The Stewarts of Ballymena: February 2020

Monday, February 24, 2020

Where Do I Start with Family History?

Getting Started with Family History

I frequently encounter individuals who remark to me, "I want to get involved in family history, but I don't know where to start," or "I know I should be doing something about it, but I don't know how."

My advice?

Start with the family you currently have. Do you still have any grandparents alive? Parents? What about extended family? Do you have children? Siblings? Nieces or nephews?

The most important aspect of family history is appreciating that family history is constantly in the making.

Not everyone is a researcher. And that's okay. Family history is more than that. Everyone has something to contribute with their unique talents and abilities.

Here are my suggestions on how to get involved in family history, with the understanding that every family has different circumstances.

1. Spend Quality Time with your Family

The most important family history is the family history you're creating here and now.

It is essential to strengthen families in a time when frantic schedules and other things threaten to divide them. Depending on your situation, here are some ideas:

Eat dinner together each day as a family.
Plan a weekly date night with your spouse.
Devote at least one evening each week to family time.
Participate in wholesome recreational and service activities together.
Make time for the special events in your family member's lives.
Hold weekly/periodic dinners with local family members.
Visit other family members often.
Keep in touch with phone calls, texts, etc.
Plan and attend family reunions.

2. Document your Life Story

Another way to get involved in family history is to write a life sketch of the key points about your life. This may be an invaluable resource for your descendants and other relatives to learn some important things about you. Many descendants or other relatives wish they had something like this from those who came before them.

I was fortunate to come across this book in the Church History Library, which was started by my great-great grandfather in 1898. He includes a few biographical details about his life that I didn't have from any other source, as well as numerous pedigrees of his family and entire extended family:

Additionally, you can also keep a journal. Here are some ideas on different types of journals:

Traditional journal to record your experiences, thoughts, and feelings.
Gratitude journal to write down each day what you're grateful for.
Miracle journal to write down the miracles you see in your life each day.
Study journal to document things that are important to you from your studies.

You can also record your story. Some Family History Centers have recording booths that can be reserved to record your stories. These can be found at:
https://www.familysearch.org/help/fhcenters/locations/

Salt Lake City and Seattle also have Family Discovery Centers:
https://www.familysearch.org/discovery/schedule/?center

The "FamilySearch Memories" app is a helpful resource that includes the ability to record audio stories and link them to FamilySearch.org. Note that memories attached to living persons in the family tree will be private, while the memories attached to deceased persons are publicly accessible.

3. Document your Relative's Life Stories

Ask family members for permission to do an audio interview with them. These can be recorded at home or using the resources listed above.

Bring prepared questions and be ready to ask follow-up questions throughout the interview. For ideas on questions to ask, here's a link to an article that may be helfpul:
https://www.familytreemagazine.com/premium/20-questions/

Also, make sure the audio recording is working and you can play it back before you proceed!

Another approach is to purchase a family history book such as:
Grandma, Tell me Your Memories Heirloom Edition https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1563834138

These kinds of books give questions to ask a grandparent and a place to write down the answers for each.

One gem I came across at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City is a 1958 audio recording of an interview with a relative who recounts one of the earliest experiences from her mother's life about my great-great grandfather regarding the early days of Payson, Utah, that occurred circa 1860.

It's really special to have a personal link with those who came before. As a boy and teenager I remember visiting my great-grandmother whenever we visited Utah. She was born in 1896 and lived in the same small town her entire life. When she was born, horses and buggies were the normal mode of transportation, and before she passed away in 2001 at the age of 105, she had been learning to use the Internet in her home. When we visited I remember her telling us about what life was like when WWI broke out, during the 1918 flu pandemic, and when her own sons left to serve in WWII.

4. Meet with Relatives

Another way to contribute is to go outside your comfort zone and meet relatives - some of whom you may have never talked with or met before. This is important to connect as well as to gather information about your family. They may also know of other helpful contacts or resources.

Last summer, while visiting my uncle in another state, he showed me photos of a visit he and my Dad had made to the house where the family used to hold family reunions - the Greasewood Farm House. I was astounded because I had been trying to locate that house for some time. This was exactly what I had been looking for!

