Don't Forget To Vote Today!

Election Day is today for those of us who live in the United States. I just want to remind everyone to not forget to vote today. (As a side note, I did not forget to vote. I've voted by absentee ballot a few weeks ago, so I'm all set.) Enjoy the day!

A Mystery Woman: My Ancestor's Third Wife ...

I happened to be looking at Chris's blog not too long ago, and I couldn't help but notice a post he had on a book. Why? Well, for one, the book is set in Michigan, and since I'm a Michigander, I can't help but notice articles on anything that has to do with Michigan. In addition, the surname, Sparling, caught my eye. Sparling just might happen to be the maiden name of my ancestor's third wife.

On my ancestor's death certificate, his wife's name was given as Lora Sparling. Of course, this is the only record I have so far that lists what her maiden name was. I have yet to find his marriage to Lora (or Lore as her name has been spelled in a couple of census records). In fact, I hardly know anything about her, and most of that information portrays her in a negative way. Thus, you can say she is a mystery to me. So, here is what I know about her:

• 1920 and 1930 censuses suggest she might have been born in Ohio around 1880. I have not been able to find her in any censuses prior to the 1920 census. (And of course, I have to keep in mind that the information on the census could be incorrect.)
• In 1920, she was married to my ancestor, John Oswalt, and they were living in Osceola county, Michigan.
• In 1930, she and John were living in Douglas, Allegan county, Michigan. This census also suggests that her marriage to John was her only marriage at that time, and that she married John when she was 37. From the censuses, a possible marriage year might be 1917. (John's second wife died in 1915 in Kalamazoo county, Michigan and between then and the 1920 census, I do not know where the family was living.)
• She was literally like the wicked step-mother one reads about in fairy tales. She hated children, and thus, she and John never had any children. John had children from a previous marriage, and she made her step-children's lives a living hell. (They would eventually run away from home once they became teenagers.)
• After 1930, I do not know where John and Lora lived, or for how long they continued to live together. John apparently wanted to live in Gladwin county, and Lora refused. (This is according to family stories.) Around 1936, John became ill with pneumonia. Lora contacted his children (who now had families of their own), and told them to take care of their father. John's children cared for him, and decided to take turns letting him live in their homes for six months out of the year. (John would continue to go back and forth between his children's homes until he died in 1940.)
• After John fell ill, his children did not keep in contact with their step-mother, and as a result, no one in our family knows what happened to her.

Most of the information above came from family stories that my grandfather told me. Outside of the census records, and the death records for John and his second wife, I do not have any other information. I do not have a record of when John remarried, and I am little unsure as to where I should look. My first instinct is to look for a marriage record in Michigan because that is the state in which John and Lora resided. Obviously, if I knew where John and his family were living in the five years between 1915 and 1920, I might be able to figure out where John and Lora married. I do know that the marriage was not recorded in Saint Joseph county as I have checked the marriage records. Of course, if I could find Lora in the censuses prior to 1920, I might be able to possibly come up with another county to look for a marriage record. The FamilySearch database does not appear to have a marriage record for John and Lora, but there is the possibility that database is not complete yet.

In addition, I am a little curious as to what happen to Lora, only if it is to find out when she died. I would like to be able to wrap up that lose end in my research on my ancestor. If anyone has any suggestions as to where I should look for a marriage or what I can do to determine what happened to Lora, please leave me a comment. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

LIght Blogging Ahead!

Yes, I realize I said that I would not be blogging as much a couple of weeks ago, but I just want to remind everyone that if I do not post as much in the coming weeks it will be due to not having as much time. I am starting to enter the last part of the semester at my school, so I'll be busy writing papers, and therefore, I won't have as much time. I'm guessing that I will not have as much time until after Christmas to do a normal amount of blogging. So, this blog might be a bit quiet for a while. I just want to let everyone know.

Fall 2008 Edition of Michigan Genealogist Newsletter Is Available!

The fall 2008 edition of the Michigan Genealogist newsletter is now available on the Library of Michigan's website. You can read the newsletter here.

