Saturday, April 5, 2008

An Interesting Article On Future Censuses ...

Earlier today, I happened to notice an article on the 2010 Census posted on The Genetic Genealogist, and I thought it was interesting. The article also explains why we have to wait 72 years before we can view census records.

Also, John wrote a response to this article that you might want to read as well.

One Michigan Family's Civil War Experience - Part Two

In my previous post, I began writing about my ancestors' Civil War experiences. My first post was extremely short as I did not have very much time to write the post, so I decided to break it down into multiple posts. But I digress ...

The Civil War Era ancestors that I am writing about are my ancestors who primarily lived in Saint Joseph County, Michigan (or at least southwest Michigan): the Detwiler and Oswalt families. As I mentioned before, the men in the Stout family did not serve, although the eventually husband of my Stout ancestor's sister-in-law did serve. (Of course, he did not marry the sister-in-law until a couple years after the war ended.) I don't know at the moment why the men did not serve, although that does not mean that they were unpatriotic. It is possible that Reuben Stout might have donated some money for the war effort. (I have to recheck the newspaper article as I accidentally cut off some information when I printed it from the microfilm.)

Either way, it was the men in the Oswalt and Detwiler families who primarily made up the Civil War veterans in my family. Of course, I should state that these men did not sign up all at the same time. Three of the men joined a Michigan infantry in 1862. The rest joined a Michigan regiment in February of 1865. The Michigan men that I hope to write about sometime in the future (and not in any particular order) are:
  • Adam Oswalt
  • Benjamin Oswalt
  • William Oswalt
  • John Detwiler
  • Joseph Detwiler
  • Alexander Detwiler
  • George W. Detwiler
  • Philip Lang(e)

I must state, though, that I still need to do research on most of these men, so I'll be posting on these men as I learn more information about them. Obviously, this will be an ongoing series of posts.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 45th Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next carnival is on family traits. Which family traits have you inherited or have been passed down in your family? Enjoy!

A Sad Day In History ...

To be honest, I don't know what to really write for this post. Forty years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered on this day, and I don't know what to say. How does someone write a memorial about a man who greatly influenced the United State's recent past when she was not alive when King was living or lived through the Civil Rights Era? All I know about King and the Civil Rights movement is from textbooks and classes. I did not live during that time period, but I still feel as though I should post something today as King and other Civil Rights activists have influenced most of our post-World War Two history. (Of course, I should also note that there were movements for civil rights before World War Two; one cannot ignore the influence those movements had on the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.) The tragedy and influence of today forty years ago cannot be ignored; it was a day that Americans lost a great leader.

Although I wasn't alive at the time of the Civil Rights movement, I understand that the History Channel will have a two hour show on Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 6th (I think). It looks like it will be an interesting show from the ads on TV.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Records Being Indexed At FamilySearch - An Update

In case anyone is wondering which records are currently being indexed at FamilySearch Indexing, here is a list of a few records:
  • 1870 U. S. Census
  • 1930 Mexico Census
  • State censuses of South Dakota and Wisconsin
  • Irish bmds
  • Philadelphia marriage indexes

As you can see, several records are being indexed. A few of these records have been indexed for a while. You can find out more information here.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

So It's April Fool's Day ...

Yes, this is another one of those random posts. As a child, I always wondered if someone was going to pull off a prank on me on that day, and sometimes, I wonder how my ancestors reacted to this day. Did children pull off pranks on this day, or did my ancestors pay little attention to this day? I'm not sure. It is always interesting to read about how people celebrated certain holidays.

Monday, March 31, 2008

More Genealogy Blogs Added!

Today I have added a few more genealogy blogs. The blogs added are:
  • Winging It
  • Ahnenforschung Genealogy - My Time In History (Note: auf Deutsch/ in German)
  • Genealogy Works & Fun Blog

You can find these and other blogs on the lower left side of the blog. Any suggestions for other history or genealogy blogs are welcome.