Now that I knew where it was, I looked up the contact information of my relative who runs the farm, and I cold-called him. I explained who I was and told him about my research. I asked him if I could meet with him to show him my research and to see if there was anything he had to contribute. He agreed and I met him at his house. I expected to be there no more than 30 minutes, but we spent the next 2 hours swapping family stories and sharing with each other what we had about our family. I saw that he had some original photos from 100 years ago or older, and asked him for permission to borrow the family history records and photos so I could scan them, to which he agreed.

One of my favorite finds from this interaction was coming across a photo of my great-grandfather ca. 1865 that I had never seen before - the only photo I have ever seen of him without a beard!

5. Preserve photos and documents

5.a. Organize photos and documents

When going through family photos and documents, the first priority is to organize photos and documents so they are protected and preserved, and if they are already damaged, to minimize further damage. Any photos that are loose or damaged should be put into photo albums as soon as possible. Any important documents should be put into sheet protectors to protect from wear and water damage.

Stevenson's Genealogy Center in Provo, Utah, is an excellent place to purchase binders and different sized photo protectors. Other locations may have similar resources.

Standard sheet protectors can used for most documents and can be purchased from office supply stores or retail stores.

Here is a photo of my completed work after putting old family photos, documents, and my grandfather's military records into albums to organize and protect them:

5.b. Digitize Photos and Important Documents

Once your photos and documents are preserved, it's important to digitize them to produce multiple copies of them and so they can be shared with family members. If anything happened to the original prints (a fire, water damage, etc.), they could be destroyed and lost forever if no backup copies of them were made elsewhere. I've found the best approach to digitizing them is using a scanner.

A photo of a photo or a photo of a document is better than nothing, but unfortunately it doesn't do as good of a job as a scan in preserving the integrity of the original photo or document.

I prefer to scan photos using a resolution of 600 dpi (dots per inch) in case I ever want to enlarge any of the photos. At a minimum, scans should be done using at least 300 dpi.

The best place I have found for scanning photos and documents is the FamilySearch center in Lehi, Utah. This is a free service, with trained volunteers onsite to help you along the way. To use a scanner there, you need to schedule a time slot at:
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Lehi_Utah_FamilySearch_Center/Scanners

Some of the resources available at the FamilySearch Center in Lehi include:

Photo Batch Scanner (ideal for large numbers of photos that are in good condition
Flatbed Scanner (ideal for photographs that are larger, older, or damaged)
Slide Scanner
Negative Scanner
Document Scanner
Book Scanner
Video Tape Converter
Audio Tape Converter

You can also find other places to scan photos and documents. The Family History Centers provide this service free, but other places may charge a fee. You can also buy your own scanners if you'd like to do this at home, but make sure they are high quality and capable of a good resolution (300-600+ dpi).

5.c. Develop Photos from Negatives

If you find any undeveloped negatives, it's important to get them developed as soon as possible. Some places provide services where you can develop old film and some Family History Centers have negative scanners available for use.

While going through some family history documents, I came across several negatives. Upon holding them up to the light, I realized that some of these were of photos I had never seen before. I tried viewing some of these negatives using a negative scanner at a Family History Center, but my negatives were too large, and the resolution I was getting didn't look quite right.

I took these negatives to Allen's Camera located in Orem, Utah, and they did a fantastic job! Here are some of the digital images they developed from the negatives:

I had never seen any of these photos before and was pleased with how crisp the images turned out.

5.d. Restore Original Photos and Documents

Some photos or documents have been damaged to the point that the clarity of the photo is lost. Some may have even been developed with poor resolution or other defects. This is one reason why scanning the photos is so important, since over time, damaged photos and even well preserved photo prints will continue to deteriorate.

