Genealogy Gems: News from the Fort Wayne Library, No. 99, May 31, 2012
From: Genealogy Gems (genealogygemsgenealogycenter.info)
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 18:09:46 -0700 (PDT)
Genealogy Gems: News from the Fort Wayne Library
No. 99, May 31, 2012

In this issue:
*Anniversaries, Commemorations, & Milestones: More Than Just Remembering
*Important Guides to Published British Genealogies
*Anti-Slavery Propaganda in the Oberlin College Library
*Technology Tip of the Month--Creating a Mask Using Adobe Photoshop
Elements before Version 9
*Quick-Tip of the Month for Preservation--Ideas for Storing Those Old
Family Garments
*Tree Talks: Help for Beginners
*Controlling Genealogy Clutter Week--July 9 through 14, 2012
*Out and About
*Area Calendar of Events
*Driving Directions to the Library
*Parking at the Library
*Queries for The Genealogy Center

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Anniversaries, Commemorations, & Milestones: More Than Just Remembering
by Curt B. Witcher
***************************************
I trust everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day holiday spent with
family and friends. I also trust that you took a few moments to recall
the real reason for the holiday. No, it really isn’t a holiday to mark
the start of summer or to celebrate some of auto racing’s finest;
rather, it’s a holiday to remember all those men and women who paid
the ultimate sacrifice for their country in the armed services. And
it’s in that context that I would like to introduce a concept you
might call “active remembering.”

The Genealogy Center remains very interested in providing meaningful
ways to remember and honor our military veterans for protecting our
rights and freedoms. For several years, we have supported an online
initiative called “Our Military Heritage.”
<www.GenealogyCenter.info/military/> On this site, we host digitized
data about veterans from the colonial wars to the present day. Though
many of you may have already explored this site, I have a “double
invitation” for you.

First, I encourage you to visit the site frequently as we continue to
load new data. There are digitized copies of Revolutionary War
rosters, War of 1812 battle histories, Civil War Diaries, WWI and WWII
unit histories, Korean War era letters, and a video of Vietnam
veterans sharing their experiences. The “Search This Site” and “Roll
Call” features allow one to explore by veterans’ names. However,
another enlightening and meaningful way to explore, and remember what
life was like for our veterans in different historic periods, is to
browse the collections, particularly the letters and diaries.

Second, I invite you to be active in honoring our veterans--engage in
“active remembering.” Consider Memorial Day in May and Veterans’ Day
in November as bookends on a summer of genealogical activities. As you
are in cemeteries this summer in search of ancestors, keep an eye
peeled for military markers. In particular, I challenge you to capture
digital images of War of 1812 and Iraqi/Desert Storm
markers--remembering those veterans by doing something active to
preserve their piece of history--and contribute copies of those images
to “Our Military Heritage.” Simply email them to Genealogy [at] ACPL.Info
to the attention of Curt Witcher with information about the location
of the cemetery. It’s these small acts of “active remembering” that
collectively create consequential sources of data.

While any military marker is certainly welcome, I chose to focus on
the War of 1812 and the Iraqi/Desert Storm conflicts for a couple of
reasons. June 18, 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the official
start of the War of 1812, our nation’s “second revolution.” I can’t
think of a better way to commemorate that important date than to
engage in a bit of “active remembering.” I also chose the Iraqi/Desert
Storm engagement because we too frequently de-emphasize contemporary
wars and engagements, thinking we’ll get around to documenting the
sacrifices, honoring the men and women, and memorializing their
service someday. Increasingly, someday needs to be today.

Perhaps this is a good opportunity for all of us to commit to doing
more than simply remembering the anniversaries, commemorations, and
milestones in our lives and the lives of our families. Maybe our
personal anniversaries and milestones need to be marked by activities
such as journaling, preserving and digitizing, and sharing our pieces
of history with family members. Is it possible to make a commitment
that with each anniversary and milestone in our lives, we take a few
moments to document and share information about that event?
Increasingly, what we find, preserve and share will be the majority of
information available for our children’s children to learn from and
enjoy.

An afterword:
(1) Last month, I wrote about War of 1812 resources in The Genealogy
Center. Since that article, Mark Kreps, president of The Society of
the War of 1812 in the State of Indiana, sent me an interesting
article from the Smithsonian, “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About the
War of 1812.” 
<www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-10-Things-You-Didnt-Know-About-the-War-of-1812.html>
I found it an enjoyable and informative read.
(2) 233,087 images of War of 1812 pension records are available online
for free at <http://go.fold3.com/1812pensions/>! Only 3.46 million
images to go! Thank you to all who have supported this important
access project. Encourage your friends and colleagues to offer their
support at <www.fgs.org/1812/donation.php>.

