Saturday Night Fun - My Most Memorable Halloween Memories

For this Saturday Night Fun, Randy has challenged other genealogy bloggers to write about their most memorable Halloween memories, and I've decided to post mine. In fact, I have so many memories that it is difficult for me to decide which were the most memorable, so I'll probably post several of my most memorable ones.

I can remember several of the costumes that I wore for Halloween as a kid over the years. In Kindergarten, I dressed up as a cross between a princess and Cinderella, and I wore a costume that my mom made for me. (She did a wonderful job.) In the first grade, I dressed up as Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), and in the second grade, I dressed up as Jasmine from Aladdin. Halloween was more memorable in third grade primarily because of the family reunion my family attended shortly before Halloween. For that Halloween, I dressed up as a cross between a cowgirl and Annie Oakley. In the fourth grade, I dressed up a Southern Belle because I wanted to dress up in a historical style costume and because I liked the design of the dress. (I've always like fancy dresses and I've always loved seeing the dresses in historical movies. As you can see, I've had an interest in history since I was a child.) As for my costume in fifth grade, I believe I wore my mom's prom dress (I was pretending to be an early movie star), but I'm not completely sure. In the sixth grade, I dressed up as a bride, and in seventh grade, I dressed up as a sailor. In eighth grade, I dressed up as a cross between a ghost and a vampire. (There was no gore, though). In addition to the black costume I wore, I also wore a silver wig, and painted my face white. By the time I entered high school, though, I wasn't able to do as much trick-or-treating as I had been able to do in the past. (I've only dressed up a few times for Halloween since the ninth grade as a result of having a heavier schoolwork load.)

One of my most memorable Halloween memories that I have comes from my first year of high school. It was memorable not only because it was one of the last few times that I have gone trick-or-treating but also because I went trick-or-treating with my brother and his friends. I wore a traditional German dress, that my family had bought earlier that year when we visited Germany, and my brother was dressed up as the Grim Reaper. We went around to numerous houses, and my brother and I were back at home after trick-or-treating for a couple of hours. As soon as we arrived back at home, another one of my brother's friends stopped by the house, and wanted to go trick-or-treating. Our parents gave us permission, and my brother's friend called his parents to get permission to go with my brother and I. He got permission to go, and we were allowed to be out until 8 pm, for my brother's friend, and 8:30 pm, for my brother and I.

Since we had already gone to the houses nearest to our homes, we decided to go trick-or-treating in areas of the neighborhood where we had not yet gone. To get to one of the block's we had to walk down a dimly-lit area past a bunch of bushes. Looking back now, I should have realized what could happen, since I was oldest, but I didn't think about what it. As we walked through this area, a couple of me dressed in camouflage came out of the bushes, and scared all three of us. After recovering from the shock, I thought one of the men looked familiar, and I asked if he happened to be in a class. The guy denied it, and I decided that my brother, his friend, and I continue to trick-or-treat. (I think the guy was telling the truth, but who knows?) So, we continued on, finished trick-or-treating, and returned home by our curfews.

Since that time, I've only gone trick-or-treating a couple more times, so I think that happens to be the most memorable Halloween experience I've had. I hope you've enjoyed reading my Halloween memories. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

I just want to wish everyone a happy and safe Halloween! Enjoy!

A Reminder: Carnival Submissions Due in a Week-and-a-Half!

I just want to remind everyone that submissions for the upcoming Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy will be due on November 8th. Al will be hosting this edition, and you can read more about the topic here. Enjoy!

Saturday Night Fun - Unusual Ancestor's Name

For this Saturday Night Fun Randy has challenged other genealogy bloggers to post the weirdest name of one of their ancestors. I'll try to play along as best as I can.

At the moment, I cannot think of any ancestors with strange surnames, but I can think of a couple of unusual first names for a couple of my female ancestors. The two unusual first names that I can think of off the top of my head are Tryphena and Euphrosyne. The ancestor named Tryphena was from the U. K., and the ancestor with the name Euphrosyne was from Germany. Both names are quite unusual to me, and I've never heard of these names before discovering these ancestors. Does anyone else have female ancestors with either of these two first names? Thanks!

Looking for Hosts - 2010 and a Reminder

I realize that this probably a little early, but I wanted to start listing some of the months I am seeking a host for the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I will be hosting December's edition, but I don't know how many of 2010's editions I will be able to host. A few of the months that are open are:

• January
• February
• March
• April

I've just decided to list the first four months because it is still early. If anyone is interested in hosting an future edition, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Also, I just want to remind everyone that the deadline for the November edition of submissions is November 8. Al will be hosting this edition, and his instructions for the edition are here. Enjoy!

Music in the Family ...

For this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, I am supposed to write about musical instruments that I or family members might play. Instead of focusing only on musical instruments, I've decided to expand the idea to write not only about family members who play instruments but also about ancestors who were involved in music as well.

The members of my family who are primarily musically inclined are my mom and her brother, my uncle, and I believe they have been in involved in music in some way for most of their lives. My mom played the flute and piano from childhood through college, and she still plays the piano (as a member of our church's band). I grew up listening to my mom play the piano, and that is probably how I acquired a love for classical music. My mom was also active in her high school choir as well. I believe my uncle plays the saxophone, although I am not completely sure. Either way, he was involved in music as a child, and at one point, he served as the music director for the church he and his family attend.

Other members who have played an instrument, play an instrument or were involved in choir were my dad, grandma, brother and I. My dad sang in his high school choir, and my grandma also sang in the choir at the church she was a member. She also started to learn how to play the piano. My brother is learning how to play the guitar, and I've taken piano lessons at various times in my life. Of course, I'll probably never be as good as my mom, but I still enjoy learning how to play and playing the piano.

Outside of those family members, I cannot think of any other family members who are or were involved in music. I did have a couple of ancestors, as I learned earlier this year, who were musicians. Marianne Pyrker (or Anna Maria) was a famous Eighteenth Century Opera singer and her husband, Franz Joseph Karl Pyrker played the violin. I briefly wrote about Marianne Pyrker here, but I don't believe I mentioned that her husband was also a musician. Of course, at the moment, I only have secondary sources to prove my connection to them, but as I continue researching I hope to obtain primary documents as sources. As I continue my research, I'll probably uncover more information about them and maybe other ancestors who were musically inclined.

Outside of the people mentioned above, I cannot think of any other family members or ancestors at the moment who were involved in music. I hope, though, as I continue researching my ancestors that I will learn more about them. Enjoy!

82nd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 82nd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on:

"Musical Instruments! Do you play a musical instrument or did one of your family members? What instrument did you or they play? If no one in the family played an instrument, tell what is your favorite instrument or band and what is your least favorite one. The deadline for submissions is November 1st. This edition of the COG will be guest hosted by Janet Iles who authors the blog, Janet the Researcher."

Enjoy!

Trippstadt, Germany Civil Death Records, Part One: 1806-1829

(Note: Originally I had planned only to do one post on the subject of Trippstadt's death records, but since I haven't had the time to write a long post, I've decided to split the topic into multiple posts so that I can actually get around to writing about the civil death records as I promised months ago.)

As you may or may not remember, over this past summer and the summer before I began researching my Kees and Cotta ancestors in the death records of Trippstadt, Germany. Of course, when I started, I ended up going through the 1860s death records first, and that was by accident because I ordered the wrong microfilm. (I seem to have a habit of doing that sometimes.) I did eventually work back to the earlier records since most of the Kees and Cotta relatives I was searching for were in the earlier records. Unlike how I started going through the death records, I will be starting from the earliest to later records in this post and future posts.

For this first post in the series, I will be focusing on the years between 1806 and 1829. From 1806 through 1816, the death records were recorded in French. Most of the death records consisted of a document with typed text that left space for the information on the deceased to be handwritten in, although there were a few death records at the ends of each death register book that were only in handwriting. Each year had a separate book, and at the end of the book, a handwritten index listing the names of the deceased was included with the record number of the death record. Additionally, the index also included the town the person had died because at that time, the death records for a few other villages or towns were recorded in Trippstadt's death records. Unfortunately, I did not copy any images of death records or indexes before the 1820s in Trippstadt since I did not have any ancestors living in Trippstadt before 1823. (At least that is what I know at the moment. Adolph Kees and Amelia Cotta's first child was born in Trippstadt in 1823 according to the Protestant church's baptismal records.)

