Technology and More
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for Life on Triton. We’re just getting started, so this only covers December and part of November, but stay tuned.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 510 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 9 trips to carry that many people.
If you’re like me, you have watched commercials for Ancestry.com with considerable skepticism. After all, genealogy is supposed to be hard work, involving countless hours digging through library stacks and perusing microfilms. On television, on the other hand, we see people entering only as small amount of information and then seeing a leaf appear indicating that a clue to further information is available. Can it really be that easy? I thought the obvious answer was that it wasn’t, it couldn’t be. So, for the longest time, I just ignored these commercials and didn’t even consider trying it. Well, of course, family history research is not easy, it can be hard work, it can be frustrating. But I eventually decided to try it out and was surprised at how fast I was provided with information about my ancestors. Now, it really isn’t my intention to make this into a testimonial, but suffice it to say that I now use Family Tree Maker and Ancestry.com as one of primary research tools. Now, to be fair, I’m part of a Mormon family that goes back to pioneer days, and have many ancestors from Colonial America (one sort of implies the other), so there are a lot of people who have been looking into my ancestors’ family lines for years. So, it might be argued that I’m not a very good test case, of course the information will be out there for the taking, and of course a family tree on Ancestry.com will only grow, and grow quickly.
But is that really right? First of all, we should note that data in the form of pedigree charts, family records and published genealogies are out there, but how much information does that raw data really provide us with? Data can be thought of as a collection of statements, the source and reliability of which may or may not be known. Of course, data comes from somewhere and designers of repositories of data known as databases are usually careful to record the source of the recorded data, and this information (known to database professionals as metadata) can be very valuable to us as we analyze the data and try to glean useful information from it. Okay, that’s a lot of terminology. Let’s break it down. First off, data is pretty much anything that can be written down. It can be unstructured (like a journal) or structured (like a list of names and birth dates in a parish registry). What we know about information is called metadata (or “data about data”). Before I go on, I should make it clear that this terminology is taken from information science, not genealogy. So, if you get funny looks from other researchers if you ask about metadata, you’ll know why. That’s actually not quite the whole story: metadata is generally systematic recording such things as authorship, language, time recorded and so forth. One thing that metadata is not, though, is evaluation or even interpretation. A document may list 3 Jan 1840 as the birthdate of Mary Williams, but how confident are we? This is a bit of a digression, but if the information source is a birth certificate, we can be fairly confident, but if it’s a death certificate, it has to come from some other source. The type of document from which we get our data is yet another issue to consider when interpreting that data. As an aside, I’ll note that it’s not uncommon to see the date of birth and christening date for a person to be listed as the very same day? How likely is that? It is certainly possible, but is certainly not expected. If the date doesn’t come from a primary source it is possible that, somewhere along the way, someone needed a birthdate but the only information they had was the date of christening. We also need to consider the cultural context. Was the christening considered the more important event? Was it more important to record that information correctly or the date of birth? The point is that there is a necessary analysis phase that may be described as trying to ascertain what the available data is telling us. At this point, the question isn’t whether it’s true or false, but simply what it means. When we have performed this task, the analyzed data becomes information.
But to return to the topic of online genealogical research, we’re likely to find ourselves confronted with a wealth of often conflicting information (at this point, I’ll stop being pedantic about the distinction between the two). My genealogical database is full of alternative dates and places for what should be a single event, and I imagine yours is, too. Of course, we work hard to resolve these discrepancies, but that’s not always easy. This is why a technology can seem to give us a lot of answers very quickly, but then we find out that we’re not as sure of the information in our charts (or electronic databases). Does that mean that online search tools and social media just give us a false sense of knowledge, leading us to believe things that have yet to be proven? It would be easy for a cynic to take this position, but I think it is a mistake. The Internet is a powerful tool, and can be extremely helpful to us as we dig into our family history. It’s not a panacea, though, and we have to be critical of the information we’re able to find using search tools. We just need to do the work of evaluating, cross-referencing and verifying that information. This isn’t really so different from genealogy in the pre-Internet days. The difference is that instead of getting our raw data from microfilm or microfiche, we are likely to get it from a web-based tool. The amount of time we spend performing these various tasks may change, but the tasks themselves do not. Modern technology really can help us to find information more quickly, but we do need to be careful and methodical in our analysis if we want to avoid mistakes.
