2019 New Jersey Research Trip: Newark

The New Jersey Historical Society in Newark holds the trial notes for an ongoing New Jersey court case that started in 1844 that may involve this researcher’s ancestors. Time for a research trip.

Dawn at the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark, New JerseyFacade of New Jersey Historical Society, 2019
New Jersey Historical Society, 2019.

I have been researching my New Jersey Carson family origins as best as I can from my home in the Pacific Northwest, in earnest, for two decades or more. I had vague hopes of visiting New Jersey to do on-site research for years, but no firm plans. This was the year that everything came together for me, and I was finally able to put my loafers on the ground in a two-part research trip to Newark and Trenton. I planned to visit libraries, archives, and graveyards and otherwise explore the area that my maternal ancestors once called home.

The first part of my trip centered on a visit to the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark. A friend and I flew cross-country to Newark, touching down on a Tuesday afternoon. We spent the remainder of the day getting our bearings and found that the historical society was housed in a lovely old building once known as The Essex Club. The next day, theater tickets in hand, we took the train into NYC for a wonderful matinee production of Hadestown, and dinner at Sardi’s. It was then back to our hotel before nightfall to further prepare. We chose to stay at TRYP by Wyndham, because of its proximity to the New Jersey Historical Society, which was just a short walk around the corner. A Starbucks is located conveniently across the park, too, as well as a Whole Foods.

The research objective that caused me to travel more than 2,400 miles was a case file within the manuscript collection of the Peter D. Vroom (1791-1873) papers. Vroom was a U.S. Congressman and Governor of New Jersey. He also was the attorney who represented a client named Daniel Carson in an 1844 lawsuit (Daniel Carson v. Aaron Eldridge). I have long been interested in New Jersey men named Daniel Carson; John Wesley Carson (1846-1925), eldest son of my 3rd-great-grandfather Charles Carson (1824-1863) stated in a Civil War pension deposition that his grandfather was named Daniel Carson.1 It is the only clue we have as to the origins of the parents of Charles Carson. He offered no proof and did not elaborate in any way. He made no mention of his paternal grandmother.

Since my research to date had only uncovered two men named Daniel Carson of the correct age and roughly the right place in New Jersey to have potentially been the father of Charles, this was a lead that in my mind had to be followed up on as part of a reasonably exhaustive research plan. Recall that reasonably exhaustive research is the first tenet of the Genealogical Proof Standard.2

This case had been on my radar ever since I had first run across an entry on noted New Jersey author Richard S. Hutchinson’s website in 2004. His website is now offline, but at one time said this in regards to the land and property of Abraham Rogers: “The estate, which ought to have been considerable, was chiefly absorbed in a lawsuit between Aaron Eldridge and Daniel Carson, claiming under different wills, which suit Carson eventually won.”3

In 2010, I learned papers from the trial were held at the New Jersey Historical Society, and I reached out to them several times through email as I recall. When my inquiries went unanswered, I hired a New Jersey genealogist the following year to see if a local contact could make any inroads. The local researcher was successful, and she ultimately visited the library on my behalf to examine the case file. Mostly, I wanted to know whether the file warranted a trip by me. Yes, she said, as it contained hundreds of pages and had testimony from numerous parties, including information about various relations among the parties to Abraham Rogers, and to each of the claimants.4 No photographs or photocopies were permitted back then, so the genealogist was forced to review the file and make notes that she thought could be relevant. In her limited time with the file, she found no mention of my ancestor, Charles Carson, but did make note of several clues about another child of Daniel Carson. My curiosity was piqued, and I resolved to visit at a future date.

That date finally arrived on a sunny Thursday morning in September 2019. I had an appointment, set up by emailing the library about a month in advance. I was most eager to get started with my research but library hours were limited to 12pm-5pm. We were able to have a leisurely coffee break while we waited for the library to open. After registering and paying the daily $5.00 non-member fee, we locked our backpacks in the lockers downstairs and took the elevator up to the fifth floor with our laptops, where we were enthusiastically greeted by James Amemasor, the Library Research Specialist. He quickly pulled the box containing the case file so I was able to get to work after a brief orientation. The small library contains both open stacks and an archive, but sadly, no guest wireless access. Fortunately, cell phones are permitted, so I was able to use that to set up a hotspot to access my files and Evernote.

Unlike some other repositories I have visited, this private facility has a restrictive policy on taking photographs of items in their collection. However, it should be stated this policy has thankfully evolved in the past few years to permit at least some photos. Whether an image from a collection is permitted at all and how many images from the collection are allowed appears to me to be at the discretion of the Executive Director, Steve Tettamanti. He graciously allowed me to photograph about a dozen images for my personal use only from the case file. He completed a permission form for each request which we both signed off on. A large watermark was placed over each page, and I was allowed to take a snapshot with my cell phone. A donation of $1.00 per page was suggested. Because of the agreement I signed, I am unable to illustrate any of my findings on this blog, although a few general images that do not reveal specific content were permitted without the above conditions.

We spent three days at the New Jersey Historical Society in all, roughly 15 hours of research time. It may sound like a lot, but I know I barely scratched the surface of what this research library has to offer. Having a few digital photographs of the attorney’s notes was invaluable. I was able to go back to my hotel room in the evenings, and become familiar with the handwriting, which was very difficult to read and transcribe, even for someone experienced in using historical documents from this time period.  Literally, with about 20 minutes to spare, I found a mention of a previously unknown relationship that could break this line open. I remain guardedly optimistic that in the future I will be able to get a complete digital copy of the file that may further illuminate the relationships of the people in this community in the early 1840s.

