November 2007

Genealogy Gems: News from the Fort Wayne Library No. 45, November 30, 2007 In this issue: The Military Heritage Center Researching Mayflower Families Scanning Old Photographs Preservation Tip of the Month Area Calendar of Events Driving Directions to the Library Parking at the Library Queries for the Department

***************************************

The Military Heritage Center by Curt B. Witcher

***************************************

In this season of giving, and after having just celebrated Thanksgiving and Veterans’ Day 2007, we are pleased to announce a new feature of the GenealogyCenter.Info website. Starting December 1st there will be a special section of the GenealogyCenter site called “Our Military Heritage” to honor those who have given so much to our country. This is our way of both giving thanks for our military men and women, living and deceased, and assisting researchers in gaining access to data that documents our military heritage. In this section we will be posting full-text searchable images of public-domain publications, soldiers’ letters and diaries, photographs, pension and service records, posters, military burial records, commemorative works, military institutions’ yearbooks, articles, postcards and links to significant military websites. We anticipate this will be a very dynamic, growing area of the site as we look to include web-streamed interviews and programs in addition to other contributed materials. The section is linked on the main page of GenealogyCenter.Info and can also be accessed directly by the following URL: www.GenealogyCenter.Info/military Exploring this site, you will see that we have an interesting and rather unique collection of military documents already assembled. A Spanish American War poster of Allen County, Indiana soldiers entitled “Our Gallant Volunteers” can be viewed as a complete image or you can zoom-in on a particular veteran by clicking on a data table; a World War II era sermon talks about war and honors the men serving; and our own library director, Jeff Krull, submitted information on the interesting military career of his great uncle, Edward C. Kuhn, who was a famous military insignia designer. The Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center has nearly a half-century long tradition of preserving historical and genealogical information and making that data available to researchers. When you consider that every generation since the founding of our country has had individuals serving in the military, you understand why access to historical military data is so important in family history. Through this feature of our site, it is our intention to make valuable military information widely available to researchers without cost. We can also assist you in submitting copies of military materials to the Veterans’ History Project at the Library of Congress. If you would like to contribute letters to and from service personnel, diaries of military ancestors, copies of pension and service records, pictures of medals and citations, discharge papers, military burial records and the like, please contact The Genealogy Center through Genealogy@ACPL.Info or call 260-421-1225. You can also simply send digital copies of the military documents (scanned at 300 dpi) to: The Genealogy Center, Attn.: Curt Witcher, Allen County Public Library, 900 Library Plaza, Ft. Wayne, IN 46802. We hope you find this new feature of GenealogyCenter.Info both useful and enjoyable.

