New Poll Created!

I have just added a new poll. The question for this poll is, "Where in Eastern Europe Are Your Ancestors From?" The choices are:

• Poland
• Russia
• Lithuania
• Estonia
• Latvia
• Ukraine

You can choose more than one location in voting. The poll will be opened for eight days. Enjoy!

Poll Results

The poll is now closed and the results are in. The question for this poll was, "Where in Central Europe did your ancestors come from?" There were eight choices, and ten people voted. Here are the results:

• Germany - 6 votes
• Austria - 2 votes
• Switzerland - 4 votes
• Hungary - 1 vote
• Czech Republic - 1 vote
• Luxembourg - 2 votes
• Slovakia - 0 votes
• Liechtenstein - 0 votes

To those who voted, thank you for participating.

The 161 Meme

I'd like to say that I was tagged for this meme, even though I haven't been put on a list. I read Terry Thornton's blog earlier, and he tagged everyone who read his blog to do this meme. Therefore, I'm going to post for this meme.

For this meme, I am supposed to go to the 161st page in a book I am reading, and then post the sixth sentence of this book. I am always reading, and at the moment, I am reading several books. I won't list sentences from every book that I am reading because I am reading way too many at the moment. So, I'll just choose one book.

One of the books I am reading is Carol McD. Wallace's All Dressed in White: The Irresistible Rise of the American Wedding. Here is the sixth sentence:

"Sometimes a movie had a broader effect on fashion - Sabrina from 1954 popularized a shallow scooped neckline called the 'Sabrina neck' that was popular on wedding gowns throughout the mid-1950s."

Obviously, this sentence is part of a paragraph on how movies influenced the design of wedding dresses.

Now I have to tag five other people. So here are the five people that I am tagging:

• Craig Manson of GeneaBlogie
• Lisa of Small-leaved Shamrock
• Miriam of AnceStories
• Pat of A Journey into the Past
• Renee of Renee's Genealogy Blog

So, now I encourage those I just tagged to do the same. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Memories - Part One

In light of the fact that Thanksgiving is only about a week away, I've decided to write about some of my memories of Thanksgivings that my family have celebrated. So, what do I associate the most with Thanksgiving?

Well, besides being with family, the turkey dinner has always been prominent. I think almost every Thanksgiving dinner has included turkey, cranberries and stuffing. Most of the turkeys that my family had were baked for about four hours in an oven. (Well, at least it seemed to be about four hours.) So, when we had turkey, it would most likely be baked, that is, until a few years ago. A few years ago, my parents learned about frying turkeys and my dad decided to try cooking a turkey that way. He went out and bought a fryer and bought the oil needed to fry the turkey. So, now my family has a new tradition: frying the turkey. Why do we do that? Well, frying the turkey, depending upon the size, doesn't usually take more than two hours. So it is much quicker. (Of course, if I had to choose between a fried turkey and a baked one, I would rather have a baked one. That is not to say that fried turkeys don't taste good. I'm just old-fashioned.)

So, what memories do you have of Thanksgiving? Does your family have a turkey for dinner? If so, how does your family cook it?

Poll Results

The poll that I started yesterday has now closed. The question was: For the next few days, which holiday would you want to read about in articles? Five people voted, and the results are:

• Thanksgiving -4 votes
• Christmas - 1 vote

From this poll, it appears that most people want to read about Thanksgiving, so I'll write about Thanksgiving in articles in the days following up to Thanksgiving. Thank you to all of those who voted.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Eight: Or Why I Prefer to Not Use Online Translators

I know there are genealogists that use online and computer translators to translate old documents, and my intention is not to attack those who use these translators. I realize that not everyone knows another language and that translators can be helpful in saving time. And money. My problem with online translators is that they translate terribly, and if a document is poorly translated, one can miss some important information. Also, not every word of a language is included in an online translator, especially if it is an old word. Or the actual meaning of the sentence can be skewered by an online translator, since that online translator probably does not take in context of the endings on nouns and adjectives or of the case. For example:

• Latin - depending up the ending of the noun, one call tell the gender of that noun, if the noun is singular or plural, and what case that word is in. (When I speak of case, I mean such as: possession -in the case of Latin, called Genitive, indirect object - Accusative, direct object - dative, subject - nominative, and two more cases that I can't recall off the top of my head. It's been awhile since I've dealt with Latin.)


• German - Again, it is the same with Latin, except German only has four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.

So, as you can see, if an online translator ignores the case of the noun, one could potentially miss some important information, especially if the information on a document (like a vital record) is in a sentence instead of a form. One could potentially miss out information such as how someone is related to someone else if the document mentions more than one person. So, the case of a noun is quite important when it comes to translating a document.

And then there is the issue of translating something in English into another language. Online translators could very easily use the wrong word in translating a sentence. If someone was trying to write a letter in another language for information, that person could easily use an online translator and get something back that might mean something else to a native speaker reading that letter. (Obviously, they would be able to tell right away that the letter was written by someone who isn't fluent in the language.) A human translator does a much better job than an online translator, but I realize that can cost quite a bit of money, unless you can find someone who is willing to do it for free. The other option is to try to learn that language, but then again that costs money and time.

Even though I am taking German language classes, I am not fluent in German yet. I still make quite a few mistakes, but unlike a computer, I can probably come up with a better translation (with a dictionary) than a computer's literal translation. I know that these online translators can be awful because I decided to test a couple for fun. (Yes, I wanted to see how bad they were.) I have a document in German and know roughly what the document says. I decided to try Microsoft Word 2003's translator (okay, this one isn't on the internet, but I think it falls into the computer category.), and well, it did a poor job. One of the reasons was that it restricted the number of words that could be added at a time. The problem is that sentences in historical documents can be quite long and the sentence meaning will be skewered if words are cut out. In German, there are times when the verb can be at the end of a sentence, and if one does not have that last verb, the sentence meaning will be wrongly translated (if it makes any sense at all). So, for me, the Microsoft translation was quite funny because of all of the mistakes it made. (Again, I did this just to make myself laugh.)

Here is an excerpt of my document in German:

"Worüber wir gegenwärtige Urkunde in Gegenwart der nachgenannten vier Zeugen: 1. Philipp Jantzer/Jentzer, Kaufmann, drei und dreißig Jahre alt wohnhaft in Waldfischbach;2. Ludwig Schäffer, Bäcker und Wirth, fünfzig Jahre alt, wohnhaft in Trippstadt;3. Johannes Drescher, Schullehrer, sechs und dreißig Jahre alt, wohnhaft in Trippstadt;4. Jakob Jung, Kaufmann, ein und dreißig Jahre alt, wohnhaft in Kaiserslautern,alle vier mit den Brautleuten nicht verwandt und nicht verschwägert,gefertigt und mit denselben und den kontrahirenden Theilen, benebst den anwesenden Eltern, nach geschehener Vorlesung unterzeichnet haben.So geschehen zu Trippstadt im Jahre und am Tage wie Eingangs erwähnt."

