Wednesday, January 16, 2019


Timeline of Alfred Edwards
3rd Great-Grandfather
1791-1873

Year    Age   Facts

1791     0      Birth Virginia
1813    22     Marriage Abt. 1813 South Carolina or North Carolina, Mary Slay,    (1795–1840)
1814    23     Birth of Son Charles Edwards  8 June 1814 Chesterfield, South
Carolina (1814-1865)
1816    25     Birth of Son Thomas Edwards 18 Apr 1816 Chesterfield, South        Carolina (1816-1875)
1820    29     Residence: Bennet, Anson, North Carolina
1827    36     Captain’s District, Hays, District 13, Lee County, Georgia
1830    39     Residence: Dekalb, Georgia
1840    49     Death of Wife Mary Slay (1795–1840) AUG 1840 (?)
Cherokee, Georgia
1840    49     Residence: District 962, Floyd, Georgia
1850    59     Alfred Edwards is nowhere to be found
1855    64     Lowndes, Alabama
1860    69     Residence: Southern Division, Coosa, Alabama
1865    74     Death of Son Charles Edwards (1814–1865), 9 Sep 1865
Cherokee County, Georgia
1866    75     Residence: Alabama, USA
1867    76     Residence: Elmore, Alabama
1870    79     Residence: Township 20, Elmore, Alabama
1873    82     Residence: Central Institute, Elmore, Alabama
1873    82     Death: 10 MAY 1873 Elmore, Elmore County, Alabama
1873             Probate 15 Sep 1873 Elmore, Alabama


Sources
1820 U S Census; Census Place: Bennet, Anson, North Carolina; Page: 25; NARA Roll: M33_80; Image: 33
1827 District 13, Captain’s Hays District, Lee County, Georgia, Georgia Land Lottery
1830; Census Place: Dekalb, Georgia; Series: M19; Roll: 17; Page: 46; Family History Library Film: 0007037
1840; Census Place: District 962, Floyd, Georgia; Page: 247; Family History Library Film: 0007043
1860; Census Place: Southern Division, Coosa, Alabama; Roll: M653_7; Page: 128; Family History Library Film: 803007
1870; Census Place: Township 20, Elmore, Alabama; Roll: M593_15; Page: 156A; Family History Library Film: 545514
Ancestry.com. Alabama, Voter Registration, 1867 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015
Probate Records, Wills and Minutes, 1866-1949; Author: Alabama. Probate Court (Elmore County); Probate Place: Elmore, Alabama
1865 U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918
1867 Alabama Voter Registration Records

Friday, January 11, 2019

Researching the Common Surname Edwards


It is challenging to research an ancestor that has a common surname such as Edwards. It involves time and effort into researching others with the same surname who may or may not be connected to your Edwards line. That is a necessary step though to prove or disprove your line of Edwards. If you have details for your Edwards line this will help in narrowing the search and will lead you to search for records for your ancestor.

In 2012 my brother volunteered to YDNA test for our surname line.  When the results came back, I connected with a cousin who shared his Edwards and related families' information with me.  This information was valuable in jump starting research for the Edwards, Kelly, Slay, Teal, Wideman, and Baker family lines. There may be some challenges for researchers who have common surnames when trying to track down their ancestral lines. However, there are clues that have been used while researching my paternal line Edwards ancestors. Research began with Alfred Edwards and creating a profile for him using the information provided by my cousin. Detailed notes of Alfred Edwards was used to compare the information that my cousin provided with that of others with the same surname. His birth year, occupation, place of birth, spouse, and children’s names made it easy to identify Alfred Edwards from others with the same surname. There were other Alfred Edwards but they weren’t born circa 1791 in Virginia, with a wife named Mary “Polly.” They didn’t have sons with the names of Thomas and Charles. Creating a timeline of his life helped when looking at records. From those records I concluded that I had the correct ancestor.

Knowing the location for my ancestor was a help in narrowing the search and the people with the same name. Alfred Edwards migrated out of Virginia and died in Alabama so the timeline helped to see the places he lived, placing him in a certain area at a certain time. This allowed me to limit the search for Alfred Edwards in the locations within a given time period. This also helped in locating records for Alfred Edwards.

