A VERY SAD SITUATION

Many of you know of or have used Cyndi’s list.  It is invaluable to people researching their families and is free.  Cyndi Howell has worked more than full time for years compiling and editing her list.  A link to her list has always been on my blog page.

It seems that someone with a “for pay” site has copied her list and put it on their site.  Now, this is clearly illegal – but more than that it is immoral.  She is working with an attorney to have something done about it.  But until that happens, I hope everyone will go to her site and support her with words or money.  http://www.cyndislist.com/

This is just intolerable.  Taking the hard work of someone and using it to make yourself a profit is horrible.

The genealogy community has always been very generous with help and with the transcribing of records for the benefit of all who are searching.  I hope whoever has done this will be shunned by the genealogy community as a whole.

Anne

 

Please support her in her quest to have the wrong corrected.

 

GOOD NEWS – MORE BURIAL AND PLOT RECORDS ADDED

Alistair McCartney has send more burial and plot transcriptions.  At the right you will now find – Kirkinriola plot owners updated, New Connor Presbyterian Graveyard Internments, Ballyclug (Ballylesson) Graveyard Internments and the Kells Graveyard plot owners c1875.  Thank you so much to Alistair for all this hard work.  I believe the Braid Museum in Ballymena will soon have all these transcriptions on their website.  They are working to update their genealogy section.  Work continues to photograph, transcribe and post the remainder of the burial books as Alistair works with Shirin at the Braid.  Great progress has been made!
I will shortly have the rest of the Clough internments uploaded.  Kate Connolly has transcribed the later years and I am working on getting them ready to post on the blog.

NEW BURIAL AND PLOT RECORDS ADDED

Alistair McCartney has kindly granted permission for me to add some of his N. Ireland burial and plot transcriptions to my blog.  Alistair has been working very hard on taking pictures and transcribing the pictures he took and the ones my sister and I took at the Braid Museum of the burial record and plot books.  Please note that for privacy reasons only the names of those people who owned plots that were registered 75 years or longer ago are included.  Please also note that almost all of the records begin after 1875.  One other note, there is no burial book beginning in 1875 for Kirkinriola.  There was a large burial book for Kirkinriola at the Registrar’s Office in Ballymena at one time.  It appeared to possibly be the grave tenders book.  But it along with a similar one for Clough which started in 1875 have disappeared from the Registry Office and so far no one has been able to locate them.  Hopefully they are still trying to find out what happened to them.

Books that have been added are:

Clough Internments (were already on here) 1875 – 1914

Clough Plot Owners 1875 – 1937

Drummaul Internments 1904 – 1972

Drummaul Plot Owners – 1875 – 1937

Kirkinriola Internments 1940 – 1972

Kirkinriola Plot Owners (were already on here) 1875 – 1937

The Braid Museum in Ballymena has allowed Alistair to continue taking pictures of the books and will be adding the transcriptions to their website as they have time.

This is an ongoing project being headed by Alistair and includes some other volunteer transcribers.  Thank you to Alistair and all who have agreed to help out.

I would like to comment a bit on the plot books.  Many of them list the original owner and then subsequent times the plot was either sold or passed on to a relative, sometimes with a date sometimes not.  Since we are not allowed to publish names more recent that 75 years, it makes it difficult to trace forward to a relative.  The real value of the plot books is being able to string the owners together getting hints about family relationships.  And the name of the person owning the plot is not necessarily the name of the person buried in the plot.  So, that said, I would suspect there is a way to get permission to trace a particular plot by contacting the Braid, but maybe it would require a Freedom of Information request or something.  I really don’t know the answer to that.  Maybe there is no way to see the names of the current owners.  Maybe you need to know the name of the current owner to trace it backwards, I don’t know.  Anyway, just a bit of explanation about the plot books.

I am currently working on the Fees book for a group of Ballymena cemeteries which includes who paid to buy some lots, fenders, tombstones etc.  It is going to be a while before I get very far on it.  But this will also be restricted to 75 years ago and older.

Homesteading in Kansas

I am going to add a memoir written by George Henry Shier about living in Kansas in the 1800′s.  Henry Tice Shier, Frank Tice Shier, William Robert Shier and their friend Sheldon Crittendon took up land in Kansas in the years after the Civil War.   Henry and his family stayed in Kansas but after several years, Frank, William and Sheldon returned to Michigan. George Henry is the son of Frank Tice Shier.   It is a wonderful account of life in Kansas. You will find it under the Shier family at the right.

I am also going to add a letter from George R. Shier to his brother Hurl on the occasion of his 65th birthday.  It is a lovely memoir about growing up on the farm in Kansas.

The significance of the John Harvey indenture

I have added a transcription of an indenture dated 7 Jan 1796 under the Shier family.  The importance of this indenture is as follows:

1.  It shows that Barbara Krauskopf  Shier’s first husband was John Harvey

2.  It shows that contrary to the story told by Barbara Krauskopf Shier’s niece, she was not a widow at age 19 since John Harvey was still alive in January of 1796.

