Generational Suffixes: When Junior and II Are–and Were–Used in Families

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Today, I was double checking my “Dingmans of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio” family tree on Ancestry.com (it actually has a URL, which is http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/70859843/family), and I noted that the Junior suffix was used after the name of a son of Jacob (b 1788 in Schodack, Rennselaer, New York). The son, however, was Peter Jr, not Jacob Jr. Jacob did have a brother by the name of Peter, and they both lived in Charleston Town, Montgomery County, New York in the early decades of the 19th century. What was the story here?

I did a quick lookup on Wikipedia for suffixes <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffix_(name)> and there appeared a very informative article on all kinds of suffixes, professional and personal. What I was interested in specifically was under the heading of Generational Suffixes. Here is what applies to my family naming question:

Generational suffixes are used to distinguish persons who share the same name within a family. A generational suffix can be used informally (for disambiguation purposes, or as nicknames) and is often incorporated in legal documents.

The most common name suffixes are senior and junior, most frequent in American usage, which are written with a capital first letter (“Jr.” and “Sr.”) with or without an interceding comma. In England, the abbreviations are “Jnr” and “Snr”, respectively. The term “junior” is correctly used only if a child’s first, middle, and last names are identical to his or her parent’s names. When the suffixes are spelled out in full, they are always written with the first letter in lower case.

This confirms what I have understood to be common practice in recent times. Thus, my uncle, Wallace Betts Dingman, was called Junior during his growing up years, as his father (and my maternal grandfather) was also Wallace Betts Dingman. Unfortunately, Wallace Betts Dingman Sr died in 1920, well before I was born, and when his son was only nine years old. He may have used the suffix Sr, although I have not seen any surviving records referring to him that way.

This all still leaves the question of why a son of Jacob Dingman was referred to as Peter Dingman Jr some 100 years earlier in upstate New York. Wikipedia came to the rescue, with an explanation further down on the same web page referred to above:

Alternatively, Jr’s are sometimes referred to as “II”. However, the original name carrier relative of a “II” is generally an uncle, cousin, or ancestor (including grandfather). The suffix “III” is used after either Jr or II and like subsequent numeric suffixes, does not need to be restricted to one family line. For example, if Randall and Patrick Dudley are brothers and if Randall has a son before Patrick, he will call his son Patrick II. If Patrick now has a son, his son is Patrick, Jr.

As time passes, the III suffix goes to the son of either Patrick Jr or Patrick II, whomever is first to have a son named Patrick. This is one way it is possible and correct for a Junior to father a IV. Another example involves President Ulysses S. Grant and his sons Frederick, Ulysses Jr, and Jesse. When Frederick’s son Ulysses was born in 1881, Ulysses Jr did not yet have a son named after himself. Therefore, Frederick’s son was Ulysses III. Ulysses Jr’s son, born afterwards in 1893, was Ulysses IV. Jesse’s son Chapman was the father of Ulysses V, as neither Ulysses III nor Ulysses IV had sons named for themselves.

There you have it. Peter Dingman, son of Jacob Dingman, used the generational suffix Jr to indicate that he was the second Peter in the Dingman family which included his father, Jacob, and an uncle, Peter. It no doubt helped people distinguish which Peter was which in Charleston Town, Montgomery County, New York in the early 1800s.

WRHS Library Open for Martin Luther King Day Monday Jan 19

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For this year’s University Circle celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the WRHS History Center (http://www.wrhs.org/) will offer free admission and hands-on activities for visitors in attendance.

The main purpose, of course, is to celebrate the life of MLK and his achievements. While displays will be mounted throughout the History Center, the Research Library will be focusing on helping people do research into the lives of their ancestors and the history of their family. NOTE: admission is free. Staff and volunteers will be available to assist any and all visitors.

Here’s what is going on elsewhere in the History Center: Documentaries about King’s legacy will be playing on a loop throughout the day in the Community Conference Room. The History Center’s Crawford Gallery will feature protest signs and informational posters and rights organizations such as CORE, NAACP, SNIC, and more. In the Crawford Rotunda, visitors will be prompted with the question: “What is Your Cause?” From their answers, they are invited to create an idea and acronym for their own rights organization supporting the cause that they feel most powerfully about. Visitors can then make a mini protest sign to take with them as a reminder of how Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of non-violent protest can still effect change today.

If you want to try your hand at family history research, or continue to look into the particulars of your ancestors. this is a great opportunity. I will be there as a volunteer, so maybe we can get together.