One example is a original photo from August 11, 1911 that a relative had in his possession. This photo is of special interest to me since it is the only photo in existence in which my great-great grandfather (1819-1911), my great-grandfather (1846-1918), my great-grandmother (1865-1946), and my grandfather (1904-1996) are all pictured together. The photo is an original that has been damaged with the passage of time. I scanned this photo to preserve a digital copy:

I then went to Allen's Camera in Orem, Utah to request their help to digitally restore the photo. After providing the digital copy, they remastered it to this version, and I was most pleased with the result:

A more extreme case of a damaged photo was an original photo from 1920 in the possession of a relative. In this case, the entire photo was broken in half. Additionally, the photo has streaks and spots of a black tar-like substance on it, to the point that some individuals and their faces are completely obscured. I put the two pieces together on the flatbed scanner and produced the following digital image:

I went again to Allen's Camera in Orem, to see if they had any ideas on what I could use to try to remove the black pitch. They suggested I try a solvent they had called PEC-12. I carefully applied some solvent on the end of a Q-tip and tried it on a spot on the tar away from the photo first to see if it would dissolve the tar. Upon seeing that it did, I tried applying the in a spot on the photo itself, away from the people on the photo. Seeing that it gradually dissolved the tar but didn't seem to damage the photo, I continued to clean the tar from the photo. The staff at Allen's Camera were most accommodating and allowed me to sit in a chair there for an hour or two while I carefully removed the tar from the photo.

CAUTION: Before using a solvent on a damaged photo seek professional guidance about which solvent to use and how to use it to ensure you don't cause additional damage to the photo.

After cleaning the photo with the solvent, I obtained permission from my relative who owned the photo to get the two pieces mounted together on a rigid foam board. I then re-scanned the two now-joined pieces on a flatbed scanner:

I then took the newly scanned digital image to Allen's Camera, where they remastered the photo:

This process revealed the faces of some individuals who had been partially or completely obscured, and I was happy to present my relative with the original photo, now cleaned and mounted together on a foam board, along with a digital copy of the digitally remastered photo.

5.e. Archive Photos and Documents

After you've organized, digitized and restored photos and documents, it's important to find a safe place to keep them. Photo albums and document binders can be kept on a bookshelf. Digital files should be uploaded to a repository on the cloud. My personal preference is storing digital photos on Google Drive, but other options, such as Dropbox, are also available.

5.f. Distribute Digital Files to Relatives

Once you have the digital images archived in an online repository, you can share them with relatives. I suggest setting it up so you and 1 or 2 designated relatives can edit the files to help reduce the risk of someone inadvertently deleting or altering files. In addition, it's important to backup these files elsewhere - on your laptop, on a thumb drive, etc. - just in case. Eventually digital files will become corrupted. The best thing to do is have both prints and digital copies, and to distribute them all as widely as you can in your family to share them and to help preserve them.

6. Type Family Stories

If you know how to type, there's a lot you can do. Many older family records are handwritten or typed on a typewriter. Transcribing these documents into Microsoft Word puts them in a format that makes them more accessible for your family. These are also useful for any family members who may be compiling histories since they can easily copy and paste text into their histories. If some words are unclear from handwritten documents, you can include a placeholder such as "????" for each unclear word in the text, which may become apparent in context or the next time you look at the documents.

7. Preserve Family Heirlooms

Family heirlooms are a real treasure. Since only one family member can own an heirloom, it's a good practice to take photos of a few special heirlooms that can be shared with family members.

8. Take a DNA Test

DNA tests can be a great way to connect with family members and to understand more about your genetic origins. The more people who take them, the better, since more data points can help identify patterns and clarify genetic data. Under DNA Matches you can find relatives and the estimated proximity of the relationship and can contact them. Ancestry DNA, FamilyTree DNA, and 23andMe are some of the leading DNA tests companies in this field. I have only used Ancestry and FamilyTree, each has its advantages.

Ancestry DNA is great for a basic level of genetic testing. This is helpful for connecting with relatives.

FamilyTree DNA is great for more detailed - and more costly - genetic testing. They have developed tests for specific genetic markers as well as for tests that can test markers on the Y chromosome for males, and that can test for mitochondrial DNA that is inherited from the mother.

If you can afford a DNA test, I strongly recommend it. Several years ago I bought the Ancestry DNA kits for my parents so now I can see how my genetic markers compare to theirs.Through FamilyTree DNA I tested for a unique genetic marker on my Y chromosome. I periodically correspond with a group of men who share this genetic marker, to share our research about our ancestors and continue to study the DNA to see where each branch of the family diverged from a common ancestor 700 years ago. In another post I'll share about how I learned from genetic testing that I'm descended from a medieval Scottish knight, from whom my surname comes.

