A Cowboy in the Family: Chisholm Trail Rider Frank Jones

Last week I asked my son what he was learning about in his Texas History class. "Cowboys," he said.

We do have a cowboy in the family and I told him about it.

Frank Wiley Jones (1859-1942) was a Chisholm Trail driver. My grandmother told me as much many times. She was quite proud of the fact.

Recently, I found mention of Frank in the book Chronicles of Oklahoma. He was interviewed for his knowledge of the original Chisholm Trail, as folks were trying to pinpoint its path decades later. This book is available in the digital library of Oklahoma State University. Frank's piece is on page 111 of volume 4, no. 1 (1936):

"Frank Jones is 74 years old, very active and knows the Chisholm Trail from the Red River Station to Caldwell, Kansas. He has driven herds of cattle over this trail in the years of 1878 to 1886 which was the last trip.


Mr. Jones was with me on the location of the trail just east of Comanche to Rush Creek south and east of Rush Springs where the country is solid cultivation the trail is very dim and cannot be easily located only in a general direction. A large portion of this distance was in a sandy hilly country, but Mr. Jones has a wonderful recollection as to the correct location of the trail...."


It's probably no coincidence that Frank's last ride was the same year he got married to Carrie Colbert. He established his own ranch once he took a bride.

My son didn't seem that excited to learn that he had a *real* cowboy in the family. Hopefully I captured enough interest for him to pay extra attention to the class unit.

As for my grandmother, she would be very proud to know her grandfather's days as a Chisholm Trail driver were recognized in a book that is available from her alma mater.

Someday I'd like to go to the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, Oklahoma and learn more about the drivers from back in the day. Do they have any information on Frank Jones? Do they know he's buried right there in Duncan? If they don't, I'll be sure to tell them. My grandma would want it that way.
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Genealogy News Bits for March 29, 2011

Here are some genealogy news stories that I've found online recently. I thought you might be interested in them:


DearMYRTLE is leading a Twitter/TweetDeck webinar tomorrow, March 30. It's free, but space is limited. More details here.

The Dallas Genealogical Society is hosting a "Researching Texas" seminar May 14. More details at their website.

Noted house historian Marian Pierre-Louis of the New England House Historian blog has penned a great article: 5 Ways Homeowners Can Save Historic Houses.

The Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society has a wonderful video that shares about their society. All genealogical societies should have this type of marketing tool. You do not need to have a fancy library. Just show what makes your group special. If you can't handle the video tech, ask around for someone that can. It's not as difficult as you think it is. I spoke with some of the OBCGS folks at the FGS conference in Raleigh. My Jones line hails from there. I wish I had this group's resources at my fingertips.

That's all for now. Go forth and be awesome.
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Win a Geni.com Pro Account

Geni.com is holding a contest to win a 12-month Geni Pro account. It's easy to enter! Find all the details at this Geni blog post.

But wait, there are TWO ways to win! I am also holding a drawing where you can win a 12-month Geni Pro account. How is that possible? It just is, my friends.

You know the drill. Send me an email at [Redacted. Contest over.] with "I want a Geni Pro Account!" in the subject line. This contest runs now through April 1, 2011 at 3:00 PM Pacific Time. Entries will be numbered in the order in which they were received, and one number will be randomly drawn from this set.

This contest is open to everyone on Earth (sorry, Mars) and you must already have a Geni.com free account to claim the prize.

Ok, I was lying about there being two ways to win, because there's actually THREE. Go to FindMyAncestor.com and enter there, too.

Good luck everyone! Come find me on Geni.com. Maybe we're related!

Disclosure: Geni.com provided me with a complimentary 12-month Pro account at an earlier date. They also provided the Pro account being given away here. They also gave me a shirt at the 2011 RootsTech conference. It's pretty comfortable. You should definitely snag one if you can.

Hear ye, hear ye

Houstonians mark your calendars. On June 3 I'll be speaking at the Lone Star APG meeting. The topic is my experience at the 2011 RootsTech conference. I will be talking about the value of the conference from a professional genealogist perspective.

My guess is that there are some people are trying to determine if it's worth it to go to the 2012 RootsTech conference. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you already know what I'm going to say.

This Lone Star APG event is free and open to the public. The exact location in Houston hasn't been confirmed, so check back with me in a few. The event coordinator is working on getting a room reserved now.

