109th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 109th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

"What tree best represents your family’s history? Is your family most like a towering redwood, weeping willow, or a stately oak? Maybe you think of your family more like a brightly lit Christmas tree or a tropical palm. Whatever your choice, write it up and tells us why and submit your article by the deadline of October 1st."

Enjoy!

Belated Saturday Night Fun - My Genea-Bucket List

For this week's Saturday Night Fun, Randy has challenged other genea-bloggers to describe their genealogy bucket list. Although I'm late in participating in this meme again, I still want to post my goals. I think I wrote about this topic before, but it has been awhile. I don't think it would hurt to write an updated version. So, here is my genea-bucket list:

1. I would like to be able to travel to Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, so that I could uncover more information on my ancestors and their families who lived in the region. Although I have ordered microfilms of Huntingdon County records from the LDS in the past, I still haven't been able to uncover much on my ancestors in the ordered microfilms. I think I will have to go and visit the county to find out more.
2. Another region (okay, it is more than one) I would like to visit is the Alsace and Palatinate regions of France and Germany. The majority of my German ancestors resided in those areas. I would probably also try to make stops in Gelnhausen (which is in the Hesse region of Germany) and Stuttgart as well.
3. I would also like to visit the county of Lancashire in the U. K. since I had ancestors living in those areas. (I would also like to visit the other counties my ancestors resided in as well.)
   

Well, those are my three main regions that I would like to visit. I hope some day that I will be able to visit those places and continue my research into my ancestors. Enjoy!

29th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Posted!

The 29th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. (Thank you J. M. for hosting the edition!) The topic for the next edition will on "Arrival in New Lands dealing with the who, where, and why our ancestors may have left their homelands and settled in new countries," and will hosted by Al of Polish-American Genealogy Research. Submissions will be due on June 27, and the edition will be posted on June 30th. Articles can be submitted here. Enjoy!

27th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Posted!

The 27th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. (Thank you, Al, for a wonderful edition!) The topic for the next edition will be on war stories, and the deadline for submissions will be April 25. The edition will be posted on April 28th, and you can submit your articles here. Enjoy!

26th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

Welcome to the 26th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy! The topic for this edition was a carousel - the articles could be on any topic. Several articles were submitted, and here are the articles for this edition:

First off, we have an article from T. Casteel of Tangled Trees. In The Village Church of Segenthau, Casteel gives a brief overview of the Catholic Church in Segenthau, Romania.

Next, we have an article from John Frank of Ancestry Chronicles. In The Soviet Takeover of Hungary: a Tale of Tragedy, he writes about the forced removal of ethnic Germans from their homes in Eastern Europe after World War Two.

Next, we have an article from Al Wierzba of Polish-American Genealogy Research. In Waiting For The Mail - Parish CD's, he writes about ordering parish records from a contact in Poland.

Next, we have an article from Antra of Discovering Latvian Roots. In Myths About Latvian Research, Antra writes about a few common myths in Latvian genealogy research and the reality behind those myths.

Next, we have an article from Diane Rogers of CanadaGenealogy or 'Jane's Your Aunt'. In Immigrants in Canada's West - 1898 - Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, she transcribes a newspaper article that gives immigration statistics for Western Canada in the year 1898.

Next, we have an article from Zenon of Polish Origins. In Polish Genealogy Databases, Zenon provides a link for Polish genealogy databases that can be searched online.

Last, but not least, we have an article from Jessica Oswalt of Jessica's Genejournal. In Looking For My German Ancestors, Part 8, she writes about her discovery of a Declaration of Intent for one of her ancestors.

Well, that is it for this edition. The topic for the next edition is on "'The Village of my Ancestor'. Each article should deal with any known history of any location that one ancestor may have lived. It could be history of a town or area in the U.S. or an European Village," and will be hosted by Al of Polish-American Genealogy Research. The deadline for submissions will be March 19th, and the edition will be published on March 22nd. You can submit your articles here. Enjoy!

