Sometimes It Doesn't Have to be Pretty!

     (And you don't have to read the language to learn what the document says.)
     These are an Italian marriage record with a translation via Google Translate. No one at History & Heritage reads Italian. Latin, French, German, Middle and Old English - those we have covered. But Italian is out of our ken. So the first lesson is that you just have to be able to read the letters, not understand them when you have something like Google Translate available.
     Second lesson is that even if you can't read everything perfectly, you probably can puzzle out enough to understand if this is the right person. We couldn't read the handwriting well enough to understand everything in the certificate, and the translation might not be perfect, but everything makes sense and this document tells us what we hoped to learn, and more!
     Sometimes you have to use common sense and intuition for this. Don't know what a numeral one with a superscript letter "o" means? Type it into the translator and see what comes up. In this case we are looking at "Primo" and "Secundo."
     Numbers can be a bear to read, so find an ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and cardinal (1, 2, 3) list of numbers in that language to help you determine if that combination of letters might actually mean something.
     If you just can't read the handwriting, substitute some Xs for the missing word and see if you can determine the word after the translation. In our example we can figure out that the happy couple arrived to be married on the 26th DAY of November at 9:20 in the morning.
     Focus on the parts that have the words or names you seek. In this example we omitted the second paragraph (Avanti di me...) which simply tells us who this official is, and skipped down to the part that clearly said "BONGO ANDREA."
     Pay attention to the details you can figure out. The insertion of the word "fu" and the later insertion of "in vita" tells us that good old Giuseppe was dead by the time Andrea married Maria and that dad was a resident "in life" of Ariano. One more detail to add to our tree.
     Speaking of which, from this one record we learned that Andrea was a famer born in c. 1860, his father was Giuseppe Bongo who died before 1860, mom was Maria Rosaria Carpiniolla and they all lived in Ariano. He married Maria Tolino, a farmer born in 1874 and the daughter of Luigi Tolino and Maria Giovanna lo Blundo, all of Ariano. A treasure trove!
     So the next time you find yourself faced with a document in a language you don't speak or read, give it a whirl - try to translate it and see if you can learn what you need to know. It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to be discovered!

PS - wondering about the "lo Blundo" in mom's name? there is a reason for it...see if you can figure it out!

How to Hire a Genealogist

     

     Yesterday someone wrote to tell me a sad tale and to ask how to avoid it in the future:

I hired a profession group based on the recommendation of a highly respected genealogical association. After paying $1400 and waiting a year all I got were copies of what I had sent them and an article about the history of the area that anyone could get off the internet. My question is: what questions should I be asking a professional to avoid such a costly farce?

