On Granny's Trail

Were you excited when the Wonder Woman movie hit theaters recently? I was! Like you, I was obsessed with the thought of, “What kind of records can I find for Diana Prince?” Lucky for us both, it was not as hard as one might expect for someone who was born on a magical island inhabited by Amazons and once worked as a military intelligence officer.

Not surprisingly, her military records were not easy to locate, but the “island with Amazons” story led me to uncover her super-secret life as a wife and mother—and her never-before-revealed Italian roots!

As always, the Fairy Tale Genealogist has the records to prove it! Just get a load of this Brazilian immigration document for one Vittorio Piccinini:

wonderwoman_facebook — “Brasil, Cartões de Imigração, 1900-1965,” database with images, *FamilySearch* (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KNGK-S32 : 1 December 2015), Vittorio Piccinini, Immigration; citing 1948, Arrivo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro (National Archives, Rio de Janeiro).

If your Portuguese is rusty it is still better than mine, but here is what we learn: Vittorio Piccinini, who was born in Milan, Italy in 1914, arrived in Brazil in 1948 and is the son of none other than Angelo Piccinini and Diana Principe! Of course we all know Diana Principe—later anglicised to Diana Prince—as Wonder Woman.

With Vittorio coming to Brazil there is no doubt his parents were right behind him. It is easy to see how the whole confusion about Amazons (a race of immortal super-women that lived on the magical Paradise Island) and the Amazon (a tropical rainforest that is part of Brazil) thing got started with Diana once a few publicists with over-active imaginations dicovered she had lived in Brazil. And come on, she named her kid Vittorio—Italian for conqueror!

More (silly) letters to librarians

Image• Posted on June 5, 2017June 5, 2017 by Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail"

Mining, Research tips

Was your ancestor a miner?

Posted on May 7, 2017May 7, 2017 by Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail"

Settlers had a variety of “pushes” or “pulls” that influenced them to hitch up a wagon and make the trek Out West. The 1800s was a time of unprecedented territorial growth for America, and the native peoples of the West saw an influx of settlers of every kind.

Frontier forts gave some soldiers their first glimpse of the region and they decided to settle there after their service was finished. Trappers and traders followed native trails and established trading posts utilized by other migrating groups. The Homestead Act, the end of the Civil War, and the transcontinental railroad brought waves of families looking for opportunity. Foreign countries sent colonists to stake claims in the West, and religious groups sought refuge in the region.

A lesser-known influence on the settlement of the West as a whole was the mining industry. Most people are aware of the California Gold Rush, and some may know about the Nevada Comstock Lode, but how many of these other mineral strikes are you familiar with?

1849 California
1850 Queen Charlotte, B.C.
1850 Northern Nevada
1856-1858 Arizona (silver)
1858-1961 British Columbia
1858 Cherry Creek (Denver)
1859 Pike’s Peak, Colorado
1859 Virginia City, Nevada
1860 Idaho
1863 Black Hills, Montana
1860s/1870s East. Oregon
1870’s Leadville, Colorado
1870’s – 1880’s Arizona
1890’s Silver at Creede Gold at Cripple Creek, Colorado

Mining influenced the creation of territories and states, and here’s how:

The discovery of gold, silver, copper, lead, etc. was broadcast through word of mouth or newspapers.
Miners flooded into an area
Temporary mining communities sprang up, and sometimes mining companies were created.
These settlements preceded any form of government, and they were rough places. There were mostly men, and the diversions that came along with that—saloons and brothels and such. Add to that sudden wealth in some cases and frustration in others, and the potential for crime was high. It was every man for himself, and sometimes the mining companies were the closest thing to government for solving grievances.
Military was dispatched to the area to help keep order, and then when enough people were in an area they started to want official government for protection and adjudication of problems.
Territorial governments followed along with a Court system.
More people moved into the area once territories were created.
When enough people settled in a territory a state was created.

Was your ancestor a miner? Where can you find records for him? It varies by state and county—there are no hard and fast rules. Here are a few places you might look:

Look for mining claims in deed records in county courthouses
Look for mining claims on the glorecords.blm.gov website (Bureau of Land Management)
State archives often have records of mining companies, mining districts, and mining accidents
Newspapers can be a resource for mining records, especially specialized mining newspapers
Some states have mining departments with knowledgeable personnel, indexes, and maps
Mining museums have been established in many areas, and often have libraries
Do a Google search for “[state] mining records”
NARA regional archives have some mining records

American State Papers, Archives and Libraries, Books, Family History Library, National Archives, Research tips, Territorial records, U.S. Serial Set

On the Trail of Territorial Records

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail"

The early U.S. Territorial Period was 1821-1845, but the eventual Territorial Period lasted until 1912, when Arizona and New Mexico were admitted as states.

