tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53291222506240200732012-01-18T10:38:35.728-06:00I'm an amateur genealogist. This blog will show off how my genealogical research is progressing.slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.comBlogger891100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-85190989944433138342011-10-25T17:01:00.001-05:002011-10-25T17:01:38.027-05:00

We don’t think about this very much, but as I was looking at some dates related to my philatelic pursuits, it struck me that it was likely that a lot of records wouldn’t have been dated on a Sunday.  But how do we know what day of the week any particular date fell on in history?  UNIX systems include a utility called “date” in almost all distributions.  To those of you who don’t have UNIX or

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-41715677316519009032011-10-14T22:45:00.001-05:002011-10-14T22:45:33.939-05:00

I was able to check in at Geneabloggers Radio again tonight, making this my third week participating live.  Tonight’s topic was cemeteries.  This week’s reading list (in no particular order) from the chat is… The Association for Gravestone Studies RestingSpot The Faces of My Family: Tombstone Tuesday – Genealogy Serendipity Strikes Again! Indiana Historical Society’s Cemetery Preservation

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-85426656302183174172011-09-22T15:31:00.001-05:002011-09-22T16:05:42.231-05:00

I’m doing a little researching around today to try to fill in some of the holes in my database from the 19th and early 20th centuries.  One of the resources that I purchased at the FGS conference recently was Family Maps of Montgomery County, Indiana.  I bought the book with the intention of looking up some of the original documents that were referenced within it.  Today, I finally looked up the

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-53300171313360774182011-09-14T07:19:00.001-05:002011-09-14T07:19:30.626-05:00

Looking through my notes again today before heading out to work, I find the best quote that I heard from my time at the FGS 2011 conference.  It was from Dr. David McDonald’s session on Wisconsin history: There is no silver bullet.  We’ll show you where to mine the silver and how to make a bullet out of it.

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-56453930526510847692011-09-09T21:44:00.001-05:002011-09-11T08:47:47.911-05:00

Yeah, sad to say that I finished my visit to the FGS 2011 conference today.  The conference will continue tomorrow, but I’ve got another meeting in another state to get to tomorrow morning.  So this will be my last update from the show.  But, it won’t be the last post with information and resources gained from attending the show.  As to how you scare a genealogist, read on… The conference seemed

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-12332964371723060902011-09-09T06:53:00.001-05:002011-09-11T08:45:46.015-05:00

Well, hanging out with other Geneabloggers is certainly much more entertaining than sitting around in my hotel room writing the next post.  I said there would be more from Thursday, so here is a bit more before I head out again to attend FGS today.  Also there’s a time-sensitive promo code in this post… The photo shows what I managed to fit into my swag bag from the conference floor yesterday. 

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-895170649775998062011-09-08T19:17:00.001-05:002011-09-08T19:17:55.972-05:00

Okay, so I’ve got an hour or so before the blogger reception across the street from the conference location, which should be enough time for today’s recap.  I didn’t get any photos yet; there may be a few later tonight at the blogger reception, so watch tomorrow.  I was able to talk to the FamilySearch rep about what I missed on Tuesday, so there’ll be some of that in here too…. The day started

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-74798292488127087022011-09-07T22:14:00.001-05:002011-09-07T22:14:22.545-05:00

I got up early and drove for five hours this morning.  Just before lunch, I arrived here…. Okay, the smartaleck in the back row took a moment to view the full-size image and read that the sign in front of this building says it’s the “OLD STATE CAPITOL” in Illinois.  Yup, I left the rest of the family behind and set out on my own to Springfield. In case you’ve been doing your genealogy in the

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-17547670609538431702011-08-18T07:00:00.001-05:002011-08-18T07:00:23.878-05:00

So I logged in to my various news readers and social networks today getting ready to write about something I noticed in the 1865 New York state census (which I still plan to post, just not today), and I saw a news release announcing a “new” site called Fold3.  Actually, it’s not a new site, but a rebranding of a site that many genealogists have come to know well, Footnote. Since Ancestry bought

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-86125909339392687882011-08-11T07:53:00.001-05:002011-08-11T07:54:28.933-05:00

In my current work assignment, I have the opportunity to listen to quite a lot of audio as I edit photographs for an online retailer.  One of the podcast episodes I listened to this week, although not specifically about family history or genealogy research, should be required listening for every genealogist that is working to create a narrative document for future generations.  The show was Stuff

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-26801251176792803902011-08-01T15:19:00.001-05:002011-08-01T15:19:27.413-05:00