Learning How to Find Your Ancestors Migration Routes

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My maternal ancestors came from various points in Colonial America to Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Many probably used the Erie Canal (opening in 1825) in New York State for part of their travels. Others came by overland routes across Pennsylvania. Needless to say, I am always interested in learning more about migration routes.

Such an opportunity to learn more about migration routes throughout America is coming up next month at Western Reserve Historical Society. Here are the details:

Saturday, February 7, 2015: “Where Did They Go?” Finding Your Family’s Migration Routes

This three-hour class will be held in the Hassler Room of the Western Reserve Historical Society Research Library. It is sponsored by the Genealogical Committee, an auxiliary of the Western Reserve Historical Society.

Not all families settled down and never moved. If your research hits a dead end, get it back on the road by considering migratory patterns. Sunny Morton, OGS editor, author, blogger, researcher and Genealogical Committee member will present a fact-filled class to help you understand and to follow your family’s migration path. A variety of resources and techniques may help you to connect the dots to trails, roads, highways traveled by your ancestors to other states and other cities.

The class will begin at noon and continue to 3 pm. There will be time after the class to do research in the WRHS Library, accessing books and other printed materials, and several online databases. You may bring a laptop or tablet computer and use it in the class. The Library has Wi-Fi.

A fee of $15 pays for a packet of course materials, tips, and other information. Registration is requested in advance. Register online by going to http://www.wrhs.org/upcoming-events/ and clicking on the event you are interested in. Or send an email to foxreinhardt@usa.net and pay your fee at the door. You may also print this email and fill in the form below and send it by postal mail with your check to:

Genealogical Committee

Western Reserve Historical Society

10825 East Boulevard

Cleveland, OH 44106.

“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _

I wish to attend the following class:
Class
Name _____”Where Did They Go?” ____________________________________________________

Class
Date ­­­­­­_____­­­­­ 7 Feb 2015 ______________________________________________________________

Name ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________________________________________________________

Telephone No. _____________________________________________________________________

This is one of several classes being offered by the Genealogical Committee at WRHS during the first half of 2015. The schedule of classes got off to a fast start last Saturday (January 10) with a class for beginning genealogical and family history researchers. Thirty-one students showed up for that class. Needless to say, the Gen Committee members were very gratified. Most of the students stayed aftewords to do some research in the Library using the new computer workstations and online research databases. Ann Sindelar, reference supervisor for the Library, also conducted tours of the Library to acquaint students with the resources that are available.

I definitely am signing up for the upcoming class on migration. Maybe I’ll see you there!

Genealogy Roadshow Starts Season Two Tonight. Episode Set in New Orleans

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PBS kicks off the second season of Genealogy Roadshow (http://www.pbs.org/genealogy-roadshow/home/) tonight, Tuesday, 13 Jan 2015. In the Greater Cleveland (Ohio) area, it will be aired on Channel WVIZ (http://www.ideastream.org/) at 8 pm. It also will be available at the same broadcast time on Channel WEAO (http://westernreservepublicmedia.org/).

The setting for this episode is the Cabildo, the present-day Louisiana State Museum, but over 200 years ago, a key government facility. In 1803, it was the site of the Louisiana Purchase transfer, the event that acquired the Louisiana Territory for the United States, doubling its land area.

The hour will include: a couple whose ancestors hail from the same small Italian town who explore the chance they may be related; a woman desperate to find out who committed a gruesome murder in her ancestors’ past; a home held by one family for more than a century that renders a fascinating story; and a woman who discovers the difficult journey her ancestor took on the path to freedom from slavery.

Located next to St. Louis Cathedral and facing Jackson Square, the Cabildo was built under Spanish rule in 1795-1799 and named after the municipal governing body that was located there. Before the transfer of the building to the state museum in 1908, the Cabildo served as a city hall, a courthouse and a prison. The building was designed by Gilberto Guillemard, who also designed St. Louis Cathedral and the Presbytere but the third story mansard roof with cupola was not added until 1847, replacing the original flat Spanish roof and balustrade. On the second floor is the Sala Capitular, or “Meeting Room”, in which much of the official business of the building took place.

The Cabildo served as New Orleans City Hall until 1853 when it became the headquarters of the Louisiana State Supreme Court and saw the landmark Slaughterhouse and Plessy vs. Ferguson decisions. When the Marquis de Lafayette visited the Crescent City in 1825, the city allowed him the use of the Sala Capitular as his residence. In the 1870’s, the building came under gunfire on three separate occasions, all the product of Reconstruction era politics and racial tension. The building was transferred over to the Louisiana State Museum in 1908 and has served to educate the public about Louisiana history since. Unfortunately, in 1988 the Cabildo was severely damaged by fire. Over the next five years, the landmark was authentically restored using 600-year-old French timber framing technology. It reopened to the public in 1994 with a comprehensive exhibit focusing on Louisiana’s early history.

