Muriel Ince Michaels, Age 42

Muriel Ince Michaels, Age 42, photo in collection of Ernest Ince, in possession of Regina Ince Michaels, ca. 1955, image created by Dave Michaels, 2016.

Indexing and Transcription Opportunities for Genealogists

So, who wants more free genealogy records online?

Who wants to find them, transcribe them, build the database to host them, and pay to maintain them?

I think we're all a little guilty of this. Whether it's because we simply don't know about all of the opportunities available, or we think we don't have the necessary skills required, or we're just feeling too lazy/busy/set in our ways to help. We've all made the excuses. But there's no time like the present to jump in and lend a helping hand!

Records are unsearchable, and therefore invisible, until they are transcribed, tagged, and indexed. If we want things to be free and searchable, we need to be part of the cost cutting measures. And the repositories who are already taking on the bulk of this free access burden need our help with the most time consuming part. It's the single greatest contribution we can make to a record collection. Why wouldn't we share the skills we've accumulated as genealogists to help institutions across the globe to provide better records access to all of us? If we aren't part of the solution, we're part of the problem.

Check your favorite repositories--local, state, regional, and national--to see what they need from you. If you come across, sponsor, or need volunteers for any transcribing projects, add them in comments!

These are the ones I've come across so far just through Google searching, my own research, and reaching out on social media.

International/National Projects:

• Family Search Indexing
• Ancestry.com - World Archives Project
• US National Archives - Citizen Archivist
• Smithsonian Institute Records Transcription
• World Memory Project - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Colored Conventions - African American State Convention Minutes and Records
• Europeana - Transcribe 1914-1918 (Note: the website appears to be in German. Google Translate provides a partial rendering. If there is an option to select an English version of the website, I couldn't find one)
• Candian Great War Project - War Diaries Transcription
• National Archives of Australia - HIVE
• The Atlas of Living Australia - Field Journals and Historical Documents
• UK National Archives - click Current Opportunities
• Operation War Diary - British Forces of WWI
• Zooniverse - Provide digitization service for various repositories, including those of historical, cultural, or scientific interest.
• New York Public Library Map Warper - Align images of historic maps to current areas (Note: Watch the video tutorial on the left to see how to use the map rectification tool. Map database includes maps throughout the United States and countries throughout the globe)
• Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800 - through George Mason University

State (US):

• Library of Virginia - Making History
• State Library and Archives of North Carolina - Vertical Files
• Moravian Church Archives - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
• Congregational Library and Archives - Boston, Massachusetts
• New York Public Library - Community Oral History Project
• Maryland State Archives - Newspaper Transcription (Note: click through to any of the newspaper images, and the links to view transcriptions and transcribe will be at the top of the page.)
• University of Iowa - DIY History (Note: Current projects may be selected under the Transcribe by Topic drop down menu at the top of the page)

There are certainly more projects available out there than just these. So please, let us know when you find them. 

The research you help by giving back may just be your own!

Homecoming: A Complete List of Doyle Siblings

Life as a genealogist really has not been the same since I took my AncestryDNA test. The connections I'm making to other relatives, including distant cousins, is proving to be so invaluable. We're able to solve mysteries better together than we can apart. Nowhere has that been more apparent than when I reached out to a distant Doyle cousin of mine named Mary Wynn Haupt.

By the time she and I connected, we understood plainly that our common ancestors were James P. Doyle (1851-1936) and Cora A. Lovelace (1861-1901), both of North Carolina. I was able to share quite a bit of information, as well as original source documents and photos, which I'm always happy to do. She in return has provided invaluable insight regarding many missing children from this family, including the daughter of James and Cora from whom she descends.

The confusion begins with the missing 1890 census. Because this was the only census on which James and Cora would have appeared together with the majority of their children (especially their daughters) at home, finding the names of all the children has been a continual research project of mine for many years. I've known I was missing several children for that long because of columns 11 and 12 on the 1900 census.

1900 U.S. census, Rockingham County, North Carolina, population schedule, Huntsville Township, p. 17-A (stamped),  dwelling 302, family 303, James P. Doyle and Cora Lovelace family; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 June 2016); citing NARA Microfilm Roll: T623_1215.

You'll see that James and Cora appear on this census record with four of their children: Margaret, Cora, William, and Calvin. According to column 11, by 1900 Cora had given birth to 8 children. Column 12 reveals that 7 of these children were still living at that time. As Mary Wynn and I pieced together the children for whom we had records, the breakdown was as follows:

1. A C Doyle (1878- ?)
2. Charles Miller Doyle (1879-1942), my ancestor
3. Frances Doyle Moore (1882-1961), her ancestor
4. Sarah Margarett Doyle (1888-1901)
5. William James Doyle (1892-1969)
6. Cora Alice Doyle (1893-1973)
7. Calvin Dewey Doyle (1899-1979)
8. Lula Mae Doyle (1901-1976)

Because Lula Mae Doyle was born in 1901, she doesn't count towards the children enumerated in the 1900 census. Between us we were able to find seven of James and Cora's children. We were still missing one. And based on the information we had, we also didn't know which one was deceased before 1900. With what we were looking for clearly defined, we outlined some things we could try to find the information we needed.

Mrs. Fannie Moore obituary,
undated clipping from unidentified newspaper,
papers of  Grandma Becky, ca. 1961,
image created by Mary Wynn Haupt, 2016.

Life got busy for both of us, as it so often does. Until today, when I heard from her again via email. She had great news to tell me.

She had found the missing Doyle sibling! Listed in her ancestor's obituary from 1961 were the names of her five living siblings:

1. Mrs. Walter Puckett of Martinsville, VA
2. Mrs. Ben Hundley of Leaksville, NC
3. Mrs Ernest Smith of South Boston, VA
4. Will Doyle of Greensboro, NC
5. Dewey Doyle of Greensboro, NC

Mrs. Ernest Smith was a name she hadn't recognized, and she did some digging. Before long, she discovered that the full maiden name of the sibling we were searching for was Etta Florence Doyle (1891-1972). My cousin sent me a copy of the obituary in question, as well as a record of Etta's marriage she had found online at Ancestry.com. 

From there, we were also able to find a Find a Grave entry, a Virginia death certificate, and her appearance on the 1940 US population schedule of the census.

After adding the information for Etta into my Ancestry tree, I also added it to the universal tree on FamilySearch. As I did so, the duplicate screening revealed that someone has already created a record for Etta Florence Doyle Smith. She was not connected to her parents, and the descendant in question appears to have dead-ended with her. And thanks to the FamilySearch messaging system, we'll be able to reach out to whomever it is and let them know that we've made this connection.

All of this began with a single DNA test. I'd reached the end of what my research experience and information would allow me to piece together. I needed additional information that was not to be found. By reaching out to my cousin, we've been able to find the lost siblings of this family.

In a very real way, it feels like a very sweet homecoming--a triumph over the dispersed, forgotten, and unknown.