Today’s post is another pioneer biography, this time in Sarah Ann Weeks’ own words.
An autobiography and life sketch of Sarah Anne Weeks LewisI am daughter of Joseph Peter Weeks and Anne Kearns Weeks. I was born August 19, 1843 at Paddington, London, England commencing school in 18??, graduating from the ninth grade in 1855. I got my education quite young, starting to school when but three years old, going to the same school all he time, and having but two teachers during my whole six years of schooling.
I had one brother and one sister older than myself and one younger brother. Their names were as follows: Mary Anne, Joseph John, and Frederic Charles (Charels). My sister married a man by the name of Thomas Alfred Burrell. My brothers were not married when I left home for America. My father had five brothers and two sisters. My mother had one brother and two sisters. My father died when I was but nine years old, so I had to work out for my living from that time one, getting my education quite young. I got along nicely having to go out to work for my own living.
When I was seventeen I went twelve miles from home to work as house maid for an English gentleman’s family. The cook, the gardener, and the gardener’s wife were Mormons. I soon became acquainted with them and I too joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I remained with this family until I went home to prepare to go to America. Of course, my people were against me going away with such a set of people as the Mormons. My mother told me if I went to America with the Mormons I need never expect to hear from her no matter how many times I wrote her. She also told me that before she opened them she would not open them but would put them in the fire and burn them. She also said that if she had to open them to find out who they were from, when she did see that they were from me, she would burn them up without reading them. This is all because they were so prejudiced against Mormons. I guess mother thought that by saying this she would change my mind so I would not go, but it made no difference to me for it was for my religion I was going for.
So, you see, when I got ready to sail for America, I had to run away from them without saying goodbye, and when they found I was gone, they got a policeman and came aboard the ship Amazon, in search of me. They searched for me until they either had to cross the ocean or return to the decks, but their search was in vain. They could not find me, so they had to return without me. I could have put my hands out and touched them many times as they passed by. I have never heard a word from any of my people since leaving home for America. I know the Lord opened the way, and put the means in my way, so I could come to Utah. I wrote many times to my people but received no answer. After I was married, my husband and [I] advertised to try and locate my people, but it was without results.
We sailed from the London docks June 4, 1863 with John Avery Captain. He was a very kind and good man. William Bramhall of Springville was the president of the ship Amazon. We had a very good voyage and enjoyed ourselves very much. There was only one death on board the ship and [that] was a small baby. There were one thousand and one souls on the ship. We were six weeks on the water. We landed at a place called Castle Gardens, New York; then went to Florence, Nebraska by boat and trains, where we met ox teams from the valley of Utah. It was indeed a very pretty sight to see sixty covered wagons with their oxen ready to take us to Salt Lake City, Utah. We stayed at Florence, Nebraska a few days to wash and clean up for the journey. I spent my twentieth birthday there. We left Florence the 12th of August 1863 and arrived in Salt Lake City October 5, 1863. We had a happy time crossing the plains. I walked almost all of the way with several other girls. When they could find a suitable place to camp, the men would clear off the grounds, and we would have a dance, as the teamsters had some musical instruments and knew how to play them. Sometimes we would sit around the campfire telling jokes and stories, singing songs and hymns. We enjoyed ourselves fine. We had some buffalo meat which the men had killed, and it was surely good. We had some buffalo berries which tasted good after traveling so long. Then it was novel to us, cooking over the campfire and going ahead of the teams to gather buffalo chips to do the cooking with.
At last we arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah. Daniel McArthur was captain of the company crossing the plains. He lived in St. George, Washington County, Utah. As I had no place to go, I went on with the Dixie teams and stayed at Washington, Washington, County, Utah that fall and winter. In the spring I went to Fairview, Sanpete County, Utah and stayed in Fairview, then called North Bend. I taught school three terms and worked around at different places. In the spring and fall of 1866 we vacated on account of the Indians, who were very hostile at that time. We went to Manti and stayed there for a while.We then went back as far as Spring City and stayed there that summer and fall and in November I was married to Aaron Lewis by his father Nathan Lewis at Manti November 18, 1866. I was given a patriarchal blessing by Bro. [E]mmier[?] Harrison; one by M. G. Perkins, and one by Wiliam Cazier.
