My New Year's Resolutions: Five Months Later

Since I mentioned earlier that I went to the local Family History Center, I thought it would be a good time to review the New Year's resolutions that I made in December 2007.

So, how did I do?

1. I hope to get a chance to go to the Grand Rapids Public Library this year. The main branch of the library has records of the Old Soldiers' Home where my ancestor spent the last two years of his life. I am hoping to find more information than I did at the state archive of Michigan. Result so far: I have yet to visit the library and look up that record. (I have been to that library before, I just never thought to look up the record in the past.) I guess I can always send a letter requesting a copy of the records. I don't know if it will cost more to order it than to copy it myself, but it is an option
2. Order more microfilms of probate records for Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Result so far: I have not ordered any microfilms for Huntingdon County. Since I still have plenty of time, chances are that I will do so.
3. Look up and print other probate records of ancestors who lived and died in Saint Joseph County, Michigan. Result so far: I have not done this yet. Also, I can't seem to find the call numbers for those microfilms anymore on the familySearch website. I think I wrote down the call numbers, so I'll look and see if I can still make a request.
4. Order birth, marriage and death records of ancestors from the United Kingdom. Result so far: I have ordered a microfilm of baptismal records for the church that was closest to my ancestors' residence. Hopefully, I'll be able to find my ancestors and their siblings in these records.
5. Order microfilms of Trippstadt, Germany's civil records. Result so far: I have ordered one microfilm of death records for the time period that a known ancestor had died. Of course, I still plan to order some more microfilms, especially of birth records.
6. And last, but not least, I hope to make more connections and to find more ancestors and relatives. Result so far: I have been contacted by two more distant cousins. I haven't yet been able to find more ancestors, but hopefully, I will have done so by the end of the year.

As you can see, I have only been able to make headway with the last three goals. Since I still have most of the year left, I probably will come close to completing most of my goals, if not all.

This Week's Genealogy and History News ...

Here is a link list of some of the news relating to genealogy or history that I have noticed in the past week:

• My post on the changes made at FamilySearch Lab's Record Search.
• Ancestry's partnership with the NARA to digitize military records.
• A Little Information on the Holocaust Records Opened to the Public.
• 1860 Census Added to Footnote.

I think that is all of the news relating to history and genealogy. Of course, I could be wrong and have missed some. If I have missed an article, please let me know.

Went To The Local Family History Center Yesterday ...

Yes, I was finally able to go to the local Family History Center in my area yesterday. I've been there a handful times before, but this was my first visit to the place this year. So, what did I do there? Well, I ordered a couple of microfilms; one from the local church my ancestors in England lived nearby, and the other microfilm was of death records from the town a couple of my German ancestors had lived.

I also did a little bit of research into death records for Bay and Saginaw counties. I found the death record for one my ancestor's sister-in-law, but I was still unable to find a death record for my ancestor. From looking at the Saginaw's city directories for 1883 and 1887, I'm guessing he died sometime those years, but I still can't find anything yet. (I'll have to check the 1884 state census to see if he was still alive then. That should help narrow his death down even more.) I also looked at some Saint Joseph County records. I might have found some new information, but I'm not sure yet. That is, until I can prove that person is connected to my ancestor.

In all, I did not have a very successful research day. Well, since I did find a little information, I guess that is better than not finding anything new. Hopefully, I'll be able to find more information when those two microfilms come into the center. I'll keep you informed if I find anything.

Poll Results!

The poll is now closed, and the results are in! The question for this poll was : Which Color Is Easier For You To Read? Eight people voted, and the results are:

• Black - 6 votes
• Dark Shades: Red, Blue, Green - 1 vote
• Normal Red, Blue, Green - 0 votes
• Any Color - 1 vote

Well, it looks like I'll primarily be posting in black. I might post in dark blue since I always like to add some variety. To those who voted, thank you for voting.

6th Guest Column on Shades Of The Departed Posted!

The sixth guest column has been posted on Shades Of The Departed! You can read it here. Enjoy!

Just A Friendly Reminder ...

I just want to remind everyone that entries for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern Europe are due by May 19th. The topic for this edition will be on a female ancestor from that region.

Some Interesting Keywords Used to Find My Blog ...

As I have mentioned before, I use Google Analytics to keep track of how many people visit my blog on a daily basis. One of the features of this service is that keywords used to find my blog are tracked. I hadn't looked at the different keywords used in awhile, and discovered that most of the keywords used relate to topics I had posted on. I did, though, find a few interesting posts, and I thought I would just post some of the interesting and strange keywords that I noticed:

• Jessica Scahill
• so punctuation
• "stolen by Ancestry"
• "Jessica*"" world history"
• a summary of the random family book Jessica
• analysis of poem picture puzzle piece
• Barbara Ainscough youtube
• call of the wild, buck's personality traits
• Eastern European facial features
• facial characteristics of Eastern European people
• genealogy more my mother or father closer to traits
• How do I find my ancestors?
• George Edward Detwiler
• Jessica Caroll Salem II
• Jessica death huntingdon co.
• What kind of people where [sic] in the know nothing party?
• useful technologies in the old days
• What's my ancestry?

I realize this is quite a few keywords to list, but these were the ones that caught my attention. I found a couple of the search terms to be funny, but some of them did not make any sense to me as they do not relate to anything that I had posted.

A German From Russia: Caroline's Story

I don't know very much about her. All I really know about Caroline (I'm mentioning only her first name to protect the privacy of others.) is that she was born somewhere in the Russian Empire, possibly in present-day Lithuania, and that she spoke German. Ethnically, she was a German, and a Lutheran.

As I said before, I don't know much about her as she died way before I was born. What I do know is that she came to the U. S. through Ellis Island in 1902, and that she lived in Detroit, Michigan from then on until she died. Hopefully, I'll be able to find out more about her as I continue to do research on her.

Update on FamilySearch Lab's Record Search

I just happened to take a look at FamilySearch Lab's Record Search today, since it had been updated yesterday. A couple more records were added and the log in requirement has been removed. That's right; one does not have to log in into the Record Search to view the databases anymore.

First Edition of the Smile For The Camera Posted!

The first edition of the Smile For The Camera carnival has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition is belles and beaus.

Happy Mother's Day!

I just want to wish everyone a happy Mother's Day! Enjoy!