Wisdom Wednesday: Faster, Please

Some days it seems like I don't know a blasted thing. Then other days the knowledge comes at me like a freight train and it's all I can do to keep alert. It's Wednesday again and I'm using GeneaBlogger's blogging prompt called Wisdom Wednesdays so that I'm sure to take time and evaluate how this beginning intermediate genealogist is doing. If I don't do this the learning will likely be willy-nilly and random so this feels like it keeps me focused, more or less.

Have to confess that I kinda like the knowledge coming at me fast. Keeps me moving along and on my toes. But here's the thing: I'll be working on a project, like the Biggerstaffs right now, and then my DNA results come back from 23andMe and I am on the freight train again. But that's a good thing, right? Here's what's been happening this last week, in no particular order.

OMG! DNA! My results came back from 23and Me. So much information and I want to devour it all at once. Must resist. Am using some measure of self-control and taking it one feature at a time. Have explored the "DNA Relatives" tool, which you can read about here. And before that checked out the "Countries of Origins Tool" and you can read about that here. Getting results back is an information 18-wheeler, but if you just chunk it down there's no reason to be overloaded. It's all right there and the learning tools are easily accessible so that you can explore and learn as you go. See a new report? Look, the tutorial link is there on that same page. This morning I've received the first reply from my DNA matches and will be getting back to her immediately so that we can compare ancestors. Will use Mom's Big Tree on Ancestry to do this. Handy to have it there:)

Cousin Bait Blog. At the beginning of the year set out a goal and crafted a strategy (sort of) to build in more cousin bait and you can see that popular post here. One of the best things I did was start doing a Surname Saturday post. Not only does it give me an opportunity to review our research, see holes, and take a close look at theories, it's the perfect cousin bait! Something is working because a Whetstone cousin contacted me last week and we immediately got on to discussing the biggest "argument" about the Whetstones. It was so much fun!! Cousin bait is working:)

Am reading Oh, Beautiful, a wonderful book by John Paul Goedes. Can't put it down. It flows from page to page, story to story, family to family. I've read a couple of family history narrative books before and I get into them and eventually find myself thinking, "I really should finish reading this." Not with this book! Each evening I can't wait to read the next section and stay up way too long doing so.

Got thinking about cemeteries and tombstones because of the first chapter of Oh, Beautiful. Part of the beginning is set in a remote mountain village in Italy where the people all live close together and are closely connected. When someone died and was buried all felt that they could go "visit" that person at the graveside, discuss issues of the day and review problems. So they were gone, but still connected. We've, many of us, lost that. Cemeteries for the general population are often the setting of spooky Halloween movies. I like it when an insight like that comes up unexpectedly in something I'm reading.

Looking forward to participating in RootsTech online this week. The Armchair Genealogist, who gets a big e-hug from me for the Family History Writing Challenge and a lot of other stuff, has a brilliant post about how to participate online which you can see here. I think that having your conference open to those who can't be there for whatever reason is exceedingly expansive and generous of spirit and is in the vein of all that is wonderful about the greater sharing posture and good will of the genealogy community, and why so may people are drawn to it. My Mom is 94 and she can't be there but she is online and can participate. I can't be there this year but I want to enjoy and benefit from it as I can, and I'll be watching online too. So thanks and an e-hug to RootsTech. Have a wonderful conference and I'll be watching the sessions as well as looking for blog posts from all the bloggers in attendance!!


Photo of the Day from the Archive:

Dad's Sisters: Chris, Helen, and Louise about 1989.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/03/wisdom-wednesday-faster-please.html

Travel Tuesday: Ireland, Mom, Dad, and Me

Somewhere in Ireland, 1987

Many genealogist have written about preparing for a trip over The Pond to capture your ancestors' history and life in the very place they lived it. I always read those stories. Most show excellent organization and give plenty of tips for getting the most research in the allowed time. But for me, the best trip was the one I took with Mom and Dad to Ireland. It was seat of the pants but we did get a wee bit o' research done. Let me share with you my treasured memories of it.

I think it was 1987, or at least that's what the year is stamped on the back of the snapshots we took. I really wanted to go to Ireland with Mom and Dad because there were Irish ancestors on both sides and it sounded like fun... in my head.