In 1817, the language used to record deaths was switched from French to German. The preprinted forms were kept, and each year had its own book as it did when the records were kept in French. Handwritten indexes were also kept at the ends of the record books with the only difference being that the language was changed. Other towns and villages from the area near Trippstadt were still included in the record books, but unfortunately, I forgot to not when the death records stopped including death records from other towns and villages outside of Trippstadt.

After 1817 through the 1860s, the death records stayed the same, except for changes in the index and some of the wording in the pre-printed forms. The death record below is an example of the death records in the 1820s.
In 1828, Amelia gave birth to a set of twins, but unfortunately, one twin was stillborn and the other died within a few minutes after birth. Adolph and Amelia did not name the children, and as you can see from the above image, the area for the name is crossed out. Although there are two death records, one for each child, I have only posted one of them since the records were the same. Each death record took up half a page in the record book, so two records are listed on each page. In the upper left corner, the record number is listed, and the first portion of the typed text records when, where (down to the district and town of death), and who was reporting the death to the registrar. (In the 1820s, the providence Trippstadt was located was listed as Rheinkreise, but that would change by the 1830s.) Two people were required to inform the registrar of a death, and Adolph Kees and another man were the ones who gave the information on the death of the twins. Additionally, the age, occupation and relationship of the informants to the deceased was recorded in the death records. The name of the parents of the deceased, their occupations, the occupation of the deceased, and the house number of where the deceased died are recorded in the second half of the document. At the bottom, the informants and registrar had to sign their names attesting to accuracy of the information, and as you can see, the signatures for all three men are at the bottom. Strangely, the gender of the children, in lieu of names, were not recorded despite the amount of information the records required.

I did not copy the image of the index for these death records, and thus, I haven't included an image of the index for the 1820s. I did copy images of the indexes in the 1830s, 1840s, 1850s and 1860s, and I will include those in future posts. Stay tuned for a post on Trippstadt's death records in the 1830s! Enjoy!

Three Book Reviews Posted!

Within the past week or so, I just finished writing and posting the last three book reviews of books I read for the Summer Reading Challenge. These three reviews are shorter than the other reviews because I just wanted to get the reviews posted, so here are the links for these reviews:

• Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 7
• Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 8
• Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 9

I hope you enjoy reading this books as much as I did. Enjoy!

Genealogy Societies - My Thoughts

For this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, I am supposed to write about my favorite genealogy society (or societies), or why I would or would not join a genealogy society.

I did write about my thoughts in regards to membership in genealogy societies over a year ago, but it is probably time for me to update my thoughts on the subject. At that time of that writing, I wasn't a member of a genealogy society, and I am still not a member over a year later. (Thus, I cannot list my favorite genealogy societies because I'm not a member of any society.) I'm not against or adverse to joining a society; it's just that I haven't joined a society yet for several different reasons.

My primary reason for not joining a genealogy society yet is that I am attending school. Over a year ago, when I first posted my thoughts, I was an undergraduate, and now I am a graduate student. My main focus, of course, is on my school work, so I really do not have much very spare time to go to genealogy meetings. If I were to become a member of a genealogy society, I would feel obligated to try to make as many meetings as I could, and at the moment, I would not be able to do so. Even though, I do have a job as a graduate assistant and could probably afford to join a genealogy society, I would not feel like I am getting my money's worth by not attending very many meetings (if I could even attend a meeting). Of course, I probably do not have to attend meetings to be a member; I just feel as though I should be active in any group or society that I join.

Secondly, I still do not have my own car, and thus, my ability to travel to a society's meeting is limited. If I were to attend a meeting, I would probably have to have a family member take me to the meeting because I don't have a car. Additionally, I am living out of the state of Michigan now, and once I am at school, I am pretty much stuck in the city. (The city does have mass transportation, but it is only for the city and is limited compared to the mass transportation of the area of my undergraduate university. There are also shuttles for the campus.) Again, though, unless the society met on campus of the university, it would be inconvenience for me to make a meeting away from campus.

So, as you can see, I would like to join a genealogy society, but as you can see, I either don't have the time or would have difficulty attending meetings. So, what do you think? As always, you can leave a comment. Thanks!

Saturday Night Fun - My Most Satisfying Research Moments

For this Saturday Night Fun, Randy has challenged other genealogists to come up with their most satisfying moments in genealogy research, and I've decided to post my best moments.

So, what are my most satisfying moments? Well, one of them happens to be when I was able to find the burial place of one my ancestors. I won't go into much more detail about the search because I have posted parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 on my cemetery blog, and I don't want to give away too much. I haven't written a post on the search in quite a while, but I do plan on eventually finishing the series. So, if you're interested in that story, I have at least part of it posted.

Other satisfying moments were connecting with cousins and non-relatives who were willing to share the information they had. I've not only made contact with cousins in the U. S., I have also connected with cousins in the U. K. and Argentina. As for non-relatives, a woman in Germany sent me information on my Kees ancestors, and if she had not kindly shared that information with me, I would probably be still struggling to uncover my Kees ancestors. I am eternally grateful that she shared that information with me.

So, those are a couple of satisfying moments that I could think of at the moment. I'm sure there are a few other moments in the past six years that I have spent so far in researching my ancestry, but I can't think of any other ones at the moment. If I do come up with a few more, I'll either update this post or I'll post the information in another post. Enjoy!

Here's Another Interesting Article ...

I just happened to notice that Turkey and Armenia have signed a diplomatic accord. It will be interesting to see what the developments will be ...

Apologies For the Missing Post ...

I'm sorry for the missing post. I started to post on an event that might have been too political for this blog, and I try to keep politics and genealogy as separate as I can. I deleted the post for that reason. So, I'm sorry about that ...

Genealogy and History Thoughts Column 19 - My Thoughts on the New FTC Blogging Guidelines

I just learned about the new Federal Trade Commission regulations for blogs from Craig's post via Chris' post. To be honest, I don't believe it is the government's job to tell bloggers how they should write their posts. Yeah, bloggers should mention in their posts that they were asked to review a product for a company, but does the government really have to tell or require bloggers to do so?

I don't think so, and that's why I'm posting on this topic. I'm bothered by these new regulations because I feel like the government is treating bloggers as if they are children. As an adult, I resent being treated like a child by the government, and I think the regulations should have been givens for other bloggers way before the FTC created these regulations. Additionally, I wonder if these new regulations will create precedents for the FTC to publish new and possibly, more restrictive regulations in the future.

Why do I worry? Well, from time to time, I write brief book reviews of history and genealogy books that I have read, and I think I've mentioned whether or not I bought the book or had a connection to the author. Is the government going to tell me that I can't write book reviews or that I must put another disclaimer at the end of my book review? I think I make it clear that I've either bought these books or checked them out of the library. I'm not telling people to go out and buy the books. My whole purpose in posting the book reviews was to suggest books that might help other genealogists with their research. People don't have to buy the books; they can check them out from a library.

I was thinking of posting another three book reviews of books I read over the summer, but now I'm wondering if I should bother. Would it be better for me to stop posting my informal book reviews to protect myself? Or should I just continue to post book reviews? What do you think?

As always, you can leave comments on what you think.

Poll Results!

The poll is now closed, and the results are in! The question for this poll was, "Which article topic are you most interested in reading?" 3 people voted, and the results are:

• Trippstadt, Germany Civil Death Records - 0 votes
• World War One Ancestor - 2 votes
• Irene Havens - 0 votes
• Genealogy and History Thoughts Columns - 0 votes
• New Civil War Pension File - 1 vote
• Other topics in genealogy/history - 1 vote

From this poll, it appears that a few of my readers are interested in reading about my World War One ancestor, and I guess that will be one of the future articles I will work on. Of course, I do not know when I will get around to writing that article and possibly the other requested articles due to the fact that I am busy with school work. I will try to write at least one the articles, though, at some point. To those who voted, thank you for voting! Stay tuned for future articles ...

Enjoy!

Congrats!

I just want to congratulate all the genealogy bloggers who made it onto the Family Tree Magazine's Top Genealogy Blogs list.

(I didn't make it into the list, but maybe I will next year.)

