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Question:Sometimes it seems like some researchers are just rushing to fill in blanks in a software program and they forget to actually learn about the people in their trees.

10 points to the person who can put the story with the people in my own tree who had something more than just "blanks" to fill...they had stories to tell.

Henry Porter (grandpa's uncle)...forever inextricably linked to Anthony Chebatoris. Both men are more than blanks in a software program. Entire federal policies and laws came out of their chance encounter.

Samuel Wardwell

Xaintes Dupont

John Howland

Annetje Jans

Guillaume Cousture


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Sometimes it seems like some researchers are just rushing to fill in blanks in a software program and they forget to actually learn about the people in their trees.

10 points to the person who can put the story with the people in my own tree who had something more than just "blanks" to fill...they had stories to tell.

Henry Porter (grandpa's uncle)...forever inextricably linked to Anthony Chebatoris. Both men are more than blanks in a software program. Entire federal policies and laws came out of their chance encounter.

Samuel Wardwell

Xaintes Dupont

John Howland

Annetje Jans

Guillaume Cousture

http://www.pilgrimjohnhowlandsociety.org... for John Howland,servant of John Carver.
Xaintes Dupont---probably connected to E.I. Dupont of Dupont Labs.
Samuel Warwell--- accused by a Martha Sprague of Boxford of being involved with sorcery during Salem Mass. witch trials.
Annetje Jans---- http://rootie.geeknet.com/anneke.html.
A genealogical record for William Henry McGillivray(336) was done on May 1, 1941 for the purpose of proving his descendancy from Anneke Jans Bogardus. They believed there was a great deal of wealth to be inherited and there was a mad scramble to prove their kinship from amongst an incredibly large number of descendants. I have been told that the land where the Woolworth Tower stands, Wall Street and also Trinity Church (both in New York) was part of this inheritance. Family lore states that Anneke Jans Bogardus' will stated that the land that Trinity Church stood on would remain in the city's care for 99 years at which point it would be split between her heirs. I have learned through reading various accounts that the land was most likely taken from the Jans heirs by England during the revolution and Trinity Church, now a corporation, kept control of it long afterwards. The heirs have managed to bring several lawsuits against the church, New York state and New York city. Supposedly, someone in Texas was successful in receiving some sort of compensation but that seems impossible. In any case, I will allow you to make your own judgements based on the information I have included. The picture on the left was scanned in from an old newspaper copy and I airbrushed and enhanced as much as I could to get it to look like the original picture of Anneke. Wish I could find the original article! For another excellent site with additional information, please check out this site: http://walter.gilbert.name/gen/htmfile/3...

Just recently P. Saxton provided me with the following pictures. She states: "My great grandmother Myrtle Converse is from the Ohio side of this family her letters and newspaper clippings start 1909 and go thru 1923. As I understand she was present at a court hearing in Indinapolis IN in 1923. Thank you for your page about this. I have been able to put what I have in some context. You made things about her clear. I also have a 13 page doc. done by a researcher, Ethel Kelsey, as to our Anneke." These are pictures of Anneke Jans Bogardus and Reverend Everardus Bogardus taken from oil paintings.





Guillame Cousture-- captured by Huron(Wyandot) Indians. Learned several dalects of Indians. Went to Tres Rivoires(Three Rivers),Quebec.
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/use...

I agree. However, in my case, I do not use a software program, for such reasons as: they do not allow "doubles", "tripples" (and even more), they force you to put in a surname (which became common only after the 1500s in Europe and Turkey did not require it until the 1900s!) and they are too cumbersome. I type it up just like a wordprocessing document.
I found an ancestor who died in Germany, he was in his 80s, and had fled an invading army...from France. Another ancestress confused me for quite awhile, until I finally found enough evidence that I realized there were TWO WOMEN, first cousins, with the same name, same birth town, same birth date! Another ancestress married a guy, had 5 children by him (2 of them became ancestors: thus a "double"), her first husband died, she re-married, had 8 more children (3 of them becoming ancestors: thus a "tripple"). These 5 children had the same mother, thus becoming a five-fold (that is, on a tree, 5 branches were identical. I have learned so much about history, culture, etc. from genealogical research.

Darn, girl!!! You want us to actually WORK for our points???
LOL!!

I know what your point is though. The point is that genealogy IS so much more than dates and names. It is about lives lived and accomplishments. I find fascination in my ancestors lives not because any of them won the Nobel prize or invented something great, but because each one has their own individual story. Some have stories of courage. Some have stories of overcoming adversity. Some have stories of bravery and heroism while others encountered tragedy. Each story is different and it is these stories that have me coming back for more and more answers. Anyone can collect dates and names, but after a while, their genealogy sounds like Genesis with endless lines of who begat who.

I would encourage any newbie to pursue the STORY of their family. Find out who they were and what they stood for in life. Once you research a family and all of its members, a clear picture starts to emerge of their lives, beliefs, and dreams that transcends the mere collection of names and dates.

I'm sorry, I didn't have time to research the above names, but I know that if I did, I would have carried away something meaningful. I still might, but right now I have to see the hubby off to work.

EDIT: Most genealogy programs will handle the double and triple relationships; however, the program doesn't ASSUME the relationships. You have to tell the program what relationships are double and triple for it to reflect right. Usually, a trip to the program's help menu will get you the information you need to make your tree reflect the information accurately. This information is in reply to one of your other answers-not to your question directly.