Friday, March 1, 2013

Wrestling with FOLD3

I've spent the day wrestling with Fold3.  My conclusion is that it is the hardest web site to use that I've ever encountered.

I started by searching for all of the Shearer surname, all variations.

I have 200 hits from the Pennsylvania Archives that I'm working on.

One of the hits was the Revolutionary War Pension file for Conrad  Goodner, husband of Elizabeth Sherer.  What a find, the record was 65 pages.  I set about looking for a way to download the entire record.  No way!

After struggling with it for a while I put in a phone call to Kim Dolce at the City Island Library.  Kim is conducting lessons on Fold3 but she had no answer.  She promised to find out the answer.

So far, there is no known way to accomplish the objective.

Giving up I set out to download the pages one at a time.  It is a VERY SLOW process.  The site keeps flashing the  WE'RE SORRY IT IS TAKING SO LONG TO PULL UP THE METADATA FOR THIS IMAGE.  It took me about 3 hours to download 65 pages.  I had to restart the site several times to get it to process my requests. The only thing running on my computer was my browser.

On the other hand, when I finally got the record there were some jewels in those pages.  Here's one of the best surprises I've ever found in such records:


September 25, 1934

Mittie L. Prather
Onawa, Iowa [Monona Co.]

Madam;     

 I have to advise you that from the papers in the Revolutionary War pension claim R. 4113 it appears that Conrad Goodner was born Novemer 29, 1756.     

While living in Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolinan (sic) he enlisted  November 1, 1776 and served nine months  as a private in Captain John Griffy's Company, Colonel Thackston's North Carolina Regiment.     

He was allowed pension on his application executed June 3, 1833 while a resident of Saint Clair County, Illinois. 

 He died August 27, 1837     

Soldier married in 1782 in Guilford County, North Carolina, Elizabeth ________* who died April 12, 1839 leaving the following children:

John Goodner
Sally Browning.
David Goodner born in 1786.
Jacob Goodner born July 3, 1790.
James Goodner born February 8, 1792.
Jane Ann or Jeanan Goodner born January 9, 1794
Benjamin Goodner born June 4, 1795
Godfrey Goodner born in February 1798.
Francis A. Goodner.
Elijah Goodner.
Elisabeth Holcomb.

            Respectfully,

           Acting Commissioner

* From another source: Sherrer/Scherer


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