How to prioritize your 2015 research. From FamilyTree Magazine

I haven't been able to post for a while due to some medical issues with my husband but I wanted to share this:
From FamilyTree magazine promoting their upcoming class.
1. Keeping track of everything in your head.
    There's a story about Albert Einstein not being able to remember his own phone number. When asked about it, he said there was no point in remembering something you could look up in a book.
Although Einstein wasn't talking about time management, he was talking about cluttering up the mind. Keeping track of everything in your head produces stress and anxiety. And it reduces your effective use of time because invariably you'll forget something you're supposed to do, an appointment, a call you should have made, or a high-priority action item.
Using a day planner, online calendar or phone app to help you keep track of all the things in your life isn't cheating-it's good time management.
2. Poor planning.
    Have you ever gone to the grocery store, come home and unloaded the groceries, only to then remember you were supposed to pick up dry cleaning at the shop right next to the grocers?
Or do you get overwhelmed because you don't have a clear plan (or any plan at all) for organizing your genealogy photos, documents and research? Maybe you switch from plan to plan in small fits and starts, never really getting anything done.
Poor planning (or no planning) results in missed deadlines, ineffective use of time and perpetually running late.
3. Always saying "yes."
    Many genealogists are people-pleasers by nature, making it difficult for us to say "no"-this applies to everything from chauffeuring the soccer team to volunteering at the hospital.
Being a good friend is laudable-no one will argue that. But when you say "yes" to everyone all the time, you end up saying "no" to yourself.
4. Perfectionism.
    Perfectionism is a plague in our culture.
When I was in junior high school, we had to take a sewing class, which I truly detested because I had no interest in sewing. Our semester project was to sew an apron and embroider our names on the waistband. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the apron to be perfect, so I kept ripping it apart and starting from scratch-again and again. In the end I finished the project, but it was a mess.
In looking back, I have to ask myself why being perfect was so important. I hated the class! In the long run, was sewing an area I needed to spend so much effort on? The answer was "no."
I'm not saying you should do a shoddy job to get through a task faster, but I am saying that every single task you have on your plate doesn't have to be perfect. Prioritize.
5. Attempting to do too much.
    This is the bane of our modern lives, isn't it? If your schedule is so crammed full of activities that you don't have any time to breathe, it's safe to say you're taking on too much.
The question to ask is this: Are all of those activities a priority or are you being derailed by things that don't really matter? Or worse, are your priorities put aside because your time is spent on crisis management-putting out every one else's fires?
Do you see some of yourself in any of these descriptions? When you're in a state of constant stress and anxiety, the things you truly enjoy-genealogy, scrapbooking, collecting or any other pleasurable pastime-get the a back seat.
But it doesn't have to be that way. Before you can start changing your habits, take a few minutes to think about where you are with time management today.

~Trish~

Migration to America in the 1700s

    As you work backwards in your tree, do you find that the trail seems to go cold in the 1700s? Lack of census records and passenger lists can leave you scratching your head and wondering how exactly they suddenly appeared in Pennsylvania, New England, and Virginia. The answer may be in some of the major migrations of settlers to the colonies in the 1700s.
    Two major groups that arrived during that time were the Germans and the Scots-Irish. (Mine were from Germany at this time and came to Pennsylvania).
    Around 1670 the first significant group of Germans came to the colonies, mostly settling in Pennsylvania and New York. In 1709 a group known as the Palatines (mine) made the journey from the Palatinate region of Germany. Many died on the way over on crowded ships, but around 2,100 survived and settled in New York.
    Soon after that, multiple waves of Germans arrived in the Southeast and settled in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. Another wave came and settled in New England.
    Between 1725 and 1775 many Germans arrived and settled in Pennsylvania. By the beginning of the Revolutionary War, about 1/3 of the state was Germans.