***************************************

Researching Mayflower Families by John D. Beatty

***************************************

November and Thanksgiving always bring to mind the Pilgrims, the Mayflower, Plymouth Colony, and the first Thanksgiving feast of 1621. Tracing one’s genealogy back to a Mayflower passenger is a popular and rewarding pastime. Millions of present-day Americans are thought to have a Mayflower passenger among their ancestors. Here in the Genealogy Center we are often asked to give advice about sources and techniques for Mayflower genealogical research. As in any genealogical endeavor, it is important to follow good research techniques, working backwards and documenting each generation with ample proofs, preferably from primary sources. Once you get to the mid-eighteenth century, a variety of tools exist in print to provide more substantial assistance, but one should also recognize that much erroneous information has been published, both in print and online, and care should be taken, genealogically speaking, to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of these sources. One of the best works to appear to date is Robert Charles Anderson’s “The Pilgrim Migration: Immigrants to Plymouth Colony 1620-1633,” published in 2004 (974.402 P74an). Authored by one of the top genealogical scholars in the nation, the book offers a careful analysis of the existing evidence for each of the Pilgrims, as well as other early residents of Plymouth Colony, and provides extensive bibliographic references to research by others. Also indispensable is the multi-volume “Mayflower Families through Five Generations,” (974.4 M45) published by the Society of Mayflower Descendants. These well-documented volumes trace all of the descendants through five generations for the following passengers: Francis Eaton, Samuel Fuller, William White, James Chilton, Richard More, Thomas Rogers, George Soule, Edward Fuller, Edward Winslow, John Billington, Stephen Hopkins, Peter Brown, Degory Priest, Edward Doty, Francis Cooke, Myles Standish, John Alden, Isaac Allerton, Richard Warren, Henry Samson, William Bradford, and John Howland. The effort is still on-going, and not all of the passengers have appeared, William Brewster being among the most notable, though Barbara Merrick has produced five-generation studies for several of the Brewster children, and her four-generation study of his descendants is also in print. Much of the above research has superseded Milton Terry’s earlier “Mayflower Ancestral Index” (1981) (929.11 T27m), though it is still useful. There are also a number of histories of the Pilgrims in print. The earliest is the first-hand record by William Bradford, “Of Plymouth Plantation,” which is available in several editions (974.4B72bra). Written about 1647, this is one of the earliest histories of the New World. Eugene Aubrey Stratton’s “Plymouth Colony, Its History and People 1620-1691” (1986) (974.4 St8p) is a good, serviceable history, while a more recent history that has received much acclaim is Nathaniel Philbrick’s “Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War” (2006) (974.4 P534m). A variety of primary sources from Plymouth Colony have also appeared in print. “Plymouth Colony Records, volume 1, Wills and Inventories 1633-1669,” published in 1996 (974.402 P74s) contains verbatim transcriptions of the colony’s earliest probate records. Lee D. Van Antwerp’s compiled “Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850” (974.402 P74vi) contains useful registers of births, marriages, and deaths, as does the two-volume “Plymouth Church Records 1620-1859,” reprinted in 1975 (974.402 P74pLpc). The multi-volume “Records of the Town of Plymouth” (974.402 P74da) contains a verbatim transcript of town meeting minutes. Nathaniel Shurtleff’s “Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England” (974.4 N42r), published in multi-volume format, contains verbatim transcriptions of court records of the colony. Other secondary sources that might prove useful to Mayflower researchers include several volumes by Susan E. Roser, transcribing the notes of George Ernest Bowman, a respected Mayflower scholar whose files are kept at the Society of Mayflower Descendants. These include “Mayflower Deeds and Probates from the Files of George Ernest Bowman” (974.4 R724ma), a transcription of thousands of deeds, arranged by the surname of the Mayflower passenger, and “Mayflower Births and Deaths from the Files of George Ernest Bowman” (974.4 R71m). Gary Boyd Roberts’ “Mayflower Source Records” (974.4 R54m) consists of reprinted articles that originally appeared in the “New England Historical and Genealogical Register.” These same articles are viewable and searchable online through the library’s subscription to “New England Ancestors,” a source of databases maintained by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Finally, one should also consult the “Mayflower Descendant” (974.4 M447), a scholarly journal published since 1899 by the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants. This work is a treasure of compiled genealogical studies and record transcriptions that is well worth investigating. In short, genealogists visiting the Genealogy Center will find abundant published resources for researching Mayflower genealogy, especially for the vicinity of Plymouth Colony itself. But because the descendants of these Pilgrims quickly spread outward from Massachusetts into the remainder of New England and New York in only a few generations, and from there, throughout the United States, researchers will likely need to investigate the records of many places in order to assemble their pedigree back to the Pilgrims.

***************************************

Scanning Old Photographs by Kay Spears

***************************************

Do you have some old photographs you want to scan, but you’re not sure what format to use when saving them? Well, here’s the definitive answer: it depends. Yes, what format you choose for saving images depends on how you intend to use them once they are scanned. Here are some general guidelines. 1. If the image is to be used for the Web/online, use JPEG, PNG or GIF. If the image is to be printed or used in a print publication, use TIFF. 2. JPEG should be used when you need to keep the file size small and don’t mind giving up quality for a significant reduction in size. JPEGs are optimal for posting and transferring photos online. JPEGs aren’t suitable for images with text because crisp lines will blur. If you plan on doing any kind of restoration work on your photograph, JPEGs are not the format to use. 3. PNG is ideal when you need smaller file sizes with no loss in quality. PNG supports alpha transparency (soft edges). PNG files offer greater compression and a much wider range of color depth than GIFs. However, not all web browsers support PNGs. 4. GIF is a good choice for simple Web graphics with limited colors. GIF should rarely be used for photos. 5. TIFF is good for any type of bitmap image. If you want to archive your family photographs, this is the format to use. This is also the format to use if you are planning on doing restoration work. Unlike JPEGs, TIFFs do not lose any compression when edited and resaved. I recommend that you scan your family photos as TIFFs; you can always reduce them to JPEGs for sending through emails or putting online. Always keep the original TIFF saved in a separate file. The downside: TIFF files are extremely large and take up a lot of storage space. However, the cost of disk storage continues to plummet while options continue to increase. 6. BMP may be used for any type of pixel-based image. BMPs are huge files, but there is no loss of quality. BMP has no real benefit over TIFF, except you can use it for Windows wallpaper. A final tip: for sharing a photo via the Web or email, scan at 75 or 100 dpi. A standard computer monitor is only 72 to 96 dpi, so it’s not necessary for anything larger. For printing, scan at 300 dpi. Printers have higher resolution than monitors. If you’re planning on enlarging an image, the general rule of thumb is double the resolution when doubling the size.

***************************************

Preservation Tip of the Month by Becky Schipper

***************************************

This tip was sent to me from Russell Jones, a Genealogy Gems subscriber who attended one of my presentations during the FGS conference in August. The June 2007 issue of Consumer Reports contains an interesting article beginning on page 26 concerning the transferring of LP’s, tapes, photos, and home movies to CD & DVD formats. The article, entitled “Go Digital,” and several sidebars cover four pages and provide clear steps and specific equipment needed for transfer. It is easily read and gives one practical tips and cautions.