73rd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 73rd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on:

Swimsuit Edition! Why should Sports Illustrated have all the fun? This is your
chance to show off the bathing beauties in your family. Pull out the old photos
of Grandma Moses in her seaside bloomers, Auntie Mae in her pin-up girl suit
from the 1940s or 50s, cousin Paula in her psychedelic bikini from the 1970s, or
even yourself in your Speedo! Let's have some fun here! Memorial Weekend is
behind us and that means the start of the summer sun, sand, and lakeside season
so let's get in the mood with summer fun photos. What? You don't have any
swimsuit photos you dare to share? No problem! Tell us your best family beach
stories instead! The deadline for submissions is June 15th. This edition of the
COG will be hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene.

Enjoy!

72nd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 72nd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on:

The Good Earth. Were your ancestors sharecroppers or land barons? Perhaps an
ancestor was a logger or a miner. Do you have stories of homesteading? Is there
a master gardener in your tree? If your ancestors lived in the city did they
keep a square foot garden or escape the city to a favorite park? Tell us about
your family's ties to the land! The deadline for submissions will be June 1st.
Apple will host the next edition of the COG on Apple's Tree.

Enjoy!

71st Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 71st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

Mothers! Mother’s Day is right around the corner and this is the perfect
time to honor your mother, grandmother, godmother, step mother, den mother,
aunt, neighbor, or friend who happens to be a mother. If you’ve written about
your own mother for the COG before, consider writing about another mom on your
family tree. Let’s make all our moms famous! The deadline for submissions is May
15th and next edition will be hosted at Creative Gene.

Enjoy!

70th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 70th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

Local History! As genealogists, we are used to tracing our ancestors and
the history of the places they lived. But not all of us live where our ancestors
did - do we take the time to see the history all around us? Use some of your
investigative skills to research the house, street, or town/city where YOU live.
Write about an interesting person, place, or event of local history. The
deadline for submissions is May 1st. This edition of the COG will be hosted by
Donna at What's Past is Prologue.

Enjoy!

Another New Poll!

I have created another poll in order to determine what area I should first research on for a history post. Since the history of a locality was one of the top choices chosen by readers, I decided to include the categories:

• Michigan
• United States
• Europe
• Non-western Countries

I do not know when I will post an article, but I hope to do some research soon. I'm just having a difficult time trying to figure out the topic for a history post. Any suggestions are welcome.

Here's An Interesting Article ...

I just happened to notice this article on Stonehenge. I thought someone might find it interesting. You can read the article here.

Speaking of Funny Place Names ...

I just happened to notice Randy's post on funny place names, and his mention of Hell, Michigan. I know where that is! I live somewhat near the area of Hell ... Hell, Michigan that is. Oh, and while I'm at it, I should mention that there's a Paradise in Michigan. Except, it's in the Upper Peninsula. I don't think it would be too much of a Paradise in the winter, but that's my thoughts. (Ha, ha!)

47th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 47th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition is in honor of Mother's Day and is on our Mother's education. (Or the education of a female ancestor.)

Saint Joseph County, Michigan: My Thoughts and Reflections

As some of you already know, I had a least three branches of ancestral families live in Saint Joseph County. Although, I was probably supposed to write about a town or place, I've decided to write about this county because my ancestors lived in various places in this county and because I have actually visited this county. (Even if it has been a couple years since I visited.)


Saint Joseph County (not the same as the city) is located in the lower Southwestern area of Michigan, and is one of the counties on the border with Indiana. The county is surrounded by the Michigan counties of Branch, Cass, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, and Van Buren and the Indiana counties of Elkhart and LaGrange. The village of Centreville has the county court house, and civil records for the county are held there. The only cities in the county are Three Rivers and Sturgis. Although I haven't been to Sturgis, it appears to me that both cities are small cities. Three Rivers was small to me. (Well, at least for someone who spent most of her childhood in Metro-Detroit.) The next, largest, nearby city outside of Three Rivers would be Kalamazoo. To get to Three Rivers, a person living in Kalamazoo would only have to head south on 131. (Or for Grand Rapids for that matter.) If one is traveling from the Detroit area to Three Rivers, the trip will take at least three hours. (Yes, it is a long drive for those who live on the east side of Michigan. Trust me.)

During the time of my ancestors, the county consisted mostly of farms and farmland, and even today, the county is still very rural. Although I didn't travel to every place in the county, most of county outside of Three Rivers consisted of farmland and villages. Many of the roads in the county are two-lane highways. The road between Three Rivers and Centreville is one such road. (The two are only about 5 or 10 miles apart and the drive is only about ten-fifteen minutes from one to the other.)