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Important Guides to Published British Genealogies
by Steven W. Myers
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Genealogists have long consulted the work of previous researchers as a
time-saving step in their own investigations. In the case of the most
reliable publications, the rewards may include a carefully documented
pedigree stretching back generations and a short-cut to transcripts or
citations of obscure original records. Before the advent of family
trees posted on the Internet, many compiled genealogies were printed
in a book on a particular surname. However, much valuable previous
work appeared only in county histories, heralds’ visitations,
biographical studies, society journals or other serial publications.
Three important guides are available in The Genealogy Center to help
lead resourceful researchers to these hidden gems of British family
history.

The fourth and final edition of George W. Marshall’s “The
Genealogist’s Guide” (942 M35gea), originally published in 1903, is
the definitive starting point. Its 880 pages contain an alphabetical
list of surnames with references to more than 75,000 published sources
that include any descent of at least three generations in the male
line. Most references cite the title, author, volume, and page for
each publication. Cross references are provided to variant surname
spellings.

J. B. Whitmore’s “A Genealogical Guide: An Index to British Pedigrees
in continuation of Marshall’s Genealogist’s Guide (1903)” (929.7201
W599ga) appeared in 1953, bringing coverage of publications forward to
the mid-twentieth century. In nearly 660 pages, it provides tens of
thousands of additional references to printed family pedigrees, with
cross references to variant surnames. Whitmore included coverage of
some older publications missed by Marshall, and a short “corrigenda”
to Marshall’s “Guide,” as well as a lengthy list of title
abbreviations used in the citations. He did not index Scottish
historical journals.

Third in the series is Geoffrey B. Barrow’s shorter “The Genealogist’s
Guide: An Index to Printed British Pedigrees and Family Histories,
1950-1975” (942 B279g). Supplementing Marshall’s and Whitmore’s work,
Barrow includes older works neglected by his predecessors and makes
some attempt to provide coverage of material on Scottish and Irish
families. He abandoned Marshall’s “three generations” requirement and
included “references to any fairly long passage of a family’s
history.”

Users should read the introduction to each of these three wonderful
indexes to better understand their limitations. Together they help
make accessible a wealth of previous genealogical work available in
older printed publications. Many of the items they reference can be
found on the shelves in The Genealogy Center.

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Anti-Slavery Propaganda in the Oberlin College Library
by John D. Beatty
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One of the more distinctive and little-used resources in our microtext
area is the collection of anti-slavery pamphlets from the abolitionist
collection of Oberlin College in Lorain County, Ohio. The college is
renowned not only for its School of Music, but also for its
progressive racial attitudes in the nineteenth century, since it began
admitting African American students in 1835. Because of the large
number of abolitionists among its faculty and alumni, the college
began collecting anti-slavery pamphlets and ephemera in the 1830s in
order to promote the cause. The collection continued until 1863, when
President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

The collection of propaganda consists of approximately 2,252
pamphlets, which have been reproduced on microfiche, in alphabetical
order by author. While the vast majority of titles have anti-slavery
themes, a few are also pro-slavery or more neutral in position. They
include a wide range of formats, from speeches and addresses before
Congress and religious sermons before congregations to poetry, songs,
slave narratives, and business records such as annual reports and
proceedings of anti-slavery societies. Many of the great abolitionist
writers in the first half of the nineteenth century are represented,
including John Quincy Adams, Frederick Douglass, Charles Sumner, and
members of the Beecher family, but the vast majority of pamphlets
resulted from more obscure authorship. Some of the gems include
Caroline Lee Whiting Hentz’s 1800 pamphlet, “The Planter’s Northern
Bride,” and James Mars’s “Life of James Mars, a Slave Bought and Sold
in Connecticut,” published in 1865. Many of the pamphlets bore witness
to the inhumanity of slavery and were intended to arouse a northern
reading audience to sympathy or indignation.

Obviously the pamphlets are of considerable value to historians of the
antebellum period interested in how abolitionist views were
promulgated in the North. Genealogists may find them more challenging,
but should not entirely discount them. Those whose ancestors were
known opponents of slavery and were active in a Quaker, Presbyterian,
or Methodist church may find a pamphlet worth studying for specific
names or for more general information about a particular place. The
collection includes some travel accounts of the southern United
States, in which reports of slavery’s abuses were promulgated to a
largely northern and eastern audience of abolitionists. A few of the
pamphlets pertain to slavery as practiced on various Caribbean
islands.