Genealogy and History Thoughts Column 18 - An Important Lesson: Never Assume ...

After looking at the title of this article, you're probably thinking, "Shouldn't that be given?" Probably, but my intention for this article is not to lecture others but write about how assumptions can cause problems in genealogy research. Why? Well, I made an assumption about a record, and I've just recently learned and realized that my assumption was wrong. So, by learning how I made a mistake, I'm hoping other genealogists will learn from my mistake.

As you probably remember, I recently received a copy of the pension file for Benjamin Oswalt, and since the file came, I've taken a look at the records. I once believed that I could not find this Benjamin Oswalt in the censuses after the 1850 census, so, when I asked my grandfather to take a look at a probate record for our ancestor, Benjamin Oswalt, did not expect my grandfather to find a Benjamin Oswalt in the 1870 census (see below the paragraph). (The Benjamin Oswalt in the probate record died in 1861 in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, and is the father of Adam Oswalt, according to Adam's death certificate.) This Benjamin was living in Kansas, and had been born in Michigan, and my grandfather, mentioned that he had found this census record will doing research for our ancestor. Of course, I took a look at the census record, and told my grandfather, that that Benjamin could not be connected to us because he was living in Kansas and was born in Michigan, despite the fact that he was the exact age as the Benjamin Oswalt I believe to be Adam's brother. Well, that is what I thought until Benjamin's pension file came ...

(Image taken from FamilySearch's Record Search)

When I looked at the pension file Benjamin's widow, Elizabeth, applied for, I noticed the names of the people who gave testimony on her behalf. I recognized some of the names, but there were a few names that I did not recognize. I already knew from previous research, that Elizabeth remarried, but when I looked at the Michigan death records and marriages that are online, I discovered that the one of the witnesses was probably the sister of Elizabeth's new husband. To try to confirm, my theory, I decided to look for Elizabeth's new husband and the witness in the census records. The search for Elizabeth's husband brought me back to the census image above. Lo and behold, Elizabeth's future husband was living next door to the Benjamin Oswalt I had earlier dismissed. Knowing that the future husband was from Saint Joseph County, Michigan, I realized that the fact that there was a Benjamin Oswalt living next door to him was probably not a coincidence since the Benjamin Oswalt I was looking for was from Saint Joseph County, Michigan. So, even though Benjamin's birthplace is listed as Michigan, I believe I have found the correct Benjamin Oswalt, and I believe it is possible that the census taker put the wrong information down.

So, what is the moral of the story? Well, almost ignored a census record and other possible leads into researching my Oswalt family. The census record indicates that Benjamin had some wealth, and it might be possible that he bought some land in Kansas. Of course, I won't know until I pursue this avenue, but I almost missed this opportunity because I believed it wasn't the right person. Just because a record doesn't necessarily fit all of your known facts about a person does not mean that it isn't your person. If you do write off a source, you might miss another possible lead. So, I guess it is better to have an open mind about possible sources when doing your own research. Now, I've just got to trace this new lead, and figure out why Benjamin was in Kansas about six months after his marriage. Please stay tuned for further posts on Benjamin.

And as always, please feel free to leave comments on you what you think about this article.

Late Saturday Night Fun: Childhood Memories ...

I'm late again in posting a response to the newest Saturday Night Fun, but since I wanted to participate, I'm going to post my response. For this challenge, Randy has challenged genealogy bloggers to post their most vivid childhood memory.

So, what is my most vivid childhood memory? Well, that is a tough one because I have so many vivid memories. I guess the best thing to do would to be list the earliest memory that I have.

My earliest memory is probably of being in a crib. I was standing up in my crib, so I had to have been at least old enough to stand on my own. (I was probably around a year old.) It was at night time because my room was dark, and I could see my parents' bedroom from the crib. My mom was standing in the doorway of her bedroom, and was ready to go to bed. She asked, "What are you doing up?" (She could see my room from looking out of her bedroom.) I just remember that she didn't look very happy, but that probably was due to being tired.

Of course, I don't remember anything else other than it was like a detailed snapshot of a moment. Most of my early memories consist of dream-like images, and thus, I almost feel as though I am recalling something like a dream except for the fact that these memories were too vivid to be dreams and were too life-like. (If that makes any sense.) I don't know why my earliest memories feel dream-like, but I guess that is how my brain preserved my earliest memories. Has anyone else experienced the same thing with their earliest memories?

81st Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 81st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on:

"The guest host is Kathryn Doyle of the California Genealogical Society and Library blog, and the topic is:

What's your favorite genealogical society?
Do you belong to a society?
Tell us why! Or if not, why not?

Kathryn's COG will be the inaugural edition of the all-new GenSo Blog Carnival, which will focus strictly on genealogical societies and will begin in January 2010. She'll provide more details about the GenSo Carnival in her post, so stay tuned for more."

Enjoy!

New Poll Created!

I haven't posted a poll in a long time, but I've decided to do one to find out which article topics my readers are interested in reading. The question for this poll is, "Which article topic are you most interested in reading?" The choices are:

• Trippstadt, Germany Civil Death records
• World War One ancestor
• Irene Havens
• Genealogy and History Thoughts Columns
• New Civil War Pension File
• Other topics in genealogy/history

The poll will be open for a week, and you can choose more than one answer. I am hoping that this poll will indicate which articles my readers would like to see, so that I can try to plan ahead in writing my future posts. Any other suggestions for article topics are welcome as well. Thanks!

Google Analytics Report For September 2009

Well, another month has gone by, and that means that it is time for another Google Analytics report! Here are the results for September 2009:

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

1. United States - 221 visits
2. Canada - 33 visits
3. Brazil - 30 visits
4. United Kingdom - 12 visits
5. Unknown (not listed) - 6 visits
6. India - 5 visits
7. Netherlands - 5 visits
8. Germany - 3 visits
9. Argentina - 3 visits
   
10. Australia - 2 visits

The top ten states in the United States, in number of visits, are:

1. Indiana - 42 visits
2. Michigan - 20 visits
3. Texas - 19 visits
4. Illinois - 18 visits
5. California - 18 visits
6. New York - 12 visits
7. Virginia - 8 visits
8. Ohio - 7 visits
9. Pennsylvania - 6 visits
10. Wisconsin - 6 visits

The top ten articles, in number of views, are:

1. Saturday Night Fun - Ahnentafel Roulette - 19 views
2. Tombstone Maker Website - 15 views
3. And Another Late Saturday Night Fun Entry ... - 15 views
4. Good News For the Library of Michigan? - 15 views
5. Library of Michigan Update ... - 15 views
6. 80th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted! - 11 views
7. 17th Edition of the Smile For The Camera Carnival Posted! - 10 views
8. 79th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted! - 10 views
9. An Interesting Article On An Archaeological Find In the U. K. - 9 views
10. The Pension File Came! - 9 views

Well, that is it for this month's report. To my readers, I just want to say, "Thank you for reading!" Enjoy!

If Something Were To Happen ...

For this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, I am supposed to write an obituary for my blog in case something was to happen (ie. the blog was deleted). Instead of writing an obituary, I've just decided to mention the steps I have taken to preserve my writings in case (God forbid!) my blog is deleted by accident.

Last year, I created a mirror blog for this blog after another genealogy blogger's blog was deleted by accident, and since that time, I have been slowly adding posted articles to that blog. I am also copying the articles that I have posted in the past, and I am saving those articles in a word document until I can get all of the past articles posted on the mirror blog. So, if something should happen, I should be able to prevent any loss of work, and I should be able to get the blog back up and running if I needed to do so. You can view the mirror blog here. Hopefully, I will never have to use the mirror blog, but one can never know what the future will bring.

An Interesting Article On An Archaeological Find In the U. K.

I just happened to notice this article about an archaeological find of Anglo-Saxon items in England. I thought someone might find it interesting. Enjoy!

23rd Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Posted!

The 23rd edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. (Thank you, Ambar, for hosting this edition!) The topic for the next edition will be on "Tips, Tricks, Websites,.... for researching Central and Eastern European Genealogy," and Al of Polish-American Genealogy Research will be hosting this edition. Submissions will be due on November 8th, and the edition will be posted on November 15th. Articles can be submitted here. Enjoy!

