Northern Pacific Railway employee records on Ancestry.com

During the railroad records webinar I did this evening under the auspices of the Minnesota Genealogical Society, I mentioned some Northern Pacific Railway employee records that were on Ancestry.com. I had several questions about where to find these and I have posted the direct link below.

The originals are at the Minnesota Historical Society as are many other Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railway. The personnel files are not complete for either railroad but do include some subsidiary lines, too. As I shared during the webinar, these files include many people working from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest and who were born in many other states and countries,.

• Finding aids for the NP:  http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/01010.xml

• Finding aids for the GN : http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00901.xmlhttp://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00901.xml

NP employee records at Ancestry: http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2157

Free railroad records webinar tonight, Oct 1.

It's tonight! A free webinar on railroad records to kick off the great month of October that is both American Archives Month and Family History Month. This free webinar is available to anyone. Join us on your computer, tablet, or other device. It is sponsored by the Minnesota Genealogical Society.  The topic is railroad records and how to find them. It's been about 20 years that I have been researching and lecturing on this favorite topic.A detailed handout is available to registrants.

Wednesday, October 1

Railroad Records and Railroad History: Methods for Tracking  (Webinars)

7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Free Railroad Records Webinar

On Wednesday, October 1, I will be presenting a free webinar for the Minnesota Genealogical Society.  The topic is railroad records and how to find them. It's been about 20 years that I have been researching and lecturing on this favorite topic.

Wednesday, October 1

Railroad Records and Railroad History: Methods for Tracking  (Webinars)

7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

GoToWebinar

Instructor: Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA

If we didn’t have the railroads many of our ancestors might not have migrated across this country. Great grandpa would have been jobless. Aunt Susannah would not have visited the nieces and nephews. You might not have inherited a railroad watch. How else would your Grandfather from Ohio have met your Grandmother in Kansas? And we would not have the fun of searching for a payroll stub, railroad timetable, accident report, retirement record, personnel file, picture of Grandpa’s steam engine, or learning about the part the railroad played in the settlement of the old home town. This session shows how to determine which railroad you need to research and locate finding aids to determine what records might exist today and where they are located.

Cost: Free!

To register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5893675155258020866

Paula is interviewed on the Genealogy Guys Podcast

While I was at the Ohio Genealogical Society's conference in Sandusky, Ohio earlier this month, I was interviewed by Drew Smith for the Genealogy Guys Podcast that is hosted by Drew and George G. Morgan. We covered several topics including railroads, research planning, and genealogical institutes. I was able to mention my own railroad connections and love of railroads. Drew is a great interviewer. At the end I loved hearing that George picked up several tips from my railroad lecture at that conference.

You can listen to the entire May podcast at http://genealogyguys.com. My segment is at the end, but the rest of the podcast is very worthwhile.

The trains are back at St. Paul's Union Depot!

National Train Day is this Saturday, May 10th. It's a great week for trains in my area. After a 40+ year absence, trains are again arriving and departing from Union Depot in downtown St. Paul. The first "new" arrival was late last evening. And late it was, by 70 minutes. 

The Depot has been beautifully refurbished. It is now a place where travelers can board local buses, MegaBus, Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, and in mid-June, the Green Line light rail opens. That line runs from downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis.

The Union Depot is a place where my paternal Grandpa Earl James Stuart took my cousin Dave and me to watch the trains. Grandpa was a superintendent with the Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Omaha Railway. His brother LaMer Stuart and Uncles Fred and Lou (L.F.) Slaker worked for the same railroad in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A maternal Great Granduncle Sam Dow (Daoust) worked for the Omaha as did maternal Great Granduncle Thomas Hanley, a half-brother to my Grandpa Michael Hanley. I keep writing about these men in hope some descendant of theirs ever reads my blog!

Proven: A private railroad car for L. F. Slaker

A family story is proven! Many years ago, I was told a similar story by two older relatives. Last night I found the proof of the story. The story was that my Great Granduncle Louis F. Slaker was so important with the Omaha railroad (Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha  Railway) to have his own private railroad car. I have researched and documented much about the Slaker (Schleicher) family in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, California, Washington and other places. Louis served the railroad in many capacities, including several division supervisory roles. Louis' sister Emma Slaker Stuart is one of my paternal great grandmothers. Louis is usually found as L. F. Slaker.

