www.itowler.com - Ian's Home on the web

Every year I set a few goals for the year, and often time, goals about my family tree are in the works.  In the past I have been more concerned about "growing" the tree based on the number of individuals alone, but this year I am also looking to improve the "Quality" of the tree, by increasing the number and use of sources in the tree.  Previously, it was easy to discern if I had met my goal, just record the number of Individuals that I had before the year started, and compare to the number I have at the end of the year.  This year, I will be looking at more than just the number of individuals that are added, so I need to record more data at the start of the year.  This post is intended to do that.  With that said lets get started.

These three individuals are really giving me problems.  These three are all that stand in the way to me proving Thomas Arbuckle as a patriot for myself and the NSSAR as well as my mother and grandmother for the NSDAR.  I am looking for any and all information that can be credibly sourced to help me document these Individuals.

Here is what I know:

• James Arbuckle: Born: 1769. Died 1845 in Rush County, Indiana. Married Susannah Bland. Shows up on the 1840 US Census records in Bartholomew County, Indiana.  Son to Thomas Arbuckle.  Father to John Arbuckle (Below)
• John Arbuckle: Born: 1788.  Died 1853 in Washington County, Indiana.  Married Margaret "Peggy" Stucker.  Shows up in the 1840 & 1850 US Census records Bartholomew County, Indiana.  Father to James Arbuckle (Below, I know...name recycling can cause some confusion....)
• James Arbuckle: Born: 10 Oct 1816. Died 02 July 1883 in Bartholomew County, Indiana.  Married Henrietta louisa Spaugh (Spach).  Shows up in the 1850 & 1860 US Census records in Bartholomew County, Indiana.  Father to Martin Arbuckle.

These lineages are commonly accepted, but I have yet to run across any sort of document that can offer an sort of proof.  I have proved that James Arbuckle (1769) is the son of Thomas Arbuckle.  I have proved that Martin Arbuckle is the son of James Arbuckle (1816).  But I still need help proving that:

Where in the world did this happen?

I have to thank Mr. Dick Eastman for pointing this out, but it appears that Ancestry.com will be making the images and index to the 1940 US Census free for all to access.  According to a statement released yesterday (17 Aug 2011) on their "Corporate Blog" (which you can find here) Ancestry.com States: "Ancestry.com is committing to make the 1940 Census free from release through to the end of 2013, and by doing so hopes to help more people get started exploring their family history.  As this census will be the most recent to be made publicly available, it represents the best chance for those new to family history to make that all-important first discovery." 

For me this is big news, as I have dropped my Ancestry.com membership and had talked (here) about joining again for the 1940 census records.  Looks like I may not have to do that.  

So I have to admit, I knew this was coming, but today, Ancestry.com made it official.  NSSAR applications and lineage documents have been digitized by Ancestry.com and are now included as part of Ancestry.com's extensive collection.  For a short period of time (Until July 4th), there will be "Free" access to the records.  What is not really advertised is that this is not all of the applications, but rather all of the applications up to about 1970 or so.  I am not sure on the exact date, but you get the idea.

The documents are not what I would consider "primary sources" but they can offer some great clues.  To become a member you must be able to trace your family tree back to a point of having an ancestor who supported the cause of American Independence during the years 1774-1783.  You then will need to "Prove" each generation with a document (Census record, Family Bible etc.) and list those "Proofs".  This information is included on the applications, so they are a great source of information and could potentially identify a new source for you.

So I have been working on the family tree site a bit lately, and I have made a few changes.  Some of the changes are minor and some are not.  To start with, I have changed the theme to one that suits my liking a little better.  

I have also worked on the "landing page" or Homepage of the site by adding a few new items.  The first thing that I added was a "Welcome and Hello" block.  I am not sure why it never occurred to me before, but I have never had one of these up until now.  The Welcome and Hello block appears on the top left hand side of the screen, and features a Towler / Toler crest.   It explains a bit about the site and what is going on.  One of the features I like about the block is that I have it setup to show you the most recent "numbers" for the family tree, I.e. how many families, Individuals etc.  These are dynamically (automatically when there is a change) updated which is cool.

Some time ago I had my DNA tested for use in my genealogy research, and I have even blogged about it in the past (Here, Here, Here and Here).  I used familytreedna.com for my testing and they offer 4 levels of Y Chromosome testing, 12, 25, 37, and 67 marker testing.  The more markers, the more detailed the "picture" you can get.  At the time in 2008 when I had my testing done, there were not that many Toler / Toller / Towler's that had completed the DNA testing.  Three years later, in March of 2011 there are still not that Toler / Towler / Toller's that have taken the test.  When you first signup with familytreedna.com they ask if you would like to share your results with others, including those you may not know.  If you elect to share, every time that someone takes the test and has results that are a close match to you, you are notified by familytreedna.com.  I have taken the full Y-67 DNA panel test and recently I just got notified about some more matches.  

I have been doing genealogy for around 6 years now, and one of the most important tools in my research has been the internet.  One important aspect of the internet is the ability to get to sites like ancestry.com or Footnote.com at any time of the day, as long as I have an internet connection.  Another aspect of the internet as a tool for genealogy is the ability to share and get the word out.

This year I will not be renewing my Ancestry.com membership.  Partly because of the Expense, but mostly because I am not using it enough to justify the cost of roughly 160.00 (or a little more than 13.00 a month).  I currently have a backlog of items to get done on my own Familytree site, and I have a toddler in the house, so extra time for using Ancestry.com is not likely.

It Happens over and over again, you catch the genealogy bug and you are itching to get started.  In the rush to get started, you add people to your tree, but you forget to add source information.  Ideally every single person in your tree will have at least one source record, indicating where you got the information on the person.  Dates of birth, dates of death, marriage, Census information all should have source information attached.