Google Analytics Statistics For October 2008

Yes, another month has gone by already, and that means that it is time for the monthly report on this blog. So, here are the results for this past October:

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

1. United States - 634 visits
2. United Kingdom - 25 visits
3. Canada - 21 visits
4. Australia - 5 visits
5. Germany - 4 visits
6. Jamaica - 3 visits
7. Poland - 3 visits
8. New Zealand - 3 visits
9. Philippines - 2 visits
10. Thailand - 2 visits

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

1. Michigan - 154 visits
2. California - 71 visits
3. Illinois - 58 visits
4. Texas - 48 visits
5. Pennsylvania - 44 visits
6. (not listed) - 35 visits
7. Ohio - 31 visits
8. New York - 18 visits
9. Oregon - 16 visits
10. Utah - 15 visits

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

1. Kent County - 110 visits
2. Redford - 12 visits
3. Oak Park - 9 visits
4. Grand Rapids - 4 visits
5. Garden City - 3 visits
6. Roscommon - 2 visits
7. Clawson - 2 visits
8. Center Line - 1 visit
9. Huntingdon Woods - visit
10. Jackson - 1 visit

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

1. Tombstone Maker Website - 27 views
2. Close Encounter With the Supernatural? ... - 24 views
3. Google Analytics Statistics For September 2008 - 18 views
4. Another Meme I've Been Tagged to Participate in ... - 17 views
5. Announcing My New Genealogy Blog! - 16 views
6. Getting To Know Me, Getting To Know Jessica's Genejournal - 15 views
7. Things Handed Down: Traits and Characteristics - 14 views
8. FamilySearch Lab Adds More Databases To Record Search - 14 views
9. Speaking Of the Mississippi River Flood of 1927 ... - 14 views
10. Getting To Know You Roundup Posted! - 13 views

Well, that is it for October's results. I can't believe it is November already! To the readers of this blog, thank you for visiting and for reading!

12th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

The twelfth edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy is finally here! This edition happens to be the Halloween edition, and as such, the topic for this edition was on folklore, myths, legends, ghost stories or stories from Central and Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, this edition is smaller than others in the past, but here are the submissions:

First off, we have an article from Jessica Oswalt of Jessica's Genejournal. In A Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale That Goes Well With Halloween ..., she writes about a fairy tale (and of other fairy tales similar to it) that fits more with Halloween than it does with a person's stereotype of the typical fairy tale.

Well, that is it for this edition. The next edition will be hosted by Elizabeth O'Neal of Little Bytes of Life, and the topic for this edition is will be on "What resources are you thankful for in your Central/Eastern European genealogical research?" as a topic, in honor of Thanksgiving. A "resource" could be a web site, book, family member, or anything that has helped with one's research." Submissions are due on November 23, and the edition will be published on Thanksgiving, November 27. You can submit your articles here.

(Anyhow, on a side note, I just realized that I did not create a facebook notice for this carnival, and that is probably why the turnout for this submission was poor. If anyone has any other suggestions for ways that I can increase the number of submissions or suggestions for topics please e-mail me at: jess_history at yahoo dot com. Also, if anyone is interested in hosting future editions of this carnival, please contact me at the e-mail above. Thanks!)

Question?

Is anyone still planning to submit an article to the 12th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy? If so, please either e-mail me with a link at jess_history at yahoo dot com, or leave a link to your submission in the comments section for this post. Thanks!

27th Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted!

The 27th Shades of the Departed guest column has been posted! The author of this week's column is Midge Frazel, and you can read the article here. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

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

9th Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted!

The ninth edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture has been posted! You can read the edition here. The topic for the next edition is "Irish culture is loved worldwide. It is no secret that the love of Ireland is not exclusive to those with Irish blood running through their veins.For this edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture, Small-leaved Shamrock invites you (whether you have Irish heritage or not) to share what you most love about Ireland and the Irish people."

(I do not know when the entries for the next edition are due, but when I find out, I will update the post.) Enjoy!

Update at 7:12 a. m.: Information on the upcoming edition can be found here, at the new blog for the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture.

A New Poll Created!

I have created another poll, and it will close within the next eight hours. For this poll, I am asking, "Is anyone submitting an article to the 12th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy?" I have already submitted my article, but other than my article, I have not received any other submissions.

If you need more time, or need me to extend the deadline, please let me know. Thanks!

A Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale That Goes Well With Halloween ...

At first, I was not too sure about what I should write about for this edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, but then I decided to write a little about one of the Grimm's fairy tales that I felt fits very well with the Halloween season. I am not trying to pick on the Germans, but when I was thinking of something to write about that fit the folklore topic and Halloween, I remembered that there were a couple stories that would would work. Of course, I should state that this fairy tale is not a typically fairy tale that most of us think of when we think of fairy tales. This tale is creepy, and as such, I think parents should read over the story first before they let their children read it.

So, what is the tale? The tale is called "Fitcher's Bird," and it is a story about a murderous sorcerer and a young woman. You can read a English-translation version here. It is probably too disturbing of a story for young children, but there are a few stories in the Grimm's fairy tales that are similar to that one. Another story that is similar is "The Robber Bridegroom." Of course, there are also less disturbing fairy tales in the Grimm Brothers' collection, and if you would like to read some of the other stories, there are more here.

