Linda D

I've asked this in another topic and got some great advice. If anyone has had experience in customizing a data set to reflect American slavery, I'd be grateful for any helpful hints. Any type of suggestions are welcome, given I'm just learning this. I've started my data set with the genealogy related to the famous slave Harriet Tubman (so far only about 80 people). I see how you can add unrelated people. I've added one unrelated name to learn how this all works. I'm experimenting with creating tags specific to these types relationships. I created a tag "enslaved" to be used with some in those related to Tubman and that has worked somewhat so far. I haven't decided if it's best or possible to incorporate the same tag for a slave owner or to develop another for that type of event detail (i.e, Principal enslaved PO or Principal owned PO). I know this can be sticky. Some slaves were owned by one person but enslaved (or hired out to be serve as a slave) by another person although still legally owned by the first. So if you have any experience in this, I'd be one happy puppy. Anyhow, thanks in advance for any advice. Be gentle, I'm a novice. Linda

Perhaps there's some very obvious simple means for this, but hey, I'm new. I've got info on parents who have six children. Only five have names. The sixth is described as a "nameless infant" with no other information such as gender or age, etc. Can a non-gender specific person be added to the data set? Thanks. Linda

Hmm, I figured it must be a simple answer. Thanks so much! Linda

I know how to add alternative names with the provided tag. But in my one project, numerous slaves escaped and took aliases (changes to surnames in many cases as well). So I have a Benjamin Ross who fled and took the alias James Stewart (his children born later would all have the surname Stewart). Would it be better to include the "(James Stewart)" after the first name in the Given name? In the narrative it reads awkwardly as "also known as" and I was wondering if there's another more logical way, given my project. Thanks. Linda

That makes sense. You're right, the present tag doesn't seem quite right, so making an alias tag seems logical to me. Thanks again! Linda

I'm sure this is a pretty dumb question...... What about counties which change names? Do you post the county name as it is exists at the time of an event tag? I've got a Wicomico County which formed from two counties in 1867. I've got someone who was born and died in the same town, but that part of the county was Somerset when she was born and Wicomico when she died. I'm guessing I put the birth place as Somerset and the death place as Wicomico, right? (told you it was a dumb question. lol) Linda

lol Teresa, Thanks, I will give that a whirl. Happily only one of my two data sets has this issue... for now. lol So thanks! Linda

Thanks Jan and Michael! All interesting solutions. It gives me something to work on. Gosh, there's so much to learn and try. Yes, it is Eastern Shore Maryland and it can get confusing, mostly for those who look at the info and don't know the area that well. So it's good for me to know how to present it. Thanks again! Linda

Teresa, Hey, that's a great idea. It can get confusing here, with one county formed out of two, so that might make sense to do that. It could keep people (including me) from scratching their heads. lol Thanks! Linda

Thanks Teresa and Tom, Guess I was on the right track. I was working in Dorchester County mostly, and didn't have that problem. Then today I started a data set for someone in Wicomico County and remembered the county change. It gets worse with Salisbury, Maryland because at one time half of it was in one county and the other half was in another. Sheesh! Thanks for the feedback. Linda P.S. Enjoyed your Eastern Shore web site

And Keziah is a beautiful name! Linda

Teresa, Hey, that's real helpful, because I've not worked with roles much yet. And what you suggested makes sense, especially with my project. Here there were dozens of known escapes, to many places and under a variety of interesting circumstances. And a few returned after emancipation. So I see how what you're suggesting would help with this. And thanks for your advice on not hesitating to add new people in the way you suggested. I'm getting excited about developing this. It's not my family history, but the National Park Service is planning a couple of heritage centers about Tubman and the Underground Railroad, so it may well get used there. So thanks so much for your help. And while slaves may not be a large part of your particular project, it's still significant nonetheless, regardless what amount of information you provide. So often tracking genealogy for African Americans involves research into the histories of slaveowners and their families. So you never know how even just the name Kissiah may help someone. And if not, it still makes an interesting history. Linda

