Posts Tagged ‘Library of Congress’

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Peter Force was a 19th-century politician, newspaper editor, archivist, and historian.

Born near the Passaic Falls in New Jersey, to William and Sarah (Ferguson) Force.

His greatest achievement came as a collector and editor of historical documents. He published Tracts and Other Papers, Relating Principally to the Origin, Settlement, and Progress of the Colonies in North America.

His American Archives was a collection of the most important documents of the American Revolution, 1774–1776. 9 volumes were published between 1837 and 1853. Force’s lifelong desire to establish an American national library finally came to fruition in 1867 when Congress purchased his own collection of original documents for $100,000 to found the Library of Congress.

Force died January 23, 1868 at the age of 77. His son, Manning Force, was an officer during the American Civil War.

(source – wikipedia – Peter Force)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Force

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To the readers of the Upstate New York Genealogy Blog;

I have a personal story abut this collection that goes back many years in my own genealogy research. My mother’s direct line 4th great grandparents were Seth Chase and Sarah (MILK) CHASE, of Little White Creek (Cambridge District, Albany County, New York.)

Seth CHASE was a Loyalist, a Quaker, and a Tavern Keeper in Little White Creek. His home/tavern was immediately the first farm north of the Battle of Bennington battlefield in the town of Hoosick, Rensselaer County. His house still exists and I have been all through it through the courtesy of the present owners. It is located on Cobble Hill Road south of the hamlet of White Creek adjacent to the town of Hoosick border.

About 25 or so years ago I was at the library in Cornell University and I came across a transcription description of Seth’s arrest in 1776 by the Americans, and being excited did not cite the exact reference. All I remembered when I went back later was that it was in a large book which was part of a multi-volume set. See boys and girls, cite your sources!

Well it turns out that Cornell has since put their set of this collection of transcribed manuscript records in their Kroch Rare Books and Manuscripts Department. Earlier today I was in discussion with another researcher friend, Deanna Smith, and I was reminded of this collection so set about locating it in today’s wonderful digital world.

Found it! Thanks to WorldCat.org I found the title “American Archives” by Peter Force, and then wonder of wonders, the whole collection is digitized and online at the University of Northern Illinois.

What follows is just a snippet from the manuscript testimony of the two men that gave evidence against Seth CHASE:

The Deposition of Captain Isaac Peabody, of lawful age, being duly sworn, saith: That on Sunday morning, the 13th instant, he returned to the house of Seth Chase, in Little White Creek. I asked Mr. Chase if he had seen any of our Kinderhook friends the night past. He answered, no. I told him I wanted to see Mr. Hughs, the man we discoursed with last night in the road. He then told me Mr. Hough told him the discourse he had with us, and that Mr. Hough knew no more of the plan than what he had communicated to him. I asked him if he had for certain that Burgoyne with his Army was coming round the lakes? ….

The page further saith, that the people of Arlington had made such preparations for their march, that they could not forego it without being discovered; therefore, would march to-night. Mr. Chase then said, the people of White Creek are secure, they would not march till further order from Colonel Man. He likewise said, that Colonel Man had twelve fat oxen for the purpose of victualling the friends of Government on their march to join the King’s Army. And others had several more cattle for the same purpose. I then asked him to direct me to a plan whereby our Kinderhook friends could get safe to the King’s Army.

He then told me that Colonel Man had given countersigns at two places, and if these countersigns could be conveyed to your friends, they can pass safe, and get all intelligence necessary. He then spoke to his wife to bring him a paper, on which she immediately came to us and takes a paper out of her bosom and gave it to her husband, and he handed it to me, saying, Now I give you my life. I took the paper and read it to be this: “At Landlord Northrop’s the countersign is Tryon; and at Jacob Lansing’s Ferry, the countersign is Burgoyne.” I told him for fear I should make a mistake in these countersigns, I would write them down. Then wrote them down. He then said that upon giving these countersigns out at these two places, we could be secreted, have provisions, or be helped on our way, or any thing we desired to forward.

He further said, that Simon Covill was a good friend to Government, and that I might not be afraid of him; he further said, that his house was a place where Colonel Man’s page came for entertainment, and to bring news to the friends to Government.
ISAAC PEABODY.
Bennington, October 14, 1776.

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Seth was arrested and put in jail for 14 days in Albany, then with many other prisoners was marched to Exeter, New Hampshire, to be banished to stay within the gaol limits of the town of Exeter for one year. At the end of the year he was allowed to return to his home and he also was allowed to keep his property.

As I said, I have been in that house where this event happened and I have this image burned in my mind of my fifth great grandmother pulling the secret password code out of her bosom.

