Buddy File

Do you ever find yourself looking for a picture of an individual in a group and not finding it? Or, do you struggle to find a digital image of a document that someone witnessed?

I know I struggle with this issue. That’s why Tony Proctor’s presentation regarding indexing off file names during last Monday’s session of Monday’s with Myrt proved intriguing. (Organizing More Resources)

Tony developed a simple program to attach a ‘buddy file’ to the image. As he was presenting, I kept thinking, about the time involved to add this information to each and every photograph.

Then, Hilary commented that she has been using Tony’s program to attach transcriptions to a digital image. With the transcription attached to the image, I would be able to search my files for a member of an ancestor’s FAN club and find records they were mentioned in. That makes it worth the time to learn how to do this.

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First, I found Dear Myrtle’s Facebook post on the topic.

This post contains the link to the original blog post and to the Dropbox folder containing the files. Tony has added quite a few comments to the post that are worth reading.

I downloaded the metaproxy application and the metaproxy text file to a Utilities folder.

Now, I need to create a ‘meta’ file for one of the images in this folder. Since I want to put the transcription for an image in the meta file, I opened my Scrivener file and located one of the images and transcriptions I wanted to work with.

Then I copied the text from the transcription into notepad. I saved that file with the EXACT same name as the image file but with a META extension (what goes after the period) into the same folder as the image.

Here’s where it got tricky. Since I couldn’t see the extensions on my file names, I didn’t know there was a problem. However, this was mentioned during the Mondays with Myrt session — and so I knew that I had to make the extensions visible. To do that, I opened Windows Explorer and clicked on the VIEW button. On the VIEW menu is a check box for File Name Extension.

When I clicked to show the extensions, I could see the issue with my META file. The .txt extension was added to the name.

I had forgotten to change the ‘Save as Type’ from Text to All Files when I saved the file in Notepad. Thus, I got the .txt extension on the file I saved.

This was easily remedied by renaming the file to remove the .txt from the end of the name. Now, I have the .meta file and the .jpg file in the same folder.

The next step is to train the computer to use the metaproxy application to open the .meta file. To begin this process, I did a right click on the file and selected ‘Open With’.

The screen prompted me to look in the App Store or to select from a list of ‘More Apps

At the bottom of the list of applications is the option to “LooK for another app on this PC”

I selected the option, “Look for another app on this PC” and browsed to the folder with the .meta file and the metaproxy.exe file.

After setting the program to use metaproxy.exe to open the .meta file I created, I could double click on the  .meta file and it would open both the TEXT based .meta file and the image file. Since I have Paint.Net set as my default software for .jpg files, the image opened in that program and the text file opened in Notepad. I discovered that if Paint.Net was set to full screen, the text file was hidden.

When I tried to search my directory for one of the surnames in this file, I did not find this file. Thus, I went back to Tony’s text file of directions and discovered that I needed to make a change in the indexing options (on Control Panel) for the meta file type. I followed the directions and found where I had to change the method of indexing so that it was Index properties and File Contents.

Even though I tried to follow Tony’s directions to make sure the folder and its contents were being indexed, I couldn’t get a search to pull up the file. Then I read to the end where Tony said he had to reboot his computer. So, I rebooted.
Once I rebooted, I tried to search the folder again. At first, it wasn’t working. In fact, I couldn’t search for anything. However, after a minute or two, the search feature started working. I was able to pull up the meta file.

Now that I have this figured out, I can use this to connect a transcription to the image. I just need to remember to do the following:

• Copy the transcription into Notepad
• Save the Notepad file with the exact same name as the image and the .meta extension
• Verify that the .meta file does not have a .txt extention

Thank you Tony Proctor for developing this application. Thank you Dear Myrtle for helping me learn about the application.

#NotatRootsTech

Mark your calendar for February 27th thru March 2nd and join me #NotAtRootsTech!

This will be my third year of #NotAtRootsTech and I can’t wait. Having been away from genealogy for several years, I was unaware of RootsTech when I returned to my genealogy. During my first year of retirement, I somehow learned about the RootsTech conference and its Live Stream schedule.