From reading the above, it may seem as though I don't like area. Actually, that is the farthest from the truth. I like the area, and I think it is beautiful. (Yes, I am big fan of the countryside.) I would love to live in the area if I ever get a chance to do so.
___________________________________________________________________

For sources and information:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mistjose/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Joseph_County,_Michigan

Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 46th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! (Although the date says the 18th, it was posted early, on today, the 17th). You can read it here. The topic for the next topic is on Ancestral homes. Where did your ancestor live in? Have you ever visited that place? What is the place like, and what is the history of that area? Enjoy!

What's My Accent?

I just happened to look at Thomas MacEntee's post on his accent, and I thought I would take the quiz myself. So, here are my results:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

All I can say is that the quiz results did not surprise me as I have lived in Michigan all of my life; however, I had been thinking about regional accents since I read Terry Snyder's post on regional words and accents.

Why? Well, as I have done census searches of my ancestors and their siblings over the past four or so years, I have come across a few unusual spellings of my surname that I would not have thought of if I had not done a first-name only search in the censuses. A case in point would be the 1880 Census. When I first searched for my ancestors in the 1880 U. S. Census, I could not find the family (except for the youngest child), although I had a fairly good idea of where they were living. To be honest, I had expected from day one of doing research that I would have to look for variations in the spelling of my last name. I am used to it as my last name is misspelled by other people from time to time. It is not unusual for me to find my ancestor's surname spelled as Oswald instead of Oswalt as these surnames are virtually pronounced the same. So, how was their surname misspelled? It was written as Olswath. Yes, even in the image. The census had not been mis-transcribed. Even more unusual about the spelling was that the family was not together; the family was split up and everyone was living in separate households. Yet, the spelling of the surname was almost consistent for the whole family. Since the surname was consistently misspelled, I have a feeling that either my ancestor had an accent or the census taker had an accent. At the moment I am leaning towards the possibility that my ancestor had the accent, but then, I can't say for sure. Either way, accents do influence how one might find an ancestor's name spelled in a record. I don't know how many beginning genealogists keep this in mind when they search for their ancestors, but it is a very good idea for beginners to keep this in mind.

Places On My Bucket List ...

Over the past few days, a meme started by Larry Lehmer of Passing It On has been going around the genealogy blogs. In his post, Larry asked, "What places do you want to visit before dying?"

So, what three places do I want to visit before I die? Well, here are three ancestral areas that I want to visit:

1. Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania - Well, I want to be able to visit and do research in that county as my ancestors lived there. (Of course, I don't know how long and in all of the townships which they lived.)
2. United Kingdom and Ireland (Great Britain) - I'd actually like to visit, so that I can do research this time and remember the visit. (Yes, I visited, but I was a baby at that time.) As my ancestors lived in various places in Great Britain, it is easier for me to just list the names of the countries.
3. Germany - I have been to Germany before (and I remember this trip!), but I haven't been to the locations where my ancestors lived. As I don't know all of the locations where my ancestors lived in Germany, I can only list Germany at the moment.

Well, those are my three places. I would list more, but I was only supposed to list three places for this meme. (Of course, there are other places I would like to visit that are not related to my genealogy.)

Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted!

The third edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next carnival is on the heritage of Ireland, and will be presented in the form of a parade. The deadline for the articles are March 14. Enjoy!

Antrim County, Ireland

So far in my research, I have discovered that I have at least two ancestors who were born in Ireland. At the moment, I do not know where in Ireland they were born, I do know where and when they married. One piece of information that one can glean from a Scottish birth certificate is the date and place of the child's parents' marriage. As one of my great-grandfathers was born in Scotland, I have a date and place. According to this certificate, my great-great-grandparents were married in Ballymena, Antrim County, Ireland.

Antrim county happens to be in Northern Ireland. According to Ballymena's town council website, Ballymena has been settled for centuries. You can read more about the history of this town here and here. One of the attractions appears to be a mountain located north of the town of which more information can be found here. From looking at the official tourist site, I think I would be fascinated by the history and the old churches and buildings of the town.

Of course, I do not know if either of my ancestors were born there or lived there. All I know at the moment is that they got married there, and I do not know at which church they would have married. Hopefully, I will be able to find that answer in the near future.