Dad was unconvinced, and I can tell you what he said now that he's gone and can't complain. (He had a wonderfully delicious sense of humor and laughed at himself over this many times.) He said, "Why would anyone want to go to Europe. It's all old stuff there." When he got there he found he absolutely loved the old stuff to the very core of himself!  But before that Dad especially couldn't see spending good money to go to Europe, so we gave each of them their trip for Mother's Day then Father's Day. When Dad saw what we gave Mom he said something like, "I know where this is going," with a glum look. Mom was positively gleeful and started packing on the spot! I must say that it was amazingly inexpensive then! What happened?

We flew overnight and into Shannon Airport and got there so tired we looked like last month's laundry. Into the rental car (driving on the "wrong" side of the road, a phrase that makes Europeans grimace) and off down narrow roads picking our way to Limerick, then on to the Dingle Peninsula. The scenery was more spectacular than we could have imagined. It was too long a day as we followed a diesel smoke-spewing lorry for a very long time and got sort of nauseous. We were all grumpy and very jet-lagged before our heads hit blessed pillows the first night.

I will spare you the endless details of that trip, for which you'll undoubtedly thank me:) One story, please. We drove on perhaps the third day through the worst rain storm in memory. And, got a flat tire. Dad said, "Well what are we going to do now?" To which I replied, "Change it." It seemed like the only sensible answer, logically speaking. I insisted that they sit still while I did the manual labor, Dad protested, but I put my foot down. He acquiesced.

Out I went in my relatively new Burberry trench (also amazingly cheap then) putting it to the ultimate test. Got the jack in place and as I was making a fine effort to jack the tiny car up with the parents dry inside two young men stopped and asked about our welfare. They were completely smitten that I had "me Ma and me Da" with me, which is Irish for Mom and Dad. They changed the tire super fast! Thank you, boys!

Oh we took so many pictures, and now looking at them, faded and dark from over processing, I wish we had taken many more especially of the three of us together. People never mind when you ask them to take your picture so why do we not ask more?

We stuffed ourselves silly at those big Irish breakfasts and Mom and I agreed that Irish breakfast sausages were the very best food item in the whole world! Dad went for the soda bread spread thick with Irish butter and jam. By a late lunch time we were ready for pub grub. It was too much food for me but Dad loved being in the pubs and talking to people and telling them that his name was Francis Patrick Kelly.

In the evenings we'd pester the musicians at every pub to play Danny Boy, which was really meant to be sung by a girl. But eventually, because it was me Ma and Da, the boys would give in. We tipped well with tears in our eyes. (What is it about that song?!)

We went to Clonmacnoise, the monastical historic site that I often post photos of that were taken on this trip. We saw Temple Kelly  built in 1167, likely paid for by a landed and wealthy Kelly Clan of long ago, explored the graves looking for Kelly people and found some, but how they link to us we don't know. Dad insisted that he descended from a member of the Clan and decided on the spot to be buried there. (He changed his mind later and is buried in the town where he was born.)

We drove to Shannonbridge where my 2nd GGF was born and probably still has ancestors, if we could sort it out. We also visited the parish priest and got permission to look at the old registers and found him. I've posted about that before here.

We stayed at a couple of estates and ate salmon fresh from the stream. Took a pony cart ride. Kissed the Blarney Stone. Went to a tourist show at Bunratty Castle. It was hokey as all get out but the three of cried like babies at the end. We were "home" in Ireland.

On the flight back Mom was a tad antsy and clutched a package in her lap. I thought she got a special gift in the Duty Free shop. In the car ride from the airport she unwrapped the package still in her arms from the flight and it was... Irish breakfast sausage!! She had smuggled it through customs!! We're still laughing about that:)

Mom (the smuggler) and Dad somewhere in Ireland.

Dad and I at the Cliffs of Moher.

Dad kissing the Blarney Stone!

Travel Tuesday is a blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/03/travel-tuesday-ireland-mom-dad-and-me.html

 

DNA Monday: Cousin Motherload?

Still playing around with my DNA results from 23andMe and wandered into what I had been looking for all the time: cousins! Right now I'll just share an overview because I'm that excited and later as I figure out more stuff I'll share that too:)

The main thing is how to navigate to this information. You need to set up your profile with surnames and locations but that will take only a few minutes. Then off to the cousin races! Here are the two pertinent screens that will guide you to the goods.

