that everybody makes mistakes.  The enumerator didn't skip a line so Aunt Lavaughn was a brakeman on the steam railroad.  How exciting for her, but not true!!

We hope you are all enjoying your journey in 1940.

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 --- Ruby

Files and Files ... A to Z

Family File Folders
North Platte Genealogical Society

Almost two years ago the North Platte Genealogical Society, North Platte, NE (where I live!) was given access to hundreds of family files.  They pertain to families who lived in North Platte and Lincoln County.  By the end of January I realized there were too many files to copy at home or I would need a new all in one printer.  The last day of January a rental copy machine was delivered to the genealogy section at the library.  Thus began a month of frustration and fun ... mostly fun.

While I did most of the copying, a good crew of volunteers prepared files, cross-checked and filed them.  There were lots of laughs along the way.  In the category of frustration, we soon realized that we were spending society money for the copies, paper, files and rental of the machine.  However, it was that or ignore the access given us to the files.  Working diligently we were able to finish the last file on March 1st, turned the copy machine off and closed the last file drawer.

The five drawer file cabinet is full of great information ...  pedigree charts and family group sheets, copies of marriage records, death certificates, photographs and more.  I first moved to North Platte in 1976 and consider myself a transplant.  Can you imagine my surprise when I discovered an old cousin from Indiana had moved here and is buried here?  I found her information in a family file I was copying.

When I wasn't copying at the library, I was here at home scanning records such as marriages of Lincoln County, WPA interviews and church records.  Eventually we hope to have those on a web page.  It takes time, but it is worth the effort.

It is time the You Go Genealogy Girls start thinking about travel.  YGGG #2 is coming to visit me in 1 1/2 weeks.  She is presenting the program, Antique Photos and Cherished Reflections, for the North Platte Genealogical Society meeting on March 21st.  The next day we will load up 'Lil Red and head to Broken Bow, Nebraska.  We plan on staying in an old, renovated hotel and using the Custer County Historical Society museum/research center for two days.  They also have file cabinets of family files.  We will be scanning the files.  This is our first excursion together since May/June of last year.

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 .... Ruby

PS  If you are interested in the North Platte Genealogical Society family files, they are on the second floor of the North Platte Public Library, 120 West 4th Street, North Platte, Nebraska.

2012 Begins

Even though the You Go Genealogy Girls were not together to ring in the new year, we were together on the phone, by e-mails and in our thoughts.  As we begin this new year, we wish all of our readers the best in the months ahead.  We also think about what we are going to be doing in 2012.

As of today, I think YGGG #2 is installing a new computer.  The old one is being moved to a different location.  I have not received any phone calls or e-mails, but look forward to her telling me all is okay and the new computer works great.

Since I received an iPad for Christmas, we have been comparing our settings, how to do things and what they can be used for in genealogical research.  Mine is the iPad 2 so a bit different, and lighter, but an iPad is still an iPad.  For my databases, I have installed Bento which works on my main computer and syncs to the iPad.  Of course, my Reunion genealogy files are on the iPad and they are much better for viewing than on the iPod Touch.  Using iCloud I have a lot of syncing going on between computers.  I have placed my Keynote presentations on the iPad (some) and can remotely control them by using my iPod Touch.

I am waiting on a new carrying case for the iPad and friends (cords, iPod Touch, cell phone ...).  It should arrive this week and hopefully I can stuff everything into it.  I don't have issues with the keyboard on my iPad, but I do have a wireless keyboard that works great with it.

Another Christmas present was a Smart Pen (LifeScribe).  It seems unusual to write something or take notes with audio through the pen and then have it show up on my computer.  I am anxious to try it out while watching webinars.  What a great way to learn!!

Just in time to start a new year, I discovered the reason I was going no where in particular with one of my Massachusetts lines was because I had the wrong surname.  Only the first letter of "B" was the same.  Broadening my research in the area, I was able to locate the correct sources and information to give Elizabeth the correct name.  Sorry about that Elizabeth!  Now the fun begins as I start reading and researching new surnames.

The You Go Genealogy Girls wish you the very best in 2012.  May our paths cross somewhere in the future and if not ... keep reading about us and sending us e-mails.

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 --- Ruby

Merry Christmas from the You Go Genealogy Girls

North Platte (NE) Semi-Weekly Tribune,
3 December 1920, page 7

Christmas will soon be here.  We are both caught up in the season.  You Go Genealogy Girl #2 is making preparations to travel to Topeka, Kansas to spend Christmas with her son and family who live there.  My family will be here, including my son who lives in Virginia.  This is the first Christmas for my great grandson and I cannot wait to see his face as presents are opened.