I watched all of the sessions that year and was very thankful for the opportunity to view them. I’ve thought about attending in person, but the idea of winter travel isn’t that appealing. As I watch it snow on one of the coldest days of the year, I can’t imagine having to drive a couple of hours or longer, depending on conditions, to an airport or train station for a trip to Salt Lake City.

Thus, I’m preparing for being NotAtRootsTech again in 2019. RootsTech is making it easier for those of use who can’t (or in my case won’t) travel to Salt Lake City to participate. They are offering a ‘Virtual Pass’. By purchasing my ‘Virtual Pass’ I will have access to the recordings from several RootsTech classes.

I’m also preparing by

• Downloading the RootsTech app to my cellphone
• Updating my profile on the RootsTech app
• Checking out the Live Stream schedule
• Identifying bloggers and vendors who might be posting from RootsTech and making sure I am following both their blogs and their Facebook accounts
• Turning on notifications for Facebook Live broadcasts so that I can catch those bloggers and vendors who happen to host such an event
• Going over the entire schedule looking for sessions of interest
• Locating handouts (via the app) for sessions of interest
• Following the #NotAtRootsTech hashtag on Twitter to learn more ways to enjoy RootsTech

For more information on the RootsTech Stream, watch this Family History Fanatics video, A Teens Take on the 2019 #NotAtRootsTech LiveStream Schedule.

Join me #NotAtRootsTech in February.

My Library Adventure

Do you include libraries and archives in your genealogy toolbox?

For me, the use of a library or archive has always been part of my genealogy journey. Perhaps that is because I earned my Masters’ in Library Science about the same time I started my genealogical journey.

Even though my emphasis was in school librarianship, my graduate classes exposed me to some of the very same tools like NUCMC (National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections) that I would use for genealogical research.

In my first years of genealogical research, books and microfilm were the tools I needed to access to learn about my family. Since I moved to Nemaha county, Kansas as a teacher, my family roots are not in Nemaha county. Thus, I had to travel to access resources.

My primary destination was the archives  at the Kansas State Historical Society. Travels to the historical society provided me with access to Kansas census records and Kansas newspapers. In addition, their book collection of local and state histories helped me learn about my ancestors prior to their arrival in Kansas.

When I would visit my grandmother in Dodge City, I often planned my trips around court house hours. This allowed me to search the land and probate records for my family in the Dodge City area.

On one of those trips, I visited Boot Hill and asked if they had a photograph collection. To my surprise, they took me upstairs to their small office and let me search their photographs. Among their collection, I found a picture of my second great-grandfather, Washington Marion Crawford! I’m looking forward to going back to Boot Hill once they have their new archives building opened!

In order to research my family before their arrival in Kansas, I needed to travel to libraries with a broader collection. In particular, I needed access to the federal census for other states (remember this is prior to the Internet). For that I turned to the Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri.

Thanks to the Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies and Ruth Keys Clark, I had the opportunity to participate in a bus tour to the Family History Library at Salt Lake City — twice. 

This week long adventure allowed me to come home with piles of photocopies of land, probate and other records for my ancestors throughout the U.S.

In 1985, I became the librarian for Nemaha Valley High School and my library experience shifted from a user to being the librarian. Working with students on research projects helped me develop my research skills. I also improved my knowledge of U.S. history by assisting with various history projects over the years.

In 1992, my library world began to change as implemented an electronic catalog and a NETWORK. Slowly, my network of two computers began to grow as teacher computers and a dedicated server were added to my network. My job responsibilities also began to change as I became responsible for the functioning of the network and computers.

My research skills were enhanced as I learned how to use Dialog to access magazine databases over a dedicated modem. As the Internet began to develop, so did our access.

As each new tool became available, I had to learn how to use it, not only for my own work, but also so I could help others learn to use it. I’m thankful for this time of constant learning since I can apply those skills to my genealogy work today.

Today’s genealogical research is significantly different than when I first started. There is so much available from my own home.

However, I still need access to resources not available on the Internet. For books, I still travel to the Midwest Genealogy Center and enjoy their new setting.