 

Ancestry Looks Ahead to 2015

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When I opened Ancestry.com today, I was greeted with this letter from Tim Sullivan, president of the subscription database providers:

To the Ancestry community,

You had an incredible year in 2014, showing more commitment and passion than ever for discovering your family story.

Here at Ancestry, we worked hard this past year to make our service even more useful, rewarding, and fun for you. Last year, we launched more than 2 billion new global records, helping fuel discoveries in over 67 countries. Nearly half a million people took an AncestryDNA test to learn about their unique ethnic mix and to connect to hundreds … or even thousands of newfound genetic cousins. And more people than ever enjoyed the convenience of discovering and sharing their stories on the go with the Ancestry mobile app.

Good News: 2015 promises to be one of the most exciting in our own family history.

In the coming months, we’ll be introducing features that let you tell richer, more personal life stories about your ancestors, adding historical context around the times and events that shaped their lives. You’ll also see a new way to engage with other Ancestry members around a shared ancestor, helping you make new discoveries and collaborate like never before. If you’ve taken a DNA test, you’ll experience some new types of discoveries made possible by the groundbreaking DNA science and research teams. And everyone who visits Ancestry will find a simplified, easier-to-use site that puts important information front and center to make family stories the focus.

Most importantly, we will continue to add to the world’s largest online collection of family history records and content. Look for exciting additions like 170 million searchable images of probate records and wills that might reveal your ancestor’s dying wishes, all vital records from Virginia since 1900, substantial releases from Germany, and a milestone collection of almost 80 million Mexico Civil Birth, Marriage and Death records spanning from 1860 to modern day.

At Ancestry, we’re proud of all that we do to help you bring your family story to life. We think that this year’s new content and features are going to make the world’s leading online family history service even better.
Best wishes for the year ahead,
Tim Sullivan

Two-for-One Registration Offered for Genealogy Beginner’s Class at WRHS

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Jump-start your family research in the New Year by signing up for a beginning genealogy class coming up this Saturday, Jan 10, 2015, at Western Reserve Historical Society. With the theme “Opening the Door to Family History”, the three-hour class is sponsored by the Genealogical Committee, an auxiliary of WRHS. It will run from from noon to 3 pm.

Focus will be on gathering documents, vital records, and census information. To encourage you to attend, the Gen Committee invites you to register yourself for the class and bring one family member or friend at NO EXTRA COST. Presenters will be Pat Epperson and Heber MacWilliams, both Genealogical Committee members and experienced researchers. Plan to spend time after the class in the Research Library applying your new skills.

Registration fee is $15, which covers the cost of a packet of handout materials. Register online at www.wrhs.org or by emailing foxreinhardt@usa.net.

Book about 10th Mountain Div in WWII May Become a Movie

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While poking around on the Internet with Google, I learned about a project that Robert Redford apparently is working on: creating a movie based on the book Climb to Conquer, The Untold Story of WWII’s 10th Mountain Division, written by Peter Shelton and published by Simon and Schuster in 2003 (http://books.simonandschuster.com/Climb-to-Conquer/Peter-Shelton/9781451655100) . In late June and early July 2014 there were several news reports about Redford’s interest in the project. I can’t cite any more recent news items, because a Google search doesn’t turn up any more recent reports.

Climb to Conquer book cover

The publisher’s website provides the following background about the book:

Drawing on years of interviews and research, Shelton re-creates the ski troops’ lively, extensive, and sometimes experimental training and their journey from boot camp to the Italian Apennines. There, scaling a 1,500-foot “unclimbable” cliff face in the dead of night, they stunned their enemy and began the eventual rout of the German armies from northern Italy.

This intrigued me for a couple of reasons: 1. I recently have been reading accounts of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, in which Finnish ski-mounted troops held off the advance of a massive Soviet army for several months.  2. I remembered that Robert S Maddox, my boss at Penton Media (http://www.penton.com/) in the 1970s, had served in the 10th Mountain Div. in WWII.

I quickly did some research on Ancestry.com and in online newspaper archives and confirmed that Robert S Maddox enlisted in the Army on 23 Jan 1943, and he did indeed serve in the 10th. In fact, he served  as a “forward observer.” according to his obituary in 1984. His role as an observer made sense when I learned that he served in an artillery unit attached to the 10th.