This time of year I tend to think of how my ancestors spent Christmas.  According to our standards of spending and the types of gifts we buy, it was probably meager.  But they were happy and just like us, the spirit came through in the love and joy of being together.  There were no electronic gadgets, such as tablets, iPads, flat screen TVs ... there were simple gifts such as hair bows, rag dolls, wooden toys, pencils, handkerchiefs and mittens.  In 1921 perfume for the lady sold for 10 cents to $1.00.   I wonder if it smelled good!  Teddy bears for the babies sold for 50 cents, 75 cents and $1.00.  The jumbo bear probably sold for the $1.00.  Newspapers for the same year advertised that it was a year for "practical gifts."

North Platte (NE) Semi-Weekly Tribune,
22 December 1916, page 4

Just for a few hours, I would like to have a time machine and travel back to my ancestors' Christmases.  I would like to celebrate in a simple way, then be able to return to my computer with digital images, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and e-mail.  Fortunately, I can read newspapers on Internet that give me a glimpse into the past.  I can read stories that were left by family members.  The true meaning of Christmas is not lost.  It's still in our hearts to be rekindled.

You Go Genealogy Girls --- Ruby #1 and Cheri #2 --- wish you a Merry Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving

The You Go Genealogy Girls Wish You a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Even if you don't have Mayflower ancestry, go ahead and celebrate the holiday.

Ruby - YGGG #1
Cheri - YGGG #2

A Week in THE Library

Temple at Temple Square

My one week in Salt Lake City at the Family History Library went quickly, but with good research results. I had estimated the time it would take to complete my to-do list for the book I have been writing and fortunately I was right on target.  That left me with a couple days for personal research.

When I arrived at the local airport, the shocking news was that my luggage was 5 1/2 pounds overweight.  I was not willing to pay $100 one way to travel overweight.  With it on the scale, I began putting things into my purse and carry on luggage until it was of legal weight.  However, that meant that I could not shop in Salt Lake City and I could not bring home an abundance of paper copies.

There were several groups of researchers in the library.  They came from all parts of the United States.  Even so, there was never any lack of tables or film readers.  The only problem came on Thursday morning of that week when at about 8:30 a.m. there was an announcement over the loud speakers that the photocopy machines were not working.  As the day went on with no machines and signs were posted OUT OF ORDER, some people were disgruntled and others resorted to old-fashioned research ... taking notes by hand.  Fortunately I had brought my hand-held scanner for making copies.  Microfilm could be copied only by scanning to a flash drive.  By evening the photocopy machines were back in business.

Before leaving on the trip, I ordered vault film through the FamilySearch web page form.  Once there I learned that some had been put in the proper drawers on the second floor and others were in overflow drawers.  If you are needing vault film during your visit, order it in advance and inquire about it when you arrive.

Since I was there in May and June of this year, I was curious about any changes that have been made.  There is a large machine on the third floor that will copy pages from oversized books, two pages at once.  Having found a map in the map cabinet on that floor, I asked if it could be copied.  They did it for me in three sections on the machine and YGGG #2 has promised to piece it together for me.

Three times at the library over the last three years, I have tried to locate a certain land record in the 1790s Washington County, Tennessee microfilm.  It is indexed, but the records were not entered in any type of chronological order and the person microfilming them had cut off the page numbers at the top.  Once again, I was unable to find the deed.  Once home I contacted the courthouse at Jonesborough and they mailed me a copy of it.   I thought after the third time and no charm, it was time to ask for help.

Turning leaves in Temple Square

The weather was perfect the entire week.  Leaves were turning and falling and the temperatures were splendid.  After arriving on Sunday afternoon, October 16th, I had a late lunch with some people I met on the shuttle coming in from the airport.  Then I unpacked and went for a long walk around Temple Square.  The flowers were gone that had been so colorful in the spring and strings of Christmas lights were being strung on the trees.  The next few days bulbs were planted for spring blooms in 2012.

Fall splendor at Temple Square

My last day of research was spent on the British Isles floor, the second floor in the basement.  I attended a class on Wales research which proved to be enlightening and helpful.  Then I progressed to actual research in the records of Wales.  Seeing names on those old parish registers is so much fun!  While you are researching at the library, check out the class schedules.  They are free and informative, plus a good diversion from constant research.

I met old friends and made new friends at the library.  It is fun to chat and get caught up on what we are doing with our research and about our families.  I enjoyed flying to Salt Lake City, but it meant a different type of packing than when I drive.  Even with the body scans and pat downs in airport security (because of my two steel knees), it was a quick and easy way to get there and back home.

