RootSteps

I love to save money.  Anyone who knows me understands that I am thrifty no matter what I am buying.  I just can’t see paying full price for anything, however there are times when a purchase is pressing and there is just no savings in sight.  Well, guess what I found….

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So.  If you would love to save some money, too, simply follow this link and start saving today!

I know.  I know.  It is an intimidating thought – building your family tree.  I can’t tell you how many times friends have discussed with me the prospect of starting their own family history, only to have the blood drain slowly from their faces as they succumb to some imagined reality of what it all must entail.  Perhaps I just don’t explain it very well.  Or, perhaps I explain it all too well, with too much too fast in my excitement.  Personally, I think it is the word… genealogy.  It just sounds hard.  But it isn’t.  I promise.

A great quote I try to live by (because I have been known to bite off way more than I can chew) is:  “A little, done often, makes much.”  It is the same with family history.  And, by the way, if you think you are one of those people that can just call up Uncle Harry and have him send over a computer file with the last 26 generations on it and then you are done, well… you are missing the point.  Don’t get me wrong, definitely get the file, but it is their stories that matter.  It is how they lived, who they loved, why they cried, what they sought, and where they really lived that makes this fantastic hobby such an obsession of love.   You see, it is simply impossible to not know who you are when you see the strengths and weaknesses of those who came before you.  So where do you begin?  At the beginning, of course – with you.  Here are the simple steps that will get you started:

1. Grab a pen or pencil and print out a Pedigree Chart Form and several Family Group Sheets – courtesy of FamilySearch.org from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons).
2. Starting with you in spot number 1 of the Pedigree Chart, write your first, middle and Last name on the line.  Some people write the last name in all caps, but it is up to you.
3. Underneath your name, fill in the information next to the correct prompt, making sure to write dates as such:  3 March, 1960.  This is the form used so people do not mistake a comma for a number one later on down the road.
4. List places with town first, then county, then state.  If you are not in the United States, fill the place of birth out in the same order from smallest area to largest.
5. If you are married, only put your spouse’s name on the line where it asks for it as you will have a brand new pedigree chart for him or her in spot number one for their lineage.  Make sure that all females are listed with their maiden names, not their married names.
6. Next, put your parents information in.  Males are always on the top spot of the brackets and females on the corresponding bottom brackets.

Once you get to the point where you don’t know anymore information, then start calling family, if possible.  Parents, grand parents, great aunts and uncles.  All will have information, including stories, that will prove invaluable.

That should get you started for now!  I will post another installment of where to go from here once there is no more information to glean from family.

Good Hunting!

Roshan

1830 to 1840 showed to be a prosperous time for Peter TUBAUGH and his family, but not without its hardships.  Having lived in Monroe County, Ohio, since at least 1830, Peter decided to purchase two tracts of land in 1837, totaling over 76 acres, and then another 38.91 acres in 1839, all from the Marietta Land Office, located to the northeast, in Monroe County.

Monroe County, southeast corner of Ohio

The 1830 and 1840 US Federal Census records suggest a possible addition to Peter’s family, either that of a daughter or a child that has come to stay with the family, as she is accounted for on both census records.  Additionally, there may actually be two daughters, if the age documented on the immigration record was indeed correct for daughter Anna.  Unfortunately, we may never know as they are of marrying age by the time the 1850 Census is taken, and no more children are in Peter’s house.  Likewise, many of the early records for Monroe County, Ohio were either not documented or destroyed in two courthouse fires that took place in following years so finding marriage records is proving to be impossible for now.

Somewhere in the years between 1830 and 1840, it seems that Peter’s spouse (whether that be his first wife Magdalena or a rumored second wife Anna INDERMUHLE) died, as there are no females of his age bracket listed in 1840.  He is a widower with five children still in the house, although three are either teens or adults at the time.

To read more on this, click HERE.

Thanks to a computer savvy visitor who found me on Facebook, I was informed that my contact page was buggy.  It is now fixed so if anyone else was trying to contact me, and it looks like there were quite a few, you should be able to do so now!  Another way to contact the community at large is to leave comments after interesting posts by either clicking on the “Comments” link at the top of each post, by clicking on the article title which will take you to a page that shows that article only with a comments section at the bottom of the page, or by leaving comments at the bottom of some of the tabbed pages.   Leave your questions, research or links for everyone to see and to reply to – whatever you find helpful!

Good Hunting,

Roshan

Let’s face it – time is precious and we all could use a little help, whether it be in online research, state record gleaning, or international queries.  So from time to time RootSteps.com will post helpful tips and shortcuts on how to do family history research in a quicker and more thorough manner.    Below is a helpful video that lasts just over 3 minutes on how to Google your way to more ancestral information with just a few simple adjustments.

