Another hidden gem - Langworthy Public Library

I visited another gem of a public library last week that has a wonderful genealogical collection in their special archives room. The Langworthy Public Library (http://langworthylibrary.org/) in Hope Valley, Rhode Island. Hope Valley is one of the many villages in Hopkinton, and this little place has an amazing quantity of high quality manuscript materials.

Some of the Gladys Palmer Collection at Langworthy

Ledgers from a number of local businesses

A page from the ledger of a coffin manufacturer in Hopkinton

One of the largest collections was donated by a local genealogist, Gladys Palmer, and her collection contains materials on local history and families as well as her extensive genealogical research notes.



The vertical files have newspaper clippings of important locals, including some interesting bits about Elisha R. Bitgood, a local manufacturer, and "weather prophet."

Newspaper clipping of Bitgood's obituary (unknown newspaper about 1961)

If you have relatives from any of the small villages in Hopkinton such as Moscow (yes, Moscow, Rhode Island), Ashville, Barberville, Wyoming, Hope Valley or Woodville, Langworthy Public Library should be on your research To Do list.

NERGC 2015 Early Bird Registration closes soon!

Talk about a great opportunity to learn more about research in Rhode Island! I'll be giving two lectures on Saturday, 18 April 2015,"GPS for Genealogy: Another Kind of Navigation," about the genealogical proof standard, and "Which Autosomal DNA test is right for YOU?" about genetic genealogy and autosomal DNA testing.
See the press release below

The New England Regional Genealogical Conference (NERGC) is just around the corner this April 2015. Judy G. Russell, the Legal Genealogist and Lisa Louise Cooke, the host of the Genealogy Gems podcast are the featured national speakers. Did you know that Lisa has never been to New England before?!! This is your chance to see two amazing nationally-recognized speakers. And D. Joshua Taylor of Genealogy Roadshow is giving several talks and a banquet talk too.

Why pay full price? Save 20% by registering now! NERGC Early Bird registration deadline is February 28th. To register online or download the Program Brochure, go to www.nergc.org. See you in Providence!

www.nergc.org

Lisa Louise Cooke is the owner of Genealogy Gems, a genealogy and family history multi-media company. She is Producer and Host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, the popular online genealogy audio show as well as the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast, both available at www.GenealogyGems.com, in iTunes, and through the free Genealogy Gems Toolbar. Her podcasts bring genealogy news, research strategies, expert interviews and inspiration to genealogists in 75 countries around the world.

The Legal Genealogist Judy G. Russell is a genealogist with a law degree. She writes, teaches and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical topics, ranging from using court records in family history to understanding DNA testing. A Colorado native with roots deep in the American south on her mother’s side and entirely in Germany on her father’s side, she is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society and numerous state and regional genealogical societies. She has written for the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and National Genealogical Society Magazine, among other publications. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, from which she holds credentials as a Certified Genealogist and Certified Genealogical Lecturer.

The Rhode Island Historical Society Library is finally reopened, only for the Newport Historical Society, another one of the Rhode Island research gems, to be closed for construction. Oh well, you can't have it all, or not all at the same time!

 There are still wonderful resources to explore relating to your RI ancestors. If you have any relatives who were at the Rhode Island House of Corrections, the Hospital for the Insane, or at the RI State Infirmary, also known as the Almshouse, there are some truly wonderful resources available.

While the vast majority of the records the Hospital for the Insane are missing (purportedly in someone's basement), the RIHSL has one of the earliest ledgers, from 1895-1898 (Rhode Island Historical Society Library- Rhode Island State Institutions Records.) If you had an ancestor committed to the asylum, you can do a page by page search for their admission during that time.