The Pension File Came!

What pension file? Okay, I didn't mention that about a month ago I ordered the Civil War Pension file for Benjamin Oswalt, the man I believe to be Adam Oswalt's younger brother. Well, the file arrived this afternoon, and when I came home from class, I saw it. Anyhow, I wouldn't have ordered the pension file while I was at school, except that I need it for school-related, non-genealogy project. So, as you can imagine, I'll be digging through this file, and seeing if I can find any direct proof that connects Benjamin and Adam together. Wish me luck!

Saturday Night Fun - Ahnentafel Roulette

For this Saturday Night Fun, Randy has challenged other genealogy bloggers to post information on one of their ancestors by coming up with the Ahnentafel number of an ancestor, and I've decided to participate in the challenge. The only difference is that I have chosen to divide by the age of my late grandfathers instead of my father's age, as a way to protect the privacy of living relatives. Here are the results that I obtained by following Randy's directions with the modification that I listed:

My grandfather, if he were living today, would have been 91, and when I divided his number by 4, I came up with the number 22.75. Since the number isn't a whole number, I've decided to round it up to 23.

The ancestor who is number 23 on my chart is my ancestor, Anna. I've written a little bit before on her family in my "Searching For My German Ancestors" posts, but I don't believe I have written a post that was specifically on her. Here are three facts about her:

1. She was born in Germany. (I don't have a birth date for her yet because I jumped ahead to continue researching on her parents' ancestry. I do have a possible birthplace in Germany, but I need to order records from the place to confirm my suspicions.)
   
2. She arrived in the United States with her parents and older siblings in February 1864.
3. She died in Detroit in the 1930s. (I don't have an exact date of death. I haven't been able to determine when she died, but it is one of my goals to do so.)

I do have more information on Anna, but I've only posted those three facts for this meme.

As a side note, I've also recently posted two other Saturday Night Fun memes from August, and you can read them here and here. Enjoy!

Looking For A Host and A Reminder ....

I just want to let everyone know that I am still looking for a host for the October edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I won't have the time to do the edition because of school, so if anyone is interested in hosting the edition, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. As for the December edition, I haven't decided whether or not to host the edition, so if anyone is interested in hosting that edition, please let me know.

Also, don't forget that the deadline for submissions to the September's edition is tomorrow. You can submit them here. Thanks!

80th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 80th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

"Your Genealogy Blog's Obituary. If your blog ended or was lost/deleted today,
how would you write it's obituary? What were the highlights of your blog? What
is its history? This theme was suggested by Schelly Talalay Dardashti of Tracing the Tribe who will be
hosting this next edition of the COG. You can read about the inspiration for
Schelly's choice of topic here.
The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2009."

Enjoy!

17th Edition of the Smile For The Camera Carnival Posted!

The 17th edition of the Smile for the Camera Carnival has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on "Travel. Planes, trains and automobiles. Horses, mules, carts, and wagons. Bikes or on foot. Show us your family and how they traveled." Submissions will be due on November 10th. Enjoy!

Library of Michigan Update ...

I just happened to take a look at Brenda's post on the Library of Michigan, and it appears that the Library of Michigan isn't out of the woods yet. I guess I was a little too hopeful in my previous post. Does anyone have any additional reports on the status of the Library of Michigan?

Good News for the Library of Michigan?

I just received some news about the Library of Michigan from one of the yahoo genealogy groups I am member of, and looks like the Library of Michigan might be preserved. Of course, that is what it sounds like from this news article. Has anyone else heard the same thing?

Although I haven't posted very much on the threat to the Library of Michigan, I have paid attention to what was going on despite the fact that I have been busy with school work. If this news is correct, then we can breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, I'm being cautious as I do not know if this article is accurate. Does anyone know for sure?

Happy Labor Day!

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

79th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 79th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

"Family Fun! Research an event your ancestor may have attended. Did your
ancestor live within a few blocks of the parade route for the annual Fourth of
July parade in the town where they lived? If your family lived in a rural area,
perhaps they attended a county or state fair. If they lived in a big city,
perhaps they attended a play or movie opening. Was there an amusement park or
traveling carnival near the area your family was from, one they might have
visited? Were there fireworks displays in the town your family was from? How
much do you know about the types of entertainment your ancestors might have
enjoyed? Check into it then write it up! This "fun" edition of the Carnival of
Genealogy will be hosted by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. The deadline
for submissions is September 15th."

Enjoy!

15th Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted!

The 15th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on Irish portraits, and you can read more about it here. Enjoy!

Don't Forget!

I just want to remind everyone that entries for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due the 19th. The topic for this edition will be a carousel, and can be submitted here.

Also, I need someone to host the October edition. (I don't have anyone for December, but I might host that edition.) If you are interested in hosting the October edition please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com as soon as possible. Thanks!

A Family Reunion From A Child's Perspective ...

For this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, I am supposed to write about family reunions. I have only been to one family reunion so far in my life, and as I do not know about any other family reunions in my family before my time, I'll write about the one I attended.

I was eight years old when I attended the reunion with my mom, brother and paternal grandparents, and in addition to my immediate family, my great-uncle and great-aunt also attended the reunion. They, of course, drove separate from us. The reunion was in Pennsylvania, and my grandfather drove the van we had at the time. (I don't know where exactly it was in Pennsylvania except that it was pretty close to the border with New York.) My dad did not accompany us to reunion because he had to work. I do remember the drive to the reunion, but I don't remember if I saw any road signs. All I knew was that the family reunion was on my grandma's side of the family.

The hotel where the reunion was held (and where we stayed) had, from what I remember, an Irish theme. I can't remember the name, but I can still recall what the place looked like. (Of course, I also took pictures, so that is probably why I remember so much about the place.) Outside of the family members I mentioned above, I did not know anyone else there at the reunion, and I don't really recall interacting with the other people at the reunion. What I do remember was that the reunion was in late October, and was primarily a weekend event. I might have had to miss a day or two of school, but the reunion wasn't very long. Towards the end of the reunion, there was a little trick-or-treat event set up for the children, and I remember wearing the costume I had that year for Halloween. Unfortunately, my brother and I missed most of the event, but our mom took pictures of us in our costumes.

Since I really did not know anyone, I think I hung around my family most of the time, although I do remember wandering around a little bit. (Unfortunately, I don't remember everything.) I did leave the hotel a couple of times, but only with other family members. One of the outings from the hotel was with my grandparents, and I remember we drove across the boarder into New York to buy lotto tickets. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a park (probably a state park) and walked through the park. I think we originally stopped to see a waterfall, because I remember walking to the waterfall in the park. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the park or the waterfall. At one time I did have some information on the park and the waterfall, but the information was thrown out years ago before I had a chance to really look at it.

The second outing that I remember was to a restaurant, and the restaurant was in an old, white house. I don't remember the food at the place, but I do remember the Halloween decorations that were set up behind the building since I took many pictures of them. (I think I drove my mom nuts with all the pictures I took, but mostly I remember being fascinated with the decorations. Of course, as a kid, I was into Halloween, so it was hard for me to ignore.)

Outside of the events above, I don't remember too much more. I do remember that there was a group picture taken of everyone because my grandma held up a copy of the Livonia Observer, so that the picture would end up in the newspaper. The picture was eventually printed in the newspaper, but it wasn't put into the newspaper until some months later. (A classmate happened to see the picture and mentioned it to the class. At the time, we were supposed to pick articles out of the newspaper, and she happened to notice my name in the picture. Of course, I didn't know until then that the picture had been printed.) After it was printed, I cut-out the image, and I still have it in a scrapbook.

Before the reunion ended, I think every family member received a mug and plastic cup with the name and year of the reunion because we brought home a few of them. Of course, I don't know for sure, the mugs are probably the only mementos (besides the photographs) my family still has from the reunion. (My grandma did receive some information on her family, but I wasn't with her at the time so I can't say when during the reunion she received it.)

So, as you can see, most of my memories of the family reunion are random. Of course, I was really young at the time, so I did not know what was going on other than what I saw or heard. As for whether or not I would ever attend another family reunion, I probably would since I had a fairly positive experience with the one I attended. I just only wished I understood better what was going on at the time.

