A Little Research at the Family History Center

In attempting to trace Joanne's great grandfather, Frederic Schmidt, back to his home in Wurttemberg, Germany; I had ordered a microfilm for the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  I received notification a couple days ago that it had arrived at the San Diego Family History Center.  I have good evidence that he arrived in New York City aboard the Probus on January 18, 1848 sailing from La Havre, France.  I discovered that information by searching the Castle Garden Immigration Index.  There were a lot of Frederick Schmidt's (the second most common German surname); but I was fortunate in that they listed his occupation--butcher.  There obviously could have been more than one Frederic Schmidt butcher; but the time frame and departure port all fit very nicely with the information I have.  However, I am trying to identify the village or city he came from and/or his parents names.  The Castle Garden (which was the New York immigration processing facility prior to Ellis Island) records also indicated he came from Wurttemberg; but that is equivalent to one of our states and I need a more specific location. 

In researching La Havre, I learned that the records of emigrants from that port via passenger ships do not cover 1848; but that there were some records of 1848 for passengers who traveled via cargo ships during the 1846-1852 time frame.  That was the microfilm I ordered.  Unfortunately, I didn't find any information about Joanne's great grandfather.  It appeared to me that most of the people listed had French sounding names.  When one finishes reviewing some microfilm, however, there is often a feeling that you aren't totally sure you didn't miss something.  For starters, the records were handwritten except for the column headings (of which there were at least 15), then the column headings were in French (quite naturally), and thirdly the microfilm wasn't real easy to read, even on the most magnified and brightest settings. 

I didn't think there was a very high probability of finding Frederic in the records; but in trying to "leave no stone unturned", I needed to try. 

Land Record for Christian Richards

Fortunately, my other task while at the library proved more fruitful.  In my previous research I had run across a notation that there was a record of Christian Richards having sold land in Virginia in 1782.  He and his family had arrived in the Shenandoah Valley about 1768 from Pennsylvania.  When Christian and his family came to Pennsylvania from Switzerland in 1750, the surname was variously spelled Ritschard/Ritschhart(d).  After arriving here the spelling evolved primarily into Ritchhart and Richhart.  There is some speculation the family used the Anglicized spelling "Richard" in Virginia, because the locals were know to be somewhat anti-German.  Christian fought for the Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War and the spelling in those records is the same--Richard.  Sure enough the library had a copy of The Annals of Southwest Virginia by Lewis Preston Summers and on page 496 I found that on Dec 3, 1782 Christian Richards was the Grantee of 138 acres on Terry's Creek.  By using Google Maps, I discovered that Terry's Creek is about 20 miles south of Clifton Forge, east of I-81 in Botetourt County, Virginia.  Interestingly, the book had an index; but didn't list Christian.  Fortunately, in my notes from the other source, I had included the page number.  Now all I have to do is make a couple entries in my Family Tree Maker Program to document my findings.

I was looking for a couple more books; but the library didn't have them.  Will have to check in World Cat and find the closest library that has them.  

"New" Family Search Family Tree--Problem Solved

I mentioned a couple days back that I had entered a Gedcom on Family Search which included 11 generations of the Ritchhart line (it was actually 14); but it terminated at 5 generations.  One of the tech support people said the problem was because I had not resolved all the "merge" selections.  Well, I resolved all the merge choices and still had the problem.  I did an on line chat with another tech support person and we solved the problem.  Actually, I should have thought of the solution on my own.  We went to the 5th and last generation, Andrew Ritchhart, and then did a search for his father.  I was given several choices, one of which was John; and when I selected John up came all of the remaining Ritchhart line.  Apparently. when I uploaded the Gedcom file, for some reason, there was a break in the connection between Andrew and John, even though all of the 1250 individuals in the Gedcom were uploaded.  We simply had to reestablish the connection between Andrew and John and the integrity of the Gedcom file was reestablished. 