Here is Microsoft Word's translation:

" ... 1. Philipp Jantzer/Jentzer, Buyer, three and thirty years old resident … all four related to the bride people not and does not verschwägert manufactured and with the same and the contracting Theilen, benebst that present parents, after happened lecture signed. As happened at Trippstadt in the year and by day as entrance mentions."

(Note: I have elipses in this excerpt of the Microsoft translation because Microsoft's program restricts the number of words to about twenty-five and by the time I got to the end of the document, I was tired of having to continually copy and past.)

As you can see, Microsoft's translation of this excerpt is not very good. It left several words in German, and the sentance clearly does not make sense.

The other translator that I have tried is Babelfish. Babelfish did only a slightly better job. Here is Babelfish's translation:

"About what we present document in presence of the following four witnesses: 1. Philipp Jantzer/Jentzer, buyer, three and thirty years old resident in forest fish brook; 2. Ludwig Schaeffer, baker and Wirth, fifty years old, resident in Trippstadt; 3. Johannes Dre, school teachers, six and thirty years old, resident in Trippstadt; 4. Jakob young, buyer, and thirty years old, resident in Kaiserslautern, all four related not verschwaegert to the bride people and not, not manufactured and to the same and the kontrahirenden Theilen, benebst present parents, after happened lecture signed. As happened at Trippstadt in the year and by day as entrance mentions."

And here is my translation of the excerpt:

"We, four witnesses were present at the aforementioned deed:
1. Philip Jantzer/Jentzer,* merchant, 33 years old, resides in Waldfischbach; 2. Ludwig Schaeffer, Baker and innkeeper (or land lord), 50 years old, resides in Trippstadt; 3. John Drescher, school teacher, 36 years old, resides in Trippstadt; 4. Jacob Jung, merchant, 31 years old, resides in Kaiserslautern; neither of these four are related to the bridal couple, and they happened to be present in the signing of the contract, instead of the parents' presence. And so came to pass in Trippstadt in the year and day mentioned."

(*I had someone transcribe my document for me because at the time I could not make sense of the German hadwriting, and the transcriber wasn't sure if the letter was an a or an e.) If anyone can come up with a better translation, please feel free to correct me.

Of course, when it comes to only translating one or two words, these online translators can do a fairly good job, but I wouldn't use it for phrases or sentences. Also, I noticed that these dictionaries do not have archiac words in their databases. So, if you're looking for the translation of an old occupation, the chances are greater that you might not find it. I did do some browsing a few minutes ago, and I found a website that has translations for old German occupations. Here is the link: http://worldroots.com/brigitte/occupat.htm. I can't vouch for its accuracy, but it appears as though it might be helpful when it comes to looking for older words.

Again, as I mentioned before, I am not attempting to attack those who use online translators. I just want to let others know that these online translators are not as accurate as they might appear. If anyone has a better translation of that excerpt, please feel free to leave a comment correcting me. So, what do you think? Feel free to leave me a comment.

Blog Changes

I have changed the blog again and this time, I have added a picture I took in one of the cemeteries where my ancestors are buried. Please let me know if the font color is unreadable. Enjoy!

Update, Nov. 15 - 10:55 P. M.: I have made the text more bold and changed the text color to orange. Please let me know if this is difficult to read, and I will make changes.

Silly Thanksgiving Quizes

I decided to take some silly Thanksgiving quizzes. Here are my results:

You Are Mashed Potatoes

Ordinary, comforting, and more than a little predictable You're the glue that holds everyone together.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Your Pilgrim Name Is

Faith Standish

What's Your Pilgrim Name?

You Are 77% Thankful

You are a very thankful person - for both the big and little things in life. Your optimism is powerful. Getting through hard times is fairly easy for you.

How Thankful Are You?

I realize that I did not post as many quizzes this time. There were very few quizzes for Thanksgiving. Anyhow, these are just silly quizzes.

New Poll Added!

I have just added a new poll to this blog. This poll will only last for the next 23 hours. The question is: For the Next Few Days, Which Holiday Would You Prefer Reading About? Your choices are:

• Thanksgiving
• Christmas

If you have a preference, please let me know. Thanks. Enjoy!

Silly Christmas Quizes

I decided to take a couple of Christmas personality quizzes since it is getting closer to December. (Of course, I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to going home.) So here are some of the results of the quizzes I took:

You Are a Practical Gift Giver

Your gifts are useful, appropriate, and custom tailored to each person. In your opinion, the best gifts are gifts that someone will actually use. Your gifts may not be the most glamorous, but they are always appreciated.

What Kind of Gift Giver Are You?

You Are a Snowman

Friendly and fun, you enjoy bringing holiday cheer to everyone you know!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

Your Christmas Song Is

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year It's the most wonderful time of the year With the kids jingle-belling And everyone telling you Be of good cheer It's the most wonderful time of the year Hands down, Christmas is your favorite holiday ever And you always enjoy every moment of it

What Christmas Carol Are You?

You Are a Cranberry and Popcorn Strung Tree

Christmas is all about showcasing your creative talents. From cookies to nicely wrapped presents, your unique creations impress everyone.

What Christmas Tree Are You?

You Are a Gingerbread House

A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.

What Holiday Food Are You?

You Are Prancer

You are the perfect reindeer, with perfect hooves and perfect flying form. Why You're Naughty: Because you're Santa's pet, and you won't let anyone show you up. Why You're Nice: You have the softest fur and the sweetest carrot breath.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

I realize that this is a long post, but these are just only a few of the quizzes that that site has on Christmas. I only picked the ones that I liked. A few of the quizzes, though, I thought were not very appropriate, especially for children.

More Genealogy Blogs Added!

Today I have added several more genealogy blogs to this blog. The blogs added are:

• Anthony Smith's Genealogy Possum Kingdom
• Braswell Genealogy
• Carol's Ruth Campbell Smith 1925-1927 Diaries
• Genealogy Friends
• Gordon Buck's Buck Family of Virginia
• McMahon Family Research
• MoSGA Messenger
• Pam Anderson's Pieces of Wild Rose, WI Area and My Own
• Terria Tucker Fleming's Tucker Family Genealogy
• Westport (Massachusetts) History

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

An Interesting Irish History Book

Although I don't know yet if I have Irish ancestors, I do know that very few stories were passed down into my family. In spite of a lack of family stories, I want to recommend a history book that I am reading. Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe (New York: Nan A. Talese, 1995). (I realize that very few people would be able to trace their genealogy back this far but as a book on background history of Ireland, this book would be a good read.) As the title suggests, this book is on Ireland's history from the late Roman Empire to the Seventh Century. Ireland's Pre-Christian culture is explored as well as Ireland's culture after its conversion to Christianity. And the role that Ireland played in preserving civilization is discussed. So far, I have found this book to be very interesting, but I must add that this book is written for adults. There is some adult subject matter in the book, so I wouldn't recommend this book for children. Other than that, I believe this book makes an interesting read.

More Genealogy Blogs Added!

Today I have added a few more genealogy blogs to this blog. The blogs added are:

• Frank's The Lucas Countyan
• Bernard Doddema's DoddemaGen
• Cat's Genealogy - Diggin up Dirt

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

On a side note, this is my 15oth post. It is hard for me to believe that I have published that many posts.

