FLPGS THIS AND …flpgs/newsletter/PGSNews21-06.pdf · tary (the worst of the pandemic occurred...

VISIT OUR BLOG REGULARLY: http://flpgs.blogspot.com/

Volume 21 issue 06

MAKE A NOTE

Sure, it’s early,

but don’t be left

out: mark your

calendar now

for the 25 Feb

2017 PGS An-

nual Seminar!

Gather your re-

search notes

and join us at

Family History

Assistance Day,

8 Oct, 12-4pm

Events Calendar 2

The History Bookshelf 3

Donations 3

Revolutionary War Bounty Land

4

Seminars, Conferences… 5

New Materials in Genealogy 6

Meetings 6

Family Hist. Asst. Day 7

Photo Page 8

INSIDE

T here were three events “on the

road” since our last newsletter in

May: Peter Summers presented an intro-

duction to Roots Magic to the Jewish

Genealogy Society of Tampa Bay on 12

June, “Newspaper Research” at Tarpon

Springs Public Library on 6 September,

and “The War With Mexico—History and

Records” to the Pasco Genealogy Society

on 10 September.

O ne of the unique events of the sum-

mer was the field trip to the Armed

Forces History Museum on 16 July. We

negotiated a reduced entry fee for PGS

members and their guests, and also ar-

ranged for a guide to take us through the

museum and talk about many of the

unique holdings it has to offer. About 20 (Continued on page 7)

O ur member-

ship is the

engine that keeps

the PGS moving

forward. Do you

know anyone who

would like to ex-

plore genealo-

gy...become part of

an active and dy-

namic organiza-

tion? Bring them to

a meeting and in-

troduce them to the

subject and to the

Society.

Give a welcome to

these new mem-

bers:

Waldina Smith

Patricia Petit

Marsha Pryor

Esther Parton

Clare Kneiser

Patriva Mack

Sara Haydon

Felice Johnson

THIS AND THAT...

September 2016

SUMMERTIME AT PGS

talked about dealing

with our personal

archives in August,

and July saw a field

trip to the Armed

Forces History Muse-

um (see the descrip-

tion in the “This and

That” Column).

Twenty-nine classes

were presented dur-

ing June, July, and

August.

D uring the summer

months , the activi-

ty level at PGS drops off a

bit, but things do not

stop entirely. There are

local researchers who

look for guidance, and

there are up-coming

events that need to be

planned for. Here are

some examples of what

was happening during

June, July, and August at

PGS:

We continued to have

monthly meetings

and programs. Bill

Israel talked about

Jewish Genealogy in

June, James Schnur

and Patricia Landon

Preparation for the

Annual Seminar on

25 February 2017

continued with selec-

tion of topics for our

main speaker, Lisa

Louise Cooke, and

selection of three

breakout speakers

and their topics.

Debbie Schuler

locked in Dick East-

man for two presen-

tations on 19 Novem-

ber as part of our

Guest Lecture Series.

(Continued on page 3)

ADDRESS:

Pinellas Genealogy Society

120 Central Park Drive

Largo, FL 33771

EMAIL:

[email protected]

W WW .R OOTSW EB. ANCES TRY. COM /~F LPGS

Proud partner with the Largo Public Library

MEMBERSHIP

You can see that the so-

ciety was not really

taking a break during

the summer months


Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

18 19 1 pm—Italian Genealogy Interest Group (Q&A)

20 6 pm—Introduction to Genealogy

21 22 23 24 10 am—Roots Magic Users Group (Q&A)

25 26 6pm—Writing Brief Narrative Sketches

27 10am—Documentation-An Introduction

28 >1pm—DNA Interest Group (Q&A) >6pm—Ancestry Family Trees—Pt2

29 30

Sep 2016

PAGE 2 WEBSITE: WWW.ROOTSWEB.ANCESTRY.COM/~FLPGS VOLUME 21 ISSUE 06

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

10am—Family Tree Maker Users Group (Q&A)

2 3 10am—Facebook for Genealogy

4 6pm—Finding Living Persons

5 6 7 8 12-4pm—Family History Assistance Day

9 10 11 6pm—Library Catalog Searching for Genealogists

12 10am—Using Genealogical Numbering Sys-tems

13 10:30am—Walking in Their Footsteps

14 15 >10am—Computers in Gene-alogy (Library Rm TBD)

>11am—Monthly Meeting (Library

Oct 2016

Unless otherwise noted, classes are at the Largo Library, Local History Room. All clas-

ses at the library are free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served.

