Law & Order: Research vs. Proof in Genealogy

As I mentioned in my last blog entry Book/Study Group: Mastering Genealogical Proof, I have been participating in a Google Plus study group for Dr. Thomas Jones’ Mastering Genealogical Proof.  We have been having interesting discussions and I thought I’d share some of my thoughts with you here.

In chapter 1, Dr. Jones lays out what he calls a “Research and Reasoning Cycle” for genealogy.  In this cycle, he states that research and proof are distinct elements and that analysis and proof is something that is done after the research is completed.  This caused a bit of discussion as most people feel that they do the analysis and proof while they are doing the research.  In fact, it is this very analysis that helps guide the research (where should I look next?). 

I don’t think Dr. Jones’ means to dissuade anyone from thinking through their hypotheses while they research. I don’t think he was referring to that type of analysis.  I think his approach is more like an episode of Law & Order.

Book/Study Group: Mastering Genealogical Proof

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) has published a new book on the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS).  It is entitled Mastering Genealogical Proof, by Dr. Thomas Jones.  I ordered a copy as soon as it was published and gave it a quick read through.  I have to say that I’m impressed.  Dr. Jones’ style is very approachable and he does a nice job of explaining items that cause no end of confusion to genealogists, amateur and professional alike.  If you want to get a copy (and I do recommend that you do), you can order it at the NGS website.

This topic is so fundamental and important for genealogy that several study groups have been organized to work through the book in a course-like fashion.  They vary from live online sessions to asynchronous discussion forums. You can get into one of these, for free, and do a thorough study and discussion of the book. Details on on how to get in to the groups are posted on  Angela Packer McGhie’s blog, Adventures in Genealogy Education back in April.  In early June, I registered for one of the groups and we have just started meeting online in Google+.  We will be doing a chapter every two weeks throughout the summer.

Some of the topics we will be covering are fairly confusing and contentious, so I’ll no doubt hop on my soapbox from time to time to either voice an opinion or share my epiphanies.

Hopefully I’ll also find some time to get back to my research!

The Benefits of Unindexed Records

While I was preparing for my interview (http://200inparadise.blogspot.com/2012/10/blogtalk-radioafter-action-report.html), I thought about the difficulties faced when working in an area that doesn’t have many indexed records.  I raised the point on the show that as a Virgin Islands researcher, we are typically required to look through large record sets, every line on every page.  While this is indeed daunting, it brings its own reward.

BlogTalk Radio–After Action Report

I just finished my interview with Bernice Bennett on Research at the National Archives and Beyond.  It was really a lot of fun.  I just hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.  For those of you from the islands, I hope I portrayed our homeland well.

Blogtalk Radio - Searching for Your Island Roots with David Lynch

As I mentioned before, I will be interviewed on Thursday, Oct 25, at 9pm ET by Bernice Bennett, the host of Research at the National Archives and Beyond.  This is an internet radio program, broadcast live and recorded for later retrieval via web or podcast.  Here is the official announcement.

Searching for Your Island Roots with David Lynch

Bernice Bennett welcomes David Lynch who brings a new approach to searching his Caribbean roots, specifically in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the former Danish West Indies. David used his 20 years of experience in scientific research to guide his work in uncovering his family’s 300 year history in the islands. Very few records are available online, so David explored the rarely used NARA RG 55 in College Park and other sources. These records hold a wealth of information including tax lists and a nearly complete set of newspapers from St Croix dating from the early 1800’s. In the process he learned a lot about the islands, the people, and a family history that was very different then he expected.
He chronicles his discoveries in his blog – 200 Year’s in Paradise – selected as one of Family Tree Magazine's Top 40 for 2012

To listen, just click on the link here. If you want to participate, you can call in with comments or questions at (646) 200-0491.  There is also a live text chat line that should be opened at about 8:45 ET, about 15 minutes before the show.

Half-Cousins: Are they Really Just Cousins?

Recently, I participated in a LinkedIn discussion about a perennial genealogy problem:  How do you calculate degrees of cousins and “removes”?  Most people are, understandably, lost when you refer to a 3rd cousin twice removed.  I offered my two cents on how the system worked.  Then a new topic came up.  What do you call the relationship between children of half-siblings, children with only one common parent?  “Half-cousins”? Can you have “Half 3rd cousins twice removed”?  Is this even a real term?  Many people commented on this and apparently this discussion has been around a while.  So, I figured I’d chime in.

Radio Show Announcement–October 25, 2012

Well, it’s official.  I received the October Line-Up for Blog Talk Radio’s Research at the National Archives and Beyond. I will be appearing on the show on Thursday, October 25, 2012 to discuss my Island Research. 