For the researcher, the greatest obstacle remains gaining access to
the contents of the pamphlets. Oberlin College has published a
bibliographic guide to the collection (973 An82), and there are also
several online guides. Many, but not all, of the pamphlets have been
digitized by Google Books or Internet Archive, where all of the
contents are searchable by keyword. However, a significant portion of
the collection remains to be digitized, and the titles appear only in
the bibliographic guide, not in The Genealogy Center’s online catalog.

The collection is definitely worth a look if you have abolitionist
ancestors or ancestors held in bondage who escaped on the Underground
Railroad.

***************************************
Technology Tip of the Month--Creating a Mask Using Adobe Photoshop
Elements before Version 9
by Kay Spears
***************************************
Last month we explored how to blend images using the Mask Tool in
Adobe Photoshop Elements versions 9 and 10. Older versions of Elements
do not have that tool, but there is a way to create a mask tool by
using “Layers and Levels.” I’ll explain how.

First, open two images that you want to blend together. Make sure that
you can see both in your Elements workspace. Next, you will drag one
image to the other. Select the Move Tool from the top of the Tools
palette. To drag one image to another, click on one of the images.
Holding the left mouse button down, drag the image over and drop it
onto the second image. You also may use the Layers palette, by
clicking on the layer you want to move. Holding the left mouse button
down, drag the layer over to the destination image and drop it. Look
at the destination image. There will be two layers present, a
Background layer and Layer 1.

Next, you will add another layer to the Layers Palette for your mask.
Make sure that this layer is between the two previously existing
layers. First, click on the Background layer on the Layers palette.
Then, click on the “New Adjustment Layer” icon. This icon’s location
on your Layers palette will vary depending on the Elements version you
have, but it looks like a circle with black and white on it, similar
to a Yin-Yang symbol. After you click on this icon, you will need to
choose a type of adjustment from the menu. It really doesn’t matter
which one you choose, but for this discussion, select Levels. Now, on
your Layers palette you should have three layers. The middle one will
have thumbnail images that appear to be a chart or gears (depending on
your version of Elements) and a white rectangle. This is the layer
that you will use to blend the images together.

To begin joining the layers together, click on “Layer 1.” Next, go to
the Layers menu at the top of your screen (the main menu) and choose
“Group with Previous.” This selection is only available in older
versions of Elements. In version 8, the correct choice is “Create
Clipping Mask.” Or, you may use CTRL+G for all versions. Nothing will
appear to have happened, but if you look closely at the Layers
palette, you will see that there is a slight indentation of the
thumbnail image in Layer 1.

Next, you need to have the second layer selected (your mask layer), so
click on the white rectangle thumbnail on that layer. Select the paint
brush on the Tools palette and make sure that the color on the color
palette is black. Set the Brush tool to the opacity and size you
desire and start painting out the area you don’t need. You will see
the bottom layer begin making its appearance. That is how you mask an
image without having a Mask Tool in Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Next article: Further Exploration of Adobe Elements/Photoshop.

***************************************
Quick-Tip of the Month for Preservation--Ideas for Storing Those Old
Family Garments
***************************************
Some families have heirlooms, ancestors’ military and other uniforms,
and special occasion items such as wedding dresses and ancestral
quilts that need appropriate attention to ensure their longevity. The
Minnesota History Center has a very informative website offering tips
on how to display, store, and clean clothing and textiles.
<www.mnhs.org/people/mngg/stories/textiles.htm> There are many other
worthwhile websites that can help address nearly any preservation need
involving clothing and other material items, including a video
entitled, “Preserving Our Clothing and Textile Heritage” by Dr.
Michael Marendy. At a run time of two minutes and thirty-five seconds,
it’s a quick watch. <www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIGPPWdgZtw>

***************************************
Tree Talks: Help for Beginners
***************************************
The Genealogy Center's summer series, Tree Talks, continues on
Saturday, June 23, 2012, with "How to Use The Genealogy Center:
Basics," 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Meeting Room A. Have you taken a
tour of The Genealogy Center and still feel confused? Do you wonder
how all the details make sense to other people? Spend time with
Melissa Shimkus who will explain the catalog, the microtext area, and
how to successfully use the entire genealogy facility. Note: This
session is not a beginning genealogy class, but rather an explanation
of the collection. Other classes in the series will include,
"Ancestry: The Beginner's Way to Search" on Saturday, July 28; and
"Beginner's Guide to Vital Records" on Saturday, August 25. All Tree
Talks classes are 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Meeting Room A. For more
information, see the brochure at
http://www.genealogycenter.org/Libraries/2012_Brochures/summer.sflb.ashx.
Please register for any or all of these free classes by calling
260-421-1225 or send an email to Genealogy [at] ACPL.Info.