For questions, email Bob Bryan ([email protected]), call at 727-595-4521.

Family History Assistance Day is

a first-come first-served event

designed to assist people with

their family research. Attendees

bring their notes on research

they have done, and sit with one

of our volunteers who will guide

them to further discoveries on

the Internet. Just show up and

enjoy.

New DNA Basics class at

11:30am before DNA dis-

cussion group meeting.

You may need this to get

the most from the 1pm

session.


Work continued on collection

development with the purchase

of several new books and the

processing of many donations.

Work also continued on adding

to the assets of the PGS Family

History Repository (FHR). Dig-

itizing started on a large re-

search donation , another dona-

tion was added to the Surname

Collection, and indexing of the

more than 15,000 scanned pag-

es of our digital FHR collection

continued.

(Continued from SUMMERTIME on page 1) Transcription of Pinellas Coun-

ty Marriage records microfilm

obtained from the courthouse

continued also.

Groundwork was laid for the

next semi-annual Family Histo-

ry Assistance Day on 8 October.

Although canvassing of Memo-

rial Park Cemetery is on hold

during the hot summer months,

indexing of previous field work

continued.

So you can see that the society was

not really taking a break during the

summer months of June, July, and

August. And as busy as we have

been during the summer, as we

move into September and the fall

months, activity will increase even

more as the class schedule fills out

and activities we have been plan-

ning for come to fruition. Keep your

eye on this newsletter, the PGS

Blog, weekly emails, Genealogy

Center handouts, library lobby post-

ers, and flyers, as well as our web-

site calendar and class schedule as

we get

the word

out about

upcoming

events.

>Friends of the Library Book Store

>Nancy Miller

>Robert Palmer

>Bob Bryan

>Kay Weber

Clear out those reference books you don’t use any more—share them with

the community.

T hanks to all of you who have

donated material to the PGS

collection. Although each year we

purchase a number of new books,

donations are always welcome. This

month we tip our hat to:

DONATIONS


Donations make a

difference

impetus for the research that led to

this book was the author’s desire to

learn more about her great-

grandparents who died during the

pandemic.

The book focuses on the reactions of

different groups in American socie-

ty such as health officials, the mili-

tary (the worst of the pandemic

occurred during World War I), doc-

tors, nurses, volunteer aid workers,

patients, and survivors. Each group

viewed the course of the pandemic

and its outcome in different ways.

B etween 1918 and 1920, an esti-

mated one-third of the world’s

population contracted influenza in

one of the worst health disasters in

recorded history. The “Spanish Flu”

is believed to have resulted in ap-

proximately 675,000 deaths in the

U.S. and 50 million world-

wide. Despite the fact that

much of the world was im-

pacted by this event, it has

been downplayed or left

out of many official histo-

ries.

In American Pandemic:

The Lost Worlds of the 1918 Influen-

za Epidemic, author Nancy K. Bris-

tow seeks to determine how the epi-

demic affected Americans at the

time and why it is not better re-

membered today.

As any genealogist can relate to, the

Because the

pandemic

took place

nearly 100

years ago,

we rely on

written his-

tories and family stories in

order to learn what happened, and

how it affected our own families.

Bristow reminds us that truly mo-

mentous events such as this can be

virtually forgotten when the pain of

remembering is too great, or the

event psychologically contradicts

how we see ourselves as individuals

and as a society.

THE HISTORY BOOKSHELF — Karen Fortin

Between 1918 and 1920, an estimated one-

third of the world’s population contract-

ed influenza in one of the worst health

disasters in recorded history.


REVOLUTIONARY WAR BOUNTY LAND--Peter Summers


their current boundaries. Delaware,

New Jersey, New Hampshire,

Rhode Island, and Vermont were

states that had no available land to

award at all. Maine was not a state

at this time but instead was a dis-

trict of Massachusetts, which used

it for its bounty land location. Even

so, Maine also had its own

bounty land policy, and thus

was the only non-state to

award bounty land.

Finding records for state boun-

ty land can be challenging giv-

en the decentralized policy as

indicated. A good general refer-

ence however, is Red Book.