The show is on Internet Radio.  It will be broadcast live and archived for later listening, either from the web or by podcast through iTunes.  Research at the National Archives and Beyond is structured as an interview program, with the host, Bernice Bennett, asking questions and opening lines of discussion.  For those who listen live, there will be a chat facility that allows listeners to ask questions or make comments live.  Bernice usually makes time in the show to read and respond to the listeners’ questions.

If you haven’t listened to this program before, you’re missing out.  Go to www.blogtalkradio.com/bernicebennett and listen to some episodes.  And be sure to mark your calendar for October 25, at 9pm Eastern Time for the entry of the Virgin Islands into the consciousness of mainstream genealogy.  It’s about time.

So, What’s Interesting to You?

I’ve just returned from a short vacation to the sand and sun of southern Florida.  While I was away, I got an email from Bernice Bennett, the host of a genealogy oriented Internet Radio Show, Research at the National Archives & Beyond.  Ms. Bennett asked me if I would be a guest on her show on October 25, 2012 to discuss my research and the interesting topic of Virgin Islands genealogy.  Of course, I can’t refuse such an opportunity.

The show is a live broadcast web-feed show, with listeners commenting and asking questions through on-line chat.  It airs every Thursday at 8pm Central Time. The shows are available as podcast on iTunes for those, like me, who listen to the show later.  The show covers virtually all aspects of genealogy and family history.  I listen regularly.

Ms. Bennett asked me to send her an outline, or at least talking points, for what I want to discuss.  That’s where you can help.  What topics are interesting to you?  Was there a post you would like me to talk more about?  A topic I’ve not addressed you’ve been interested in?  Records I should discuss?  Island history?  Let me know and I’ll see if I can talk about it on the air.  What should we tell the rest of the community about our heritage? All ideas and suggestions are welcome.

Leave me a comment or send me an email at paradise200blog@verizon.net and let me know the kind of things you want to hear about, or things you think the other listeners would be interested in.  After I firm up the outline, I’ll post links to the show and information on how to get the podcast.  I hope you’ll tune in.

It’s not often the Virgin Islands get mentioned in mainstream genealogy circles, much less get a whole broadcast episode devoted to them.  Let’s make the most of it.

Genealogy in the Virgin Islands-A Curse … and a Blessing

I have been taking a time-out from my VI research and spreading my wings a little researching my wife’s family (I figure she’ll be a lot more cooperative with my obsession if I get her family involved). Her family comes from southwestern Virginia, a little town in Russell County called Swords Creek. With the experience I gained doing my own family research, I knew I would be able to make decent headway fairly quickly, I had no idea how easy, and hard, it would be researching an all-American family. In the process, I’ve had occasion to think contrast the challenges we face as Virgin Island researchers. So in this post I thought I’d contrast the two.

Making my 2012 Family-a-Month Calendar

This week one of my old posts has gotten a resurgence of interest due to a discussion on LinkedIn entitled “Thinking Out of the Box - Creating Things with Genealogy"  by Bernice Bennett.  Bernice hosts a weekly internet Radio show entitled  “Research at the National Archives and Beyond”.   Bernice asked for ideas for creative uses of genealogical research to share on her show.  I posted a link to A Genealogical Christmas Present from January 11, where I showed a calendar I created for my family as a Christmas gift this past year.  Well, I got a lot of comments and emails on the calendar asking what I did, so I figured I’d share the construction techniques I used.  I mentioned some of the ideas in my January post, but I wanted to expand on it.  The whole project, from conception to shipping was about  two weeks.

Happy New Year from “200 Years”

I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year for 2012. 

2011 was a great year for me in genealogy, since that’s when I began my work.  I’ve had great success in the last 6 months in understanding where I come from and appreciating the world of my St Croix ancestors.  I think I’ve gathered all the “low hanging fruit”, but I know there is much left to find.  2012 will be a busy year.  Of course, the day-job gets in the way, but what are you going to do?

I’ve got quite a bit in store for 2012 for 200 Years.  This year I plan to devote several articles on discussing Danish West Indies records, discussing the kinds of records available and where they are located. I’ve already been through quite a few, so I’d like to discuss them before I forget.  Hopefully this will be useful for my genealogist cousins as well as any other researchers who are disappointed in the dearth of island information in the genealogical mainstream.

This Christmas I sent out a little gift for my family and thought it would be nice to share it.  It’s an interesting way to share research that won’t bore your family to tears. That’ll have to wait a bit because I’d like to make sure that everyone has gotten theirs before I ruin the surprise.  Hopefully next week.