If you are interested in attending but don't want walk in alone in a room full of strangers, let me know and I'll say you're part of my entourage.
Ta-da! Instant network.

Hope to see you there.
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Genealogy News Bits for March 23, 2011

Here are some of the genealogy-related stories that I've come across today. I thought you might be interested in them:

Conference volunteers are wanted for the 2011 FGS Conference in Springfield, Ill. If you give your time, a portion of your registration fee is waived. More information here.

The National Genealogical Society has published some tips for first timers attending the 2011 Charleston, SC Conference. You can find that information at the NGS blog.

I came across this blog post and thought someone here might find it useful. How To: Be a Great Blogger When You're Not a Great Writer, by Tracy Gold, via SocialMediaToday. This is a general blogging piece, but it has good advice that can be used by genealogy bloggers.

A recording of the webinar Back Up Your Genealogy Data with Thomas MacEntee is available for free viewing until April 4. Details here.

Guess that's it for now. Go forth and be awesome.
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Restore the Ancestors: I Did My 10

Restore the Ancestors is a collaborative effort between Footnote.com, the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, FamilySearch and LowCountry Africana. Their goal is to digitize every surviving estate inventory for Colonial and Charleston South Carolina from 1732 to 1872, as well as Bills of Sale from the same period. Once these items are digitized, they will be indexed as well, resulting in a free searchable collection available for future generations of family historians.

Why are estate inventories of this era so important? Because of a certain kind of property listed on them: slaves. These people have histories, few records, and many descendants who face challenges in learning their own ancestral paths. So you can see how valuable this free database is to the genealogy community.

The Restore the Ancestors project is actively seeking volunteers to help index these inventories. They make a very good case of why it is important to get your 10 pages indexed.

Today I claimed my Restore the Ancestors badge for my 10 pages. It was really rewarding to give back. I indexed a sizable estate inventory with lots of property and slaves. It's difficult to describe the feeling of restoring the memory of the slaves in these records. Hopefully the names I pulled from these pages help a fellow genealogist make another connection and extend their family tree further.

The indexing process is really easy. Send an email. They send you instructions. There's help and encouragement all along the way. I hope to do more pages once my schedule slows down.

So what about you? Have I convinced you to do 10 yet? It's one of the more emotionally fulfilling indexing projects out there. You won't regret the experience, and the ancestors will be grateful as well.

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Margaret Parx Hays in the Family Tree

Last week I mentioned how I was busy adding my second great uncle, Charles Neilson Jones, and his descendants to my genealogy database. He had many kids who had many kids, so this was no easy task.

One of those people who joined my database was Charles' granddaughter, Margaret Parx Hays. By genealogical calculations, she is my grandmother's second cousin.

I did a quick search online for Margaret Parx Hays to see if I could find any other information to add to her profile. Boy, did I hit paydirt. She was quite the accomplished lady!

Margaret Parx Hays

Margaret Parx Hays was born in Gainesville, Texas in 1912 and passed away in 2008. The dash between those two dates is filled world travel and service to others. Her obituary provides a good timeline of her life.

She has a college building named after her and an entire museum website dedicated to her. She also the creator and benefactor of an historical image collection. Oh, and as far as I know, she's the only ancestor in my tree that's in the Congressional Record.

The "Parx" in Margaret Parx Hays is her father's name. It appears she never married or had children. 

I spent a good hour fascinated and distracted by all I was discovering online about Margaret Parx Hays. She needs to have a book written about her. Perhaps I will put it on my list. I have a lot of potential books on my list as my number of intriguing ancestors continues to grow.

Fun With Search Terms

It's time for another round of "Fun with Search Terms!" People type certain words or phrases into search engines. If the combination is right, my blog shows up in the search results. Sometimes the searches are funny. Sometimes I can provide more information to users, if only they'd comment on my blog. Either way, I enjoy the process. Please note, these searches are anonymous so I don't know who is stumbling on my blog. I just comment in the hope that they find it again.

noel thibodeaux shot
Yes he was. And I have the details. But you didn't contact me so you don't have the details. Thems the breaks.

how to get free accessed to ancestry.com
Ancestry.com has a library edition that has most of the bells and whistles of it's fee-based edition. Check with your local public library to see if they have it in their databases. If so, all you'll need is a library card to gain access. You may also want to check your local Family History Center and see what they have in terms of access to genealogy databases.

amy coffin nude
Dude, really? Really. No. Just.....don't.