So I did a little more digging around to see what other records I could find on Francis Lamb and Anne Quinn and family today.  I came across the family listed in the 1850 U.S. census as well, without any Thorntons in the same household.  However, there were Thorntons elsewhere in the building in 1850… The Lamb family in the 1850 census for New York City straddles two pages… A few family units

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-28471971813757858922011-08-01T07:02:00.000-05:002011-08-01T15:20:13.490-05:00

So I know that my Lamb ancestry traces through New York City, specifically Harlem, back to Ireland.  The family legend is that my ancestors emigrated during the great potato famine.  The 1860 U.S. census for New York supports all of this, but adds a mystery that I have yet to solve. I know very little about this household other than what is shown in this census record.  Based on this, I'll be

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-26071682011194851512011-07-23T07:54:00.000-05:002011-07-23T09:41:10.370-05:00

Yeah, it’s been a while since my last post.  As usual, life got in the way, but things are settling a little again (just in time for another disaster, but more on that later), so it’s time to update the blog.  I was listening to Genealogy Gems episode 114 this week and heard about all the new record sets available to search.  In the discussion on the British Library digitizing a massive amount of

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-90184404622043791352011-04-26T20:21:00.000-05:002011-04-26T20:21:48.306-05:00

Yes, I've missed a couple Saturday posts, this was mostly due to serving as the model contest chairman for the National Model Railroad Association's Midwest Region at the recent Badgerland Express region convention.  The delay is also due to some last minute findings on the surname that I was going to post about next.  I'm still digesting the information that I've found for it and will post it at

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-62034857903087524552011-04-01T22:10:00.000-05:002011-04-01T22:10:40.223-05:00

Today is April Fool's Day, or as I saw it on another site early this morning, Lirpa Sloof Yad.  There are plenty of pranks going around like the story about Minnesota DOT tunneling under Wisconsin to implement high-speed rail service or the attack on an Improv Everywhere actor on the New York Subway (and there are a number of lists of this year's pranks online to help alleviate your boredom). 

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-79436550307283687882011-03-26T14:26:00.181-05:002011-03-28T08:02:56.429-05:00

So we get to look at another of the more common surnames in my research.  Although it is not among the top 100 surnames in the United States today (according to the Wikipedia article linked in a previous post), it is one that is still pretty easy to recognize and even at the closest relation, was among the earlier settlers of New England.  The youngest in this line in my research was my sixth

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-1649072865136240122011-03-21T07:24:00.000-05:002011-03-21T07:24:00.122-05:00

In my current work assignment, I am able to listen to a wide variety of podcasts.  I recently started listening to the BBC History Magazine podcast and heard a line there that easily sums up my opinions toward most historical sources.  In the October 2007 episode, there was an interview with Laurence Rees.  He was talking about his experiences interviewing World War II veterans and survivors as

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-85263248310336273452011-03-19T21:49:00.000-05:002011-03-19T21:49:31.976-05:00

Okay, another week, another surname.  Today's surname is a fairly common name in North America, in fact Wikipedia cites this surname at 60th place in the list of most common surnames in the United States, belonging to just under 295,000 people in the U.S. (according to 2000 U.S. census figures).  I know about five generations of Cooks in my wife's ancestry, and all of them were born in the United

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-84717908385901042282011-03-12T22:28:00.000-06:002011-03-12T22:28:33.501-06:00

It's another Saturday, so it's time for another surname study.  This week we'll take a look at another line where I only know of one person with the surname.  Today's surname is Cranston, as in Margaret Cranston of Ireland. Margaret Cranston was my fifth great grandmother.  She was born circa 1749 in Ireland and died in 1773, also in Ireland.  In 1766, Margaret married John Francis III (b.

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-34684526542001585032011-03-05T08:26:00.000-06:002011-03-05T08:26:57.530-06:00

After missing a couple weeks of surname studies, let's pick this up again where we left off.  Today we've got another line where I know of only a very small number of people, starting with my wife's third great grandmother, Harriet Collier. There isn't a lot that I know for certain on this line, but I do have a few facts.  Harriet Collier was born in about 1836 in Michigan.  I say about 1836

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-7353190804093826202011-02-12T15:54:00.000-06:002011-02-12T15:54:19.779-06:00

With this week's surname study, we return to the American colonies and take a look at my tenth great grandmother, Dorothy Cotten.  It should be no surprise by now, but this line is yet another where I only know of one person with the surname.  However, what I do know is not yet fully verified to reliable primary sources. Dorothy Cotten was born between 1603 and 1611 in England.  She was