Getting Ready for Saturday's Monthly Meeting

 

I was busy this morning getting all the last minute things done for this Saturday's monthly San Diego Genealogical Society meeting.  I had to get 80 copies made up of the Handout for our speaker's presentation and 80 copies of the Evaluation Form we have attendees submit.  This month's speaker is Daniel Libby and he is speaking on the subject of Computer Security and Identity Theft.  Daniel was a Warrant Officer in the Navy serving in the Navy Security Group.  He is since retired and is a nationally recognized expert on forensic processing of digital evidence; computers, video, and audio.  His company serves government, corporate and legal clientele.  I have heard Daniel before and his presentations are packed with helpful tips on how to avoid on line scams,  and how to protect your identity and your computer.

I also had to finalize the slide presentation that we show during the hour or so prior to the meeting while members are arriving and mingling.  It shows upcoming classes and events that the Society is providing, as well as scheduled trips and outings.  This comes with the territory of being the Program Director.  

Our Swiss Ritchhart Heritage

My Ritchhart family line originates with Christian Ritschhard/Ritschard who came to America from the Swiss villages of Oberhofen/Hilterfingen in 1750 with his wife, Magdalena, five children and Magdalena's eighty year old mother.  They first settled in Reading, Pennsylvania where a couple other Ritschhard families already resided. 

I first got interested in my family history when I received a letter in the mail in 1993 with the salutation "Dear Cousin".  It was an offer to sell me a book for $50 written by Bette Richhart which traced the history of the Richhart, Ritchhart, Ritschard families.  After confirming such a book existed in the Library of Congress database, I purchased the book and was forever hooked on family history research. 

Joanne and I had the pleasure in 1999 of meeting Bette and her husband, Jim, and spending the night with them in their home outside Fort Worth.  Bette and Jim had made two trips to Switzerland in the process of researching the book.  She gave me the name of Alfred Ritschard as a point of contact in Oberhofen.  When Joanne and I were planning a European trip, including Switzerland, in 2003; I wrote Alfred in anticipation of meeting with him and other Ritschards during our visit to the Oberhofen area. 



 

Map showing Oberhofen and Hilterfingen near Interlaken

 

The reply letter was from Beatrice Frey, Alfred's granddaughter.  Alfred had passed away and his wife, who didn't speak English, passed the letter to Beatrice, who worked in a University in nearby Bern and spoke English.  Beatrice agreed to meet us at the pier in Oberhofen when we took the passenger ferry from Interlaken, where we were staying, to Oberhofen.

                                                                

 

 

In the background and below is the beautiful Oberhofen Castle, where Ritschharts were the Bailiffs for three generations in the early 1600s. 

 



 

 

One of the sights I was most interested in seeing during our visit was the Church at Hilterfingen.  I had learned from Bette's book that there was a large plaque inside the church that had been donated to the church in 1731 by distinguished families in the area.  

 

The colorful plaque depicts Moses holding the two tablets with the Ten Commandments.  Bordering the plaque are twenty-eight crests, similar to a coat of arms.  Eight of the crests bear the names of Ritschhart families who were donars of the plaque. 

 

 One of the Eight Ritschhart Crests

 

Ironically, when we asked Beatrice to take us inside the Church to see the plaque, she didn't know the plaque existed; despite the fact her grandfather was buried in the church cemetery!



 

The following day I went by train and bus to visit the Church at Amsoldingen, where Christian and Magdalena were married in 1733.  I knew of the church because of reading about it in Bette's book.

 



 

 

It struck me as I was standing in a pasture taking a photo of the church that, in some ways, little had changed in the immediate vicinity of the church in the 270 years since Christian and Magdalena were married.  The streets were paved now; but probably no wider; there were still goats, sheep and cows in the pastures, and many of the homes were about the same age as the beautiful church. 

 

Church at Amsoldingen

 

The church interior was very basic with minimal change.  Plain benches had been replaced with chairs and the choir loft and organ had been added; but few other changes were evident.

 

It was a wonderful trip, thanks in large part to the research and work of Bette Richhart.  Unfortunately,  Bette passed away a couple years back.  I am so thankful we had the opportunity to meet her.  Her work will carry on and enrich the lives of many others like myself. 