     First, let me apologize on behalf of all of us out here who are maintaining high standards and excellent business practices. There is always one bad apple, and I hope that you complained to the business, the genealogical association who recommended them, and the Better Business Bureau. 
     You can find lots of articles and blogs out there telling you what to ask and how to choose a qualified professional. But I think it is really a very easy task once you think about this like hiring any other professional contractor. Let me explain: 
     The most important thing you ought to do is have a very clear contract. Your contract will spell out exactly what you expect, what the researcher is to do, what s/he is NOT supposed to do, what the objectives are for this project, what you will pay and when, and the due date for the completed project. 
     You wouldn’t hire someone to replace your roof by saying “I want my roof fixed” and then handing over a pile of money. You would want a contract specifying whether the old shingles are to be shingled over or removed. What weight of roofing felt is to be used? What is the specific brand and color of shingle to be used? How many nails per shingle? What about flashing around gutters, skylights, chimneys, vents, etc.? What if weak spots or leaks are discovered? When do they start work? How long will it take? How much do you pay up front? How much do you pay at the end? And on and on. 
     So, too, should you have a detailed contract with your genealogist. It is not unreasonable to spell out exactly what you expect and what they can expect from you. Let me give you an example. 
     Beauregard has hit a brick wall and cannot find the parents of his great-great-great-grandpa: Buford. 
     He has found a land record for Buford, his baptismal record, his will, and his headstone. But the baptismal record simply bears his name and date of baptism. Beauregard decides to hire Brick Walls R Us Genealogy. 
     The contract specifies that Brick Walls R Us Genealogy are to find the parents of Buford. No other family members are to be pursued unless that is a necessary task in order to find Buford’s parents. Beauregard agrees to pay X dollars up front and another Y dollars upon completion plus no more than Z dollars for documents. Brick Walls R Us Genealogy agree to provide “H” hours of research and report writing and if Buford’s parents are discovered before the completion of “H” hours they will attempt to find Buford’s siblings and/or grandparents. Finally, Brick Walls R Us Genealogy agree to have the completed report to Beauregard by such-and-such a date. It will be in the form of a PDF which they will email to Beauregard and will contain a written report detailing their search, the results, copies of all documents or the originals purchased for him, and a calendar listing where they looked and what, if anything, they found in each database and repository. 
     Yes, it sounds like a lot, but it is actually very beneficial to both of you. You know exactly what you are paying for, and they know exactly what to do and what to ignore. You aren’t expecting a pedigree chart extending back a thousand years for $18.95 and they aren’t expecting to merely search in one place for 25 minutes and receive a check for $1895. 
     Next, until you have tried one and found him or her to meet your standards and expectations you probably should only hire them for a small part of the job. If you are satisfied with their work you can hire them to work on the next segment. If you are not satisfied with the work, and they failed to meet the objectives of the contract and can offer no valid reason for their failure, take your business elsewhere. 
     You wouldn’t hire a contractor to do a $100,000 remodel all in one fell swoop (you wouldn’t would you?). Rather you would have him or her remodel the spare bathroom first and if that turns out well you can opt to hire him or her for the remaining work. And once you know how you two work together you can write a more precise contract for future work. 
     I hear you: and what is a valid reason for failure? There are several, but not THAT many. 
     One reason is that there are no documents remaining from that place and time. If the client’s ancestors lived in a war zone (Virginia during the Civil War, Germany in WWII) or if the records repository suffered a fire or natural disaster (such as the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center which destroyed over 16 MILLION files) and those documents are required to successfully complete the research, then you have a valid reason for failure. But it shouldn’t take up the entire budget of time to make that discovery. 
     Another reason is that some records are not available online and the repository does not search for and copy records for free or a fee. This means that the only recourse is to hire someone to go to the archive or other repository and copy or transcribe them. 
     A third reason is that – how shall I say this politely? – your tree is a mess and by the time the genealogist has straightened it out and determined what information is reliable and what information is bogus, your time had expired. 
     Finally, the records might be out there and available, and your tree may be a thing of beauty and historical accuracy, but your ancestor’s name was Imagnacious Pterradiddle (the “P” is silent) and finding THAT name practically requires going through census records page by page. Unfortunately your brick wall was John Terradiddle and it never occurred to anyone that he changed his surname. And no one EVER thought that Imagnacious could be a name. The researcher assumed John’s dad would be William or George or John and so reasonably estimated the time based on those assumptions. 
     A good researcher should request that you provide your sources, documents, and family tree before they offer an estimate. If they aren’t interested in what you have done, or what you already know, find someone else. I like devoting part of that initial free hour to going over a potential client’s tree. It helps to know how sturdy the foundation is, and whether I have to redo the work before I can start my own research.

     Go ahead and shop around and compare. You didn’t hire the first guy who came over to give you an estimate for your roof. You compared the cost and services each roofer offered. Genealogists should understand it is up to us to earn your business. 
     What about references? Let’s be honest, references are not all that helpful – only happy people are going to be offered as references. 
     One more very important point: YOU must have realistic expectations for the amount of time this project will take, the cost of completing it, and the outcomes that will be produced. If it took you ten years of research to get this far, do you really think it is reasonable to expect me to break down that 17th century brick wall in two weeks for a hundred bucks? 
     When you hire a genealogist you are paying for our time, and there are no guaranteed results. That being said, if I took on a project for $1400 I am positive that I could realize this was going to be a bust LOOONG before I spent that many hours on the project. It would be my professional responsibility to tell you: Hey, I have spent this many hours and have looked here, here, here, and here and I keep finding the same brick wall. I can continue to research with no guarantees, or I can stop here, you pay me for my time, I will provide you with a write-up about what I did and where I looked, and perhaps in a few years the documents necessary will come to light. When that happens, I will contact you and we can talk then. 
     And finally, please don’t get angry with me when I tell you things you don’t want to hear. I don’t get to write history to suit my clients. I have had folks angry with me when they read that their wealthy Georgian family owned slaves in the 1820s. I have had folks angry with me when I told them great-grandpa deserted in 1863 and had the documents to prove it. And I have had folks angry when I had to tell them that great-aunt Gertrude who was born and raised in Quebec in 1830 was a not full-blooded Sioux Indian but a rather proper French-Canadian young lady. 
     I always tell my clients

At History & Heritage we believe that the purpose of family history research is to know, understand, and celebrate the events that relate to our families. While delving into the past may produce some less-than-savory ancestors, or put an end to a family legend, a sense of humor and a desire for truth will enable us to celebrate our families as they really were and are. 

