Saturday, July 19, 2008

One of my Favorite Photos ...

To be honest, it is hard for me to choose one photograph as my favorite, so I decided to post one, out of many, of my favorite photos. So, here is one of my favorite photographs:



This picture was taken by my parents last year on a trip they made out west. I think this picture was taken in Glacier National Park. Either way, it is a breath-taking picture, and I think it is just beautiful.

My Last Back-logged Post Posted!

I finally posted my last back-logged post today. You can read it here. Enjoy!

A Couple More Databases Added to FamilySearch's Record Search

A couple more databases have been added to FamilySearch Lab's Record Search, and another database was updated yesterday. The databases added were:
  • 1841 England and Wales Census
  • 1861 England and Wales Census

The 1850 U. S. census was also updated at the same time. The English and Welsh censuses are primarily only indexes. If you want to see the image, you have to pay to view, as the indexes were given to FamilySearch by findmypast.com.

Friday, July 18, 2008

My Visit to the Howell Library Archives

Earlier today, I visited the Howell, Michigan District Library, and I did some research in the library's archives. The archives hold records and history on Livingston County. (I just happen to have a couple links to this county, and I thought I would just try to do some research on an ancestor's brother. He owned a bakery in and lived in Brighton, Michigan, and I thought I would try to find some information on his bakery.

Well, to make a long story short, I was unable to find anything on him or the bakery in the archives records. I suspect the bakery only existed for a small time period. Despite my inability to find any information, I spent time talking to the two men working in the archives about the history of Brighton and Livingston county, and I learned somethings about the history of this area. These men were also able to help me contact someone who had lived in Brighton (and still does) at the time the bakery would have existed. Oh well, the hunt continues ...

15th Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted!

The fifteenth Shades of the Departed guest column has been posted! The author of this week's post is Lorine McGinnis Schulze, and you can read the column here. Enjoy!

9th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

The ninth edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy is now here, and the topic for this edition is on research experiences and tips.At least five people have submitted articles, and although this is not the largest edition, it is one of the largest that we have had in a while. So, let's begin to learn with the submitters' research tips and experiences.

First Off, we have an article from first-time submitter Alwierz of Polish-American Genealogy Research. In Polish Church Records Transcription Projects and helpful Websites, Alwierz writes about Polish genealogy websites that he has found helpful.

Next, we have an article from Donna Pointkouski of What's Past Is Prologue. In Haller's Army, she writes about a possible resource that genealogists with Polish ancestry might find useful and about her own experience researching in these records.

Next, we have an article from Terry Snyder of Desktop Genealogist. In The Kindness of Strangers, she writes about different websites she used in her research, her communication with other German researchers, the help she received from other German genealogists.

Next, we have an article from Steve Danko of Steve's Genealogy Blog. In Understanding Polish Birth and Baptismal Records from the Congress Kingdom of Poland (1826-1868), he writes about Polish baptismal church records from the time of the Congress Kingdom Poland, and how a person can translate these kind of records.

And last, but not least, we have three articles from Jessica Oswalt of Jessica's Genejournal. In Looking For My German Ancestors: My Research Experiences - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3, she writes about her research into her German ancestors and the experiences she has had in researching her German ancestors.

So, that concludes this edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. The topic for the next carnival will be a carousel. In other words, any article relating to genealogy in Central and Eastern European Genealogy is accepted. Submissions for the next edition are due on August 4th, and the next edition will be posted on August 5th. You can submit your articles here.

52nd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 52nd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be a carousel - in other words, on any genealogy topic a person chooses.
Enjoy!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

A New Link List Added!

I've added another link list to my blog. This time, the link list is for the "Looking For My German Ancestors" Series, and you can find this list on the right side above the category list. Enjoy!

A Few More Articles Posted!

I've posted a few more articles that I had been working on today. The articles added are:

I hope you enjoy these articles. I just have one more article that I need to post, and I hope to post it in the next few days.

Family History Center Visit 9

I went to the Family History Center today, even though the other microfilms I ordered had not come in. I decided to take a look at the miscellaneous microfilms that my Family History Center, that I had noticed noticed in my previous visit, that there were some films that might help me further my research. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in my research this time; however, I did get to look at a book on the history of Saint Joseph County that I have wanted to look at for a while. Again, I did not have much luck with this record, as I did not find any new information on my ancestors that I did not already know. Hopefully, I'll have more luck when my other microfilms come in. Stay tuned ...

Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Submissions Are Due Today!

I just want to remind everyone that the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy submissions are due today by 11:59 p. m. If you need more time, please let me know. Thanks!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

One More Day!