Major Settlements, Immigration, and Naturalization in the 1700s

• 1707: A new era of Scottish migration began as a result of the Act of Union between England and Scotland. Scots settled in colonial seaports. Lowland artisans and laborers left Glasgow to become indentured servants in tobacco colonies and New York.
• 1709: In the wake of devastation caused by wars of Louis XIV, German Palatines settled in the Hudson Valley and Pennsylvania.
• 1717: The English Parliament legalized transportation to American colonies as punishment; contractors began regular shipments from jails, mostly to Virginia and Maryland.
• 1718: Discontent with the land system: absentee landlords, high rents, and short leases in the homeland motivated large numbers of Scotch-Irish to emigrate. Most settled first in New England, then in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
• 1730: Germans and Scotch Irish from Pennsylvania colonized Virginia valley and the Carolina back country.
• 1732: James Oglethorpe settled Georgia as a buffer against Spanish and French attack, as a producer of raw silk, and as a haven for imprisoned debtors.
• 1740: The English Parliament enacted the Naturalization Act, which conferred British citizenship on alien colonial immigrants in an attempt to encourage Jewish immigration.
• 1745: Scottish rebels were transported to America after a Jacobite attempt to put Stuarts back on the throne failed.
• 1755: French Acadians were expelled from Nova Scotia on suspicion of disloyalty. The survivors settled in Louisiana.
• 1771–73: Severe crop failure and depression in the Ulster linen trade brought a new influx of Scotch-Irish to the American colonies.
• 1775: The outbreak of hostilities in American colonies caused the British government to suspend emigration.
• 1783: The revolutionary war ended with the Treaty of Paris. Immigration to America resumed, with especially large numbers of Scotch-Irish.
• 1789: The outbreak of the French Revolution prompted the emigration of aristocrats and royalist sympathizers.
• 1790: The first federal activity in an area previously under the control of the individual colonies: An act of 26 March
• 1790 attempted to establish a uniform rule for naturalization by setting the residence requirement at two years. Children of naturalized citizens were considered to be citizens (1 Stat. 103).
• 1791: After a slave revolt in Santo Domingo, 10,000 to 20,000 French exiles took refuge in the United States, principally in towns on the Atlantic seaboard.
• 1793: As a result of the French Revolution, Girondists and Jacobins threatened by guillotine fled to the United States.
• 1795: Provisions of a naturalization act of 29 January 1795 included the following: free white persons of good moral character; five-year residency with one year in state; declaration of intention had to be filed three years prior to filing of the petition.(1 Stat. 414).
• 1798: An unsuccessful Irish rebellion sent rebels to the United States. Distressed artisans, yeoman farmers, and agricultural laborers affected by bad harvests and low prices joined the rebels in emigrating. U.S. Alien and Sedition Acts gave the president powers to seize and expel resident aliens suspected of engaging in subversive activities.

This list originally appeared in “Immigration Records” by Loretto Dennis Szucs, FUGA, Kory L. Meyerink, MLS, AG, FUGA, and Marian L. Smith in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy.

~Trish~

Federal Road (Creek lands)

This was a project that started in 1805 for a more efficient mail delivery between Washington City & New Orleans. The Creek Indians gave permission to start a "horse path" through their nation, stretching from middle Georgia to coastal Alabama. Do you know the path your ancestors took traveling to Alabama? By 1805 my gggg grandfather, Isaac Funderburg, was traveling this section as the land was distributed by the 1805 Land Lottery and 1807 Lottery.  I can place him in Milledgeville, Baldwin, Georgia at this time. I believe some of his children were born  in Milledgeville. He quite possibly may have participated in the Creek Indian War of 1812. This is a map showing the the states "first interstate".

~Trish~

“first interstate”

Baldwin County Georgia Wills

Baldwin County was created in in 1803 by Creek cessions of June 1802. Three years later, the land was distributed by the 1805 Georgia Land Lottery. After the second lottery (1807),five new counties were created from parts of Baldwin and Wilkinson Counties: Morgan, Randolph (later Jasper), Jones, Putnam, Telfair. In 1806, 1807, 1856 and 1872 portions of Wilkinson County were added; in 1807 portions of Hancock and in 1807, 1812 and 1826 portions of Washington; with some of Jones County added in 1856. The court house burned in 1861. The county was named after Abraham Baldwin; Milledgeville was named after George's first governor, John Milledge.

