Ancestry Magazine

It wasn’t all isolation on the frontier. Many early settlers formed organizations to stay united—and some of these organizations kept valuable genealogical records.

When people moved to a new area on the frontier, they felt a special kinship with others who had endured the same hardships, and they felt a need to maintain contact with one another. These settlers often organized get-togethers. Sometimes, as later settlers arrived, the pioneers felt encroached upon, so they would form elite groups of “old” settlers with strict guidelines to prevent the “new kids on the block” from joining. Other groups had very loose rules for membership and old settler gatherings became community-wide events.

These “old settlers’ organizations” are based on the early settlers of a geographic area. If you need some help in your ancestral quest, the records kept by these organizations may provide details on places of origin, settlement dates for migrating ancestors, parents’ names, birth and death dates and places, children’s names, previous and subsequent places of residence, and detailed accounts of journeys across the United States.

The Organization
Some groups were started by the pioneers, but others began years later by descendants of the pioneers. Some groups were highly structured with constitutions, bylaws, strict membership requirements, application forms, dues, and more. Others were spur-of-the-moment get-togethers when all the old settlers gathered for a picnic. At such an informal gathering, someone at the event may have had everyone sign their name to a roll, and then ask for more details such as age, names of family members, date of arrival in the area, place of last residence, and birth place.

Membership was usually restricted to those who were in a given locality before a specified date, such as statehood or county formation. Ethnic and gender restrictions in some organizations limited membership. As the years passed, membership declined as members moved or died, so the qualifications for membership in some were relaxed to allow spouses and descendants or later settlers to join.

Organizations were often state or county based, while others were for similar ethnic backgrounds or settlers that arrived en masse from another locality. Still other groups had members that shared similar occupations. Examples of the various types include:

• Lake Pepin Valley Old Settlers’ Association
• Pioneer Rivermans’ Association
• Red River Valley Old Settlers Association
• Society of Colorado Pioneers
• Swedish Pioneer and History Society of Clay County
• Washington County Old Settlers’ Club

Historical Design
Like the proliferation of churches or newspapers to research for one locality, there may be more than one old settlers’ organization for the area. For instance, there was a Pioneer and Historical Society of Oregon as well as the Oregon Pioneer Association.

Some organizations evolved into a county or state historical society. In some cases, this was the design from the start.

The Pioneer and Historical Society of Oregon was especially diligent in collecting data on the pioneers and families with a stated purpose of preserving the information for future historians in the society’s archives. The secretary’s report of 1875 asked for several things:

• More complete data from all persons;

• Relatives or friends of deceased pioneers provide the name, age, nativity, time of starting and arriving on the coast, the month, day and year o f death, and the full name, age and residence of descendants;

• A written statement, by each member, of events regarding the trip to Oregon as well as events after their arrival.

An Organization of One
In some cases, there was only one person collecting data on old settlers. One example is Judge E. T. Foote, who was a resident of Jamestown, Chautauqua County, New York, for many years.

Judge Foote collected material on the county’s history and the pioneer settlers. Much of his research was pasted into old account books or tipped in between pages. One volume contains letters that were responses to his inquiries of the settlers or their children regarding information on the family and their settlement in the county.

A transcript of the Jamestown 1828 census has Foote’s 1873 annotations about death dates and locations to which pioneers had moved. A newspaper article from the area’s Fredonia Censor lists settlers at an 1873 reunion. The article has much history and details on old settlers. Much of this material is at the Chautauqua County Historical Society and the microfilms are at the Reed Library, State University of New York College at Fredonia.

Variety in Content
The Pioneer Association of Wyoming listed specific duties for members. One was to attend the funerals of all members and any other person the officers believed advisable. A fine of $2.50 was levied against members failing to attend without sufficient cause. These records are in large ledgers at the state historical society in Cheyenne.

An entry shows that F. H. Castle was born in Clinton, New York, on 8 October 1823 and arrived in the territory on 14 July 1867. Also given was his death date of 11 July 1896, the time and cause of death, and time and place of the funeral.

Microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City has information on the Old Settlers’ Association of Buffalo Grove, Cook County, Illinois. These list only the settler’s name and arrival date.

Some organizations’ records include personal and family details, such as first-hand stories of the trip across the country to the new place of residence. Additionally, many old settlers’ organizations gathered information from the settlers, year after year.

Some historical societies have related records that include biographies, oral histories, scrapbooks, and clipping files. An example is the Pioneer Biography Files at the State Historical Society of North Dakota, which provides information on more than 5,000 North Dakota pioneers. The files include a variety of biographical details, some of which are quite extensive. These are enhanced by an alphabetical index and interlibrary loan.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has a booklet about an Old Settlers Festival held in Buffalo, New York. Part of the festival record is basically a journal of the events and people. It tells how people in 1867 scoured attics for heirlooms. The booklet describes the historical outfits worn and includes a listing of pupils (with then-current residences) who attended the local school in 1821—1822 and where they lived after they left Buffalo.

The Minnesota Territorial Pioneers and the Hennepin County Territorial Pioneers are examples of other groups based in large cities like St. Paul and Minneapolis. Some members lived outside the city proper, but the meetings were generally held in the city, often at an elegant hotel. The newspapers sometimes vied to put the largest story in their papers.

The records with the most genealogical significance include date of arrival in the area, birth place in a foreign country (including town), the last residence, route traveled to the new location, and autobiographies or stories. Remember that as exciting as these records are, the details need to be verified.