I’d also like to post some of the wonderful photographs I have from Mom’s Treasure Box.  I’ve finished scanning about 1,400 pictures so I have a lot to wade through (and identify).  Most of them were taken by my grandfather and some are really good, both family and island history.

I’ve got some other surprises in store and I keep finding new things as I pore through the records.

Thank you for reading 200 Years in Paradise, and thank you for all the nice comments and emails I have received.  Comments are helpful because they help me understand what you are interested in reading and they help me improve the blog.

Oh, by the way.  In all my pictures there were only a couple Christmas pictures.  In fact, very few pictures were taken indoors.  (Perhaps my grandfather didn’t have a flash.)  The picture at the head of this post is not a family member, but one of my mother’s little friends, Anne McKay.  I just liked the picture so much that I wanted to share.  This was taken in the early 1940’s in Christiansted.

An Early Christmas Present from the CGL



Page from the St Croix Passenger List-1797

I got a Christmas present this year from the Caribbean Genealogy Library. Robert Upson of the CGL sent me DVDs containing high resolution images of 1,115 pages of registers of persons arriving and leaving Christiansted from 1797-1847.  Thank you Robert and the CGL for such a wonderful present!

The DWI Passenger Lists are of particular interest to me, since I am hoping to find information of my family’s travel to and from the islands. While most of my St Croix family was born there, some arrived from elsewhere (like my 3rd great-grandfather, Joseph Robson of England). I’m hoping that I can discover when they arrived on the island and that this will help me find where they came from.

Dealing with Bad Images

As you know if you’re following this blog, I’m working with microfilm images.  After I collect them I usually have to do some image manipulation.  Sometimes I just have to attach facing pages that have been scanned as separate frames and sometimes microfilms can be difficult to read due to darkening or lightening of the original document.  Here’s where scanning can be a real help.  This is a marriage record from 1820 of a Gertruyd van Beverhoudt (don’t know if she’s family yet).  As you can see, it’s very dark.

Blogging for Cousins

Genealogy is a fascinating hobby.  Sometimes it is a scene from Indiana Jones (the dusty library scenes, not the grabbing artifacts from tombs and running from Nazis scenes), sometimes it is solving a mystery like on CSI.  It satisfies my inner nerd, collecting and analyzing data, citing sources, and compiling detailed histories of my family.  It helps me figure out “Who Do I Think I Am?”  But the greatest part is finding out that you have a whole lot more family somewhere in the world. 

A Great Find

I got a nice email today.  I had sent a request for information to the St. Croix Landmarks Society a short time ago asking for information regarding house addresses in Christiansted.  I wanted to be able to see where family members lived and who their neighbors were.  Unfortunately, knowing the addresses just wasn’t sufficient.  Just like tracking family migrations in the US from state to state, mine migrated from street to street. For example, Johannes van Beverhoudt (b. c. 1760) lived at 11 Queen Cross St and moved to 45 Fisher St.  How far was that?  Since these streets run perpendicular, this could have been next door or clear across town. 
The problem is that addresses tend to be unimportant in Christiansted.  Even current residents don’t know the house numbers.  Even Google Maps didn’t know.  It finds the street, but not the number.  I had tried every way I could think of, even posting a question to the St. Croix Message board at Ancestry.com
All this got resolved with my email.  The St. Croix Landmarks Society just sent me a scan of a US Government Public Works map entitled “Old Limits of Christiansted Town” with each unit marked and numbered.  The map is undated, but since it is a US Government map, it must have been after 1917.

Section of Christiansted map showing the location of 45 Fisher St. in Red.

By looking at the map, I am finally able to answer the question about the residences.  11 Queen Cross and 45 Fisher St are contiguous properties.  They moved just around the corner.

Inaugural Post-So, What’s this Blog About Anyway?

My mother was born and grew up in St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, the “American Paradise”. As a child, and later as an adult, I visited St. Croix from time-to-time and have always felt a connection to the island. Whether it was the lure of a simpler island life, the siren call of clear blue water, or the knowledge that this was the land of my ancestors is hard to say. I just know that when I am there, I feel like a local.

My mother wasn't the first of my family born there. Although she always knew that her father was born on the island, she never knew much about his parents; when they went to St. Croix and from where. Supposedly they were Danish. Finally, I decided to find out -- thus began my study of genealogy and my St. Croix family history.

In researching my family tree I have learned a lot about my family, genealogy research, and the history of the Islands. I learned that my family's residence on St. Croix goes further back than my great-grandparents. Much further. My great-great-great-great-great (that's 5th great) grandfather lived on St Croix by 1774. When my grandmother died in 1986, my direct ancestors had lived there for over 200 years.