If your ancestor spent any time in the state penal system, there are the discharges for the House of Corrections (MSS 231, SG 1, Series 2, Vol. 19). One name jumped out at me as I was scrolling through the pages; Emma Skuce was repeatedly incarcerated in State Prison and County Jail. The record of her death is also found in the book, on 15 Nov 1915. If you received a death certificate from the RI state archives which give the House of Corrections as the location of death, you could check the ledger for the original record and determine the reason for incarceration which could lead you to court records and learning more about the reasons for their stay at the "state farm."

If you have an ancestor who died at the "State Hospital" in "Howard," this is actually a section of Cranston that was designated for a variety of state institutions including the poor house, the state prison and the Hospital for the Insane. Even today, the State Dept. of Health, State Dept of Corrections and a number of other state departments have offices and facilities there. Many of the admissions ledgers are available at the RI State Archives, and can provide fascinating detail about our poor ancestors and the treatment of various illness. Reading through these ledgers, it was fascinating to note that whole families of children would come in to the hospital for "T&A," tonsils and adenoid surgery. Another ledger has "Patient Histories" which records why and how people arrived at the hospital.

Image from 1915 Reports Presented to the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Office of the Secretary of State, 1915. E.L. Freeman Co., Providence, RI

With a wealth of resources available for our less than illustrious ancestors, we should take advantage of the records available to add more interest to our family histories.

Challenges and Discoveries

One of my favorite places to work is the Reading Room at the Rhode Island Historical Society Library. Since its recent closure (see their website /http://www.rihs.org/), with deadlines looming, I have been forced (let's say challenged, instead) to seek out alternative repositories for my research. I've already posted about how much I love the Providence Public Library, but to avoid a trip downtown, where parking is difficult, I went off to the library at Rhode Island College. http://www.ric.edu/adamslibrary/. I had never been, but it was their school break, and they had one of the ProScan 2000 microfilm readers for my perusal of the Providence Journal. While I didn't have time to explore, it is definitely on my list of places to return to, particularly for it's special collections, The Cape Verdean Collection (http://ric.libguides.com/content.php?pid=179008&sid=1506076) and the Joseph R. Muratore Collection of Italian American materials (http://www.ric.edu/adamslibrary/assets/muratore.pdf).

My other trip was to Woonsocket, both the American-French Genealogical Society (http://www.afgs.org/) library, and the Woonsocket Harris Public Library (http://www.woonsocketlibrary.org/). While I have been to AFGS many times, the addition of the Family History Center, new computer databases and some lovely new donations (that I am not allowed to reveal), their collection of French Canadian and RI and MA resources is fantastic. I also found a unique source for records of the Catholic Diocese of Providence. Check them out for yourself, because I was amazed at the parish records they have on film. The public library was also a wonderful discovery. While I usually would use the microfilm at the RIHSL for the local newspaper, The Call, RIHSL does not have a ProScan microfilm reader to digitize the films. Everything on microfilm has to be printed. The digital microfilm reader at the Woonsocket Public Library was a boon! No printing out the pages and taking them home to scan. A bit of a drive, but perhaps more efficient in the long run.

While it's not much fun to truck around RI in the winter snow (and it snowed on my way to Woonsocket), the unfortunate closure of my main research library has helped expand my horizons, and forced me to be creative and more adventurous for my research, and that's not a bad thing, at all. Maybe I'll find some other new places while the library remains closed, and I'll have something new to write about!

Martitime History and Newport

I've been enjoying all the beauty that Rhode Island can offer this summer, as my family bought a sailboat and spent the summer out on the water. Sailing on Narragansett Bay reminds me of how significant maritime trade and the navy have been to my home state.The maritime history of RI has left records all over the state including the admiralty records at the RI State Archives (including letters of marque for privateers during the Revolution), whaling ships logs in the Nicholson Collection at the Providence Public library, and a host of materials at the Newport Historical Society (http://www.newporthistorical.org/).

Newport has a fascinating history as a haven for Plymouth Colony rebels who wanted religious freedom. The area is the home of the Seventh Day Baptists, a haven for Quakers and boasts the oldest Jewish Synagogue in the US. And Newport was one of the largest ports on the east coast. As early as the late 1600's, Newport has been a significant port of call first for the Royal Navy, then for trade along the eastern seaboard.

