Take a Trip to the Cemetery to find Family History

Originally published in Niagara Gazette & Lockport Journal — 07/06/2019 http://www.niagara-gazette.com

Summer is here and with it comes time for hands-on cemetery research. Where your ancestors are buried can tell you so much about them and their lives. You can also learn what was important to them. Is your ancestor buried in a church cemetery? They were likely involved in a faith community. If they were buried in a family cemetery, consider that it was very likely part of family land at one time.

As a research tool, cemeteries are crucial for building a family tree. Grave markers are a direct connection to our ancestors’ lives and may have clues, literally, written in stone. There is so much more to cemetery research than just the names and dates on the gravestones. Look around to see who is buried near your ancestors. It’s likely you will find connections which may lead you to break down a brick wall within your family history. Here are some basics that you need to know.

Check death certificates, obituaries and funeral home records to identify the cemetery where your ancestor is buried. Also, look at close relatives of your ancestor. If you’ve located where their sibling is buried reach out to the cemetery office and inquire about others with the same surname. Keep in mind that where your ancestor lived may not be the same place they died, and vice versa.

Once you have the name of the cemetery you’ll need to locate it. Findagrave.com and Billiongraves.comallow users to search for cemeteries around the world. On the Findagrave.com home page you can search by an ancestor’s name, cemetery name or by location. The map view shows the exact location should you want to visit in person. Billiongraves.com allows users to collect photos of headstones and upload them to their site by using a phone camera app. Once uploaded the photo is tagged with the GPS location and becomes available to all users. (I located an ancestor’s tombstone in Italy through this site!)

Now that you’re ready to explore, organization is key. With that said, repeat after me… it is not weird to have a graveyard kit. Mine includes: A plastic pail, scissors and a trowel, wet wipes, garden gloves and disposable latex gloves (I like clean hands), insect repellent (Lyme disease is no joke, people!), cemetery map with grave location marked (call during office hours and they will have them waiting for you!), masking tape (for when your spouse complains), rags, flashlight, cheap aluminum foil, whisk broom, notebook and pen, plastic grocery bags (I like clean knees too!), drinking water, water jug that can easily be refilled, sunscreen, soft toothbrush and old shoes. Obviously keep your phone charged and handy, not only for taking photos but for your safety. With safety in mind, it’s best to have a partner with you. Just tell them you’re going for ice cream.

By studying tombstones, we can discover facts about an ancestor such as hobbies, occupations, organizations, family members’ names and military service. They may also include cause of death. While visiting a Boston cemetery, I located a tombstone showing a man pinned under the wheels of a cart pulled by running horses, a tragic event memorialized for eternity. Even the nearby plantings may be symbolic; oak trees represent strength while weeping willows are the symbolic tree of sadness. Looking closely, you may see symbols that held greater meaning in a time when many people didn’t know how to read. Photograph the stones and notice the carvings, initials and symbols. A Google search can easily decipher these.

Planning a cemetery field trip is a wonderful way to learn more and pay your respects to previous generations. I consider cemeteries sacred ground where tombstones stand as monuments to an ancestor’s life filled with rich genealogical details just waiting to be unearthed.

If you have a story to share or an idea for a future column, feel free to reach out to me at noellasdaughter@gmail.com.

Carol DiPirro-Stipkovits is the President of the Niagara County Genealogical Society and a member of the National Genealogical Society. She has been doing family research for more than 15 years and blogs at noellasdaughter.com.

Unraveling female ancestors’ history

Originally published in Niagara Gazette & Lockport Journal — 05/12/2019 http://www.niagara-gazette.com

Beatrice LaPlante, Antoinette LaPlante, Marie Louise (Boulerice) LaPlante, Therese (LaPlante) Cote, Marie LaPlante, Euphemie LaPlante

Recently, I found an old photograph; six women dressed in their Sunday best. Each woman has expressive eyes reflecting wisdom, hope and maybe even a little sadness. Names in pencil on the back tell me I’ve found my young grandmother, my great-grandmother and four grand aunts. What stories they each must have to share, what they must have seen and done in their lives! I’m excited as I start my journey recreating each of their histories, but sadly, my research hits a brick wall once they marry.

If you’ve done any family research, you understand the difficulty in tracing female ancestors. Unlike men who were well documented throughout their lives, women can seem to disappear after marrying or even worse, re-marrying an unknown spouse. It can feel near impossible. Here are some tips to help guide you.

Avoid making assumptions-Don’t fall into the “she was just a housewife” myth. You might be surprised to find what she was involved in during her lifetime. Although many wives didn’t work outside their home, you will find them involved in the school PTA, volunteering for the Red Cross, or heading a committee at church. A newspaper search on a site like http://www.fultonhistory.com is very useful for female research. Remember, if she’s married, using a husband’s name or initials in a search may be more fruitful than using her own first name. I recently found an ancestor who won a recipe contest with a sardine salad beating out second place of, you guessed it…braised tongue! 