     I have used almost 1700 words to say this: 

• Get a contract. 
• You’re the boss. 
• Be reasonable. 

     Oh, and one more thing: History & Heritage is always accepting new clients!

Part Two: When Do I Need to Hire a Genealogist?

     Yesterday I talked about three real-life situations (names have been changed to protect the innocent) that might require the assistance of a professional genealogist. Here are the final three. See if any of them sound familiar.

Lopsided Branches

Cheri had a family tree which included almost no female lines. Mothers rarely had full biographical information and often had only a given name and no surname. An initial attempt to fill in the maternal lines showed her what many of us already know: women can be difficult to trace.

Once again I provided Cheri with an initial hour of free research. In that hour I checked the paternal lines to verify their foundational strength and discovered that the previous researcher had done nice work, but inexplicably ignored every maternal line. Next I created a list of her maternal lines in order of the least to the most effort required to extend that branch.

Cheri chose to take some one-on-one training with me to learn the basics of genealogical research then set out to find and document as many of her “grandmothers” as she could find. A few months later she contacted me with her list of brick walls and we have begun researching them for her. To date she has “evened out” more than half of her tree.

Unorganized Papers

Stephanie had dabbled in her family’s genealogy for years, and had acquired binders full of documents, but there was no organization or system to her collection and she couldn’t tell you what she knew and what she still needed to find. Well into her retirement, Stephanie worried that if she didn’t whip those documents into shape her family might simply throw out all of hard work.

Stephanie shipped the paperwork to me (for less than $25!) and emailed me a GEDCOM file of her tree. Organizing and arranging paperwork is great fun to me, and I spent a day sitting on my office floor sorting, organizing, and arranging her papers. I also wrote up a descending list of missing or conflicting items that required her attention and shipped everything back to her ready to go into new binders.

Note: I have also provided this service for local clients and we spend an afternoon organizing and arranging their papers. This is very useful because not only do they end up with copies of sources which they can now find and use, but they also learn the process and are better able to maintain their neat and tidy binders of documents.

Joining the Sons or Daughters of the American Revolution
(or the Sons of Union or Confederate Veterans of the Civil War or any other genealogical-based society)

Tim wanted to join the Sons of the American Revolution and had always heard that he had an ancestor who fought in that war but no one ever said which ancestor. Tim was not interested in building on or extending his family tree; he simply wanted to join the SAR.

After the initial hour of free consultation I was able to verify that Tim had several branches of his tree which included men and women who were of the proper age and location to qualify for membership. At his direction I began my search with his paternal direct line ancestors and discovered an ancestor who served in the Pennsylvania State Militia.

To meet the remaining criteria for membership I also provided Tim with the necessary pedigree and supporting documents to verify his relationship back to that soldier ancestor. Finally, after explaining the process for applying to the SAR, I put Tim in touch with a local chapter.

     It is true that some folks will never need or want to hire a professional genealogist. Some of you prefer to work this puzzle on your own, no matter how long it might take to get past each brick wall. I know, because I am one of them!
     But for those of you who wondered if your problem or difficulty is something that you can ask a professional to take on, I hope that this helped to answer your question. If you still are wondering, feel free to ask me. Send me an email at kate@historyandheritage.co. I will be happy to tell you if your situation is something which I can handle or, if necessary, I will refer you to a colleague. And remember, the first hour of research is always free.

Let History & Heritage shed some light on your family tree.

When Do I Need to Hire a Professional Genealogist?

Carl wasn’t comfortable researching his family once his tree expanded outside of the United States.

Mary had an Irish great grandmother who seemed to magically appear in the United States. Her death certificate told her maiden name but there were no other records for her life in Ireland.

David had seen and admired his wife’s family tree and was ready to start working on creating his own. But he had no idea where to start or how to go about building his family tree properly.

Cheri had a family tree which included almost no female lines. Mothers rarely had full biographical information and often had only a given name and no surname.

Stephanie had dabbled in her family’s genealogy for years, had acquired binders full of documents, but there was no organization or system to her collection and she couldn’t tell you what she knew and what she still needed to find. 

Tim wanted to join the Sons of the American Revolution and had always heard that he had an ancestor who fought in that war but no one ever said which ancestor.