Google Analytics Report For August 2009

Another month has gone by, and that means that it is time for another Google Analytics report! Here are the results for August 2009:

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

1. United States - 244 visits
2. Canada - 25 visits
3. United Kingdom - 15 visits
4. Netherlands - 6 visits
5. Australia - 5 visits
6. Germany - 5 visits
7. Philippines - 3 visits
8. India - 3 visits
9. Argentina - 3 visits
10. Belgium - 3 visits

The top ten states in the United States, in number of visits, are:

1. Indiana - 29 visits
2. California - 27 visits
3. Texas - 24 visits
4. Michigan - 18 visits
5. Illinois - 18 visits
6. Ohio - 14 visits
7. New York - 14 visits
8. Virginia - 8 visits
9. Wisconsin - 8 visits
10. Pennsylvania - 8 visits

The top ten articles, in number of views, are:

1. An Award! - 24 views
2. Classes Have Begun! - 20 views
3. Breakthroughs and Roadblocks In Researching My German Ancestors ... - 19 views
4. 16th Edition of the Smile For the Camera Carnival Posted! - 18 views
5. My New Year's Resolutions - Eight Months Later - 17 views
6. 22nd Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Posted! -15 views
7. 14th Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted! - 13 views
8. An Early Irish History Book ... - 12 views
9. Tombstone Maker Website - 11 views
10. 77th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted! - 11 views

Well, that is it for this month's report. To my readers, I just want to say, "Thank you for reading!" Enjoy!

And Another Late Saturday Night Fun Entry ...

(I'm late again in posting my response to another Saturday Night Fun entry, but I still want to participate. Thus, I am still posting this entry even after a few weeks have gone by. - September 19, 2009)

For this Saturday Night Fun entry, Randy is asking other genealogy bloggers to post the number of ancestors they have met, and I've decided to post all of the ancestors I have met in my life so far. I won't be posting the names of the ancestors I have met because most of them are still alive. So, here are the ancestors I have met:

I have met my parents and all four of my grandparents. As I stated above, I am not posting their names because in all but one case, they are still alive.

I have also met two of my great-grandmothers, even though I don't remember them. (Both of my great-grandmothers died when I was a young child.) One of my great-grandmothers was from my father's side of the family, and the other great-grandmother was from my mother's side of the family.

So, I've met eight of my ancestors, even though I don't remember two of them.

An Award!

Earlier today, I was notified that The Daily Reviewer had included my blog in their list the top 100 genealogy blogs, and I just want to say, "Thank you for the award. It is an honor." Also, I want to congragulate all the other genealogy bloggers who made the list. (You can view the list here.) Congrats!

Classes Have Begun!

Classes officially started for me today, so I won't have as much time to post for the next several months. Thus, blogging will be light until I have more time to post. (Of course today was a strange day for me because I had class on my birthday. I've never had class on my birthday before, and yet, it felt like any other day that I've been in school. I guess I am getting to the point in my life where birthdays don't mean as much as they did when I was a child.)

My New Year's Resolutions - Eight Months Later

It has been a few months since I've posted an update to my New Year's resolutions, and I thought I would give everyone an update as to what I have been able to accomplish so far. So, what have I accomplished? Well, here is what I have been able to do since April:

1. Look up and print other probate records of ancestors who lived and died in Saint Joseph County, Michigan. As of April 1st: I still have not had the chance to look up any more probate records, but I am still hoping to do so this year. As of August 19th: I have not done any research in the probate records of Saint Joseph County, Michigan, and I am unsure as to whether or not I will be able to do before the end of this year.
2. Order more microfilms of Trippstadt, Germany's civil records. As of April 1st: I have ordered two microfilms of death records, and so far, only one has come into the Family History Center. I am still waiting for the second one, and after I have obtained all of the death records, I will be ordering birth and marriage records. As of August 19th: I have looked at book the microfilms that arrived earlier this year, and I found the death records of my ancestors and their siblings. I did not order marriage or civil birth records after the death records arrived. Instead, I ordered a microfilm of the church records to look for the births. I probably should order the civil records for those births and marriages, but I will have to put off that research until I have more time.
3. Order naturalization records for my German-Russian ancestor Anton and his siblings. As of April 1st: I have not ordered any naturalization records, but I still hope to order some of these records. As of August 19th: I have not ordered any naturalization records to date, and I will probably have to wait until I have the time to do so.
4. Obtain the Civil War Pension files for Benjamin and William Oswalt, and try to strengthen their relationship to my ancestor, Adam Oswalt. As of April 1st: I haven't ordered any more pensions files although I would like to do so. As of August 19th: I have not ordered any Civil War Pension files, and I am not sure if I will be able to do so before the end of this year. I might still order them, but I have not decided yet as to whether or not to do so.
5. Find more information on my ancestor, Irene Havens. I am hoping to figure out who her parents are, and what her connection is to Rhoda and the Mandigo family. As of April 1st: A man named Jim, kindly looked up two newspaper notices for a couple of marriages in Rochester, New York and shared the information with me a few days after I posted my resolutions. Of course, I still need to do further research to figure out the exact relationship between my ancestor, the Mandigo family and Rhoda (Havens) Lang(e). As of August 19th: So far I have not focused any attention on or researched my Havens branch. I did obtain Rhoda's death certificate from the Seeking Michigan site, but I have not pursued any of the leads that I have. I do not know if I will be able to do any research into this branch before the end of the year, but I hope to do so next year.
6. Find more information on my WWI veteran great-grandfather's family and ancestors. As of April 1st: I am doing a little research on my great-grandfather's family, but I haven't finished looking at records in Scotland. As of August 19th: I have had someone help me by looking up records for my ancestor's siblings in Scotland's vital records, but I do not believe I am ready to start researching in Irish records. I think I still need to continue looking at Scottish records before I do so. (The person who has been looking up the records for me has been doing so since I started to research my great-grandfather in Scottish records.)
7. Order birth, marriage and death records of ancestors from the United Kingdom. As of April 1st: I haven't ordered any vital records from the U.K., but I hope to order some microfilms of church records the next time I visit the Family History Center. As of August 19th: I have ordered a few microfilms of church records from Lancashire, but I have had limited success in my research. I was able to obtain the baptismal record for an ancestor, but I have mostly had setbacks as I ordered the wrong microfilms for a couple of locations. As for ordering civil vital records from the U.K., I recently attempted to order a couple, but I have encountered some difficulties in trying to do so. (I will explain later in a future post.)
8. I hope to make more connections and to find more ancestors and relatives. As of April 1st: I've contacted a man who had information on a branch of my British ancestors, and he kindly shared the information he with me. Outside of that, I haven't made any other connections. As of August 19th: I was contacted by a woman from Argentina who was also descended from my Kees and Cotta ancestors, and we have been exchanging information over the past few months by e-mail. Outside of those two instances, I have not made any new connections.
9. Publish posts listed in the "Coming Soon" box in a timely manner. As of April 1st: I am still working on this resolution, and I am still behind in publishing the posts I have listed. As of August 19th: I think it probably safe to say that I have failed so far with this resolution. I have not posted articles in the box in the time frame that I set up. Many of the future articles listed have been on the list for months, and at the moment, I am unsure as to when I will get around to posting some of the articles or topics listed in that column. Since I am now back at school, I am afraid that I won't improve in this regard.
10. Improve the writing quality of my posts. As of April 1st: I am still working on this resolution as well. As of August 19th: I am unsure as to whether or not I have improved my writing or accomplished this goal. Has my writing improved? Please feel free to leave comments on my writing skills. Thanks.

As you can see, I have not made too much progress in accomplishing the goals I set out back in December. As to whether or not I will make any more progress before the year ends, I don;t know because I am back at school. If I am able to accomplish another one of my goals before the end of this year, I will be satisfied with my progress.

78th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 78th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

"Family Reunions! Have you been to a family reunion recently? What do you know about past family reunions? If your family doesn't have reunions, why do you think that is - family skeletons or feuds, perhaps, or just geography? Or, has there been an important or intriguing family or other reunion in your community that you can tell us about? This edition will be hosted by M. Diane Rogers at CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt'. Thanks Diane! The deadline for submissions is September 1st."

Enjoy!

16th Edition of the Smile For The Camera Carnival Posted!

