Protecting the Past

So I was thinking today how to preserve everything I have, the papers, the old Bible, the photos.  On my short list is to get some archival sleeves for my grandfather's WWII honorable discharge papers and old financial documents that belonged to my grandparents.

But beyond the obvious stuff like archival sleeves, acid-free archival boxes and paper, what else can we do to protect our precious family history documents and photos?

Here's what I do.  Perhaps it will help you or give you an idea.  What do you do?

• Scan Photos and Documents: I have begun the painstaking process of scanning all the old family photos.  I'm in posession of three or four old-style photo albums (the ones with the sticky cardboard covered in resealable plastic film).  These albums are death to photos.  I have some pictures from the 1970s that look like they were processed in the 1870s.  The acid in the cardboard and glues used for years in most of the old-school albums just eat at your papers and photos.  If you have some stored like this, get them out now and put them in sleeved modern acid-free albums, available at most craft/hobby stores.  I have scanned the pictures onto my computer and filed them under a genealogy pictures photo, grouped by family.  It takes a long time, but I can sleep easier knowing that at least the digital version of the pictures will not degrade any further.  Plus it has the added benefit of being able to print off new pictures for display or everyday use without damaging the original. 

• Transcribe photocopies: When my father and I took our family history research trip, I came across many records in courthouses such as wills, deeds and land grants pertaining to my ancestors across several states.  This was before the days of portable scanners and high quality digital cameras.  So I did the next best thing:  I brought lots of spare change and made photocopies of the original records so that I would have a copy.  Then, in my spare time, I can go back and transcribe the photocopies (see yesterday's post on the will of George Vaught) onto my computer.  It takes a while because the old language can be tricky, but you'll be glad you did---I found several bits of information pertaining to the land my family owned that I had missed by "speed reading" the document to get the facts when I first copied it in the courthouse.  If nothing else, transcribing photocopied documents gives you another backup.

• Photographs: For objects, like my great-grandfather's Bible, given to him by his father in the late 1800s when he was born and passed down to each generation, I recommend taking detailed large digital photographs.  If your camera has large or extra-large file settings (sometimes called "high detail") use the biggest you have to capture images of the book, jewelry, dress, etc., from different angles.  I also like to print out a little card with information about the object, how I came to own it, who owned it before me, how old it is, etc., and place it in the photograph of the object in at least one angle so I'll have everything together.  For books, try to gently open the book and hold it there long enough to take pictures of important pages, such as the birth/death/marriage records in old family Bibles.  Do it right, do it detailed, and you won't have to worry about handling brittle books and jewelry in the future---just pull up the picture on your computer.  Then you can store the item in an archival box, etc., to preserve it for future generations.

• External Hard Drive: Once you have scanned, transcribed or organized all your photos and documents on your comptuer, I highly recommend getting a spare external hard drive---they are incredibly inexpensive now, compared to just a few years ago.  You can get a dedicated genealogy backup drive for less than $150 that will hold hundreds of gigs of information.  As one who has listened to that advice before and not acted, trust me...it's a good idea.  I had my old computer crash and lost everything---or would have if I hadn't had everything backed up on an external drive.  If you have a flood or a bad storm, tornado, or lightning strike your house or even simple burglary or a fire...the list goes on and on---you get the picture.  A backup hard drive is invaluable. 

• CD/DVD Backups: At the very least (and before I got my back up hard drive) use CD backups.  Most computers sold today have a CD-ROM drive that doubles as a CD-R (or even better a DVD-R) drive, meaning you can create CDs/DVDs of information.  This is helpful, but for someone that has more than about 800 megabits worth of files and photos, you're going to need multiple CDs, cases to store them, etc.  The other downside to CDs is that while they may last a long time and be impervious to magnets (the bane of floppy disks of yesteryear) the drives that run them may not last.  It is a great storage media, but someday it will go the way of the floppy disk, that is to say, to the recycling plant (remember all those AOL disks you used to get in the mail?  When I was in college we used those things for all sorts of things...ah but that's another post.).  So a CD backup is great, but once I got my hard drive, I stopped making CDs and saved a lot of money (when you have a lot of stuff to back up, those CDs can get expensive over time!).  If you have the right software, burning a DVD of genealogy files or pictures will allow you to play the images or movies on any modern DVD player (which makes a great way to share photos on family vacations to far flung relatives...ah, the rebirth of the old slide show tradition!)