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-32513702269271530502011-02-05T17:58:00.001-06:002011-02-05T18:05:09.610-06:00

This week's surname study is another where I only know of one person so far.  Today we'll look at my wife's fifth great grandmother, Marie Breschbuler. As I mentioned, I know only of one person in my research that fits into this line so far.  She lived in the 18th century in France, marrying Hans Ulrich Amstutz (see my earlier post on this line) on 5 June 1741 in Mulhouse, France.  Hans and

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-37088766450092445252011-01-29T15:41:00.000-06:002011-01-29T15:41:48.651-06:00

We have reached another Saturday, and that means another surname study.  Today the links begin with my eleventh great grandmother, Margaret Cecil.  The connection to this line is still a bit tenuous as it has only been averred in Ancestral File entries, but here's what I know so far. At least one Ancestral File record states that Margaret Cecil was born in 1523 in England, while other records

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-33184697059831470902011-01-29T15:08:00.000-06:002011-01-29T15:08:44.976-06:00

Yup, it's time to update the look of the blog.  I've upgraded to one of the new Blogger templates, but that unfortunately means that the scrolling list of tags in the right hand bar is gone for the moment.  I hope to have a good solution for this soon.  However, the new template allows me to expand the width of the content area a little, so I'll be able to show larger pictures there.  I've kept a

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-67283667327028524732011-01-22T19:03:00.002-06:002011-01-22T19:04:18.175-06:00

Today's surname study connects to the family with my wife's eighth great grandmother, Barbara Boss.  As with several other surname posts so far, I only know one person in my research with this surname.  Here's what I do know... Barbara Boss was born in 1632 in Sigriswil, Switzerland.  She married circa 1650 to Hans Amstutz (b. 1628; d. 1688, both in Sigriswil), and together they had eight

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-9411795435918526082011-01-15T10:58:00.000-06:002011-01-15T10:58:36.391-06:00

Today's Surname Saturday post is a bit of a puzzle.  I am not entirely certain that it connects in the way that I have it in my database right now, and the more I look at it, the more likely it is that I have the connection wrong and I may be linking to another family entirely.  In any case, we'll take a look today at the family leading back from what I have currently listed as my fourth-great

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-27596539319949308462011-01-08T11:03:00.040-06:002011-01-08T11:03:00.484-06:00

Now that the holiday rush is past, it's time to get back into regular updates again.  We pick up where we left off with a line on my wife's side again.  This is another case where I only know of one person with this surname.  It is her eighth-great grandmother, Verene Bircher. I know very little about Verene so far, and she is one of my current brick walls.  Here's what I do know.  Verene was

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-23654644370728506422011-01-02T22:25:00.000-06:002011-01-02T22:25:34.456-06:00

Okay, so I'm doing a little more indexing tonight before bed, and I come across this interesting gem.  In the 1930 U.S. census for La Crosse County, Wisconsin, there was the Molstead household.  Take a close look at the two highlighted lines... In this case, the head of household was Myrtle Molstead, a 23-year-old single woman.  She lived with her 21-year-old sister Ella and a 25-year-old single

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-54314210432862877252011-01-01T00:39:00.000-06:002011-01-01T00:39:55.353-06:00

So after a crazy busy December (which is why I haven't updated in the last few weeks), I'm doing a little bit of indexing while I finish my glass of Sweet Rebecca wine after a quiet celebration at home of the new year today.  Yeah, I'm a nerd, but what genealogist isn't a bit of a nerd?  Anyway, I'm indexing marriage records from Washington, D.C., and I come across this one... On 1 January 1911,

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-77062810107118683002010-12-04T11:23:00.000-06:002010-12-04T11:23:10.892-06:00

So we reach another Saturday and that means another surname study.  We cycle back to my own ancestry again with a line where I only know my second great grandmother, Jane Neal Campbell. Jane was born either in 1850, or (according to the 1880 U.S. census) 1858, in Indiana.  Her birth was probably in Bloomington, Indiana, but I have yet to fully verify this.  Circa 1878, she married James M. Brown

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-50829928474163602822010-12-01T11:48:00.000-06:002010-12-01T11:48:34.027-06:00

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-27653558454294793332010-11-27T09:21:00.004-06:002010-11-27T09:21:00.569-06:00

Okay, I missed updating with a surname post last week, so let's get back to the schedule with the line that should have been posted then.  Today we'll look at another line where I know only two generations.  As far as I know right now, this line wholly resided in England, specifically in Cornwall. The Bennetts line connects into my wife's Dunn line which migrated through a town within a