Tracking the Records
Among the pla ces to search for these records are historical and genealogical societies, university libraries, archives, museums, public libraries, personal libraries, attics or basements, and the Family History Library. Some records have been donated to repositories where they are preserved under proper conditions for current research and for generations to come. Others remain in personal collections. You may find clues to them from the staff at the area library or historical society or an older resident knowledgeable about the local history. It may help to show them the information about the group from the old newspaper or county history.

Not all the finding aids are in electronic format; many are in printed form. Still others are unpublished in repositories themselves. Published inventories of manuscript collections at other repositories are available in many larger historical and university libraries.

You may not find a nicely arranged card or computer catalog, but you may find a diverse group of finding aids, such as calendars, material in binders, or unique card catalogs. If there is no index or catalog at all, you will have to depend on the staff’s knowledge.

Many historical and genealogical periodicals have published lists of old settlers from original records, a county history, or a newspaper, and may give clues about where to find the records. Don’t just read the current issues; read the older ones. Fortunately, the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) lists articles by subject and locality. The subject headings do not include Old Settlers, but by checking for ancestral localities, you may encounter an entry showing that a periodical carried information on an old settlers organization.

Genealogists today are far more fortunate than previous generations. Online libraries and archival catalogs help track down these records. Some indexes or abstracts of old settler records are online.

The publications of a state or county historical society might list acquisitions. The spring 1992 issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History gave information about old settler records for Clark County. This entry was intriguing with the mention of the donor’s name and residence in North Carolina. Further, because Wisconsin has a network of Area Research Centers where materials of local interest are housed, this entry is listed under the ARC which covers Clark County, at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire.

The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) provides descriptions of manuscripts at U.S. repositories. The 1971 volume lists the 1888—1931 papers of the Pioneer Society of San Diego at the San Diego Historical Society. These include society minutes and records of members’ names, ages, places of birth, and dates of arrival.

Most old settlers records are in manuscript form. There may be loose papers, ledgers, notebooks, old sheets of wallpaper with writing on the back, newspaper clippings, members’ applications, and family history written by the settler or a descendant.

Groups with solvent treasuries sometimes published, even annually, proceedings of their society. An example is the Society of California Pioneers. Published material includes the names, residence, place of birth, and date of arrival in California of the group’s founders.

Others published a program for an event (e.g., reunion, picnic, or dinner) they sponsored. Some groups printed lists of their members that show a large membership; others published memorial books or necrology sections to honor deceased members.

County histories can be helpful in the search. They may indicate the existence of a local organization, its date of creation, and the early officers. The records might be in the archived personal or family papers of one of these officers or of another member.

Old newspapers are an excellent source. Old settlers were often the community movers and shakers so the events of the groups were big local news. In a newspaper, you might find a capsule history of the group, list of members, including those who had died or moved, or simply a notice that the annual meeting had taken place. Even this can be helpful. Annual events usually occurred at about the same time each year. Armed with the approximate date, you can search other area newspapers, or other years, for more extensive articles. These stories often list not only the attendees, but also those coming the longest distance or with the most grandchildren. If the newspaper had space to fill, you might find that, for deceased members, it listed date and place of death and date of arrival in the area. For those attending from a distance, it might include when and where they moved.

Genealogists are sometimes disappointed by a newspaper index that is by subject, and not personal name. In the case of old settlers articles you don’t have to be disappointed. If you find an index entry pertaining to the annual meeting, check the article. Your ancestor or another relative may be listed.

Rewards in Settlers’ Records
It takes work to determine the existence of pioneer organizations and the location of surviving papers, and researching in the records themselves can take time since those that do exist are not always indexed and may be in chronological order. But the reward of detail on an ancestor or collateral relative makes it worthwhile. Your ancestor or a sibling may have written a wealth of family information all over the membership application. Even if your ancestor didn’t, the records still give clues for further research. What stories might such records tell about your families? You won’t know until you look for them. Examples of Search Terms
What subject headings are you going to search for in finding aids? Here are some options, but don’t let this list limit your research.
Annual Meeting of_________
As sociation of ______ Old Settlers
Association of Pioneers of ______
Descendants of the Settlers of________
Early Settlers’ Association
First Settlers of _________
Old Settlers Club of ________
Old Settlers of_______
Old Settlers Society of ______
Original Settlers of _______
Pioneers of ________
Reunion of Old Settlers of ________
Territorial Settlers of __________ National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC)
The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) is a manuscript cataloguing program led by the Library of Congress. Published volumes (1962—1994), annual indexes, and some combined indexes listed collections that more than 1,400 repositories reported from 1959—1993. But these cover hundreds of years of material. Recent cataloguing is online at <http://lcweb.loc.gov/coll/nucmc>. All years of NUCMC are searchable through a subscription database, Archives USA, which is available at many major libraries. Periodical Source Index (PERSI)
The Allen County (Indiana) Public Library Foundation produces this ongoing subject and locality index to thousands of genealogical and historical periodicals. The original series of published indexes and subsequent additions are available in searchable format on CD-ROM.

Paula Stuart Warren, CGRS, professional researcher, lecturer, and writer is the co-author of Your Guide to the Family History Library: How to Access the World’s Largest Genealogy Resource (Betterway Books, 2001). She can be reached via her website < www.warrenresearch.com>.