Working on Wednesday: Clinton Samuel Tomlinson (1860 - 1904) & Ann Eversole Tomlinson (1868 - 1949)

Clinton, my first cousin three times removed, attended Northwestern University, Class of 1886 and was undoubtedly the first of his family to graduate from college.*

[Commencement program for Northwestern University. 28th annual commencement, 1886.

Source: Internet Archive]

His first job after graduation was as the editor of the Boone (Iowa) Republican which remembered him respectfully years later:

[Boone News Republican, December 6, 1915, p. 43]

As stated in the above piece, after two years Clinton's next step was the editorship of the Daily Republican in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, which is where he met and married 23-year-old teacher Ann Eversole in 1891.

By 1900 the couple were living in Chicago and Clinton was the editor of the Chicago Dry Goods Reporter, a trade publication of the garment industry.** No occupation is listed for Ann.

[Dry Goods Reporter. Chicago, January 1900. Source: Hathi Trust Digital Library]

However Ann Eversole Tomlinson's name appears in newspaper stories across America later that year.

[Chicago Daily News Thursday, Apr 19, 1900 Chicago, IL Page: 5.

Source: Genealogy Bank.]

Clinton's view of his wife's possible inheritance appeared on the same day as the above article:

[19 Apr 1900, 2 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com]

The next information I found about the couple is Clinton's 1904 obituary

[30 Oct 1904, 5 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com]

While I haven't found any further newspaper reports confirming the amount Ann received from her ancestor's estate, her lifestyle as a widow seems to indicate that she was a wealthy woman. Next week we'll look at her career after Clinton's death.



*With honors too.
**Many editions of the Dry Goods Reporter are available digitally through the Hathi Trust and Google Books. They offer a fascinating insight into the fashions of the times.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

RePost from 2015: Tip: Don't Just Rely on the Search Function When Using Newspaper Databases

"Dehesa Doings," San Diego Union (San Diego, CA), p 5, col 4, 8 Aug 1892; digital image, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com: accessed 17 Oct 2015).

The info above was found doing a "Hartley" search.  Since newspapers often had recurring columns I thought to search "Dehesa Doings" to possibly find other tidbits in other issues.  But instead I got this:

Oh, come on, I just found Dehesa Doings three minutes ago!

I am assuming the optical character recognition just doesn't read it as Dehesa Doings (and who knows what it thinks it says).  While it may not be an ongoing column like I thought, the term "Dehesa Doings" DOES appear at least once for sure!  So what should I do?

I went page by page through other issues close in time to this one.  This is a bit tedious, but not only can it help you catch information missed by OCR, it also gives you a feel for what the newspaper was like and what kind of information you can realistically expect to glean from it.

Unfortunately I haven't found a graceful way to search newspapers this way on GenealogyBank, as they don't provide an easy way to browse papers--you have to search through them, which is different.  So I narrowed down to the specific paper I wanted, and then typed in a date range (in this case San Diego Union and August 1892--alternately, you could just type in a specific day and year):

Then I ordered by Oldest (you an order by Oldest, Newest, and Best):

Note the varying quality of the scans, even in one issue (in this case, all the results in this screenshot are from the August 1, 1892 issue).

No wonder the OCR doesn't find every word from the scanned images--just look at what it has to contend with!

After looking at a number of issues I realized that "Dehesa Doings" was not a regular heading, but I could depend on page 5 in any given issue in that era for information on local people, with the leading title "Local Intelligence. In General.":

"Dehesa Doings" in the larger context.

Every newspaper database I've used has to deal with the same OCR problems.