I will cut to the chase here and not leave my readers in suspense. There was not a single mention among the many pages that I read of my ancestor, Charles Carson. Nothing. Perhaps it’s there and I just need more time with the file. Sometimes genealogy research is like that. I now need to move on and consider other hypotheses for the parents of my 3rd great-grandfather, Charles Carson.


Sources

1 Deposition of Claimant, 20 Apr 1921, John W. Carson (Pvt., Co. K, 35th N. J. Inf., Civil War), pension no. S.C. 218,816 (invalid), Case Files of Approved Pension Applications…, 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Record Group 15: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

2 Genealogical Proof Standard, Board for Certification of Genealogists (https://bcgcertification.org/ethics-standards/ : accessed 30 Nov 2019).

3 Charles Robbins Hutchinson with additions by Richard S. Hutchinson, “John and Elizabeth (Pearson) Hutchinson Line,”  The Website of Richard S. Hutchinson, (http://www.richardshutchinson.com/JohnHutchinsonPearson.htm : accessed 29 Nov 2004).

4 Elizabeth Pellicane, New Jersey [(email address for personal use),] to Dawn Bingaman, email, 30 Jul 2011, “Transcription and notes”; personal papers privately held by Bingaman, Washington.

Library of Virginia Research Notes

lva-logo

The Library of Virginia (LVA) in downtown Richmond is one of the most important repositories for published and original manuscript material pertaining to Virginia. To aid researchers in navigating its broad holdings, it makes pamphlets and research guides available to patrons on a variety of topics. If you are planning a visit to the library, or simply want to gain a better understanding of the holdings of the Library of Virginia, then you will certainly want to review this material.

What follows is a list of the published “Research Notes” and brochures that I have found the most interesting to me in my own Virginia genealogical research. Many, but not all, of the links will open a PDF file that you can download to your computer and view using Adobe Reader or similar software.

lva-exterior lva-lobby
Interior lobby of the Library of Virginia, with the Circulation Desk at the top of the stairs. The reading rooms are located on the second floor to the sides of the desk. Photos by the author.

Some tips for using the library:

  1. Get a Library of Virginia card at the Circulation Desk. You will need to present a photo ID with your current address. You need not be a resident of Virginia to obtain a card. Having a library card will enable you to use library resources onsite, and to conduct remote research using databases the library subscribes to, such as HistoryGeo.
  2. If you want to make photocopies and print them to paper, you will need to load funds onto your library card using one of the cashier machines. There is no longer a separate copy card. If you have an old copy card bring it with you. Any remaining funds will be transferred for you at the Circulation Desk.
  3. Microfilm readers and scanners are available upon registration in the West Reading Room, and may be used for a maximum of two hours if others are waiting. You can save files to a USB stick without paying any fees; if you print to paper it will cost you .25 per page. The library recommends using a USB stick that is less than 8 GB in size.
  4. Do plan on taking a meal break. The Discovery Cafe in the Library of Virginia lobby offers both breakfast and lunch options. Daily specials are available (like BBQ pulled pork sliders). If the tables are full, ask to share a table with someone and strike up a conversation. You never know who you may sit by, and it just may be a library staff member willing to share research tips with you!

I hope to return to Richmond again very soon to conduct more research in their extensive microfilm and manuscript collections.

Seattle Genealogical Society Bulletin Now Online

The Seattle Genealogical Society (SGS), which happens to be “my” local society, was founded in 1923, and celebrates its 90th anniversary this month. The society began publishing a monthly bulletin in 1952, which has since morphed into a much larger publication, now published twice per year.

Recently, SGS made unbound copies of the SGS Bulletin available to the Seattle Public Library for digitization. Volumes 1 – 50, covering the period 1952-2001, are now available online at the Seattle Public Library’s website, in the Special Collections section. The SGS Bulletin is fully searchable, and browseable.

SGS Bulletin online at Seattle Public Library

Please contact the Seattle Genealogical Society directly for later issues of this publication.

Virtual Genealogy Fair 2013

The United States National Archives will be hosting a Virtual Genealogy Fair September 3rd and 4th, 2013. Thirteen presentations will be made over the two-day period. There are no registration fees; all you need is a computer and an Internet connection.

NARA Virtual Genealogy Fair 2013 flyer

Scheduled presentations will cover a wide range of Federal records available through the National Archives: Civil War pension files, United States Colored Troops, immigration, naturalization and citizenship, Federal penitentiary records, Native American records, Chinese Exclusion Act, Freedman’s Bank records, etc. Details can be found at this link: http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/know-your-records/genealogy-fair/

Webcast instructions are here:
http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/know-your-records/genealogy-fair/webcast-instructions.html

For those who cannot attend “live”, the sessions will be recorded!

Follow or contribute to the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #genfair2013.

I imagine this virtual offering is being made due to the prior cancellation of the on-premise 2013 National Archives Ninth Annual Genealogy Fair. For those unable to travel to Washington, D.C., a virtual genealogy fair is preferable. Perhaps if they do decide to resume the Annual Genealogy Fair they will also simulcast online via webinar.