An Interesting Tip ...

I happened to be looking at Ancestry's Weekly Journal Blog, and I noticed an interesting tip. This tip offered a link to a paper on New England grave stones. Here is the link to the tip: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2027#more-2027

A New Carnival Has Been Created!

Lisa, of Small-leaved Shamrock blog, asked me to inform others about the new carnival that she has created. The new carnival is the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture, a carnival for Irish genealogy. Articles for the new carnival are due by November 19, and the first posting of the carnival will be posted on the 22nd. Thank you, Lisa, for letting me know about this carnival.

Honoring My Family's Veterans

Today is Veteran's Day and in honor of this day, I want to briefly mention the veteran's in my family. I have briefly mentioned before that I have an ancestor who served in the U. S. Civil War. I don't have a picture of him, although I wish I did. The pictures directly below are his grave and the grave of another Civil War veteran who I believe to be his younger brother.

Copyright 2004: Civil War graves of Adam and Benjamin Oswalt, Riverside Cemetery, Three Rivers, Michigan.

Both Adam and Benjamin survived the civil war. I did not just have an ancestor who served in the civil war; both of my grandfathers served during World War Two, and my great-grandfather served on the British side during World War One. I believe the picture below is of the regiment that my great-grandfather served in.

I do not know where or when this picture was taken, other than that it was during World War One. The photo was printed on a postcard. There was no handwritten note on the back of this card, but the printing on it was in French. The French suggests that the picture was probably taken in either France or Belgium. I don't have any information on what regiment he served in, but his marriage certificate who suggested that he served in France at some point.

Again, I cannot imagine what my veteran ancestors and other people's ancestors went through while they were serving. All I know is that they and those who are serving today deserve our respect and honor. So, I just want to say, "Thank you," to those who have served and our serving today. Thank you!

Update, November 11, 2007 - 11:30 p. m.: I forgot to mention that I posted a link to a news article on another one of my blogs.

Here's a Cute Quiz ...

I decided to take another personality quiz, and this time it is on handwriting. I definitely believe the subject is fitting for this blog. Here are my results:

What Your Handwriting Says About You

You are a fairly energetic person. You know how do pace yourself, and you deal well with stress. You range from very outgoing to very shy. You are a shapeshifter who is very versatile. You adapt well, and you look at things from many angles. You are balanced and grounded. You know how to get along well with others. You need a bit of space in your life, but you're not a recluse. You expect people to give you a small amount of privacy, and you respect their privacy as well. You are conservative, old fashioned, and a little stubborn. You are resistant to change. You are a good communicator. You work hard to get your ideas across effectively.

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

I can't say that the quiz fits me exactly, but it is only for fun anyway.

Speaking of the Know-Nothing Party ...

Earlier today, I read Janice's article on the Know-Nothing Party in New Hampshire, and the article sparked my memory of reading old newspaper articles that mentioned the Know-Nothing Party in the county where my ancestor's lived.

Over this past summer, I learned about Pennsylvania State University's digital collection of Pennsylvania Civil War Newspapers. One of the newspapers in the collection is for Huntingdon County, which is the county where several of my ancestors lived. As I was searching for articles that included my ancestors, I stumbled across a political petition that had my ancestor and one of his sons listed on the petition. The petition was printed in the paper before the 1856 election, and the petitioners were calling upon their fellow Whigs to not join the Know-Nothing Party. Apparently, these petitioners believed that the Know-Nothing Party went against the democratic principles of the United States. (As a side note, when James Buchanan was elected President, the newspaper rejoiced in a large ad. The paper was overjoyed that sectionalism was defeated in that election, but in a sad, ironic twist, the U. S. would erupt into civil war only five years later.)

So what exactly was happening? The Whig party collapsed as a political party by the 1856 election, and the tension between the states was increasing. Sometimes I think it is hard to imagine what people were feeling during that time period. I believe newspaper articles help open windows into what people were thinking and feeling during the time period right before the civil war.

In case you want to read other Huntingdon County newspapers, here is a link to some of the other early papers: http://www.accesspadigital.org/ajunc/ajunc.htm

___________________________________________________________________

Sources

• Huntingdon Globe,"To the Whigs of Huntingdon County:," October 3, 1855, page 3, http://digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/default/client.asp?skin=civilwar
• Huntingdon Globe, "The Whigs and the Huntingdon Journal," September 26, 1855, page 3, http://digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/default/client.asp?skin=civilwar
• Huntingdon Globe, "Pennsylvania Nobly Redeems Her Pledges!," November 5, 1856, page 3, http://digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/default/client.asp?skin=civilwar

I Am My Own - Well Not Quite ....

Earlier today, Randy Seaver posted about songs on genealogy, and one of the songs mentioned was "I am my own grandpa." Randy's post reminded me of an ancestor who participated in a situation similar to the situation described in the song and I decided to write about it.

My ancestor, Jacob Detwiler, was married twice. He first married my ancestor, Barbara Housholder/Householder on 8 December 1836 in Pennsylvania. They had at least six children who lived to adulthood. By the 1870 Census, Jacob and Barbara were living on their own, as their children had all been married by then. By October of 1871, Barbara had died. I was not able to determine when she died exactly from her grave marker, even though it appears as though there might once have been a date of death on the stone. The cemetery transcription for Riverside Cemetery suggests that she died on 25 April 1871, but since there isn't a death registration for her, I have to find some other record that would indicate when she died. I have not yet checked with the Sexton of the cemetery to see if there are any records on her burial. It may be possible that I'll find more information on her and what the cause of death was.

How do I know that Barbara was dead by October of 1871? Jacob remarried that month, to a much younger woman. On the 24th of October 1871, Jacob married Alwilda Arnold in South Bend, Indiana. Although I have not been able to find any church records that give birth dates for Jacob, Barbara or Alwilda, census records do indicate when they might have been born. Barbara was born either before or about 1810. Jacob was born about 1815, and Alwilda appears to have been born about 1850, give or take a couple of years. The most shocking instance for me about Jacob's second marriage is that Alwilda was almost the same age as Jacob's youngest daughter. In other words, Jacob was old enough to be Alwilda's father. The newspaper articles listed that both Jacob and Alwilda were residents of Three Rivers before they got married in South Bend.

I wonder, though, why they married in Indiana. I realize that the Saint Joseph River runs through Three Rivers and South Bend. It may be that Alwilda had family there, but one has to wonder how Jacob's grown children felt about his remarriage or how the community might have felt about the marriage. If Barbara did die in April of 1871, Jacob remarried within six months. To me, remarrying within six months of the death of a spouse seems too early. As far as I know, Jacob did not have any young children living in his household, and all of his children were grown by 1871. Is it possible that either Jacob's children or his neighbors were against him remarrying because his wife had been dead for only a short amount of time? Did Jacob and Alwilda get married in Indiana instead of Michigan as a result of possible disapproval? At the moment, I don't know what Jacob's faith was because he and Alwilda and several of his children were married by a Justice of Peace, so I don't know if there are any records that might indicate why he chose Indiana.

