Using This Blog

This makes the 48th post for The Brickwall Protocol since August 6, 2011. I thought it might be helpful to try and outline the blog for those who are just beginning to use the content. It is designed to help those serious genealogists who face the "Brick Wall". It is not for the faint hearted, and requires a great deal of work to complete the methods described within.

The first section is the actual protocol as written in 1989. It represents ideas produced from more than 50 years of tree climbing and brick wall destruction. [Having the surname JONES will produce a large number of brick walls!] Each post is identified by the label BWP(#). This tag shows that the post has content that was published in the original form. It guides the genealogist "step by step" in the concepts, methods, and tools, which I have found to be helpful during my own JONES tree climbing. These are numbered BWP(1) through BWP (14). This will also help find a post in sequence, and follow the posts in order of concepts.

Starting with BWP(15), there are post which give additional information and helps designed to supplement the first section. Additional helps are given which were not part of the original publication. BWP(16) gives an example of my own work.

BWP(17) discusses a family coding system method and BWP(34).

BWP(19) shows a method using "squares and circles" for research design.

Other topics which have been helpful:

BWP(20)- Genealogy and Geography
BWP(21)- Making Maps and BWP(22) Maps from History and BWP(23) Name That Creek.

Social roles in the context of history: BWP(24)

Understanding history: BWP(25), BWP(28), BWP(30), BWP(31) and BWP(33).

Your own research: BWP(34), BWP(35), BWP(36), and BWP(37).

The BWP labeling stops after BWP(37). After this post of October 31, 2011, the titles introduce themselves. Some are intended to be helps, such as "Clarify Dates"[Nov. 9, 2001] to a little bit of humor, such as "For The Serious Genealogist"[Nov. 16, 2011].

Some topics presented:

Clarify Dates- Nov. 9, 2011.
"Letters Patent" A 12 Step Process- November 23, 2011.
Conceptualize Content - December 5, 2011.
Poor to Peerage: Becoming an Adult 1650 England- December 16, 2011.
Yearly Income per Head 1688 England, Part(1) and Part (2)- Dec. 31, 2011 and Jan. 7, 2012.
Spelling Words- Jan. 12, 2012.

I hope this outline will help the reader use this blog successfully in your own tree climbing.

Spelling Words

Sounds to symbols has been a task since the first scribe dotted those symbols in the hardened clay of the Tigris River. Now how do you spell ...? This must be a question asked repeatedly throughout generations. For the genealogist, it is often a source of trouble, finding the spelling of the same name (words) occurring in various forms, even in the same document. "Be prepared!" The old scout motto would say. Sounds to symbols, what trouble it can be.

The following is an example of such a phenomena found in English records. "Peuman's End" it was called at first. It would seem that when Governor Bennett, in January 1653, ordered all Dutch ships seized, one fellow failed to get away. Both Wingfield [History of Caroline County, Virginia, p. 36] and Campbell [Colonial Caroline, A History of Caroline County, Virginia, p.16] relate the story. According to legend, a Dutch pirate was raiding the waters of the Rappahannock River. He was chased into a creek and met his death. The creek was named after the place where Peuman met his end! The two words thereafter were combined to become "Penmansind Creek", or "Powmansend", or "Powmansend", or ... . The following is an outline of the various spellings which were recorded in Cavaliers and Pioneers, by Nugent. The spelling is given first, followed by the reference (volume) and page number. You can begin to see the spellings, and why it is important to view a broad range of words when checking an index for your name.

The first listing of this name appears in Cavaliers and Pioneers (CP), Vol. I, p. 440:

Puamunaremo (?) CP I, p. 440
Puamunvien CP I, p. 442
Powmansend CP I, p. 526, 528
Pewamamcsee CP II, p. 138
Pewmansend CP II, p. 371, 380, 397
Puesmonseen CP II, p. 73
Pwomansend CP II, p. 8, 18, 20, 382
Pewamanesee CP III, p. 87
Pewmondsend CP III, p. 12, 136, 148, 182, 217
Powomasend CP III, p. 12
Peumansend CP III, p. 350, 355 (swamp).

Wow, how would you spell Peuman's end?

Yearly Income per Head 1688 England (Part 2)

The last post of December 31 presented the yearly income for the "head of household" for those socially defined in 1688 England. It starts with "Beggars" at 2 pounds sterling. This post continues with the listing "Lesser Clergy-men":

Lesser Clergy-men 10
Eminent Clergy-men 12
Persons in Law 22
Lesser Merchants and Traders by Sea 33
Eminent Merchants and Traders by Sea 50
Persons in lesser Offices 20
Persons in greater Offices 30
Gentlemen 35
Esquires 45
Knights 50
Baronets 55
Spiritual Lords 65
Temporal Lords 80

Which would you choose? A social class it is.

Yearly Income per Head 1688 England (Part 1)

Understanding social class is an important task during the tree climbing experience. Often it will help the genealogist place a family in the context of the culture being explored. This is especially true for those coming from the big island called Albion.