First look at the drop down menu under Friends and Family at the very top to find "DNA Relatives".  It takes a moment to generate the report. It looks like this and below I've blocked out names.

See Drop Down Menu to Select DNA Relatives under Friends and Family Tab.

DNA Relatives Main Page

These are your closest matches, You can see here that my closest are not that close and fall into the category of 3rd and more degree cousins. At the very top of that page, and too bad you can't see it in this screen shot, is a blue "?" with three choices to the right: List View, Map View, and Surname View. List View is the above image. Surname View is the image below.

 



DNA Relatives Surname View

As you can see this is way cool! I clicked on Williams and came to a page that lists all my Williams surname connections. I'm not showing that here because it would just have too many blocked out areas to be useful to you. The list is organized similar to the DNA Relatives Main Page, above.

Now my task is to think through how to approach these Williams people and how to word an introduction email. My best result would be to find the family of Daniel Williams, my GGF, after they came to America some time after 1870. That would be DNA heaven for me!


The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/03/dna-monday-cousin-motherload.html

DNA Monday: Countries of Ancestry Tool

Recently received my DNA results from 23andMe and am making my way through them and learning what each means as I go. So I thought wouldn't it be swell to post whatever small bit I've found each Monday for a short time thereby exploring some interesting (at least to me) aspects of the results and the way they are presented by 23andMe. Plus, I've received a few emails about previous posts from people interesting in taking the test. It might help them and it will help me slow down and try to understand the deeper meaning as I work on each post.

This week I'm taking a look at a tool that's found at the bottom of the list of "Ancestry Overview", within which is "Ancestry Tools", and then "Countries of Ancestry." (See below.)

 

"Ancestry Tools"

The "Countries of Ancestry" Tool

 

 

This tool is offered by an group within 23andMe, as I understand it, working on a project and looking for feedback as to its usefulness. Here's what it says about these tools:

23andMe Tools are features that may still be in development, require specialized knowledge or appeal to only some of our customers. We encourage you to try them out and let us know what you think!

 

Then it says about the Countries of Ancestry tool:

Ancestry Finder shows you the country each part of your genome may have come from. This lab is fueled by the 23andMe Community's responses to the "Where Are You From?" ancestry survey.

 

OK, so this special tool is another way to review where you think your ancestors came from vs. where the DNA test said they came from. (And correct me if I'm wrong.) We've seen the "Ancestry Composition" report page and here it is again in two of its forms and that's 23andMe's report on where they think my ancestors come from based on my DNA. By contrast, the Countries of Ancestry tool shows what they think and then gives you a shot at telling them what you now know based on your research. Me versus 23andMe:) Sort of.

 

So let's look again at the 23andMe Ancestry Composition report based solely on my DNA, below.

 

 

"Ancestry Composition" Report

"Ancestry Composition" Report Page

 

 

So, I'm looking at these two reports and asking what's the difference? Let's take a real close look at the results.

 

The "Countries of Ancestry" Tool

 

"Ancestry Composition" Report Page

 

 

Here are some observations:

* In the Countries of Ancestry Tool page, Ireland is separate from the United Kingdom and I like that, especially so close to St. Patrick's Day.

* But why is there such a whopping difference between the two when you add United Kingdom and Ireland (1.7% in total) in the top chart and 22.7% in the bottom?

* Finnish is .5% (top) and .6% (bottom), and that's close enough for me. Musta been a Viking on his trip to Ireland;) More likely, it was the result of my Workman / Woeterman ancestor's stay a generation in Holland.

* Where's French and German on the top chart? If my DNA is 4.1% then I'd expect something to show up, no?

* Grenada?! At .2%? Oh, now you're losing me. Or is that just a vestige of a connection between my DNA and some long ago Iberian Peninsula tryst between some ancient ancestors after the last Ice Age?

 

Thanks to Randy Seaver for paving the way and showing me it's OK to think in "long-ago" terms, and that I need to start thinking about some of this new information in terms of the Way Back machine and get informed about human migrations over many tens of thousands of years. As I read Randy's post, began to think back beyond what is now known to Mom and I about the ancestors. You can read his post here.