9. Browse a Family History Site

The leading family history sites are FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. In both you can search for ancestors by name until you find who you're looking for. I like to use both for different reasons.

FamilySearch is a great place to find images and documents that relatives have shared about ancestors in the "Memories" section. The ability to share is both a strength and a weakness of FamilySearch since anyone can put nearly anything into it, resulting in the promulgation of false pedigrees, duplicate people, and other incorrect information in what seems like an official format. Another nice feature is that you can write a life sketch for ancestors in FamilySearch.

Ancestry is a great place to find legal and other documents about ancestors. The system can notify you of "Hints" of records that may match your ancestor that you can confirm. Additionally, in Ancestry you can create your own family tree independent of anyone else's, so once you add information to it, no one can alter the information in it except you.

Browsing family history sites is NOT research. It's simply viewing whatever others have put into the system, however correct or erroneous it may be. But family history sites can be used for research.

I hope this has been a helpful resource to give you ideas on how to participate in family history work. I'll be doing another post at some point on how to research and find helpful resources.

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Army Air Corps Flying School, 1927-1928

Flying Cadet Robert Wilson Stewart boarding a PT-1 or PT-3 biplane trainer, presumably taken between 1927-1928.

Applying to Officer Candidate Schools

While serving in the Utah National Guard Field Artillery, and while attending the University of Utah, 1st Sergeant Robert Wilson Stewart began applying for opportunities to become a commissioned officer in the US military.

A letter of recommendation from the commanding officer of the Utah National Guard 222nd Field Artillery, Colonel Hamilton Gardner.

A letter of recommendation from Ernest Hollings, the University of Utah Swimming Instructor.

A letter of recommendation from Charles Welch, the Swimming Instructor at the Deseret Gymnasium

The Deseret Gymnasium on Temple Square, now the site of the Church Office Building [1]

Robert writes:

Each year the State gave a competitive exam for an appointment to West Point Military Academy. One year this honor was won along with an appointment to the Coast Guard, the Naval Academy and one to the Air Corps Flying School.

The entrance exam to West Point was passed – it lasted three and a half days – eight hours each day. The last question was to name the cabinet members and the president and vice president of the United States. The cabinet members were easy to remember but who was the president and vice president. After three and a half days of writing as fast as possible a mental block was formed. The instructor asked for the papers to be handed in and still these names could not be remembered. Finally, the instructor came down to gather the papers and the names remembered and written down.

The other exams were passed and order to report to each place was received. Which one to go to? Colonel Gardiner, my National Guard commanding officer was asked for advice. Take the one that will get you commissioned first was the answer. That was the Air Corps Flying School. A Lt. Maughan and Dr. Scofield had formed a board in Salt Lake City. They had passed me and the Air Corps accepted me and enlistment was made at Fort Douglas with orders to report to March Field near Riverside, California. [2]

The historic barracks at Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, Utah. [3]

The historic barracks at Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, Utah. [4]

Robert accepted his appointment as a Flying Cadet at the start of his third year studying at the University of Utah and enlisted at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City.

Army Air Corps Primary Flying School: March Field, California (June 13, 1927 – ca. June 1928)

March Field near Riverside, California ca. 1920s [5]

Robert’s narrative continues:

The drive to California was made in an old Oldsmobile which got me there and then gave up the ghost so to speak. There were one hundred of us and nearly every state in the union represented.

It rained for the first week and the Florida cadets invited the California cadets to come down to Florida so they could see what the sun looked like. This rivalry continued throughout the camp. The Californians replied that it was liquid sunshine. They asked the cadets from Florida if they would like some ripe olives – right off the trees. They must grow them in Florida for the invitation was declined. The rest of us eagerly accepted the invitation and the bitter taste was remembered for days afterwards.

A long psychiatric exam was given us. Psychology was one course in college that seemed to be built on air castles and the twist that was given it by psychiatry was very unreal.

The psychiatric questions went something like this:

“Are you a virgin?”

“No. I am a man and men are not virgins,” a boy in front of me said. (He was wrong.)

The question was put another way – “Have you had sex with a woman?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Who was the aggressor?”

The answer was not heard as another individual started questioning me.