3.  Henry Shier knew Barbara Krauskopf Harvey while her husband was still alive because he is a witness to the indenture.

4.  John Harvey either died or they were divorced before April 1796 because Barbara and Henry Shier are married in Montgomery Co. NY in April 1796.

The indenture is basically John and Barbara selling everything they own to pay off their debts.  What happened after that we don’t know.  Was John Harvey sick and died shortly after this?  Did Henry and Barbara do him in?  Did John and Barbara divorce?  There is another indenture later involving the property they sold into trust for their debts but it does not say if John Harvey is still alive or not.

The other names in the document are:

Peter Bruce, William Alexander, Henry Barclay, Thomas Dodds, Stephen Wendover, Joseph Hopkins, John Sullivan, Coertland Van Buren, Robert Bruce, Charles Watkins, Tobias Vanzandt, Andreas Lee, Garret Van Heim, Michael Moore, Mr. Shaw, Tallen? Chandler, Christian Smith, William Langstaffe and John Ray

Some of these people have their occupation also listed.

 

A little general information

For those of who aren’t familiar with my blog or don’t know how it works – if you look at the links on the right side of the main page – then click on one that interests you – it will open into a page that has a link to the documents.  For instance, my Shier descendant report is under Shier Family and is titled Hans Adam Shier descendant report.  If you click on Hans Adam Shier descendant report and then click on the link on the page that comes up, you should go to the descendant report document.

NEW SHIER DESCENDANT REPORT

Hi everyone,

I am replacing the descendant report with a more current version.  As expected, I am still working on the Shiers but want to have a report on the blog that reflects the fact that the Margaret Shier I thought was the sister of Henry b. 1730 was actual his niece, daughter of his sister Mary Shier Robson.  I have also made some other changes, and added some other information here and there.  Anyone who has a question, please feel free to contact me by email.  ashierk@yahoo.com.

 

 

LETTER H ADDED TO THE TRANSCRIPTION OF RUTH MCFETRIDGE’S DEATH BOOK

Today I finished the letter H and have added it to the transcription file of Ruth McFetridge’s death book.

SHIER CHANGES

By the way, I have not yet changed my descendant report that is posted here on my blog.  Soon as I have made all the changes I need to make with all the new information we have found, I will update the descendant report.

CHANGE TO SHIER INFORMATION – OF SOME IMPORTANCE

The following is a copy of information I sent some of my Shier cousins.  Anyone who has a copy of my Shier info – should probably make these changes.  Many people won’t be interested – but I am hoping the wrong information that might be floating out there will get corrected.  Anyone who has questions, please contact me:

Well, we are in the process of making some significant changes to the Shier file.  It is a long story, but my sister found some obits in the New York City papers that change who some Shier people are.  Also, because we were working on this, I found that I had left Ann Foye out of Martin’s will transcription.

So anyway.  I am posting the transcription of Martin’s will that is corrected.  If you have a copy of my transcription, delete it and keep this one.  Also it is in the notes in my Shier file, so if you have a copy of that, you need to change the will in the notes.

A more important discovery is the fact that Margaret Shier (Bakewell), sister to Henry and Julius and Martin and Ann (Foye)  and Mary (Robson)  – is NOT.  She is actually Margaret Robson, daughter of Mary Shier Robson.  I had a note in my file that there seemed to be a problem with her age in the census and this is the reason why.  There still is the information the some people named Martin, Henry and Margaret Shier appeared in court in NYC in 1761, now we just don’t know who they are for sure. Maybe there was a sister Margaret just not the one married to Joseph Bakewell – or could the death of Margaret the mother in Ireland be the wrong person and Henry and siblings actually came to NYC with their parents Henry and Margaret?  The following is her obit:

1819 – 20 Mar – Mrs. Margaret Bakewell – Yesterday morning in the 51^st year of her age Mrs. Margaret Bakewell – The relations, friends and acquaintance of the family and of her sons Wm. And Benjamin Bakewell are requested to attend her funeral on Sunday afternoon at 5 o’clock from the residence of her mother Mary Robson No. 125 Division St.  The master sail makers are particularly invited to attend.

This notice in Mercantile Advertiser, Commercial Advertiser, Columbian, on 3/20   On 3/23 in the Spectator and 3/27 Weekly Visitor

(Salemakers were invited because the Bakewells were sail makers. )

Also – we have always known there were 5 Robson children because Benjamin said he was one of 5 children – but we only had three.  Margaret is number 4 and the following is number 5.
1833 – Aug 1 On Wednesday Elizabeth Robson of apoplexy widow of the late Capt. Joseph Robson in the 51^st year of her age.  Her friends, relatives and those of her brother in law Dr. Benj. Robson and those of her uncle Andre Mercein are invited to attend her funeral at half past four from her late residence no. 93 Gold St.

So – Margaret needs to have her name changed in your file and be attached to Mary Shier and her husband Benjamin Robson.  And Joseph Robson needs to be added to their children.

Still working on all this.