  







 

New Family Search Family Tree "Get Help" Limitations

Finally talked via Internet Chat with tech support at Family Search about my family tree problem.  However, not convinced the answer I received is totally correct.  I uploaded a Gedcom a few days ago of my Ritchhart family line going back about 11 generations.  However, when I view the tree, it only goes back 5 generations.  The answer I received is that until I resolve all of the merge decisions, the tree won't fully represent what I uploaded.  I am down now to about 80 merge resolutions (from over 250) and none of the remaining have any Ritchhart/Ritschard individuals.  Additionally, not sure why the tree I uploaded wouldn't be displayed fully whether or not merging decisions have been completed?  If any of you have experience with this would appreciate your comments. 

I also learned a couple of interesting things about their "Get Help" feature.  You can click on "Get Help" which then gives you several choices, one of which is "Live Chat".  This is an on-line chat.  If you want to talk with them on the phone you select "Call Us".  After selecting "Live Chat" you get a couple of different responses depending on the availability of volunteers (I believe).  If you just get a small window inside which is a blue box with
"Chat Now" that probably means there are no volunteers to chat with you.  It happened to me several times and when I clicked on "Chat Now" the box just closes and nothing happens.  If you get a box that also has two additional choices: "Tech & Public Support" and "Research Assistance" you may be in luck.  I say "may" because the first time this happened I kept clicking on "Tech & Public Support" and got nothing.  Finally, I called them and was told I will only get a response if I select "Research Assistance".   Then why do they even give you a choice of "Tech & Public Support" if it isn't functional?  They gave some sort of answer that wasn't very clear to me.  Anyhow, I then selected "Research Assistance" and soon was on line in a typical chat box with someone to assist me.  After discussing the problem I discussed about the Ritchhart family line not being fully displayed, I did ask why I couldn't get the choice yesterday of "Research Assistance" whenever I selected "Live Chat".  The volunteer wasn't sure; but surmised it was because there were no volunteers available.  I also learned that if you choose the "Call Us" option, those respondents are also volunteers because I called yesterday and, after being told I was being connected with someone to assist me, I got an answering machine telling me to leave my name and phone number.  About five hours later, they left an message on my answering machine that they were calling back. 

I guess the bottom line of all these ramblings is that the Family Search "Get Help" feature isn't what most of us have come to expect from a commercial company like Ancestry that hires people to provide those services.  Family Search's service is run by volunteers and depends upon their availability.  I also don't mean this as a put down for Family Search because they provide us a tremendous amount of genealogical information and it is all FREE!  I have a great appreciation for all that they do for the genealogical community; but you should just be aware that there are limitations to the "help" support that they can provide and they should probably note that somewhere on the web site near the "Get Help" feature.  I would be interested in any of your experiences that might agree or disagree with mine.

National Genealogical Society Annual Conference

I had hoped to be leaving today for the National Genealogical Society's annual conference being held this year in Las Vegas.  However, having my hip replaced has become a higher priority.  When I initially had the hip diagnosed in February, I was still very mobile so scheduled the surgery for 14 May, a couple days after returning from the conference.  Within about a week it became obvious to me that my mobility was quickly deteriorating and it would be a stretch to try and attend the conference.  However, when I called to reschedule the surgery they were already booked until the first week in May, so I just left the scheduled date at May 14.

I am envious of all my fellow San Diego genealogists who will be attending; but perhaps I can watch some of it on Webinars.  Joanne and I attended the 2011 Conference in Charleston and had a great time.  Joanne is not in to genealogy, so she did sightseeing while I attended the conference. 

The Annual Southern California Genealogical Society's JAMBOREE is scheduled for June 7, three weeks after my surgery.  I have set myself an ambitious goal of going, which will be about the 6th in a row that I have attended.  I have a strong incentive to attend, as I am sharing a room with a good friend, and if I don't make it I will still have to pay my half.  The rapid recovery I made from having the other hip replaced three years ago gives me confidence that I can make it.

I had hoped to have some answers by today from Family Search technical support regarding the GEDCOM family tree I placed on their site; but am waiting for them to get back to me.  The Ritchhart family line that I placed on the site was 11 generations long; but when I view the tree on the site it is only 5 generations?  Can't seem to figure out why.  If I haven't heard back by the time I return from my pre-op meeting with the surgeon in a couple hours, I will call them back.  Hopefully, I can discuss the results tomorrow.