1830 US Map - Click to go to larger map.

After the immigration record of Peter, Magdalena (his wife) and their children, the next record is the 1830 US Federal Census, which lists them in Ohio Township, Monroe County, Ohio.  There is a discrepancy in the number of children from the immigration record to the 1830 Census, leaving missing:  Martilina, Susana, Peter (Jr.), and either Rosana or Anna.  We know from Peter, Jr.’s later obituary in 1896, that he was outlived by three of his sisters:  Elizabeth (NOLL), Rosana (TISHER), and Anna (ABEGG), so that leaves Martilina and Susana as the only ones unaccounted for in later years.  As to where the others were in this census, it is unknown.

The 1820s and 1830s saw huge epidemics of yellow fever and cholera so it is not without reason to think that Susana may have died within the first four years of coming to America, but it is not definite at this point.  The rampant epidemics may also account for a family question down through the years:  Who is Anna Elizabeth INDERMUHLE?  Since the 1830 census only lists heads of household, we cannot be certain that the female aged 40-50 listed is actually Peter’s first wife Magdalena.  It could be a rumored second wife, Anna INDERMUHLE, who appears in the Tubaugh family records as far back as 1941, but for which there is simply no verifying information that she was ever married to Peter or bore him children.  I can’t even find a death record, but all of this may simply be due to the fact that the Monroe County courthouse in Ohio burned down – twice.  To say the least records are scarce.

To read more on this, click HERE.

St. Patrick’s day often makes our thoughts turn to our Irish ancestry, but you don’t have to venture out too far onto your Irish branches to see that you have your work cut out for you due to changes in surname spellings and destroyed census and vital records. Yet, despite the abundant gaps of genealogical information in Ireland’s history, there are other types of documentation that will aid you in locating your Irish forefathers.

Click here to read more…

There are now links available for Iowa, Indiana, Virginia, and some Miscellaneous all for you to look over by clicking on THE LINKS tab a the top of the page.  There are many more links to come.  It has been a fun adventure getting this up and going – quite a huge undertaking, but so worth it.

I am also currently working on getting my information together for the families of  Harvey McCOY and Athens Martin OLIPHANT (two of my most frustrating dead ends) and their descendancies for posting and will be continuing on with the information I have on the TUBAUGH line.  Posting and pictures coming soon.

A family collection has been started for Peter TUBAUGH of Switzerland, his wives, and descendants.  Information has been posted under the Family Collections tab and comes complete with links to his 5 generation descendancy chart, and the earliest records available for him down through his immigration with his family to the United States!  There is much more to come, but this is start.  If you have any information to add to this family collection, please contact me by clicking on the Contact tab above.

There is more information coming to help all researchers.  Watch for the following:

1. THE LINKS tab dedicated entirely to listing the most helpful websites for family history research that I have found will be available soon.  Most of these websites will contain free information (because who doesn’t love free), but the few that are listed that do require payment for their information will be clearly marked as such and will only be there because I feel researchers will get their money’s worth.  This tab will be updated regularly as more links are discovered.  If you have a few that you love, too, please let me know and I will add them!
2. Dreaming of a trip to the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, Utah?  A tab is coming that will give you all the information to help you make that dream come true – complete with maps, hotels in the area, and FHC information.
3. Have you noticed the Expos & Classes list on the sidebar?  More events are coming to help you in your hunting.  As many of the major events throughout the US and Canada will be listed as possible and the corresponding link will take you directly to the website that gives the itinerary and registration information.

If you have anything you would like to see on this website, please let me know.

Good hunting!

If you have ever found yourself exhaling exasperatedly while Googling county records, all in the hopes of locating just one familiar ancestral name, only to end up caught on a dizzying link loop leading to nowhere, or with demands for money for so-called “matched information” that actually turns out to be some guy with the same name as your great-great grandfather but only 30 decades and $12 too late, then you have come to the right place.

Although it is very true that conducting family history research is soooo much easier than it was even 10 years ago, anyone who has become spoiled by the left-click-my-mouse-and-voila!-there-is-my-ancestor method comprehends quite quickly that there is so much more that can be done to make it easier on the general researcher.  Call me crazy, but I like things simple and to the point.

So simple and to the point is what RootSteps.com is going to be about.  Here you will find a modge-podge of things that I have found to be very helpful in my searches, from free links and family collections to products and helpful links that will clearly be marked if requiring payment.   This website will not contain every possible avenue or good resource for searching and constructing your own history, but it will bring a lot of them to you and put you on the right track.

I am starting with some of my own “dead-end” ancestors (you know, the ones that you can’t find who their parents were or any more information on them despite the fact that seven cousins have been searching for 25 years), and I am going to post all of the information, documents, stories, and pictures I have on them in order to share with those long lost relatives that may need the information or have more to share!   So please let me know what you think, what you would like to see, and definitely if you know something I don’t. Regardless if you are a distant relative enjoying the family collections or a patron looking for some better links, please enjoy the site!