Jacob and Alwilda would have at least one son, Charles, who lived to adulthood, and they may have had another son who died at the age of one. There is a death record in the Saint Joseph County, Michigan County Clerk's office for a Casey E. Detwiler who was born in Indiana. The problem is that the mother is listed as Emma. It could be a mistake for Alwilda's name since the marriage record gave her first name as Elwilda. I have not found any other Jacob Detwiler's in the Southwestern Michigan and Northwestern Indiana area who would have been old enough to have been the child's father. It is always possible that this child is another couple's child. Whether or not Jacob and Alwilda had one or two children, the birth of Charles probably confused later descendants of his relationship to other Detwilers in the area. As I mentioned before, all of Jacob's older children were married and had children. Jacob was already a grandfather before Charles was born, and Charles' birth would automatically make him an uncle to the children of his older half-siblings. I can only wonder how confusing it might have been to be one of Jacob's grandchildren; several of Jacob's grandchildren would be older than their own uncle.

Jacob Detwiler died on 21 December 1879 in Saint Joseph County, Michigan. I have not yet found his probate file, but it is always possible that I missed it while looking for other probate files.
__________________________________________________________________

Sources

(I don't have my sources with me, but I have tried to list as much of my sources as I can remember.)

• "Married." Huntingdon Gazette, December 28, 1836, page 3, http://www.accesspadigital.org/ajunc/ajunc.htm
• Household of Jacob Detwiler. 1850 U. S. Federal Census, Walker Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. (Note Detwiler for this family is spelled Ditwiler in this census.)
• Household of Jacob Detwiler. 1860 U. S. Federal Census, Lockport Township, Saint Joseph County, Michigan. (Detwiler is spelled Detweiler in this census.)
• Household of Jacob Detwiler. 1870 U. S. Federal Census, Lockport Township, Saint Joseph County, Michigan.
• Saint Joseph County Genealogical Society, "Riverside Cemetery," in Cemeteries of Saint Joseph County, vol. 4.
• Saint Joseph County, Indiana Marriages, Saint Joseph County Clerk, book 6, page 391. (Note: Detwiler is spelled Detwilder and Alwilda's name is given is Elwilda.
• Saint Joseph Valley Register and National Union, (no date or page number. These newspaper articles and the marriage record above were kindly looked up for me at the beginning of this year.)
• Household of Alwilda Detwiler. 1880 U. S. Federal Census, Lockport Township, Saint Joseph County, Michigan.
• "Death record of Casey E. Detwiler," Saint Joseph County, Michigan death records, book one, page 59.
• "Death record of Jacob Detweler," Saint Joseph County, Michigan death records, book one, page 122. (Note: Jacob's last name is spelled Detweler in this record.)

Forgot to Mention These Articles

I forgot to mention these articles a few days ago, when I wrote about other interesting articles. The articles I forgot to mention were:

• "How Big is the Genetic Genealogy Market?"
• "The Genetic Genealogy Market, Part II"

I completely forgot to mention these articles, and I am terribly sorry for my oversight. Both of these articles are at Blaine Bettinger's The Genetic Genealogist.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've added more genealogy blogs to this blog. The blogs I added are:

• Matt Unger's Papa's Diary Project
• The Stone Gene Pool
• Now What?

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

A Picture At the Beginning of Adulthood ...

Terry Thornton posted a challenge in one of his posts for other bloggers to post pictures of themselves dressed in costumes as adults. So here is my photo:

The occasion for dressing up was my high school graduation. I'm standing in between my grandparents in this picture. This picture is the only picture that I have of my graduation. All of the other pictures were lost. This picture was taken by my digital camera and that is why the quality of the picture is so poor.

One of My Ancestor's Tombstone ...

I realize this is a random posting, but the past couple of days I've been thinking about posting one of my pictures I took of an ancestor's grave marker.

Copyright 2004. Picture of the grave of Barbara Detwiler at Riverside Cemetery in Three Rivers, Michigan taken by Jessica Oswalt.

This is the grave of my ancestor Barbara, the wife of Jacob Detwiler. As you can see, the stone is broken into two pieces. I am not sure if it was broken by accident or if it was a result of vandalism. You can't tell by just looking at this picture, but the part of the stone that is still part of the marker, an elegant inscription has eroded away to being unreadable. I did look at the grave closely and that is how I know about. I could not read it, but I wish I could have been able to, since there might have been important information on the marker. And that fungus did not make reading the stone any easier. Does anyone know if it is possible to determine what was inscribed on a tombstone?

Some Articles I Want to Mention...

I've noticed several articles so far this week that I thought were interesting or important. The articles that I chose were:

• "Be Careful with Indexes in Ancestry" by Randy Seaver. I thought Randy made some important points in his article.
• "Ancient Recordings Now Available In Digital Form" by Craig Manson. Craig has a link to where people on listen to early recordings on the internet. I think it's neat that people have access to listen to these recordings. especially from a historical perspective. Thanks Craig for drawing attention to this collection.

I realize that I have only mentioned two articles, and if I have missed any other articles, please feel free to let me know.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Seven

Originally, I planned to write about this topic for column six, but I changed my mind.

Whenever I hear about brick walls, I hear more about people not being able to move on to the next generation, but I usually don't hear about other possible types of brick walls. Has anyone ever considered the lack of time to do research as a brick wall? I know that there has been at least one book written about how to do genealogy on a tight schedule, but other than that, I don't hear much about a tight schedule being a brick wall. I suppose it is not considered a brick wall because one can still find records to do research on his or her ancestors, but when I think about the impact of one's schedule on research, I believe a lack of time is a brick wall. Of course, brick wall might not be the best term or way to describe this problem.

For me, the lack of time hampers my ability to do research. This is what I consider my brick wall at the moment. Of course, I am in school and schoolwork comes first, but when I do have the time to do research, I usually am able to do so only during school breaks. (I realize that for those who are working at a job, that this situation applies as well.) I guess, for me, the most frustrating part of doing research is that I either don't have the time to research or go to the places where my ancestors lived. (Can you tell I'm addicted to genealogy?)

If I go somewhere to do research, I feel as though I never have enough time to look up all the records I want to, but I am sure that is the case for most of us. I guess one way to resolve this issue is to bring along another person (ie., family member) to help with the research. (Of course, there can be problems with this situation, but I won't go into that now.)

I guess I am fortunate that I have family members who are willing to help me with look for information, and thereby allow me to be able to look at more records than I would be able to on my own. So, I guess I am wondering how many times do we stop to think about and be thankful for the time that we do have for researching and for those who are willing to help us? (If I appear to be just rambling, I'm sorry. I've been having trouble, lately coming up with ideas to write about for this column.)

So what do you think? I'd love to hear what you think.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I have added several genealogy blogs today. The blogs added are:

• Colleen's The Oracle of OmcHodoy
• Lisa's 100 Years in America
• Lisa's A Light that Shines Again
• Lisa's Small-leaved Shamrock
• Taneya's Genealogy Blog

I also have updated Renee Zamora's Genealogy Blog, so that the URL now reflects her Blogger blog. You can find these and other blogs on the lower left side of the blog. Any suggestions for other genealogy or history blogs are welcome.

