Organize at the Scene

While researching on the recent trip to Albany, New York, I photographed lots of indexes of births, marriages, and deaths from the microfiche reader.  The top of each page listed the event type (birth, marriage, or death) and the year, but not the state.  If the desired information was near the bottom of the page, the heading was not visible.

New York State Death Index for the year 1926
on microfiche at the New York State Archives in Albany

New York State Death Index for the year 1911

A simple organizational trick eliminated confusion later.  I hand-wrote the year, type of event, and state on a piece of paper and included the information in each snapshot.  You do not want to have a great entry but no idea of its source.

Amanuensis Monday: Doolittle and Porter of Connecticut

Transcription of Family Notes found in family file for BISHOP at The New York State Library in Albany.

Chauncey Andrews Doolittle born Dec. 28, 1877

Married May 25, 1910, in Meriden, Conn, Edith E Porter.

Children:

Lawrence Porter born Mar. 15, 1911.

Henry Andrews born Apr. 23, 1912.

Lois Edith born May 24, 1913.

Ruth Helen born Sept. 26, 1914.

Dorothy Margaret born Dec. 30, 1915.

Raymond Chauncey born May 31, 1919.

Robert Everett born Feb. 10, 1921.

Harry Stevens born Mar. 10, 1922.

 

Harry Burton Johnson born Feb. 21, 1904.  [Maybe Brenton or Benton]

Ruth Mary 1897.

1930 United State Federal Census
Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut
Ancestry.com

Family Files at Albany

A gem to find in any library or depository is a family file.  The New York State Library at Albany houses boxes of research deposited over the decades, oftentimes not indexed or otherwise accounted for, I was told on the tour.  Contents of the files varies greatly from self-published genealogies to newspaper clippings and family bibles.  Records end up deposited at the Library for a number of reasons, such as the family historian last living in the Albany area, and not necessarily because the family had any ties to New York.

Boxes containing family files
New York State Library, Albany

Custer Family Genealogy
Self-published

Copy of hand-written notes and
Copy of marriage certificate from 1859
John Rorbach to Harriet Cook in Albany

Posterior of actual photograph of Elting Family Bible

Photograph of Elting Family Bible written in Dutch
Dates in the 1700s

Hand-written family notes concerning a Connecticut family including Bishop.
This family historian recorded information on whatever paper available.
I think I will transcribe this set of papers.