The last two weeks have been spent working diligently on my new book.  The electronic manuscript is being mailed to the publicist in the morning.  Do I have withdrawal?  Not yet.  I have gotten behind with my own research and cleaning up genealogy files.  As usual though, I find my mind wandering to the next trip to Salt Lake City and ideas for research.

You Go Genealogy Girl #1  Ruby

Doing Honor to Family

There are many different ways that we as genealogists and family historians find to honor the memories of our ancestors. Many of us write stories taken from the bits of information we glean from research, others of us love the joy of making beautiful scrap book pages, and still others are content to gather all available information in our software programs and make printed family trees to hand down. All are worthy endeavors to keep the memories of the past alive.

The two of us, The You Go Genealogy Girls, find many different ways to honor our loved ones. Girl #1 has made purses and bags with photos on them and Christmas tree ornaments. I love to do scrapbooking pages and wall art of various types, all with photos and trinkets of our ancestors added. I am running out of wall space to display everything and have even helped Number 1 fill up her wall space too.

We are lucky to be the proud owners of a beautiful family photo of our Great Great Grandparents and their family, The George Albert Copsey family which was taken in Custer County, Nebraska in about 1886-87. Not only do we have this treasured photo of their family and their sod house but it is also an important photo in the collection taken by the famous early photographer, Solomon D. Butcher. He made many early glass plate negative prints of the Plains, mostly in Nebraska during the later part of the 1800's and often centering around Custer County, Nebraska. This collection of glass plate negatives is at the Nebraska State Historical Society. Ours is a photograph and the original glass plate negative from the Butcher collection can be seen HERE and the plate details are available HERE. We invite you to take a look at the original glass plate, it is quite interesting and has a somewhat different look from our photo.

Many of the Solomon D.  Butcher photographs can be seen on the Library of Congress American Memory website. If you are a student of history and especially that of the early Plains and  American west those photos offer very poignant views of sod houses and the families who lived during those early years.

Cropped closeup taken from our original photograph of the George Albert Copsey family.

As many of you may already know, Ruby recently wrote a helpful new book about doing "Genealogy Research in Nebraska". Of course she had many hundreds of family photos that she could have chosen from to use on her book cover but our Copsey family is the one she wanted to use and when she suggested that to me in the pre-production stages, I was in total agreement that she had chosen well. What better way of doing honor to one of our dearest families? We are both so proud and so thankful that the Copsey's chose so many years ago to have their photo taken for posterity. Little did they know that thanks to Mr. Butcher, their Great Great Granddaughters would "make them famous" 130 years later! To us they were already a great family in our knowledge of their history and accomplishments...and were it not for them just where would we be? It is they who deserve our love and we honor them each time we look at those faces.

One of my other postings on my photo blog Taken Somewhere in Time has more early photos and information about Effie Mae Copsey, our G Grandma, the little girl with the doll in the sod house picture. "Great Grandma Gardner's Photo Timeline"

Ruby's book cover!

Ruby's book can be ordered from Roots Family Publishing: HERE.


Thanks for stopping by our blog!  ~Cheri, You Go Genealogy Girl #2

YGGG #1 is in Salt Lake City

A view from my room.

That's right folks!!  I flew into Salt Lake City yesterday from Nebraska, arriving about 12:46 Mountain time.  After walking about five plus miles in the Denver airport to reach my gate, I didn't mind being squeezed into my United flight for at least ten minutes of the flight.

Where are the flowers I saw here in June?

While YGGG #2 is home still harvesting the garden, I am going to enjoy a week here in the Family History Library.  The Plaza Hotel shuttle was full coming in from the airport yesterday afternoon.  Everybody was a buzz introducing themselves.  They were like bees buzzing with words such as census, tombstones and ancestors.  Well, what did I expect when I boarded the Plaza shuttle?

Once settled in my room, I took a walk around Temple Square.  It was late afternoon and the colors of trees were magnificent.  My walk was refreshing after being cooped up on planes for half a day.  Oh well, I might as well admit it.  I am so used to driving here so YGGG #2 and I can bring everything but the kitchen sink.  My luggage was overweight.  I had to unzip it and put shoes and other items into my carry-on bag.  What does it matter if it's in one suitcase or another?  It all gets on the plane.  The only thing I kept hearing from the boarding attendant was that I was going to pay $100 if I didn't do something.  That was one way!!

Where do I start.  My main purpose in coming here is to finish research on a book that I am writing.  I also hope to have a couple days this week for personal research that did not get finished in May/June when I was here.

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 .... Ruby

Where are the Girls?

The You Go Genealogy Girls are both still on the planet and alive!  Life doesn't seem to slow down for either one of us.  Until #2 slows down more, I'll be handling this blog ... hope you all don't mind!

