Working It Wednesday – Using Word to Translate Foreign Documents

I took French in high school, but last summer, when I was researching one of my husband’s line from Alsace, I had access to an avalanche of records – none of which I could read!  Not only because of my incredibly rusty French skills, but also because of the “interesting” handwriting!  However, I found a great tool in Word that helped me tremendously!

I began by typing out the document just as I thought it looked.  I did not take the time to check spelling or format, I just typed what I thought each word looked like.  I left underlines for words that I absolutely could not decipher.

After typing it out, I clicked on the “Review” tab at the top and then on the “Set Language” button in the proofing box.  I have this set to “detect language automatically”, but you can also tell it the specific language to use.

Once Word has detected the language I am writing in, the squiggly lines appear to show which words are misspelled. I can right click on the words that are obviously names and tell the computer to “Add to Dictionary” to eliminate some of the squiggly lines.   When I right click on the remaining words, a list of suggested spellings will appear.  I use those suggestions to compare with the actual documents to see which one looks the most like what I’m seeing.  This often opens my eyes to accent marks or other ways to see letters that I hadn’t considered the first time.

Another tool that helps is the “Translation ScreenTip” tool.  Click on this and select “English”.

Then when I place my cursor over a word, the English translation will appear above the word.  This can be useful when I am deciding which word to go with from the suggested list I saw from my misspelled words.  I can select a word from the list, then place my cursor on it to see the translations.  Often, this immediately tells me that I’ve made the wrong choice.  These dictionary entries often include phrases in the foreign language that can help me with words immediately before or after the word I’m hovering over.

Once I’ve adjusted as many words as I reasonably can, I can tell Word to translate what I’ve typed.  I can translate one sentence at a time, or the entire document.  Sometimes, smaller sections are easier.  To translate my document, I begin by highlighting the section I want to translate.

At the top of the screen is the “Translate” button.  Once that is clicked, a smaller window opens at the right side of the screen.  The translation shows up in the middle of this window.

This translation often shows me words that are definitely wrong so I can try again.  Then, I like to highlight the translation, copy it, and add it to the bottom of my Word document.  Then I have my French version followed by my English version.

The more documents I translate, the more I begin to see patterns in the letters or the wording.  Each document becomes more accurate and I can go back and change earlier documents to reflect what I’ve learned.

Oh, how I love modern technology!  I’m sure that my limited knowledge of French did help me a bit, but I do feel like I could use this with other languages to at least figure out the key words of any document.

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Working It Wednesday – Hyperlinking my notes

Last week, I showed how I use hyperlinking to help me quickly switch between the Group Sheets that I’ve created within Excel.  This week, I’ll show other uses for hyperlinking – this time in my notes that I write in Word.

In a nutshell, hyperlinking allows me to see any record, map or web site that I mention in my notes.  It helps me to find files that I’ve saved on my computer without having to go to my filing cabinet to find my paper copy – which means I have all of my files with me wherever I go.

Each of the hyperlinks in the page above will take me directly to the item mentioned with a single click.  Here are some examples: (Click on the image to see a larger version.)

Some things I can link to:

• Notes and Group Sheets of other individuals
• Full sized versions of thumbnail images I’ve included in my notes
• Maps
• Scanned documents
• Photographs
• Web sites where records were found
• Search screens for Ancestry, Footnote, World Vital Records, etc
• Search results for Worldcat.org or other library sites
• County Genealogy Sites
• Googlemaps
• Documents I’ve created to organize information on this surname

For me, this is extremely effective.  It’s a timesaver over locating a record that has been added to a paper stack on my desk and reminds me of documents that I have had for awhile that might not come to mind immediately.  It also cuts down on the “clutter” that I assemble on my desk while researching!

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Family Friday – Who were the children of Welcome Stephens?

When I first began doing genealogy research years ago, I was excited to find book at my library that had the family trees for several of the families in my line. The Stephens family was one of those. The book had a list of children for Welcome Stephens and I entered them into my genealogy software.