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-5585639634004092112010-11-16T15:55:00.005-06:002010-11-16T15:55:00.547-06:00

By now you should know that my surname is Lamb and that I've been able to trace my direct surname line to Francis Lamb (b. 1796 in Ireland).  There's an old family legend that links this line with a famous Lamb, a link that I am still trying to prove.  You've probably heard of him.  His nickname has appeared in quite a few crossword puzzles through the ages.  That nickname is Elia, and the poet

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-12014009489993041882010-11-13T08:39:00.069-06:002010-11-13T08:39:00.682-06:00

Well, here we are at another Saturday and that means another look at a surname that I'm researching.  We come back to my lines this week with one that I learned about only very recently, and that discovery came about after discovering that a surname further down the line was misspelled.  So, today we look at the Cahoon surname connection. The path that led me to this line was through a quick

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-7501962416287429442010-11-11T11:11:00.004-06:002010-11-11T11:11:00.576-06:00

Today is November 11, Veterans' Day in the United States.  Although I only got as far as a recruiter's office before deciding that I was too afraid to serve after all, there were quite a few other family members who did serve honorably.  One of them was my grandfather, Floyd Beach.  Here he is in his Navy uniform sitting outside an unidentified building near the start of his military career. He

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-82610247156691994512010-11-06T12:29:00.054-05:002010-11-11T10:18:57.039-06:00

This week we move back to my wife's lines and look at the surname history of her 2nd great grandmother, Clara Benjamin.  This is another line in America during the 19th century where we should be able to find out more.  So far, I've only got two generations in my notes, but I was able to confirm a couple of details using Beta FamilySearch, and I also found a possible residence through the search

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-56672099640166871962010-11-01T10:13:00.000-05:002010-11-01T10:13:12.376-05:00

The pursuit of genealogy is all about finding and telling family stories.  There is quite a bit more to the family story than just dates and places.  Let's hear some of the stories that have been told around the dinner table or that have come up in our research.  Dates and places by all means can be included, but they shouldn't be the main focus of the story submitted for the carnival. As

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-74739184591134146992010-10-31T08:05:00.000-05:002010-10-31T08:05:00.284-05:00

Here it is, the premiere edition of the Genealogy Stories blog carnival.  There weren't as many entries as I hoped, but this is the first edition of the carnival.  So here goes... Your carnival host adds his own story of early scary memories in Early memories and science influences. Anthony McCune presents a story that isn't strictly a Halloween story, but it is for October and it is a story

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-7786207073913434392010-10-30T23:52:00.000-05:002010-10-30T23:52:58.012-05:00

It's still Saturday in my time zone, so I'm not late with this week's surname post yet.  We alternate back to my ancestral lines again this week with  on of my closer lines.  This week we'll look at my Cafferty ancestors, beginning with my great grandfather, Samuel Warren McCafferty. The Cafferty line is mostly a New Jersey line.  I should know more about this line, but I just haven't spent the

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-91636286265084383012010-10-27T15:34:00.001-05:002010-10-27T16:48:24.100-05:00

Early in October, I made a genealogical research trip to central Illinois and eastern Indiana.  The goal of the trip was to view some pertinent records in a university archive and then to visit one of the family graveyards - after all, what better activity is there for the haunting month of October? The short story is that the trip was a success.  Now to tell you the longer story... This

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-57093089020486065452010-10-27T10:49:00.004-05:002010-10-27T10:49:00.955-05:00

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-48492864877605870232010-10-23T19:32:00.000-05:002010-10-23T19:32:16.419-05:00

We're back to a surname again of which I know only one person in our direct ancestry lines.  Today we'll look at my wife's sixth great grandmother, Hannah Benedict.  I did do some searching around this week and found her only in Ancetral File and in the one book that I mentioned recently about referencing.  Who is this mysterious woman? Hannah Benedict was born in 1747.  I don't know where yet,

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-81601343852244540812010-10-20T10:56:00.000-05:002010-10-20T10:56:41.689-05:00

I'm slowly working my way through the Hand-book of Hartwell Genealogy, 1636-1887, this week adding a ton of information to my database and realized there's something that you might not know.  It has to do with citing Wikipedia as a source. There are many relations in the Hartwell book that have references to specific battles of the American Civil War without giving the dates or exact locations

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-34590402886249119572010-10-16T12:04:00.000-05:002010-10-16T12:04:55.832-05:00