Alfred Edwards was a paternal third great grandfather. His descendant John Houston Edwards was my father’s biological father, my paternal grandfather and my great uncle. My father’s mother Alice Lee was the sister of John Houston’s wife Dollie Ophelia Lee. When I began researching there were several Alfred Edwards, but only one was found who was born circa 1791 in Virginia. Alfred Edwards was married to Mary Slay. Although a marriage record wasn’t found family stories has them getting married circa 1813 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. It isn’t known by this researcher how many children they had; however, there are two known children Thomas and Charles. Alfred Edwards died on May 10, 1873, in Elmore, Alabama, having lived a long life of 82 years.

The Edwards family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Edwards families were found in the UK in 1891. In 1840 there were four hundred twenty-nine Edwards families living in New York. This was about 13% of all the recorded Edwards's in the USA. New York had the highest population of Edwards families in 1840.

Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Edwards surname lived. You can see how Edwards families moved over time by selecting different census years. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations. What did Alfred Edwards do for a living? Alfred was a farmer.

In 1880, farmer, laborer and keeping house were the top three reported jobs worked by Edwards. A less common occupation for the Edwards family was farm laborer. The most common Edwards occupation in the United States was farmer. Thirty-nine percent of Edwards's were Farmers. 

The Edwards surname is a common English name and also common name in Wales. You can follow the migration of the Edwards family as they were enumerated in only two censuses that I have found. The 1860 and 1870 censuses. 

the 1860 census had valuable information about Alfred and his son Thomas. A.  Edwards is sixty-nine years old and living with Thos. Edwards age forty-four and Thos. was a physician. Thomas’s real estate value is $4000. And personal estate is $24,550.00. Thos. was born in South Carolina and attended school. There are ten other people living in the household. I did not recognize them. On the 1860 Rockford Post Office, Southern Division, Coosa County, Alabama, A. Edwards is a farmer with a real estate value of $1000.00 and his place of birth was Virginia.  His wife Mary “Polly” died about 1840 in Cherokee County, Georgia. Possibly she died after they left South Carolina headed west.

On the 1870 Township 20, Elmore County, Alabama census Alfred Edwards’ occupation was a farmer, with real estate of $400. And personal estate of $250. 00 states her birthplace is Virginia. He also states his father is foreign born and his mother is foreign born. That is a tip for me to look for immigration records for his parents. Alfred Edwards also states he cannot write. There is an Alfred Edwards listed on the 1870 Agriculture Census living in Township 20, Elmore County, Alabama.  The Agriculture Census was for the year ending June 1, 1870. The value of Alfred Edwards farm produce, including betterments and additions to stocks was $2050.00. The value of the animals that Alfred Edwards slaughtered or sold for slaughter was $235.00, and the value of home manufactures was $50.00. 

Research for Alfred Edwards produced fragments of a paper trail for this ancestor who lived a long and seemingly productive life. . I have exhausted all the records online for Alfred Edwards and haven’t found a marriage record, pre-1850, 1850 censuses, or land records for Alfred Edwards . Possibly he was born in England, Wales, or Ireland and brought to the colonies at a young age. On the 1870 census it stated his parents were foreign born so possibly they were the immigrant ancestors of the Edwards family line. 

Research is ongoing and as records are found information will be updated for Alfred Edwards. 

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Using Record Sources Not Another Online Tree as Evidence

One of the advantages of people’s online public trees is that they can be helpful for folks like me who had very little information about a family line. My Lee family line has been a challenge and other people’s family trees have provided clues, records, and photos that I have used to guide to me as I searched for record sources to verify the information. Over fifteen years ago when I began my genealogy journey I had very little information on my grandmother Alice Lee’s family line. The only name that I ever knew my father’s mother by was “Granny Eley.” When I asked Granny her real name, she wouldn’t tell me, so I grew up never knowing her Lee/Meadows family. Thankfully my sister Ruby the oldest of the eight children knew about the family.