 

The next thing that caught my attention was the big green bar "Update Your Ancestry Survey", so I clicked there to take a survey of country of origin back to my grandparents. That was a little disappointing because I would think that anyone taking a DNA test to explore their ancestry would have a couple more generations at hand.

 

Then I slid down below the bar chart to another bar, this one turquoise color, that says "Download Diane Weintraub's Ancestry Finder Matches". Cool!! Maybe I'll find cousins here:) I downloaded and saved the spreadsheet matches and that's gonna take a while to process.

 

Then I find a small (to me) line of text near the top left that says "See How This Works" and click through. OK, here's a tutorial on this tool, and I need to spend time with it now that I have downloaded my Ancestry Finder Matches. Frankly, should have started here first.

 

There's also a line of text promising "Show Advanced Controls" and who doesn't like to play with advanced controls? That shifts the results too. I find that you can click on the line so I click on Ireland and now can see where my Irish genes are and on which chromosomes. That's fun. Then I notice there's a check box that says "Only show segments that belong to public individuals" and click there. I can mouse over a chromosome segment and up pops the match box of a possible "cousin". It's of course left to me to discover where we connect. Here's that screen and I'm loving it!

 

Have blocked out this guy's name for privacy.

 

This is probably too DNA-geeky for most and by now I've likely lost plenty of readers. Sorry... got carried away. You'll see when you get your test results back;)

 

Anyone else in haplogroup H3? I want to find out more about my haplogroup! And what the heck is a haplogroup anyway? So much to discover, so much fun:)

 

 

Photo of the Day from the Archive:

 

The two photos above were taken in 1986 when Mom, Dad and I went to Ireland to discover our roots and a couple of pubs. Mom found my 2nd GGF's tombstone in St. Michael's Cemetery, Frostburg, Allegany County, Maryland and saw that he was born in Shannonbridge Ireland, Clonmacnoise Parrish in 1828. If that wasn't on his tombstone we never would have made it here to the historic site of Clonmacnoise right on the beautiful Shannon River.

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/03/dna-monday-countries-of-ancestry-tool.html

 



Sentimental Sunday: The Sunday Drive

Our little bungalow in a suburb of Cleveland, home during those Wonder Bread years.

(Photo taken in 2007.)

 

What is it about Sunday, the Day of Rest, that gets us remembering stuff? Maybe we simply pause to consider and give ourselves a moment to take it all in, and for me it feels that way. A Sunday tradition in our family was getting in the car and taking a drive. How about you, did your family do that too? Of course we can all have a good chuckle at the price of gas back then! And there was a live person called a service station attendant to pump it for you, check the oil and clean the windows! Hard to believe now:)

The tradition for our family started a long time ago, and maybe even before I was born right after WWII when gas rationing ended. When I was a young it was common practice to go to church, eat Sunday dinner, clean up and hop in the car. I had no say in where we went but that was fine and I loved the surprise of it. Mom and I would inhabit the back seat if a grandparent was going with us. Mom tells of how Grandpop Kelly loved a drive and when I was an infant she'd put me in the back seat to nap and we'd all drive somewhere. Grandpop would see something, get excited, and yell out, "Look, Gin! Look at that!!" (Mom's name is Virginia but back then a lot of people called her Gin or Ginny.) And of course I'd wake up when he shouted.

As the seasons changed the drive route would too. In spring we'd find daffodils and tulips in people's yards and look for blooming fruit trees. Then out in the country we'd go look for wildflowers. It's still one of my very favorite things to do, look for wildflowers. Now my trusty guide to San Diego county wildflowers is a permanent resident of the front seat.

In summer we could wind up anywhere! A lake, a forest, a park to picnic. I remember a Sunday drive to a Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome. (Just goodled this and find it was probably the ASM Headquarters.) That was fun.

But fall was my absolute favorite when the leaves on maple trees changed and were aglow in orange and red. We were living in Ohio in a suburb of Cleveland so there were plenty of healthy maple trees to entertain us including one beauty in our front yard.