The 16th edition of the Smile For The Camera Carnival has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on "School Days." It is September, historically the month when a new school year begins. We all have images of the days spent in school. The barefoot children gathered together with their teacher in front of the rural school your ancestors attended. Children at their desks, children at play in the school yard, and those obligatory school photographs - one for every year." Enjoy!

Late Saturday Night Fun - My Ultimate Genealogy Goals ...

Randy posted another Saturday Night Fun challenge, and although I'm late in posting, I thought I would share my ultimate genealogy goals. So, here are my goals:

My ultimate genealogy goals (I have more than one) are to move as far back into my ancestry as is possible, and maybe, to eventually publish my research on my ancestors in a book. Of course, I haven't completely decided yet if I want to publish a book, but my guess is that I probably will when I am older. Additionally, I want to become certified as a genealogist, but I have yet to start the process to become one. Since I am fairly young, I have the rest of my life to complete my goals, and at a minimum, I have at least another 50 years or more to do so.

At the moment, I believe I am doing as much as I can do in my genealogy research as is possible. Since I am student, my priority is to complete my education first, and as a result, I can only spend time on my genealogy research when I have the free time. Could I possibly do better? I probably could be more efficient, but as I stated, with school being my first priority, my research is a secondary priority to school. I probably won't be able to spend most of my time on genealogy research until after I have reached retirement, but I think that would be fine.

So, those are my goals and what I am doing to accomplish them.

22nd Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Posted!

The 22nd edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be a carousel, and will be hosted by Ambar of Still More Genealogy. Submissions for the edition are due on September 19th, and the edition will be published on the 21st. You can submit your article here. Enjoy!

Breakthroughs and Roadblocks In Researching My German Ancestors ...

Although this article is late for the next edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, I wanted to post on this topic. In the course of doing research into my German ancestors, I've had breakthroughs and roadblocks. Here are some of my experiences:

Breakthroughs

Several of my breakthroughs in my genealogical research has been on lines where I had German ancestors. One of my largest breakthroughs came about when I posted a query on my Kees ancestors, and received a response from a woman in Germany. Although she wasn't related, she had some information on my ancestors, and she kindly shared that information with me. In addition, she also contacted the historical society of the town my Kees ancestor was born in, and shared the information on his ancestors with me. Needless to say, I would not have been able to move back as far as I have in such a short time, if she had not shared that information with me, and I am especially grateful of her help.

Besides providing information on my Kees ancestors, the same lady also provided a little bit of information on Klippel ancestor, and from that information, I was able to locate that ancestor's place of birth. (I did have his marriage record at that time, but I had not had the record transcribed. Thus, I did not know where he was from.) After finding his place of birth, I was able to look-up and order microfilms from his birthplace, and I was able to do more research on my Klippel ancestors.

Other breakthroughs on other branches have been done so far through civil death records and secondary sources. With my Cotta ancestors, I was able to confirm the names of my ancestors' parents, and from there, look up secondary information on them. Most of the secondary literature is in German, so it will take me longer to process the information. That problem, of course, leads to the roadblocks I have encountered in my research.

Roadblocks

As I mention in the previous paragraph, most of the secondary literature on my ancestors is in German, but that has only been a slight problem for me. I have taken several years of German, so the language barrier is not as much of problem for me as it might be for others. Of course, it just takes me longer to process the information, and when I lack the time to read the information, I generally stop the research on my German ancestors and work on another ancestral branch. Most of my roadblocks stem from this lack of time, although I have had problems with the handwriting in primary German documents. When I first started to do research on my German ancestors, I discovered that the handwriting styles were very different from what I was used to, and thus, I wasn't able to transcribe the records. I had to find someone who could transcribe those records for me. After spending time with researching in these primary documents and learning the letters, I am able to make out more of the information in the records. I do still have a little trouble because I am still learning how to read the handwriting, but it is not as much of a problem as it was when I first started.

Outside of those roadblocks, the only other roadblocks I have come across so far happen to deal with not being able to continue researching, whether it is due to the lack of time or I haven't had the chance to order the records I need to research. Since I am in school most of the year, I do not have very much time to do research, and thus, I can't always order all of the records I want to look at because I would not be able to get through all the microfilms I want.

In the case of my German ancestors from Russia, Anton and Caroline, I haven't ordered Anton's naturalization records because I haven't had the time in the past. Of course, it just happens to be my luck that Anton went through the naturalization process in Detroit, and as a result, the card image doesn't list the number for his records. I have held off applying for his records because I would have to pay for a search to find the record number, and then I would have to pay even more to get his naturalization records. (To read more about how Detroit is different, click here.) Thus, I have put off ordering the records because of the expense and lack of time that I have at the moment. Until I can get those records, I have to put off doing any research on that branch because I need to know where in Russia they were born and cannot do any further research until I learn where Anton and Caroline were born or lived in Russia.

A different roadblock that I have encountered is with my Klippel ancestors. As you may remember from what I wrote about my research into the Klippel family in the past few weeks, I have not been able to move back farther on a branch because I cannot locate the marriage record of my ancestors. The church microfilm is missing several years, and in between those years, my ancestors married. I might have to look and see if civil records for those years exist or if the church has a copy of those years; but either way, I don't have the time at the moment to follow up on those possibilities because I am back at school.

With another branch of my German ancestors, I am stuck trying to figure out who the parents of my great-grandfather are, and I am still trying to figure out where and when he was born. Family tradition and different records like his death certificate, World War One draft card, marriage record and census records vary between two different years as to when he was born (not to mention different places of birth), and those two years span about four years. On top of that, family tradition suggests that he was born under a different name and informally adopted. Thus, I'm not completely sure as to where I should go with my research, and with the lack of time, I have put this branch on the back burner because of these problems.

And then, there is the issue of the birthplace of another ancestor. I have the birth date for Carl, but as to where he was born, I just know that it was in Germany. I've uncovered the court document that lists when he became a naturalized citizen, but that record doesn't list a place of birth. All it states is that he came to the country in a certain year, but I haven't been able to find proof of him coming in that year. To make matters even worse, there is another man with the same given and surname as my ancestor who arrives in the country at the same time. Additionally the passenger list that I think has my ancestor on it is from about four years before he claimed to come into the U.S. (Of course, I now suspect that the year of arrival that he gave was incorrect or was the year that he came to Michigan.) If, as I suspect, he came earlier, I cannot find him in the 1880 census, and thus, I have no idea at the moment as to where I should look for other naturalization documents. The only other clue that I have is the inclusion of his relative Fred in the 1894 Michigan state census, but I'm not even sure how Fred is related. The census lists him as Carl's son, but that is impossible due to the fact that it would been biologically impossible for Carl to have a son at the time that Fred was born. The only other option I have is believe that the relationship was put down incorrectly, and that Fred might be either Carl's brother or a cousin. Of course, I don't know how they are related except that there is a connection. I'll have to find the church records where Carl and Anna married, but at the moment, I don't have the time to figure out if those church records might have survived.

So, as you can see, most of my roadblocks are only roadblocks because I lack the time to do my research. Most of these research problems could be solved if I had access to the records, but until I have more time, I probably won't be able to solve all of the problems in one summer. I'll have to settle with trying to break through maybe one or two of these lines when I am out of school the next time. Of course, if anyone has any other ideas as to what I can do with my research, please feel free to leave me a comment. Thanks.

Back At School ...

As you probably have noticed, I haven't posted too much lately, and that is due to being quite busy. I just moved into an apartment on the campus of the school I will be attending over this weekend, and thus, I haven't had time to write because I was packing and moving this past week. Anyhow, since I am back at school, I won't be posting as much I as I have in the past, and I thought I would give everyone a heads up. I have reactivated my Facebook account as well, but I do not know how much I will be using it, though.

So, I'll be around, but this blog might be pretty quiet in the upcoming months. Stay tuned ...

Family History Center Visit 16

Yesterday, I visited the local Family History Center, and I took another look at the Weisenheim am Berg, Germany church records. I had missed a few entries on a few ancestors, so I decided to go back and look again. I was able to find those records, and I also made larger copies of some other records that I had found before. So, all in all, it was very successful research hour for me, and I guess a good way to end my research for awhile, if not for the rest of the year. The next time I'll be able to do research is around Christmas break, and hopefully, I'll be able to do so. Stay tuned ...