The information for my great grandfather William Alfred Lee was provided by my sister Ruby. Ruby gave me his name, place of birth in Alabama, his wife’s name, where they were married and who married them, and that they migrated from Alabama to Jackson Parish, Louisiana. This information was a great help in getting me started in researching the Lee line, but I was stumped when trying to link William Alfred to his father. William was supposedly born in 1847 but he wasn’t found on the 1850 census.

When I chose an online tree, I looked for errors and inconsistencies in the trees. I did not want to use a tree that had errors and inconsistencies in it. William A. was listed with his mother and his siblings on the 1860 Tallapoosa County, Alabama census. I later found out William Alfred Lee was born in Oct 1850 after the enumeration date May 1 for the 1850 census. I analyzed every record source for William Alfred Lee to make sure the names, date, and location were valid before adding him to my tree. I used those sources that backed up the information for my ancestor. Now, I know that the information is accurate (as it possibly can be) for my great grandfather.  Online trees provided the name of William’s father and there were record sources with them, so I used those records and researched until I was confident this was the correct ancestor.

Genealogists at one time or another have come across an online family tree with our ancestor in it and when we look at the tree the only source is another family tree. Family trees are not a valid source. What you are looking for is evidence or facts for an ancestor. A valid record source is one that supports the facts such as a birth certificate, marriage license, death certificate. You take the record source and analyze it to see if it is relevant to a particular ancestor that you are researching. You continue to collect sources for that ancestor and analyze them to see if it supports or contradicts the other sources. You are working to prove this person is your ancestor. You are looking for evidence of facts and information to support your research for your ancestor.

It is so much easier to just copy an ancestor and his family than it is to search for records and carefully review each record for proof, making sure the evidence from the record supports all the other information about the ancestor. If you think about it, another family tree doesn’t support any facts or evidence. The ancestor in the other person’s family tree may not be your ancestor. That is the reason for researching and finding record sources and analyzing them to prove that this is your ancestor.

Genealogy is about collaborating. Most genealogists share their trees on a public site. The information collected and shared in an online tree is valuable to other researchers. I am happy to share the information in my tree with others and I have worked diligently to make sure the information in my tree is verified with record sources. Whatever database you choose to share your family tree on it is your responsibility as a researcher to make sure the information you are collecting and sharing is accurate.

Keep in mind that an online family tree without sources is only to be used as a guide for further research. Search for record sources that prove the information and use those record sources to cite the information in your tree. You should ask yourself is the proof a valid record and not a compiled record, family book, or story, etc. Are the dates making sense that are listed in the tree? Are the children’s ages such that the person listed as a wife is too young to have children those ages?

Our goal is to have a family tree with record sources to prove the names, dates, locations, etc. in our family trees. If we all work diligently and use valid record sources as evidence in researching our ancestors, then cite the information in our trees with those record sources, the genealogy community will be better benefited due to our efforts.

Dr. Margaret Mead, 1901-1978
half-length portrait, facing right reading a book.
Library of Congress

Sunday, January 6, 2019

Why is DNA Testing Important for Family History and Why Should I DNA Test?


Those questions are often asked in meetings that I attend, and the answers vary depending on the person you talk to. DNA testing is a choice and there are many reasons someone will choose to test. Since I began DNA testing in 2012, I have tried to learn about DNA, how to interpret results, and how DNA test results will benefit a hobby genealogist. There are ways to continue learning about DNA testing and those that I benefit from are blogs by experts in the field and subscribing to those blogs, viewing webinars by genetic genealogist, attending genetic genealogy conferences, joining genetic genealogy Facebook Groups, and reading and studying any book that is available on the topic.

So why is DNA Testing important for family history and why DNA test? DNA testing is not a shortcut to traditional genealogical research. DNA testing isn’t a replacement for the paper trail. DNA testing is a record and is used in cooperation with traditional genealogical research. Genetic genealogy is a way for genealogists to go beyond what they learn from relatives or from historical records. As you look through your DNA test results there will be clues about where the cousins’ ancestors might have come from and clues about relationships between your families.