Archives.com grant
Archives.com does indeed have regular grant opportunities for family historians and groups. Here is the program announcement and application.

What does Lenertz mean?
Good question. And one for which I do not have the answer. Will you let me know if you find it?

to captcha or not captcha blog genealogy
Not captcha. Next question?

genealogy blob
You've come to the right place.

That's it for now. Thanks for playing!

Genealogy News Bits for March 16, 2011

Here are some of today's genealogy stories that may be of interest to you:

The March/April issue of Shades of the Departed is ready for you. Check it out.

Noted professional genealogist Michael Hait is hosting two free webinars this week: "What is a 'Reasonably Exhaustive' Search?" and "African-American Genealogy: Tearing Down Brick Walls." More information on both at the Adventures in Genealogy Education blog here.

Also from Adventures in Genealogy Education is this list of annual genealogy writing competitions.

The Dallas Genealogical Society has a call for nominations for officers.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) now provides access to Massachusetts Jewish cemetery records. More information and the press release can be found here.

That's all for now. Go forth and be awesome.

The Definition of Genealogy Content

A new genealogy search engine rolled in to town within the last 24 hours. Mocavo.com says it "provides genealogists access to the best free genealogy content on the web."

I headed over to the site and entered in my usual test searches. Results returned were mostly hits from FindaGrave.com and other cemetery web sites as well as genealogy message boards.

While these are good details, they are but a small piece of the information pie. It made me realize how much Mocavo's definition of genealogy content differs from my own.

I view everything as possible genealogy content. Everything. Court records tell me my ancestor lived on Oklahoma in the early 1900's. Facebook tells me my second cousin once removed lives in Louisiana and makes it easy for me to contact him. The town of Velma, Oklahoma shares its history, and valuable information about my great-great grandfather, on it's own local government website.

All of these are real items I have found for free online, yet they--as far as I can tell--are not considered genealogy content at Mocavo.com.

One of the search strategies I entered in to Mocavo.com was "John Robert Williamson" 1786 1861. While I did find something new in the 48 results that were returned, one big source was missing: significant historical information on the Williamson/Cloyd family line is available for free at from Cumberland.org. However, this website is not part of the genealogy content at Mocavo.

My Williamsons were extremely active in the Cumberland Presbyterian organization. Their website is a source of valuable information on my ancestors. I look to them for genealogy content. However, what about the other Williamson genealogists and hobbyists who may not know this fact about their line? A search on Mocavo will not lead them there. These users do not know what they do not know.

This piece is in no way a cut at Mocavo. Rather, I simply ask what is your definition of genealogy content? Mine is much wider than the sources I am seeing at Mocavo. I prefer to determine what genealogy content is or isn't instead of letting someone else do it for me.

Mocavo might be a search aid worthy of placement in your toolbox, but it is no Swiss Army Knife. Do not assume it alone, or any other single search engine for that matter, will meet 100% of your online research needs.

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The Cousins We Will Never Know

I use Google Alerts to track a few of my less common surnames. Any time one of these names is mentioned online, I get an email notice and a link to the piece.

Today I received a Lenertz alert in my mailbox. On top of the list was an obituary from Minnesota, where my Lenertz came from and left 100 years ago. I didn't have to check my database to know there was a connection because I recognized some of the names in the obituary.

The person in question was my third cousin, once removed. I'm not going to put his name here out respect for the family, as well as to keep the search engines away. I do not know this person or his family. I just know how we are connected.

Our common ancestor was Alexander Lenertz (1826-1879) who had many children including sons Michael and John. Michael spent his entire life in Mankato, Minnesota while John left for Oklahoma.

I read this obituary and compared our different paths in life. The subject of the obit descends from Michael, who stayed in Minnesota and worked in the quarry. I descend from John, who took his geological knowledge to Oklahoma and built a life there.

The deceased in the obituary and I experienced completely different lives in different parts of the country because of the decisions of two brothers over 100 years ago. Our paths never crossed (or did they?) but we have these people in common.