Of course winter meant holiday lights on houses so we'd sometimes go out later when it started to get dark looking for the best house with the most lights. After a snow, and Dad was a good driver on snow, off we'd go all bundled up to see what nature had done. When I was old enough to drive, one Sunday after a snow Dad took me out to an empty shopping center parking lot. He put me in the driver's seat and told me to floor it. When we spun out he then explained what had happened and how to steer into the turn to get control back. Cool!

For years there was a place stuck in my memory bank that no one else remembered, a place we'd drive to on a winter's night to see the lighting display put on by the electric company. It was a beautiful park setting anytime of year but when the lights were on in winter with the snow all around it was pure magic for this kid! But no one else remembered a thing about it. For a long time I thought maybe I dreamed it up... but I could remember the name of the place clearly enough: Nela Park. I googled as soon as Google became a thing and no Nela Park. Then magically one day it was there! The listings and photos on Google Image gallery witnessed what I remembered. If you want to see Nela Park click here!

Yes, Sunday rides were really nice. Here's hoping you had some similar memories too.

The year is 1956 and that's Grandpop Kelly and my baby brother.

I'm holding him on my lap sitting on the front steps to our little bungalow in the Cleveland Burbs.

You can see Dad taking the photo in the reflection on the front storm door window.

 

 

Sentimental Sunday is a lovely topic from Geneabloggers , and I thank them for this blogging prompt!


The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/03/sentimental-sunday-sunday-drive.html

Surname Saturday: Myers (With One "e")

Many bloggers use Surname Saturday as a blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers. It's giving me a total genealogy work out and with summer swimsuit season coming... oh never mind. But it's the same thing, kinda, because as I go through the weeks the holes and errors present themselves. Plus, and because Mom did 99.9% of the work on the tree, it is my opportunity to work my way through her accumulated data and gain an even deeper familiarity with it.

This week we continue through Generation 5, taking the women one by one, and now it's time to view what we know about Mary Myers' ancestry. She has an interesting pedigree and I'll flesh out most of it for you even though to do so means reaching out on a branch or two. See, one of the aspects of doing this exercise that tickles me is trying to give you a more detailed picture of who these people were, and are to me.

So let's get on with it! Here's Mary Myers and her ancestors. And this week I'm putting parenthesis around the years for clarity. At first I did and then I didn't, but now I think I do.

1. Diane Kelly Weintraub

2. Francis Patrick " Pat" Kelly (1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams, that's Mom, living and loving it!

4. John Lee "Lee" Kelly (1892 - 1969)
5. Helen Gertrude Zeller Kelly (1894 - 1985)

8. Francis Patrick Kelly (1854 - 1923)
9. Christiana Eckhart (1861 - 1932)

18. John Eckhart (1831 - 1917)

19. Mary Myers Eckhart (1837 - 1909)
To see the post on the Eckhart line visit here.
John Eckhart was born 5 Nov 1831 in Eckhart, Allegany, Maryland and died 5 Mar 1917 in the same place. He married Mary Myers on 22 Apr 1859 in Allegany County, Maryland. She was his second wife whom he wed after Rebecca O'Brien died in 1856. He came from a long landed family with an interesting past and would have been known to all who lived in the town named for his ancestor, Eckhart, Allegany, Maryland.
Mary Myers was born 20 Mar 1837 in Frederick County, Maryland and died 30 Oct 1909 in Eckhart, Allegany, Maryland. Her father, Jacob was transferred to Cumberland and it was likely there that John and Mary met and were wed. In the 1860 US census he's working as a railroad hand and living in Lonaconing, Allegheny, Maryland. In the 1880 census he and the family at living in Eckhart, now called Eckhart Mines, and working as a miner, and that would be coal miner. My GGM Christiana Eckhart, has made an appearance and is 18. (Right, I can't find them in the 1870 census, a task on the to do list.) He stays in the same place until his death in 1917. John outlived Mary as she died in 1909.
They had the following children:
9. Christiana Eckhart (1861 - 1932)
Maggie L. Eckhart (1864 - ????). She married William Rechter.
Rachael Eckhart (1865 - 1940), who married Thomas W. Gracie, and then at his passing in 1909 in a horrible mining accident, she married Robert Strathan.
John Thomas Eckhart (1867 -1917). He married Rachael Pengilly.
Mary Catherine Eckhart (1868 - ????).

