Fantastic Find: Ancestry's New Free Database May Help Fill Historical Gaps for Black Americans

On my way home yesterday I was listening to NPR's All Things Considered and one of their feature stories was titled:

This database could help descendants of enslaved people learn about their ancestry.*

Ancestry has made available tens of thousands of old newspaper records about formerly enslaved people. If you're wondering what sort of information can be found in this type of record, here is the explanation given by Nicka Sewell-Smith, a genealogist and senior story producer at ancestry.com:

These records are incredible because they come from approximately 38,000 newspaper articles, and the date range is from approximately 1788 to 1867. And amongst those 38,000 newspaper articles, we have the names and details of more than 183,000 formerly enslaved people in a free collection that potentially could help millions of descendants discover more about their ancestors...

With this collection, you are really getting a bird's-eye view into the everyday nature of enslavement in the United States. A lot of times, we just think about the roles of those involved in the system, and, you know, it just is corralled to the formerly enslaved and their slaveholders. But you'll also see folks who were seeking their freedom and their actual details of what they looked like, what they wore.

There are even individuals in this collection where you get to learn about them and their personality traits, like - there's one man that I loved reading about that could speak three languages. And a lot of times, folks think that the enslaved, you know, weren't educated, or they didn't have skills other just being in agriculture, but they were just varied people who had lives and being brought back to prominence with their names being in this collection.

Anyone can access the database at home and for free. All you need is just a free Ancestry account and get to searching.** This is a random sample: 

The Louisville Daily Courier, Thursday, August 11, 1859 Page 3

* You can listen to the whole thing here (4 minutes). The transcript is available here.

**This collection is called U.S., Newspapers.com™ Auctions of Enslaved People and Bounties on Freedom Seekers Index, pre-1880

 

© 2024 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Father's Day - June 16, 2024

Here they are, my two fathers:

This is the father who raised me, the man I think of when I hear the word "Dad". If you want to know more about him, search this blog.

Harold D. Currey (1902 - 1981)

And this is my biological father, with whom I had several phone conversations. Until we contacted him around 1999, he had no idea he had another daughter. He sent me this photo together with some genealogical information he had gathered. A lot of the posts on this blog trace his (and my) ancestry.

Tracy Stuart Warren (1923 - 2021)

© 2024 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Celebrations: Easter Sunday - 1951 (Again & Again)

Here's four-year old me with my Easter basket on my trusty tricycle in the backyard in Encanto; the blooming tree behind me is an avocado.

[Making its 3rd annual appearance, this photo is from my personal collection]

The Easter basket was a present from Jessie and Jimmy Neal.

I'm sharing this oldie but goodie for a third time.



© 2024 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Merry & Happy!

I don’t own any quilts that my ancestors may have made, but I thought I’d share this amazing one donated to the American Folk Art Museum by the family of its creator. 

American Folk Art Museum

This extraordinary quilt was gifted to AFAM by a descendant of the maker, and was discovered during the Museum's New York Quilt Project, an ambitious statewide quilt documentation effort initiated in 1985. Over a period of 21 months, more than 6,000 quilts were examined and recorded in counties around the state.⁠

⁠

Stars, in all their variety, were among the most prevalent patterns seen. In this example, a field of spinning compass stars is surrounded by a border of beautiful appliquéd trees. The quiltmaker, Elsey Halstead, meticulously cross-stitched her name, the location, and the date on the quilt. ⁠

⁠

Elsey A. Halstead (1830–1850), "Rising Star Variation Quilt," Minisink (now Middletown), New York, United States, March 23 c. 1848. Cotton, 100 × 85". Gift of Kathryn Trotta Kane and family in memory of our beloved grandmother Margaret Halstead Minch. May an appreciation of the love, beauty, and hard work that went into this quilt continue to inspire future generations. We sincerely hope that others will experience the same joy the quilt has given our family over many years, 2012.16.1. Photo by Gavin Ashworth.