For local records, I turn to Family Search. Many of the rolls of microfilm that I used in Salt Lake have now been digitized. I am finding that a lot of those digitized records are available on my home computer. For those locked records, I simply visit my local library where the librarian applied for and received approval to be an Affiliate Library for Family Search.

I am thankful for all of the libraries and librarians that have helped me along this journey!

Two Degrees

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music):1)  Using your ancestral lines, how far back in time can you go with two degrees of separation?  That means “you knew an ancestor, who knew another ancestor.”  When was that second ancestor born?

My first thought was that I knew my great-grandmother, Josie Crawford.

Crawford Line: Josie Hammond Crawford was born in 1874. She would have known her grandfather, Horatio Hammond (1798-1879) and grandparents, James Barr Ralston (1811-1904) and Nancy Jane McCormick (1818-1907).

Josie would have also known her in-laws: Washington Marion Crawford (1838-1889) and Mary Foster Crawford (1842-1929). Josie’s father-in-law was a prisoner of war at Andersonville, as was her father, Richmond Fisk Hammond (1840-1928).

Currey Line: I kne my grandmother, Winnie Letha Currey (1903-1992). Winnie did not know any of her grandparents since they all died prior to her birth. Her mother, Winnie Mae Hutchinson, died in 1913, when my grandmother was ten. My grandmother did not know much about her heritage. Her thirst for knowledge about her mother’s family is what started my genealogy quest.

Briles Line: I knew my grandfather, Edward Osmond Briles (1891-1956). His grandfather, Noah Washington Briles (1840-1879) died before he was born. His grandmother, Sarah Jane Thompson Briles (1843) was still living in Coffey county, Kansas near where his parents lived. Also living in the area were his other grandparents,James Marshall Ricketts (1847-1920) and Rachel Elmeda Christy (1845-1927). Also living in the area was E. O. Briles’ great grandfather, Alexander Briles (1813-1900). Several of his other great granparents were living, but not in Coffey county, Kansas. William Taylor Thompson (1820-1898) and his wife, Polly Ann Evans (1821-1896) were living in Wapello County, Iowa. Orilda Matilda Reed Ricketts (1828-1900) was living in Clinton county, Indiana. Samuel Christy (1819-1904) was also living in Clinton county, Indiana. Whether the families visited each other is unknown.

Mentzer Line: I knew my great-grandfather, Charles Oliver Mentzer (1869-1955). He would have known his grandfather, John Minnick (1822-1903).

I connect within two degrees of separation to my third great grandfather, Horatio Hammond. Horatio Hammond was living in Knox county, Illinois where Josie Winifred Hammond was born.

Moved

I have moved my blog to Blogger. Please join me at

Heartland Genealogy

Recent posts include:

• Revelation
• Moving Day Part 3
• Jump Break
• Moving Day Part 2

Thank you to everyone who has followed this blog!

Revelation

Have you ever tripped over a county line? I mean, have you ever not considered a family in the neighboring county just because they are in the neighboring county?

Well, I have — for over thirty years.

As I’ve written about before, I have two James Crawford families living in Preble County, Ohio. One is my ancestor and one is his neighbor.

• James Crawford of Preble County, Ohio

My ancestor was married in Garrard County, Kentucky in 1799, while the other James was married in Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1793. For all these years, I’ve thought that the records for Lincoln County, Kentucky were in relation to the ‘other’ James while the records in Garrard and Madison counties were for my James.

Recently, I did the analysis of the Madison County, Kentucky tax records and realized that the men we assumed were related to the Lincoln County bunch were listed on the Madison county records.

Then, last night, I started going thru the Lincoln County, Kentucky tax records. In 1787, I found Rebekah Crawford living near George Douglas. Also living in Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1787 was two members of the Sellers family.

This morning, I was thinking about Rebekah and Mary Crawford and wondered how far apart they were living. I already knew that Mary Crawford had purchased land from Richard Cave. That land is in Garrard County, Kentucky.

Since I have a map of the original surveys for Garrard County, I decided to see if I could find George Douglas’ land. I knew the land was near the Dix River.

I found George Douglas’ land on the map. Both women lived in what became Garrard County.