Many states now have historic newspapers to browse through, like the Historic Oregon Newspapers.  I use this database to find my Oregon ancestors.  When a search for my 2nd great grandfather William Nosler's death notice or obituary came back with no results, I used his known death date (3 Dec 1914 in Coquille, Oregon) to narrow down and search page-by-page, issue-by-issue, to find his obituary:

No doubt the fuzzy print threw off the OCR.  This example also shows how discrepancies can occur in newspapers--the Oregon death index indicates he died on the 3rd, while this report indicates he died on the 5th.  Mrs. George Hartley is my great grandmother Minnie (Nosler) Hartley. "Dies in Coquille," The Coos Bay Times--Evening Edition (Marshfield, Oregon), 7 Dec 1914, p 1; digital image, Historic Oregon Newspapers (http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/ : accessed 17 Oct 2015).

Here is the obituary in the larger context:

These obituaries are often found later in the issue, but more well-known citizens' obituaries might be featured on the front page.

Oh, so maybe I should have searched for William H. Nosler, then?  Nope (and using capitals or not didn't matter, either):

But I just found his obituary in there!

While using Search is a great way to use newspaper databases like GenealogyBank or Historic Oregon Newspapers, it is really just the tip of the iceberg. You've got to really spend some time looking at newspapers, page by page, to know how to use them.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

New-To-Me Fantastic Find: Family Search "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014" Collection

I suspect this database came out in 2014, but it is new to me!  I use GenealogyBank constantly for obituaries and other newspaper items pertaining to my ancestors.  Since I have the subscription it did not occur to me to look for a source that indexes these obituaries, but FamilySearch did: "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014:" 

Index and images of obituaries from thousands of newspapers throughout the United States. Records and images are being published as they become available. This collection is created in partnership with www.GenealogyBank.com. Over 23 million records in this collection were indexed by a computer; there may be some errors. Please help us fix these records by reporting them through the Errors? button.

This database might be effective in the same way that I think FindAGrave is more easily searched at Ancestry than at FindAGrave itself, i.e. more search functionality at FamilySearch if a search on GenealogyBank itself doesn't render a result.

This is definitely a great resource for anyone that doesn't have a subscription to GenealogyBank.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: William Sill (1757 - 1851), Farmer, Veteran

William Sill (or Sills) is one of my maternal fifth great grandfathers. He was residing in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, by 1800 according to the Pennsylvania Septennial Census of that year which only gives the most general information.

[Year: 1800: Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Septennial Census, 1779-1863 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Septennial Census Returns, 1779–1863. Box 1026, microfilm, 14 rolls. Records of the House of Representatives. Records of the General Assembly, Record Group 7. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, PA.]

We know he owned land in Versailles Township and he's mentioned several times in The Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette. The first reference shows us that he paid his taxes in 1806:

[Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 3 March 1807. Newspapers.com]

In the next mention of William Sill that I found he was listed as one of the neighbors of a William Richardson who was in the process of losing his land. The description of Mr. Richardson's property gives us clues to the location of my ancestor's land holdings.

[Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 12 May 1807. Newspapers.com]

Early in 1808 his name appears as the lead defendant in a court case scheduled for the January term. I don't know what the cause of the suit was.

[Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 15 January 1808. Newspapers.com]

The 1810 federal census lists him in Versailles Township. (His son Jesse Sills is my direct ancestor.)

[Year: 1810; Census Place: Versailles, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: 44; Page: 340; Image: 00178; Family History Library Film: 0193670. Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Third Census of the United States, 1810. (NARA microfilm publication M252, 71 rolls). Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

In 1811 his name appears in another bankruptcy case, this time as a court-appointed custodian of the "certain goods, chattels and effect" of John Hill, a fellow resident of Versailles Township.

[Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 9 August 1811. GenealogyBank.com]

The 1820 U.S. Census once again shows William and his son Jesse living in Versailles Township.

[1820 U S Census; Census Place: Versailles, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Page: 189; NARA Roll: M33_97; Image: 107. Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. (NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Although I haven't found any mention of William Sill in the 1830 U.S. Census, we know he was still living in Versailles Township from the following newspaper clipping and we also learn that Jesse Sill was facing a forced sale of his land.*

[Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 26 October 1830. Newspapers.com]

By the date of the 1840 federal census, it appears that William was living in Jesse Sill's household.