Teresa, Wow, that's interesting. And I can see how your method is great for tracking enslaved people as they appear in documents. I will be sure to consider including something like that in ours. I can see how that would be most beneficial. And good luck in your further research of Kizziah. Before reading your post, I was experimenting a little with the use of a tag I created called "emancipation." It's not document-specific like yours, although I see I'll need to add something like yours. This tag was an attempt to identify the method of emancipation or obtaining freedom from a descriptive view rather than a document view. Perhaps I could use this and something like yours in conjunction with each other. So many fled slavery in our area, which is the subject of a lot of research here. So I was thinking of distinguishing between different types of methods of obtaining freedom: i.e., escapes to freedom (such as runaways aka Underground Railroad), manumission, Certificates of Freedom, perhaps transfer into the Union Army of the Civil War and the Civil War Emancipation. We're most interested in flights of freedom, because that's the focus of our research, but of course freedom was obtained in other ways, including via wills. I'm not sure if my tag language is correct, but worked ok with my first test: [P] <was|and [PO] were> emancipated <[M]> <[D]> It came out "She was emancipated by escape to freedom from Cambridge, MD in 1854." I know I still need to work on this. But it's clear I should incorporate something like you described. Your approach is smart because it deals with the documentation. And I've learned recently that just because a slaveowner freed a slave in his Will doesn't mean the slave got his or her freedom ultimately, but it's a good indication. I think it's wonderful what you're doing because the clues from your research can also help African Americans doing their search. Btw, your webpage sure looks wonderful! Thanks so much for the help, I will be sure to incorporate it. I've got so much to learn! Linda

Hi Michael, Yes, that certainly gives me ideas, especially about being emancipated. Some in this group fled to freedom, others may have been freed in other ways, so that's a wonderful idea! And the suggestions on the types of tags to use as modified. Thanks! Linda

Thank you so much! I was starting to think of the sentence structures, since I've been learning how to edit those. And I just tried one just to see how it works. And as a result, what is nice, is that like the other related names, one can now click on the slaveowner's name and go to his detail and his family tree. That's going to be very helpful to the purpose of this chart. Now, I just have to think more about the sentences. And as you indicated, it may have to be more than one tag. So, you've given me lots to mull over. Thanks! Linda

I've just started learning this program. The Descendent Chart... When there are a lot of children, say 6 or 8 or so, they appear as boxes one right next to each other in their generation --- is there a way to stagger their location (like 3 above and 3 below), or a two-tier method of stacking the boxes, in order to reduce the horizontal length? ... I've seen other charts organized like that and that helps minimize the horizontal length more. Thank you. Linda

Thank you, I will be sure to look at your link soon. So far I only have one data set, I've not added any unrelated people yet-- I haven't yet considered using another data set or project. So I look forward to reading your tutorial. I'm glad I'm asking now, because I want to set it up in a way that's best for my purpose. Thanks ever so much for your help. Linda

Thanks for the welcome! I was quickly looking for a genealogy software (very quickly). The reviews I saw said it had more flexibility but had a steeper learning curve. I certainly had nothing to compare it to, being a beginner and being in a hurry. But I figured if that's the worst it could say, I'll take flexibility over steep learning curve any day. But I've learned a lot quickly, and still have loads to learn, and I look forward to it. I suspect the term steep learning curve is misleading because it doesn't take into account your flexibility. And I'm a believer in forums being helpful, because I helped create one for a national health organization for sleep apnea. So again, thanks for the welcome! Linda

Thanks Robin, Pretty intriguing method. I will take a look at all this. This program seems pretty powerful (from what little I know so far). Are the top 4 programs pretty much the same in what they do, or does TMG have more capabilities? (Just wondering) Linda

Robin, Wow, I knew there was a heat wave but I didn't know it set a record. The data set I'm working with is about Harriet Tubman (her ancesters and descendents), the famous conductor of the Underground Railroad here during the slavery period. I haven't learned all the features yet, but maybe you could give me some idea........ If there were a separate data set for a family unrelated (I'm thinking of slave owner families), could there be links or relationships or associations made between those two seemingly unrelated data sets? For example, if I create a tag called slave or enslaved in the Tubman data set, identifying someone as a slave, and include info about their owner (name and location), is there a way of linking or creating a relationship with a data set for a slave owner? Sorry, I'm so terribly new at this. I haven't made my way through all of the training videos yet. Linda

Thank you both for the wonderful help and information! Datasets of over 300?? So far mine is only about 80 people. Mine isn't my family history but rather that of an historic figure, the info being provided to me. Thanks again for the help! Linda P.S. Robin, I was stunned when I saw where you're from, as I have a close friend who lives in Adelaide. I've come to know a lot about the city and the area and hope to visit one day, he's visited with me. Everything from the Fringe, the Stag Hotel, Vili's, the Capri Theatre, Moonlight Cinema and so much more -- seems like a wonderful place to live.