The above map shows the Richard Cave survey in yellow. Some of this land was sold to Mary Crawford. The George Douglass survey is outlined in orange. Some of this land was sold to Rebekah Crawford. Both pieces of land are in current day Garrard County.

Below is a broader look at the map. The area outlined in green is the Kennedy land. James and possibly William purchased land from the Kennedys.

At the time, these properties would not have been considered close to each other. However they are all in the same area of Kentucky. Thus, there may be a relationship between Rebekah, Mary, James and William.

I’ve been tripping over that county line for YEARS!

Moving Day

When working on your genealogy, have you ever used a piece of software or web site that didn’t quite do what you expected. Then, when you go searching for an alternative find that the alternative is relatively expensive and you want to preserve your precious genealogy funds for something else.

Well, that’s the position I was in a couple of weeks ago with my WordPress blog. The one thing I wanted to include in a blog post either required HTML coding or a plug-in. The plug-in was easy to find – but, my WordPress blog doesn’t allow plug-ins. In order for me to utilize plug-ins, I would have to upgrade my PERSONAL WordPress plan to a BUSINESS plan — at a significant increase in cost.

Read More

Tax Man Cometh

It’s tax season again. I’m betting that unless one has a child applying for a college scholarship, most people haven’t started their taxes yet. I know I haven’t. I’d rather be spending my time researching.

So why was I buried in tax information yesterday? Well, I was going back thru some old research in pre 1800 tax lists for Madison County, Kentucky. I’ve looked at the tax information before, but didn’t have a good understanding of the various families to be able to identify the people listed.

Between 1787 and 1796, the following Crawford households are found in Madison County, Kentucky:

• Mary Crawford (found 1787-1792)
• James Crawford (found 1787-1796)
• William Crawford (found (1787-1796)
• James Crawford – appears in 1792
• Alexander Crawford – appears in 1792
• John Crawford – appears in 1795
• William Crawford Jr – appears in 1795
• Edward Crawford — appears in 1795 –  under a different commissioner’s list

Everyone but Edward Crawford is missing in the 1797 list. This may be due to the creation of Garrard County, KY from part of Madison and part of Lincoln County.

So are any of these my ancestor, James Crawford (1772-1854)? If I have his birth year correct, then he would not have turned 21 until 1793. So are any of these possibly his parent or sibling?

The Mary Crawford in these tax lists is likely the same Mary Crawford that married Alexander Moore. She may be the mother of James Crawford (1772-1854). This is the same Mary Crawford who purchased land from Richard Cave.  (Mary Crawford – wife of Alexander Moore)

1787 Madison County Kentcuky Tax list image 10 on Family Search film 8126

1787 Madison County Kentucky Tax list image 11 on Family Search film 8126

In terms of the James Crawford in the 1787 list, he is shows as having land on Paint Lick  that was purchased from Thos L Kennedy in 1796.

1796 Madison County Kentucky Tax List image 333 on Family Search film 8126

I found the deed for this land transaction in Lincoln County Kentucky Deeds, Vol. A page 219. In 1812, James Crawford and Rebecca his wife of County of Jefferson, Territory of Indiana sold 150 acres of that land back to Thomas Kennedy. (Garrard County Kentucky Deeds, Book D, p309)  Thus, I believe the James Crawford in the 1787-1796 tax lists to be the James Crawford who was married to Rebecca Anderson.

When it comes to William, I haven’t been able to locate his purchase of 180 acres on Paint Lick that was part of the John Kennedy grant. Thus, I haven’t been able to use land transactions to identify his wife.

Other researchers believe that James Crawford was the son of James and Margery Crawford and grandson of Col. John Crawford. James and Margery had son named William. Researchers have placed this William Crawford in this area of Kentucky prior to his migration to Ste. Genevieve in the Louisiana Territory. Thus, the William in these early tax lists could be the brother of James Crawford. These same researchers believe that Mary is the widowed sister-in-law of James and William. I need more documentation to support this relationship, but my current theory is that James and William are brothers.

So, who are the ‘newcomers’ [James and Alexander] to the list in 1792?

