The Geneline

THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF Amelia Island Genealogical Society September 2012 - ISSUE COMING UP! AIGS General Meeting - Tuesday -September 18 at 7:00 pm HELD:FERNANDINA BEACH POLICE DEPT. COMMUNITY ROOM

TOPIC: Genetic

SPEAKER: Arnold Weeks

This informative presentation explores the use of DNA testing to extend both PATERNAL and MATERNAL lineages. The basics of DNA will be briefly dis- cussed and then the speaker will pres- ent information on current DNA testing services, surname projects, and other issues.

Other topics covered will include The , public and pri- vate DNA databases, laws pertaining to genetic information, and the rewards and risks of DNA testing.

About Our Speaker Our speaker, ARNOLD WEEKS, is a sixth generation Floridian and has been involved in Genealogy for over 40 years. His special areas of genealogical interest are genetic genealogy, family history and health, and Native American Genealogy.

He has a B.A. in History from UWF and a Master of Science from Florida State. Mr Weeks has been the Director of Libraries in Clay County, Florida since 1987 and in 2007 became Director of Community Services in Clay County. He is active in Rotary International and is a member of the National Genealogical Society, the Florida Genealogical Society, and the Florida Historical Society 2012 AIGS MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT BOARD MEMBERS Michael A. Toomey Michael S. Toomey he number of President Smartphone applica- Royce “Gus” Reinwald Ttions available both for Vice-President the iphone and for Android Gloria Toomey phones has exploded, and broadened to many areas of Secretary everyday life, supplying help- Susan Anstead ful applications to aid shop- Treasurer ping, driving, music, maps, Charles Finnigan finding fuel… etc. Both Apple and Google claim to Membership have over 500,000 Chairperson Smartphone apps on iTunes Marie Santry and Google Play respectively. Past President So I decided to look at Bob Keane Smartphone genealogy “apps” Director to see if there had been much progress in this area. Burt Swearingen Ancestry.com’s And, as you would guess, Director App for iPhone, iPad there has been significant Kay Watt called Ancestry progress, perhaps not all that Director you would want, but, still progress. COMMITTEE CHAIRS & EDITORS FAMILIES. Legacy software has a mobile application for either Michael Toomey iphone/ipad and Android phones and tablets called Families. Legacy is a AIGS Website very good family tree software, and the new applications will synchronize Bob Keane directly with the mobile devices. And, you can add data to the mobile Program device on a trip for instance and synch with your home application when you return.The software is full featured, and supports individual, pedigree, Charles Finnigan and descendent views; timelines, pictures, geo-location etc. Enough fea- Membership tures that you could just take the mobile device on that research trip! The Lori Miranda Android reviews were better than the iphone single review, and it is expen- Publicity sive at $15.00 per mobile unit. Kay Watt Ancestry. Ancestry.com has a mobile application called Ancestry Librarian (naturally) for either Android or iphone that will connect directly to your Kathy Nemaric family files on ancestry.com’s website. So, you can see and change any- Research Coordinator thing you have online, but you cannot synch directly to your personal Frances Bartelt files directly, only to family files you have online at the Editor Geneline ancestry web site, so you have to be an ancestry subscriber to use it. If you are keeping your files online, this might be a great application for you as Jean Mann the software is free.The user reviews are good, and it seems easy to use (I Editor of Nassau did not try it). Naturally, if you drop your ancestry.com subscription you County Genealogist lose access to the files. (Continued on pg. 3) pg 2 AIGS September 2012

Reunion app for iphone. Reunion is an Apple only application, and this new mobile app will con- nect directly to your personal Reunion desktop or laptop file. Reunion is a highly rated genealogy application for Mac users, and the mobile application continues this.The application is expensive at $15.00 per mobile unit.

Mobile Family Tree Pro for iphone/Ipad.This is a $15.00 mobile application only, with no connec- tion to any other genealogy program you might have. It had mixed reviews,but if you are completely mobile (and few ofus are) it might fit your needs.

There are several other apps which use a proprietary PC or Mac application to convert your data and then allow you to sync to a separate mobile app. You have to buy the PC applications and run it sepa- rately, and you generally cannot synch backwards to update your files. My Heritage and Mobile Family Tree are in this category. I would much prefer a direct applications synch, so I don’t recom- mend these.