***************************************

Area Calendar of Events

***************************************

Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (ACGSI) Dec. 12, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. at the Allen County Public Library’s Main Library, 900 Library Plaza. Members will show and tell about their oldest heirloom or artifact. Bring yours to share. Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) "First Wednesday" program of lineage assistance is Wednesday, December 5th 9 am – 7 pm. Expert help from members of the DAR on becoming a member of that organization.

***************************************

Driving Directions to the Library

***************************************

Wondering how to get to the library? Our location is 900 Library Plaza, Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the block bordered on the south by Washington Boulevard, the west by Ewing Street, the north by Wayne Street, and the east by the Library Plaza, formerly Webster Street. We would enjoy having you visit the Genealogy Center. To get directions from your exact location to 900 Library Plaza, Fort Wayne, Indiana, visit this link at MapQuest: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=900%20Web ster%20St&city=Fort%20Wayne&state=IN&zipcode=46802%2d3602&country=US&geodiff=1 >From the South Exit Interstate 69 at exit 102. Drive east on Jefferson Boulevard into downtown. Turn left on Ewing Street. The Library is one block north, at Ewing Street and Washington Boulevard. Using US 27: US 27 turns into Lafayette Street. Drive north into downtown. Turn left at Washington Boulevard and go five blocks. The Library will be on the right. >From the North Exit Interstate 69 at exit 112. Drive south on Coldwater Road, which merges into Clinton Street. Continue south on Clinton to Washington Boulevard. Turn right on Washington and go three blocks. The Library will be on the right. >From the West Using US 30: Drive into town on US 30. US 30 turns into Goshen Ave. which dead-ends at West State Blvd. Make an angled left turn onto West State Blvd. Turn right on Wells Street. Go south on Wells to Wayne Street. Turn left on Wayne Street. The Library will be in the second block on the right. Using US 24: After crossing under Interstate 69, follow the same directions as from the South. >From the East Follow US 30/then 930 into and through New Haven, under an overpass into downtown Fort Wayne. You will be on Washington Blvd. when you get into downtown. Library Plaza will be on the right.

***************************************

Parking at the Library

***************************************

At the Library, underground parking can be accessed from Wayne Street. Other library parking lots are at Washington and Webster, and Wayne and Webster. Hourly parking is $1 per hour with a $7 maximum. ACPL library card holders may use their cards to validate the parking ticket at the west end of the Great Hall of the Library. Out of county residents may purchase a subscription card with proof of identification and residence. The current fee for an Individual Subscription Card is $70. Public lots are located at the corner of Ewing and Wayne Streets ($1 each for the first two halfhours, $1 per hour after, with a $4 per day maximum) and the corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Harrison Street ($3 per day). Street (metered) parking on Ewing and Wayne Streets. On the street you plug the meters 8am – 5pm, weekdays only. It is free to park on the street after 5pm and on the weekends. Visitor center/Grand Wayne Center garage at Washington and Clinton Streets. This is the Hilton Hotel parking lot that also serves as a day parking garage. For hourly parking, 7am – 11 pm, charges are .50 for the first 45 minutes, then $1.00 per hour. There is a flat $2.00 fee between 5pm and 11pm.

***************************************

Genealogy Center Queries

***************************************

The Genealogy Center hopes you find this newsletter interesting. Thank you for subscribing. We cannot, however, answer personal research emails written to the e-zine address. The department houses a Research Center that makes photocopies and conducts research for a fee. If you have a general question about our collection, or are interested in the Research Center, please telephone the library and speak to a librarian who will be glad to answer your general questions or send you a research center form. Our telephone number is 260-421-1225. If you’d like to email a general information question about the department, please email: Genealogy@ACPL.Info.

***************************************

Publishing Note:

***************************************

This electronic newsletter is published by the Allen County Public Library's Genealogy Center, and is intended to enlighten readers about genealogical research methods as well as inform them about the vast resources of the Allen County Public Library. We welcome the wide distribution of this newsletter and encourage readers to forward it to their friends and societies. All precautions have been made to avoid errors. However, the publisher does not assume any liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, no matter the cause. To subscribe to “Genealogy Gems,” simply use your browser to go to the website: www.GenealogyCenter.Info. Scroll down toward the bottom of the first screen where it says, "Enter Your Email Address to Subscribe to "Genealogy Gems." Enter your email address in the yellow box and click on "Subscribe." You will be notified with a confirmation email. If you do not want to receive this e-zine, please follow the link at the very bottom of the issue of GenealogyGems you just received or send an email to kspears@acpl.lib.in.us with "unsubscribe e-zine" in the subject line. Curt Witcher, editor pro-tem