After the exam bedding and clothing were issued and assignments to barracks occupied the rest of the day.

Early the next morning we were issued parachutes and driven out to the middle of the flying field. Each one of us were taken for a ride. The plane would climb up to 10,000 feet and then begin stunting doing loops, rolls, chandelles (a dive followed by a climbing turn that levels just before stalling), spins with a pull out at roof top levels. The airplane climbed up to about 1,000 feet and the instructor asked us to fly. On landing, the instructor would ask how we liked flying. This was one of the times when though on the ground your spirit was still airborne. Paradise had been found in the wild blue above. One was earth bound no more. The fretters had been broken and one would be soaring in the heavens hereafter. [6]

March Field near Riverside, California ca. 1930 [7]

Being in the middle of the field enabled the instructors to land and stop rolling and then change students. But with the winds suddenly changing directions accidents would sometimes happen even though great care was taken to prevent them. Paul Manse was a member of our group and the best flyer. He seemed to be just a little more alert than the rest of us. This was proven one day when Paul noticed an airplane coming toward our instructor’s plane. Paul shouting a warning and our instructor ducked just in time to save being decapitated.

For some reason Paul was washed out – and left. Then top bird became my lot. During World War II, Paul became a colonel and our instructor, then a major, reported to Paul for duty. But that is the ups and down of army life. [8]

After Paul Manse "washed out" of the Army Air Corps Flying School, he later became a Hollywood stunt pilot.

Robert continues:

Then tragedy for the first time occurred. The most promising student crashed and was killed. It tears part of one’s heart out to love and lose them. This was the first of many to come. [9]

March Field near Riverside, California ca. 1930 [10]

There was not enough vacancies at the advance school – Kelly Field – so several excellent students had to be washed out. This was tragic. Two friends were so lost.

On the brighter side after being confined to the base for six weeks we were suddenly allowed to leave the base. A car load of us went down to the beach and nearly fell out of the car when the first 'bathing beauty' was seen. Not having special uniforms, arm bands were worn displaying a propeller. Soon the soldiers lost their girls when word was spread that the arm bands meant that the wearer had a venereal disease but regained them again [when they learned it was the insignia of the Army Air Corps]. [11]

The Wing and Propeller insignia used by the Army Air Corps [12]

Robert presumably flew Consolidated PT-1 and PT-3 trainer aircraft, which were used as trainers by aviation cadets in the 13th School Group at March Field. During this time he served under a Lieutenant Kimbal.

A Consolidated PT-1 Trainer [13]

A Consolidated PT-3 Trainer [14]

Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School: Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas (ca. June - November 10, 1928)

Robert writes:

Graduating from the primary flying school two of us drove down to Kelly Field in Texas near San Antonio. Unfortunately, the car broke down and a bus was taken the rest of the way. [15]

While at Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field for four months, Flying Cadet Stewart served under a Lieutenant Thomas.

Kelly Field, Texas in 1935 [16]

He states:

The High police beat up several of our class mates. It was decided to teach them a lesson. Observing them cruising on motorcycles on the highway, a plane would get right in back of them and then edge closer and closer until the propeller was just inches from their head. They couldn’t turn or outrun the airplane. It didn’t take long before they called us and promised to not mistreat the cadets in return for not being chased on the highway.

The next trouble we had was with the “Jelly Bean” gang. An officer was dancing with his wife at the Gunther Hotel and one of these “Jelly Beans” wanted to cut in. The wife refused and an argument developed with the officer being invited outside to settle the matter. A place was selected but when the officer got out of his car a much larger “Jelly Bean” stepped up and the officer was badly beaten and warned not to go to the Gunther Hotel again. The rest of the uniformed men were also included. [17]

The historic Gunter Hotel in San Antonio. [18]

Robert continues:

The cadets at both Kelly and Brooks went to the hotel the next Saturday. The police found out about it and three of them waited at the entrance of the hotel. A few cadets invited the police outside and others shut and lock the doors.

Somehow the fight started and soon the entire hall was filled with fighting men. Soon there was only one “Jelly Bean” left standing, or willing to continue the action. He challenged any one and so opposing him was Bob Black former heavy weight champion of either the AAA or intercollegiate groups. Six times the “Jelly Bean” went down before he finally admitted that he had had enough. He was induced to promise never to bother service men again and no more trouble was had from that gang.