In the recent months that I’ve been doing extensive research on this family, I’ve often questioned whether some of these children actually belong with Welcome Stephens.  Some of the names from the original list I saw appear to be duplicates. I began with this list:  Thomas, Andy, JB, John, Lettie, William, Dudley, Sherwood, Joshua, Polly and Andrew. I believe that Andy and Andrew were probably the same person and JB could be John or Joshua. I have never found a document that lists a J.B. Stephens. So my updated list became: John, Elizabeth, Andrew, Dudley, Joshua, Thomas, Polly, William, Sherwood and Lettie. I have been attempting to follow each of these children through time in order to positively connect them to Welcome Stephens, but I have several questions. Many of these questions come as a result of Welcome’s will and estate settlement. Here’s my transcription of the will:

I Welcome Stephens Russell County and State of Kentucky do hereby make my last Will and Testament in manner & form following that is to say

1^st I desire that my blacksmith tools shall be sold immediately after my decease and out of the monies from all my just debts and funeral expenses be paid.

2^nd after the payment of all my just debts and funeral expenses I give to my beloved wife Nancy Stephens one bed and furniture and for her to give the same to who she pleases at her death and shall have her support in manner hereafter mentioned only she shall have the use of my farm or so much of them she needs for her and John Baily and the kitchen furniture

3^rd I give unto my son Dudley Stephens all the ridge tract of land including the Racoon Springs and the tract on which he now lives included in the deed to me from Thomas Wilson so high up the creek as to take square across the bottom at the lick at the upper end of the old field, to him and his heirs forever also my clock and my five dogs.

4^th I give to my son Andrew Stephens the tract of land where he now lives containing one hundred acres more or less to him and his heirs forever.

5^th I give to my son Joshua Stephens the home tract of land that is including where I now live and the place where he settled at the Lisha[?] place only he shall contribute to my wife before mentioned a reasonable support in the following manner, she shall have choice houses on the land for own self to live in and as much ground as she can tend herself during her life or her widowhood and my sons Dudley Stephens and Joshua Stephens shall contribute to her what she lacks of making in manner before mentioned.

6^th I give to my son Sherwood Stephens the tract of land where he now lives to him his lifetime and to his heirs forever also my bureau

7^th as far as John Ard and the children he had by Elizabeth his first wife my daughter I have given them all that I intend for them to have

8^th, all the rest of my estate both real and personal of what nature or kind so-ever it may be not herein before mentioned and disposed of I desire that it may be equally divided all my children only I want John Baily to have my young mare when he is 21 years old or one that is as good as she makes when he is 21 years of age provided that he continues to conduct himself as well as he has done heretofore and lives at home as he has always done until he is free.

And lastly I hereby appoint Dudley Stephens and Joshua Stephens Executors to this my last will and testament in witness whereof I do hereby set my hand and affix my s—[?] the 14th day of July 1840.

The will was witnessed by George and Aaron Harris. The bond was signed by Simco Popplewell and was dated 12 October 1840.

The estate settlement was dated 12 November 1840 and includes a list of the children dividing the estate. Those who are listed as obtaining items are: Joshua, Sherwood, Dudley, Andrew and Polly. The will mentions that Welcome’s daughter, Elizabeth, was deceased. In the final paragraph of the settlement, it says, “We, the heirs and representatives of Welcome Stephens, deceased, do hereby jointly agree the the personal property of said decedent shall be sold to the highest bidder and the highest shall be the purchaser & that when a copy of the Will shall be obtained & shall be proportioned & we bind ourselves to pay William Stephens his part when called by the Administrators…” signed by Dudley, Andrew, Joshua, Sherod and Polly.

So based on this will and the settlement, I have accounted for 7 of the 10 children who are in my current list of children. I know that William was in Alabama at the time of his father’s death which explains the final paragraph in the settlement. The question then is – Where are John, Thomas and Lettie? Were they really children of Welcome Stephens? If so, why were they not mentioned in the will? William did not arrive in Russell County until after 1860, so distance does not seem to be an issue. When Welcome mentions that he has given his deceased daughter’s family all that he intended to give to them, would he not also list other family members who were to receive no more? I can follow John and Thomas Stephens of Russell County for many years. I do not have a single record that mentions Lettie. I also have no records that connect Joshua to this family other than the will. In the 1860 census, there is a 49 year old Joshua Stephens living with John Bailey in the house next to Andrew Stephens and his wife Elizabeth Perry. Is this proof that this Joshua is Welcome’s Joshua?  I have found no other census records for Joshua Stephens that I feel confident in.