Blog Changes

I've been playing around earlier today with my blog's image. I really don't know how to personalize my blog, so I've decided to make due with this purple rectangle.

Interesting ....

I just learned about this yesterday from one of the yahoo genealogy groups that I am member of, and I thought I would share this on my blog.

Ancestry.com is apparently offering people free time for searching Ancestry's databases in return for those people's transcription of records. You can read more about here: http://www.ancestry.com/home/partner/partner.htm

I wonder if participating in this would be worthwhile. It seems like it might be beneficial ....

Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The Carnival of Genealogy has been posted at The Genetic Genealogist. The topic for the next carnival is a carousel. Click here to go to the carnival.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Six

Originally I was planning to write about a different topic, but I decided to change my mind at the last minute. I want to mention, though, that I am not an expert in computers or computer technology.

How does one protect his or her genealogy? If you have a family tree software, I would seriously consider putting the program and files on a password-protected flash drive (also known as a jump drive or ubs drive), if the program allows you to do so. This is what I do with my genealogy (of course, I have paper copies to back me up). Why?

Flash drives are very portable, and files can be easily updated or edited. Burning the information to a CD, though, is different (at least in my experience). I discovered that after I burned a file to a CD, I could only open and read the file. I could not change or edit the information on the CD unless I re-burned the updated information on that read/write CD. So, needless to say, I found that using a flash drive was much more flexible. My genealogy information, as I stated before, is on a flash drive, but it is on one that has password on it. If I lost my flash drive, it would be more difficult for someone to access that information. Flash drives that have password protection, usually have the software for creating a password in it. All a person has to do is insert the flash drive into a ubs hub, and install the drive. If you choose to do this, I would consider getting a flash drive that has at least 256 MB of memory, so that you have enough memory for the software program and files, such as picture or chart files.

Of course, you could keep your genealogy on a computer that isn't connected to the internet, and that would prevent someone over the internet from hacking into that information. If you want to be able to have your notes or research with you, it would be much easier for one to carry a flash drive than to carry a computer, that is, if there are computers available to look at your information. Of course, you could take papers with you, but there is a risk that you could lose those papers (and anything, like a flash drive). With a flash drive, you can easily put on a key chain and where it around your neck, so that you don't lose the drive.

Again, I just want to state that I'm not an expert in computers. I am only suggesting ways that might help other people protect their research. Does anyone agree with me or have anything to add? Any comments are welcome.

New Poll Created!

I have just created a new poll. The question for this poll is: Where in Central Europe are your ancestors from? The choices for this poll are:

• Germany
• Austria
• Switzerland
• Hungary
• Czech Republic
• Luxembourg
• Slovakia
• Liechtenstein

You can choose more than one category when you vote.

Poll Results

The poll is now closed. The question for this poll was: "Where in Western Europe are your ancestors from?" Four people voted, and the results are:

• Belgium - 0 votes
• The Netherlands - 3 votes
• France - 2 votes
• British Isles - 3 votes

Thank you to those all of those who have participated in this poll. Keep an eye out for future polls.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I have added two more genealogy blogs today. Those blogs are:

• Lee Anders' The I Seek Dead People Blog
• Jim Panttaja's Genealogy Research

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

More History Blogs

Today I have added two more history blogs. The blogs added are:

• Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century
• WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier

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

My Halloween Personality ...

I said I wasn't going to post until Saturday, but I couldn't resist. Randy Seaver posted on his blog a challenge to take a personality quiz, and here is my personality:

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

You're a friendly person, but not the life of the party. You like making someone else's day - and you'll dress up if you think of a really fun costume. You often feel invisible when you're in public. And it's a shame, because you're really quite a character. Your inner child is open minded, playful, and adventurous. You fear those closest to you finding out who you really are. You dread people discovering your secrets. You're logical, rational, and not easily effected. Not a lot scares you... especially when it comes to the paranormal. You are a total overachiever and workaholic. You're the type of person who plans their elaborate Halloween costume weeks in advance.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

Interesting Blog Articles Posted Recently

Several interesting genealogy articles have been posted over the last week or so, and I thought I would post some of the articles that I thought were interesting. The articles are:

• "More Online Michigan Resources - Clarke Historical Library" This article was posted today, but for those of us who have links to Michigan, this would be an article worth reading.


• "Primary Records are NOT Always Accurate" This article is posted at Olive Tree Genealogy Blog, and I believe there important points that should be taken in consideration.


• "Searching Siblings in Family Tree Research" Again this is another article from the blog above.


• "Why Review Old Genealogy Research?" Again this is another article from the blog above.


• "The Lithuanian State Historical Archives" This article was posted on Steve Danko's blog. I chose this article primarily because information on doing genealogy research in Eastern European countries is limited and also because I may have had ancestors that were from Lithuania when it was still a part of Imperial Russia.
• "Concerns in FamilySearch/NARA Partnership" I thought this article was interesting in light of the recent news on these two.

If anyone believes I have missed any articles please feel free to leave a comment. On a side note, I am not planning to post anything before Saturday because I am busy with schoolwork.

Another Legal Column Posted!

Another legal column has been posted on Craig Manson's blog. You can read it here. This time, the column has the answer to the quiz column that was posted a few days ago.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

As of yesterday, I have added several more genealogy blogs to the list. The blogs added are:

• Anna Dalhaimer Bartkowski's Value Meals on the Volga
• Brenda Joyce Jerome's Western Kentucky Genealogy
• FGS Conference Blog
• Terry Snyder's Desktop Genealogist
• Your Genealogy Search

You can find these blogs and more on the lower left hand of this page. Any suggestions for other history and genealogy blogs are welcome.

Congrats!

I just want to say, "Congrats!" to Jasia. She has been blogging on her Creative Gene blog for two years now and she has posted over 500 articles. That is quite impressive. So, Congratulations Jasia!

Not Sure if DNA testing would help me ...

Before I begin with my question, I just want to say that I have not exhausted all of the records available to find an answer to my question. At the moment, I haven't been able to do very much research on this mysterious ancestor. Of course, of the little information I have found so far, the information about the year born and possible parents are conflicting.

Of course, I am wondering how feasible is DNA testing would be in determining the parents of my ancestor. My ancestor and his possible parents have been dead for several decades, but some of my ancestor's descendants are still alive. I do not know if there any male descendants of the possible father that are still alive. Would a y-DNA test be feasible to determine a possible paternal ancestor going back two or more generations?

Please forgive me if my question is unclear.

Some Other Articles ...

I just did a little surfing amongst the genealogy blogs, and I noticed some more interesting genealogy blogs. The articles that caught my interest are:

• "Law and Genealogy - A Quiz" on Craig Manson's blog
• "Are You Prepared? I'm Not." on Becky Wiseman's blog
• "Add Copyright Notice To Citation" on FootnoteMaven's blog

These articles were posted either today or yesterday, and they are just a few of the genealogy articles out there. I just picked a few that I thought might be of interest to others.