Newspapers in many localities reports railroad activities and also local news related to railroad personnel. It's been a great way to follow other Slaker and Stuart family members through their movements in Wisconsin and Minnesota as they worked at various railroad jobs. L. F. Slaker appeared more than other family members due to his job level.

Earlier tonight I found that aforementioned proof. A local news item in one newspaper mentioned his private railroad car. I also found other mentions of this car, visiting family, job changes, vacations, and more in local news columns.

Worthington Advance [MN], 24 February 1905, page 5, column 2

The full article newspaper can be viewed at the Library of Congress' Chronicling America website.

The Harvey Girls and the railroads

In my lecture about finding railroad records that might relate to an ancestor, I discuss some of the railroad-connected jobs in which the workers were not directly employed by the railroads. I love to do this lecture and open the eyes of researchers eagerly looking for records, sharing tactics to take in "tracking" them down, and tell about the myriad of finding aids that are available. My handout for this lecture includes many websites.

One of the occupations I discuss is the Harvey Girls. You may have seen the 1940s movie with Judy Garland or read the book from that era. These women worked in the hotels and restaurants of Fred Harvey that served various stops along the tracks of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. Did you know about Lesley Poling-Kemps 1994 book, The Harvey Girls: Women Who Opened the West?

My news feed today showed a link to an article about a new exhibit and a documentary film at the U.S. National Archives at Kansas City, Missouri.  "A documentary capturing first-person accounts of the famous Harvey Girls will premiere Friday at the National Archives in Kansas City in conjunction with an ongoing exhibit there. The free film, “The Harvey Girls: Opportunity Bound,” will be followed by a panel discussion by the film’s producers and other scholars." Oh, do I wish I could be there in-person. The exhibit runs till next January 4th. I see a road trip in my future.

ad more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/19/4301648/harvey-house-documentary-premieres.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/19/4301648/harvey-house-documentary-premieres.html#storylink=cpy

To read the full articles in the online edition of the Kansas City Star, click here.

Great Northern and Northern Pacific railway record inventories now online

The Minnesota Historical Society just announced:

"Online finding aids just launched 
For the first time ever, inventories of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railway companies are available online. With more than 16,000 boxes of archival records, these two collections fill more than 15% of the total space in the stacks and have been a draw for railroad buffs, historians and genealogists for decades.Online finding aids allow for more convenient browsing, faster searching and the discovery of related materials that may have been overlooked before."

These inventories are extensive and well worth reading. They cover so many more states than Minnesota. The personnel, accident, land, and other records are fabulous. For more info on this exciting news click here. 

Update on Railroad Retirement Board records

I emailed the National Archives Southeast Region in regard to access to the Railroad Retirement Board records mentioned in my earlier post and received this almost immediate reply:

"This is in reply to your inquiry regarding researching the records of the Railroad Retirement Board in person at the National Archives at Atlanta.  The simple answer is Yes.  However, we will need to screen the records first to make sure we do not release any personal information about living retirees or their dependents named in the files.  This screening can usually done in about 20 minutes.  It is best to notify us ahead of time so we can first, locate the file, and second, have it screened before arrival.  If we receive 'drop-ins' we do a quick

Railroad Retirement Board records moved to NARA Southeast

In his 3 May 2011, column Ken Thomas reports that the great records from the Railroad Retirement Board have been moved from Chicago to the National Archives Southeast Region in Morrow, Georgia. Morrow is just outside Atlanta.

This is FANTASTIC news. I will do some further checking to see if this means we are now able to personally view a file or have a professional researcher do that at NARA Southeast.

The Railroad Retirement Board was created in 1936 and has no records for workers who retired or died before 1937. If an ancestor still worked for or began service for a railroad after that date, there may be a file. To see if a file exists, it is best to have that person's social security number. Other helpful details would be the complete name, the railroad(s) worked for, time period of employment, birth and death dates. Common surnames may need additional details. Recent files are not included.

The social security number generally begins with a 7 and may be found in some old records left by the worker. It is also likely you will find it on the official death record. I have files I obtained for two of my great granduncles and they were helpful with many genealogical details.

Read the NARA Southeast page on the RRB records by clicking here.

Read Ken's full column in the Atlanta Journal Constitution by clicking here.