The Newport Historical Society has recently updated their website to include a list of their significant manuscript and special collections.They have an amazing amount of genealogical material on Newport families, and an emphasis on the maritime history of Newport in the form of ship's logs, diaries and merchant's records. The staff is fabulous, and the building itself is an historical gem. They are cataloguing their collectionsr and putting more online and have found a bunch of treasures lurking within their collections. Check out their "FOUND!" page to see some of their unique treasures! http://www.newporthistorical.org/index.php/category/found/

If you have Newport families make sure that you check out this fabulous gem hidden in downtown of one of the oldest seaports in the United States!

Providence City Archives

Do you have Providence, RI families? In July 2010, the City of Providence hired a new archivist, Paul Campbell. He has an impressive resume as an author and archivist including 8 years as the Director at the Rhode Island Historical Society. Since he started the improvements to their website have been phenomenal (check it out at http://www.providenceri.com/archives). He has been delving into the far reaches of this vast repository (you'd be amazed at the stuff they've found so far, including the Providence Town Charter from 1648! See a picture of it here: http://www.providenceri.com/archives/providence-city-archivist-to-speak-on-recent-0) and assembling finding aids for their materials. He's been restoring town records, with help from various organizations including the Rhode Island Genealogical Society (yeah, that's a shameless plug for my home genealogy society, check out http://www.providenceri.com/archives/early-town-council-record-book-restored-0). If you have old Rhode Island families from Providence or the surrounding area including Glocester, Scituate, North Providence, Johnston, etc, you should really check them out. They have maps, city directories, town meeting records (some of which are published in the 2006 and 2007 issues of Rhode Island Roots: Gleanings, by RIGS, though 2007 is out of print), aldermen papers, photographs, licenses and vital records (the turn of the century peddlers licenses are amazing). Genealogists will find the Naturalization and Voter records helpful, along with the reform school records. If you do house histories, the building permits might be a goldmine for your research. There are ton of other fun, quirky and potentially valuable family history research materials here.

And they're finding new things every day. They've gotten experienced archivists, historians, librarians and students to volunteer their skills to help organize and catalog the materials. Some are even being digitized for access via the web (see their photo gallery at http://www.providenceri.com/photogallery).
So check it out, be creative and see if they have anything that you can use to flesh out your family history.

Little Rhody's Manuscript Collections

The most fabulous new site that I've been using lately for my research is RIAMCO, The Rhode Island Archives and Manuscript Collections Online (http://dl.lib.brown.edu/riamco/). This website allows you to search several manuscript collections at repositories all over RI with one website. The website is sponsored by a consortium of 10 members including Brown University, Providence College, the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Historical Society and others.

It's a great way to search for unique items related to the history of RI and our families from one search engine, rather than going to search each one independently. Many universities and colleges have fabulous special collections that are available for research, and a search of those resources should be included in any "reasonably exhaustive" search for information. They may not be well publicized, but you never know what unique gems you may discover.

There are some caveats to using RIAMCO that I've discovered already. Not everything that the participating members have in their collections "pops up" when you do a search. And not all the RI repositories that have unique collections are represented. For example, while the RI State Archives has a variety of fabulous and unique manuscript collections (particularly those relating to Narragansett tribal affairs), they may not all show up in your search. The information that you get out is only what the consortium members have added to the database. Additionally, there are some possible repositories that we can think of that aren't represented such as Rhode Island College, and the West Warwick Public Library (they have a really fabulous photograph collection!) But, I think what it does is that it reminds us that there are a number of special collections that deserve attention in our family history research, and that can provide in-depth and unique materials that can make our work come alive.

Check them out, and encourage any repositories you use that aren't members already to join the Consortium! By using these resources, we are showing the value these materials have, and why they should continue to be preserved!