Don't Forget!

I just want to remind everyone that submissions for the next edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due on the 26th. The topic for the edition is a carousel, so submissions can be on anything related to genealogy or Central and Eastern Europe. You can submit your articles here.

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

• October
• November
• December

I have not decided yet if I will host August, so that month is open too. If you are interested in hosting any of these months, please e-mail me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Family History Center Visit 10

Earlier today, I visited the local Family History Center with my brother and grandma. My grandma helped me with my research by looking through the will index for Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, and she wrote down names from a list on surnames that I gave her. I looked at the grantee index for the same county, but most of the Oswalts listed in the index were for deeds recorded in the mid-Twentieth Century, so I did not have as much luck with that film.

After going through that film, I looked at the church records for Trippstadt, Germany, and I had more success with that film. I was able to find baptismal records for Adolph Kees and Amelia Cotta's children who were born before 1839, and I was able to find a couple of burial records for the Kees and Cotta family. I'll have to order the other microfilm to find the other baptismal, marriage and burial records for the Kees and Cotta family. Of course, I made copies of the images.

I did not order any microfilms this time because I spent the whole time doing research and making copies for what I found.

Why I Haven't Posted In Awhile ...

As you have probably noticed, I have not posted very much this week, and that is due to the fact that I have been busy with school work. I've had to work on a few projects for my classes this week, so I haven't had much time. Things are starting to slow down, so I'll be able to post more after my classes end next week.

On a happier note, I've just connected with a person who is also descended from the same Kees and Cotta ancestors, and I'm excited! I was finally able to e-mail her some of the information I have earlier this week. Of course, I haven't had very much time lately, so I hope to send more e-mail as soon as I'm done with school. Plus, I hope to go the local Family History Center soon as the microfilm for the protestant church records of Trippstadt, Germany came in last week. Hopefully, I'll be able to visit soon.

74th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 74th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

“Justice and Independence. Since our beginnings as a nation, the United States
of America has seen changes with every year, every decade, and every century.
Each generation adds growth to our lives, our communities, and our nation. One
thing that has never changed, however, is our desire for Justice for those who
wrong us and Independence from those who try to oppress us. This month’s COG
asks you to relate to these concepts of Justice and Independence in one or all
of three ways: 1). Tell a story of an ancestor(s) who fought for freedom. 2).
Tell a story about how Independence Day was celebrated by your ancestors. Did
any of their celebratory traditions get passed down for your own family to
continue? Or 3). Post the lyrics of a song that exemplifies how Justice and
Independence have worked in the lives of your ancestors and/or family. Include
photos! This edition of the COG will be hosted by Colleen at OMcHodoy (thanks Colleen!). Deadline for submissions is July 1."

Enjoy!

14th Edition of the Smile For The Camera Carnival Posted!

The 14th edition of the Smile For the Camera has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on "they WORKED hard for the family. The professions of our ancestors are almost as interesting as the people themselves. Some of our ancestors worked very hard; they took in laundry, worked the land, raised many children, or went to school and became professionals. Photographs of them working are called occupational photographs and are rather hard to find." Enjoy!

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 3

I have finished my third book for this reading challenge! The book I read this time was Soul By Soul: Life Inside The Antebellum Slave Market by Walter Johnson (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999). Like the two previous books I read and reviewed, this book was on the reading list for my fall history class.

As you can tell from the book's title, the book focuses on the slave market in the South between 1810 and 1865. Most of the focus is on the New Orleans slave market, but the author does focus on the internal slave trade between the Upper and Lower South. The author also focuses on the slave masters and slaves thoughts and experiences with the slave trade and slavery. Additionally, he also explores how slave traders were able to convert human beings into items, and the beliefs of those who bought the slaves.

Although I have read about slavery in the United States before, I did not have a complete comprehension of the evils of slavery. I knew slavery was evil, but I did not realize or comprehend how bad it was until I read this book. For me, this book brought the experience of slavery to life more than anything else I had read before, and I was able to picture what life was like to live in a society with slavery, either as a slave or someone who was free. This book brought an aspect of history to life that I had read before and thought I understood. If you want to learn more about slavery in the United States, I highly recommend that you read this book.

Family History Center Update

I received a phone call from the local Family History Center earlier today, and I learned that the three microfilms I ordered a couple weeks ago have arrived. I hope to be able to pay a visit to the center soon. Stay tuned ...

Wedding Belles: A Beautiful Wedding Picture

As you may or may not remember, I wrote about the Henry's in my family that had married women from Canada last year, and a few weeks ago, I found this photograph of one of the Henry's weddings at my grandma's house. This photograph happens to be of the marriage of Henry Klippel to his second wife, Mary Oman, and was taken in Cleveland, Ohio in 1908. Isn't this a beautiful photograph? I am amazed at the quality of this old photograph, and as soon as I saw the picture, I fell in love with it. To me, this picture is very special, and I cannot get over how beautiful it is. I hope you enjoy this photograph as well. Enjoy!

Carnival Editions Updates!

As you may or may not remember, I did not post the topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I was waiting to hear back from the person who had promised to host the carnival, and since I have not heard back, I have decided to host the 20th edition here on my blog. The topic for the next edition will be a carousel. The deadline for the submissions will be June 26th, and the edition will be posted on June 28th.

