POLL Results: Jerome HAM

POLL Results: Jerome HAM

April 30, 2008

The HAM Country POLL results for Jerome HAM are in. The Poll closed on April 30th at 11:59 PM.

The questions focussed on the High Sheriff and Burgess of York County, Virginia. Folks on my email list had over two weeks to respond. I must have received hundreds of emails about this over the past decade, and about 100 genealogists were able to read the Poll questions prior to the close of that Poll. In preparation for the Poll questions, I did a quick survey of Family Tree entries for Jerome HAM on several internet web sites. The one with the most trees was the pay service, Ancestry.com with well over 600 Jerome HAM Family Trees. Another was the Rootsweb WorldConnect web site. A third search was done at FamilySearch.org.

About 97% of the Jerome HAM family trees on the internet have bad information about Jerome HAM.

The Poll generated only about 12 votes. Pretty poor response. There were 141 page loads of the Blog, and 93 views of the You Tube video.

I would gather that people were not voting. I would also gather most folks do not know the answers, since most of the responses to the Poll pretty much reflected the WRONG information on the internet.

All of the answers to the poll questions can either be found in or figured out by using our book. It is hard to believe that people are not using our book for that time frame.



The Poll questions were:

- When was Jerome HAM born? - Jerome HAM married Sibella. What was Sibella's maiden name? - How many children did Jerome HAM have by wife Sibella?

- Were Jerome HAM of Bristol and the Jerome HAM of York County, VA the same man?

Jamestown Church in ruins

Here are the results from the Jerome HAM Poll:

72% have responded that they believe Jerome HAM was born about 1580.

18 % believe that he was born about 1659.

9 % believe that Jerome HAM was born about 1650.

9 % believe that Jerome HAM was born before 1565. (You could select more than one date on this question.)







66 % have responded that they believe Sibella's maiden name was CAINHOE.

32 % did not know Sibella's maiden name.












36 % believe Jerome HAM had five or more children by wife Sibella.

27 % believe Jerome HAM had three children by wife Sibella.

27 % believe Jerome HAM had two children by wife Sibella.

9 % believe they had four children.







42 % of those that responded believe that the Jerome HAM of Bristol was the same man as the Jerome HAM of York County, Virginia.

42 % of those that responded believe that the Jerome HAM of Bristol was NOT the same man as the Jerome HAM of York County, Virginia.

16 % said they did not know.





Which, I suppose explains why there are so many errors posted to the internet web sites (such as ancestry.com). Most likely, folks are not using our book as a reference when posting information about Jerome HAM to the internet.

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Free "HAM" Book Giveaway Contest

Free "HAM" Book Giveaway Contest

April, 2008

This month, we are going to have a Free HAM Book Giveaway Contest at the HAM Country blog based on the Jerome HAM Poll questions.


The Contest is to win a free three volume set of our book "A Short History of the HAM Surname in Virginia & NC."

The person who gives the best answers to the Jerome HAM Blog Poll wins.

Here's how you can enter. You can enter by either:

- Commenting to the HAM Country blog under the Jerome HAM Poll (or Free Book Giveaway Contest).

- OR, you can enter by posting a video (to You Tube, etc).


I have decided NOT to accept email entries, except under special circumstances. That's because the Blog and You Tube are public, and it would just not be fair to accept non public entries. (I will post any special circumstance entries to the blog.)

I'll take either of those two - comments or video.

If two people tie for the best answers, and one has a video on You Tube and the other has a comment on the HAM Country blog, then I will give more points for the You Tube video. That's because it takes a little bit more effort to do a video, and the HAM Country Blog answer will be public.

However, I WILL be checking to make sure that people aren't making videos from a blog, or blogging from a video. But, if both belong to you, then that's fine.

The answers don't need to be anything too technical, nothing too fancy. You just have to give the best answers to the Jerome HAM Poll questions. You might want to remember that "real" genealogists will cite their sources.

Just convince me that your answers are the best.

There are four questions in that Poll. The questions are:

- When was Jerome HAM born?
- Jerome HAM married Sibella. What was Sibella's maiden name?
- How many children did Jerome HAM have by wife Sibella?
- Were Jerome HAM of Bristol and the Jerome HAM of York County, VA the same man?

This contest is going to run until the Jerome HAM Poll is over. It closes April 30th, 2008 at 11:59 PM. After that, there will be no more responses accepted.