 Records Available to Members of Georgia Pioneers

Baldwin County Wills

• Will Book A 1806-1829 (abstracts)
• Wills 1829-1854 (abstracts)

Marriages

• Marriage Book A 1806-1820
• Marriages 1806-1851
• Marriages from newspapers 1885-1886

Indexes to Probate Records

• Will Book B 1829-1868
• Will Book C 1868-1936
• Annual Returns, Book A 1813-1820
• Baldwin County Annual Returns, Book B 1820-1824
• Annual Returns, Book C 1824-1831
• Annual Returns, Book D 1831-1842
• Baldwin County Annual Returns, Book E 1839-1856

Digitized Records

• 1819 County Order Book; applicants of Widows of late war, orphans of Britton and Indians, Revolutionary War Officers and soldiers and persons who served in the Seminole War.
• 1820 Land Lottery (Those who were eligable to draw) (digital images)
• 1820 Tax Digest
• 1820 Baldwin County Land Lottery

Baldwin County Residents (Memoirs of Georgia)

~Trish~

Some of Georgia Earliest Land Owners-

Tips for finding old home sites***
 
The first land grants in Georgia did not reveal much information for the genealogist. If you have found an old land grant and wish to go hunting for the homesite, the best thing to do is to observe adjoining neighbors (although "vacant" was used for the first grants in a new county). So, begin with the first deed book in the parent county and read every deed! Yes, that is the way to find any clues as to whom the land passed to next. Pay particular attention to the number of acres. For example, 287-1/2 acres was a typical land grant to a revolutionary war veteran. 202-1/4 and 202-1/2 is an indicator for the acreage granted in lotteries (1805, 1807, 1820, 1821, 1827, 1832). Washington County was the parent county for Hancock, etc. You can trace the land as it transferred ownership simply by paying particular attention to the legal description, limiting as it may be. Look for s. These are found with the deed books. If they exist for the county in which you are searching, you will see "drawn dimensions". Compare this with your (drawn) land grant. Once you have located the land lot number and district, you can obtain a county map and zero in on the homeplace. Search all the cemeteries in that district. Somewhere in there you will find recognizable names. People were normally buried in churchyards near their home, or on the plantation itself. You will notice from the map's "legend" the difference between a churchyard burial and a private cemetery. This information came from topical maps, so is quite accurate.
~Trish~

Do You Have Alabama Ancestors? A post from “Alabama Pioneers” By Donna R Causey

By Donna R Causey on January 4, 2014

(I wanted to post this as my Funderburg(h) and connecting families through marriage were in these parts of Alabama in the very early 1800’s. My 4^th great grandfather, Isaac  Funderburgh was in the area and some of his children were born in this area and then married and stayed in these parts. These were the Foreman’s, Oden’s, Pace’s,  Moore’s,  Crumpler’s, Hamilton’s, Lanning’s, McGee’s)

  “The Old Federal Road” successfully connected Fort Stoddert to the Chattahoochee River. At that point, the Federal Road merged with the earlier postal riders’ horse path that linked Athens, Georgia, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Unlike the old horse path, the Federal Road went eastward making a connection with lands ripe for the recruitment of soldiers and obtaining supplies for the military. This path quickly became a major travel route for pioneers to the area once known as the Old Southwest.

  From its start as a narrow horse path used to carry the mails, the Old Federal Road underwent great development and became a major military road connecting early American forts in the Creek Lands and the Mississippi Territory. Acting as the interstate highway of its day, when “Alabama Fever” raged through the Carolinas and Georgia, the Old Federal Road carried thousands of pioneers to the Old Southwest. As such, the Federal Road directly contributed to the dramatic increase in Alabama’s population between 1810 and 1820 – with Alabama’s population growing far faster than that of either Mississippi or Louisiana during this time. Alabama continued out-distancing both Mississippi and Louisiana in population growth through 1850.” (from  History of the Old Federal Road in Alabama.)

  Families tended to be quite large. Early settlers often had a large number of children born in the new state of Alabama, sometimes the number of children from one man was 20 or 30 by several wives. The large families settled on land and frequently raised “white gold”:— cotton. The population of Alabama increased again with the Indian Removal Act in 1830 that opened vast areas of the interior of Alabama for settlement.

