Social media as evidence!

Over at the ProGenealogists blog last month, David Vance commented on how social media worked a century ago in the social columns of local newspapers.

I would be interested in the thoughts of more tech-savvy people on this comparison. (And quite possibly there have been some in the hectic month between his post and this one!)

Vance translated some of the social items into 2012-speak, and it looked to me like the corresponding tweets contained somewhat less genealogical information than their 1912 originals. (Insert your own observation about the 2010 census vs. 1910 census here.)

Meanwhile, here's an example of a top-of-the-line genealogical article that used this kind of source:

Victor S. Dunn, "Social News as a Clue to Ancestry: Hester (nee Rogers) Cunningham of Virginia and West Virginia," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 93 (September 2005): 165-176.

It's available free on line to members of the National Genealogical Society.

Kansas on-line indexes

Even the on-line world is turning to materials a bit beyond the usual vital records in the usual vital places. These happen to be in Kansas, a frequent destination point for dwellers in the "old Midwest." Doctors' licenses, fraternal order notices, letters from home, and more, searchable thanks to the Kansas State Historical Society. Don't give up on your Kansas research target without checking these.

Hat tip to ProGenealogists, maybe the most hard-core genealogy blog out there, for the initial tip.

Good thoughts from other blogs

I've been enjoying the "Daily Genealogist" from NEHGS, AKA the New England Historic Genealogical Society, AKA "HisGen" -- in particular Michael J. LeClerc's heart-rending tale in the issue of 1 September. If that doesn't get you motivated to keep track of family treasures, perhaps you have no relatives at all!

In the 31 August (issue #78) e-newsletter "Genealogy Gems" from the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Steven W. Myers alerts us to the existence of The Gerritsen Collection of Women’s History, 1543-1945. It's a source useful for historical context that also contains genealogically specific materials as well. English-language portions are at the Genealogy Center on microfiche. Check their online microtext catalog, but really, just go there!

ProGenealogists' blog continues as useful as it was before the firm was purchased by Ancestry.com. In the 31 August post, Sherry Lindsay asks, "Why does this record exist?" and gives some generic answers for common record types. But this should remain a live question in every case, because particular records may have additional interesting reasons for being created.

In general I like any question that shakes us out of our routine and makes us relate those dusty, scrawly, faded records back to the lives they touched -- like, "Just how did those two ever meet in the first place, much less get married?" Even questions that can't be answered can make you think different.

Methodology Monday with a new fallacy collection

This week I'm outsourcing the methodology post to Kory Meyerink of ProGenealogists, who has compiled an organized list of genealogical fallacies, ranging from the obvious (believing what feels good) to the arcane (assuming averages apply). Check it out!

Not 100%

The ProGenealogists blog did a very nice thing in getting permission from author William B. Saxbe, Jr., to reprint his article from the March 1999 National Genealogical Society Quarterly, "Nineteenth-Century Death Records: How Dependable Are They?"

Read the whole thing, but basically Saxbe carefully compared three different records of deaths in Champaign County, Ohio, between 1 June 1879 and 31 May 1880: a county death register, the US census mortality schedule for the county, and obituaries published in the three county-seat newspapers. Conclusion: "No more than 35 percent of the known deaths produced obituaries, only 56 percent appeared in the county death registrations, and only 84 percent were picked up by that year’s mortality census." And almost half of the known deaths appeared in only one of the three sources.