I'll take a few days and read them all, or watch the videos and figure out which one I think is the best, and that person will be the winner. I will need to be able to identify who you are, so that I can announce the winner and send the you the book.

This is a nice set of books, about 10 years in the making. It's a good book to have in your library.

The winner gets all three volumes. It's got research in England, France, Virginia, and North Carolina. It's got Mordecai HAM Bible records, Revolutionary War records. It's got Amelia County, Caroline County, Orange County, and a lot of other early HAM information by County.

If you're a HAM genealogist, it's a handy reference for your library.

So, go ahead and enter the contest. Just make sure that you have the best answer. Oh, there is one trick question on the Poll. If you know your stuff, then you just might be able to figure that out and get some bonus points. I will also give bonus points for primary source records on a You Tube video.

You've got a little over two weeks to enter.
Have a good time, and while you're at it, vote on the Jerome HAM Poll questions.

To post comments, click on the title and scroll to the bottom.

POLL: Jerome HAM, April 2008

Jerome HAM Poll

April 6, 2008

One of the most enduring names for HAM genealogists of Virginia is that of Jerome HAM. High Sheriff and Burgess of York County, Virginia, he left an intriguing paper trail for us.

Jamestown Church in ruins

For well over a decade, I have received numerous emails and inquiries regarding Jerome HAM. Some claim that he was born in Bristol, England, and died in York County, Virginia. Some claim that he was born in Germany. Some say that he was born in 1577. Some say 1580. Others say he was born in 1650. Many believe that he was the single immigrant ancestor to all of the HAM lines in Virginia.

Nearly all of the inquiries that I get do not have him listed correctly. Why not? What's going on here?

Part of the problem is that Jamestown was destroyed by fire in 1699. Church records have been destroyed. Only York County records remain, and those records have never been made widely available to the public. Jamestown is now an archaeological dig. Most people will never see the extant records unless they make a research trip to Richmond.








Jamestown Church plaque








The Survey
I did a quick survey of Family Tree entries for Jerome HAM on several internet web sites. The one with the most trees was the pay service, Ancestry.com with well over 600 Jerome HAM Family Trees. Another was the Rootsweb WorldConnect web site. A third search was done at FamilySearch.org.

Here are the results:

The search from Ancestry.com returned over 600 Family Trees for Jerome HAM.

Here are some examples:


- The ALLEN Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1650 in York County, VA
- The ALLEN Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1577 in County Somerset, England.
- The BANNISTER Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1650 in York County, VA
- The BAUGH Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1577 in County Somerset, England.
- The BRYANT Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1650 in York County, VA
- The CALHOUN Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1650 in York County, VA
- The COLLINS Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1650 in York County, VA
- The COOK Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1650 in York County, VA
- The ELDER Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1650 in York County, VA
- The FRY Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1650 in York County, VA
- The GOLDEN Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1650 in York County, VA
- The HART Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1650 in York County, VA
- The HESTER Family Tree, where Jerome HAM is born in 1577 in County Somerset, England.

Some say that Jerome HAM was born in 1577, other say 1650.

The search at Rootsweb WorldConnect returned 33 trees




WorldConnect search

Some say that Jerome HAM was born in 1577, other say 1580.

The FamilySearch web site returned 100 Family Trees for Jerome HAM. This one I had to do in two searches, one for England and one for Virginia:




search at FamilySearch.org

These have Jerome HAM being married in 1648, and most have him buried in 1659. Probably the best, but not quite right either.

That’s about 708 Family trees counted from internet sources, and 96.5% had bad information about Jerome HAM.
Can you find the accurate ones?

One of the emails that I received about internet sources told me that the file on the internet that had the "most downloads" must be the correct one for her ancestor. I would have to say that "real" genealogists would never use the number of downloads as a gauge of accuracy. Genealogists prefer documentation, preferably from primary source material. (For more information on genealogy standards, see the "code of ethics" web pages for the Board for Certification of Genealogists and the Association of Professional Genealogists.)

So, today I am launching a poll at the HAM Country blog for the HAM researchers. The questions are:

- When was Jerome HAM born?

- Jerome HAM married Sibella. What was Sibella's maiden name?

- How many children did Jerome HAM have by wife Sibella?

- Were Jerome HAM of Bristol and the Jerome HAM of York County, VA the same man?

You will find the poll at the HAM Country blog.
The poll questions close on April 30th at 11:59 PM.

Jamestown church interior

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