Genealogy News

I've noticed in the past couple of days that there have been some major announcements on genealogy news, and so, I decided to provide links to articles on topics.

To read about the announcement on Civil War Widow's Pensions, check out these articles:

• "National Archives and Genealogical Society of Utah Announce Digitizing Partnership" at Dear Myrtle's Blog
• "Civil War Widow's Pension Files to be Digitized" at Diane Haddad's Genealogy Insider Blog

To read about the announcement on the opening of Pre-1946 military records, check out these articles:

• "National Personnel Records Center Opens more than Six Million New Military Personnel Files" at Dear Myrtle's Blog
• "Dear Myrtle announces NARA Six Million New Military Records Before 1946" at Richard Hillenbrand's Upstate NY Genealogy Notes Blog

I have not included any links on the announcement of Ancestry.com's and the New England Historic Genealogical Society primarily because many other bloggers have already commented on this announcement. Either way, this has been a busy week so far for genealogy news, and as you can see, I haven't been able to keep up.

Another legal column posted

Another legal column has been posted on Craig Manson's blog. You can read it here.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Five

Why is history important? To me, history is an important subject to study. I realize that is an understatement since I am majoring in history. On the other hand, though, I can't help but notice articles that mention the lack of knowledge of U. S. history by the peers of my generation, and I am disturbed by these reports.

And why should I care? I care not just because I might go into an occupation that deals with history but also because I am worried about whether the truth will be preserved. I'm worried about the preservation of the truth not just because people are forgetting their past, but also I notice that there are people who twist the facts to make it fit their political views. Politically, I am a conservative, but I'll admit, this occurs on both sides of the political spectrum. (Sorry. I didn't want to bring politics into this blog. I have another blog where I post my political beliefs, so I try to keep politics and genealogy as separate as much as I can.) I realize there are parts of U. S. history that are not pleasant, but those parts still have to be told. I want to the truth to be told, so that future generations won't make the same mistakes that have been made in the past. And I want the truth to be told because textbooks don't always include both sides of the story. Many times, historical events are portrayed in history textbooks in a simplified matter when in reality, the events were more complicated than portrayed. In case anyone is wondering, I mainly notice this in regards to with the more recent past. (Holocaust denial would fall into this category, even though most teachers teach that the Holocaust did occur. I still worry because someone in the future might be able to get away with teaching denial as fact in the future, and if the lack knowledge of history continues to occur in future generations, that might happen.) Among the twists that I have noticed:

• Apollo 11's landing on the moon. There are people who argue that this did not happen. (I'm serious. I had a high school teacher who believed this.)
• The Great Depression and FDR's New Deal. There are people who believe that the New Deal pulled us out of the Great Depression, when it was World War Two that actually finally pulled the U. S. out of it. (I've actually had a teacher and a high school student tell me it was FDR's policies, while I have read articles - and spoke to my grandparents - that stated that it was World War Two that pulled the economy out of the depression.)
• And some of the events of the last twenty or thirty years of U. S. history have been distorted in books according to the author's political bias.

When I speak of distortions of history, I am not talking about information that comes to light through the declassification of documents. I do not consider reanalyzing a historical event in the light of newly released documents a distortion of history. What I consider a distortion of history is when the the facts are incorrectly portrayed or when the facts presented are so slanted that only one side of history is presented. (This is where the political bias usually shines through.) There is almost always more than one perception of a historical event. Teaching history as just a bunch of facts or terms ignores the reality of history's complexity. (When it comes to the Holocaust, though, the evidence and facts do not support a holocaust denier's perspective. I am only talking about historical events where the general events are agreed upon by both sides.) Unfortunately, when it comes to how history is taught in public schools, the idea that there are other perceptions or interpretations of the same facts does not get mentioned. (Again, I notice this with the more recent history.) Historical controversies rarely get mentioned, and I think this is one of the reasons why history is viewed as dry and boring. Most people don't know that there are controversies unless they read about an event on their own. Or take a college history course that goes into depth on a certain era or topic. (The assassination of JFK, of course, is an exception.)

Of course, why should I worry about the bias of a teacher or author of a history book? I worry because at times the bias is taught as fact instead of the facts and people do not always spend the time to make sure that the facts are correct. I'm also worried because I notice many inaccuracies on the internet. I'm afraid that people will read these distortions and accept them as fact. I think there are times when people forget that not everything is true on the internet. ( I include Wikipedia in this category because anyone can post or edit an entry if they do not like what is posted.) When it comes to biases or distortions in history, there are people that want to make everyone feel guilty for what has happened in the past. There events that we should be ashamed of and acknowledge, but I don't believe that we should carry around a baggage of guilt for what has happened. We cannot change what has happened; all we can do is to insure that people are treated fairly and that the same mistakes are not repeated. History is to be studied to ensure that mistakes made in the past are not repeated.

So what do you think? I realize that I've touched upon a controversial topic and that not everyone will agree with me. Again, I apologize for letting my political bias seep into this column. As always, you can leave a comment.

New Poll Created!

I have posted a new poll to the blog. The question for this poll is "Where in Western Europe did your ancestors come from?" The choices are:

• Belgium
• France
• The Netherlands
• British Isles

You can choose more than one choice. I did not include Spain or Portugal in this poll even these countries could be considered part of Western Europe. I plan to include these two countries in the Southern Europe poll. I will also post a later poll that goes into more detail for the British Isles in a later poll.

A Glimpse of Autumn ...

I took some pictures earlier today, and this photo was one of them. You can view some my other pictures here. I did take some pictures a couple weeks ago, but they did not come out as well. You can view those pictures here.

Poll Results

The poll has official closed, and the results are in. The question of the poll was, "What Area of Europe Did Your Ancestors Come From?" A total of twelve votes were cast. The results are:

• Western - 9 votes
• Central - 3 votes
• Eastern/Russia - 2 votes
• Southern - 1 vote

To those that participated in this poll, thank you for participating.

Two More Legal Posts Posted

Craig Manson has posted two more legal lesson posts on his blog. You can read the one posted yesterday here and the one posted today here.

Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The latest edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has just been posted. You can find it here. The next topic is on using DNA to solve genealogy mysteries. Enjoy!

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've added a few more blogs today. The blogs added are:

• Amy Kane's Atlantic Ave.
• Barbara Ainscough's Ainscough Family History - Mawdesley
• GeneaSofts

You can find these and other blogs on the lower left hand of this blog. Any suggestions for other genealogy and history blogs.

Another Law Column Posted

Craig Manson posted another law column last night. You can read it here.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've added several more genealogy blogs to the list today. These blogs are from Lynn Turner, and the blogs added are:

• Bradley D. Marchant's The Ancient Parish of Giggleswick
• Chelsea's Genealogy
• Dayna Fosson's Italian Genealogy
• Heather's Genealogy Joys
• Hendricks Family Searcher
• JaNean Frandsen's Genealogy Buzz
• Karina Morales' La Familia de Karina Eunice Morales Ovalle
• Malese's School Life
• Mary Beth Tolman's What's Your Line?
• My Scandinavian Family History
• Terry Jenson's West Carrol Parish, Louisiana Genealogy

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

You Know You Are a Michigander When ...