Where am I going with this? I have no idea, but I'm just fascinated with all the connections we have to people we will never know. 

One fact I did find interesting from the obituary was that the subject loved to make homemade beef jerky. My dad (his third cousin) does, too. Must be a Lenertz thing.

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Genealogy News Bits for March 15, 2011

Here are some of today's news stories around the genealogy world that may be of interest to you:

* Genealogy Survey Time! *
Myles Proudfoot has created a genealogy survey about research habits and views of the genealogy community. He invites everyone to participate. Take the anonymous survey here.


Family Tree University is hosting a free webinar on April 6. The presenter is Michael Varhola, author of the book Life in Civil War America. More information and sign up sheet here.

Do you have a WordPress blog? A.C. Ivory of Find My Ancestor shows us how to make a WordPress blog mobile friendly. View the video here.

If you're attending FGS2011 in Springfield, IL this year, you may be interested in how the conference is going green. Heck, I'm just happy to get my syllabus on a flash drive.

Guess that's it for now. Go forth and be awesome.
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Personal Genealogy Day

After weeks of writing my special project, handling client requests and more, I finally took a personal genealogy day on Friday. It was a much needed change of scenery.

I worked on my fabulously awesome, fully-sourced database. For the new readers, I started building a genealogy database from scratch in 2009. The only rule was that every fact or person I added had to have a source and citation attached to it. The work has been slow going, but it is worth it.

On Friday I worked on adding the Charles Neilson Jones family. He is the brother of my great-great grandfather, Frank Wiley Jones. While my Frank married a Chickasaw and moseyed up to Oklahoma, Charles raised a family in Cooke County, Texas. He spent so much time there that he wrote a book about it: Early Days in Cooke, Texas 1848-1873.

Here's a picture of Charles:

He looks a lot like his brother Frank, don't you think?

Charles and his wife had 10 kids. I spent most of this weekend adding facts about them to my database.

Know what I like best about this timeline? All those checkmarks on the right.

That means that there is a source for each and every fact for Charles Jones in my database. It is a good feeling.

Since Charles had 10 kids and it takes a while to add facts and sources for each child, I'm not even halfway through getting all these people fully represented in my database. But at least it's a start.

Charles even has a prominent grandchild worthy of note. I spent an hour just reading about her on the Internet. Who is she? Well she deserves her own post so you'll just have to wait and see.

Welcome: The We Tree Genealogy Blog in a Nutshell

New Orleans cemetery greeter

Where are my manners? I spent all this time thanking everyone in my last post, but I forgot to say this:

Welcome, new visitors!

You've probably landed here because of the 2011 Family Tree 40 page, or equivalent on another blog. Now you're wondering if you should stick around or not. Let me help you decide. Here's a little shot of what you might expect if you become a regular reader of the We Tree Genealogy Blog:

Sometimes I review things.

Sometimes I share my family's deepest secrets.

Sometimes I buy big genealogy toys.

Sometimes I have a really good idea.

Sometimes I make videos.

There are 730 blog posts under my belt here, and this two-parter is still my favorite.

Well, I guess that's an idea of what to expect should you continue to follow along with my genealogy adventures. I hope you stick around, but if not that's ok, too. There's so many wonderful genealogy blogs out there, go out and find some!

(But if you ever need someone to battle a copy machine, I have your back.)

Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs for 2011

Family Tree Magazine announced their 40 Best Genealogy Blogs for 2011 yesterday. Imagine my surprise to find this blog made the list! So now I must say...

1. Thank you to whoever submitted this blog for nomination. I deeply appreciate that you thought enough of it to put it in the ring with so many others.

2. Thank you to everyone who voted. I didn't even have to bribe anyone!

3. Thank you to the panelists. Yours was no easy task. I don't know how you did it.

4. Thank you to the readers of this blog. Those that follow via Google or another feed reader. Those that read from email or stumble upon it from different ways. Those that come back every single day. I see the stats and I appreciate your visits and comments.

5. Thank you to all the genealogy and family history bloggers for your dedication and determination to chronicle the past for the future. Ours is a great group and I'm glad to be a part of it.

Onward.

RootsTech 2011 Videos Available for Viewing

I am very pleased to share the news that some selected sessions from the 2011 RootsTech conference are up at the website and available for free viewing.


