How to Use Evernote to be a Better Genealogist

If your not using Evernote, to complement your researching, Dick Eastman has some terrific information. A big thanks to him for his Plus Edition information.
GVH


The following is an update to a Plus Edition article I published several years ago. Some of the information has changed since the original article was published. I have updated the article and am re-publishing it today.

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

One of my favorite computer tools is Evernote. I’ve been using it for more than six years now and love it. Sometimes I wonder how I ever got along before Evernote. While Evernote has many uses, I use it primarily as a digital filing system. In fact, I find that it is a perfect complement to almost any genealogy program, often compensating for the shortcomings of whatever genealogy program you might use to track your research.

Admittedly, all this didn’t happen overnight. When first installed, Evernote presents the new user with a blank screen. That user typically says, “Now what?” This article will hopefully answer that question.

First, let’s clarify what this program can do for you. Simply put, Evernote helps you organize and retrieve information. Remember when you purchased your first computer? The salesperson told you it would organize and retrieve everything from your kitchen recipes to your income tax records. That salesperson probably didn’t mislead you; he simply was talking about the future. The hardware has been available for years and has been sold in computer stores everywhere. What has been missing until recently was the easy-to-use software: Evernote.


To be sure, dozens of database programs and other retrieval programs have been available for years. Most database programs, including your present genealogy program, have been hobbled with rigid design requirements: data has to be entered in certain formats or the programs were designed for very specific purposes. Evernote represents a new method of databases: those with free-form data. You can store and easily retrieve text notes, sound bytes, images, full-motion video, recipes, income tax records, insurance documents, saved web pages, and more. Even your recipes and your genealogy data can be stored. They can both be stored in the same database or in separate databases, as you prefer. 

Even better, if you own two or more computers, such as a desktop and a laptop system or a computer at the office plus a second at home, Evernote makes sure that all your data is available simultaneously on all your computers. In fact, it even makes the same information available on Windows, Macintosh, iPhones, iPads, Android devices, Blackberry, and Windows Phone devices, in addition to any web browser on a borrowed computer or at the library or in an Internet cafe. Your latest data is available at all times on all devices.

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(Dick Eastman)

Zadock Ford ... a work in progress

Zadock Ford was reportedly a Rev. War soldier, from Maryland, whose records have been approved by the DAR. After the war, Zadock served as a justice, in the earliest courts of Spartanburg County, SC. He owned a mill and a good bit of property in the area. His will is dated 1801 and Cassandra, his wife, is said to have died Oct. 31, 1831. The names of Zadock's and Cassandra's children were given in a DAR application; and from other records we have birth dates and marriages. There is no Samuel listed, but John, born 1790 to 1800, married Sara Johnson. One reason we believe Samuel and John to be the same person is that there was a John Ford shown in an 1856, Spartanburg land dispute, among the heirs of Zadock Ford. The children of Zadock's deceased son, John, were said to be in GA, and were listed as Andrew, Jane, John, and Millie. Millie's married name, Martin, was given, and her husband, Bird Martin."

The above paragraph is from "History of Gwinnett Co., Georgia." Several documents at the Gwinnett Co. courthouse list John and Sarah. This is the only source that even mentions "Samuel." Apparently it appeared in family records.
The same researcher who gave the above information suggests either of two people as the earliest known Ford in the Gwinnett County Ford line: William Foard, seen in Prince George County, Maryland, in 1790; or James Ford, Capt., in the South Carolina Provincial Militia. James owned 150 acres in Union County, SC, and probably came from Virginia. Apparently she found no records to prove connection to either of these two men.
We have not checked the DAR application nor any of the original sources relative to the names of Zadock's children.
Another researcher, Susan Ford, believes Zadock's father was William Ford who married Jemima Callum March 17, 1751/52 in Smithfield Township, Providence, Rhode Island. She says that Zadock was born September 21, 1752, in Rhode island and died April 9, 1801 in Spartansburg, South Carolina.
Notes from Susan Ford: Zadock Ford was reportedly a Rev. War soldier, from Maryland. After the war, Zadock served as a justice, in the earliest courts of Spartanburg County, South Carolina. He owned a mill and good bit of property in the area. His will is dated 1801.

Note from Rachel Hill (rshill@mindspring.com): "There were two Zadock Fords in the Rev. War. One was from CT and married Eunice Bridges. Ours was in the 7th Co. Maryland Militia - Montgomery Co. (I do not have the war records yet.) My theory is that our Zadock is the illegitimate child of John Cook and Mary Ford. Zadock Ford was listed as "next of kin" to John Cook,Jr. along with Mary Cook (mother of John Cook) in "Abstracts of the inventories of the Prerogative Court of Maryland 1772-1774. In John Cook Sr's will his son John was disowned and left one shilling sterling. In "This was the Life" by Millard Milburn Rice (Excerpts from the Judgment Records of Frederick County, Maryland 1748-1765) is the following: "Elizabeth Boyd swears in Court that John Cook was the father of her baseborn child." somewhere I have a document that states that Mary Ford had an Illegitimate child, but the father is not named. This is all theory but I can't find anything else. Also on the list of the 7th Maryland Militia John Cook and Zadock Ford's names are together.

Children of Zadock Ford and Cassandra Trail:
Rachel
Zadock
Nancy
Westwood
Cassandra
William
John Sanuel