One Of My Favorite Pictures!

I was adopted shortly after birth, and knew nothing about my biological mother until I was in my 40s, when a half sister tracked me down.  She had also been adopted out. We have been busy since then, researching the family.

The blond toddler on the arm of the chair is my mother.  The adults, my grandparents.  The baby, my Aunt Marjorie.

My mother Rose was a complicated woman with a fascinating life.  She was born in Bangkok.  Her parents and grandparents, and some extended family, were missionaries there.  They were caught up at the beginning of World War II, and were interned in a prison camp when she was around 12 years old.

After they were returned home to the US, more complications....  But she eventually found a kind man who loved her, and raised five wonderful children with him.  Not counting my sister and myself, of course.  But she did right by us, too....

Amazing to find an early picture of my biological mother!  And she looks so much like I did at that age.  And so much like my daughter did then.  One of my favorite pictures, for sure.

Seems Like Such A SMALL Thing....

I found my mother in the 1938 city directory for Cleveland today.

Mrs. Martha J. Peck, clerk, Halle Bros Co.  residence 1982 W 93rd St, Cleveland, Ohio

Such a little thing.  But it felt like a tiny miracle.  This is a such an incredible clue for figuring out a long-standing mystery about my own parents.  A mystery about a series of things I should have asked them about, long before they were gone.  But that didn't happen.  Mea culpa.

In the 1937 directory (complied in 1936) both Lewis Robert Peck and Martha Jane Hoover were living with their parents.  In May of 1937, they married.  I had searched the 1938 directory (compiled in 1937) before.  Cataloging all the related people.  And could not find Lewis.  I somehow overlooked this one entry for Martha.....  [Thanks, Genealogy Do-Over].
I had assumed I would find them together.  Not so.
Everything I had found before was that they married in 1937, and then vanished.....

I knew that Lewis worked in the WPA at some point.  Didn't know if was a more local project or a more distant one.

I knew that Martha worked at Halle Bros. (a big department store) as a file clerk.  Earned $5 a week, a really good wage for the time.  That she had one work dress, and each evening, she would wash out her dress in the sink and iron it for the next day.

In the 'people' portion of the directory, she was listed at that address.  When I went back to the 'street address' portion of the directory, there were two people listed at that address, neither of them her. And I have searched through everyone on that street.  Nothing.  So I feel safe to assume that she was boarding, or renting a room, rather than living in an apartment.

This also tells me that Lewis' WPA project was not local.  Whether his work was in a different part of the same state, of somewhere else in the country, they were not together.

Within months of their marriage, they were separated because of the Depression....

But they were still together, for decades, and are just as 'disappeared' in 1940 and after.
One breadcrumb at a time is just fine!

Moving on....

WAHOO!!! Breaking out the Champagne!

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/merlin1487/5518280677/

I've been doing the Do-Over pretty much all-in.  But in addition to the craziness of figuring out the priorities and protocols, the plans and methodologies, and precisely how things should be handled, and setting up the new tree, I had another little sideline project I had been working on since before Christmas....

It had to do with my computer files EVERYWHERE!  My big elephant in the room. Well, make that MANY rooms.  A great many rooms....  Rooms with closets, painted-over cupboards, hidden passageways.  And content hidden in every little corner.

I really felt that I had to get them all gathered together, and at least roughly organized, so I knew what I had.  A large number of the "documents that are expensive or very difficult to replace", both legal and important to pull for the Do-Over, were hiding in there. Somewhere in there.    "I know I have that...."    And for everything not in that category, I would at least know where the stuff was so I could set it aside!

In the past, I have been only marginally bad at just adding tree branches from others' trees.  But I have been RABID about going on free-form searches, and gathering bits, saved in "to be sorted" files, "lots of Carricks" files, "analyze these" files,  "Wow Peck Docs" files. Pick any dumping-ground filename.  I've probably used it.

Been doing this for decades....  Oh, my....

So I have been finding and moving all these from wherever they are, and putting them in Evernote, well-sorted, titled, and tagged, so I can find them.  (What a concept!)

A friend got the content from two old hard drives onto a flash drive, and the content in those two old drives was gradually moved out and handled.  I have dug into the current computer, and gathered up everything, from everywhere, and ditto.

Since just before Christmas,  I have found, moved, and at least sort of organized 1.6 GB of old files and finds!!!  And today, just this afternoon, I DELETED both the *Big Sort Job* folder and the *Temp Import File* folder in Evernote.  They were EMPTY!

Oh, my... That felt good!  Understatement....

So now, I can find the image of the register for my parents' marriage. And the 1930 and 1920 census images for them, and aunts and uncles and grandparents,  that I cannot afford now.  And newspaper articles about my great-uncles that I cannot afford now. And other such document images as I move along.

And as I move along, I will fill out the research log as I look for a specific item for a person, but then I will STOP, and check my own Evernote for that first.  I may have 3 copies already there!  

Bad News and Good News - How Little I Knew!!

Bad News -
I fell down a rabbit hole early this morning.  I've been lost for many, many hours....

Good News -
It was not a random search for a maybe-gggrandfather.  It was a new-to-me, very rich, single-site, newspaper search for my two paternal Aunts.  (They are in my current GDO working group.)

Bad News -
I *did not* open my research log first....  Just was reminded of the site, and went there.  Mea Culpa. (First morning of a short vacation, and wasn't in 'work mode' yet. Not a good excuse, but a reason.)