All of the sessions were excellent and I encourage you to check out all of the videos. However, I believe that Curt Witcher's presentation should be required viewing by officers of every genealogy society and every genealogist who hangs a "professional" shingle on the door. Everyone else can view it too, I just feel some need to hear the message more than others.


Thank you to the FamilySearch crew for making these videos available to the masses.

Genealogy News Bits for March 9, 2011

Here are some news stories from around the genealogy world that may be of interest to you:

Win a Geni Pro account from Geni.com. Contest ends March 11. Here are the details.

The RIGS Alliance (Regional In-depth Genealogical Studies Alliance) announces a workshop at the Fort Worth National Archives, September 26-30. See the RIGS Alliance website for more information.

FamilySearch added some new records this week from MO, NC, NJ, OH, VT, WV and Mexico. See the details here.

Guess that's it for today. Go forth and be awesome.

We Have a Winner!

Back in February I held a little drawing for a free copy of RootsMagic 4 software and the accompanying book. I am pleased to announce that Daniel S. was the winner! It turns out the Daniel is practically a neighbor, living in another part of the Houston area. I didn't plan it that way, I promise. Daniel was just the lucky number.

Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing. I saw names I've never seen before and it pleases me that somebody actually reads this blog.

Also I'd like to say an even bigger Thank You to Bruce Buzbee of RootsMagic. He is the one who provided the prize. He thought of all the people who couldn't make it to the RootsTech conference and wanted to give them a chance to win something. That's really cool and I am grateful he could help me share the genealogy love with others.

Genealogy Research at the Houston Public Library Central Location

When people think of family history research in Houston, the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research is usually the first institution to come to mind. The Clayton is a branch in the vast Houston Public Library system. The main branch of this group is the Central Library and it has value for family historians as well.

Here is the lowdown on the flagship of the Houston Public Library, located downtown at 500 McKinney St.:

View of the first floor entrance, looking down from the third.

While the Clayton branch is good for just about everything you'd ever need in family history research materials, the Central library is good for solid collections of the Houston Post and Houston Chronicle in microfilm format. These are great genealogy tools for obituaries or stories of historical events in which your ancestors might be involved. According to the HPL catalog, the Post collection dates back to 1880, while the Chronicle collection starts in 1901.

If you are planning a trip to the Central branch of the Houston Public Library, do your homework before you go. If you know the exact dates you'll be searching, consider calling ahead to confirm the films are available. If they are, the librarian will have them pulled and waiting for you when you arrive. If you request in person, it could take 20-25 minutes for the items to arrive. They come to you by magic elevator from deep in the caverns of the building:

Magic elevator where microfilms appear after you request them.

The area were you request and view microfilms is on the third floor. The microfilm reader is easy to use. There is always a librarian on staff to help you. There is also a notebook with pictures, diagrams and instructions next to the machine to guide you with the process. Bring a flash drive with you and it's easy to capture and save the articles you need.

Microfilm area on the third floor.

There is library parking under the building. Enter from the right lane of Lamar Street. The garage appears to keep library hours, so if the library opens at 10 a.m., that's the time you need to get to the library. If you arrive at 9:50 a.m., you will be directed to leave and forced to drive in circles downtown for 10 minutes. Trust me, I have firsthand experience in this. You pay for parking by machine, so bring paper bills or a credit card. The maximum charge is $16 a day as of this post, but that could change at any time. It's best to check ahead.

Please note that the Central branch is a major urban public library, and includes all the little issues and concerns that come with visiting such an institution. Keep your valuables close to you and stay aware. There are several friendly Houston police officers patrolling the building and they're not there checking out the latest bestsellers.

Next to the Central branch building is the Julia Ideson Building, which holds the Houston Metropolitan Research Center. If you're coming downtown anyway, consider a visit to this wonderful archive as well.

Should you come to Houston for genealogy research, let me know. We can meet up for coffee, lunch or a little ancestor hunting.

If you can't make it to the Houston Central Library in person, I do offer research and lookup services at this location as well as all others in the Houston metro area. Please email me at the address provided in the top right of this blog. I will get you the information you need to further your family history research.

Houston Public Library
Central Branch
500 McKinney
Houston, TX 
832-393-1313
http://houstonlibrary.org