Vining Newsletter - June 2006

Dear Vining Researchers,

According to my records, it has been a whole year since I sent out a Vining newsletter. I have not, however, been ignoring Vining genealogy. During this past year I have been given access to online census records and have been busily posting data to the online Vining genealogy (http://www.vfthomas.com/Viningfamilies.htm). As many of you are no doubt well aware, census records (especially transcripts-see "Online Resources" below) leave a lot to be desired, both in spelling of names and in ages. Nevertheless, they are a good place to start, and I hope to fill in, with your help, information about each family.

THANK YOU
Because it has been a whole year since I sent out the previous newsletter, I cannot begin to thank individually all those who have sent me information. So, I thank you collectively and I hope you will continue to send me data about the Vining family. As you know, I am particularly interested in documentation and will post scans of birth, marriage, and death certificates, as well as images of gravestones, family Bible entries, etc.

ONLINE RESOURCES (and a correction)
The Internet has made available to virtually anyone resources that previously could be accessed only at major libraries and archives. One of the most valuable of these are census records, in particular the 1880 census because a transcription of it is free. One simply has to go to http://www.familysearch.org and then click on "U.S., British, & Canadian Census Collections". From there you should try different options to see what works best for you. For the fun of it, type it "Sylvester Vining" to find his family. When you get to the page with just Sylvester's information, go way over to the right hand side of the screen and click on "household". This will list everyone in his household. Why do I suggest Sylvester? Because I am fairly familiar with Maine Vinings and because I had never heard of him, or his brother Morton, or the rest of his family. So, one day this past winter when I was at the Maine State Archives in Augusta, and before I had access to online censuses [censi?], I decided to check a microfilm of the 1880 census. Then I learned the reason that I was not familiar with Sylvester Vining and family. It was because he was Sylvester Vaughn, not Sylvester Vining. Whoever transcribed the portion of the 1880 census that contained Sylvester's family made a mistake. There were both Vinings and Vaughns in Strong, Maine, and the transcriber apparently saw the V at the beginning of the surname and picked the wrong one. I wonder if all the rest of the Vinings I cannot place in the family are reallly Vaughns, and I can cross them off my list. Probably not.

OLDEST LIVING VININGS
One of the interesting web pages of the Vining Family website is the one that lists the oldest living Vinings (http://www.vfthomas.com/Viningoldestliving.htm). This page, like all the others, is possible because of your contributions. Here is the account of one such contribution. Near the end of last week, I received an e-mail telling me about who is apparently the oldest living male Vining: Albert Nelson Vining Jr. (b. 30 July 1911 in Biddeford, ME). I knew that he and his late wife used to live just north of Portland, Maine, less than an hour's drive for me, but I didn't realize he was still living, and in the same place. I replied to the e-mail, asking if he could have visitors. My answer came via a telephone call the next day ... from Albert Nelson Vining Jr., himself. We talked a little while, and then I asked if I could stop by to visit him. We set the next Monday as the day, and he said that after 12:30 was good for him. I assumed that because he was almost 95 years old, the early afternoon time was when he was most alert. No, the reason he picked that time of day was because he plays golf in the morning! (By the way, he does not ride in a cart; he walks around the course!!) We had a good visit and, although he said he didn't know much about the Vinings, he pulled out several pictures to show me, including one of a reunion in 1923. To see the reunion picture, go to http://www.vfthomas.com/Viningfamilies.htm and look for the family of Seward Vining and Roxanna Purrington. Click on the link to the right of "children:". If you have any trouble seeing the whole image, please let me know. It was a very long picture, so we laid it on the floor and placed a piece of glass on it to keep it flat. I took five pictures, moving from left to right, and then pieced them together on the computer using Photoshop. I've used this software before but never for piecing together five images. So, let me know if you have any trouble viewing it.

QUERY ABOUT GEORGIA
I grew up in the southernmost county in Maine so I have always thought of myself as one of the southern Vinings. However, when I began online correspondence with other members of the family, I discovered that there are actually Vinings who don't have three feet of snow in their backyard during the winter. I hope that one of you will be willing to write a brief (or not so brief if you are so inclined) explanation about Georgia towns, districts, etc., in the 1800s and maybe earlier. I used to wonder why much of the (real) southern Vining data listed only counties and states, but when I started looking at census records, I noticed that there is often no town mentioned. Here in New England, when you enter a town you are frequently greeted with a sign that says something like "Welcome to East Overshoe - organized in 1783". (Admittedly, attending a town meeting sometimes makes you wonder what happened to that organization, but I think you get the idea.) So, will someone enlighten me about this matter of so few town names mentioned in many southern census records? I will include your paragraph(s) in the next newsletter, reserving the right to strike out any comments you make about my inaccurately thinking that I was a southerner.

Yesterday was the longest day of the year, so it will be another couple of months up here before the suns sets again. That gives me plenty of time to work in the garden, but I will still come in from time to time to check my e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you.

Tom

Thomas F. Vining
V. F. Thomas Co.
Delta Institute of Natural History
219 Dead River Road
Bowdoin, ME 04287
207-266-5748 = 207-BOOKS-4-U
http://www.vfthomas.com