That's right, you have only one more day to submit your articles to this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I still plan to post the edition sometime on the 18th, but if you need more time, please let me know. Thanks.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Family History Center Update

I received a call from the Family History Center today about the film that was ordered by mistake. Well, it looks like it was my mistake, so I'll have to reorder that film if I want the film. Oh, well, I'll just have to reorder the microfilm.

A Couple More Articles Added!

In the past few days, I have added a couple more posts to the blog that I had been working on for a few days. The two articles are:

I hope you enjoy reading these articles. I still have three more articles that I am trying to get finished, and I hope to have them posted in the next few days. Again, I'll let you know when I get all of them posted.

Well, Now I Know What Technique I was Taught ...

I just happened to notice the Ancestry Insider's post on the Palmer Method of handwriting, and the image of the letters looks very similar to what I was taught in school. When I was in the third grade, I was taught how to write in cursive, and since that time, I have continued to write in cursive. I never knew which method I was taught until today. The sad thing is that many people my age cannot read cursive and that teaching cursive has pretty much stopped. (At least that is what I've heard.) Anyway, thank you Ancestry Insider for your post on this handwriting technique.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Just Got A Couple of Records in the Mail Today ...

A couple of weeks ago, I sent a request to the Cuyahoga County, Ohio Archives for a death record and a naturalization record, and today, I received them in the mail! (Yes, I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting my request to take longer.) I have briefly looked over the records I received, and I'm quite excited, even though the records do not list the names of the parents or the birthplace of the persons in the records. Of course, it is still nice to receive records in the mail. I might do an analysis of the records in a future post, but I do not know when I will do so. Anyhow, I'm off to take a closer look at these new records ...

3rd Edition of the Smile For The Camera Posted!

The third edition of the Smile for the Camera has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition is on your favorite photograph.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Looking For My German Ancestors: My Research Experiences Part 3

In my previous post, I wrote about my research into my ancestor, Carl, and for this post, I thought I would continue to do so. In my research at the Library of Michigan, I wrote about finding Carl and his family in the 1894 Michigan State census, and I thought I would start this post by analyzing the census entry.



The image above is of Carl's household in 1894 in Bay County, Michigan. As you can see, I have cut-off Carl's surname, and I did this so that I could protect the identities of other people. After Carl's children are listed, Fred is listed. The census lists Fred's relationship to Carl as son, but that cannot be possible as Carl is listed only about 32 whereas Fred is about 25 in this census. One possibility is that Fred is Carl's younger brother or is Carl's cousin. What do you think? This happens to be the first piece of evidence that I have that connects these two men together.

This next above image is the second half of the census sheet. On this sheet, the occupations of the men are listed, and also the number of children a woman had in the census year. Also included on this image is the number of years that a foreign person has been in the United States and Michigan. According to this census, Carl has been in the U. S. since 1880 and Fred has been in the U. S. since 1889. Of course, these years are only suggestions, but this does help me narrow down the possibility of when Carl came to the U. S. (As I mentioned, I've had difficulty finding him in a passenger list.)

Unfortunately, this census still does not give me a more exact birthplace than the information that I already had. A couple years ago, before I found this census record, I went up to Bay City with my grandparents. While there, I looked for vital records for Carl's family (I had just found Carl's marriage earlier that day in Saginaw), and I found a couple of records. Before we left the county clerk's office, my grandmother mentioned to me that Carl had been a mason, and the clerk informed us that the city Masonic building was just across the street. To make a long story short, we went over to the Masonic building, and I was able to obtain some records on Carl. From the papers, I got Carl's birth date and a possible death date, but I still was unable to get a more detailed birthplace than Germany from these papers. (At the moment, I have only obtained records from Bay City. I have not yet contacted Detroit's Masonic temple, to see if they have any other information on Carl. Carl also lived in Detroit, in addition to Bay City.)

During the summer of the next year, I was able to visit the Library of Michigan, and I was able to obtain Carl's death certificate by going through the microfilmed death certificates from Detroit. (Death records for Detroit are kept separately from the rest of the death records for Wayne County, and I'm not sure why.) From Carl's death certificate, I was able to confirm that his birth date was the same as the Mason's records and confirm Carl's actual date of death. Unfortunately, my copy of Carl's death was poor, so I was unable to determine where in Germany he was born. I was able to read the name of his father, but I know I need to do more research to confirm the name of his father.

Although, the first three parts of this series was done for the Carnival of Central and Eastern European genealogy, I still plan to continue writing about my research into my German ancestors. Stay tuned for the next post in this series ...

Four More Days Left ...

Yes, you only have four more days to submit your entry to this edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I will still accept submissions into the early morning of the 18th, but please let me know if you need more time. Thanks.