     Each of these are examples of clients with whom I worked over the past year. Each one illustrates a situation when you should hire a professional genealogist/family historian.

     If you check the internet you can find a number of lists detailing when you should hire a professional. Most of them have openly copied (without proper attribution I might add) the list found on the Association of Professional Genealogists’ website.[1] I encourage you to click on the link to their website and read their list.
     But I like my list because it provides some very real examples of the kinds of situations that I believe are most common out there in the genealogical world. Let’s look at these examples a little more closely and I will explain what you might expect a professional genealogist to do for you in each scenario. Because this list is rather extensive, I will make this a multi-part blog so that your eyes don’t fall out reading it all in one day! 

Foreign Research 

Carl wasn’t comfortable researching his family once his tree expanded outside of the United States. His New England family crossed the border from Canada and ended up in Massachusetts in the early 1900s. Although some of the records were in English, he quickly became uncomfortable trying to work in French while puzzling through a different monetary system, understanding unfamiliar land measurements found on deeds, reading an unfamiliar style of handwriting, and generally working in a geographical area that was unfamiliar to him. 

We discussed where he wished to begin and what he hoped to find. Carl sent me a GEDCOM file of his well-sourced family tree and I spent my typical hour of free research looking at what he had, determining the strength of his foundation, briefly scouting out the documents available and possible avenues of research, and estimating the amount of time and number of documents that might have to be purchased.

We worked backwards in chunks, first developing this branch and then that branch until I had traced his family back to England and France. Carl was happy to have his family’s history traced to the era of Louis XIV and ended the research at that point.

If you have traced your family beyond the borders of the United States and are uncomfortable working with documents in another language, or are uncomfortable dealing with a “foreign” world even if the documents are in English, this might be the time to hire a professional.

The Dreaded Brick Wall 

Mary had an Irish great grandmother who seemed to magically appear in the United States. Her death certificate told her maiden name but there were no other records for her life in Ireland. Mary’s research was further complicated by the fact that in each census in which great grandmother appeared she had a different age. And then she discovered that great grandmother’s maiden name was very common. Finally she ran into one of the great annoyances regarding Irish research: very few documents are available online. 

Mary provided me with access to her Ancestry.com family tree and added a lot of family lore to the mix. Once again I provided a free hour of research while I reviewed her foundation and determined the scope of the project, including an estimate of the length of time and costs involved. We worked out a payment plan (necessary due to her financial constraints) which meant that it took nearly a year to finally find her great grandmother in County Kerry. She is currently contacting living family members and arranging a trip to Ireland later this spring. 

If you have a brick wall that you can’t seem to get past, even with the help of people from places like the Rootsonomy Research Group, and have followed all of the steps that I (and others) have outlined for how to work on breaking down your brick walls and still find that pesky thing standing, maybe it is time to hire a professional to help you knock down that wall so you can continue in your research. 

Just Getting Started 

David had seen and admired his wife’s family tree and was ready to start working on creating his own. But he had no idea where to start or how to go about building his family tree properly. He knew there were online databases, both free and for-fee, but did not know which ones were most useful to him. His parents were still living and could potentially provide information, but he did not know what to ask them.

When David came to me we discussed his goals and plans. It quickly became apparent that he wanted to do the work himself, learning about his family and learning the art and science of family history. Ultimately he decided to work one-on-one with me, meeting weekly via the phone (Skype is a great tool for this as well as a number of online meeting sites) for five weeks while he took a personalized “Genealogy 101” class.

David learned how to use various programs and databases to search for documents, how to critically analyze documents, and how to create a system for organizing and using each source to its fullest extent, among other subjects. Each lesson was based on his strengths and weaknesses as well as the area and time period in which he was working. At the end of the five weeks David was confident about his skills and had mapped out a plan for developing his own sturdy family tree. We will have one final meeting in the spring where he can ask any questions that have arisen, or work out a way to get past his first brick walls. 

If you are ready to get started on your family tree but aren’t quite sure what to do and where to go, this is a good time to hire a professional genealogist. For a relatively small investment in time and money you can learn how to work like a professional from a professional.

     Tomorrow I will talk about the last three situations that might warrant hiring a professional genealogist. Thanks to my buddy Jim, owner of our partner firm, Rootsonomy, for suggesting this topic!


[1] “Hiring a Professional” http://www.apgen.org/articles/hire.html, accessed 16 January 2013.

History & Heritage can help you bridge the gaps in your family tree
so that you can move on to the next adventure.