***************************************
Controlling Genealogy Clutter Week--July 9 through 14, 2012
***************************************
How is your genealogical material organized? File boxes? Stacks of
papers? Three-ring binders? Scrapbooks? How do other researchers
organize all the information and materials they collect? Join The
Genealogy Center for "Controlling Genealogy Clutter Week" and learn
numerous ways to clean up your family history research. Each day
features a different subject.

* Monday, July 9, 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m., Meeting Room A:  "Organizing
Your Genealogical Files," presented by Cynthia Theusch.
* Tuesday, July 10, 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m., Meeting Room A: "Organization
of Genealogical Materials," presented by Dawne Slater-Putt.
* Wednesday, July 11, 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m., Meeting Room A, "Being
Creative With Your Family History," presented by Cynthia Theusch.
* Thursday, July 12, 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m., Theater: "Digital
Organization: The No Paper Approach to Genealogy," presented by
Melissa Shimkus.
* Friday, July 13, 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m., Meeting Room A: "How to Look
at Your Photographs, Analyze and Organize," presented by Kay Spears.
* Saturday, July 14, 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m., Meeting Room A: "Writing
Your Family History," presented by  Dawne Slater-Putt.

For more information and descriptions of each class, see the brochure
at http://www.genealogycenter.org/Libraries/2012_Brochures/Clutter.sflb.ashx.
To register for any of these free classes, call 260-421-1225, or email
to Genealogy [at] ACPL.Info. Join us and get your clutter under control!

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Out and About
***************************************
Curt Witcher
June 5, 2012, Flint, MI, Flint Masonic Temple on Saginaw Street--Flint
Genealogical Society Annual Dinner, 6 p.m.: “This I Believe--The
Urgent Need to Record Living Memory.”

June 8, 2012, Burbank, CA, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport
Hotel--Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, 9:45 a.m.: "After ‘Who
Do You Think You Are?’--Engaging Beginning Genealogists in the 21st
Century."
June 8, 2012, Burbank, CA, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport
Hotel--Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, 11:00 a.m.: "Something
for Everyone: Genealogical Reference Services in the 21st Century."
June 9, 2012, Burbank, CA, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport
Hotel--Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, 7:30 a.m.: “And the
Rockets' Red Glare: Online Resources for War of 1812 Research.”
June 9, 2012, Burbank, CA, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport
Hotel--Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, 10:00 a.m.: "Using
Military Records for Genealogical Research."
June 10, 2012, Burbank, CA, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport
Hotel--Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, 12:30 p.m.: "Historical
Research Methodology: Engaging the Process to Find All the Answers."

June 13, 2012, Fort Wayne, IN, Allen County Public Library--Allen
County Genealogical Society of Indiana Annual Banquet, 6:00 p.m. meal
followed by presentation: “Good to Great: Doing the Extra that Makes
the Difference.”

Melissa Shimkus
June 8, 2012, Burbank, CA, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport
Hotel--Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, 8:30 a.m.: "Think Like
a Genealogy Librarian."
June 9, 2012, Burbank, CA, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport
Hotel--Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, 2:00 p.m.: panelist for
"Blogger Summit Panel #2 - From Blog Reader to Writer - Why and How"
June 10, 2012, Burbank, CA, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport
Hotel--Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, 10:00 a.m.: "Before
Crossing the Ocean: American Records of Our Immigrant Ancestors."
June 10, 2012, Burbank, CA, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport
Hotel--Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, 2:00 p.m.: "Shadowed
Roots: Antebellum Records for African-American Research."

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Area Calendar of Events
***************************************
Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (ACGSI)
June 13, 2012--Allen County Public Library, 900 Library Plaza, Fort
Wayne, Indiana. 6:00 p.m. meal followed by Curt Witcher’s
presentation: “Good to Great: Doing the Extra that Makes the
Difference.”

Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society, 302 East Berry, Ft. Wayne, IN
June 3, 2012, 2:00 p.m. Don “Bud” Hall will be speaking on, “Hall's
Restaurants: All Around the Town Since 1946.”
June 5, 2012, 2:00 p.m. Jim Sack will be speaking on, “George Kessler
and Fort Wayne's Enduring City Plan.”

