Those Elusive Females

Since we honor our mothers in May, I decided to create a book display about finding our female ancestors – Finding Those Elusive Females. The number of books dedicated to finding females is limited. Why are these anscestors so elusive? The following quote by Elizabeth Shown Mills, editor of Reassembling Female Lives is very revealing as to what early ancestors thought about women: “When Thomas Jefferson wrote, ‘It is not fitting and proper that a woman should appear in a court of law or a public assemblage of men,’ he echoed the wisdom of the ages. … Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) decreed: ‘A woman is to be from her house three times: when she is christened, married, and buried.’ Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-73) was blunter: ‘The dignity of woman {sic} consists in being unknown to the World.” No wonder there are fewer records for women.

The following books on display give the basics of researching females:
Discovering Your Female Ancestors: Special strategies for uncovering hard-to-find information about your female lineage by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack.
The Hidden Half of the Family: a Sourcebook for Women’s Genealogy by Christina K. Schaefer. In addition to giving the basics of searching for female ancestors, this book gives resources for every state.
Reassembling Female Lives: A Special Issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. This booklet consists of 6 articles on how the authors found their missing females.
Women and the Law of Property in Early America by Marylynn Salmon. Being familiar with the laws at the time your ancestors lived will help you find what records are available and why, sometimes, there just are no records.

The following books are also on display but limited to either a geographic area or timeframe:
Runaway Women: Elopements and Other Miscreant Deeds as Advertised in the Pennsylvania Gazette – 1728-1789 compiled by Judith Ann Highley Meier.
Bastardy Cases in Baltimore County, Maryland by Henry C. Peden, Jr.(two volumes covering 1673-1844)
Pennsylvania Women in the American Revolution by William Henry Egle.
Women of the War: Their Heroism and Self-Sacrifice by Frank Moore (Civil War).

Please stop by and look at the above books or if you’re not in this area, check your own library for a copy.

Since this is much longer than usual, I’ll save my own hints for another blog. Happy Hunting.

’til next time – Librarianna

Pullman Porter Railway Cars: An American Story

They Built Railway Cars: The Pullman Social Experiment and the Swedish Immigration by Allan Nilson, translated by Raymond E. Johnson (2002).

I came across a thin paperback with an eye-catching cover, featuring seven men of apparent European descent in suits and ties, enjoying, it seemed, the accordion music of their companion. The book cover was a collage superimposing the men over railway cars and an urban skyline. It was an interesting image and it piqued my sense of curiosity about these suited fellows and what they had to do with skyscrapers , railroad cars, and of course , the accordion.

It all ties together in the story of George Mortimer Pullman (1831–1897) and his idea that turned him into a millionaire and led him to be known as one of the “world’s most creative entrepreneurs”. He was born in upstate New York and dropped out of school at an early age and yet he was successful at bringing his vision to full fruition. Pullman founded an enormous railway car dynasty which revolutionized railway travel on an international level, establishing the model factory town of Pullman, Illinois, creating a cradle of Swedish – American culture. Then, finally and most unpredictably, he ironically and unwittingly set the stage for the legendary African American civil rights organization, “The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters” from which iconic Floridian A. Philip Randolph emerged as one of the power brokers of the 20th century American labor movement.

This slim volume includes stories culled from the Swedish immigrants’ letters and memoirs, a bibliography of Swedish American sources and, of special genealogical significance, a list of nearly 200 emigrants from Nykyrke Parish from 1850-1910. The roster includes the town of origin, year of emigration, occupation and family relationships.

At the close of the book, the seven suited Swedish gentlemen reappear as if to say good-bye. The caption reads: “Feelings of solidarity found expression in gathering around the accordion on a Saturday afternoon. Oscar Karlsson from Göteborg plays the accordion for his companions, several of whom are newly arrived. Dreams of a better life.”

Submitted by Phyllis McEwen, Librarian, Florida History and Genealogy Library

New Arrivals

Click on either Genealogy Books or Florida Collection Books on the top right side of this screen. Both sections have received from 6-10 new books during the past two weeks. The newest books received are on the top of the list.