I checked on Amazon.com for availability of the book, and found that it was available for Kindle. In reading the sample provided, I quickly concluded that Peter Shelton is a very entertaining writer.

Just for kicks, I checked on the availability of the book at the Cuyahoga County Library system (http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/)  and learned that there was one copy of Climb to Conquer as an ebook. I quickly checked it out, and over the past two days have been reading it on my PC with Kindle Reader.

I don’t expect to learn anything specifically about Bob Maddox’s service with the 10th while reading Climb to Conquer, as he was only one of thousands to serve in the Division. But the book will give me an idea of what he most likely experienced from early in January 1943 through VE Day in 1949.

And it is proving to be a “good read.”

In Memoriam — Russ Cooper, One of my Early Mentors in Genealogy

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The other day, I received an email advising that Russ Cooper had passed away. I remember meeting Russ at an Ohio Genealogical Society (www.ogs.org)  conference held in Independence, Ohio, during my early days of getting involved in genealogy. He was at the conference representing the North East Ohio Computer-Aided Genealogy Society (aka NEOCAG — see http://neocag.net/), of which he was the founder and main driving force for many years. He convinced me to join NEOCAG and since then I have attended many informative meetings of the group.

About 10 years ago, Russ moved from Cleveland to Rochester, New York, where he participated in the Rochester Genealogy Society. I understand that he also volunteered in the Genealogy Room of the Monroe County Library in downtown Rochester. I have done a bit of research there on ancestors who passed through Monroe County on their way to Northeast Ohio. The following link takes you directly to the Local History and Genealogy Department: http://www3.libraryweb.org/lh.aspx?id=971.

Here is the obituary that was published in the Rochester Democrat And Chronicle on Dec. 14, 2012:

Cooper, C. Russell

Rochester: Monday, December 8, 2014 at age 89. Predeceased by his Brother Lee Cooper. He is survived by his loving Wife of 59 years, Mary; 4 Children, Nancy Cooper (Martin) Lineham of Rochester, NY, Russell (Mary) Cooper of Cleveland, OH, Laura (Thomas) Poovakad of Boston, MA, Linda (Jonathan) Angles of New York City; 10 Grandchildren; Brother, Robert Cooper of Salem, OR; Sister, Virginia (Sidney) Nolte of Dallas, TX and many Nieces & Nephews.

A private service will be held by the family.

Here is the link to the obit: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/democratandchronicle/obituary.aspx?pid=173460065#sthash.6GnlLyol.dpuf.

Burned Records — The “B-file”

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As genealogy researchers, we have often heard the statement, “The records were burned.” The statement usually involves the records that should be on file in a courthouse. But there is another type of record search that often gets that response: Army records from WWI and WWII. That’s because in July 1973, a disastrous fire broke out at the National Personnel Records Center’s (NPRC) military records building in Overland, MO. The fire destroyed the building’s sixth floor. The fire was so bad, it took firefighters four and half days and millions of gallons of water to quench all the hot spots. An article describing the fire is available at http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html.

The National Archives and Records Administration was responsible for maintaining those Army records. The fire led to a lot of study on how to protect such records from loss in such a manner.

Actually, the 1973 fire was the second huge fire to destroy a large, important government record set, for in 1921 a fire at the Bureau of Census destroyed most of the 1890 census. There is an informative article about that disaster at http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/spring/1890-census-1.html.

There was nothing that could be done to rescue data that should have been available with the 1890 census, but for the WWI and WWII army records, there has been a course of action charted by the National Archives to rescue some of the Army service records data. Here is how NARA describes the problem and the partial solution (http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/archival-programs/preservation-program/burned-records.html):

Documents not burned by the fire were soaked by water used in the fire suppression. In the aftermath, most of the water-damaged records underwent an experimental vacuum-drying process. As this method had never been implemented in a record’s disaster recovery, many of the records were over-dried, resulting in a higher rate of brittle paper. In terms of loss to the cultural heritage of our nation, the fire was an unparalleled disaster, destroying approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF).

From the wreckage of the sixth floor, NPRC staffers were able to recover approximately 6.5 million records. As part of the reconstruction effort, the NPRC established a “B” registry file (or Burned File) to index all of the recovered records. Today, despite their condition, “B-files” are requested daily, requiring the Preservation Laboratory to devise safe methods for cleaning, treating and making the information in these records available to veterans, Federal agencies and the general public.

Burned Records Intervention:

Working with burned records, or “B-files,” is one of the core activities of the Preservation Program. Within the Laboratory, technicians provide file review, assessment and treatment for the burned records. Key efforts involving “B-files” include:

Assessing files for mold, fire and water damage and/or loss of information and determining access levels and treatment actions based on the condition of the records.