Good News -
I kept notes on all search terms and will be hitting the research log heavily in just a moment.  Really!

Bad News -
Although I got them all into Evernote, I quit fully tagging them at about hour 2....  But I did keep single, consistent tags for each aunt, and titled the notes properly, so I can easily go tag them more completely.  And I noted the source site on each note.  Off to tag them properly.  Right after I hit the research log....

Good News - 
I have certainly done an exhaustive search of that site!  One pass rule....

The Really Good News -
How little I knew!!  And how many things I thought I knew were wrong or skewed!  And what finds!!  Including photos from the 1930s and the 1960s.  And, by the way, if you want to find newspaper mentions of someone, reach back in time and talk them into being a school teacher. Readers always wanted to see their kids' names in print, so "school news" was a big thing.  And the teachers came along with that.  Yay!

And the Good-Bad News -
Now I have to do the work of filling out the research logs and finishing the tagging process.  I'll source and cite when I start entering, but the first two need to be done today.

Thanks, http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html !


My Aunt Esther (Peck) Brooks, the school teacher.  (35 various articles, 4 photos, and many corrections and additions to what I thought I knew....

And my Aunt Ruth (Peck) Zerbst.  (Several articles, 1 photo and a lot more learned beyond what I thought I knew.)

Genealogy Do-Over - Protocols Draft

Well, I have finally got the most important protocols for my Genealogy Do-Over roughed out this morning (and I do mean rough...).  I have to be missing some important things.  What are those?  Advice?

This is just the primary things, and then also my Evernote plan.  I am working on things specific to my gen-program use, too, but those aren't ready for 'peer review'....  

(RM is RootsMagic.  EN is Evernote)

I will follow the Genealogical Proof Standard:

1. Perform a reasonably exhaustive search
2. Create complete and accurate source citations
3. Analyze and correlate all of the collected information
4. Resolve any conflicting evidence
5. Create a soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion

I will go slowly!  

I will start with myself, including facts, sources, and the beginning of a continuing narrative.

I will put in three generations of bare-bones names, birth and death dates, so that events can be shared in RM as I work from each source.  I will only add another generation if the new source warrants it, and sharing events needs to happen.

I will keep the relatively new and simple file structure I have, for now, already stored in DropBox.     To-Do:  I will begin my do-over work, however, by moving out the sparse content currently filed there into EN, since many of those pieces were not handled properly. Things move into the structure when they are done right!

I will start with the source:

1. I will save each source digitally, if at all possible.
2. I will source each document correctly and completely, using the Evidence Explained styles (ref."EE") in RM, including quality, and any comments.  I will also add transcriptions in citation details unless the digital source is clear, or if it is otherwise advisable.
3. I will attach the image of the source/citation to the source media in RM.
4. I will retrieve every detail from that source, with the help of Evidentia in most cases, and fully analyze those details.
5. I will then create events in RM for the individuals involved in that source, so that the source media item can be tagged to them at the event level, not just the person level.
6. For any problem person (someone with significant conflicting information, or a brick wall), I will use Evidentia for ALL sources that mention them, or that might have possible implications for them.

I will use the research log in RM.  

1. I will approach the research efforts as "research sessions", beginning with the log entry.  
2. If I begin to follow a new lead, I will stop, complete the log entry for the first goal, and set up the new lead as a new goal in the log. 
3. If I stumble across information about a person not in the original goal, I will stop, and set up a research log entry for that person, detailing what was found.
4. I will be complete in the entries of what I want to find, where I look, what search terms I tried, and the results of the search, positive or negative.

In research and analysis I will work on the FANs (friends, associates, neighbors) as carefully as I do on the primaries.  

Evernote will be a set of working files, not the primary genealogy storage system, although all notes will remain there for later access.   The HUGE number of images and documents I am moving into Evernote from all over my computer and a couple of old hard drives is being handled exclusively through tags, as will be future notes.  The Evernote-use protocols here are at the gather-up-and-analyze-for-a-person end of things.

I will use a subnotebook under the Genealogy notebook for each person currently being worked on.  I am calling that subnotebook a "Person Page".    

Long before I approach the notebook limit,  the earliest person pages will have been exhaustively searched, and fully entered into RM and the digital file structure.  Their individual person pages will no longer be needed.    From their person page, I will select all the notes there, and move them into an umbrella notebook under Genealogy:  Paternal, Maternal, Biological subnotebooks.  I can then delete their person page. All the notes will still be searchable, but notebook capacity will be available for new people.  

Any newly found notes on people who no longer have an active person page will be placed in a single subnotebook in the Genealogy notebook called  "New Finds To Analyze".  

Each Person Page will have a few notes pinned to the top using serial **.  

     Notes to be pinned to the top of each person page include:

1. Copy of the Individual Summary Report from RM, renewed as it develops, for easy reference.
2. Source Checklist for the time period relevant for the person.                                         Complete the full template, and place on current person pages, eliminating irrelevant items.
3. To-Do List for that person.  
4. A 'Notes' note, for any thoughts, any developing hypotheses, quick remembrances, etc.  The one note may become several: 'Notes-Profession', Notes - Residence', etc.
5. All notes in EN relevant to that person will be gathered up via search and tags, and moved to that person page.  
6. All other notes can sort within the person page as they happen to, and will be found with tags or search.