There are dozens of online trees that show all of these children connected to Welcome with dates and spouses for John and Thomas so has everyone else found records that I have not found or is this an example of information that gets passed on and on with no sources?

I would love to correspond with other researchers who are also part of Welcome Stephens’ line!

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Working It Wednesday – Linking Group Sheets

I have groups sheets written in Excel – which I love.  But I’ve moved more to group sheets written in Word because I love the ability write my citations easily and to keep them well organized.  But since my group sheets in Word are sized to fit in my planner, I do still use my Excel group sheets when I want to print a full sized version for my folders and binders.

My focus lately has been completely on my Stephens line.  I’ve been working on 4 generations of Stephens families who scattered near and far and I get so frustrated with the number of William’s in each family!  A man has a son named William and he and most of his siblings name a son William as well! They also tended to continue the tradition so before long, I’m looking at these different group sheets with Williams all over the place and I get confused on the relationships between them all.  I ended up taping my group sheets to the wall so that I can see them all to find how each William is related! How much easier it is to look at a group sheet, click on a name, and go directly to HIS group sheet without searching the wall!  Hyperlinks allow me to do this.  I can link to group sheets for any name on the group sheet – siblings, wives or parents.

This is convenient because the more group sheets I make in the Excel workbook, the more clicking I need to do to find the tab for the sheet I’d look to look at next.  I have 22 group sheets in this particular workbook and to quickly switch back and forth between two group sheets that don’t happen to be next to each other on my tabs can be a bit of a pain.  By hyperlinking my group sheets, I can switch quickly to any group sheet that I’d like.  Here are the steps for linking group sheets in the same Excel Workbook.

For my example, I will show my group sheet for Andrew J. Stephens and his wife, Lucy Stephens.

Let’s say that I want to make a link to Andrew’s son-in-law, William George.  First I will right-click on the cell with William’s name.

A list of options will appear.  I will click on “Hyperlink”.

A box of choices will appear.  Since I want to link to an Excel page within this workbook, I will be sure to choose the “Place in this document” selection on the left and then a list of my various groups sheets will appear in the larger box on the right.  I will find William George in my list and double click.

Now William’s name in the original group sheet is “hypertext blue” and I know that if I put my cursor over William’s name, the cursor will become a hand. When I click, I will go directly to his group sheet.  (If I want to edit the text in the box, as long as the cursor is not a hand, I can click on the cell and edit the text.) From William’s group sheet, I can then make a hyperlink for his wife, Elizabeth and it would bring me right back to the group sheet I started from.  I can hyperlink any name in my group sheet to move directly to their group sheet. Handy!

Next week, I’ll write about other ways that I use hyperlinking in my genealogy work.

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Timeline Tuesday – Jan 12, 1898

From the Adair County News.

This is “Severe Weather Preparedness Week” and in honor of that, I thought I’d post a clipping about a cyclone that passed through Adair County in January of 1898.  Barns were destroyed and homes were moved.  But after the storm had passed, residents went back to church and listened to an “excellent sermon” by Rev. Walton!

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Deed Work – B’s part 15

These are the B’s from the Russell County Deeds Cross Index.  At times, the page numbers cannot be seen on the microfilms.  In that case, the book only is listed.

 