My occupation was a housewife; my height was five feet one inch; my weight 140 pounds, my bust 36 inches; the color of my eyes dark brown, my hair very dark brown; my health good. I am interested in religion. I taught school three years. I was a member of a choir for two years. I was a [nurse] for five years. We lived in Manti for three months; then moved to Richfield, Sevier County, Utah, and in the fall of 1866 had to move again on account of the Indians. We then moved to Nephi or Salt Creek, as it was then called, in Juab County, Utah. We lived there two years, and our first child was born there September 8, 1867, her name being Rebecca Anne Lewis. We then moved to Spring City, Sanpete County, Utah where Hannah Louise Lewis was born November 12, 1869; also Sarah (Permelia) was born in Spring City April 2, 1872. We then moved to Manti, Sanpete County. We lived there about three years. There my husband’s father died, and my husband could not content himself there when his father was gone, so we moved to Joseph City, Sevier County, Utah, where his oldest sister lived. It seemed [to] us as if they could not be separated long at a time. There we joined the United Order. It lasted only eleven months. They could not agree, so I guess it wasn’t the right time for the order, so the order was broken up. We then moved to Santa Clara, Washington County, Utah April the 7, 1876. His name was Joseph Aaron Lewis. He died January 7, 1906 at Marysville, Utah. My husband and his family and his sister and her family moved to Panguitch, Garfield County, Utah in the spring of 1878. We lived there thirty years. The following children were born at Panguitch: Amity Rosalia born March 28, 1878, died May 6, 1880 at Panguitch. Ester Elmira born March 12, 1888 and died December 28, 1896 at Panguitch. Nathan Martin, born June 12, 1886. Albert [unreadable] born March 12, 1886 died December 28, 1896 at Panguitch. My husband’s sister died at Panguitch when my husband and I were left alone. We later moved to Tropic, Garfield County, Utah where our daughter (Permelia) lived. My husband died April 12, 1900 at Tropic, Garfield County, Utah. I went to live with my daughter (Permelia) six years later being 1906. We later moved to Lake Shore, Utah County, Utah and have lived here ever since. I am now 80 years old and able to wait on myself. It is now 1923.
Mother died May 29, 19282. She was 84 years and nine months old when she died.
Back in 1838, a contingent of Missouri militia members attacked a mill belonging to Jacob Haun that was serving as a settlement for some forty Mormon families. This incident, which occurred during a time of truce, has come to be known as the Haun’s mill massacre. Of course, I grew up learning about this event in Sunday School and other church settings. It is, after all, one of the iconic events of the Missouri period of Mormon history, and one in which the Mormons suffered violence at the hands of others. It was also included in the film Legacy. What I didn’t know is that I had any connection to Haun’s mill.
Until now, anyway. Last time, I posted a biographical sketch of Ira M Judd, written by his daughter Sarah. Ira is my second great grandfather and his wife Hannah Louise Lewis. It’s his first wife, Nancy Ann Norton, that actually has family that goes back to Haun’s mill. In case you’re wondering, yes, Hannah was a plural (or polygamous) wife. It’s one of those things that makes Mormon genealogy, well, interesting (and confusing!). To me, the most interesting thing about family history, the term I prefer to genealogy in most cases, is that it’s a sort of a bottom up approach to history. We start out with what we know best, our immediate families, and work outward from there. This is, in some sense the opposite of traditional historiography in which we start out with big narratives, and then examine them in ever greater detail, trying to reconstruct a coherent narrative and, maybe more to the point, try to learn why things happened the way they did.
In my case, I started looking at what I knew about Ira M Judd, trying to find more information, if I could. I really had no thought of looking at Nancy at the time, but added historical records as I found them. Once I learned that her father was John Wesley Norton (a name that meant nothing to me) and then that her mother was Rebecca Hammer, the historical records would come quickly, usually a good indication that something interesting is coming. And, indeed, her father, Austin Hammer, was one of those that died at Haun’s mill. In this case, what I stumbled across in this way was a well-known and well-documented historical event, so I didn’t really learn anything about history writ large. At least not this time. Family records could just as easily have led to something new, or to a new perspective on something that’s already known. Then again, family history need not be anything more than learning more about our ancestors and their lives. That’s my goal.
Greg Woodhouse
Life on Triton 