If you have been researching long you use records such as birth, marriage and death records in your research. Your DNA is a unique record of you and your family – your parents, your grandparents, and great grandparents. It is a record of your genetic family tree just as your genealogical family tree is a genealogical pedigree of your family. Look at it this way, you have two trees – a genetic family tree and a genealogical family tree. According to my Ancestry family tree I have sixteen hundred fifty-nine people in my genealogical family tree. I have my direct line ancestors and collateral ancestors with sources in this family tree. My genetic family tree contains those ancestors from whom I received DNA as it was passed down and it represents me and my family in a way that no other record can.

Whether or not you DNA test is a personal preference. It is solely left up to you and there is nothing that says you have to DNA test. You alone are the one who knows how important DNA testing might be for you. You might ask yourself, “Why DNA test? Do you want to learn about ethnicity estimates? DNA testing will give you that information.  What am I trying to learn from DNA testing?" If you have been researching for years, then DNA testing will help in verifying your ancestors and your research. There are some places where the documentation can't be found but finding a DNA match will let you know that you descended from that particular ancestor. DNA testing can help in a family line where you are stuck and can’t go any further with that line. Unless there is a misattributed parentage in the line DNA is a record for that family line where the paper trail ends. Even though there may be a misattributed parentage, if relatives from that line have tested there will be relatives show up in your match list from that line.

Another question to ask is, “What family secrets might DNA test results reveal?” Some people have gotten surprises when their DNA results comes back. There were secrets in families and some may have been revealed and shared down through the family; however, there were those that remained secrets. If you choose to DNA test prepare yourself for anything that may show up when you receive your results. If your results shows up with unexpected results it can be a shock if you haven’t prepared yourself.

DNA is a powerful record that is available for genealogists that is used to confirm our ancestors and the physical connection. You can connect with cousins and collaborate with those cousins and they may have information about family that you don’t have that will help fill in a gap in your research. DNA proves or disproves relationships.

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Saturday's Tip

Online Family Trees

You found an online tree that has your ancestor in it. You have been searching for this particular ancestor for a while but have been unsuccessful in finding him. Now that you have found him what do you do? You may ask yourself how do I know for sure this is my ancestor? First, is the information sourced? How do you know the information is correct? Look for gaps, inconsistencies, and conflicting information in the tree. The following list will help you as you look  through the tree.
  • Birth of a child before the mother was of childbearing age
  • Inconsistencies in christening locations
  • Mother passed childbearing age
  • Siblings too close in age
  • Inconsistent marriage date
  • Incorrect gender
  • Person beyond normal life span but not marked as deceased
  • Duplicate birth or death dates or places
  • Inconsistent surname spelling
  • Inconsistent place names
  • Married name entered as a maiden name
  • Siblings with same first name
  • Person duplicates
  • Persons not connected to others in tree
  • Connection between generations
Online trees are notorious for errors. Resist the temptation to just take the information and add to your tree.

The information from an online tree needs to be examined very carefully making sure it the correct information about your ancestor before using it in your tree. Every genealogist would like to have a robust family tree; however, you would like to have your ancestors not someone else’s ancestors in your family tree. You do that by searching for additional records for your ancestor following solid genealogical methodology and verifying the accuracy of the information you use in your family trees. 

No matter how long you have been doing genealogy it is always a good practice to continuously review your work, and when you scrutinize an online tree you are reviewing someone else's tree.  As you go along in your research always cite your sources and that saves time in the long run. If the online tree has sources you cite those in your tree if that is your ancestor.  This will help you trace back to where you found the information and verify whether your conclusions about your ancestor are true.  Other researchers will have confidence that your information is correct when you have records to back up your work. Sources are a great way to point you to family members such as an ancestor’s siblings. They also give you clues for further records and leads to more research.

Even the best genealogists have errors in their research. By checking for gaps, inconsistencies, and conflicting information in an online tree and following up with sources that backup the research will you build an accurate family tree.