[Year: 1840; Census Place: Versailles, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: 441; Page: 520; Family History Library Film: 0020536. Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.  Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

William Sill died in 1841 and is buried next to his wife Jane in the McKeesport and Versailles Cemetery. Next time I'm going to try to figure out what's behind this record:**

[Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Veterans Burial Cards, 1777-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1777–2012. Digital Images, 3–5. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Bureau of Archives and History. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.]

As far as I can tell, William never applied for the 1832 pension which would give us details of his service.


*You can find a definition of the legal term "venditioni exponas" here.
**There are records for at least two men named William Sill and I'm not certain which refer to my ancestor.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Newspapers and Publications Published in San Diego 1887-1888

This is taken from collection of digitized city directories for San Diego in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  "Maxwell's Directory of San Diego City and County for 1887-1888" (San Diego, CA: Geo. W. Maxwell, 1888), page 29; digital image, sandiegopubliclibrary at Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org/stream/maxwellsdirect8700geow#page/n39/mode/2up : 13 Jul 2017).

One of the things I love about old city directories is that they can contain some great leads on where to look for additional contemporary research in an area.

Crop closeup of the newspapers and publications listed in the previous image.  GenealogyBank has quite a few.

GenealogyBank's San Diego holdings as of 13 July 2017.

Note: The California Digital Newspaper Collection also has some issues of the Coronado Mercury between 16 May 1887 - 25 July 1896 (630 issues).




© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

GenealogyBank Terms of Use January 2016

Hat tip to Sheri Fenley for reminding me that there are restrictions to using images and content of GenealogyBank, and for providing the links to two other bloggers (Judy G. Russell's 2013 "GenealogyBank permissions clarified" and Heather Wilkinson Rojo's 2015 "I'm removing a blog post image...because it was the right thing to do!") who have already discussed this.

Heaven forbid rules apply to me!  (Is this where one starts to think they are above the law?)  So I contacted GenealogyBank via their Terms of Use page, hoping to hear I was the exception and could continue doing what I was doing.

But of course the rules do apply to me as they do everyone else (I obtained permission to share the response):

Dear Christine,

Thank you for your inquiry. You are free to use articles and images found on GenealogyBank for your own personal non-commercial use. When it comes to posting an "image" on the web or other social media sites that [is] prohibited without proper permission. 

Quoting or paraphrasing articles found on GenealogyBank.com is permitted. However, due to contractual agreements with our publishers, posting or publishing digitized images, articles or text found on GenealogyBank is prohibited without proper permission (See instructions for gaining permission below). This includes posting images found on GenealogyBank, to other web or social media sites.

Articles or content found on GenealogyBank published after 1923: 

To gain permission to use articles published after 1923 you must contact the publisher directly. Most newspaper publishers list their contact information and instructions on how to gain such permission on their website. 

Articles or content found on GenealogyBank published prior to 1923:

Articles published prior to 1923 that are found within GenealogyBank are to be used for personal use only and not to be used for public or commercial use. This may include but not limited to re-posting articles on the Internet or in a published book or magazine.

We encourage customers to instead create their own synopsis of the article(s) and add links to the actual images using an URL shorten service such as bit.ly. Please see the suggested format for citing an article found on GenealogyBank. [emphasis mine--I think I'll do both of these things going forward, I hadn't even thought of the tiny URL route, although unfortunately you have to be a GenealogyBank subscriber to see the linked content]

Suggested format: Betty Greer death notice, Rutland Herald [Rutland, VT] 2 February 1985. Newspaper. Online at GenealogyBank.com viewed 2 August 2012

Permission to use articles for commercial purposed included in a published book or magazine:

Digital images and text that you plan to use in a published book or for anything other than personal use can be licensed for a fee. Inquiries of this nature should be forwarded to the following email address: readexpermissions@readex.com 

Please include:

- Newspaper title

- Publishing date

- Article title

- URL to article

- Reason for use 

Abiding by our publisher agreements helps ensure that individuals and genealogists can continue to enjoy personal access to GenealogyBank content at such a reasonable cost. 