  However, in 1837, cotton prices declined sharply and a collapsing land bubble created by restrictive lending policies in Great Britain caused an economic panic. A severe recession gripped the United States, especially in the south, which forced many people in Alabama to move further west to improve their fortunes. Parents and grandparents often remained behind in Alabama and the Mississippi Territory while their children settled in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and the new republic of Texas. (My 3dr great grandfather, Henry M Funderburgh was one of the families who left for Texas pre 1850.) Some followed their children to the new land but many are buried across the state of Alabama. The migration continued for the years 1837 to 1844 as banks collapsed, businesses failed and prices declined. Sometimes, whole communities moved to a new locality often led by a minister or leading citizen. Many large farms and plantations were thrown out of cultivation in Alabama and never recovered.

  Around the time of the time of the Civil War, another major shift in population occurred. Prior to the Civil War, settlers moved west to get away from the fighting. After the war, many returned home to destroyed farms, plantations and a dismal life during reconstruction in Alabama so they left for the west and a better future. Some traveled as far away as California and Alaska, in a search of gold.

~Trish~

 

Remembering Robin Williams

  "All of life is a coming home. Salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers, all of us. All the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home. It’s hard to describe what I felt like then. Picture yourself walking for days in the driving snow; you don’t even know you’re walking in circles. The heaviness of your legs in the drifts, your shouts disappearing into the wind. How small you can feel, and how far away home can be. Home. The dictionary defines it as both a place of origin and a goal or destination. And the storm? The storm was all in my mind. Or as the poet Dante put it: In the middle of the journey of my life, I found myself in a dark wood, for I had lost the right path. Eventually I would find the right path, but in the most unlikely place".

Hunter – Patch Adams

~Trish~

McCarty/McCarthy Leads

I have been absent for a while due to some medical issues on my husband. Nothing serious, just some tests he needed.

 I have been contacted by a man who is from the James H McCarty family who married Elizabeth Funderburgh in Edgefield South Carolina. James was his 3rd great grandfather and Elizabeth was a daughter of my Isaac Funderburgh, my 4th great grandfather. That would make Elizabeth my 3rd great grand aunt. They had a daughter named Lucinda "Lucy" who married Charles Carson. This was his great great grandparents.
 This Elizabeth Funderburgh is a sister to my 3rd great grandfather, Henry M Funderburg(h) and both of them married in Clarke County, Georgia in the early 1800's. So definitely, their father, Isaac Funderburgh was in this county.
 The McCarty's have been a mystery from the beginning so I am intrigued to help him, not only to try and help him find the father of his James H McCarty but to help in the search for Irish McCarty/McCarthy line.
 I have found quite a few documents yesterday while searching Military and Land Records for the McCarty men who were in the Edgefield District of South Carolina at the same time as my Funderburgh's, so now it is just a matter of tying it all together.

Excited......

~Trish~

**Pages**

I have been adding some of the search pages I have used on the right side of the blog, under "pages" so click on one to help search some of my favorite sites. 

This one is my family from Germany. Peter is my 6th great grandfather

 Under the Pennsylvania German Pioneers Lists, German Ships to Philadelphia 1727-1739 under the date 19 September 1738, "Thistle" can be found the two von der Burg/Funderburg(h) men Peter & Walther. 

Captain: John Wilson
From: Rotterdam
By Way of: Plymouth, England Arrival: Philadelphia, 19 Sep 1738

 95 [qualified men]

Listed as:

Peter Von der Borg		Founderburgh
Walter Von der Borg		Founderburgh

 I have other documentation to show that they both took the "Oath" to become citizens on the above date.

 

~Trish~

"""Can you tell how addicted to Ancestry.com I am, well, I have started to limit my genealogy time to only when it rains, when it snows, when it sleets, when it hails, when it is too hot out, when it is too cold out, when it is dark out, when it is too bright out, when there is too much pollen out, when there is too little pollen out, when the bugs are out, and when the loud birds are out, I am going outside away from my computer 5 minutes a day to get the mail... baby steps baby steps...."""