Damn, I love history!

I encourage you all to search through these marvelous original documents that are online. There is just a world of exciting finds to be made!

American Archives – Peter Force

http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/index.html

Visit our main website at www.unyg.com

We wrote about the partnership between the U.S Library of Congress and the photo hosting website, flickr dot com, back in January on this Blog.

Today I was reminded by Genealogy Reviews Online about this excellent resource from an article that Tim wrote about a Blogger in Washington, DC who has looked up some old views of DC and then recreated them with modern day subjects in pose. Pretty neat.

So after taking another look and doing a “New York State” search of the LOC collection, found several, a few of which are posted here.

Catskill Farm Country – What’s not to love?

Typical Upstate New York Barn

Morner House Near Albany

Saratoga Convention 1912

Camouflage Class 1943
(At first I thought this might be the new Microsoft Touch Screen.)

To our friends of the Upstate New York Genealogy Blog. Thanks for being loyal readers. If you have a website please consider linking to this Blog and if you do, please let us know by an email with the link. The more readers the merrier.

We also encourage you all to enter comments underneath each or any of the Blog postings. The interactivity is what makes this all worth while.

To those readers that asked for the Abner Chase, Methodist Circuit Rider book, we hope that they have all been sent out. We had dealt with a couple of computer crashes and all requests were not immediately able to be filled. If you do want it and did not receive it, just let us know and it will go right out.

Elissa Scalisse Powell, a Certified Genealogist, posted on the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) mail list, the following exciting information about a free web teleconference for genealogists at the Library of Congress this coming Wednesday, June 18th.

Invisible Ancestors: Ideas & Strategies for Recreating Their Stories: A Web Conference

When: Wednesday, June 18, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), 1:00-2:00 p.m. Central Time

Many ancestors – early immigrants and pioneers, slaves, women, native peoples, and others do not have compiled biographies. They are invisible except in the historical record, through the census or other data collection entities. Where there are gaps in their history, the stories can be told through early travelogues, letters, diaries, other texts and printed ephemera, photographs and other visual media, and maps.

Join Library of Congress Digital Projects Coordinator, Judy Graves, and Local History & Genealogy Specialist, Anne Toohey, for ideas and strategies for combining physical and online materials that go beyond the data and recreate the stories of these individuals. We invite you to take this opportunity to sample the Library’s online materials and locate items that will enrich the stories of those whom you would like to know better.

NOTE: Allow yourself time to download the small software plugin needed to participate in the conference. Depending on your network security requirements, you may need assistance from your local technical support group to download and install the plugin.

Actual installation should be very quick, depending on your computer and connectivity. All that is needed is a computer with an Internet connection, sound card, and speakers. A microphone will enable you to speak to the group.

To attend, go to OPAL at: http://www.conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs1641902f62b4
1. Click the “Download Here” button in the light blue rectangle in the center of the screen.
2. Follow the directions to download and install the plugin.
3. Click the link in the orange rectangle to enter the room.
4. A gray box will appear with text asking permission to launch an external application, web conference plugin. When the grayed out text “Launch application” becomes black, click the Launch application button.
5. Type your name (no password is required) and click “Log on” to enter the online conference.

To learn more about programs sponsored by the Digital Reference Section, see: Virtual Programs & Services -

To learn more about the Library’s Local History & Genealogy Reading Room, see:
Laura Gottesman
Digital Reference Section,
The Library of Congress
http://www.opal-online.org/.
From the Quick Links column on the left, choose Auditorium.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/.http://www.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/.

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Submitted by:
Elissa Scalise Powell, CG
www.PowellGenealogy.com

Visit our main website at: www.unyg.com

What do these photographs have in common? Read below…

These gorgeous images are part of a pilot program between the U.S. Library of Congress (LOC) and Flickr.com an image sharing Social Networking website.

LOC & Flickr, what a concept! But when you think of it, you realize that this could be a VERY GOOD THING!

The Library of Congress now has its own Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/. The photos there are for users to tag, comment about, and provide more information on.

The LOC collection of photographs covers a lot of ground but they do have two sets of photos available: 1930s-1940s in Color, and News in the 19teens. Browsing through all of the photographs you will find all kinds of topics, from smokestacks to medals to cowboys to baseball players.

It will be noted that the catalog listing from LOC states “No known copyright restrictions.” However if you plan on using these to illustrate your book, genealogy, website, or whatever, it would be a smart thing to research that part further.

So check these images out. This is American History in pictures, and glorious ones at that!





(unyg)

Please let us know what you find that is of interest to you by leaving a comment just below this entry.