Each state is represented in the

volume and each has special

sections dealing with military

records and land. It is within those

sections that specific pointers will

be given as to where state bounty

land records may be found today. It

also pays to search for the websites

of historical societies in the appro-

priate states to see if they have pub-

lished any extracts from bounty

land records from their state ar-

chives. Cyndi’s List

(www.cyndislist.com) is an online

genealogy site index that can reveal

websites dealing with this topic. A

particularly good resource is the

book Revolutionary War Bounty

Land Grants Awarded by State Gov-

ernments by Bockstruck. It details

bounty land policies in each state

and points to record locations and

references. You can find that book

in the genealogy collection at the

Largo Public Library.

By the early 1800’s, most of the

states had ceded their unused west-

ern lands to the federal govern-

ment, and it is in part from those

holdings that federal-level bounty

lands were selected. Primarily they

were in reserves in what are now

Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio.

Finding federal level bounty land

records is a bit more straight for-

ward than finding state records: the

(Continued on page 5)

T he term “bounty land” signifies

tracts of land that were given

by governments for service in the

military. Sometimes it was given as

partial payment for service, and

sometimes it was given to incentiv-

ize men to volunteer for service.

Using land in such a way

certainly does not originate

with us. The practice dates

back to colonial times and

even before. If you had an

ancestor who served in the

military from 1776 to 1858,

there is the possibility that

he was involved with bounty

lands. In this column we will

focus on the Revolutionary

War period.

Of course, when land was

granted, there was some sort of pa-

per trail created, and in that trail

lies the genealogical value of bounty

lands. Although bounty land war-

rants do not provide as much genea-

logically relevant family infor-

mation as we might like, there is

still value to be had. The infor-

mation that awaits us can prove

military service of an ancestor, and

it can provide information on his

heirs if they are the ones who ulti-

mately claimed the land. It can lo-

cate a soldier as belonging to a par-

ticular unit, locate a veteran geo-

graphically after the conflict, and

lead to the discovery of a land pa-

tent that describes the location of

the land in detail.

During the Revolutionary War,

bounty land was awarded both by

individual states and the federal

government. The states were tasked

to provide soldiers to serve in the

federal army, called the Continental

Line, and they used bounty land to

encourage such enlistments and to

reward such service. The federal

government also gave bounty land

for that same service. With the ex-

ception of the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts, veterans or their

heirs could receive land from both

levels of government; that is, they

could “double dip.”

The individual states could essen-

tially do anything they wanted with

“their land,” so some awarded lands

to their citizens to compensate for

other than Continental Line service.

However, those awards were rela-

tively few in comparison. An exam-

ple is Connecticut which awarded

land to any of its citizens, soldier or

not, who suffered property loss as a

result of enemy action. It awarded

that land in a special tract in what

is now north eastern Ohio. It was

given the unique name of “Fire

Lands,” and you can still see high-

way signs today announcing entry

to the Fire Lands. Whether or not a

state awarded bounty land to its

soldiers of the Continental Line re-

ally depended on what land the

state had to give away. Remember

that the definitions of state bounda-

ries were much different during the

revolutionary period than they are

today. Virginia, for example, includ-

ed the present state of Kentucky,

and South Carolina included the

present state of Tennessee. Some

states had the advantage of having

such trans-Appalachian territory at

their disposal, and some did not.

States that had land to give as

bounties were Connecticut, Georgia,

Maryland, Massachusetts, New

York, North Carolina, Pennsylva-

nia, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Of these Georgia, New York, North

Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South

Carolina were states with no west-

ern lands, and so they awarded land

completely within what we consider

Some states had the

advantage of having

open land at their dis-

posal, and some did

not.


T he list is not exhaustive, of course, but as events come to the editor’s attention, they will be included. Feel free

to give us your feedback on this section. We are always on the lookout for events to list. Let us know if you

know of any. For feedback or list suggestions, send an email to [email protected].

24 Sep 2016 – Suncoast Genealogy Society presents Drew Smith speaking at p pm at the Palm Harbor Library, 2330

Nebraska Ave, Palm Harbor, FL. The topic is “Organizing Your Genealogy Research Process.”

1 Oct 2016—Florida Genealogy Society hosts Judy Russell (“The Legal Genealogist”) giving four presentations at their

Annual Fall Seminar. The event is from 9am to 4pm at the Robert W. Saunders, Sr., Public Library, 1505 N. Nebraska

Ave, Tampa, Florida. For more information see http://fgstampa.org

1 Oct 2016 – The Largo Area Historical Society is holding a Museum Open House from 10am to 2pm. The museum is in

the Historic Feed Store at Largo Central Park. 10 Oct 2016 – The Largo Area Historical Society monthly meeting features Clerk of the Court, Ken Burke, as its speak-

er. The meeting is at the Historic Feed Store in Largo Central Park starting at 7pm.