I noticed earlier today that Moultrie Creek had posted "You Know you're a Floridian if ..." a few days ago, and died laughing while reading the post. So, in light of that post, I felt I had to create my own list about Michigan.

You know you are a Michigander when ...

• You point on your hand to show where your hometown is.
• You are unfazed by the sudden change in weather or the inaccuracy of the weatherman's weather report.
• You refer to Windsor, Ontario as a sister city.
• You refer to the driving seasons as "Construction" and "Winter."
• You call the day before Halloween, Devil's Night.
• You call the people who live in the Upper Peninsula, "Youppers."
• UP means the Upper Peninsula.
• You visit another state and consider the car ahead of you, going the speed limit, too slow.
• You continue to drive in bad weather after all the other cars pull over.
• You know how to drive in bad weather.
• You think nothing of driving on a road covered by a couple of inches of snow.
• You think nothing of driving at 80 m.p.h. or more on the freeway.
• You are not surprised by a temperature drop of 4o degrees from the day before.
• You consider your winter warm when you have had very little snow.
• You associate the first couple of weeks in November with deer hunting.
• You hear, "Tri-County," and think Metro-Detroit.
• You take it for granted that the Lions will lose.
• You estimate the distance between two locations in minutes.
• You consider Hockeytown another name for Detroit.
• You refer to Detroit as "Motown."
• You call coke and Pepsi, "pop."
• You still go to school even though it snowed the night before.
• You are used to driving on bad roads.
• You know how to play euchre.
• You expect to drive the same distance to a place in the U. P. as you would in driving to Tennessee.
• You hear the term, "Inland Lake," but do not associate the Great Lakes with that term.
• You can go north or east and end up in Canada.
• You are used to cold weather.

This is all that I can think of when it comes to Michigan. I hope you found this funny. Any other additions are welcome. Enjoy.

Cemetery Thoughts ...

I have to admit; I'm not a fan of visiting cemeteries. I find cemeteries a little creepy, but I go to cemeteries because there might be some information on the tombstones of my ancestors or in the sexton's records. (And, to state the obvious, find out where my ancestors are buried.)

I think the main reason why I find cemeteries creepy - and this does not include national cemeteries like Arlington or Gettysburg - i s probably because the pervasiveness of death. I'm young, and I do not think about death very much. The unearthly stillness in a cemetery can be unnerving. The biggest difference between national cemeteries and the rural or local cemeteries is that the national cemeteries are, for me, a historical place and as such, there are always large groups of people walking around. It is less intimidating to walk around a cemetery when there are many people walking around or when one is visiting a cemetery because of the history that surrounds the place. Visiting a rural or local cemetery is, for me, a completely different experience than visiting a national cemetery.

Of course, I have never gone into a cemetery alone. (Having other people with when you go to a cemetery is good idea for safety reasons besides the other reason of helping to keep the fear away.) I have always visited a cemetery with family members, primarily with my grandparents and my brother. Most of the cemeteries I have visited are cemeteries where my ancestors and their siblings are buried, and most of those cemeteries are rural cemeteries in Michigan. Many of them have been alongside a two-lane road and the area is almost completely deserted (ie., few cars passing by on the road or no other living people in the cemetery.) Of course, at the same time, these cemeteries can be interesting as to the variety of the tombstones. If I could forget that the dead people are buried in cemeteries, I could easily mistake cemeteries for parks with magnificent stone sculptures. It would work, but only if I didn't notice the pervasive scent of decay. (I'm serious about this. It smells sweet but repugnant at the same time.) To be honest, I'm not exactly thinking this the whole time I'm in the cemetery. These thoughts are more subconscious, in the back of my mind, and they only last for few seconds or minutes. They go away only because I my main concern is to find where my ancestor is buried, take a picture (or pictures) and write down any information that I find, including where the grave is located. (As you can imagine, I want to get my research done as quickly as I can.)

So, what experiences have I had? It may sound like I've had a bad experience from what I have written up above, but I really haven't had any bad experiences (other than wasting time). I just have a minor phobia of cemeteries. A few of my experiences:

• A literal wild goose chase in searching for the burial site of my great-great-grandfather. (I won't write about that in this post as this story is a post in its self. Someday, I'll post about it in the future.)
• The accidental discovery of an ancestor's grave while searching for the graves of other ancestors. (I found those graves too, but I wasn't expecting to find my other ancestor's grave as well.)
• And the mistake I made the first time I went to do research in Saint Joseph County, Michigan. (It is much easier to go to the library first, find the transcriptions, and then go visit the cemetery. I don't think I need to say anymore about that one.)

I realize that these are not exactly thrilling experiences. These are just the more memorable experiences I have had in the past four years of doing genealogy. I will have to write on my other experiences on other posts otherwise this post will be extremely long.

So, what do you think about cemeteries? As always, you are more than welcome to leave a comment.

One Puzzle Piece I Would Like to Solve

I have only done research on my family history for the past four years, but I already have a couple of minor mysteries that I want to resolve.

One of those mysteries deals with one of my Stout ancestors and whether or not he went to California with his two older brothers. Joseph and Susannah Stout had seven children: William, Reuben, Peter, Edward, Margaret Ann, Sarah Ann and Alexander (based upon Reuben's biography and the censuses of 1850 and 1860). According to Reuben Stout's biography, Reuben and his brother William went to California in the mid-1850s. All that Reuben Stout's biography says about that trip is that he engaged in mining (which type, I'm not sure) and was successful. In addition, Reuben's biography mentions that his brother, William, was thirty-two when he died in California. Unfortunately, the biography does not give a date or place of death and neither states where Reuben engaged in mining. Although, I don't know exactly when William died, I'm guessing that he died sometime between 1860 and 1863 based upon his age in the 1850 census. In the 1850 census, William's age was given as twenty years old.

When I first read Reuben's biography, I believed that only Reuben and William went since they were not with the rest of the family in the 1860 Census. Peter, of course was listed as living at home with his parents, so I assumed that he had stayed in Michigan, that is until I started to do research in Saint Joseph County, Michigan's deed records. As I was going through the grantor and grantee indexes to the deeds (both grantors and grantees were listed in the same book index for that time period, which made looking for deeds even more difficult), I came across a deed made between a Charles A. Lawrence and Peter Stout. Obviously, it was not surprising to me that the land Peter Stout was buying was in Saint Joseph County; what was surprising to me, was that the deed had been written out in Nevada County, California and sent to the Saint Joseph County's Recorder Office. In addition, Peter Stout was listed as a resident of Orleans Flat, Nevada County, California. Up until that point, I had no idea that Peter might have gone to California or where the Stout brothers might have done mining in California. I forget when exactly the deed was created because I don't have it in front of me, but I do remember it being created somewhere between 1857 and 1859, since I was impressed by how close the time was to the 1860 Census.