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Driving Directions to the Library
***************************************
Wondering how to get to the library?  Our location is 900 Library
Plaza, Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the block bordered on the south by
Washington Boulevard, the west by Ewing Street, the north by Wayne
Street, and the east by the Library Plaza, formerly Webster Street.
We would enjoy having you visit the Genealogy Center.

To get directions from your exact location to 900 Library Plaza, Fort
Wayne, Indiana, visit this link at MapQuest:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=900%20Webster%20St&city=Fort%20Wayne&state=IN&zipcode=46802%2d3602&country=US&geodiff=1

>From the South
Exit Interstate 69 at exit 102.  Drive east on Jefferson Boulevard
into downtown. Turn left on Ewing Street. The Library is one block
north, at Ewing Street and Washington Boulevard.

Using US 27:
US 27 turns into Lafayette Street. Drive north into downtown. Turn
left at Washington Boulevard and go five blocks. The Library will be
on the right.

>From the North
Exit Interstate 69 at exit 112.  Drive south on Coldwater Road, which
merges into Clinton Street.  Continue south on Clinton to Washington
Boulevard. Turn right on Washington and go three blocks. The Library
will be on the right.

>From the West
Using US 30:
Drive into town on US 30.  US 30 turns into Goshen Ave. which
dead-ends at West State Blvd.  Make an angled left turn onto West
State Blvd.  Turn right on Wells Street.  Go south on Wells to Wayne
Street.  Turn left on Wayne Street.  The Library will be in the second
block on the right.

Using US 24:
After crossing under Interstate 69, follow the same directions as from
the South.

>From the East
Follow US 30/then 930 into and through New Haven, under an overpass
into downtown Fort Wayne.  You will be on Washington Blvd. when you
get into downtown.  Library Plaza will be on the right.

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Parking at the Library
***************************************
At the Library, underground parking can be accessed from Wayne Street.
Other library parking lots are at Washington and Webster, and Wayne
and Webster. Hourly parking is $1 per hour with a $7 maximum. ACPL
library card holders may use their cards to validate the parking
ticket at the west end of the Great Hall of the Library. Out of county
residents may purchase a subscription card with proof of
identification and residence. The current fee for an Individual
Subscription Card is $70.

Public lots are located at the corner of Ewing and Wayne Streets ($1
each for the first two half-hours, $1 per hour after, with a $4 per
day maximum) and the corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Harrison Street
($3 per day).

Street (metered) parking on Ewing and Wayne Streets. On the street you
plug the meters 8am – 5pm, weekdays only.  It is free to park on the
street after 5pm and on the weekends.

Visitor center/Grand Wayne Center garage at Washington and Clinton
Streets. This is the Hilton Hotel parking lot that also serves as a
day parking garage.  For hourly parking, 7am – 11 pm, charges are .50
for the first 45 minutes, then $1.00 per hour.  There is a flat $2.00
fee between 5pm and 11pm.

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Genealogy Center Queries
***************************************
The Genealogy Center hopes you find this newsletter interesting.
Thank you for subscribing.  We cannot, however, answer personal
research emails written to the e-zine address.  The department houses
a Research Center that makes photocopies and conducts research for a
fee.

If you have a general question about our collection, or are interested
in the Research Center, please telephone the library and speak to a
librarian who will be glad to answer your general questions or send
you a research center form.  Our telephone number is 260-421-1225.  If
you’d like to email a general information question about the
department, please email: Genealogy [at] ACPL.Info.

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Publishing Note:
***************************************
This electronic newsletter is published by the Allen County Public
Library's Genealogy Center, and is intended to enlighten readers about
genealogical research methods as well as inform them about the vast
resources of the Allen County Public Library.  We welcome the wide
distribution of this newsletter and encourage readers to forward it to
their friends and societies.  All precautions have been made to avoid
errors.  However, the publisher does not assume any liability to any
party for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, no matter
the cause.

To subscribe to “Genealogy Gems,” simply use your browser to go to the
website:  www.GenealogyCenter.org. Scroll to the bottom, click on
E-zine, and fill out the form. You will be notified with a
confirmation email.

If you do not want to receive this e-zine, please follow the link at
the very bottom of the issue of Genealogy Gems you just received or
send an email to kspears [at] acpl.lib.in.us with "unsubscribe e-zine" in
the subject line.

Steve Myers & Curt Witcher, co-editors
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