13-16 Oct 2016 – Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society announces its 37th National Conference in Atlanta,

Georgia. The theme is “Discovering Our Ancestors, Our History, Ourselves—Together.” See details at http://

www.aahgs.org/ 16 Oct 2016 – Donna Moughty’s research trip to Dublin Ireland. Includes accommodations, two hours of pre-trip re-

search assessment, on-site assistance, and more. Participants responsible for air and ground transportation. See

www.moughty.com .

22 Oct 2016 – The Suncoast Genealogy Society presents its Fall Mini-Seminar featuring Joanne Ryder speaking on

“Migration, Emigration, and Immigration,” as well as “Using German Websites for Research.” Registration is required.

Meeting is at the Palm Harbor Library, For information or registration form call 727-791-1983, email brad-

[email protected], or see bulletin board in the Largo Library Genealogy Center.

22 Oct 2016 – The Fall Jubilee takes place at Heritage Village from 10am to 4pm. Come enjoy the music, exhibits, his-

torical building, crafts, and more. PGS will have a display table there…drop by and say hello.

3 Dec 2016 – The Largo Area Historical Society is holding a Museum Open House from 10am to 2pm. The museum is in

the Historic Feed Store at Largo Central Park.

SEMINARS, CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, ETC


session of bounty land, a docu-

ment called a land patent rec-

orded the transfer of owner-

ship from the government to

the individual. In the case of

federal land, those documents

have been digitized and are

presented online at the Bu-

reau of Land Management

website (http://

www.glorecords.blm.gov/).

These are only single docu-

ments, however, and the files

at the National Archives will

probably contain several piec-

es of paper.

The Largo Public Library also has

some print references that can be

helpful. There are four volumes of

the Federal Land Series by Smith,

Military Bounty Land 1776-1855 by

Rose, and Genealogical Abstracts of

Revolutionary War Pension Files

that may prove helpful.

National Archives is the central re-

pository for all such records. There

are two places within the Archives

that you will find them. There is a

file of bounty land applications that

you can look at, but if the veteran

applied for a pension as well as

bounty land, his bounty land records

will be included in his pension appli-

cation file.

Pension application files can be or-

dered from the National Archives,

and can be found digitized online at

Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, and Herit-

age Quest. All of those databases

are available at the Largo Public

Library. If there is no pension appli-

cation file for your ancestor, then

you need to order the bounty land

documents from the National Ar-

chives.

If your ancestor actually took pos-

(Continued from BOUNTY LAND on page 4)

The Pinellas Genealogy Society has

a class at the Largo Public Library

the covers military records in gen-

eral, and another that covers boun-

ty land specifically. You can find

their class list at http://

www.flpgs.org/classes.asp. It is up-

dated frequently, so keep checking.

EXAMPLE BOUNTY

LAND WARRANT

http://fgstampa.org

http://www.aahgs.org/

http://www.aahgs.org/

http://www.moughty.com

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


T he Pinellas Genealogy Society is a non-profit organization dedi-

cated to the furtherance of genealogical research, education, and preservation of genealogical material. The Society was first estab-

lished in 1972.

The society seeks to further its goals by excelling in the areas of education, publications, projects, programs, collection development, communication, and assistance to individual researchers. The society’s classes and meet-

ings are free and open to the public.

The Genealogy Center of the Largo Public Library is administered as a joint

venture between the library and society. Its collection is one of the largest in the state and offers a wealth of research information. Society consult-ants on duty at the Center stand ready to assist beginning and experi-

enced researchers alike.

Soldiers in King Philip's War [355.1 (1600-1775) Bodge]

A Survey of American Church Records Vol. II [929.373 Kirkham]

It's All Relative - How to Create Your Own Family History Trivia Game [929.207 Bonsey]

Graves County, Kentucky [929.376993 Graves]

Graves County Kentucky - History and Families [929.376993 Graves]

The William and Elizabeth Moorman Family 1822-1994 [Family History Moorman]

The New World Book of Adams [Family History Adams]

The Family Tree Historical Maps Book [Atlas Case Dolan]

Map Guide to German Parish Registers: Province of Posen II [929.343 Hansen]

Illustrated Atlas of the Civil War [Atlas Case Illustrated]

NEW MATERIALS IN GENEALOGY

EDITOR’S NOTE

O ur goal is to keep PGS members and visitors up to date

on events, classes, new acquisitions and more. Do you have an idea on how to improve this newsletter? Is there something you would like to share with others—

a genealogy tip, a website, or an upcoming event? Using Subject Line:

PGS Newsletter, Email [email protected]. –Peter Summers

[NOTE: The PGS bears no responsibility for products or services listed in this publication. Any

non-copyrighted materials appearing in this publication may be borrowed and published if not

for profit. Original source must be cited.]