38. Jacob Myers (1789 - 1852)
39. Christiana Newans (1811 - 1865)
They had these children:
Margaret Myers (1835 - ????)
19. Mary Myers Eckhart (1837 - 1909)
Chrissie Myers ( about 1840 - ????)
Thomas F. Myers (1841 - before 1920)
Laura Myers (1845 - ????)
Now that you can see the line-up of kids, here's something about Thomas F. Myers, and you can read the book he most likely wrote himself and had published on the tab above, The Ancestral History of Thomas F. Myers. Thomas was the brother of Mary Myers Eckhart. This little book has been proven to have errors but those mistakes were not known to Thomas F. Myers at the time he had it printed. I just reread it more closely and plucked out even more clues to the Myers line. It all needs to be investigated, to be sure, but I'll tell you what it says.
About Jacob Myers:
* Served in the War of 1812
* At 9 years of age, shook George Washington's hand when Jacob told Washington where an old soldier lived.
* Was the sheriff of Frederick County, Maryland.
* Was the stage agent for a stage line (named but illegible to me due to paper burn) that ran from Frederick to Cumberland, Allegany, Maryland.
* He was transferred to Cumberland.
As I say, it all needs to be investigated, but this was Thomas F. and Mary's father so there's a basis for him knowing.

And now the information gets a little sketchy. What I'm going to include here comes from the book printed by Thomas F. Myers and needs to be proven, but what the hey, let's live on the wild side! Notice that I have no numbers for these as they have not yet been posted to Mom's Big Tree because we don't know for sure.

Peter Myers (???? - 1825)
Mary Hughes or possibly Hibbs (???? - ????)
I went ahead and posted this information on Mom's Ancestry Big Tree as a test, just to see what leaves would pop up. That's why I added Hibbs as a surname for Peter's wife. Told ya' this was sketchy.
Here's what The Ancestral History of Thomas F. Myers recorded about Peter.
About Peter Myers:
* Peter is the one son who made his escape during the Indian massacre (see below).
* Was "bound out" as a servant when parents were killed.
* Became a tailor early on.
* Was a scout and Indian fighter.
* Helped build Fort Frederick in Maryland.
* Served in the Revolutionary War in the Maryland Line.
* Wounded at the Battle of Brandywine.
* Wounded again at the Battle of Monmouth.
* In old age, lost his fortune after the money from the sale of his farm proved worthless.
* Died penniless.
Wow! That's a lot of real juicy information right there ready for research. But it needs to be checked out real well. Much work for later.

"Indian Fighter" Myers (????-????)
Unknown wife
Are you ready? Here's what The Ancestral History of Thomas F. Myers had to say about Indian Fighter Myers who was Thomas' GGF.
* His tract of land was shown on old charts and maps as a "manor".
* Fought the Indians in the Wyoming Valley in the "Indian War".
* Killed seven Indians in a fight to the death with a double sided axe.
* The Indians offered a "ransom" for him dead or alive. (Bounty?)
* His wife was a "half-breed Indian" of the Shawnee tribe.
* During an Indian raid, his house was surrounded. His family, except for Peter, was killed and "Indian Fighter" was bound as a prisoner and later killed.
* Peter "made his escape" during this episode and hid in the brush and thus saved.
Gosh, Grandma Kelly always told me I was descended from an Indian princess;) Well she did, but no one ever took that seriously. And I guess that now that I have my DNA results back, which you can see here and below, neither do I. If the story was that the wife of "Indian Fighter" was Sub-Saharan African I think we'd have a match. But maybe she was:)

As you can see, the last two generation are very dramatic but do need checking! That will be fun.

9. Christiana Eckhart (1861 - 1932)

18. John Eckhart (1831 - 1917)

19. Mary Myers Eckhart (1837 - 1909)

23and Me Ancestry by Composition Report for me.

No Indian Princess. Too bad, Grandma Kelly.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/03/surname-saturday-myers-with-one-e.html

The Creative Process: A Derivative Work

 

In art, a derivative work is a work of art based in part or in whole on a previously existing work of art, usually a famous one. It's also called "referencing" and the assumption is that the artist is going to reference a well known work such as the Mona Lisa otherwise no one will "get it." The derivative work is allowed to stand without copyright infringement because the artist who made the derivative work has enhanced or expounded on the original and not simply made a copy of it.