This post has turned out to be the surname post that has taken the longest to write so far.  It's not that it was entirely difficult, but when I sat down on Monday evening to start working on it, I found that there were a number of connections in Ancestral File that I didn't have in my database yet.  These connections linked a couple of different Burton family members that I knew about, extended

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-12983051244719124892010-10-09T07:14:00.085-05:002010-10-16T12:09:10.729-05:00

Another Saturday, another surname.  This time we look at one where we know a little bit more again, starting with my wife's 3rd-great grandmother, Katherine Amstutz.  Although this line is well populated, we recorded the information on family group sheets before we were as well versed in saving source information as we are now.  The only outside source that we have listed for this information

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-59209208630986880372010-10-06T06:41:00.000-05:002010-10-06T06:41:51.139-05:00

I made a quick genealogy research trip over the weekend.  I'm still working through the data, but here's a teaser of one location I visited...

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-74433811839020865892010-10-02T10:00:00.000-05:002010-10-02T10:00:49.298-05:00

So after putting today's Surname Saturday post together, I popped over to Beta FamilySearch and tried a couple quick queries.  The short story is that I found a couple of significant records that relate to this line, including this: Yup, I found a scan of the original marriage license for Charles and Rose.  The surprising bit for me on this record is that the marriage occurred in Chicago. 

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-38238848405590818962010-10-02T00:21:00.000-05:002010-10-02T07:58:30.713-05:00

It's Saturday again, so it's time to review another of the surnames that I am researching.  Just like the Beach surname, since there are still living relatives in this line, we'll start this post with my great-grandfather Charles E. Brown.  Since I started my research, I learned that Brown is the fourth most common surname in the United States as of the 2000 U.S. census.  This may make scanning

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-35877002666661119022010-10-01T21:19:00.000-05:002010-10-01T21:19:28.215-05:00

At first glance, you might not think of this post as related to genealogy research.  Well, it isn't but it is.  This post contains stories from my past, and when you get right down to it, a major part of genealogy is recording stories like these.  I didn't have to research these stories since they come from my own memory, but if I didn't record them anywhere, they wouldn't be written down for a

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-86708709815445902602010-09-25T11:30:00.006-05:002010-09-25T11:30:00.399-05:00

Yes, it's another Allen line, but this is one that I have exceptionally little knowledge about.  Last time, I told you about the ancestry of Elva Allen, and then gave you an update with a few more details that I found in the U.S. census after the original post.  This time, the Allen connection is my wife's 7th great grandmother, Frances Allen.  I really know almost nothing about this woman except

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-62796829318282222642010-09-22T12:33:00.002-05:002010-09-22T13:37:35.871-05:00

So what does this postcard of UCLA in the 1960s have to do with my family?  My parents are the couple right there in the foreground; they were students there at the time this photo was taken.

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-4315814591934880222010-09-18T12:07:00.140-05:002010-09-18T12:07:00.233-05:00

Okay, it's another Saturday, so it's another surname.  Today we'll look at one that connects at my 8th-great grandmother, Joanna Birdseye.  Being so many generations ago, and judging by past Surname Saturday posts, you might be able to guess what region this surname connection starts in and where it goes after that, and you'd probably be right.  So let's look at it. Joanna Birdseye (sometimes

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-17236050031596739112010-09-17T10:53:00.000-05:002010-09-17T10:53:02.201-05:00

I've been kicking around this idea for a while and now it's time to act on it.  I'm starting a new blog carnival for genealogy bloggers called Genealogy Stories.  As I put in the carnival description, the pursuit of genealogy is all about finding and telling family stories. While many genealogists concentrate on finding only birth/marriage/death information, there is quite a bit more to the

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-22216524819789383042010-09-13T15:14:00.000-05:002010-09-13T15:14:40.959-05:00

Every once in a while, I take a ride through the links available through the Stumble Upon toolbar.  Since I can specify exactly which kinds of links that I want to look at, I always find something interesting.  Today's tour was no different, and it reminded me of a topic that has popped up a few times recently.  Last month I wrote about my thoughts on cursive handwriting.  Conversation at a

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-71852770774806403272010-09-11T09:32:00.000-05:002010-09-11T09:32:45.066-05:00

Today for Surname Saturday, we'll look at another line that connects through Massachusetts Colony.  We alternate back to my wife's side of the family and start from her eighth great grandmother, Hannah Aldis.  As with many of the families from this era, I don't have a whole lot of information on this line yet, but I do know about three generations. Our connection to this line is through Hannah

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-3346682107562896552010-09-05T16:52:00.000-05:002010-09-05T16:52:37.784-05:00