1792 Madison County Kentucky Tax List image 132 on Family Search film 8126

Based on the possessions, James might have just turned 21, but Alexander is likely older. Could James be the son of Mary, James or William? William did have a son named James, but my current knowledge of the family indicates he was born in 1782 making him too young. James also had a son named James who was born in 1790. Thus, he is also too young. Thus the James that appears in 1792 is likely the son of Mary. A second study of the 1792 list shows the same date for Mary and the James with 2 horses and different dates for William and James (with 9 horses).

In terms of Alexander’s identity, I believe he is the Alexander Crawford that married Margaret McElwee in Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1788. However, I need to collect more records for him to verify that these are the same man. I don’t know how Alexander fits with Mary, James and William. Other researchers believe he descends from Alexander Crawford and Mary McPheeters. That is possible since their descendants are found throughout early Kentucky.

A similar situation occurs in 1795 with the addition of John, William Jr and Edward.

1795 Tax List Madison County Kentucky image 210 on Family Search film 8126

Since Edward’s listing occurs in a different district than James and William, I don’t believe he is the son of Mary, James or William. Again James‘ sons are too young to appear on this tax list.

Assuming this William is the brother of James, he has two sons that could appear on the 1795 tax list: William (b about 1771) and John (b about 1774). The tax commissioner visited both Williams on the 23rd of May but visited John on the 25th of April.

A John Crawford married Sarah McAlester in August of 1794 in Madison County, Kentucky. A check of the tax list for McAlesters shows a Sarah McAlester. The date of her visit was the 25th of April. This would suggest that the Sarah McAlester of the tax list may be the mother of the Sarah McAlester married to John Crawford and that they were living near each other.

So what have I proven? Absolutely nothing! I need more documentation.

However, I do believe I have circumstantial evidence for the following relationships:

• Mary Crawford, James Crawford and William Crawford are somehow related.
• James Crawford of the 1792 listing may be the son of Mary Crawford
• John Crawford and William Crawford may be the sons of William Crawford
• John Crawford‘s wife may be the daughter of Sarah McAlester

I still need to do the same analysis with tax lists from Lincoln County, Kentucky and possibly Garrard and Barren counties.

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Below are my notes from viewing these tax lists:

Madison County, Kentucky
Tax Books, 1787-1874

Tax books 1787-1797, 1799-1807
Film 8126
DGS 7834478

https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/156105?availability=Family%20History%20Library

1787
image 7
List of taxable property within the district of Michael McNeely
Commissioner in the county of Madison for the year 1787
Image 10
July 9 1787 Crawford (or Cranford) Mary – 3 horses, 11 cattle
July 9, 1787 Cooley, William – Willm Cooley – 4 hourses 7 cattle
July 9, 1787 Clarke John John Clarke – 4 horses, 4 cattle
July 11, 1787 Care, James
July 11, 1787 Crawford James – Jas Crwford – 6 horses 15 cattle
July 11, 1787 Coughron Dinnis

Image 11
July 17, 1787 Crawford Willm Wm Crawford 6 horses 8 cattle
NO Duggins
NO Douglas
Image 23 – No Sellers

People recorded on July 9 (neighbors of Mary)
Cooley, William
Clarke, John
McClure William
Miller George
McCarley Jeremiah
Poe William
Stephens Jehu
Yocum John

People recorded on July 11 (neighbors of James)
Brown, Joseph
Brank Robt
Care James
Coughron Dinnis
Forkner THos
French James
Gordon Saml
Hix John
Kennedy Thomas
Kennedy John
Kennedy J L
Nickelson James
Ross Hugh
Smith James
Winters Fred
Wallace Michl

People recorded on July 17 (neighbors of William)
Kilpatrick Hugh
McDowell Alex
Miller Nancy
Runnolds Ricd
Rice David

List of Taxable Property within the district of John Miller, Commissioner in the county of
Madison for the year 1787

image 33
A book for the solicitor
Richmond Sept 8 1787
NO Crawford

image 53
A book containing a list of taxable property in one of the district
layed of by Court in Madison
County for Andw Kennedy
a commissioner in the year 1787

1788
image 57
A list of taxable property within the district of Robert Rode?
County of Madison for year 1788

C’s mostly illegible

image 61
list of taxable property within the district of Michael McNeeley
Commissioner in the county of Madison for the year 1788