1858	Buster, William L. & c	McClure, Nathan	G
1858	Burris, Mary Jane	Harmon, William	G
1858	Bowlin, John C.	Miller, Madison	G
1858	Buster, William & c	McClure, Nathan	G
1858	Buster, William L. & c	Branham, Barnabus & c	G
1859	Bradshaw, Elijah & c	Gosser, Harrison	G
1857	Bryan, George	Wells,m Wilham	G
1859	Brown, George W.	Coffey, Andrew	G
1859	Blair, James Sr.	Blair, Morgan	G
1858	Bryan, George conv.	Coffey, Humphrey	G
1859	Bradley, Sims & c	Paul, James	G
1857	Bradley, Sims & c	Paul, James	G
1856	Bradley, Polly & c	Irvin Matildia & c	G
1859	Bebee, Allen & c	Holt, Berryman	G
1859	Bradshaw, Elijah & c	Bradshaw, F.M.	G
1859	Bolin, Lucinda	Bolin, Henry J. & c	G
1859	Bolin, Prudence J.	Bolin, Henry J. & c	G
1859	Bybee, Allen	Melson, James J.	G
1859	Beck, Aajon	Snow, John W.	G
1859	Bryan, George conv.	Moore, George W.	G
1859	Bolin, John C.	Bernard, John I. & c	G
1859	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	Wooldridge, James	G
1859	Bryan, George conv.	Bernard, John & Coffey, Albert G.	G
1859	Bradshaw, Elijah	Bradshaw, John C.	G
1855	Blankenship, Jess	Blankenship, David	G
1859	Bernard, John I. & c	Bernard, Harriet S.	G
1859	Bryan, George conv.	McFalls, Lindsey	G
1859	Bolin, John E.	Wade, Seth	G
1856	Bernard, William W.	Love, William T.	G
1857	Bryan, George conv.	Gran, Wm. M.	G
1858	Bryan, George conv.	Sanders, Olivia	G
1860	Bernard, Peter	Smith, Reubin B.	G
1855	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	Cook, Edward	G
1868	Bolin, Benjamin P. & c	Bolin, John C.	G
1858	Bernard, John I. & c	Nelson, William	G
1860	Blair, Morgan	School Districe no. 25	G
1860	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	Scott, Elizabeth	G
1859	Bradshaw, John P. & c	Humphreys, D.C.	G
1859	Bradshaw, John P. & c	Humphreys, D.C.	G
1860	Buster, W.B. & c	Long, Edward	G

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Family Friday – Andrew Stephens 1837 – 1920

Andrew Stephens – 1880 – 1920

1880 -  Census – Russell Co, Ky – ED 103   sheet 26

Stephens, Andrew, age 41, farming
Lucy, age 36
William D, age 18
Mary E, age 16
George H, age 14
Cornelius, age 9
Cortez, age 7
Andrew J, age 5
Uriah, age 3
Dock, age 1
Pollie, aunt, age 70  (I believe this is Andrew’s father’s (William) sister.)

1881 -  Birth of Armilda Jane, June.

1890 -  KY Veterans Census – ED 125

Andrew J. Stephens, Private, Company C, 13th KY Cav.  1863-1865 (This is NOT my Andrew. Who else had an Andrew J. Stephens as a son? Potentially the son of Andrew Jackson Stephen and Elizabeth Perry)

1899 -  Marriage of Mary Elizabeth (Stephens) George to John Flanagan.  15 Jan.

1899 -  Guardianship of Ollie B, Lucy J, Luther and Lela “minor children and William George, deceased” (husband of Mary Elizabeth Stephens)
given to A. J. Stephens with Hannibal McBeath, W.D. Stephens and Cornelius Stephens as sureties.  15 June 1899

• Why did guardianship go to the Grandparents instead of to the mother?

1900 -  Guardianship of George Children to John W. Flanagan.  Oct. 24, 1900

1900 -  Census – Russell Co, Ky – ED 158   sheet 11

Stephens, Andrew J, Aug. 1839, age 62, m. 25 yrs, born in Miss, father in S.C.
Lucy, Dec. 1842, age 58, born in Ky.
Uriah, June 1877, age 23, born in Ky.
Dr. Garfield, Mar. 1879, age 21, born in Ky.
Milda J, June 1880, age 19

Where are George, Mary Elizabeth and William?

• William Dudley – in Lucas Mill, RC with wife and 2 kids
• Mary Eliz. – in Jamestown, RC with John Flanagan & 10 kids
• George – in Jamestown, RC with wife, 2 kids and 1 adopted son

@1905- Death of Mary Elizabeth Stephens George Flanagan.

1905 -  Guardianship of George Children to WD Stephens with AJ Stephens as surety.  22 Feb. 1905

1910 – Census – Russell Co, Ky – ED 215   number 192

Stephens, Andrew J, age 72, married 52 yrs, born in Miss, father in Ky.
Lucy, age 67, married 52 yrs, 12 children born, 6 living
George, Luther, grand-son, age 16
George, Leiler, grand-daughter, age 13  (my great-grandmother)

Who are the 6?  Where are the gaps for children who may have died young?

