Clayton
Clayton
Robert W. Avent
Introduction
The Faintest Ink is more Powerful that the Strongest Memory-
OLD CHINESE PROVERB
In the past, before the internet, gathering genealogy information was only accomplished by reading entries in the family Bibles or listening to family stories or by traveling to libraries, court houses, cemeteries or by finding individuals who have had books printed about their or other families’ histories. This created a sparse, though well documented, source for others who wished to find their families’ history. But this process was slow, expensive, difficult and extremely time consuming to the researcher. Mostly, these sources have become buried on dusty shelves in remote locations that meant they would eventually be lost to time and memories.
With the internet we now have extremely easy access to a plethora of data, so much so that we are overwhelmed with facts, sometimes not complimentary, that are scattered over many web sites. Accuracy of information is often sacrificed to accommodate ease of access. Data that was once sparse and difficult to find is now easy to find but extremely disseminated over many web sites and that creates a new set of problems. Who has the time to search all of these sources and consolidate the various information into one source that others can easily locate?
This web site is a consolidation of information from many sources on the internet such as; Ancestry®, Find a Grave, Google, Family Search (LDS), My Heritage, Cyndi’s List, World Connect by Roots Web, Wikipedia, Gen Forum, Census Records, Newspapers, Family Newsletters, and a few genealogy books. As such, with very few exceptions, the information contained herein is that of other individuals who have taken the time and effort to conduct their research and collection of data and images.
A final step a family historian needs to take, to insure one’s efforts are not lost, is to provide to all who are interested a digitally formatted (PDF, MSWD, Text etc.) document that can and should be printed by recipients to pass down to their progeny. Years or decades of work can be wiped out by an EMP, by a malicious hacker or by a corrupted hard drive.
'Honour and shame from no condition rise; Act well your part, there all the honour lies.', Epistle I—Alexander Pope
'Tis only noble to be good.
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.', Lady Clara Vere de Vere—Alfred Lord Tennyson
‘Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors’—Dr. Jonas Salk
‘Mules are always boasting that their ancestors were horses.’—Proverb
Explanations:
• Convoluted Cousins: These are individuals who have NO bloodline connection to the family but do have a relationship through marriages. I find these individuals to help ‘relate’ to history and also use this as my way of demonstrating with ‘tongue in cheek’ in how contorted the relationship has to be to connect to them.
• Heraldry Shields: Knowing that in heraldry a crest is only granted to an individual and not family or their heirs I nevertheless have used them as a technique to designate the various ‘houses’ of Europe or clans of Scotland, thus noting the numerous family alliances made through marriage for the purpose of increasing power and prestige.
• Flags: These represent the geopolitical location of a person at the time of their birth. For instance, someone born in Germany in the eighteenth century should show the flag, not of current day Germany, but rather that of the Holy Roman Empire. Another example, if a person was born in New York before its capitulation to England I show the flag of the Dutch West India Company, not of England.
• Geopolitical Names: My intent is to use the names of locations as would be stated at the time. For instance, when referring to a Dutch colony I use the name of Wiltwyck, Nieuw-Nederlandse, but if I use the current designation of Kingston, Ulster County, New York, then one knows it is now under English authority.
Counties are more problematic in that their names often change over time or boundaries are realigned. I try to use the designated county name at the time of an event. A quick ‘Wiki’ search of a county can clear this confusion for the user.
• Sooo…Many Cousins: While my initial intent in developing a genealogical history of my family was primarily for my two aunts and cousins I realized that many others could benefit as well. But to enable others to connect to the family I decided early on to add the names of all children of a family event for those most ‘removed’ hoping someone would find that person on the internet and ‘hook into’ the family and thus provide additional information, pictures, stories and more importantly, corrections.
Please contact me with any errors, omissions and additions.
OLD CHINESE PROVERB
In the past, before the internet, gathering genealogy information was only accomplished by reading entries in the family Bibles or listening to family stories or by traveling to libraries, court houses, cemeteries or by finding individuals who have had books printed about their or other families’ histories. This created a sparse, though well documented, source for others who wished to find their families’ history. But this process was slow, expensive, difficult and extremely time consuming to the researcher. Mostly, these sources have become buried on dusty shelves in remote locations that meant they would eventually be lost to time and memories.
With the internet we now have extremely easy access to a plethora of data, so much so that we are overwhelmed with facts, sometimes not complimentary, that are scattered over many web sites. Accuracy of information is often sacrificed to accommodate ease of access. Data that was once sparse and difficult to find is now easy to find but extremely disseminated over many web sites and that creates a new set of problems. Who has the time to search all of these sources and consolidate the various information into one source that others can easily locate?
This web site is a consolidation of information from many sources on the internet such as; Ancestry®, Find a Grave, Google, Family Search (LDS), My Heritage, Cyndi’s List, World Connect by Roots Web, Wikipedia, Gen Forum, Census Records, Newspapers, Family Newsletters, and a few genealogy books. As such, with very few exceptions, the information contained herein is that of other individuals who have taken the time and effort to conduct their research and collection of data and images.
A final step a family historian needs to take, to insure one’s efforts are not lost, is to provide to all who are interested a digitally formatted (PDF, MSWD, Text etc.) document that can and should be printed by recipients to pass down to their progeny. Years or decades of work can be wiped out by an EMP, by a malicious hacker or by a corrupted hard drive.
'Honour and shame from no condition rise; Act well your part, there all the honour lies.', Epistle I—Alexander Pope
'Tis only noble to be good.
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.', Lady Clara Vere de Vere—Alfred Lord Tennyson
‘Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors’—Dr. Jonas Salk
‘Mules are always boasting that their ancestors were horses.’—Proverb
Explanations:
• Convoluted Cousins: These are individuals who have NO bloodline connection to the family but do have a relationship through marriages. I find these individuals to help ‘relate’ to history and also use this as my way of demonstrating with ‘tongue in cheek’ in how contorted the relationship has to be to connect to them.
• Heraldry Shields: Knowing that in heraldry a crest is only granted to an individual and not family or their heirs I nevertheless have used them as a technique to designate the various ‘houses’ of Europe or clans of Scotland, thus noting the numerous family alliances made through marriage for the purpose of increasing power and prestige.
• Flags: These represent the geopolitical location of a person at the time of their birth. For instance, someone born in Germany in the eighteenth century should show the flag, not of current day Germany, but rather that of the Holy Roman Empire. Another example, if a person was born in New York before its capitulation to England I show the flag of the Dutch West India Company, not of England.
• Geopolitical Names: My intent is to use the names of locations as would be stated at the time. For instance, when referring to a Dutch colony I use the name of Wiltwyck, Nieuw-Nederlandse, but if I use the current designation of Kingston, Ulster County, New York, then one knows it is now under English authority.
Counties are more problematic in that their names often change over time or boundaries are realigned. I try to use the designated county name at the time of an event. A quick ‘Wiki’ search of a county can clear this confusion for the user.
• Sooo…Many Cousins: While my initial intent in developing a genealogical history of my family was primarily for my two aunts and cousins I realized that many others could benefit as well. But to enable others to connect to the family I decided early on to add the names of all children of a family event for those most ‘removed’ hoping someone would find that person on the internet and ‘hook into’ the family and thus provide additional information, pictures, stories and more importantly, corrections.
Please contact me with any errors, omissions and additions.
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