Image 63
March 22 Crawford William– 1 white male taxable – 6 horses
March 22 Crawford James – 1 white male taxable – 5 horses
March 21 Crawford Mary – 2 horses

Image 73
Madison County
1789

A list of tithables and taxa
ble property in the district of Aaron
Lewis Commission in the County of
Madison District of Kentucky
for the year 1789

NO Crawford
No DUGGINS
NO Sellers

Image 81
List of taxable property in the district of Michael McNeeley
Commissionery in the County of Madison for theyear 1789

Image 82
Crawford Mary – number of white tithable > 16 — ONE – 3 horses
Crawford James – 1 white tithable >16 – 7 horses
Crawford William – 1 white tithable > 16 – 4 horses
Duggan William – 1 white tithable > 16

Mary Crawford also on image 90

Kennedy’s are in this set of tax records, but the Crawfords are missing

Image 99
Madison County 1790

Image 110
John Pitman Return
for 1790

Image 111
Madison County 1791

Image 123
Crawford William 2 (heading illegible – but likely 2 thitheables) — 5 (likely horses)
Crawford James – 1 (likely titheable) – 7 (likely horses)
Crawford Mary – 1 (likely titheable) – 3 (likely horses) — note on right side of page

Image 125
Maxwell Bezleel
Moore ALexander

Image 126
Sellers, Wm – 1 (likely tithable) – 3 (likely horses)

image 129
Madison County 1792

Image 132
17th – Crawford William – 1 male >21; 2 males 16-21; 13 horses; 16 cattle; 180 acres
3rd – Crawford Mary — 1 male 16-21; 4 horses; 10 cattle; 100 acres
3rd – Crawford James – 1 male > 21; 2 horses – 1 cattle
4th – Crawford James TS – 1 male > 21; 9 horses; 25 cattle; 150 acres
Image 133
6th – Crawford Alexander – 1 male >21; 1 horse; 9 cattle; 64 acres

image 157
1793

Image 161
Dark / mostly illegible
there is a Crawford

No Alexander Moore on image 165

image 170
1794
image 174 — very faint
Crawford, Evan ????

Image 197
Crawford, James 1 male >21, 8 horses – 15 cattle – 146 acres
Crawford, James 1 male >21, 1 horse, 3 cattle
Crawford, Alexander, 1 male >21, 2 horses, 5 cattle
Crawford, William, 1 male >21, 3 males 16-21, 13 horses, 20 cattle
Duggin, William, 1 male >21, 1 horse, 6 cattle

Image 206
Madison County 1795
Image 210
Crawford James – 1 male >21; 5 horses; 17 cattle; 146 acres
Image 211
Crawford John – 1 male > 21, 2 horses, 6 cattle
Crawford William Jr – 1 male > 21; 2 horses; 6 cattle
Crawford William Sr – 1 male > 21; 1 male 16-21; 12 horses; 28 cattle; 180 acres

Image 212
Duggins, William – 1 male > 21; 2 horses; 8 cattle
Duggins, Daniel – 1 male >21

Image 218
Moore Alexander – 1 male >21; 3 horses; 3 cattle

Image 257
Crawford Edward – 1 male >21, 2 horses; 3 cattle

Image 266
1796
Image 271
Crawford Edwd

Image 333
Crawford James – 1216 acres Paint Lick Madison County Thos L Kennedy Grant; 1 male >21; 1 male 16-21; 6 horses; 25 cattle [200 Acres – James/Rebecca]
Crawford William – 1 male >21; 2 horses; 6 cattle
Crawford, William – 180 acres paint Lick, Madison county; John Kennedy grant; 1 male >21; 1 male 16-21; 7 horses; 25 cattle
Crawford, John – 1 male >21; 1 horse; 13 cattle

Image 334
Duggins, Alexander – 1 male >21; 1 horse
Duggins, David- 1 male > 21; 1 horse; 2 cattle
Duggins Benjamin – 1 male > 21; 1 horse
Duggins Daniel 45 acres Sugar Creek Madison County – 1 male > 21; 1 horse; 1 cattle
Duggins William 50 acres Sugar Creek Madison County – 1 male > 21; 2 horses; 6 cattle

Image 340
Moore Alexander – 50 acres Paint Lick Madison County ; 1 male >21; 2 horses; 7 cattle

Image 353
1797

Image 406 – Image Downloaded
Crawford Edwd – 1 male > 21; 3 horses

image 422
1798
image 423
1799

Image 458
Madison County 1800

Image 492
NO Crawfords
but Kennedy and Maxwell families in this group

Quit at image 538
Madison County 1801

Marriage Bond Mystery

Do you have documents in your genealogy files with incomplete citations. Congratulations if your answer was no!

