Dick's Genealogy & History Corner

New York State took a census in 1855 that is a great source for genealogical research. There were earlier census taken in New York State but the one done in 1855 was the first State census that listed every name of the people in a family. Plus it also asks the relationship of each individual to the head of household.  So I know that a child by a different surname was a grandchild of one ancestor. Also if a person was born in New York State then they were asked in what NY County they were born. That may help to figure out where family members were born. One of my ancestors, Lovina Travis, says that she was born about 1825 in Steuben County but that alone hasn’t helped to figure who her parents are because of a lack of available birth records.

Another question asked in the 1855 census is how long you lived in this town. This also helps with knowing about ancestor’s movements and can lead you to land records. There is a question asked about what material the house is made from. There are still many log homes in the rural areas in 1855.

Very little of the 1855 is currently online. You can a few records on some of the county GenWeb sites. I maintain the Monroe County GenWeb site and I don’t have any online. In part that is because Monroe was a larger county even in 1855.

Part of the 1855 Monroe County was indexed by the group called Genealogical Roundtable about 20 years ago. They indexed all the rural towns but didn’t index Rochester. The index is on large cards by head of household that are located in the Local History Department of the Rochester Public Library (Rundel building). The Local History Department also has the original 1855 census but they are in very delicate condition and the department would like people to view microfilm copies.

The films are available worldwide from the LDS Family History Libraries. There are three films for Monroe County. Film number 1429808 has all the Wards of the City of Rochester. Film number 833737 has the towns of Brighton, Chili, Clarkson, Gates, Greece, Henrietta, Irondequoit, Mendon and Ogden. Film number 833773 has the towns Parma, Penfield, Perinton, Pittsford, Riga, Rush, Sweden, Union (later renamed Hamlin), Webster and Wheatland. For other counties, look on the LDS Library Catalog under the County and then look for census records.

See what facts you can find on your family in the 1855 census.

Hank Jones is a nationally known speaker on many genealogy topics. He has been a genealogical researcher since 1965 and his series on Palatines (Germans) to America won awards and is referenced in many person’s family files; including mine. But Hank had other overlapping careers that he did through the years. In the early 1960s he started as a singing duo with his friend Dean Kay. They ended up as regulars on the “Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.” Hank continued on his own after Dean left for the military. He also wrote songs including one recorded by Mel Torme.

Next, Hank moved over to acting. He was in many TV episodes and 8 Disney movies. Most of these roles were small guest-starring credits or some for which he didn’t even get credits for. Still, he does show in the Internet Movie database where most of his roles are listed. I found that one of his guest roles has now showed up on the website, Hulu. That is a website that has old movies and TV episodes that you can watch on your monitor on a fast internet connection. Hank is an expectant father that stops Nanny on “Nanny and the Professor” (1970) in the episode; “Nanny on Wheels.” If interested; just click on the episode title. Hank shows up about 19 minutes into the episode. If you want, you can move the slider while watching the episode and skip the first part of the episode, just to see Hank. Note, that there are commercials throughout anything you watch on Hulu.

If you want to read more about Hank’s other careers, just go to his website. He also sells his genealogy books and music CDs. You can even download short music samples.

Finally, coming to TV in the US is “Who Do You Think You Are? The series started in Britain in 2004 and it follows a celebrity as they go on a journey to trace their family tree. It is a simple sounding series but it became an instant hit in Britain because each person ends up finding out things that that didn’t know about their family. Now a US version will premiere on NBC on April 20th. [Update: The premiere has been put off for now]

The NBC series will only be 6 episodes long and the celebrities announced thus far are Sarah Jessica Parker, Susan Sarandon and Lisa Kudrow, who is also the Executive Producer. If this short series turns out to get high ratings, look for more in the future.

The Board of the Monroe County Library System has voted to discontinue many on-line databases including Heritage Quest (HQ).  HQ was a free alternative to having a subscription to Ancestry. I used HQ not only for census records but also for the free on-line book collection. They also have Revolutionary War pensions and the index to the PERSI (periodical index) collection. Because their census records were indexed by different people, I found records on HQ that I didn’t find on Ancestry.

The reason for HQ and the other databases being cut to all Monroe County libraries is the drastic cuts in NY State funds for all libraries in the state. Governor Patterson is trying to balance the state budget and libraries are just one of many cuts being made. New York isn’t the only state having trouble dealing with the bad economy.