• 6 are:  George, Cornelius, Cortez, AJ, Uriah and Armilda
• 6 additional are:  Nancy E (d. 1861) William Dudley (1909) Mary Eliz. (1905) Dock Garfield (?) plus 2 unknown.
• Perhaps 2 unknown born between 62-63 and 67-69 (based on age gaps)

1920 -  Census – Russell Co, Ky – ED 251  sheet 12

Stephens, Andrew Jackson, age 82, born in Miss, father in Ky.
Lucy, age 76
Nancy Brock, age 53 (servant)

1920 -  Apr. 23 – death of Andrew Jackson Stephens  Buried in Bernard Cemetery

1928 -  June 14 – death of Lucy Stephens  Buried in Bernard Cemetery

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Deed Work – B’s Part 14

I haven’t posted from the deed index in quite awhile.  These are the B’s from the Russell County Deeds Cross Index.  At times, the page numbers cannot be seen on the microfilms.  In that case, the book only is listed.

1858	Braham, Barnabus	Buster, William & c	G-142
1859	Blair, Colbert	Leach, Mathew	G-157
1859	Bryan, George	Jeffuce, Thomas P. & c	G-176
1859	Bailey, John	Tucker, Gabriel	G-181
1859	Buster, Claudius	Lair, William Sr.	G-187
1859	Blair, Morgan	Blair, James Sr.	G-195
1856	Barger, Stephen	Ftinsley Mary A.	G-220
1859	Bradshaw, F.M.	Bradshaw, Elijah	G-245
1859	Blankenship, John W.	Wilson, Abner	G-246
1859	Boyd, George	George, John	G-249
1859	Blankenship, John	Wilson, Abner	G-249
1859	Bolin, Henry J.	Bolin, Lucinda	G-251
1859	Bolin, Henry J.	Bolin, Prudence J.	G-252
1859	Beck, John	McFarland, Madison & c	G-257
1859	Bernard, John I.	Owen, Hester	G-287
185_	Barger, Stephen	Kerns, George & c	G-289
1859	Bernard, John I.	Bolin, John C.	G-292
1859	Bernard, John I.	Chamberlain, David	G-297
1859	Bernard, John I.	Bernard, Wm. W. & c	G-327
1859	Bradshaw, John C.	Bradshaw, Elijah	G-330
1859	Blankenship, John	Smith, George H. & c	G-332
1859	Blankenship, John W.	Foley, Peter F. & c	G-332
1859	Blankenship, David	Blankenship, Jesse	G-338
1859	Bernard, Harriet S.	Bernard, John I. & c	G-339
1859	Barnes, William	Chamberlain, William & c	G-344
1855	Blankenship, Joel	Meadows, James E. & c	G-346
1855	Buster, Williams & c	Lair, William & c	G-357
1858	Barnes, William	Renalds, Daniel & c	G-383
1860	Bryan, George	Perkins, Simon	G-397
1868	Bolin, John C.	Bolin, Benjamin P. & c	G-400
1850	Bryan, George	Jeffuce, Thomas P. & c	G-401
1860	Bernard, William W.	Loac, William T.	G-411
1860	Brooks, George	Lay, John & c	G-418
1860	Brley, M.C.D.	Simpson, Nancy	G-439
1860	Brickin, R.R.	Cartwright, M.W.	G-450
1860	Brickin, Willliam M.	Cartwright, M.W.	G-457
1868	Barnes, Ozias	Herriford, George W. & c	G-493
1860	Bolin, B.J.	Bolin, Henry J. & c	G-504
1861	Bolin, Ann E.	Bolin, B.J.	G-514
1861	Ballenger, Berryman	Ballenger, David	G-526

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Who Do You Think You Are?

What a week this has been.  Not much time for genealogy research, but I’d been looking forward to seeing the premiere episode of “Who Do You Think You Are”.  So tonight, I put my computer aside to watch.  What a delightful episode!  I knew I’d enjoy the show, but I wasn’t prepared for how it awakened such a deep desire to understand my ancestors in the context of their time.

My research for awhile has focused on my Stephens line and I’ve been concentrating so fiercely on finding those documents and adding locations to my notes that I hadn’t taken the time to “look around” to see where I was.  My ancestor, Welcome Stephens, was born around 1779, probably in Henry Co, Virginia.  Virginia in the midst of the Revolutionary War!  Ten years before George Washington became president!  So many questions running through my mind tonight and now a new path to add to my research!

I’m looking forward to the journey!

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