Where can you find territorial records?

I would suggest searching the online catalogs for these types of repositories, using the search term “territorial papers.”

State archives and libraries
National Archives Regional Branches
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Do a “keyword” search for “territorial papers” in the FamilySearch online catalog.
State level genealogical and historical societies
University Special Collections in the state you are researching
Territorial records can also be found on the county level sometimes

Here is a quick guide and links to the territorial papers available at the Family History Library:

State Department territorial papers, Arizona, 1864-1872, FHL film 1580035
State Department territorial papers: Colorado series, FHL film 1464017
Territorial papers, Idaho, 1863-1872 FHL film 1580038
Territorial papers of Montana, 1864-1872, FHL films 1602228 -9
State department territorial papers, Nevada, 1861-1864 FHL film 1491200
State department territorial papers: New Mexico, 1851-1972, FHL films 1580030-33
State Department territorial papers, Utah series, FHL film 491567
Interior Department territorial papers, Utah, 1850-1902, FHL films 1602234 -9
Territorial papers of Wyoming, 1868-1873, FHL film 1602230

Here are some published finding aids for territorial records:

Kvasnicka, Robert M. The Trans-Mississippi West, 1804-1912: A Guide to Federal Records for the Territorial Period, pts. I-IV (Washington, District of Columbia : National Archives and Records Administration, c1993-1996).

Chiorazzi, Michael. Pre-Statehood Legal Materials: A Fifty-State Research Guide, including New York City and the District of Columbia, 2 volumes (New York : The Haworth Information Press, 2005).

Some other good resources are:

United States, The public statutes at large of the United States of America / by authority of Congress (Boston : Little, Brown, n.d.)

United States. Congress. House and Senate Documents and Reports, United States Congressional Serial Set (Washington : U.S. G.P.O., n.d.).

United States. Congress, American State Papers, 38 vol (Buffalo, N. Y. : W.S. Hein, 1998)

Research tips

Fools, Jokers, and Dimwits…and their records

Posted on April 1, 2017April 1, 2017 by Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail"

Today, the day we honor the venerable prankster named April Fool, the Fairy Tale Genealogist decided to find out a little bit more about this farceur. First off, have you ever heard the word farceur before? Neither had I before today. Thank you Thesaurus.com for this clever way to describe a a jokester.

Fools4

I found April Fool easily enough in the U.S. Public Records Index, with a birthdate of April 1, 1950. Not one to be casually taken in by the first record I find, I astutely noted that April Fool’s Day predates 1950. This poor child was merely born to farceur parents, and was not the original April Fool. You can hardly blame the Fool family for what must have seemed like an imperative when their daughter was born on April 1st. Nevertheless, I must pass on this outstanding record and dig deeper.

After several shovels-full I was rewarded with a tantalizing array of records for Fools, along with some impressive Joker, Dimwit, and Simpleton options. Some of my favorites were Talking Fool, Fool Hearty, Big Fool, Fool Goon, Rich Joker, and Ernest Fool. I even found Tom Fool in the Findagrave cemetery index. But then I discovered it was a record from an equine (horse!) cemetery. I give high marks to Crazy-Heart/Fool-Head, a Native American who appeared in the Index to Indian Wars, and am left to muse over the story behind that name. Likewise, I am considering the circumstances that led to this entry in the 1901 Canada Census, where someone’s 15 year-old nephew was merely listed as “The Fool.”

When I came across April Fool Harris in “Florida Births and Christenings, 1880-1935” on FamilySearch, I mused over the Harris family’s good intentions. Born April 1, 1908 in Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida, I sensed that April had parents who wanted her to feel special. After all, I was born on a holiday–Thanksgiving–and that has always made me feel special. No, the holiday was not named after April Fool Harris, but it was the other way around. “April Fool Too,” another awesome name by the way, was also likely named after the holdiay, or perhaps was just named by unwary Asian immigrant parents.

Historical facts about the 18th century origins of April Fools Day aside, I kept digging. I was rewarded with two highly credible options, and think I am really on to something. First, we cannot overlook Little Joker Ford, born in 1894 in Mississippi, and I must ask myself if that was her birth name or did she just show an unusual talent for pranking by age six? She may have had what it took to really start something Big.

But then again, I am rather inclined to credit the whole “April Fool’s Day” tradition (and I think you’ll agree) to a certain Chinese-Canadian, who has a name that says it all…”Fool You.” And seeing how his occupation is listed as “Trader,” can I just add, “Let the buyer beware.”