Let history be your guide-Creating a timeline of historical events that took place during their lives can shed invaluable perspective and help identify cause-and-effect situations. For instance, you might find that the Great Depression or World War II propelled your mother or grandmother into the work force. Widows of war had to provide details about their own life when applying for a pension after their husband’s death. If an ancestor was in the military, details about the wife may be found in pension records.

Focus on the men-In the 20^th century, much of a man’s history was preserved in documents. A woman’s, not so much. Look for your female ancestors in records of her husband, father, brothers and other men in her life. Widen your search to include neighbors (check the census!) and other relatives outside her immediate family. She may show up as a godparent or in-law. Witnesses named on family marriage licenses, naturalization papers and baptismal records may be related as well.

Look closer at male-dominated records-A woman may not have been able to sell land on her own, but she could (and often did) appear in deed books alongside her husband. Be on the lookout for “…between Robert Maddocks and his wife June, and John Smith. It may not give the maiden name, but even just a first name can help. A man would often name his wife, minor and married daughters, and even daughters-in-law in his estate.

Hunt for headstones– An ancestor’s headstone read, “Loving wife and mother of seven dedicated to helping those less fortunate”. This clue led me to begin a newspaper search where I found her volunteering at a local orphanage. Not only do gravestones provide family relationships, maiden names, dates of birth and death; they can also give a peek into who they were while alive. Emblems on headstones can reveal religious beliefs and memberships. Epitaphs may also reveal a wide range of details about our female ancestor’s life.

I urge you to take the time to unravel the brave and inspiring histories of our female ancestors. By piecing their stories together, you’ll become inspired by the Moms and Aunts who may not be famous but whose contributions have a left a mark on generations of women after them. Happy Mother’s Day!

Carol DiPirro-Stipkovits is President of the Niagara County Genealogical Society. She has been doing family research for 17 years and blogs at http://www.niagaracountygenealogy.wordpress.com.

Seeing your family as part of history

Originally published in Niagara Gazette & Lockport Journal — 01/13/2019 http://www.niagara-gazette.com

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“If you don’t know history, you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it’s part of a tree” – Michael Crichton

I’ve always had a keen interest in history. In my earliest days of doing family history research, as most genealogists will tell you, it’s all about dates. Date of birth, date of death, date of marriage, etc. But as the years went on, I began to merge the dates I’d been collecting with a historical timeline of events in human history and I began seeing my family as part of history rather than just facts on a chart.

My mother, born in Canada, was French-Canadian. The records kept by Catholic churches are phenomenal, I can date my Mother’s lines back to the founders of New France (early Canada) and beyond, into France. I’d decided to focus on adding some color (aka stories) to the branches of my tree. Trying to go beyond facts can be a challenge as most family stories are passed down spoken, rather than in written form.

With this goal in mind, I began reading The Ursulines of Quebec, From Their Establishment Until Our Days, Volume 1 (a little light reading!) looking for any recognizable names and came upon a story about Anne Baillargeon, my eighth Great Aunt. Historical notes explained that tensions were high in New France between European settlers and the Iroquois in 1660: ‘“The Iroquois, situated along the Huron and the Isle d’Orléans, had massacred several French families and taken several prisoners. One of these captives was Anne Baillargeon, a nine-year-old girl. She was taken to their lands, and remained nearly 9 years. She learned the customs of these savages, and she resolved to spend the rest of her life with them.

When Marquis de Tracy (a French military commander) required the Iroquois to surrender all the French that they were holding captive, she withdrew into the woods, fearing to return to her country.

Although she thought she was safely hidden, a nun appeared to her and threatened to punish her if she did not return with the French. This new fear prompted her to leave the woods and join the other captives that had been freed. Upon her return, Marquis de Tracy paid tuition for her to resume the path of Catholic religion and values and be readjusted in the French way of life at the Ursuline convent in Quebec. Upon arriving she saw a painting of the former head of the convent, Mère Marie de Saint-Joseph (who had died in 1652) and cried: “Ah! There she is! She is this one I was talking about (apparently the vision in the woods), and she had the same habit.” – from letters of Mother Mary of the Incarnation to the Ursulines de Tours.

I was thrilled to find a story about an ancestor but after making notes on it, I began to realize that this story only exists still, I believe, because of her ‘vision’ in the woods. Without that, this wonderful piece of history would be lost to time. “It only takes three generations to lose a piece of oral family history”, says Aaron Holt of the National Archives, which could explain why we know very little about the personal lives of our great-grandparents.

So, with the new year, join me in focusing on adding memories to our family trees by asking the question, “What will my greatgrandchildren wish I had left?”

Each of us have stories we tell, stories we’ve been told and stories we may not share openly, but should be recorded. Let’s make sure we leave those who come after with their own history, which will connect them to what they are taught in school.

Carol DiPirro-Stipkovits is president of the Niagara County Genealogical Society. She has been doing family research for more than 15 years and blogs at www.noellasdaughter.com.