A Look at a Cash Land Entry File-Part 1

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Files relating to cash sales of land by the federal government are usually said to contain little information. However, one must remember that when ordering land files from The National Archives and Records Administration, several types of land entry case files are lumped together under Cash Entry. For instance, the entryman may have begun the process of filing for a Homestead, then decided to pay for the land outright, rather than meeting the residency and other requirements for a homestead. Any paperwork created to that point will be in the case file. So the bottom line is, you don't know what you are going to get until you see the case file.
Over the next few days, we will look at two case files. The first is a basic cash entry file with very little information beyond the basics of who, what, when, where and how much. The second appears to be a preemption file and contains much more information.
Resources:

• Hone, E. Wade. Land & Property Research in the United States. Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry, 1997. Print.
• Bettag, Claire. Land Entry Papers: Federal Land Records at the National Archives. Handout from the National Archives 7th Annual Genealogy Fair held April 20 and 21, 2011. There is a link on this page for the handout.
• Hawkins, Kenneth. Research in the Land Entry Files of the General Land Office.Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration. 2009. Downloadable from NARA.

Links to the entire series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Summary

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Grandpa Was A Cross Dresser! - Wordless Wednesday

While organizing the Arhival Closet, this photo of my grandfather, Richard Roos, turned up. Apparently there was a production of the Folies in his hometown of Cheney, Washington. I imagine it was put on by the community or the high school. I have a hard time envisioning the man I knew as my grandfather dressing up as a woman, even if it was for a local production!

Richard Roos in the Folies.

This photo of the group is especially precious because many of the participants are identified on the back of the picture (including one of Richard's brothers).

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

The Day of the Condor - Wordless Wednesday

Our family had the opportunity to go hiking in the Grand Canyon this past weekend. Much to our delight and surprise this California Condor entertained us on our way out of the canyon. For a few minutes I forgot just how hard it is to hike uphill!

Photo by Boyfriend (of Oldest Child)

Photo by Michelle Goodrum

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Time to Say Goodbye - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

The timing of this week's topic is impeccable. I lived in one house growing up and only had one bedroom. My room had hardwood floors, white walls, some very cheery flower curtains,

a cute light switch,

a little red rug on the floor, and a cradle.

Long after I had outgrown the cradle, it remained in my room as a play toy for my baby dolls to sleep in. As I grew up, some other items moved in: a blackboard, shelves for all of my stuff, an old antique school desk and later a real desk. My "real desk"was mostly piled high with things (some habits are hard to break!). Occasionally, my mom would make me it clear it off. Then as I got older I actually needed it for schoolwork so I was somewhat better about keeping it clean. Somewhat...

Over the years, some of the items were moved out: the cradle and antique school desk were relegated to the basement. After I grew up and moved away, my room never really changed, until recently. With mom's decision to downsize, it was time to clean out. My old room has come full circle; the cheery flower curtains are gone, the little red rug has been moved to our home, the light switch with the little girl was saved as a memento, the walls have been painted, the old gray rug removed, and we’re back to hardwood floors. It's time to say goodbye to my old room.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History, by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog, is a series of weekly blogging prompts to encourage people to record memories and insights about their lives for future descendants. It's not necessary to be a blogger to join in. Just record your memories on your own if you wish.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Metadata, Image Files and Migration

Photo from LSE Library

Recently, Heather over at Leaves for Trees wrote a great post called Adding source information to image files - Tuesday's Tip. It got me to really thinking about a concern I have with metadata and whether it migrates with the file and is readable in different programs. One thing I am sensivite to is whether how I spend my time now will provide benefits in the long run. In other words, if I add source information, descriptive information, author or keywords/tags to an image file using one program, will I be able to see that same data using another application down the road? Heather's article prompted me to finally play around a bit.

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0 and Windows Live Photo Gallery (Vista operating system) so what is discussed here is pretty much the same as what Heather was discussing. Here are the results of my brief experimentation using a jpg file. I'd love it if anyone has any comments as to whether these kinds of information will be viewable in other programs. For instance, if I were to move these files over to a Mac, would I be able to view the same data in the various programs in that environment? How about viewing the data in other photo viewing/editing programs?

Photoshop Elements 8.0

First I opened a photo in Elements and input some information into the following fields. I picked these fields because they are the most likely ones I would be using.

• Document Title
• Author
• Description
• Keywords

Next I saved the image in Photoshop Elements and opened it using Windows Live Photo Gallery. Here's what transferred over from Elements and what field the data appeared in Windows Live Photo Gallery.

• Document Title  data transferred to Title in Windows Live Photo Gallery.
• Author transferred to Author
• Description became Subject
• Keywords became Tags

So far so good. This told me that I can use Elements to input metadata into the above fields and I will be able to see that same information in Photo Gallery.

Windows Live Photo Gallery

Next I opened an image in Windows Live Photo Gallery, input some information into the following fields and saved the file:

• Title
• Subject
• Comments
• Tags

This is where things got a little interesting when I went back to Photoshop Elements to view the image.

• Title data in Photo Gallery became Document Title in Elements. It also appeared in Description!
• Subject does not appear to migrate over to Elements.
• Comments also does not appear to migrate over to Elements.
• Tags in Photo Gallery became Keywords in Elements.

Summary

This little experiment told me that I'm better off inputting metadata into Photoshop Elements. If you input data into Windows Live Photo Gallery, one needs to be aware that some of the data may not be viewable, at least using Photoshop Elements.

Comments? Suggestions?

Thank you Heather for writing a great post and motivating me to look a little deeper at an issue that's been on my mind!

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for writing this article, neither Adobe nor Microsoft has given me anything. I bought the programs referenced in this article with my own hard earned money.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Skeletons In the Desert - Wordless Wednesday

Last week I posted some pictures of majestic saguaros. Have you ever wondered what's underneath all the skin and spines? Here's what's left when they die.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

2011 Genealogy Resolutions - Update

Photo by Pascal Blachier

It's hard to believe but 2011 is one third over. It's time for an end of the first trimester report on my genealogy resolutions for the year so see how well I am balancing those goals for 2011.

Research Goal:

Find and prove the identify of the parents of my gg grandfather, William H. Ballinger, who was living with his wife Lucinda and their children in Black Oak, Mahaska County, Iowa in 1856.

I've been following the research plan I outlined in the 101st Carnival of Genealogy. So far, probate records have not produced anything. It's time to circle back around, re-evaluate what I know, come up with a new plan and look at another record group.

I have come to the conclusion that there very likely is no record that directly states who William's parents are and that I am probably going to have to piece this puzzle together using indirect evidence. That's partly why I presented the series, Using Land Records to Solve Genealogical Problems. William's land file may prove to be one piece of that puzzle.

Organizational Goal:

I am happy to say that I finally found made time to work on organizing the Archival Closet and that significant progress is being made. Mainly that's because I have company coming in a few days and will need to be able to use the guest room for guests for the rest of May!

Writing Goal:

Put together a "draft" of the story of Mrs. Robinson's Homestead to share with family members.

I have done absolutely nothing on this goal other than think about how to approach the project. Right now it's all in my head and that does not constitute writing! Maybe I should write down the approach that is floating around in my brain to get things going.

In Summary:

Progress on two out of three goals ain't bad. But I haven't exactly been able to check one off the list yet either. Onward and upward, as they say.

Updates and related posts:

• 2011 Genealogy Resolutions - 1 January 2011
• 2011 Genealogy Resolutions - The Year's Half Over! 5 July 2011

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Water Break - Wordless Wednesday

Ahh, that tastes good!



More please?



© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum