1st Edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival Posted!

The first edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival has been posted! You can read the edition here. The topic for the next edition is:

"My Famous Canadian Ancestor". Was your ancestor a famous Canadian hockey player, actor or politician? Tell us about famous Canadians in your family. Don't have a famous Canadian ancestor in your family tree? Not to worry; choose a famous Canadian you admire and share why you would like to have this person as your ancestor.
Deadline for submissions is December 7, 2008."

Enjoy!

I've Been Tagged Again! Well, Not Exactly ...

A couple days ago, I noticed through Technorati's list of blogs, that had linked to my blog or a post, that Gray Roots Are Showing tagged me for the I Love Your Blog Award. As you may remember, I did participate in this meme before, except that, technically speaking, I really wasn't tagged at that time. Well, now I am officially tagged, and I just want to say thank you to Gray Roots for tagging me.

So, here are the rules again:

1. Give this award to seven other blogs (with links).
2. Let the bloggers you chose know that you have picked them.
3. Link back to the person who gave you this award.

So, who will I pick this time? This time, I think I'll give this award to genealogy blogs are that are not as well known. So, here are my choices:

• Fermazin Family Genealogy
• Milwaukee Germans
• Scottish Genealogy News and Events
• Polish-American Genealogy Research
• In Deeds
• All My Ancestors
• Hispanic Genealogy

Well, those are my seven choices (again). Enjoy!

My German Ancestors: Naming Patterns and Odd Names ...

Even though I know I have German ancestors, I still have several that I did not know much about when it comes to parents and siblings. With some ancestors, I can make a guess as to naming patterns, but with others I cannot.

One thing that I have noticed with some of my German ancestors is that they had a middle name or more than one given name. I forget now where I read this, but this was supposedly typical of German immigrants to the United States and possibly in Germany. (My memory is failing me on this one.) And then, on top of that, they might either go by one of those names in other documents. Now, I realize this does not sound so bad, but on top of this, I discovered that I had ancestors who had three or more given names. And to make matters worse, one of those ancestors apparently was known by either one or two of his given names. (At least that is how it appears to me at the moment.) Of course, with this ancestor, he apparently stuck with using the last two of his given names, but his children apparently did not follow that custom. It appears that they just chose to go by their first given name. Again, this is only what I have noticed for the German ancestors that I have done some research on. It could be that this one family is an oddity, but I guess I should not rely too much on generalizations.

As for names, many of my German ancestors and their siblings appear to have names that were commonly used in Germany. Of course, some of those names I might find odd, but then, that is probably because I live in American culture and not German culture. And then, there are my German ancestors who came from the Russian Empire, of whom I cannot make too many generalizations only because I know more about their lives and families in the United States. As for odd given names of my German ancestors, I think I'll start with my Russian-German ancestors.

As you may remember, I wrote about Anton and Caroline, my German ancestors from the Russian Empire. Anton and Caroline, along with Anton's siblings that came to the U. S., had several children. Among the names that they chose in common with Anton's siblings' children were August, Emma, Anna, Bertha, John, and Arthur. Anton was the only one among his brothers that did not name a son after him (as far as I know). Out of the above names mentioned, the ones I find unusual are August, Anton and Arthur. August and Anton only seem unusual to me because I live in an area where those names are uncommon. I realize Arthur is not unusual name, but since this family came from the Russian Empire, it is not a name that I would expect people from that area to give to their child. (Of course, I should state that the children given this name were born in the United States, so this might be a case of the families wanting or trying to assimilate into the American culture.)

As for my other German ancestors, most of the names given to their children are names that I would expect to find in a German culture. Of course, I have not yet researched all of my German ancestors, so this situation could easily change.

I Should Play That Instrument? I Don't Think So ...

I first noticed this quiz when I saw that Lori had taken this quiz yesterday, and today, I noticed that Terry had also taken the quiz. So, I figured I might as well take the quiz, and here are my results:

You Should Play the Harp

You are a sensitive soul, with a great admiration for beauty. You definitely have what it takes to make beautiful music, but most instruments are too harsh for you. You are subtle, shy, and even a bit spoiled. You're very picky about most aspects of your life. It's just your style to play an eccentric, hard to transport instrument like the harp that few people consider. Overall, you have the relaxed demeanor of a leisurely upper class person, and your music would reflect that. Your calm yet soulful harp playing would be sure to help people forget their troubles for a while. Your dominant personality characteristic: your zen-ness Your secondary personality characteristic: your quiet independence

What Musical Instrument Should You Play?

I should play the harp, or so this quiz says. Yeah right. I like playing the piano, and I prefer to keep it that way. (He, he.) I guess this just goes to show you that you can't always take these fun quizzes too seriously.

23rd Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted!

The 23rd Shades of the Departed guest column has been posted! The author of this week's column is Brett Payne, and you can read the article here. Enjoy!

Carnival Submission Deadlines Reminder ...

I just want to remind everyone of some Carnival submission deadlines that are coming up in the next few days. Three carnivals have submission deadlines within the next few days, and those carnivals are:

• Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy - The topic is on unusual given names, and articles are due by September 21. You can submit your article here.
• Canadian Genealogy Carnival - The topic is on my ancestor was Canadian, and the articles are due by September 21. You can submit your article here.
• Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture - The topic is on what you will do to either find out more about your Irish ancestors or if you have learned something about Ireland or Irish culture. Articles are due by September 22, and you can submit your articles here.

The deadlines for these carnivals are all due next week, in just a few days.

56th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 56th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted, and since this edition is quite large, it has been split up into two parts. You can read Part One here and Part Two here. The topic for the next edition will be on:

"I read it in the news! Newspapers can be a wonderful source of family history information. Share some aspect about your family history that you learned about in a newspaper. Articles, advertisements, obituaries, classified ads, photos... all are fair game if they appeared in a newspaper. What did you learn about your family from this information? Was the information accurate? How did you learn about this information... online search? Perusing old newspapers? A clipping saved by a relative? Fill us in on your family scoops... who in your family was in the news? The deadline for submissions is October 1st. The next edition will be hosted at the Creative Gene blog.

"To All COG Participants: Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Introductions for your articles will not be provided for you due to the volume of articles submitted. Thank you!"

Enjoy!

5th Edition of the Smile For The Carmera Carnival Posted!

The fifth edition of the Smile For the Camera Carnival has been posted! You can read the edition here, and the topic for the next carnival is:

"Funny Bone. Show us that picture that never fails to bring a smile to your face! An amusing incident, a funny face, an unusual situation. Share!Choose a photograph of an ancestor, relative, yourself, or an orphan photograph that tickles your Funny Bone and bring it to the carnival. Admission is free with every photograph!"

Enjoy!

10 Essential Genealogy Books That I Have Or Wish I Have

For this carnival edition, we have to list ten genealogy books that we believe are essential to doing genealogy research, where it is how to do genealogy or for research in a specific location. A few of the books in my list below are books that I own; however, several of the books listed are books that I wish I owned. So, here is my list of the essential ten:

Books That I Own

• Unpuzzling Your Past by Emily Anne Croom - The book is a general how-to-do genealogy in the United States book. This book is the very first book that I read on how to do genealogy, and I still believe it is an excellent book for beginning genealogists to read. I will still occasionally go back to the book to get ideas for possible records to research. The edition I bought was the third edition, and it included a workbook with the book. (I happened to buy it at a bargain price.) Even though some of the information on ordering records from the NARA might be out of date, I still believe the book is very useful. Besides, one can find more up-to-date information on the internet.
• In Search of Your British & Irish Roots: A Complete Guide to Tracing Your English, Welsh, Scottish & Irish Ancestors by Angus Baxter - At least I think I have an edition of this book, or a modified version of it. The edition I have is not the fourth edition. My edition has lots of pictures, large print, and comes to be about 200 something pages long. (Either way, it was on sale, so I bought it.) This book is a how-to-do genealogy research in the United Kingdom, and it gives an overview of the different types of records a person could use to trace his or her ancestry. It is a good reference guide for the genealogist who is being to do research in the United Kingdom.
• A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Germanic Ancestors by Chris Anderson and Ernest Thode - Again, I think this is another how-to-do research on German ancestors for those who are just beginning to do research on their German ancestors. Since I am just starting to get into German research, I have found this book to be very helpful, especially when it comes to being able to decipher German handwriting.
• Family Tree Resource Book For Genealogists: The Essential Guide to American County and Town Sources by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack - I realize that most of the information in this book could be found on the internet, but I still think it is an essential book for genealogists to have. Personally, I think it is nice to have a resource where I could look up information without having to get on the internet, and I also think it is nice that the book gives web addresses for different sites, so that I don't have to go searching through page after page of results for the site I want.
• Your Guide to Cemetery Research by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack - As you can tell from the book's title, this book is a how-to-do research in a cemetery with plenty of tips on how to read tombstones and interpret tombstones.

Books I Wish I Owned

• Michigan Genealogy: Sources and Resources (2005 edition) by Carol McGinnis - If you are interested in finding out what resources or sources that are available to do genealogy research in Michigan, this book is probably the best guide on Michigan genealogy. Some of the most important information in this book would be on the different laws passed on keeping vital records, and the years that more information is required. As someone who has had ancestors residing in Michigan for over the past 150 years, I have found the information on the vital records laws to be especially helpful, especially when it comes to the recording of marriages. I did do a brief review of this book over a year ago, and more recently, Miriam also reviewed this book. Jasia also mentions this book in her list as well.
• Following the paper trail : a multilingual translation guideby Jonathan D. Shea - This book gives information and how to transcribe documents used by genealogists in several different European languages. Since there are multiple languages listed, I think this book would useful for the genealogist who potentially have ancestors from different areas of Europe. Since I have some ancestors from Central and Eastern Europe, I know this book would come in handy in my research.
• Deciphering handwriting in German documents : analyzing German, Latin, and French in vital records written in Germany by Roger P. Minert - Again this book is a how-to transcribe German records, and since the book only focuses on German records, and the three possible languages the records might be in, this book has multiple examples of handwriting to help the genealogist transcribe the records central to his or her research. Since I am still learning how to read the handwriting in German documents, I know I would be using this book frequently.
• A genealogist's guide to discovering your Scottish ancestors : how to find and record your unique heritage by Linda Jonas - This book is a book I need to read. I have started to work with Scottish records in my research, and since I am inexperienced and unfamiliar with doing genealogy research on Scottish ancestors, I think this book would probably be helpful for me. (Again, the book on British genealogy that I mentioned above, does cover a little bit on doing research on Scottish ancestors, but most of the book is focused on English records, with only a few pages covering the other parts of the British Isles.)
• What did they mean by that? : a dictionary of historical & genealogical terms old & new by Paul E. Drake - Again, this is another book that I have not read, but I am sure it would come in handy only because I have already come across terms in my research that I did not recognize. I am sure many other genealogists would find this book or a book like this one useful.

So, as you can see, I have made some suggestions of possible useful books, although I have not read through two of the books listed. These are just a few of the books that I either know about or are familiar with, and it is very possible that there are other books out there that would be much better resources than the ones I recommended. Either way, I hope someone will find one of the books on this list to be useful.

22nd Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted!

The 22nd Shades of the Departed guest column has been posted! The author of this week's column is Joe Bott, and you can read the article here. Enjoy!

My School's September 11th Memorial

In the years that I have been at my college, my school memorializes September 11th by putting flags, in the ground of the school's park, for each person that died on that day. Most of the flags are U. S. flags, but there are also flags from other countries that represent those who died who were from other countries. I did not take pictures of the flags this year, but I did take pictures from last year. To see what I am talking about, here are pictures from September 11, 2007:

I think there is a flag for every person that died, but you can't see them all since I was unable to capture of all of the flags in one picture. (I realize the quality of the pictures are poor, but I have a cheap digital camera. )

Military History Reading Challenge: Book Review 2

For the second military history book that I had to read, I chose Because Each Life Is Precious: Why an Iraqi Man Risked Everything for Private Jessica Lynch by Mohammed Odeh Al-Rehaief and Jeff Coplon (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2003). Although I am not completely sure if this book would fit into the military history category, I chose to read this book primarily because I had wanted to read this book for some time and because this book is a recounting from a civilian's point of view an event that occurred a few years ago during the Iraq War.

This book, though, is just more than about why Mohammed Odeh Al-Rehaief chose to help Private Jessica Lynch; it is also a book about his life under Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraqi culture and his experiences of life during the three most recent wars Iraq had been involved in. In short, the book is part autobiography and part memoir. Additionally, his description of how life was under Saddam's government does make it very clear that his decision to help Private Lynch was putting whole family at risk; his wife, daughter, siblings and father also could have faced reprisals for what he did. And even if he did have some legitimate grievances against Saddam's government, I did not feel that that was his main motive in wanting to help Private Lynch. From my reading, I gather that he was motivated more by compassion and humanity than anything else.

Of course, this is just my opinion of the book. I think it is a very good and interesting book, and I enjoyed reading it.

The Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy: Still Searching For A Host And A Reminder

I just want to remind everyone that I am still looking for a host for the October edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I have hosts for September and November's editions, but I don't have anyone for October. I am allowing the hosts to choose the topic for the edition they are hosting, and the deadlines for submissions and posting of the edition. If anyone is still interested, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks.

Also, I want to remind everyone that submissions for September's edition are due by September 21. The topic for this upcoming edition is on unusual given names. The edition will be hosted by Stephen Danko, and will be posted on his blog on September 24.

The Wives of the Two Henrys ...

Do I have any Canadian ancestors? Well, at the moment I do not know of any. I did have a couple of ancestors who lived in Canada before coming to the United States, if that counts. (And who knows, I might have still have cousins living in Canada. A few years ago, my grandma mentioned about some cousins who lived in Canada, and I think they were on my grandpa's side. I do not remember off hand the exact facts, but since I wrote it down, I'll have to check my notes.) Of course, I also have two of my ancestors' siblings who married women who were from Canada, which is not surprising since Michigan is so close to Canada.

The name of the men who married these women was Henry. In two different branches of my family, my ancestors had brothers named Henry who happened to marry a woman who came from Canada. (Hence, the title of my post.) And interestingly enough, these two Henry's also happened to live at about the same time as each other.


The first Henry who married a woman from Canada was Henry Oswalt. Henry was Adam Oswalt's second son, and he was born in November of 1862 (according to Adam's pension file). In 1887, he married Harriet A. Collacott (I've also seen her surname spelled Callacott, Collicott, and Collicut as well) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. At the time of his marriage, Henry was living in Decatur, Michigan. (An interesting fact, which I'll get into in a moment.) According to the marriage register, Harriet was born in New Castle, Canada, and that she was residing, in what appears to be from the record, in Indiana. When I looked at the listing for residence, I was surprised to see that Harriet listed her residence because I had found her (or at least believe I have found her family) living with her parents living in Decatur, Michigan in the 1870 and 1880 censuses. (Of course, I realize that she could have been living in Indiana after 1880. I just had not noticed where she listed her residence was when I looked at the record for the first time.) As for when Harriet and her family came to the United States, it had to be between the 1860 and 1870 U. S. censuses since the Collacotts are not listed in the 1860 census.

Between 1887 and the 1900 census, I do not know where Henry and Harriet lived, but in the 1900 census, I found both of them living in Rockford, Illinois. I have yet to find out why they chose to move there, but I think it is interesting to note that Henry's father resided in Rockford from the late-1880s to the late-1890s. (I can only speculate at the moment, but the reason either father or son choosing to live in Rockford might be due to that one of them moved there for a time.) Sometime between 1900 and 1910, Harriet must have died since Henry is listed as a widower in the 1910 census. I do not know where or when she died, but my first guess would be in Rockford only because Henry was still living there as of April 1910. (He would later on in the year move to Clinton, Iowa, as that was the residence listed for him in his father's probate record.) As for Henry, he would eventually return to Michigan by 1920, where he is listed in the 1920 census for Kalamazoo as Henry J. Oswold, and he would die in Three Rivers in August of 1927. At the moment, I am unsure as to where exactly he is buried, but a note card in the Three Rivers, Michigan Public Library suggested he was buried in Decatur. (I have yet to confirm this information.) As far as I have been able to determine, Henry and Harriet did not have any children.

The second Henry was Henry Klippel. He was the son of Friedrich Klippel and Emilia Kees, and he married Ida L. Ramsey in Bay City, Michigan in 1898. At the moment, I am unsure as to where exactly Ida was born since she only lists Canada as her birthplace in the marriage record, but I did find her living with her parents in Alleston, Ontario in the 1881 Canadian Census. Although I have not found out exactly when Ida and her family came to the United States, they had to have been living in Bay City, Michigan by 1891 when Ida's father, David Ramsey, died.

As for Henry and Ida, the 1900 census gives their residence as Bay City, Michigan. At that time, Ida and Henry did not have any children. On the other hand, family tradition states they had a daughter, and that she was taken away from her father after her parents divorced. I have not yet been able to confirm or disprove this family tradition. (Part of my problem is that I have been unable to find Henry in the 1910 census, and that birth records in Michigan that are 100 years old or less are closed to the public.) What I do know is that Ida died in Bay City, Michigan in 1905 from tuberculous, and that Henry moved to Cleveland, Ohio by the 1920 census. (Henry would also remarry in Cleveland, according to the 1920 census.)

Although I have done some research into the families of Harriet Collacott and Ida Ramsay, I still have holes in my research that I need to fill. I have not fulled traced back either family's ties in Canada, and I still do not know where in Canada Ida was born. Hopefully, I'll be able to do more research in the future.
__________________________________________________________________

Sources:

(Again, this is mostly an abbreviated form of citations due to the fact that I do not have all of my sources with me at the moment.)

• 1870 U. S. Census, Michigan, Van Buren County, Decatur Village, household of Thomas Collicutt.
• 1880 U. S. Census, Michigan, Van Buren County, Decatur Village, household of Thomas Collacott.
• Marriage registration of Henry J. Oswalt and Harriet A. Callacott, Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925, FamilySearch Lab's Record Search, accessed 21 May 2008, http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=2;t=searchable;c=1452395
• 1900 U. S. Census, Illinois, Winnebago County, Rockford, household of Henry J. Oswalt.
• 1910 U. S. Census, Illinois, Winnebago County, Rockford, (At the moment, I do not have with me the name of the family he was living with in that census listing.)
• Civil War Pension File of Adam Oswalt.
• Probate File of Adam Oswalt, Saint Joseph County, Michigan Probate Office, Centreville, Michigan.
• Death registration of Henry J. Oswalt, Saint Joseph County Michigan deaths, Book 3, page 307, record number 49.
• O Surnames, Michigan Room, Three Rivers Public Library, Three Rivers, Michigan.
• Marriage of Henry W. Kleppel to Ida L. Ramsay, Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925, FamilySearch Lab's Record Search, accessed 21 May 2008, http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=2;t=searchable;c=1452395
• 1881 Canadian Census, Ontario, South Simcoe, Alleston, household of David Ramsay, FamilySearch.org's 1880s Censuses Indexes, http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=census/search_census.asp
• Death registration of David Ramsay, Michigan Deaths, 1867-1897, FamilySearch Lab's Record Search, accessed 21 May 2008, http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=2;t=searchable;c=1452402
• Death registration of Ida Klippel, Bay County, Michigan deaths, Book ? (I do not have the complete citation for this source.)
• 1920 U. S. census, Ohio, Cuyahoga County, Cleveland, household of Henry Klippel.

Best Of Shades Of The Departed Guest Columns Posted!

The best of the Shades of the Departed guest columns has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy!

I Love Your Blog Award ...

Was I awarded another Award? Well, not really. Lidian of The Virtual Dime Museum was awarded this award, and after listing seven blogs, she mentioned that those on her blog roll could also consider themselves tagged. Since I'm listed on her blog roll, I figured I would go ahead and give this award to other genealogy blogs.

So, what are the rules? Give this award to seven other blogs (with links) and let them know that you have picked them. Also, link back to the person who gave you this award.

So, here are my seven choices:

• Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog
• Little Bytes Of Life
• All My Branches
• Small-leaved Shamrock
• Creative Gene
• Genea-Musings
• AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors
• Steve's Genealogy Blog

Even though I have listed seven blogs, I read and follow many genealogy and history blogs, so if anyone from my blog lists, who was not listed above, that wants to participate can do so also. Enjoy!

55th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 55th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here, and the next edition will be hosted by Lori Thornton. The topic for the next will be on "the ten essential books in my genealogy library." Enjoy!

Added A Follower's Button ...

I just happened to notice that a blog follower's gadget had been made available, and I've decided to include it on this blog. If you are a reader or follower of this blog, you can now do so with this option. If you would like to become a follower of my blog, you can sign up on the link on the lower right hand of the page, just below the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Button. Enjoy!

Update, 4 September 2008 at 10:15 P. M.: I have moved this gadget up the page. It is now below the copyright notice.

Light Blogging: Back To School ... Again!

Classes start up again for me tomorrow after the Labor Day break, and since classes will be resuming, I will not be posting as much due to the lack of time I will have. I do have several posts that I am working on at the moment, and I hope to post some of those in the next few days. Other than that, blogging will be pretty light for me. I don't know if I'll be posting any more than once a week at the most. So, in case you notice that I haven't posted anything in awhile, that is the reason. I will probably resume a more normal amount of posting around Christmas break. Until then, happy reading!

I've Created A Back-up Blog!

I just created a back-up blog for this blog at http://jesshistory2.wordpress.com/ in response to Jasia's post on another genealogy that was deleted. I will be updating and posting almost all of my posts on there. I probably will not be posting the posts on my blog changes since it would not make sense. (Or should I?) As always, you can leave your thoughts in the comment section.

Google Analytic Statistics For August 2008

Yes, it is that time again. Here are the statistics for this blog for August 2008:

The top ten countries, in number of visits, are:

1. United States - 535 visits


2. Canada - 25


3. United Kingdom - 15 visits


4. Germany - 7 visits


5. Australia - 7 visits


6. Ireland - 4 visits


7. New Zealand - 2 visits


8. Finland - 2 visits


9. Croatia - 1 visit


10. Malaysia - 1 visit

The top ten U. S. states, in number of visits, are:

1. Michigan - 113 visits


2. California - 70 visits


3. Texas - 51 visits


4. not set/unlisted - 39 visits


5. Illinois - 38 visits


6. Washington - 21 visits


7. Ohio - 19 visits


8. Virginia - 17 visits


9. Indiana - 16 visits


10. Wisconsin - 12 visits

The top Michigan ten towns, cities or locations, in number of visits, are:

1. Whitmore Lake - 43 visits


2. Kent County - 31 visits


3. Redford - 12 visits


4. Utica - 5 visits


5. Berkley - 3 visits


6. Oak Park - 3 visits


7. Grand Rapids - 3 visits


8. Lansing - 3 visits


9. Livonia - 2 visits


10. Fraser - 1 visit

The top ten articles read this month are:

1. One of my Favorite Photos ... - 53 views


2. 10th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy - 40 views


3. FamilySearch Lab Adds More Databases To Record Search - 20 views


4. Tombstone Maker Website - 19 views


5. I've Been Tagged! - 11 views
6. Summer Reading Challenge: A List of the Books I Read - 10 views
7. To Join Or Not To Join? That is the Question ... - 10 views
8. Update On that Lake Ontario Shipwreck ... - 9 views
9. 54th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted! - 9 views
10. My Two Cents on Ancestry's Internet Biography Database - 8 views

Well, that is it for this past month's statistics. (I can't believe it is September already!) Again, to my readers, I just want to say, "Thank you for reading!"

Happy Labor Day!

I just want to wish everyone a happy Labor Day! Enjoy the holiday!

Still Looking For A Host For The October Edition Of The Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

I'm still looking for a host for the October edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. If you are interesting in hosting that edition please e-mail me at: jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks.

Also, I just want to remind everyone that submissions for this upcoming carnival edition are due on September 21st. Steve Danko will be hosting the September edition. Also, you can submit your article by clicking on the image I made for the Carnival. It will take you to the submission form.

Blog Changes ...

Yes, I've changed the template of my blog again. Why? I'm just trying to find something that is unique. So, I just want to let everyone know that I am still resetting everything back up again as I had it before. (If anyone knows of some unique templates, please let me know.)

The Music That Defined Me ...

Tim Abbot started this meme by asking, "What music defined you during your formative years?" In other words, what music defined you in your teenage and college years. To be honest, I think this might be a little difficult for me to answer, but I'll still try. Since I'm still in college, I might have to go back a bit farther than my teenage years to answer this question.

I like several different types of music ranging from classical music to classic rock to country music, and that is probably due in part to the music my mom and dad played in the house and in the car. The primary reason why I like classical music is because my mom played (and still plays) the piano, and I always loved hearing her play the piano as a child. (Actually, I still do.) Of course, in the car, my parents primarily played classic rock and soft rock radio channels (and later, CDs), so I ended up liked to listen to the Eagles, Journey, REO Speedwagon, etc.

I don't exactly remember when my parents started listening to country music. I really can't remember either one of them listening to country until the mid-90s when we first got CDs. One of the first CDs we had was a CD of the Country band, Alabama. Alabama became my first favorite band that I liked to listen to, and the band is still one of my favorite Country bands. I still do listen to country music at times, and a few of the many Country artists that I like are: Toby Keith, Faith Hill, Rascal Flats, and Montgomery Gentry.

As for Christian music, my first exposure to Contemporary Christian music was probably from the Amy Grant piano music that I would hear my mom play. As for listening to the actual artists, I think my first exposure occurred around the same time as my exposure to country music. The first two Christian CDs that I can remember my family having were of Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman. Even though these two Christian singers are still among my favorite Contemporary Christian artists that I like to listen to, I also like listening to Casting Crowns, MercyMe and other groups whose names that I can't think of off the top of head at the moment.

Currently, up at college, I primarily listen to Contemporary Christian and Country music, although I spend more time listening to Contemporary Christian music more than anything else. As you can see, my interests in music have a large range of difference between them.

Another Genealogy Carnival!

I've just learned earlier today from Miriam's post that another Genealogy carnival has been created! The new carnival is the Canadian Genealogy Carnival. The deadline for the first carnival edition is September 21, and the topic for this carnival is:

"Who were they? How did they get here? Where did they live? Did they move? Do you still have family in Canada? Share with us a bit about your Canadian roots."

You can find out more on the carnival here, on Kathryn's blog.

I've Signed Up For Blog Action Day 2008 ...

I've decided to take part in the Blog Action Day this year, and I'll be posting an article on the fifteenth of October. The topic this year is on poverty. (Most likely it will be pre-published, but that doesn't matter.) I just thought I would let everyone know. If you are interested or curious, you can find out more on the Blog Action Day website.

21st Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted!

The 21st Shades of the Departed guest column has been posted! The author of this week's column is Linda Palmer, and you can read the article here. Enjoy!

I'm Feeling That Disease Too ...

A few days ago, I happened to notice that Randy wrote about suffering from a genealogy illness, and I just want to say that I'm suffering from one right now. Which one? Well, it happens to be the Genealogicus Terminus version. Why? Well, I'm back up at school, and I won't be able to do any family history research for the next several months. In addition, the last microfilm I ordered came in over a week ago Tuesday, and I have not been able to look at it since it came in. (You can see why I'm frustrated, can't you?)

Of course, not all is lost. I was able to talk to my grandpa about the microfilm, and he is willing to take a look at the microfilm to see if he can find anything. (This is the same grandpa who got me interested in genealogy in the first place.) So, as you can imagine, I'm happy about that, and I can't to hear about whether or not he has found anything. I might not find out what it is until I go home for Christmas, but if there is anything, I'll mention it. Stay tuned ...

And Another Mystery Photograph ...

Like the photograph I posted yesterday, this photo also came from my great-aunt's album. Unfortunately, she did not label this photograph or write the names of the girls in the picture, and I have no idea as to who these three girls are. I suspect that they might be relatives because these three girls show up in other photographs in the album. Unfortunately, those other pictures were not labeled, so I still do not know who they or when and where this picture was taken. If anyone recognizes these three girls please e-mail me at: jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks.

Genea-bloggers' Games Closing Posted!

The closing ceremony for the Genea-bloggers' Games has been posted, and you can read it here. FootnoteMaven made the medals for the ceremonies, and below are the two medals that I earned.

For the Write, Write, Write category:

For the Genealogical Acts of Kindness:

School Begins!

Classes officially start today, so I do not know much time I will have to blog due to the fact that I have to concentrate on schoolwork. As such, I will be posting less than I did this summer, but I still plan post some posts. I just cannot guarantee the frequency and number of my posts.

Such Lovely Hairstyles, But Who Are They?

As you may remember, I mentioned earlier in the summer that I was scanning some old photographs. Well, this photo happened to be one over a hundred photos in an album kept by my great-aunt. Unfortunately, not all of the photos were labeled, and this happened to be one of those that were not. I chose the above photograph out of the others based upon the hairstyles of the two girls standing to the right side of the girl holding the flowers. Outside of where this picture came from, I do not have any other information. I do not know the names of any of these girls, and I do not know if they are related to my family or not. My first inclination would be to suspect that they might be connected, but then again, there are a few photos in the album that were of friends of my great-aunt. I am uncertain as to where this photo was taken, but if the girls are connected to my family, it could have been possibly taken in either Detroit, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio, or Elizabeth, New Jersey. Of course, I do not know for sure, but those are my first three guesses based upon what I know from researching that side of the family.

If anyone has any idea of who these girls are or when and where this picture was taken, please contact me either by leaving a comment or by sending an e-mail to jess_history at yahoo dot com with the tag line mystery group of girls. Thanks.

Finally!

I just happened to notice that I am finally on Alltop.com. Yeah!

October Anyone?

I just want to let everyone know that I am still looking for a host for October's edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. If you are interested in hosting that edition please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Getting To Know Me, Getting To Know Jessica's Genejournal

Terry Thornton has issued a challenge for genealogy bloggers to post an article about themselves and their best posts, and I thought I would participate as well. So, here goes my attempt:

My name is Jessica Oswalt, and as the author of Jessica's Genejournal, I try to write articles that deal with genealogy research and history. Most of the articles dealing with genealogy research primarily deal with my experiences and searches into my own family history or with recent genealogy news. Even though I am studying history, I have not yet posted any history articles on my blog, but I am planning to eventually post some articles on an event in history or on the history of a location. One of my goals in the future is to post a well-researched article and submit it to a history carnival. Even though I have mostly focused on genealogy, I am hoping that my articles will either spark interest into family history or just into history in general.

And to give even further proof of my goals, here are my three best articles:

For the category of brightest (a.k.a. best) article, I have chosen Genealogy and History Thoughts Column 14 - My Thoughts on Another "Genealogy is Bunk" Article. Column 14 is my apologia, in a way, explaining why doing research into one's own family history is important, and I chose this column primarily because I believe it is the best article I written so far in arguing why genealogy is important.

For the category of breeziest article, I have chosen Ten Signs You're Addicted to Genealogy. So far, I believe this article has been my best attempt at finding humor in genealogy, and therefore, I chose it for that reason alone.

For the category of most beautiful, I have chosen I Am My Own - Well Not Quite .... I believe this article happens to be one of my best analysis of a part of my family research.

Of course, those are my three best in my opinion. If you disagree with my choices, please leave me a comment with the three articles/posts that you believe are my best. I will not be offended, but I do appreciate it when people do leave comments as I never really know which posts my readers truly enjoy. As always, I am a work-in-progress, and any feedback or suggestions do help me become a better blog writer. I still feel new to blogging even though I have been blogging for over a year now, and in consequence, reader feedback is one of my ways of determining how well I have written my posts.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yes, that's right. It's my birthday today. Yeah!

10th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

This edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy is the tenth edition, which is a milestone in itself. The topic for this edition was a carousel, so the topic of this edition's submission could be on anything. Five people submitted articles, and here are this edition's articles:

First off, we have an article from Amir Dekel of I Dream of Genea(logy), who is a first time submitter to this carnival. In Almost no oaks in my forest, Amir writes about the effect of the Holocaust on his grandfather's family, and the reason for his grandfather's emigration to Israel.

Next, we have an article from Elizabeth O'Neal of Little Bytes of Life. In Slavic Folklore for Kids: The Little Einsteins, she writes about a Disney's show that incorporates a Slavic folk story about a firebird into the episodes storyline.

Next, we have an article from Stephen J. Danko of Steve's Genealogy Blog. In Finding the Village of Trelkowo, Poland (Gross Schöndaerau, Germany), he writes about his attempt to find the village of Trelkowo and how he found the village. He also writes about the name change of this village after World War Two.

Next, we have an article from Al of Polish-American Genealogy Research. In Adeline Sopa Q & A Interview, he shares a transcript of his interview with Adeline Sopa, an expert Kashubian genealogy.

Last, but not least, we have an article from Jessica Oswalt of Jessica's Genejournal. In Looking For My German Ancestors Part 4, she writes about the research she did into Fred, the relative of her ancestor, Carl.

Well, that ends this edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. For the next edition, we have a bit of change. Instead of the edition being hosted on my blog, the edition will be hosted by Steve Danko. The topic, as suggested by him, will be on: "First (Given) Names: Did any of your ancestors have an unusual given name? Have you discovered the meanings behind the given names of your ancestors? Did your ancestors use any naming patterns for their children? Are there any given names that are particular common in your family history? Did any of your ancestors have given names that you particularly like or dislike? Does your family celebrate "Name Days"? Did your immigrant ancestors change their given names after they arrived in America? Tell us about the first (given) names in your family. You can concentrate on one name, a few names, or you can go wild and write about the first names of all your ancestors!" Submissions for the next edition are due on September 21, and the edition will be posted on September 24. You can submit your article here.

So, Where Was I?

Last week I mentioned that I would not be posting any major articles or be available due to the fact that I was preparing to go back to school. What I did not tell anyone was that I would be away on vacation.

So, where did I go on vacation? Well,I went on a cruise with almost all of my family. In addition to going with my parents and brother, I went with three of my cousins, my grandparents, an aunt and an uncle. The cruise lasted for five days, and we stopped at Cozumel, Mexico and Grand Cayman Island. At the moment, I do not have any pictures of our trip. When I do get some, I'll post a few and write more about the trip. At the moment, I'm not going to post anymore on my vacation because I want to post an article with pictures from my trip.

The Genea-bloggers' Games: My Final Statistics ...

Well, today happens to be the deadline for all of the statistics for the Genea-blogger's Games. I haven't worked on the Genea-bloggers' categories since August 14th, so I'll just do a recap of what I did do up to that point.

Just as a reminder, I chose to participate in the "Back up your data," "Write, write. write," and "Reach out & perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness." So, here is what I have accomplished:

Back up your data!

To be honest I have not completed any of the tasks. All I have done so far is burn some photographs on my flash drive to a CD, so I don't believe I have even completed task C.

Medal Earned - none

Write, Write, Write!

Here are the tasks that I have completed:

• Task A - I wrote an article explaining what my blog was about.
• Task B - I submitted an article to the upcoming edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture and an article to the upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy.
• Task C - I did write a couple of articles (small ones) that I scheduled to publish later on in the week. (I took care of those on the 14th.)

Medal earned - Gold

Reach out & Perform Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness!

Here are the tasks I completed:

• Task A - I left a comment on a new genealogy blog, In Deeds.
• Task B - I joined a few blogline networks during this time period, and I also joined two more yesterday.
• Task E - I helped to index a couple pages of census records for FamilySearch Indexing.

Medal earned - Gold

Well, that I all I have accomplished since the Genea-bloggers' Games began. I guess I have completed a lot more than I expected to do. In addition, I just want to say thank you to the creators and hosts of this year's Genea-bloggers' Games.

Still Looking For A Host ...

I think I have a host for the September edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, so I'm just looking for one more host. I still need a host for October, and if you are interested, please email me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Another note, I will post the tenth edition later on today.

I'm Back!

I just want to let everyone know that I am now back. (I'll explain later.) Even though I am back to blogging, I will be posting articles less frequently than usually due to the fact that I am now back at school. In the meantime, I am still catching up on what I have missed for the past week. Stay tuned ...

20th Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted!

The twentieth Shades of the Departed guest column has been posted. The author of this week's article is Bob Franks, and you can read the article here. Enjoy!

54th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 54th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read the edition on Donna's blog.

(As a note, I have pre-published this, so I do not know what the upcoming topic will be or the link to the article.)

19th Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted!

The 19th Shades of the Departed guest column has been posted. The author of this week's blog is Maureen Taylor, and the column can read on this page.

(Just as a quick note, this post was pre-published, so I do not have it directly linked to the column. I have just linked to the Shades Of The Departed blog.)

Just To Let Everyone Know ...

I will not be posting for the next several days due to the fact that I will be busy for multiple reasons. I will be primarily busy with getting myself ready to go back up to college. I do not intend to post except for a couple of posts that will be pre-published.

As for blogging when I arrive back up at school, I do not plan on posting as much as I have done this summer. I'll still post, but it will be on a lesser amount. As for the Genealogy and History Thoughts, I still do intend to write and post articles after I go back to school, but I don't know how many I will post in the next few months. I am also still looking for people to host for the October and September editions of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I might not be able to answer my e-mail right away, but I think I will be able to get back with those interested before I post August's edition.

In the meantime, please feel free to reread my previous posts. Enjoy!

Genea-bloggers' Games - Day : My Progress

Although I did not accomplish as much as I did yesterday, I did make an attempt today. What I did do was leave a comment on a new genealogy blog, In Deeds, and I added the blog to my list within the past few days.

So, I have accomplished another task for the "random acts of genealogical kindness." That task is task A: "Comment on a new (to you) genea-blog."

I do not know how much more I will be able to accomplish, but I hope to be able to do a little more before the games end.

Still Looking ...

I just want to let everyone know that I am still looking for hosts for the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I believe I have someone for November, but I am still looking for someone to volunteer as a host for the months of September and October. If you are interested, please e-mail me at: jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Stores I Remember ...

Even though I'm still fairly young I think I can write about a few stores that do not exist anymore.

When I was real young, probably about four, I remember a store a couple blocks away from home (I lived in Livonia at the time) called G. & W. I can only recall visiting the store once, and all I remember is that I got a sheet of stickers from that store. A short time after that the store went out of business, and another business went in. (I don't remember what business it was. I think that one went out of business as well, and eventually a furniture store moved into that location.) Right next door to G. & W., there was a drug store called Arbor drugs. The store that is in there now (or was - I haven't been in that area in some time) is also a drug store but is called CVS. I think CVS bought out Arbor drugs. There was also a Video Jack in that same block, but again, I do not know if it is still there as I did not go by that block on Tuesday.

On another street block over, there used to be another small strip mall, and in that building there was a Blockbuster and other stores. One of the stores at several times was a pizza place. I think there were at least three pizza stores in that one spot, but I can only remember that one of the names, which was Imperial Pizza. Of course, those pizza places were not very successful, although I do not know why. At one point that spot became a cafe, but I think it went out of business as well. (All of this happened in the '90s.) Just this past Tuesday, I happened to go by that block, and I noticed that the Blockbuster was no longer there. In fact, it looked like most of the building had become vacant. I was a little bit surprised, but I think the economy has hit Livonia hard.

Kitty corner from the Blockbuster there used to be Farmer Jack, but the building for that store is also vacant. I don't recall if other stores had gone out of business too in that block; I just happened to notice that that grocery store was gone. Since I was driving by, I really did not get a good look.

Another store that I remember was Crowley's. There used to be a Crowley's in the Livonia Mall, but it went out of business by the time I was in high school. In fact, I do not know if Livonia Mall still has stores in it. When I was a little child I used to go there some times, but it always seemed fairly empty to me. It seems as though stores did not do very well in the mall. There was also a movie theater in that mall, and I used to go with my grandparents to the movies there since the tickets for a movie only cost about one or two dollars. Before my family moved from Livonia, I do recall that the theater had closed and then re-opened under a new management. I don't know if that theater is still open or not.

Again, I did not get to see a lot of Livonia this past Tuesday, but it appears to me that Livonia has been hurt badly by this economic downturn.

4th Edition of Smile For The Camera Carnival Posted!

The fourth edition of the Smile For The Camera carnival has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition is:

"Crowning Glory. Show us those wonderful photographs of hairdos and maybe even a few don'ts. Don't limit yourself to just hair fashion through the ages, got a great photograph of a hat, helmet, bonnet, or some other interesting headgear? Share!Choose a photograph of an ancestor, relative, yourself, or an orphan photograph that is the epitome of Crowning Glory and bring it to the carnival. Admission is free with every photograph!Your submission may include as many or as few words as you feel are necessary to describe your treasured photograph. Those words may be in the form of an expressive comment, a quote, a journal entry, a poem (your own or a favorite), a scrapbook page, or a heartfelt article. The choice is yours!"

Enjoy!

Genea-bloggers' Games - Day 5: My Progress

Unlike the past few days, I have finally made some progress in the categories I chose. I will give a short run-down on what I did, and then I will post what I have accomplished so far in the categories.

So, what did I do today? Well, I indexed an 1870 census for Pennsylvania and a 1900 Indian territory census. I also finished scanning in the photographs that I had been working on, and I burned the photos to a CD. I also submitted articles for two carnivals: the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture and the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I did submit an article for the 4th Smile For The Camera, but I don't know if I can count that since I submitted my article before the Genea-bloggers' Games began. I have also joined a few genea-bloggers' blog networks in the past few days.

And now, here is what I have accomplished so far:

Back up your data!

"C. Backup all your data using a flash drive, an external drive, CDs, DVDs, or an online resource" - I'm working on this one at the moment. I've only burned some pictures to a CD, so I don't believe I have accomplished this one just yet."

Write, Write, Write!

"A. Write a summary of what your blog is about and post it on your blog – you may not have done this since you started the blog and it is a great way to have new readers learn more about your site." - I completed this task on August 9th, and you can read the post here.

"B. Participate in a genealogy or family history related blog carnival. See the AnceStories post "August Is..." for a list of these carnivals and their submission URLs and deadlines." - I have already submitted articles for the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture and the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. Also, my article was included in the 4th edition of the Smile For The Camera, although I do not know if that one will count, as I explained above.

Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness!

"B. Join another genea-blogger’s blog network on Facebook Blog Networks." - I joined a few over the past few days, but I can't remember which ones I joined off the top of my head at the moment.

"E. Participate in an indexing project." - I indexed a page for the 1870 census for the state of Pennsylvania and I also indexed a 1900 Indian population census page.

Well, I guess I have done quite a bit. To be honest, I actually forgot that joining a genea-bloggers' network was one of the tasks, so I did not mention it in my previous posts. I still hope to be able to accomplish a bit more in this competition.

Military Reading Challenge: Book Review One

As you may remember, about a week or so ago, I signed up to take part in another reading challenge, except this time the I must read three books on military history. Well, I have just finished reading the first book I chose for this challenge.

The book I chose was Silent Night: The Story Of The World War I Christmas Truce by Stanley Weintraub (Plume: New York, 2001). As is clear from the title, the book's focus is on the 1914 Christmas truce on the Western Front. The author does give a little bit of background information on the war, but he primarily focuses on how the truce began, how the soldiers from both sides reacted to the truce, and how the truce ended. Accounts from memoirs, letters, diaries and regiment histories are used to recount how the truce began and ended. The conclusion to the book speculates on what might have happened if World War One had ended early.

To be honest, I enjoyed reading the book, and I would recommend it to others. I found it very informative, and at times, I started to laugh at some of the recounting on incidents that occurred during the truce. Of course, not everything in the book was funny. I chose this book primarily because I had a great-grandfather who served during World War One in the British Army, and although I don't know very much about his service, this book does help give me a glimpse into what his service experience might have been like. Even though the author does speculate about what might have been, I still believe that reading the conclusion of the book is important. I do not believe that many people realize just how much of an influence World War One has had upon the Twentieth Century and up to the present, and the author does make clear in the conclusion how World War One changed history. Even if someone were only to read the conclusion, I still think this book is worth reading. To be honest, I believe this book would be fairly easy for people to read who are not into reading history books since the book keeps a person's attention.

Still Looking For Hosts ...

I'm still looking for people to host the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. So far, I really haven't had anyone contact me. I'm looking for hosts for the months of September, October and November at the moment. If you are interested, please e-mail me at: jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

On another note, I just want to remind everyone that the new deadline for submissions for this upcoming edition is August 22nd. The theme for this edition is a carousel, and I will post the carnival on the 23rd.

A Milestone Number I'm Not Proud Of ...

I have reached another milestone in the number of my posts. Read Revelations 13:18 to find out the number of this post.

Looking For My German Ancestors Part 4

In my previous post, I wrote about more of my research into my ancestor Carl. In this post, I want to mention a bit the research that I have done on his possible relative, Fred.

According to the 1894 Michigan state census, Fred came to the United States about 1890. I did look for a Fred in the passenger lists, and I found a man who could be him entering the port of Baltimore in the early 1890s. I'll have to do more research, though, to prove that that is him. Either way, Fred had apparently lived long enough in the U. S. and Michigan to apply for naturalization records, and he became a citizen in 1896. Unfortunately, his naturalization record (or what I have of it) does not indicate where he came from. In that same year, he married a Hulda Witkopf, and by 1900, they were living in Fitzgerald, Georgia. By that time, they would have a daughter as well. In the early 1900s, the Atlanta Constitution reported that Fred's wife and daughter went north to Bay City, Michigan. I do not know who they were visiting exactly, but it could be possible that they visited Carl and his family, since they lived there. Fred, like Carl, also earned a living as a baker.

Fred and his family would continue to live in Fitzgerald, Georgia in the 1910 and 1920 censuses. In September 1926, Fred died, and after that date, I do not know what happened to his wife or daughter. I have not been able to find either his wife or daughter in the 1930 census.

In a future post, I will continue to write about my research into my German ancestors, but I will focus on another branch. Stay tuned ...

Searching For My Ancestors: My Research Plan and Goals For My Ancestors Born in Scotland and Ireland

Although I have briefly mentioned before that I might have Irish or Scot-Irish ancestors, I have never posted any information on that family on this blog. To be honest, I hardly know anything about these ancestors. I primarily know that my great-grandfather was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and that his parents were born in Ireland. Other than dates of deaths for his parents, and names of a few siblings, I do not have much more on this family other than family tradition.

I have not spent as much time researching this family as I have with other ancestors only because I am still learning about how to do Scottish and Irish genealogy. I would love to do more research on this family, but it does not appear that I will have much more time to do research this year. Of course, I'll probably have time next year, so here are some of my goals and plans for doing research into this family:

• Find all of the birth records for my great-grandfather's siblings who were born in Scotland, and then in Ireland.
• Look for my great-great-grandparents' marriage record in Ireland. My great-grandfather's birth record listed his parents marriage as occurring in Antrim County, Ireland in December 1865. I think I should start my research into Ireland there.
• Find out when my ancestors came to Glasgow, Scotland from Ireland. (I still do not have an idea. I have found the family in 1891 census and my great-grandfather in the 1901 census. I have not yet found the family in the 1881 census for Scotland.)
• Since I already have information on when my great-great-grandparents died in Scotland, I probably should look for a will or probate record. In addition, I should probably look for an inquest record on my great-great-grandfather's death, since he died in an accident.
• And of course, before I do any of the above, I should familiarize myself some more with Scottish and Irish records.

I think this is a good start. I can't think of anything else I should do. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas about what I should, please leave me a comment. All suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Genea-bloggers' Games - Day 4: My Progress

As with yesterday, I have not worked on any of the categories I chose for the Genea-bloggers' Games. I am hoping that I can get something done soon.

More On Irene Havens ...

Earlier this month, I started to write about my mysterious ancestor, Irene Havens, but to be honest, I realize I left the post unfinished. I'm terribly sorry about that. Anyhow, I'll just start over again.


What I know about Irene primarily consists primarily of estimated birth year, a possible birth location, and her marriage to my ancestor, Peter Stout. As I mentioned before, I suspect she was born sometime between 1840 and 1843 in New York. (That information is based upon census records and her tombstone epitaph at the moment.) On one of my first research trips to Saint Joseph County, Michigan, I found the marriage record for Peter Stout and Irene Havens, and learned that they were married on the 1st of January in 1862. The marriage record suggested she was about 18 years old at the time, and unfortunately, the record in the county did not record the names of either bride or groom's parents. Prior to Irene's marriage, the only census I could find Irene in (at first) was the 1860 U. S. Census. In that census, she is living in the Household of Calvin Johnson in Florence Township, the same township where the Stout family resided, and her occupation is given as a servant. Calvin's birthplace was listed as New York, and I thought at that time that there might be family connection since Irene's birthplace is given as New York. Of course, when I tried to find a location in New York for Calvin Johnson and Irene Havens, I could not find a place where both could have lived nearby each other's family. I then quickly made the assumption that the chances were that Calvin and Irene were not related. So, for a little while after that, I was stuck and I put her line aside for a while.

Later on in that year, I visited St. Joseph County, Michigan again, to do more research. (I was planning to do research on all of my branches, not just on Irene.) In my previous visit, I had been unable to find a death record for Irene. Even though I did not have a death date for Irene, I knew she had died by 1877 since her husband remarried that year. (Of course, I should also state that I noticed that Peter had another wife by looking at the 1880 census, but at that time, it was only a guess.) I would not have a possible death date until towards the end of my visit when I visited Calhoun Cemetery in Florence township. I'll write more about my visit to Calhoun Cemetery in another post, but for the moment, it'll suffice to say that after finding Irene's grave, I had a possible death date and possible age at death in years, months and days. So far, this is the closest I have to a possible birth date and year for Irene.

Of course, finding Irene's grave did not help me figure out where in New York she was from or who her parents were. And I would not have an idea until about a year later. At that time, I was starting to think about what I could do to figure out where Irene came from when I realized that I had not followed her younger daughter forward into the censuses from 1900 to 1930. I knew that Mary Stout had married Clement Albright in the 1880s, but I realized that I did not know what happened to her after her marriage. So, I began to look for her daughter in the censuses. At the same time, I took a look back at the 1910 census for Peter Stout's household, and I noticed that Peter had a granddaughter named Jessie Albright living with him at the time of the census.

After finding one of Mary's children, I decided to look for her and her family in the censuses. I was able to quickly find Mary and Clement in the 1900 census in Kalamazoo County. I then looked for Mary again, and I found her with her children in the 1910 census living in Gladwin County with a Philip Lang (or sometimes spelled Lange). Mary and her children are listed as nieces and nephews to Philip, and since Mary is listed as a widow, Clement probably died sometime between 1900 and 1910. (Of course, I could be wrong, but I'll have to do a little bit more research to find out when he died.) I then looked for Mary again, and I found her living in Gladwin County again in the 1920 census. In this census, Philip was listed in the building below Mary's. After finding them in the 1920 census, I could not find Philip or Mary in the 1930 census. I am uncertain as to when or where they died, and I hope to be able to do some research sometime into when they died.

After noticing that Mary Albright was listed as Philip Lang's niece, I went backwards in the censuses to see who he married, as Philip's wife might be a sibling to Irene. In the 1900, 1880 and 1870 censuses, I discovered that he was married to a Rhoda. I then looked up Philip Lange's marriage record in Saint Joseph County, and discovered that he had married a Rhoda Havens. After discovering that Rhoda was related to Irene (either as a sister, step-sister or half-sister), I decided to look for her in the censuses prior to 1870. I also looked again at the 1900 and 1910 censuses and realized that Rhoda had died sometime between the 1900 and 1910 censuses. I looked at Saint Joseph County's online death index, and learned that there was a death record for a Rhoda H. Lang listed.

On another note, I'll have to continue this article on Irene in another post since this post is getting extremely long. So, in another post, I'll write about searching for Rhoda, and what I discovered. In addition, I will continue writing about my research into my Havens ancestors.

Genea-bloggers' Games - Day 3: My Progress

I did not work on any of the categories for the Genea-bloggers' Games today. Hopefully, I'll be able to work on the categories I'm competing in tomorrow.

Genea-bloggers' Games - Day 2: My Progress

Again, I did not make very much progress today. I scanned in a few old photographs, and saved them to my flash drives. I'm not sure if that would count for a task in the "Back up your data" category, but scanning those old photos are part of a project to scan in old photos. I am almost finished scanning the photos in that album, and once I am completely finished, I will be burning the images on my flash drives to CDs. So, I guess I have part of a task done.

As you can see, I still have not made much more progress, but I'm working on improving it.

And More Databases Added to FamilySearch Labs' Record Search

I forgot to mention this earlier in the week, but FamilySearch Lab's has added a few more databases to Record Search. The records added, that I noticed, were the 1885, 1935 and 1945 Florida state censuses. At the moment, there are only browseable images, so an index is not available. I just thought I would mention this, even though I am late in doing so.

Genea-Bloggers' Games - Day 1: My Progress

Every participant in the Genea-bloggers' Games is supposed to keep a daily record of his or her progress, and so, here is my progress report for today:
as
I did not attempt to do very much for the games today. All I really did was to write a post explaining what my blog was about, which was one of the tasks for the "Write, Write, Write" category. As for the other categories, I did not do anything. Yesterday, I did scan in a couple of old photographs and saved them onto my flash drive, but those really don't count because today was the official start of keeping score.

So, my progress so far has been extremely slow. Hopefully, in the next few days, I will be able to accomplish another task or two in the categories I chose to participate in.

What This Blog Is About ...

As one of the tasks in the "Write, Write, Write" category, I have to write a post explaining what my blog is about. I do not believe I have ever actually written a post explaining my blog, so here is what my blog is about:

Jessica's Genejournal is a blog that deals with genealogy and genealogical research, and history and historical research. Most of my posts will deal with my personal research, whether it is in history or genealogy (with most of the historical research intertwined with researching my ancestry), although I will post reviews on genealogy and history books that I have read. In addition, I also post links to news articles that deal with history, whether it be on historical research or an archaeological find. I also post on genealogy news, genealogy issues, and my thoughts about genealogy news. I also write the Genealogy and History Thoughts Columns where I try to deal with historical issues and problems, experiences in my research, and of course, my opinions on current events or issues in genealogy.

I also write entries for at least four carnivals. So far, most of those carnivals have been genealogy carnivals, but I intend to also write posts some day for one or two of the history carnivals. One of the genealogy carnivals that I frequently participate in is the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, which I also host on my blog.

In short, my blog deals mostly with genealogy and history.

18th Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted!

The eighteenth Shades of the Departed guest column has been posted! The author of this week's column is Thomas MacEntee, and you can read the column here. Enjoy!

The Genea-bloggers' Games: My Goals ...

The Genea-bloggers' Games officially start today, and I have decided to participate in the competition as much as I can. August is going to be a busy month for me for various reasons, but primarily because I am getting ready to go back up to school. Posts for this month will be fairly light, but I'll try my best.





So, here are the categories I am going to compete in:





Back up your data!





My primary goal for this category is to finish scanning documents and old photos, and to back those images already saved to my flash drive onto CDs. I do not know how much more I will be able to accomplish for this category, but I will do my best.





Write, Write, Write!





For this category, my goal is to accomplish as many of the tasks as I can. I do not know how many posts I'll be able to write and post, but I will try my best to do as much as I can.





Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness!





For this category, my goal is to try to accomplish at least two or three of the tasks. Again, since my time is going to be fairly limited, I do not know how well I will be able to do, but I will do my best.





Well, I think those are the only categories I will be participating in. I do not intend to compete in the cite your sources and organize your research only because I do not know how much time I will be able to devote to the Genea-bloggers Games. I just hope to be able to accomplish at least one or two tasks in all of the categories.





On another note, here is the flag that I will be representing:

The three flags are of the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. The United States flag represents my home country, and the flags for Germany and the United Kingdom represent the known ancestry of my ancestors up to this point.

I've Decided to Extend the Deadline Again!

I've only received two submissions so far for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, so I've decided to extend the deadline again. The new deadline for submissions is August 22. I will post the edition on the 23rd.

Genea-Bloggers' Picnic Posted!

The Genea-Bloggers' Picnic has been posted! You can read it here. Enjoy!

Summer Reading Challenge: A List of the Books I Read

As I promised yesterday, I am posting the links to the reviews of books I read for the Summer Reading Challenge. For this challenge, I had to read five books between the months of May and September, and one of the books had to be in a different category from the other four books. So, here is my list:

1. Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations by Charles Wilkinson
2. Making Your Dreams Come True by Marcia Wieder
3. Lincoln At Home: Two Glimpses of Abraham Lincoln's Domestic Life by David Herbert Donald
4. From Front Porch To Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America by Beth L. Bailey
5. A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World by William J. Bernstein

I enjoyed taking part in this challenge, and I enjoyed reading all of these books, even though there is one that I would not highly recommend. I hope others enjoy these books as much as I did. Have fun reading!

Submissions Are Due Today!

Submissions for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due today. I will post the edition tomorrow.

Also, on another note, I am looking for someone to host the eleventh edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. If anyone is interested, please contact me at: jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

My New Year's Resolutions: Eight Months Later

I happened to notice earlier that Jasia had created a poll on her blog, asking how far we have come to completing our New Year's resolutions, and I thought I would post on my progress again. As you may have remembered, I wrote a post answering that question back in May, and I think it would be a good idea for me to see if I have made any more progress. So, here is my progress so far:

1. I hope to get a chance to go to the Grand Rapids Public Library this year. The main branch of the library has records of the Old Soldiers' Home where my ancestor spent the last two years of his life. I am hoping to find more information than I did at the state archive of Michigan. Results as of May: I have yet to visit the library and look up that record. (I have been to that library before, I just never thought to look up the record in the past.) I guess I can always send a letter requesting a copy of the records. I don't know if it will cost more to order it than to copy it myself, but it is an option. Results since I posted in May: I still have not visited the library or made a request for his papers. I'm still hoping that I might be able to get a chance to do so this year.
2. Order more microfilms of probate records for Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Results as of May: I have not ordered any microfilms for Huntingdon County. Since I still have plenty of time, chances are that I will do so. Results since I posted in May: I did order two microfilms of Huntingdon County records this summer, but for one of the microfilms, I wrote down the wrong number. The other microfilm is of Orphan Court records for the county, and I am still waiting for that one to come.
3. Look up and print other probate records of ancestors who lived and died in Saint Joseph County, Michigan. Results as of May: I have not done this yet. Also, I can't seem to find the call numbers for those microfilms anymore on the familySearch website. I think I wrote down the call numbers, so I'll look and see if I can still make a request. Results since I posted in May: I still have not got around to looking up more probate records for Saint Joseph county, Michigan, and I have not looked for the film numbers I might have copied from the site.
4. Order birth, marriage and death records of ancestors from the United Kingdom. Results as of May: I have ordered a microfilm of baptismal records for the church that was closest to my ancestors' residence. Hopefully, I'll be able to find my ancestors and their siblings in these records. Results since I posted in May: I was able to able to find baptismal records for my ancestors and most of their siblings. I did also order another microfilm of church records, but I was not successful in finding a baptismal date for another ancestor.
5. Order microfilms of Trippstadt, Germany's civil records. Results as of May: I have ordered one microfilm of death records for the time period that a known ancestor had died. Of course, I still plan to order some more microfilms, especially of birth records. Results since I posted in May: The microfilm of death records I ordered finally came in last week, but it turned out to be the wrong years for the person I was doing research on. Instead, I was able to find a death record for another of my ancestor's children.
6. And last, but not least, I hope to make more connections and to find more ancestors and relatives. Results as of May: I have been contacted by two more distant cousins. I haven't yet been able to find more ancestors, but hopefully, I will have done so by the end of the year. Results since I posted in May: I did receive an e-mail from someone who was also researching a possible Householder ancestor, and I did send a response. Unfortunately, I have not heard back for that person since I sent my e-mail.

As you can see, I have made a little headway in completing my resolutions, but my level of progress has not really been any greater since I posted back in May. I still hope to make a little bit more progress, but I think most of my research is done until Christmas time.

I've Been Tagged!

I've just noticed that Wendy of All My Branches had awarded me a best blogging friend award. Thank you, Wendy!


So, here are the rules for this award meme:

1. Only five people are allowed to receive the award.
2. Four of them must be followers of your blog.
3. One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

And now, here are the five people that I am passing on the award:

1. Elizabeth of The Polish Genealogy Project
2. Janice of Cow Hampshire
3. Alex of Winging It (She is from New Zealand)
4. Alwierz of Polish-American Genealogy Research
5. Jmnlman of Strategist's Personal Library (A new, to me, blog.)

Thank you again, Wendy, for tagging me!

Summer Reading Challenge: Book Review 5

I have now finally finished reading the last book for the Summer Reading Challenge that I signed up for back in April. For my last book, I chose to read A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World by William J. Bernstein (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2008).

As the book title obviously makes clear, this book is on the history of trade in the world and how trade has affected world history. Although there is a little focus on economics, the book is primarily concerned with how trade has developed throughout history. From the ancient beginning of trade to the present day, this book covers what objects were traded and how they were traded. In addition, the movement and development of trade is tied into the context of the world events and how western and non-western countries interacted with each other. Another bonus for this book is that it is well written and that the author explains economic issues in terms that a lay person could understand. If you are looking for a general world history book that focuses on more than just Western world history, I believe this book would be a good place to start.

And since this is the last book for the summer reading challenge, I will be posting the links of all my reviews for this challenge in another post sometime later in this week.

So, I've Joined Facebook ...

I've finally decided to join facebook, and I just signed up earlier this morning. I've signed up for the Genea-bloggers group, and I think I am now officially a member. I don't know how much I'll use facebook in the future, but for now, I'm just going to work on familiarizing myself with the program.

Poll Results!

The poll is now closed, and the results are in! The question for this poll was, "Should I extend this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy? Two people voted, and the results are:

• Yes - 1 vote
• No - 1 vote

I think I'll extend the submission deadline until tomorrow, and I'll post the edition on the 6th.

53rd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The fifty-third edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition is:

"The topic for the next edition of the COG is, The Family Language...Does your family use words and phrases that no one else knows or understands? Where did they come from? Did you ever try to explain your "family language" to outsiders? Tell a story about your family-coined words, phrases, or nicknames. This topic was chosen by Donna Pointkouski who will be hosting the next edition of the COG at What's Past is Prologue. Thanks Donna! The deadline for submissions is August 15th."

To Join Or Not To Join? That is the Question ...

I've been debating for a while or whether or not I should join Facebook. Although most college students have a facebook account, I do not have one. Of course, when it comes to new things like this, I'm usually a bit slow to join. I haven't completely decided yet if it would be a good thing to join. My only concern is if having an account would distract me from my school work. Has anyone on facebook been distracted from doing their work? Any advise or comments are welcome. Thanks.