So I'm sitting here looking at my own records and furthering my research with NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday on the radio in the background.  They just played a story about Benjamin Kirk, an amnesia patient.  The story went through a few of the different methods that he used to try to find his past, including a DNA test and a check for his fingerprints in criminal databases.  But there's no mention

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-58092536804932985132010-09-04T11:47:00.338-05:002010-09-04T11:47:00.104-05:00

Okay, time to alternate back to one of the lines on my side of the family.  This week, we will look at one of the most heavily researched lines in my family.  It connects back to some of the earliest settlers of Massachusetts Colony and continues all the way to close family members who are still living today.  There are quite a few researchers looking into this line from the early-1800s back to

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-86575617144963320472010-08-28T19:20:00.000-05:002010-08-28T19:20:48.020-05:00

When I started this blog, it was my intention to cover my lines and my wife's lines each about equally.  So, rather than strictly sticking to my lines for the next several Surname Saturday posts, I've decided to alternate between the two sets, but still follow each alphabetically.  That means that for this week's new Surname Saturday post, we'll take a look at a line that connects as far back as

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-18987462297331619752010-08-28T18:31:00.000-05:002010-08-28T18:31:23.431-05:00

After I wrote about my Allen connections last week, I decided to do a quick lookup on FamilySearch Pilot to see what I could find for Elva Allen.  I should have done this some time ago as one of the first records that was returned was a page from the 1870 U.S. census covering Sugar Creek Township, Montgomery County, Indiana.  I apologize for the jpg artifacts, but here's an extract of the

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-53840933944445868902010-08-22T21:13:00.000-05:002010-08-22T21:13:07.018-05:00

Okay, so I'm going through the steps as a volunteer indexer for FamilySearch.  I've heard of some rather interesting names in my own research, but the name that I spotted today has got to be my favorite so far.  Here's a partial extract of the relevant page from the 1930 U.S. census; take a look at the name that is highlighted: Am I reading this right?  Does that really say this woman's name

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-22996443718989980272010-08-21T07:53:00.000-05:002010-08-21T07:53:15.235-05:00

So today I'm going to start an overview of each of the surnames that I'm researching, looking at each surname one at a time.  I'll start with the names in my own lines first, going in alphabetical order.  That means that today we'll look at how the Allen surname connects into my research. I don't have a lot on this line yet, mostly because it hasn't been a focus of my research yet.  The nearest

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-69823976018123099412010-08-14T10:02:00.000-05:002010-08-14T10:02:01.490-05:00

Earlier this week, we watched a very well-known silent movie from 1936.  Specifically, we watched the Charlie Chaplin film, Modern Times.  At one point in the film, the warden of the local jail wrote a recommendation letter for Chaplin's character to help him find work after his release from jail.  The letter is shown on the screen a couple times, and as someone who was schooled in the 1970s and

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-17687317700404351912010-07-06T09:15:00.000-05:002010-07-06T09:15:03.321-05:00

My first research into family history began when I was assigned a heritage report project in middle school.  For me, that was in the early 1980s.  But, as I continue my research now and hear about how new shows like "Who do you think you are" are inspiring a new batch of genealogists, I'm left to wonder more about a miniseries that is often cited as inspiration for researchers that are my age and

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-79305778152223408192010-07-04T08:40:00.124-05:002010-07-04T08:40:00.490-05:00

I'm doing the genealogical happy dance this weekend.  A few months ago I wrote about the Hartwell family and their involvement in Paul Revere's famous ride.  This week, I found some more documents that further link this family to the Revolutionary War.  And with today being Independence Day here in the United States, it's only natural that we take another look at this family.  Just before the

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-20087545704397738872010-06-30T08:00:00.012-05:002010-06-30T08:00:04.910-05:00

The wordless part of this Wordless Wednesday post is that most of the people in this photograph aren't talking to me.  I know who a few of these people were (read more to see them), but who were the rest? So, when I got a copy of this photo, it came with a key and a descendancy chart for the family of Nathan Beach (1798-1874) and Mary Meharry (1803-1868).  The key for the image is as follows:

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-4299495368330538312010-06-27T07:30:00.003-05:002010-06-27T10:50:04.243-05:00

Yes, it's been a while since I last posted here, but now that a number of large commitments are passed, I have some more time to devote to my genealogical research.  I've been spending some of that time going through old photocopies and correspondence rereading them and re-entering information into my database.  While working through these documents, I found a few notes that fit perfectly into a

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-48778908864586659972010-03-29T20:31:00.000-05:002010-03-29T20:31:57.244-05:00

