Counties of Washington
Ethic Population Density in Pre-1850 America
Black Sheep in YOUR Family?
Cold Case: Timothy H. Martin, 1835-1902
Heritage of Pierce County, Washington
Scottish Ancestors from the Lowlands
Of course you know that there are 39 counties in the Evergreen State but can you name them? And do you know the logistical history of them (when formed, etc.)? I didn’t either and so Googled “List of counties in Washington State” and good-old Wikipedia came to the rescue. The largest (in population) county is King; the smallest is Garfield. The largest in area is Okanogan and the smallest is San Juan. Any idea where each of our counties got their name? Each of those 39 counties has a county seat…… how many can you name? That Wikipedia article will teach you! I found it most interesting.
By the by, in Washington it’s Okanogan (as in the county or the lake). But just across the border into Canada it’s Okanagan. How did that happen??
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Want to know how many English and Welsh folks lived in the U.S. in 1790? How about Germans in 1790? Or slaves in 1810? An interactive map series on the Ancestors website will show you. Remember the Ancestors shows on public TV? The show was produced by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and is still airing (check with YOUR local station). Click to their website, www.byub.org/ancestors (yes, a second “b”) and on the left you’ll see a list of topics which, when clicked, will take you to an episode where that topic was addressed. You’ll find those ethnocentric maps under “Online Tools,” and then “Maps.”
Where, in 1790, would you have guessed that most of the Scottish immigrants settled? Would you have guessed central and western Pennsylvania?
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Have you a Black Sheep ancestor? Did you know there is an International Blacksheep Society of Genealogists? (Or at least there was; website was last updated in 2011.) Browsing through www.cyndislist.com, I found a link to an article “Ten Things to Know: Black Sheep” from a UK Pinterest board. (Cyndi finds everything.) Here is the list of those ten things: (1) who is the black sheep in your family? (2) Black sheep often have deep paper trails. (3) What’s in a black sheep’s name? (4) Family stories are comfortable homes for black sheep ancestors. (5) Other people may have written about your black sheep in their own histories. (6) Certain geographic locations attracted black sheep. (Like the American west.) (7) Black sheep on the lamb (meaning to run). (8) Everyone has a mother, even black sheep. (9) Even the government tracked black sheep. (10) Other members of the family may not want to talk about the black sheep. If you wish to read this 4-page article, Google the title I bolded above. If you want to contact the IBSSG (International Blacksheep Society of Genealogists), Google that too.
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I love working on genealogy cold cases! Wandering in Fairmount Cemetery (Spokane), I spotted this tombstone for Timothy H. Martin:
Once home, I quickly clicked to our Washington State Digital Archives (www.digitalarchives.wa.gov) and looked for Timothy and there he was! The poor fellow, born in Ireland, son of Jerry Martin, had died of pulmonary edema in the state asylum in Provo, Utah…and yet he is buried in Spokane and his death return is from Spokane County. There’s got to be a good story here. He was a mason by occupation and had been in the state asylum for four years but before that he lived in Park City, Utah. There’s got to be a story here! I did quickly click to Ancestry and did not find him on the 1850, 1880 nor 1900 censuses. (His tombstone says Timothy H. The death certificate says Timothy S.)
Anybody missing a Timothy H. Martin in their family tree?? Would so love to find his family.
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The Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society’s annual conference partnered with the Washington State Genealogical Society and hosted Paula Stuart-Warren as the speaker on Saturday, June 18th, 2016. Since I planned to attend (an easy 290 mile drive west on I-90; two potty stops and the outlet mall J ) I wondered what else there was to do in Pierce County. So I asked Grandma Google (who knows most everything) and found the Heritage League of Pierce County and their website listed two pages of libraries, historical societies and museums. I’m going to have a difficult time choosing where to spend my afternoon! Do I want the Tacoma Public Library, the Washington State Historical Society, the Washington State History Museum or venture further to the Sumner Historical Society, the Buffalo Soldiers Museum, Foss Waterway Seaport, or Native Quest (“a cultural center for honoring the heritage of all peoples”).
This proved a big thing to me: no matter where you go visiting, for whatever reason, there are libraries, historical societies and museums in that place that are worth your visit.
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Your Genealogy Today is a dandy-fine magazine published by Moorshead Magazines (www.yourgenealogytoday.com). In the March-April 2016 issue there was a 4-page article on “Researching Your Ancestors in Scotland’s Lowlands and Borders.” Sher Leetooze writes that “Scottish records are fairly complete; some parishes go back 1000 years and some 800 years.” Scotland is a totally different place than England and they did things differently up there, Sher writes. She mentions several websites that she uses but her favorites are “A Vision of Britain Through Time” (www.visionofbritain.org.uk) and GENUKI (www.genuki.org.uk).
The problem or “trouble” with Scottish research, she writes, is that beginning in 1843 there began to be lot of dissention within the Presbyterian ranks. Scots being Scots, and “stubborn as a day is long,” the congregations split and split and split again……….. this event is referred to as “The Disruption.” This makes finding those old parish records harder and harder.
Another web source she recommends, is Scotland’s People (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk), which is the Archives of Scotland. Sher also recommends a subscription to Family Tree Magazine (www.family-tree.co.uk) published in the U.K. and not to be confused with FamilyTree Magazine published in America.