77th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 77th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on:

"Pony Pictures! This is your chance to show off those pony pictures in your family album. Did you ride your first pony at the state fair or on a farm? Did you have to sit on the back and hold on to your older brother? Was your pony real or a rocking horse? Got any pictures of other family members on ponies? Show us the cowboys and cowgirls in your family and tell us the stories to go along with them. Giddyup pony! The deadline for submissions is August 15."

Enjoy!

Google Analytics Report For July 2009

Well, another month has gone by, and that means that it is time for another google analytics report. Here are the results for July 2009:

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

1. United States - 400 visits
2. Canada - 36 visits
3. Brazil - 33 visits
4. United Kingdom - 26 visits
5. Netherlands - 15 visits
6. Argentina - 4 visits
7. Germany - 3 visits
8. Norway - 3 visits
9. New Zealand - 2 visits
10. Poland - 2 visits

The top ten states in the United States, in number of visits, are:

1. Michigan - 89 visits
2. Illinois - 42 visits
3. California - 35 visits
4. Texas - 26 visits
5. Ohio - 19 visits
6. Massachusetts - 15 visits
7. New York - 15 visits
8. Virginia - 14 visits
9. Wisconsin - 11 visits
10. Minnesota - 9 visits

The top ten articles, in number of views, are:

1. 20th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy - 76 views
2. History Being Destroyed ... - 26 views
3. Frustrated Friday - Who Are Their Parents? - 22 views
4. 76th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted! - 19 views
5. Working Hard: A Scene From the Early Days of the Automobile Industry - 18 views
6. More Records Have Come! - 14 views
7. 15th Edition of the Smile For The Camera Carnival Posted! - 13 views
8. Not Going ... - 13 views
9. Still Looking For Hosts ... - 13 views
10. Tombstone Maker Website - 12 views

Well, that is it for this edition of the Google Analytics Report. To my readers, thank you for reading my blog! Stay tuned for next month's report!

Family History Center Visit 15

Earlier today, I visited the local Family History Center, and I took a look at the microfilm of church records from Weisenheim am Berg, Germany. I was able to go through the film and make copies of the church records in two hours. I think that today was one of the most successful research days I have had in a while, and as you can image, I'm pretty happy with my research.

I was able to find two marriage records for my ancestors of two different generations, but I was still unable to find the marriage record for Georg Klippel and Barbara Jost. I don't know if that is due to the missing years in the microfilm, or if it is due to them marrying in another town. When I glanced at Georg's burial record, I think I say something about his marriage, so I'll have to take a look at what that record says first. Overall, though, I am happy with my research. I believe I've moved back a couple more generations on the Klippel maternal side, but I still have to analyze the records. Of course, if I uncover more information, I'll let everyone know. Stay tuned ...

14th Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted!

The 14th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture has been published! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on Irish reading, and topics will be due by August 30th. Enjoy!

Family History Center Visit 14

Earlier today, I visited the local Family History Center, and with the help of my grandma, I looked at the three microfilms. Two of the microfilms were church records for Manchester, Lancashire, and the other microfilm was of church records in Weisenheim am Berg, Germany.

One of the Manchester microfilms was of baptismal records, and my grandma was able to find my ancestor in the baptismal records. When she looked at the other microfilm, which contained marriage records, she was unable to find the marriage record for that ancestor's parents. It turned out that I ordered the microfilm, and thus, did not get the right years of the marriage records. I'll have to order the right microfilm, although I am not sure when I will be able to do that.

As for the microfilm of German church records, I was able to find the baptismal record of my Klippel ancestor. I then tried to look for other siblings in the baptismal records, but I was only able to find a couple of other siblings. I was able to find the death records of his parents, but I was unable to find the marriage record of his parents. The microfilm was missing some of the years of the church book, so I'll have to look and see if they are on the other microfilm listed in the LDS catalogue. Until then, I cannot do too much research into my Klippel ancestor's maternal side. I was able to find out who his paternal grandparents were, and hopefully, I'll be able to do a little bit more research before I go back to school. So, I guess my research today was somewhat successful. Stay tuned ...

Not Going ...

Well, it looks like I will not be going to the local Family History Center today. The battery in my brother's car decided that today was the day it would die. It looks like I'm going to have to wait until another day. Either way, I'm frustrated ...

Family History Center Update

I just received a phone call from the local Family History Center, and learned that the three other microfilms have arrived. I hope to take a look at the microfilms later today, so stay tuned ...

An Early Irish History Book ...

(I'm writing this book review for the 15th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture early because I don't know if I'll have time later and because I want to make sure that I have an entry for that edition.)

For this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture, I have to read book on Ireland, and so, I checked out a history book on Ireland from my local library. I have finished reading the book today, and the book I read was In Search of Ancient Ireland: The Origins Of The Irish From Neolithic Times To The Coming Of The English by Carmel McCaffrey and Leo Eaton (Chicago: New Amsterdam Books, 2002).

As you probably can tell from the title, this book in on the history Ireland up to the Norman invasion in 1167. I wanted to read up on Irish history for this edition, and as I was not very familiar with early Irish history, I decided to check the book out. This book happens to be a companion book to the PBS TV series In Search of Ireland. The book focuses on social aspects of Irish history and how the Irish lived in the past. Information that I read about in a previous book review on early Irish history meshed nicely with this book, and this book helped to illuminate and explain much of what I had read before. I enjoyed reading this book, and thus, recommend it to others. I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I did.

21st Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Posted!

The 21st edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on roadblocks and breakthroughs, and will be hosted by Al of Al's Polish-American Genealogy Research. You can read more information about that edition here. Submissions are due August 8, and the edition will be published on August 15th. Enjoy!

Also I am still looking for a host for two upcoming editions of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy:

• October
• December

I am especially looking for someone to host October's edition. I have not decided yet, but I might host December's edition. Is anyone interested in hosting the October edition? Pleas contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

My German Ancestors and Their Summertime Experiences ...

For this edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern Europe, I'm supposed to write my ancestors' experiences with summers in America and Europe, and to be honest, I really do not know very much about what life was like for my ancestors in Europe or America. (Although when it comes to life in America, I can guess a little about what their summers might have been like.)

Most of my German ancestors settled in the Great Lakes area, primarily in Michigan and Ohio, and since I've grown up in the same region as they settled, I do know what summers are like for the area. Summers in Michigan tend to be hot (Temperatures can range from the 70s to 90s, and sometimes even higher.) and humid. This year the summer has been cooler than it usually is, but even so, I've still had to use the air conditioning because there have several days that were either humid, hot or both. Of course, my ancestors would not have had air conditioning, so they would have had to find other ways to stay cool. Although I'm not completely sure as what my ancestors might have done, I do know that a couple of my ancestors would leave Detroit, either to go to the cottage they owned or to a farm owned by other relatives. Of course, those probably were not the only things my ancestors did, but at the moment, I don't know what they might have done.

As for the weather in Europe, I do not believe I would be too far off to say that they might have had to make a little adjustment, but I cannot say for sure. I have been to Germany in the summer, and from what I remember, the weather was slightly warmer than what I was familiar. Although it was slightly warmer, I think the weather was quite comparable to the weather or the Great Lakes region, so I do not believe my ancestors would have been shocked by the weather in the summertime. As for the weather during wintertime, I think that is a completely different story.

Reminder: Submissions Are Due Today!

I just want to remind everyone that the submissions for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due today. You can read more about the topic here, and you can submit your articles here.

Also, I am still looking for hosts for these two months:

• October
• December

If you are interested in hosting either one of these months, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

The Inter-Library Loan Book Has Come In!

Yesterday, the book I ordered through inter-library loan came into the local library, and I picked up the book later that day. I had ordered the book about a week-and-a-half ago, and so, obviously, I'm thrilled that it has arrived. The book I ordered was Revolution und Constitution -Die Brueder Cotta: Eine biographische Studie zum Zeitalter der Franzoesischen Revolution und des Vormaerz by Monika Neugebauer-Woelk (Berlin: Colloquium Verlag, 1989), and as you might be able to tell from the title, the book is a biography of Christoph Friedrich Cotta and his brother, Johann Friedrich Cotta, and their role in the French Revolution.