Bear with me here as I review the various types of artistic copying because it relates to a discussion on one of the genealogy boards of late about putting your tree and information out in the world. And I have to confess that I feel a tad sheepish about this post because I'm just a beginning intermediate genealogist and there's so much I don't know and haven't been exposed to. But, it could be a topic/issue worth discussing and so here you have it, and my rather stretched analogy to the world of art. I hope no one, especially the most experienced amongst us, is offended:)

There are two additional categories of art that stand on the tall shoulders of the work of others. Have you ever been to a museum and seen an artist in front of a painting making a copy? That's a copyist and you hardly see them anymore. Used to be that any artist could waltz into a big museum with their painting equipment and plunk it down in front of a famous painting and start making a copy, but not now and you can imagine why. Being a copyist is a legitimate way to learn and the old French ecoles of long past insisted that students do their fair share of copying. In this situation the artist has no right to offer the work for sale under any conditions and to do so is a violation of all that is respectable in art. (And there is at present a lot in the art world that is not respectable.)

There's also another way a painter honors the work of a master painter and that's by copying their master's painting and titling it "Landscape, After Rembrandt." In this way there is no doubt that the lovely scene the viewer is gazing upon isn't a real Rembrandt, nor is it the original work of the person who signed the painting. This route is often taken by students of a living master and with the master's permission, although I have seen contemporary works "after" long dead masters. That's considered poor form and totally unprofessional. To title a work "after", the guy who painted the original must give you permission to make a copy and critique your work, otherwise it's just a cheezy painting.

Then there's plain and simple ripping off and copyright violation. Artists learn from a young age what constitutes copyright violation as regards derivative work. If you do it, it can ruin your career and your bank account as you try to defend yourself through the legal process. Here's a blog post by a painter friend of mine, Denise Rich (not the socialite) who paints cows, and boy is she good, about her run-in with someone who was not honoring her work by copying but simply co-opting her image to make a profit.

OK, so now back to genealogy. The discussion on a genealogy board that got me thinking about derivative work was about bait trees, or trees posted to a web site to attract legitimate interested parties, A.K.A. "cousins", or to lay in wait with erroneous information for data thieves. If copied, the trees with purposeful errors will show the copyist's slovenly ways to all who care to look.

Some of the discussion also lamented the scarcity of those who were willing to collaborate (honorably) and share work and credit. I get that. I feel bad for genealogists who have gone before and posted their fine work only to have it stolen by others without a bit of credit where credit was decidedly due. No respect.

I have no answers here, and maybe I should have told you that at the start so you could have decided if you wanted to waste your time or not. Sorry, truly. But this is a problem, I think. And maybe it would be nice for those with some years under their belts doing this work to give it a think, and perhaps they have and I've just not run into it yet. In all the fields and work spaces in our genealogy program, and correct me if I'm wrong, there isn't a place to sign the work, a place to say who found information and that source. We know how to cite sources (I'm working on it) but how do we "sign" our trees? Maybe we just assume that putting the tree online under your name is enough, but what happens when that work is copied?

We're all told is to do our own work and start all over again at the beginning with a new tree and research every last detail and cite our sources well. That is an excellent way to learn. However, the body of human knowledge, I think, generally does not benefit much from this approach... but I see no other route for people to take when doing genealogy: it's not ethical to "steal" a tree and precious few are willing to share. "Got mine, go get your own." If only we could build on what others have done in some organized acceptable way then we could spend our efforts moving along. Maybe this will be the beauty part of the FamilySearch Family Tree?

Maybe if we could "sign" our work in some fashion we'd be happier to share it, and I think sharing the work is where we all benefit most. If we share the work then presumably good drives out bad as the work gets checked and rechecked. Open source seems the way to go: sign the work, give the trees out and let the chips fall where they may as we stand behind what we did and are happy to be updated and corrected. If I knew who originally found that piece of info and where they found it, and that the finder's name was attached to that place on the tree then I could honor that person... or that person's memory.


Photo of the Day from the Archive:

Eckhart Cemetery in Eckhart Mines, Allegany, Maryland.

Many of my ancestors are buried here. Some day I have to make a list!

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-creative-process-derivative-work.html