GedStar, Family Bee, and GedView and Gendroid for Android users are GEDCOM readers only. So if you use them, you have to convert your files to a GEDCOM, load it onto your mobile, and reverse the process back to a new file on your home computer. This seems like a lot of effort, but they do work if you just want to see the data for research and not change it on a mobile unit.These are less expensive $3.00 to $10.00.

Other Tools. Evernote.There are now many note taking tools which you can use to store your research notes. The best known in Evernote. You can keep synchronized notes on any device you own, by category, and you can keep planning notes including travel arrangements for future trips. It also has a web clipper to keep websites you find in your search. Evernote is a great tool, but it does connect to all of the services on your phone (GPS, addresses etc). I use a simple note taking application which is less intru- sive named SE Notepad. You can keep notes by easily created categories. It is free and uncomplicat- ed and I like it. Find a Grave and Billion Graves: Find a Grave has an excellent mobile android application, which I use.You can search the entire Find A Grave database quickly, and it located all of the 20 or so graves I have online. Billion Graves has a Smartphone camera application for both iphone and Android which you can use to send grave information directly to them without a desktop application.This is designed to send data only and not view it, so it is a collection device. Billion Grave data is available on FamilySearch.org. Indexing. FamilySearch has a new application for both Iphone/ipad and Android phone/tablet that will let you index FamilySearch information on your mobile device. This was developed for the 1940 census, and it was very successful. Individuals found they could work on indexing files while they had a few min- utes, such as waiting for the doctor, or riding the bus. This is a free application.

So, some progress has been made in mobile applications. I hope there are a few you are interested in trying!

Michael A. Toomey AIGS President.

September 2012 AIGS pg 3

When Joseph Vincent became Michael, America Benefited by Gus Reinwald

on the internet because it was out of print, but I did locate one in the Belmont Abby College Library. I went to the Fernandina Library and was able to get a copy of the book through their inter- library loan service. Right in the beginning of the book was this sentence;“Born 'Joseph Vincent McInerney' in Lockhaven, Pennsylvania, he was the son of Michael and Mary Ann (O'Gorman) McInerney, both Irish-immigrants from County Clare.” It also said that Joseph Vincent was given the name Michael when he entered the monastery at Belmont Abbey. I was searching for Michael when I should have been looking for Joseph Father Michael McInerney Vincent! With this new information, everything that I had found prior began to fall into place; received an email awhile back from an Irish census records starting from 1870 followed this gentleman inquiring about the article that I McInerney family through various towns in Iwrote for the AIGS newsletter. This article pub- Pennsylvania including Lock Haven, and on into lished in the March 2011 issue of The Geneline, North Carolina where Joseph Vincent became talked about my wife’s ancestor, Michael Michael and lived at the Abbey. I was able to con- McInerney, and mentioned County Clare Ireland nect his family to my wife’s family and found that and the town of Lock Haven, PA. The gentleman Father Michael was my wife’s 2nd cousin 2 times said that he was doing research on a Father removed. So, from various sources, this is my Michael McInerney, one of the most prominent story of Father Michael J.V.McInerney. clerical/ecclesiastical architects of the 20th centu- ry, who was born in Lock Haven in 1877 and A native of Pennsylvania and the son of Irish whose ancestors came from County Clare. He Catholic immigrant parents, Joseph Vincent was wondering if this Fr. McInerney was related, McInerney was born 18 March 1877 in Lock and if so, how he was connected to my wife’s fam- Haven, PA. Joseph, in his early years, attended ily. parochial school in McKeesport, PA, and then enrolled at the preparatory academy attached to I said that I would investigate and started search- Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost ing all the McInerney families from Ireland who (later Duquesne University). His education was were in the Lock Haven area around that time, but augmented by service among local stone I couldn’t find any Michael born about 1877. I contractors, where he assisted his stonecutter contacted the local Catholic priest and genealogi- father. In 1892, at age fifteen, he was apprenticed cal society in Lock Haven with no luck. I looked with W.A.Thomas, formerly a professor of architec- on the internet and found a lot of information on ture at King's College (London). During their Father McInerney and his architectural achieve- eight-year association, Mr.Thomas supervised ments but nothing that helped to connect him to McInerney's technical training and eventually Lock Haven, PA. I started to get frustrated when I made him a junior partner in his firm. At the same discovered a reference to a book titled The Art of time, Joseph attended college-level courses at Holy Michael McInerney. I wasn’t able to find a copy Ghost (Duquesne). (continued on pg. 5) pg 4 AIGS September 2012