MEETINGS sion). Guests are welcome. Upcoming programs are:

17 Sep — Drew Smith: Organizing Your Genealogy Research Process

15 Oct — Patricia Charpentier:

Your Journey Story (Writing Your Family History)

19 Nov — Dick Eastman (Lecture Series) (1) Privacy Concerns for Genealogists to Consider; (2) Cloudy With a Chance for Genealo-gy: Genealogy in the Cloud

P inellas Genealogy Society meetings are held on the third Saturday of the month beginning at 11:00 am in the

Jenkins Auditorium of the Largo Pub-lic Library (preceded at 10 am by a computers-in-genealogy Q&A ses-

PGS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT: Karen Fortin

VICE PRESIDENT: Deborah Schuler

TREASURER: Cheryl Shaughnessy

RECORDING SECRETARY: Shirley Campbell

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: Doris Lefebvre

SEMINAR DIRECTOR: (Acting) Peter Summers

FINANCE DIRECTOR: Sally Brown

EDUCATION DIRECTOR: Bob Bryan

PROJECTS DIRECTOR: (Vacant)

MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR: Susan Luce

TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR: Ed Deming

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Peter Summers

DIRECTOR AT LARGE: (Vacant)

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: David Dellinger

Newsletter editor: Peter Summers

NOTE: There is a “New Additions” display of books in the Genealogy Center. As we include new addi-

tions to the collection, they will go into this display first. The display and this list will not be in sync

because time in the display is transitory...it is meant to give them some initial visibility.



LARGO AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY (http://www.largohistory.org/)

Meets the 2nd Monday of the month (except March, July, and August) at the historic Feed Store (295 Central Park Dr., Largo) at 6:30 pm. Feed Store is open to public tours from 10-2pm every 1st Saturday (except July and August).

ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERS OF PGS

PGS seeks to demonstrate its support of other organizations which share our objectives in pro-

moting the research and preservation of ancestral families and their histories.

GREATER LARGO LIBRARY FOUNDATION (http://gllf.org/)

A not-for-profit organization which for nearly 20 years has cultivated advocates for the library, sponsored fund-raising events, and donated time and funds to enhance innovative library services or the community's educational and social enrichment.

CLEARWATER HISTORICAL SOCIETY (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~flchs/)

Promotes the appreciation and preservation of historical Clearwater, and operates the Plumb House Museum (1380 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave, Clearwater). It is open 8:30-11:30am the first and third Thursdays all year unless a holiday. Additionally it is open from 10 am –1 pm on Saturdays during the months of November through April.

PINELLAS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (http://www.pinellascounty.org/heritage/)

The Pinellas County Historical Society supports the mission of Heritage Village: to collect, preserve and interpret the history of Pinellas County within the context of Florida history. Join them in preserving the county’s rich heritage by becoming a member and attending their many events.

folks showed up to enjoy the mu-

seum and several of them

brought period documents or

artifacts and told stories of their

ancestors as the tour came to

displays of the conflict in which

that ancestor participated.

This was a wonderful event and

well-organized by Vice President

Deborah Schuler. You can see

some pictures of the event on

page 8 of this newsletter.

Typically we stage one field trip

a year during the summer

months. If you have an idea for

such an event, let us know at

[email protected].

(Continued from THIS AND THAT on

page 1) FAMILY HISTORY

ASSISTANCE

DAY—8 Oct, 12-4

pm, free and open

to the public

Bring your research notes and

sit with one of our volunteer

helpers to ply the internet for

data to promote your family

history research.

The event is first-come-first-

served. Bring a disc or USB

drive to easily take home what

you find.



Clockwise from top left:

Entrance to the Armed Forces History Museum, July’s field

trip.

Field trip participants at the Armed Forces History Museum.

Bill Israel (right) speaker at June meeting

NGS Gold Badge of recognition for volunteer support during

the May 2016 conference in Ft. Lauderdale

Terry (Center) and Jim Willard, May program speakers, with

VP Debbie Schuler.

PHOTO PAGE

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