Providing basic holdings maintenance so that lightly-damaged records can be released to the NPRC reference personnel.

Providing records handling training to the NPRC personnel tasked with Fire-related reference.

Cleaning and treating moderately damaged records for use by the public, NPRC personnel or other Federal agencies.

Providing surrogate copies of heavily damaged records to the public, NPRC personnel or other Federal agencies.

Mold Remediation:

In the days after the 1973 Fire, the most immediate concern at the NPRC revolved around water. In order to combat the blaze, firefighters were forced to pour millions of gallons of water into the building. To stop sporadic rekindling of fire, firefighters also continued spraying water on the building until late July. In addition, broken water lines continued to flood the building until they could be capped. Standing water, combined with the high temperatures and humidity of a typical St. Louis summer, created a situation ripe for mold growth. As paper is highly susceptible to mold, officials immediately tried to prevent such an outbreak by spraying thymol throughout the building.

Damaged records that could be recovered in the wake of the fire were placed in a temperature controlled storage area to retard further mold growth. Today, mold evident on the records is generally dormant or desiccated as opposed to active. However, mold-damaged records must be carefully stored and handled, as an increase in temperature and humidity can cause dormant mold to become active again. In addition to mold contamination, many burned records are scorched, browned, brittle and/or in danger of information loss.

To ensure appropriate access, while at the same time minimizing unnecessary handling, the Preservation staff checks each requested “B-file” to:

Determine its condition and/or mold-damage before releasing it from the storage area.

Direct the record for appropriate treatment, if needed. Underneath a vented enclosure, inside the Laboratory’s fume hood room, technicians use vacuums fitted with HEPA filters to remediate the records by removing as many spores as possible.

Direct the record to the appropriate area in the Archival Program Division or the Records Center where the record can be safely viewed by researchers or handled for reference work.

Staff members working in this area are specifically trained in records handling to minimize further damage or loss of information.

It may be worthwhile, if you have a WWII Army veteran in your direct-line ancestry–or in a collateral line–to pursue his (or her) B-file. A good starting point is available online at http://www.archives.gov/veterans/. You will need to be patient, and there probably will be fees involved. BTW, in looking into the situation, you may learn that other records that are available for WWII, and especially for WWI, participants may satisfy your quest for information.

 

Family Tree of Languages Has Roots in Anatolia, Biologists Say

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Recently, I stumbled upon that headline and was immediately intrigued. I learned that it appeared over an article from the 12 Aug 2012 issue of The New York Times. You can check it out at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/science/indo-european-languages-originated-in-anatolia-analysis-suggests.html. The following statement is especially interesting to me as a Finnish-American:

Historical linguists see other evidence in that the first Indo-European speakers had words for “horse” and “bee,” and lent many basic words to proto-Uralic, the mother tongue of Finnish and Hungarian. The best place to have found wild horses and bees and be close to speakers of proto-Uralic is the steppe region above the Black Sea and the Caspian. The Kurgan people who occupied this area from around 5000 to 3000 B.C. have long been candidates for the first Indo-European speakers.

People of Finnish ancestry, and those of Hungarian ancestry too, are usually well informed that these two languages are considered Finno-Ugriic and are unlike others prvelant of Europe today. While the article is more than two years old, it is useful in explaining the debate about how languages of Europe developed. Of interest is the fact the main expert quoted in the article is called an “evolutionary biologist.” Evolutionary biology has an entry at Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_biology. Here is the lead paragraph from that entry:

Evolutionary biology is a sub-field of biology concerned with the study of the evolutionary processes that produced the diversity of life on Earth. Someone who studies evolutionary biology is known as an evolutionary biologist. Evolutionary biologists study the descent of species, and the origin of new species.

My conclusion: Being aware of this field of study provides another avenue of learning about the origins of my distant ancestors. Eventually, I aim to explore autosomal DNA (http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA) and see how it matches up with some of the conclusions of the field of evolutionary biology. FYI, the website of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy referenced above, in addition to defining autosomal DNA,  provides the further information autosomal DNA testing:

Autosomal DNA tests for genetic genealogy are provided by 23andMe, Family Tree DNA (the Family Finder test) and AncestryDNA. The Family Finder test and the AncestryDNA tests are both genealogical DNA tests which give you matches with genetic cousins and also give you ethnicity percentages. The 23andMe test is a genealogical DNA test but also provides information on health and traits. The cousin-finding element of the 23andMe test is known as DNA Relatives (formerly Relative Finder)).