The Haid - Belmont Abbey College Chapel at Virginia Polytechnical Institute In 1900 McInerney left the firm to enroll in the work is known in at least thirteen states and the classical course studies at Saint Mary's College District of Columbia. In 1934 the North Carolina (later Belmont Abbey College) in Gaston County, Chapter of the American Institute of Architects North Carolina. Shortly after Joseph Vincent's elected him to membership. He also held an asso- arrival, two-thirds of the school's College building ciate membership in the stained Glass Association was destroyed by fire, leaving only a brick shell. of America. When school authorities discovered McInerney “knew a thing or two about construction” and In all, Father McInerney produced more than five learned of his background in architecture and hundred buildings and structures.There were design, he was appointed to the task of directing more than two hundred educational buildings the rebuilding. At the age of twenty-three, he had (dormitories, schools, etc.), one hundred large become an architectural designer in his own right churches, over one hundred smaller churches and and that became his passion for the next sixty chapels, twenty-seven hospitals or infirmaries, years. While completing his studies at Belmont eighteen convents or monasteries, ten gymnasia or over the next two years, Joseph won esteem both recreation centers, and countless residences, barns, for academics and for his ability as the first base- storage and mechanical facilities, renovations, and man for their varsity baseball team. In June 1902, consulting jobs. Father McInerney was called "an McInerney took the Abbey's Bachelor of Arts example to all of what a Christian may be when degree in Classics with honors also earning premi- genuine art and genuine religion find lodgment in ums for scholarship and conduct. That summer, the heart and mind of one individual." Joseph McInerney took the name “Michael” and entered the Benedictine monastery at Belmont as a The Reverend Father Michael J.V.McInerney died novice. He professed vows one year later and on 3 March 1963 at Mercy Hospital in Charlotte, three years afterwards committed himself to the NC for which he had designed the original com- monastery for life. Then, on 9 June 1907,Abbot- plex of buildings, including its nursing school and Bishop Leo Haid, O.S.B., ordained Michael convent. He is interred in the Belmont Abbey McInerney a priest. Cemetery, surrounded by examples of his genius. We usually think that descendants are the progeny McInerney was one of the most prolific and talent- of a husband and wife, but in Father McInerney’s ed architects of what has been called the case, his buildings are his descendants and his lega- "American Benedictine" style, a functional variation cy, and America will enjoy them for ages. of the Gothic Revival “characterized by restrained use of ornament and harmonious proportions that See these sites for further reading: emphasize the verticality of structures”. http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000485 McInerney designed scores of buildings for http://diosav.org/sites/all/files/archives/S8504p03. Catholic institutions across the United States; his pdf

September 2012 AIGS pg 5 Visit our Website: http://www.aigensoc.org/ Find Information about Amelia Island Genealogical Society Access old and new GENELINEs. A special reminder to our members: GENELINE is your Society’s publication. Each member is encouraged to contribute material to it All GENELINE articles are indexed by PERSI Send GENELINE comments & submissions to Frances Bartelt - [email protected]

The Amelia Island Genealogical Society P.O. Box 6005 Fernandina Beach, FL 32035-6005

The Society’s Library Collection is housed in the Fernandina Beach Library The membership packet includes AIGS information and all current year issues of Society’s quarterly The Nassau County Genealogist, and the GENELINE,AIGS’s monthly newsletter. Family history research training is offered through classes, workshops and ongoing programs Membership dues are $20.00 per person and $25.00 per two-person family. The membership year is January 1st through December 31st To join, send application form, along with the appropriate fee to: The Amelia Island Genealogical Society P.O. Box 6005 Fernandina Beach, FL 32035-6005 To print an membership application or for more information check our web site: http://www.aigensoc.org/aigs/meetings.asp/