A friend of mine from high school today sent me a link that other genealogists should be interested in.  According to the 2010 census participation map, so far, only 46% of the census forms sent out at the start of March have been completed and returned.  The stats so far shows the top five states as North Dakota (58%), South Dakota (57%), Nebraska (57%), Wisconsin (54%) and Iowa (54%).  We

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-31766820332470610002010-03-27T09:50:00.003-05:002010-03-28T09:49:29.948-05:00

So it's been a while since my last post.  I'm a bit busy with preparations for the MATC Portfolio Show where I will be exhibiting my photography next month, but I have had a few minutes here and there to do some more research. I had started on a couple of posts describing how I was working through the keying tools for both Family Search and Ancestry, adding to the indexes of new records that

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-57675843429254970942009-12-05T10:30:00.003-06:002009-12-05T11:18:38.463-06:00

So I'm going through records on the Family Search Pilot website looking for documents to confirm data that I had already known from elsewhere (but didn't make note of the references when I added the information last time).  I'm finding some new information, like a few new siblings to family members that I already knew.  But in the 1870 U.S. census, I found records that show what looks like a

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-27046992418648855442009-12-02T08:55:00.004-06:002009-12-02T12:57:44.042-06:00

A younger me and one of my sisters among the poppy fields in California.

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-8943245734981764542009-11-13T15:03:00.001-06:002009-11-13T15:04:00.028-06:00

I've recently been looking at records for ancestors on my trees that lived during the American Colonial period in the 17th and early to mid-18th century.  In doing this research, I've noticed what could be a problem if it is extended to territories beyond those in North America; it has to do with where the country borders were and what the territories were named. It's probably a bit of laziness

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-17234630642665757692009-11-02T16:37:00.000-06:002009-11-02T16:37:26.311-06:00

Back in September, I wrote about a heritage project that was assigned in my son's American History class.  The project is now complete (okay, it was shown a couple weeks ago, I've just had so many other things going on that I couldn't scrape together a block of time large enough to retouch the photo and post it here), and Ryan has a better idea of how one branch of our family migrated from

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-43454659604905490792009-10-31T08:00:00.159-05:002009-10-31T11:21:53.116-05:00

We've all heard the phrase "skeletons in the closet" referring to some scandalous fact that a family doesn't necessarily want shared with the rest of the world.  Well, a few generations back in my family, there was a real skeleton in the attic. Alexander "Red" Meharry III was born on 5 August 1763 in Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland.  He married in Ireland, probably some time in his

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-76330915575564375592009-10-12T16:12:00.001-05:002009-10-12T16:12:50.561-05:00

Today's post isn't so much the results of research or pointers on where to find more information. It's time to just let the mind wander and follow a muse. So I was driving home from school today listening to the current episode of Genealogy Gems. I was at school today to study photography, one hobby I've enjoyed that I am working to evolve into a career. As I pull out of the park-and-ride

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-20305127622195227072009-09-20T11:05:00.003-05:002009-09-20T11:13:31.311-05:00

So the rules are that I'm supposed to take my father's age, divide it by four, and then find the person listed as that number on my ahnentafel report and write at least three facts that I know about him/her.  For me, this leads to a woman who I need to research further, my 2nd great grandmother Katie Lamb. I do know a little bit about her.  Her name appears in a few sources as Kate, Katie, and

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-12437132495247441682009-09-19T20:01:00.003-05:002009-09-22T22:32:08.878-05:00

A couple years ago, Jennifer and I went to Boston for our 15th wedding anniversary.  We were riding a tour bus around the city hearing about some of the Revolutionary War sites that we passed and found that one of the historical sites we passed had a direct connection to our family.  Remember the story about the famous midnight ride of Paul Revere?  The road along which this ride took place is

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-22287576674532357722009-09-12T14:50:00.001-05:002009-09-12T14:51:33.755-05:00

My son just began his freshman year in high school this month.  In "American Experience," the class that my generation simply called "U.S. History," he's been given an assignment that boils down to a unified genealogy and history report, with an emphasis on migration patterns across the country.  This week, students are working on their four-generation pedigree charts, which connects back to

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-78453136753373625412009-09-10T21:53:00.003-05:002009-09-10T22:04:13.434-05:00

The Meharry family line, of which I am descended from Alexander "Red" Meharry III (1763-1813), left their mark in a few place names in western Indiana.  I've known about the Meharry Cemetery in Wingate, Indiana, where many of this family is buried, for a while now.  Since I'm actively researching this family, I've been looking around recently at other history references that deal with this part

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-37796260240657523682009-09-09T15:16:00.000-05:002009-09-09T15:16:55.246-05:00

Okay, so this post isn't strictly about someone with a connection to the family lines I'm currently researching.  But, as I've seen mentioned in other genealogy publications, the history of a building can be just as interesting to research as the family that used it.  I'm always fascinated when I look at historical buildings around me to find evidence of previous tenants.  This building on State

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-87515459814838958142009-09-02T06:00:00.000-05:002009-09-01T22:14:42.096-05:00

 Sigma Nu fraternity, University of Colorado, Boulder.  Herbert Richard Mosley is fifth from the left in the front row.