• File Sharing: One of the cooler things about the internet is the concept of "the cloud" that is vogue right now.  Through some websites out there like Rootsweb (provided by Ancestry.com), you can upload your family tree and notes to the internet for other researchers to see and to create a backup.  Should something happen to your computer, all you need do when it is repaired/replaced, is just sign on and download your information and you're back in business.  You can even go to any one of the numerous photo-sharing sites out there and upload your genealogy photos as well, then download them when you need to.  Which leads me to the next part of file sharing---sharing with relatives.  Make copies of everything you have, if it's convenient to put on, say, a CD or DVD, and mail it to your siblings and uncles and aunts and grandkids.  They may not appreciate it now (maybe they will!) but the information will not be lost if some catastrophe happens to your house, computer or files.  I recently did this at Christmas last year and it was quite gratifying to share all those old family photos (some that people hadn't seen in decades) and stories and documents, scanned onto a DVD.  And lets be honest, what's the point of doing all this research if we don't share the results with our family members---after all, aren't we trying to preserve everything for future generations?  I say spread the wealth---who knows, you may inspire a grandchild to take up the hobby and unknowingly "pass the torch" and protect your family history at the same time!

• USB Flash Drives: Lastly, this inexpensive idea just occurred to me.  You can get a 4Gig USB drive at Best Buy for $20 or so any more.  Just plug it in, download your information and presto, another backup.  I like to keep mine where I keep the physical photos and documents so I know I have a backup at hand.  Can't get any simpler than that.  If you need to travel or get a new computer, just plug in the flash drive (also called "Thumb Drives" and you're in business.

• Location, Location, Location: Something else to consider: don't keep all your eggs in one basket.  Don't store your originals in a closet along with the backups in the same place.  I like to spread things out----the originals are in a footlocker in a closet.  The backup hard drive is upstairs in a closet in the office.  The thumbdrive stays with the originals, but my backup DVDs are stored with our DVD collection.  If something happens to one part of the house (a flood, fire, or say water heater failure) at least all of my information won't be damaged or lost at once.  Granted, if the whole house is destroyed I'm in trouble---but!  I have copies of everything sent to my sister, father and uncle.  Plus I have my tree and lots of my notes online.  My motto is one redundant backup is good, two is better, three is best. 

So, there you have it, my methods of saving the past.  I'm interested to hear what you do, or what you think works or doesn't work of what I do.  Have you needed to use a backup to recover your info?  What happened and how did you get through the crisis?

History of the Vaught name

What's in a name?  In my case, the name Vaught is not exactly the same name as my ancestors.   I'm working on a family history book and here's a bit of an excerpt:

The progenitor of my family was a man named Johan Paulus Vogt, who was born in 1680 in Frankfurt, Germany.  Vogt is identified today as German, yet it is also a common enough Swiss and Austrian name as well.  In fact, it is quite prevalent throughout northern Austria, as well as southern Germany and Switzerland. 

There is a German town called Vogt just east of Ravensburg near the Lake Konstance on the Swiss/German border.  The Heimatmuseum, deep in the Black Forest is the "Folk Heritage Museum" is also called the Vogtsbauernhof, or "the judge's farmhouse".

Despite being known for a German name, Vogt is actually the modern form of an ancient Roman occupational title that has similarities to a lawyer, judge, sheriff and military commander.  In a nutshell, the Vogt of a particular area was the enforcer of the ruler's will and laws, a supervisor of no mean rank. 

From The Dictionary of American Family Names (2003):

VOGT: German: occupational name for a bailiff, farm manager, or other person with supervisory authority, Middle High German voget, Late Latin vocatus, from Latin advocatus, past participle of advocare ‘to call upon (to help)’. The term originally denoted someone who appeared before a court on behalf of some party not permitted to make direct representations, often an ecclesiastical body which was not supposed to have any dealings with temporal authorities.

As the dying embers of the light that was once Rome faded into obscurity and the Dark Ages gripped Europe in a mailed fist, those who had been called upon to help or to enforce the local rulers will were known as the vocatus.  Over time they later were called the voget and finally they became the Vogt as the Dark Ages came to a reluctant end and the Middle Ages arrived.

In the 10th Century AD, the title of Vogt was solidified as the proctor of the church in civil affairs and presided over the chief court---usually a local nobleman such as a Baron.  Therefore we can assume that to hold the office of "Vogt" for the town or village one had to be a clergyman or a local judge or both.  This is entirely reasonable, as in the Middle Ages the most learned (and therefore qualified to be a judge of written laws) men to be found were found in the Church.

To read an excellent Medieval history of the Vogt name written by Eric William Vogt and posted on the Genforum message boards click here: Origins of the Vogt Name .  Mr. Vogt's information pertains mostly to the ecclesiastical side of the name history and it's connotations within late Medieval society, but it is fascinating reading nonetheless.