Obviously, I ordered the book because it was on my ancestor, Christoph Friedrich Cotta and because I believe the book will help me with my research into my Cotta ancestors. As you might have guessed the book is in German, so it'll probably take me awhile to read this book. Of course, I do not if I will have enough time to finish reading the book before I go back to school, but I can just order the book again through interlibrary loan again. Either way, reading this book should be a good way for me to practice my German. Stay tuned ...

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 9

I have finished reading another book, and unlike the previous eight books, this history book was not on the reading list for my history classes. This book was one that I read for fun, and was a gift I received from my parents.

The book I read was Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose (New York: Bantnam Book, 2006). As you probably tell from the title of this book, the focus is on George Washington's attempts to create a spy ring to defeat the British during the American Revolution, and on how successful the ring was to gathering and sharing military intelligence with the Continental Army.

(October 15: I did enjoy reading the book, but I will not be adding any other thoughts to this book review as too much time has past since I finished reading the book. I just wanted to get this review posted as soon as possible. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.)

Family History Center Visit 13

Yesterday, I paid a visit to the local Family History Center, and I took a look at the microfilm that had arrived. That microfilm happened to be of civil marriage records from Gelnhausen, Germany, but unfortunately, I was unable to find the marriage record for my ancestors, Adolph Kees and Amelie Cotta. The problem was partially due to the fact that I had difficulty reading the handwriting and partly due to the fact that I was unfamiliar with this record type. (Up until this point in researching my German ancestors, I was only familiar with the civil records in Trippstadt, Germany which was a part of Bavaria in the time frame of my research. Gelnhausen was part of the country of Hessen-Nassau at that time, about early to mid-1800s. Thus, I was looking at the records for another country than I was used to, and so, I was unfamiliar with the records that I was researching.)

Of course, I thought that by ordering the civil records first, I might be able to find a record of my ancestors' marriage without having to look at the church records. (There was more than one microfilm of Protestant churches in the LDS catalogue, so I wasn't sure of which church to look at first.) Obviously, I was unsuccessful, so I'll have to order microfilms from the churches in Gelnhausen the next time. Of course, I'll have to wait until I'm on break from school because I will be going back to school soon. Hopefully, the other three microfilms will come in soon, especially the other German microfilm because I don't have much time left.

Family History Center Update

I called the local Family History Center, and I learned that one of the microfilms, the Gelnhausen, Germany marriage records, I ordered had arrived. Hopefully, I'll be able to visit the center soon, and look-up the marriage record for my Kees and Cotta ancestors.

As for the other microfilms, they haven't come in yet. Apparently, the microfilms have been backlogged, but I hope they come in soon because I won't have very much time left to do research before I go back to school.

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 8

I have finished reading another book, and like the previous seven books posted, this book was on the reading list for my history class.

The book I read this time was Washington County: Politics and Community in Antebellum America by Paul Bourke and Donald De Bats (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995). As you probably could guess from the book's title, the book focuses on the politics and society in Washington County, Oregon before the Civil War.

(October 15, 2009: I had originally planned to post my opinion on this book, but due to the amount of time that has past, I have chosen to post this review without my thoughts.)

Submission Deadline Update

I just want to let everyone know that the deadline for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has been extended until the 24th of July. Thanks!

Is Anyone Planning To Submit Articles?

I'm just wondering: Is anyone still planning to submit an article for the upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy? The submission deadline is supposed to be today, but you need more time, please let me or Thomas know. Thanks!

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 7

Well, I have finished reading another book, and like the previous six books, the book I had to read was also on the reading list for my history class. This time, I read Reforming Men & Women: Gender in the Antebellum City by Bruce Dorsey (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2002).

This book deals with the history of gender ideology in the reform movements in the Antebellum North. The primary focus is on how white men defined their view of manliness against women, African Americans and European immigrants.

(Note from October 10: Since I waited too long to post this book review, I have decided to omit my opinion of the book so that I can post this review.)

76th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 76th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on "As human beings, our very existence is proof of the survival skills, faith, or just plain luck our ancestors possessed in order to persevere through millenia of disasters: epidemics, wars, pestilences, famines, accidents, and acts of nature.For the next Carnival of Genealogy, tell about a disaster that one or more of your ancestors lived through: Did they survive a hurricane, flood, tornado, train wreck, sinking ship, plague, genocide, explosion, mine collapse, or some other terrible event? How did they survive? Research the details of the disaster and explain how it affected your ancestor (guilt, fear, faith, gratitude, etc.), your family's history, and even yourself! Tip: Check out GenDisasters and historical newspapers to get more details about the event. The deadline for submissions for the next edition is August 1 and it will be hosted by Miriam at AnceStories." Enjoy!

Frustrated Friday - Who Are Their Parents?

It has been awhile since I last wrote about my Stout ancestors, and at the moment, I'm a bit uncertain as to where I should look for a marriage for my ancestors, Joseph Stout and Susan Kelley. What I do know is that they were married in Northampton County, Pennsylvania in 1829. The image above is their marriage notice that was published in the Easton Centennial on 6 March 1829. ( A woman named Marie, did the look-up in the newspaper, and e-mailed me the image of the notice.)

I do not know which church Joseph Stout or Susan Kelley attended, nor do I know who were their parents. (I have suspicions as to who their parents are, but at the moment, I do not have any proof to link them to the suspected parents.) All I know is that they were married by Charles E. Weygandt, Esq., and that Susan was from Bushkill while Joseph was from Schoeneck. Is anyone familiar with the records of Northampton County, Pennsylvania? Does anyone know where I should look for a marriage record, or which church Charles Weygandt might have been a member? Any suggestions or advise is welcome. If you can help me, please contact me by e-mail at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

15th Edition of the Smile For The Camera Carnival Posted!

The 15th edition of the Smile For The Camera Carnival has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on "'Bling, ancestor Bling.' I am always drawn to the beautiful jewelry worn by our ancestors in old photographs. The locket that was your Great Grandmother's treasure, the pocket watch proudly displayed by a male ancestor, the beautiful crosses of old, and the children with their tiny bracelets. While not many of our ancestors were wealthy enough to own multiple pieces of jewelry, there was the one good piece that held sentimental value. Some of us have been fortunate enough to inherit those treasures. Show us a photograph of your ancestor wearing their "Bling," or photographs of the pieces you have inherited." Enjoy!

Reminder: Submissions Are Due!

I just want to remind everyone that submissions for the upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due on the 20th. You can read more about the topic here.

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 6

I have finished reading another book, and like the previous five books, this book was also on the reading list for my class. The book I read this time was What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Daniel Walker Howe (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

The book is part of the Oxford History of the United States series, and as you can tell from the title, the book is focused on the history and growth of the United States from the time period of 1815 to 1848. Since the book covers over thirty years of history, it is quite large and detailed. The author focuses on in detail about the debate over slavery, the reform movements, the Mexican- American War, the Jacksonian Era, the technological growth and expansion of the United States. He also interweaves the contributions and experiences of Native Americans, women and African-Americans in the general history of this time period.

For me, the book not only reminded me of what I did learn in previous history, but it also included some new information and details that I did not learn in previous history classes. As a result, I felt the book enriched my knowledge of the history of the time period, and thus, I enjoyed reading the book. If you would like to learn more about the history of the United States during this time period, I highly recommend that you put this book on your reading list.

History Being Destroyed ...

Earlier today, I received an e-mail from Terry Thornton about a blog article on the destruction of a Native American burial site.

The site that is facing destruction is a mound burial site that was probably built by a Native American civilization known as the Mound Builders. From what I can remember from reading about this Native American group, the tribe was located in the Southeast and was, at one point, a major civilization. Of course, historians don't know why the civilization disappeared, and from what I can remember, I don't believe historians know much about the Mound Builders either. So, a burial site that could help historians and archaeologists better understand these people is being destroyed. Additionally, people were buried in that mound, and by destroying the mound, those developers are essentially desecrating a grave site. Can you see why this is wrong? Do I need to say anymore?

Still Looking For Hosts ...

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still looking for hosts for two future editions of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. The months still available are:

• October
• December

If you are interest in hosting one of these editions, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!