Unfortunately, I have documents with partial citations. One set of those documents is four marriage bonds involving Crawford family members from Kentucky in the 1790s.

• Mary Crawford consent to marry James Sellers given by Rebekah Crawford on 19 Dec 1791 in Lincoln County, Kentucky witnessed by James Crawford and Wm Sellers
• Bond of James Crawford and Nathan Douglas for the marriage of James Crawford to Martha Night on 12 Mar 1793 in Lincoln County, Kentucky. Consent for the marriage was given by John Goodpastor and witnessed by James Sellers and Samuel Sellers
• Consent of Rebekah Crawford for Sarah Crawford to marry William Sellers on 2 Feb 1796 in Lincoln County, KY witnessed by James Crawford and James Sellers
• Bond by James Crawford and James Sellers for the marriage of James Crawford and Sally Duggins on 12 Sept 1799 in Garrard County, Kentucky

I was able to locate the two Crawford-Sellers bonds thru Family Search. They are found in the Loose papers, files 1-6 1781-1809 (film #102262) in the Marriage Records, 1781-1961 collection for Lincoln County, Kentucky on Family Search thru a search of the index for Crawford.

On the off chance that the bond for James and Martha was missed, I scanned thru the entire roll of loose papers — and still didn’t find it. I was able to find verification that the record existed at one time in the set of records titled, “Extract” in the Marriage Records, 1781-1961 collection for Lincoln County, Kentucky.

I had a similar experience trying to locate the bond for James Crawford and Sally Duggins. I located the following in the Index 1797-1853 (DGS 004260348) set of records in the Marriages, 1797-1954 collection for Garrard County, KY.

Thus, I have two marriage bonds and little evidence of where they came from.

Bond for James Crawford and Martha Night

Bond for James Crawford and Sally Duggins

 

So, the question of the day: Where did I get copies of these two marriage bonds?

Lesson of the day: Create a solid citation for each and every source!

 

 

 

 

Perspective

Does your genealogy have a brick wall FAN club that involves several branches of the surname along with lots of same name issues? Well, the parents of my ancestor, James Crawford (1772-1854) has such a FAN club.

While working with some other researchers from the FAN club, but unfortunately not my line, I created a ‘traditional’ time line outlining the information I had on the individuals in the FAN club.

This timeline included all of the facts for each individual in the time line. Thus, it is long. I used color coding to identify various lines and counties.

Even though the data is here, this form of timeline hasn’t helped me advance my research.

Yesterday, I started a different version of a time line. This timeline has the different family groups across the top and the year down the side. In the intersecting cell, I’m recording brief info about the event and the county/state where they lived. I’m using color coding for the locations.

For this timeline, I limited the people to the following:

• two James Crawfords of Preble County (James/Sally and James/Martha)
• their suspected mothers: Rebecca Crawford and Mary Crawford (md Moore)
• suspected uncles of one of the James Crawfords: James/Rebecca and William/Elizabeth
• suspected siblings: Sarah Crawford (William Sellers) and Mary Crawford (James Sellers)
• step-sons of my ancestor: Henry Duggins and William Duggins
• daughter of my ancestor: Polly Crawford md John Stoner

By looking at the information in this format, I’ve been able to track the land transactions. This has allowed me to quickly see which tracts of land only had one transaction (purchase or sell), allowing me to look for the other transaction.  I’m also seeing other ‘holes’ in my research of these people. Hopefully, as I fill in those ‘holes’, I will find records tying these Crawford families together.

I’m thankful I tried looking at the information from a different perspective!