Johan Paulus Vogt brought his family (his wife Maria Katerina and his children Catharina Margaret, Maria Catharina, Johan Andreas, and Johan Gasper) in 1733 to Philadelphia and shortly thereafter he is listed in official documents as John Paul Vaught.  His wife and children recieved similar Anglicized names (Mary Katherine, Catherine Margaret, Mary Catherine, John Andrew and John Gasper).

So why go from Vogt to Vaught?  Imagine what an Englishman would hear when a German strolls up to a clerk's desk and registers his family...in German, "v" is pronounced as an "f".  So Vogt is pronounced "fought".  The clerk likely spelled what he heard.  This is even more evident when the next generation is listed in documents.

John Paul Vaught died in 1761 at his home near Harrisonburg, Virginia.  Within a decade of his death, most of his famiy had moved south and west towards what is now known as Wythe County, Virginia.  His eldest son, Andrew, carried on the family name and spread it through southwest Virigina, and his sons carried it into Kentucky, Indiana and other parts west.  John Paul Vaught's youngest son, Gasper, stayed on the old homestead with his family.  He was known as Gasper Faught (no doubt another clerk bestowed a mistaken spelling on the family name and literally spelled it like he heard it).  To this day, there are numerous Faughts near Harrisonburg.  A small stream runs through John Paul Vaught's old land and is still known as Faught's Run.

I don't know if every Faught out there is a descendant of John Gasper Faught, but it is pretty interesting to think that one man who's last name was Vogt started so many Vaught and Faught families.

Will of George, son of Andrew Vaught

So I found a copy of the will of George Vaught (b. 1745- d. 1835) that I had discovered in 1998 on The Great Trek my father and I made across the country scoping out our ancestral stomping grounds.   That will be the subject of another post....but for now, here's a (finally) transcribed version of the original.  My wife adn I are in the process of moving to a different state on the other side of the country so my resources and time are a bit limited right now but I wanted to put something up!

A note about George's will---due to the spelling and education of the day, there are many, many words in the document that are odd-sounding to modern ears or outright mispelled (again by modern convention).  I have transcribed a photocopy of the original document exactly, including all the old-time phrases and mispellings.  I made a note in the middle, it is [in brackets].

****************************

WILL OF GEORGE VAUGHT

In the name of God amen.  I George Vaught senior of the County of Wythe and Sate of Virginia being at this time weak in body but of sound mind and disposing memory and calling to mind the mortality of the body and knowing, that it is appointed for all men once to die do make this my last will and testament.

First it is my desire that all my just debts and funeral expences be paid by my executors out of my estate.

Secondly, it is my desire that my beloved wife Christianna do fully and completely possess and enjoy all my property or estates both real and personal during her natural life and after her decease the same to be disposed of in the manner hereafter directed.

And as to my sons David, John, Andrew, George, Peter, and Charles I think I already given them a sufficiency, it is my desire that each of them receive one dollar to be paid by my executors.

Also I think that my daughter Mary hath had a sufficiency.  I also desire that she receive one dollar to be paid by my executors.

As to my son Joseph I give and bequeath unto him the sum of thirty dollars to be paid [note: to him is written in above the line] by my executors.

And it is my desire that at the decease of my wife my two sons Abraham and Jefferson to have all my land and my mill with the exception of one acre of land and a saw mill site that I have given to my two sons Charles and Joseph.

And it is my desire that my two sons namely Abraham and Jefferson pay unto my two daughters namely, Elizabeth and Christianna each one hundred and eighty dollars.

And it is my desire that after the decease of me and my wife whatever property is left and not disposed of the same be equally divided among all my children.

And lastly I do hereby constitute and appoint my son Charles Vaught Executor of this my last will and Testament hereby making void all other former wills by me made Acknowledging this to be my last will and testament.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 13^th day of March 1825.

                                                                                                his

Signed, Sealed, Published                                          George     C     Vaught 
                                                                                              mark            

and pronounced in presence of us

Ias. Finney

Roylal Hillirfrzi
Joseph Phillippe

Virginia.  At a Court for Wythe County at the Courthouse on Monday the 11 day of May 1835.  This the last will and testament of George Vaught Sen. Dec^d was presented in Court proved by the oaths of Christopher Phillipie and Joseph Phillipie subscribing witnesses thereto and ordered to be recorded.

And on the motion of Charles Vaught the executor named in said will who took the oath required by law.

And together with John Gannaway and Zachariah Mitchell his securities entered into and acknowledged a bond in the penalty of $400 conditioned as the law directs certificate is granted to him for obtaining probate of said will in due form.

                                               

                                                                        Teste

                                                                                    John Mathews CC