DISCLAIMER:  The terms of use discussed above are subject to change.


Soooooo.  I am going to get some practice with using shortened URLs and synopses/summaries, apparently lol.  Both on this blog and on Ancestry.  That's a lot of stuff, actually.

But that is okay.  It will force me to re-examine my material, which is recommended periodically anyway, so it's a win!  Maybe by reviewing my images taken from GenealogyBank I can break down some more brick walls.





© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Tip: Don't Just Rely on the Search Function When Using Newspaper Databases

"Dehesa Doings," San Diego Union (San Diego, CA), p 5, col 4, 8 Aug 1892; digital image, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com: accessed 17 Oct 2015).

The info above was found doing a "Hartley" search.  Since newspapers often had recurring columns I thought to search "Dehesa Doings" to possibly find other tidbits in other issues.  But instead I got this:

Oh, come on, I just found Dehesa Doings three minutes ago!

I am assuming the optical character recognition just doesn't read it as Dehesa Doings (and who knows what it thinks it says).  While it may not be an ongoing column like I thought, the term "Dehesa Doings" DOES appear at least once for sure!  So what should I do?

I went page by page through other issues close in time to this one.  This is a bit tedious, but not only can it help you catch information missed by OCR, it also gives you a feel for what the newspaper was like and what kind of information you can realistically expect to glean from it.

Unfortunately I haven't found a graceful way to search newspapers this way on GenealogyBank, as they don't provide an easy way to browse papers--you have to search through them, which is different.  So I narrowed down to the specific paper I wanted, and then typed in a date range (in this case San Diego Union and August 1892--alternately, you could just type in a specific day and year):

Then I ordered by Oldest (you an order by Oldest, Newest, and Best):

Note the varying quality of the scans, even in one issue (in this case, all the results in this screenshot are from the August 1, 1892 issue).

No wonder the OCR doesn't find every word from the scanned images--just look at what it has to contend with!

After looking at a number of issues I realized that "Dehesa Doings" was not a regular heading, but I could depend on page 5 in any given issue in that era for information on local people, with the leading title "Local Intelligence. In General.":

"Dehesa Doings" in the larger context.

Every newspaper database I've used has to deal with the same OCR problems.

Many states now have historic newspapers to browse through, like the Historic Oregon Newspapers.  I use this database to find my Oregon ancestors.  When a search for my 2nd great grandfather William Nosler's death notice or obituary came back with no results, I used his known death date (3 Dec 1914 in Coquille, Oregon) to narrow down and search page-by-page, issue-by-issue, to find his obituary:

No doubt the fuzzy print threw off the OCR.  This example also shows how discrepancies can occur in newspapers--the Oregon death index indicates he died on the 3rd, while this report indicates he died on the 5th.  Mrs. George Hartley is my great grandmother Minnie (Nosler) Hartley. "Dies in Coquille," The Coos Bay Times--Evening Edition (Marshfield, Oregon), 7 Dec 1914, p 1; digital image, Historic Oregon Newspapers (http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/ : accessed 17 Oct 2015).

Here is the obituary in the larger context:

These obituaries are often found later in the issue, but more well-known citizens' obituaries might be featured on the front page.

Oh, so maybe I should have searched for William H. Nosler, then?  Nope (and using capitals or not didn't matter, either):

But I just found his obituary in there!

While using Search is a great way to use newspaper databases like GenealogyBank or Historic Oregon Newspapers, it is really just the tip of the iceberg. You've got to really spend some time looking at newspapers, page by page, to know how to use them.






© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Tuesday Night Webinar Replay: Tom Kemp presents "GenealogyBank - The Power of Finding Our Ancestor's Stories" (15 May 2015)

Free, courtesy of Legacy Family Tree Webinars, is Tom Kemp's presentation on using GenealogyBank for genealogy.  As usual, great stuff from this resource!




© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.