The yearly income for the head of family is given for the year 1688 England. It is recorded in pounds sterling. One usually stars at the top of the social latter, so I will start at the bottom!

Beggars 2
Vagrants; as Gypsies and Thieves 3
Common Soldiers 7
Cottagers and Paupers 2
Labouring People and Out Servants 4
Common Seaman 7
Military Officers 15
Naval Officers 20
Artisans and Handicrafts 9
Shopkeepers and Tradesman 10
Persons in Liberal Arts and Science 12
Farmers 8
Freeholders of the lesser sort 10
Freeholders of the better sort 13

...to be continued.

A comment on society outside the church is shown by the list above.

The information is abstracted from The World We Have Lost: England Before the Industrial Age, 2nd Ed., by Peter Laslett, pp. 36-37.

Poor to Peerage : Becoming an Adult 1650 England

Social class has been a part of culture since they started burying all those important things with the dead. Life had to come first of course, and your social position had to do with lots of things held valuable to those in the community. Iron weapons, chariots, swords, gold, silver, drinking cups, and all sorts of things were valued and buried with the folks who needed a little extra help to make it in the afterlife.

The figure to the right shows an outline of the social class in England around 1650. Here, social class was an accepted phenomena in life, and your beginning "class" was rarely changed. The "poor" held down one end of the social chain, and the "peerage" the other end. In a broad general sense, there were the "laborer", "merchant/trader", "yomen", and "knight" forming the other links in the chain of social order.

From infancy to adult life, the expected activities were organized. "Infancy" = birth to approximately 5 years of age; "Primary Education" = usually at 5-6 years lasting to age 13-15 years; "Apprentice" or "Secondary Education" [depending on social class] begin after this. The "Apprentice" generally started around age 10-11, and was sent to live with the owner of a trade. On average, these lasted roughly seven years. "Secondary Education" generally began around 13-15 years of age and included years at Oxford/Cambridge, and the "Inns of Court". For the male, adult life would then be considered appropriate. Thus, for the genealogist dealing with family during this period, roughly 1400 - 1700, a social structure can be applied. Many times, this approach has helped me around the brick wall.

The main source for this summary is:

Laslett, P., The World We Have Lost, England Before the Industrial Age, 2nd Edition, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971.

Other texts:

Reed, M., The Age of Exuberance 1550-1700, The Making of Britain, Routledg & Kegan Paul, London, 1986.

Howell, W.S., Logic and Rhetoric in England, 1500-1700, Russell & Russell, NY, 1956.

Conceptualize Content

For some of us, references and texts are not always dull and boring. [They call us genealogists!] However at times, even the best reference gets a little tiresome. One way to help is to conceptualize the content in a way that makes it interesting or important to you and your tree climbing. Just what do these references contain? How might they be utilized? What content is hidden among the pages?

For me, such was the case with Cavaliers and Pioneers, by Nell Nugent. See post:

http://thejonesgenealogist.blogspot.com/2010/12/pioneers-to-cavaliers.html

They ended up being a seven volume set of information on the abstracts of Virginia land patents and grants. Seven volumes mind you! Over time, they ended up being one the most helpful references in my own family's tree climbing. Along the way it was helpful to ask just what information did they offer, and how was this organized. It became clear that the English way of doing things was transferred to these new colonies. Land ownership was the goal of many younger sons as they came across the great pond. Each entry followed the same pattern, and soon it became evident that the content was repeated in the same manner for each entry. They were:

Name(s) of Individuals Responsible for the patent,

Number of Acres surveyed,

Geographic Identifier, usually a county or river course

Date [not always given],

Description of Survey

List of individuals transferred [total numbers not always given in abstract].

Wow! So if any of these items surfaced during my tree climbing, I would know if this group of references would help. For example, if the name of a river or county appeared, I knew that I could use the index to each text to help locate those who might have landed along this river. If a term like "Jones Creek" and a date would appear, I would know that these references would list all the creeks that were listed among the abstracts. What a deal...conceptualizing content.

"Letters Patent" : A 12 Step Process

Governmental red tape has been present since the onset of...well, governments. Being sure to jump through all the correct hoops, and in the correct order, is part of the process. In May 1498, it was no different. John Cabot was about to leave England on his voyage to discover land not claimed by another nation. He of course needed a "letters patent" from the King. The process to receive a "letters patent" is not generally discussed in the history books. I thought it might of interest to those genealogist who would appreciate the process.

The following pages are an outline of the 12 step process of obtaining a "letters patent" as it stood in early colonial history. Please remember that you can click on the pages to enlarge them. They are copied from The Jones Genealogist, Vol.X, No. 2, July/August, 1998, pp.4-5. Going through these steps would certainly keep one occupied for a certain period of time. It would also provide many opportunities to line someones pock, or to provide that extra favor.

Understanding this process certainly helps the genealogist to appreciate what our ancestors accomplished.