Needless to say, this piece of information has left me in a little bit of a quandary, since Peter was back in Michigan by 1860 and the deed, as I mentioned before, was created only within a couple of years before the census. This has left me wondering: did my ancestor, Peter, go to California with his brothers? I did check the 1860 census to see if there were other Peter Stouts living; however, none of the Peter Stouts listed in the 1860 census resided close enough to California to rule out the possibility that my ancestor was the one who bought the land. At the moment, I believe that the Peter Stout on the deed is my ancestor since the deed was dealing with a parcel of land that was in the same area roughly where other family members lived. Other than that deed, I do not have any further proof that my ancestor was in California. His brother's biography does not mention who exactly went to California, other than to state that William died somewhere in California.

So far, what I have written about seems fairly straight-forward; however, there are some problems with a few of my sources that makes this mystery a little bit more complicated.

The first source that I have problems with is Reuben's biography. Many of the dates in his biography, especially the deaths of his parents, are incorrect when checked against sources that are more contemporary to the dates. For example, Joseph Stout's probate packet, his and Susannah's death records and the joint tombstone for Joseph and Susannah all confirm that both Joseph and Susannah died later than published in Reuben's biography. So, the problem for me is that I don't know how much I should believe Reuben's account. There is information in his biography that I have yet not confirmed or unconfirmed , but many of the dates in the biography do not add up. In addition, Reuben's biography incorrectly state when his father bought his land and the location of the land.

The second source I have problems with is the 1860 census. The problem that I have is that I have not been able to find William or Reuben in California or in the 1860 census. If I had been able to find either one of them, I would have a better idea of where to look for records in California. So far, I only have a deed that suggests a possible location and in my eyes, this information is weak at best.

A third source that I have problems is with two deeds that deal with land in Saint Joseph County, Michigan. I have already mentioned about the deed made out in California, but in 1864, Peter Stout sold a parcel of land that was in Saint Joseph County. At first it appears as though the two deeds are related, and they might be, except that the locations for the parcel are do not match with the older deed. It is very possible that the California office wrote down the lot number incorrectly and that this is the same lot of parcel; however, if this deed is for another parcel of land, I have not yet found a deed where Peter Stout bought this land. At the risk of appearing stupid, I definitely need to go back to the Saint Joseph County, Michigan's Recorder of Deeds office and go through the deeds again.

I have not yet done research into California records primarily because I'm not familiar with California records for this time period. I'm familiar with Michigan records for this time period, but in California, I don't know what type of records were made during the Gold Rush Era or around it, since the events in this mystery occur around that time. In addition, I don't know if the Stout brothers travelled overland or by boat to California. If they travelled overland, would any records exist as to whether or not lists were kept of those who came into California from the east?

While I was writing this post, several questions came to my mind. If Reuben was doing so well at mining in California, why did he return to Michigan? Did he leave California as a result of his brother's death. When and how did William die? Did William die in a mining accident? Was William involved in mining, and was he successful as well? I suspect I will find the answers to some of the questions as I do research into California records.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I need to look? Any advice or ideas is welcome. Thanks.
___________________________________________________________________

Sources

(Unfortunately, I don't have my sources with me at the moment, but I'll try to put down as much information as I can remember about my sources. I can't guarantee the complete accuracy because my sources are at home and not up at school with me.)

1. Lockport Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan, 1850 U. S. Federal Census
   
   
2. Florence Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan, 1860 U. S. Federal Census
   


3. "Reuben Stout," Portrait and Biographical Album of Saint Joseph County, Michigan. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1889), 347-348.



4. Probate Packet of Joseph Stout, Saint Joseph County, Michigan Probate Office



5. Deed record of Charles A. Lawrence to Peter Stout, Saint Joseph County, Michigan Recorder of Deeds Office.



6. Deed of Peter Stout selling a parcel of land, about 1864, Saint Joseph County, Michigan Recorder of Deeds Office.


7. Tombstone of Joseph and Susannah Stout, Calhoun Cemetery, Florence Township, Saint Joseph County, Michigan.


8. Death registrations of Joseph and Susannah Stout, Saint Joseph County, Michigan, Book One, page 85.

A Ghoulish Post ...

I noticed earlier today that Olive Tree Genealogy had posted information on the discovery of a medieval cemetery. I thought I would post a link to this post because it fits very well with this time of the year, since Halloween is only a couple of weeks away. You can read the post here.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Four

"How did you get involved in genealogy?" I have been asked that question a couple of times. The short and simple answer would be that I had an interest in history and that led to wanting to find out the history of my family; however, over the past several days, I have reflected upon how I got into genealogy, and I realized that the full answer to that question was more much complex than the answer I usually give to other people.

Ever since I was a young child, I had an interest in history. At the age of five, I knew that I had grandfathers who were World War Two veterans. How did I know? My parents told me, even though I don't remember now exactly when they told me so. In addition, my grandfather began to tell me stories about our family's history around the time I was five. My grandparents also had a family tree that they showed to me as a young child. In addition I knew that my grandpa was a history buff. Of course I highly doubt that my grandparents knew that this exposure would have an impact on me, but either way, I believe that hearing stories about my family unconsciously influenced my interest in history.

I don't remember now if the history lessons in elementary school also added to my interest in history because I only remember history lessons being taught in class from the fifth grade and up. Before the fifth grade, I think the lessons were more social studies than history. Either way, I think the elementary lessons only had a small influence over me because by the time I entered the fifth grade, I was already reading about history on my own, and I know that my own personal reading had more of an influence on whether I would find history interesting or not. One the first eras of history that I had an interest in as a child was in World War Two, and that was probably as a result of knowing that my grandfathers had served in that war. At the same time, though, this interest wasn't consciously on my mind. What I mean is that, I wasn't actively thinking about the stories I heard when I decided to open a textbook and read the few paragraphs or pages on a historical topic. It was much more subtle.

Well, that is probably the most in depth reason that I have ever given on how I became interested in history and genealogy. How about you? How did you get interested in genealogy? I would love to hear other people's stories. Please feel free to either respond by a comment or a post on your blog. I look forward to hearing what others have to say.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I have added a few more genealogy blogs to the blog. The blogs added are:

• Miriam's AnceStories2
• Family Tree's Blog
• Sue's Sues Genealogy

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

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've just added a few more genealogy blogs today. The blogs added are:

• Boisvert History
• Echo Hill Ancestors
• Lynn Turner's Hispanic Genealogy

You can find these and other blogs on the lower left hand of this page. Any suggestions for other genealogy and history blogs are welcome.

Haven't Posted In a While, and Articles of Note ...

I haven't posted in a few days because I've been busy mostly with schoolwork. It's midterm time at our school, so as you can imagine, my mind is focused on school.

On another note, there have been a few blog posts that I want to mention. First off, I want to thank Terry Thornton for adding me to his H. O. G. S. blogger. It is an honor, and you can read his post here. I also want to mention his article, "Don't Miss These...," and you can read it here. Jasia wrote a response to my third column, and you can read her post here. And last but not least, I want to mention that Craig Manson will be posting another legal post on his blog. You can read his post here.