So, how do I know about these stories? Well, I own a book that has the complete collection of all of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales in English, and I came across these stories when I was reading them. To be honest, before I got that book, I did not know that fairy tales could be that gruesome. Of course, I do not know much about other folklore or fairy tales from other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Do other countries have stories that would fit with the Halloween season? If so, are there any books or sites that I could look into to read some of these stories? Thanks.

A Note About the Submission Deadline for the 12th Edition

I just realized that I forgot to mention that today was the deadline for submissions for the next edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. In addition, the blog carnival site appears to still be down, so I do not know if anyone has tried to submit any articles. (I have not received any submissions at all for the carnival, and I do not know if this has been the case, or not.) So, I've decided to extend the deadline, and submissions will now be due on Friday the 31st by 8 a.m. PST. I will still post the edition on the 31st, but it will not be until later on in the evening. Please send me an e-mail with a link to your article at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Some New Databases ...

Within the past couple of days, some new databases have been added to Ancestry.com and FamilySearch Lab's Record Search. The new databases added to Ancestry are of Jewish records from Central and Eastern Europe, and you can read more about them here.

As for FamilySearch Lab's Record Search, I just happened to notice earlier today that militia records for Vermont during the Civil War and Louisiana War of 1812 Pensions were added to the site. You can access the site here. Enjoy!

A Note About Tombstone Tuesday ...

I just want to let everyone know that I have decided to mostly participate in Tombstone Tuesdays on my other blog, The Rural Michigan Cemeteries Graveyard Rabbit. I won't stop complete participation on this blog, but I think if I will only post photographs of tombstones that are in urban areas or outside of Michigan. (I'm trying to strike a balance between these two blogs.) Anyhow, this week, I will not be posting on a Tombstone Tuesday on this blog; however, I did post a Tombstone Tuesday on my other blog. You can view that entry here.

This Michigan Weather ...

The weather in Michigan for this weekend has been lousy. It has been raining off and on this weekend, and it has been windy. (Well, at least for the west coast of Michigan.) And today, in addition to raining, it also hailed this evening. (And cold and really windy too.) Supposedly, the west coast of Michigan is to get snow tomorrow. Oh joy. I guess I'll just have to see how the weather turns out tomorrow ...

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

I just want to remind everyone that Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy submissions are due Wednesday. (If you need an extra day, please let me know.) The topic for this edition is on folklore, legends, ghost stories, myths, etc, and the edition will be posted on Halloween. Enjoy!

Now, if I could just get my submission done ...

26th Shades Of The Departed Guest Column Posted!

The 26th Shades of the Departed guest column has been posted! The author of this week's column is Melissa Strobel, and you can read it here. Enjoy!

Blog Changes and Other News ...

I'm playing check-up for the past few days as I realize I have forgotten to mention a few things. First off, I have added a Coming Soon paragraph to the left side of the blog, just above the Genealogy and History Thoughts section. I plan to use the paragraph to list topics for future posts. I do not know if anyone noticed, but I created that section earlier this week. Hopefully, I will get to some of the posts that I want to write for this month and in the future.

I also noticed a few days ago on the Rochester Area Research Aides blog that there was a post on an index of names in old Rochester newspapers recently posted on the Monroe county, New York library website. The indexes are split up into groups of numbers and into two time periods. The first time period is from 1818 to 1850, and the second period is from 1851 to 1897. Since my Havens ancestors were in Rochester, New York around 1850, I decided to take a look at the indexes, and I found a couple things that might help me in my research. (I'll post on those index findings in a future post.)

In addition to forgetting to mention the items above, I forgot to mention that FamilySearch Lab's Record Search has added a couple more databases to their site. They added civil vital records for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and a census for Buenos Aires, Argentina last week. In addition, the site has been adding more names to the 1850, 1860 and 1870 U.S. censuses over the past few days.

Finally! I've gotten around to posting this news!

Just A Quick Reminder!

I just want to remind everyone that entries for the 12th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due in a week from today (on October 29). The topic for this edition is on "folklore, myths, legends, and ghost stories. Since this edition will be posted around Halloween, I thought that this would be a good time to have a carnival on area folklore, myths, legends, ghost stories, traditions or festivals of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The submissions do not necessarily have to be a part of your family tradition; it could be a submission on a historical event or it could just have been a part of the culture of your ancestor." You can submit your article here.