Highlighting Maria Jane Post

While researching Florida history to verify a death date for Maria Jane Post, I became fascinated with a woman I would have liked to have known. I decided to highlight her since March is Women’s History Month. She is one of many interesting women who helped shape Hillsborough County and probably known to very few people. I hope you find her as interesting and intriguing as I did.

From Social History of Pioneer Tampa, Florida by Julius J. Gordon, 2001 (self-published), p. 104:
“Mrs. Maria Jane (Moore) Post, born 11 June 1837, died 30 March 1923 at Ft. Meade, the daughter of Joseph Moore and Elpenice (Stanford) Moore. She married Madison Post, third mayor of the city of Tampa, and was the mother of another mayor of Tampa, Dr. Duff Post. She was a fluent speaker in the Seminole Indian Language, as was her Father, Joseph Moore. She was one of the oldest inhabitants of the city of Tampa at the time of her death. She is shown here in the dress attire of the day, covered by a woolen cape to break the wind.”

 

Her obituary was found in the Tampa Morning Tribune, March 31, 1923, p. 12A: (Click on the obituary to enlarge it)

She was buried in Tampa at Oaklawn Cemetery. To see photos of her gravesite, go to findagrave.com.

’til next time – Librarianna

Marjorie Sholes Program

On Saturday, February 16, the Florida History & Genealogy Library, with the sponsorship of the Friends of the John F. Germany Library, hosted a program on African American Genealogy. We were so pleased that one of the foremost authorities in African American genealogy, Marjorie Sholes, of Who Do You Think You Are? fame, was able to come to Tampa to present two different lectures regarding African American genealogical research.

Marjorie Sholes answers questions prior to the second session.

In the morning lecture session, Ms. Sholes introduced some of the obstacles and challenges involved with African American family history research and genealogy in general. The basics are the same, but finding the records can be difficult. Sources she suggested are census records, slave narratives, Freedman’s Bank Records, Freedman’s Bureau Records and Marriage records, Southern Claims Commission Records, WWI draft registration cards, and US Colored Troop Service Records. Our library has access to all of these.

During the afternoon session Marjorie Sholes’s lecture focused on the specifics of slave research. She suggested talking to your family about any stories they’ve heard about your ancestors. From these stories, you may learn the name of the slave-owning family and clues to researching the plantation owners and comparing names. Records to research include census, death certificates, marriage records, wills, and estate inventories.

Both lecture sessions were well attended by members of our community in addition to members of our local chapters of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society [http://aahgstampa.homestead.com/] and the Florida Genealogical Society [http://fgstampa.org/].

For more information about African American genealogical research, feel free to contact the Florida History & Genealogy Library. We can supply you with a bibliography of resources to get you started.

Just getting interested in genealogy? Beginning webinars are available for free at: https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/home.html.

The next Florida History & Genealogy Library program will be on Saturday, March 16 at 10:30 a.m. Donna Moughty, who leads an annual summer genealogical study program, will be presenting an Introduction to Irish Research.

New Arrivals

Check out the books recently added to the Florida Collection by clicking on Florida Collection Books on the right side of the screen.  Enjoy!

Another Burgert Brothers Exhibit

The Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System has loaned twenty-two of its framed panoramic Cirkut photographs to the Tampa Bay History Center for an exhibit entitled, The Big Picture: A Selection of Cirkut Photographs from the Burgert Brothers Collection.　The exhibit opened on January 17th, and will run through July 15th. 　An admission ticket to the History Center must be purchased to view this exhibit. The Development Committee of the Friends of the Library of Tampa-Hillsborough County, Inc. funded the printing and framing of the photographs for a 2008 exhibit.

In addition to the photographs, an original ledger book of the photographer’s commercial transactions was loaned by the library and made part of this exhibit.  Additional contributions that were provided include seventeen high resolution scans from the Burgert Brothers 8″x10″ print collection, and an original letter written by Al Burgert to his daughter.

Cirkut photographs are named after the camera that generated these elongated images. The Cirkut images owned by the library system were taken using the 10″ model camera. The different camera sizes reflect the heights of the photographs they produced, as the length of the images depended upon how long the exposure lasted.  Both the Cirkut and 8″x10″ print collections are housed at the Florida History and Genealogy Library located on the second floor of the John F. Germany Public Library in downtown Tampa.

Written by David Parsons, Librarian