Some Challenges Using "The New Family Search"

I have used Family Search in the past; but not nearly as Ancestry.  I decided I needed to make sure I had a current Family Tree on their site so thought I would delete the old tree and start over.  Well, I am embarrassed to say I thought I had put a Gedcom on their site some years back; but learned that I was mistaken.  I had entered a pedigree chart of about eight people and that was all.  When I decided to upload a Gedcom to Family Search, I quickly realized that I didn't know as much about their site as I thought I did.  I think their new format further complicated the situation.  Others in the genealogy world have also complained about the difficulty adapting to the "New" Family Search.  Navigating the site can be a bit of a challenge.  For instance, to get to several of the functions you actually click on their green "Family Search" title in the upper left of the home page.  If their tech support people hadn't told me that is how it works, I would still be trying to find how to upload a Gedcom. 

Once I did get the Gedcom downloaded on the site, I then had to  deal with all the merging decisions where some of my ancestors overlapped with other member's family tree entries.  I had about 350 of those decisions to make.  At the rate of about 30 to 40 per hour, that is a huge undertaking!  After spending about 2 hours merging, I decided I would just spend about an hour a day until it is done.  I figure it will take me almost two weeks just to resolve all of the merging decisions!  However, once it is done, I think it will pay off for me in the long run.

My challenge for tomorrow is to figure out how to view my tree now that I have uploaded it to the Family Search site.  When I make the selections that seem obvious to me to view the tree all I can find is the original eight person pedigree chart that I entered several years ago.  Hopefully, I can share with you in the next couple days how to actually view the 1200+ people that I entered with my Gedcom.

The County Mayo O'Malley's

My O’Malley cousins and family might enjoy some photos we took when we visited County Mayo in 2006.  We spent a week on a guided tour through the Irish Free State and visited all the typical tourist sites.  Then we spent five days in Westport, which that year won the title of Ireland’s “Tidiest City”.  It is near the center of County Mayo and one of the two largest cities in County Mayo.  While there we visited several sites associated with the history of the O’Malley clan and of the famous Irish Pirate Queen, Grace O’Malley—also known as “Grainuaile”. 

We visited two of the Tower Houses that Grace reportedly used for her seafaring operations, Rockfleet Castle and Clare Island Castle.  Rockfleet sits on an inlet to the North Sea just to the northwest of Newport in County Mayo; while Clare Island is located about 20 miles west of Westport at the entrance to Clew Bay.  We took about a 20 minute ferry ride on The O’Malley Ferry.  There was a competitor ferry company; but we obviously had to take the O’Malley ferry.  It was from these sites that Grace and her fellow pirates patrolled the west coast of Ireland.  She didn’t view herself as a Pirate, only a good citizen protecting the territorial sea rights of her county. 

Rockfleet Castle

 

Clare Island Castle

On Clare Island was located an Abbey with a surrounding cemetery.  In walking through the cemetery it was obvious that a lot of O’Malley’s lived there, as an estimated two-thirds of the headstones belonged to O’Malley’s.  Inside of the Abbey I was delighted to find the O’Malley Family Crest imprinted into the wall near the alter.  Enroute to the abbey we passed the main and only B&B on the Island.  You guessed it—the “Grainuaile House B&B” named after Grace O'Malley.

 

Grainuaile House B&B

 

 

Clare Island Abbey

 

O’Malley Crest

While in Westport, we stayed in a lovely B&B that was within walking distance of the center of town.  The first night there we found a great Pub by the name of O’Malley’s—what else did you expect!  Irelands national rugby matches were in process while we were there so that was on every TV in every Pub in town. 

 

O'Malley's Pub

 

The food and ambiance were so good we ate there two of the five nights we were in Westport.  They had music in the evenings which was advertised to start at 9 p.m.  We learned the Irish aren’t too big on being prompt.  The musicians started arriving about 9 p.m.; but by the time they tuned up and started, it was 9:45 p.m.  We told our hosts at the B&B that we loved the music; but the hours were a little late for our schedule.  She suggested we try a pub near the quay on Sunday, when they start at 3:30 p.m.  That was more to our liking.