© 2023 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kate Jarvik Birch (American, born 1977) Untitled [Cranberry Sauce], 2020

Gouache on paper, 6 x 6 inches. Private collection

(Found on Facebook A CELEBRATION OF FEMALE ARTISTS)

Even though I haven't posted anything for quite a while, I often check for new comments that have been left here. Through them I've discovered new cousins, learned additional information and in several cases been able to answer questions or point someone to a useful source. Today something led me to take a look at the blog's stats and I was amazed!

Our 1,650 posts have garnered over 468,000 views, almost 1,000 so far today! 

Thank you everyone!

© 2023 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

I asked Bing's Copilot AI about Solomon Joseph Hartley (1774-1814)

I'm warming up to using AI for help with genealogy, so I asked Bing's Copilot about my 4th Great Grandfather Solomon Joseph Hartley:

"What can you tell me about Solomon Joseph Hartley, a rigger who died in 1814?"

More Balanced:

Solomon Joseph Hartley was a **rigger** in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who was born in either **Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania** or **Poland/Germany** around **1774** ¹. A rigger is someone who works with ropes, cables, and pulleys to lift or move heavy objects. He married **Mary Gwinnup** around **1803** ². They had at least **four children**: John, Mary, Solomon, and William ³. He died in **August 1814** at the age of 40 and was buried in the **Second Baptist Church Burial Ground** in Philadelphia ¹.

Here is a short poem I wrote about Solomon Joseph Hartley:

```

He worked with ropes and cables

To lift the heavy loads

He lived in Philadelphia

A city of many roads

He married Mary Gwinnup

And raised a family

He died too young, but left a mark

On his posterity

```

Source: Conversation with Bing, 11/9/2023

(1) Solomon Joseph Hartley (1774-1814) - Find a Grave Memorial. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197231202/solomon-joseph-hartley.

(2) Pennsylvania Marriages, 1709-1940 • FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1681011.

(3) Search Historical Records • FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/search/.

More Precise:

Solomon Joseph Hartley was born in 1774 and died in August 1814 at the age of 39-40¹. He worked as a rigger in Philadelphia¹. There are some records suggesting that he was born in either "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" or Poland/Germany¹. He married Mary Gwinnup around 1803¹. His burial took place at the Second Baptist Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania¹.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 11/9/2023

(1) Solomon Joseph Hartley (1774-1814) - Find a Grave Memorial. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197231202/solomon-joseph-hartley.

(2) Search Historical Records • FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/search/.

(3) United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors .... https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/United_States_Rosters_of_Revolutionary_War_Soldiers_and_Sailors_-_FamilySearch_Historical_Records.

More Creative: 

Solomon Joseph Hartley was a rigger who lived and worked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was born in 1774 and died in August 1814 at the age of 39-40. He married Mary Gwinnup around 1803 and had several children. He was buried at the Second Baptist Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia. You can find more information about him on [this website](^1^).

Source: Conversation with Bing, 11/9/2023

(1) Solomon Joseph Hartley (1774-1814) - Find a Grave Memorial. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197231202/solomon-joseph-hartley.

(2) Hartley DNA - WikiTree. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Hartley_DNA.

(3) Thomas Bell 1775-1825 - Ancestry®. https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/thomas-bell-24-2lmt5y5. [Cmanczuk note: Who is Thomas Bell??]

I'm not sure why the More Balanced mode gave me the poem(!!).

© 2023 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

New User-Friendly Website for Alabama Department of Archives and History Resources

[Chris Pruitt, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons]

Earlier this month, the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) launched its new website which will make it easier for those of us with ancestors who lived in the state to access its extensive archive collections.

ADAH Director Steve Murray provides a brief introduction and tour.

I haven't had a chance yet to see if there are any records in the digital collections that relate to my Warren, Hardy, Chappell, and Freeman forebears. I'll let you know if/when I do.

© 2022 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.