Kimberly

For most of us history buffs/experts there is usually one period that really fascinates us. As a result, there is usually some historical misconception regarding that event/period that can drive us up the proverbial wall -- especially when reading the answers some people post here on Yahoo! Answers.

For me, I have two. The first is that people mistakenly refer to Sacagawea (Lewis and Clark) as their guide when, in fact, she was not.

The second is the misconception that only the Japanese were interred in the US during WWII. Schools and textbooks gloss over the fact that Germans and Italians were also interred -- though not on the scale that the Japanese were.

Out of sheer curiosity, what's yours?

I’m hoping for some advice here. Normally, I would go to my mother for all things genealogical, but she’s more “old school” in that she’s used to dealing with hard copies that she has ordered and received. The majority of her research (the last 30+ years) was before the advent of ancestry.com, GenWeb, and online depositories put together by the individual states.

For most of my family lines, I’m the same way. My family is from Kansas/Oklahoma and North Carolina (so far). My ex-husbands paternal line is from Pennsylvania. All of which require you to write and order vital records directly from their local/state offices. Then it’s just a matter of scanning the received records onto my computer and inputting the information into my genealogy program.

However, my ex-husbands maternal line isn’t nearly as easy or clean-cut. They are primarily from Virginia/West Virginia which has started putting all their vital records online. So it’s easy to run a search of who I’m looking for and get immediate access to copies of their records. Then it’s off to ancestry.com or other sites to look up census records, burial records, tombstones, etc.

The trouble I’m facing now is that I just don’t know how to file the items on my computer. It started off easy enough. I had the main surname file for my mother-in-law’s maiden name. Within that file I had separate folders for her direct ancestors (Gma, Gpa, GGma, GGpa, etc.) with secondary files by their siblings.

For example:

I would have a folder for “Joe Blow” (Gpa) which I would save all his pertinent documents (birth, death, marriage, census records, etc.). Next to that folder would be one titled “Joe Blow Siblings”. Within that folder would be additional folders for each of his brothers and sisters.

Then, because I was getting into extended family, I would have subfolders for their spouse, their children, their spouses parents, etc. If I was doing any of the other lines, I wouldn’t be going that far right now, but because the files are online for the taking, I figured “why not”? Plus, I’m a little anal when it comes to blank spots, so I think a bit of OCD has kicked in.

Anyway, this is where the problem has arisen.

The family is primarily from the Cabell/Wayne County areas of W.VA and what I started to see what cousins marrying cousins (some 1st cousins, but a lot of 3rd cousins, 4th cousins, etc.). People have started to pop up in two or three (or more) areas of the family. In one spot they might be a spouse, then later as a brother, and then again as a 2nd spouse or something.

Obviously, the way I was doing it isn’t working anymore. I was going to start ending up with multiple folders for the same person and a billion shortcuts which would just cause even more confusion.

I’m sure others have run across this problem in small communities in which their families are long standing residents. Is there a better way to save the information to the computer? Has anyone figured out a good way to file their info in a way that makes sense, is easy to access, and limits the possibilities of duplicate individuals?

I’ve currently done away with the former system and just have all the saved files in the folder for my mother-in-law. But now I have over 700 files sitting there and several people with the exact same names (ex: Benjamin Franklin Doe, Andrew Jackson Blow).

Thanks so much for the advice!

I'm looking for information on Beech Fork Cemetery, located most probably in either Wayne, Cabell, or Mingo County. I have a relative that died in 1930 who's death certificate states he was buried there, but no location is given.

WVGenWeb does not have a listing for Beech Fork in any of the above county pages. Google does not return any cemeteries of that name. Findagrave.com has 2 Beech Fork Cemeteries listed. One in Wayne County that was added by an individual when she added a death certificate (only 1 record listed). The 2nd one is listed as being in Mingo County and only had a dozen or so entries. A family genealogy page (not my family) has Beech Fork Cemetery as being located in Huntington, Cabell County.

What I really want to know is:

1) Is it still in existence?

2) Did it go through a name change or stop being used?

3) Where is it located?

4) Is a list of those buried still available or accessible?

I know I'm asking a lot and the odds that a random person on here might have a lead is slim, but thanks anyway for any/all help!

I have FTM 2011 for the PC. To make a really long (but scandalous) story short, I ended up putting a child with the wrong mother.

His father had a few wives -- and his 2nd wife had several child (some out of wedlock) -- and I ended up attaching several children to his 2nd wife before I knew he had had a 1st wife and several of the illegitimate children to her husband not knowing they were (possibly) illegitimate.

Now I'm trying to put those individuals with the 1st wife or separating from the husband, but nothing seems to work. I've tried detaching and attaching, but all it does it put them in 2 places instead of fixing the relationship.

I don't really want to delete them and start over because of the source info I have attached to them.

Is there a way to fix this mistake with their relationships?

I'm using FTM 9.0.

My problem is that when I print out a report, I end up with the same source being listed multiple times for different people.

For example:

Using a death certificate as a source for the person the death certificate is for, as well as a source for who her parents are.

So when I print the report, the same death certificate is listed as a source 3 separate times in relation to the original person and then again for each of her parents.

Is there a way to reference the source so that in the reference page (end notes) it is only listed once?

When you write a research paper, you don't write a reference page that lists the sources cited individually for every time they are referenced in the paper itself. They are only listed a single time.

Can the same thing be done in FTM 9.0, or is that wishful thinking? Should I just accept the fact that a death certificate/census/birth certificate/etc., will end up listed multiple times for every person it is associated with?

I found my kid's GGGgrandfather is the 1930 census and I'm 95% sure that I have located HIS father in the 1900 census living right next door. I want to get his death certificate. I know he died after the 1930 census and most likely before 1962 because I haven't found him in the SSDI.

So far, no obituary has been located regarding his death. I've been through all the cemetery records available to me online for the entire county he lived in and the county next door that he grew up in -- to no avail (though it could just be that his particular grave hasn't been transcribed yet).

I'm not really in the mood to fork over $100+ for a forty-two year search of death certificates. Waiting until April 2012 will let me know if he was alive in 1940, but I don't know if I can wait almost 2 years for the next census release.

Is there an avenue that I've missed in pursuing?

He has a super common first and last name for the counties he lived in, so getting as far as I have is almost a miracle in itself.

Thanks for the advice.

When the US District Courts ask for writing samples in addition to their other application requirements, what exactly are they looking for? I'm applying for Federal Probation and Pretrial Services. I have tons of writing that I've kept from things I've done for school. Is there anything specific they're looking for? Typical length?