YGGG #2 has been freezing garden produce Go-Hubby tended to all summer.  It seems never ending and now she is about out of freezer space.  But, it will taste good this winter.  Just think of the pots of soup and chili with those frozen tomatoes and home--made salsa for the tacos.  I think she should share some with me since I'm tending to our blog.

She is also still fighting the computers with various types of malfunctions.  After months of her printer speaking to her in a foreign language, she finally figured out how to make it return to English.  It was so foreign that she didn't have a clue about what things meant.  So far she hasn't put her main computer in the dumpster or in the middle of the street or even on the sidewalk with a sign, "Take me!"  I think she's getting close to that point though.  Last week her mother-in-law blessed her with a couple of large albums from a genealogy aunt, all needing to be scanned.  What a nice gift, especially with malfunctioning equipment and a garden that needs to be picked.

As I am preparing to go on a research trip before too long, I decided it was time to bid adieu to my old, red wheely computer bag.  It has been on many trips in the US and overseas, thrown into the overhead bins of airplanes, crammed into the trunk of the car or smashed between boxes in the back seat of the car as the YGGGs head out for Salt Lake City.  It has traveled around airports, up and down stairs, escalators and elevators, never complaining, but wearing out.  The wheels are down to nothing and there is a hole appearing in the bottom of it.  Even though wheely bag is a good friend, I am retiring it for a while to the closet and maybe eventually to the dumpster.

Today I purchased a new wheely bag.  It has bigger wheels and lots of compartments.  Now I am faced with the problem of knowing exactly where to put things in it.  I'll be flying so need to have it light enough to lift into the overhead bins.  It's black.  Red wheely bag was easy to spot among all the others that are usually black.  I hope that my new wheely bag doesn't elude me ... ancestors are enough.

Fall is that great time of year that the kids go back to school and life is supposed to slow down. The other day I realized that Lil' Red has taken on a new name ... Grandma's Taxi.  I thought those days were over when my own children learned to drive and obtained wheels (many years ago).  The rewards for this service are the smiles, hugs and togetherness I experience with my granddaughter and her friends.  But sometimes I need a perk or two along the way.

Do you need a perk?  How about a genealogy perk?  I have been enjoying the courses at the FamilySearch Learning Center.  The best part is that I don't have to be at school at a certain time, don't need to drive Lil' Red somewhere ... just allocate some time at the computer to study and learn.  The courses range from one hour to 12 minutes.  Even those of us who think we know everything can learn something.

Grandma's Taxi is parked in the garage today.  My only garden is my basil plant which is about at the end of its 2011 summer life.  I have nothing to freeze or can, so it's either learning online or learning how to pack my new wheely bag ... or both.

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 --- Ruby

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Genealogy

Today feels like I think September should feel.  It is cloudy, a few sprinkles of rain and a very cool breeze.  What a change from 99 degrees that greeted us on September 1st (yesterday).  It's a pleasant change.  It makes me think about a different kind of genealogical research, such as roaming a cemetery, looking at interesting tombstones, finding stones for relatives and just absorbing the change of season.

Since my last post I am still not organized.  I have decided it might make a good winter project.  Maybe I won't be able to put it off until the snow flies.  Today I'm taking a needed break from my book so I can blog (also needed), write an article, go for a walk and maybe stopping by a cemetery.  Several years ago I had a boss who referred to these days as "chocolate chip days."  He would try to talk me into taking the day off to bake cookies with pay.  I'm going to call days like this "the enjoy genealogy days."

You Go Genealogy Girl #2 has been doing catch up from her trips this summer, plus resting and reading.   She is still doing research even though she has an aching, failing computer.  Occasionally I can hear her all the way to my house (more than 100 miles) telling the computer that it has to go, possibly by putting a give away sign on it and placing it on her sidewalk.

In my busy days of non-stop writing, I have discovered some interesting things that I'll share.  I know many of you, myself included, are not fond of the library catalog on the new web site for Family Search.  One way to overcome some of the frustration is to use both catalogs, the new site and old site.  The more frequently you use the new site for the library catalog, the more adept you will become.

Another tip ... Ancestry.com is great for searching "Historical Documents", but there's a lot more you need to do.  From the pull down menu of Search, select "Search All Records."  Up pops a listing of databases by category such as census, military, newspapers and more.  If you are specifically interested in one of those categories, browse through the collections available.  Should your research be in a specific area, such as the state of Kansas, click on the state in the US map or the link below to see what is available in all collections for that state.  This will enhance and enlarge your research possibilities beyond just searching "Historical Documents."

Time to decide if I'm going to write the article, go for a walk or bake chocolate chip cookies.  Those cookies sound really good!

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 --- Ruby