One of the first fatal air crashes occurred on a Friday afternoon. Tex Dawson and another was in an airplane – a bomber – when suddenly the tail control wires broke and the airplane nosed down. Tex and I used to do a tumbling act requiring great agility. He pushed the other cadet out and then jumped. Unfortunately, he pulled his rip cord too soon and the parachute opened too soon and was caught on the tail of the airplane dragging him down with it.

His funeral was held Saturday morning and the Cadet Corps escorted his body to the post gate and then turned around and the band played “Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here” and a dance was held that night. [19]

Tex had the first bunk in the barracks. The next bunk was Ray Snider’s. Two weeks later he was killed. He was the only boy in a large family of girls and his mother just couldn’t believe that he had been killed. She talked for two hours with Richard Lee, his best friend, asking over and over is Ray really dead?

The next bunk was Totivan’s. And two weeks later while simulating an attack on an observation plane which consisted of diving below his target and then coming up under it. No pressure flying suits were had at this time and he passed out. His plane ran into the observation plane and both planes crashed. He was decapitated. His head being thrown clear of the plane and seen falling by others.

Shelden Yoder was flying the observation plane and as it spun down he promptly dove over the side of the plane. But found himself upside down in the rear cockpit. He quickly tried to unfasten his parachute but in his excitement it became more entangled. So he remained very still and counted to ten. This calmed him so that he was able to untangle his chute and dive over board. His parachute swung back and forth twice before he hit the ground.

Two weeks later, while working on a horizontal bar someone kicked the wire holding the bar and they picked me off the floor and rushed me to the hospital. The doctor said there was no way of stopping the internal bleeding and very shortly that would be the end. Somehow this infuriated me. They were not going to have my funeral the next day, escort my body to the Post limits, turn around and play “The Gang’s All Here” and that didn’t include me. And then have a dance that night! This undoubtedly saved my life as it pumped adrenaline into the blood stream increasing my heart beat – but it was very close. All these happened on a Friday afternoon two weeks apart. [20]

Robert was treated at the Fort Sam Houston Station Hospital from October 10 to November 10, 1928 for this injury, which severely damaged his kidney and resulted in hematuria. This injury nearly prevented him from serving in the military and continued to recur throughout his life. A medical report stated:

This officer was well until 1928 when while on active duty at SAD AFPDC, San Antonio, Texas, he was injured while performing on horizontal bars during authorized physical training. At that time, he fell and contused the dorsal lumbar region. This was followed by transient hematuria which lasted for one day, but was not confirmed by laboratory examination at that time. [21]

The Main Building of the Fort Sam Houston Medical Station [22]

Graduation exercises were held on October 26, 1928; Robert may have been given permission to attend despite his injury since he didn't have a recurrence during the hospitalization.

Graduation Exercises of Advanced Flying School from “The Air Corps Newsletter” by the Chief of the Air Corps’ Office, October 1928. [23]

Class of October 1928 Attack Section; Cadet R. W. Stewart at bottom right.

Graduating Flying Cadets Assigned to Active Duty from “The Air Corps Newsletter” by the Chief of the Air Corps’ Office, October 1928 [24]

He writes:

Finally graduation day came and four of us Fred Solter, Hugh “Rock Smith, Stanley Robinson and myself were sent to Rockwell Field. [25]

Assignment to Rockwell Field, San Diego, California

Upon graduating, Flying Cadet Stewart was scheduled to be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Officer’s Reserve Corps of the Army of the United States on October 20, 1928 and received his rating as an Airplane Pilot on Oct 30, 1928.

He began active duty on November 11, 1928 with his first assignment at Rockwell Field in San Diego, California. 2nd Lieutenant Stewart reported to the 7th Bombardment Group and was assigned as a squadron officer to the 11th Bombardment Squadron on November 13, 1928, the only heavy bomber squadron in the US Army Air Corps; on November 16 he was appointed Assistant Squadron Engineering Officer for the HQ 11th Bomb Squadron.

[1] https://www.mormonwiki.com/File:Deseret_Gym.jpg