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-33526054482860849182009-08-31T18:25:00.001-05:002009-08-31T18:25:42.496-05:00

So I was sitting on the bus on my way to school this morning listening to the current episode of The Moth podcast. It was a story told by a former New York City cop about his job going after fugitives. As it turns out, the young man he was sent to arrest in the story he was telling had himself been shot and killed a week earlier. The suspect's fate had been noted in the police rolls, but it

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-89323117298701355362009-08-29T07:57:00.001-05:002009-08-29T07:58:02.092-05:00

Last year at Thanksgiving, we got everyone together again for a big family holiday dinner.  Since I'm in the middle of a career change to become a professional photographer, I was naturally asked to take the family reunion photo for the event.  I got everyone lined up, put the camera on self-timer and got in the shot.  Then, since we can't just let it go at just sitting for a standard group shot,

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-80447694657402709742009-08-27T20:32:00.000-05:002009-08-27T20:32:14.050-05:00

When I started doing genealogy research, I got a postcard from one of my relatives suggesting that there might be a connection to Mary, Queen of Scots.  For the entire time that I had known of this family legend, I thought it was a bit too unlikely to possibly be true.  After all, I had only this one postcard to go on for this story, and I haven't seen anything in the rest of my research that

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-21765378949771595222009-08-24T10:25:00.000-05:002009-08-24T10:25:56.299-05:00

Today's family legend is one that is told for my wife's side of the family.  For a while now we've heard the story that the famous Reverend Cotton Mather is related into her ancestry.  There may be some truth to this, but we have yet to prove it. Cotton Mather circa 1700. The Wikimedia commons description page for this image asserts that it is in the public domain.Reverend Cotton Mather was born

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-58513050020916220262009-08-24T06:41:00.001-05:002009-08-24T06:48:15.684-05:00

As I was working through reviewing some of my genealogy records over the weekend, I thought I'd take a quick look at a site that I had been to long ago to see if there was any new information that might be of interest.  There was, and plenty of it. The site in question is Find A Grave.  Basically, it's a database of gravesites and cemeteries showing memorial pages for more than 35 million grave

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-10061208762256330562009-08-23T16:46:00.002-05:002009-08-23T16:54:41.426-05:00

A few years ago, one of my relatives sent me a photocopy of a letter that was sent to Thomas Meharry on April 21, 1857.  Thomas Meharry was my 3rd great granduncle.  The little notes above the original words were written on the copy of this letter that was sent to me and not on the original. In case your knowledge of mid 19th century penmanship is a little fuzzy, here's a transcription: Urbana,

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-56764428186491882312009-08-22T16:30:00.005-05:002009-09-20T11:10:02.555-05:00

If you've listened to Genealogy Gems Podcast episode number 70, you've heard a little about my successes with searching in the 1930 US census this month.  The images of the census enumeration pages were made available for free for this month only at Footnote.com, so I figured I had nothing to lose except the time I used in searching for them.  I was looking at the page listing my great great

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-60563426118423903672009-08-22T12:07:00.005-05:002009-08-22T16:32:19.053-05:00

There are a few family legends that I heard many years ago that are still guiding my research inquiries. No, we don't have a legend of a connection to Billy The Kid, but there are a couple other famous people that are supposed to be connected to the lines I'm researching. I'll start with two legends on my own lines for this post and save other legends for later. Oliver Wendell Holmes The

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5329122250624020073.post-62363503726831121312009-08-22T11:16:00.004-05:002009-08-22T17:01:25.964-05:00

So here we are with another new blog. I know, yet another website to maintain is just what I need. Right. What are we doing here anyway? Right now, I'm planning for this blog to be a research log showing what I've been doing in my genealogical research. I don't know what kind of posting frequency I'll be able to maintain, but there is an RSS feed so you can keep up with whenever I do post.

slambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217279822573442296noreply@blogger.com1