In addition, the 21st edition will be hosted by Thomas of Destination: Austin Family. The topic for that edition, as suggested by Thomas, will be on "How did your ancestors celebrate the glorious season of summer both back home in Europe and here in America? Did they need to make adjustments once here in America since the weather was different? Or summer customs were different? Include memories, photos, recipes – anything that helps tell summertime stories." The deadline for that edition will be July 20th, and the edition will be published on July 25th. (I will post a reminder at the end of the 20th edition.)

You can submit your articles here. Thanks!

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 2

I have finished reading another book for this summer's reading challenge, and like the previous review, the book I read was also on the reading list for my fall history classes. And like the previous book, this book is a social history of Early American history, but it focuses on the south only.

Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt by Christine Leigh Heyrman (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1997), focuses on the early Evangelical churches in the Southern United States and how the South became to be the center of Evangelical Christianity in the U.S. The time period of the book stretches from 1740 to 1840, but the primary focus of the book is on the years between 1790 and 1830. The Evangelical churches explored in this book are the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian churches, but most of the book focuses only on the Methodists and Baptists. For me, the most interesting thing to learn about was that prior to the American Revolution, the Evangelical churches were rejected by Southerners, and thus, the author's exploration into why that was so, was the most interesting part of the book for me. As for the later and greater acceptance of the Evangelical churches. Although, I disagreed with some of the author's conclusions in the epilogue, I would still recommend this book for others to read as I found it to be quite interesting, so much so, that I would like to read about the Evangelical movement occurring in the Northern part of America in the same time period. I hope that other people will find this book as interesting as I did. Enjoy!

Another Award!

Within the past few days and earlier today, Cheryl of Heritage Happens and Gini of Ginisology both awarded me with the Janich Brown Pukerbrush Blog Award. Thank you Cheryl and Gini for giving me the award! I feel grateful and honored for receiving the award.

So, what I do I have to do with this award? Well, I have to give this award to 10 other bloggers. Those ten bloggers are:

• Midwestern Microhistory
• Al's Polish-American Genealogy Research
• TransylvanianDutch
• Anglo-Celtic Connections
• Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog
• The Graveyard Rabbit
• My Family Puzzle
• The Virtual Dime Museum
• A Twig In My Tree
• Claudia's Genealogy Blog

I hope everyone enjoys this award. Again, thank you, Cheryl and Gini for the award! Enjoy!

73rd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

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

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

Enjoy!

Carnival Hosts Needed- Update

I just want to let everyone know that I have found a host for September's edition, and possibly July's edition. I still need hosts for these months:

• October
• November
• December

If you are interested in hosting, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Google Analytics Report For May 2009

May is now over, and that means that it is time for another Google Analytics report! Here is the report for May 2009:

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

1. United States - 380 visits
2. Canada - 49 visits
3. United Kingdom - 15 visits
4. Netherlands - 15 visits
5. Australia - 4 visits
6. United Arab Emirates - 4 visits
7. Israel - 3 visits
8. Mexico - 2 visits
9. India - 2 visits
10. Czech Republic - 2 visits

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

1. Michigan - 80 visits
2. Illinois - 45 visits
3. California - 43 visits
4. Virginia - 31 visits
5. New York - 25 visits
6. Ohio - 22 visits
7. Pennsylvania - 14 visits
8. Texas - 10 visits
9. Indiana - 10 visits
10. Georgia - 8 visits

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

1. Celebrate Your Name Week - Day One - 28 views
2. 72nd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted! - 26 views
3. Happy Mother's Day! - 26 views
4. Genealogy and History Thoughts Column 17 - My Thoughts on the IGI and LDS Rite, Baptism of the Dead, Controversy - 23 views
5. 19th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy - 18 views
6. A New Award! -16 views
7. Library of Michigan and State Archives News: Possible Closure? - 14 views
8. Why I Haven't Posted Too Much Lately ... - 14 views
9. 13th Edition of the Smile For the Camera Carnival Posted! - 12 views
10. And Now For Another Episode of the "Adventures of Ben and Casey" ... - 12 views

Well, that is it for this month's report. To my readers, "Thank you for reading!" Stay tuned for next month's results. Enjoy!

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 1

As I mentioned yesterday, I have decided to join a reading challenge, and I have already finished reading my first book for this challenge!

The book I chose to read was Inheriting The Revolution: The First Generation of Americans by Joyce Appleby (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000). As the book's title implies, the book is on how the culture of the United States was formed and created by the generation of Americans after the Revolutionary War generation. The author explores how that generation changed American colonial society and recreated that society. She also describes how those Americans interpreted the legacy of the Revolutionary War, and carried on the ideals of the revolution. In short, the book is a social history of American life between 1787 and 1824.

How did I learn about this book? Well, I requested the reading lists for my fall classes from my professors, and this book was one of the books on the reading list. Although I would have had to read this book for my future history class in the fall, I still enjoyed reading it. Why? Well, for one, I enjoyed the author's writing style, and secondly, I have an interest in social history. As someone who has an interest in social history as a result of my genealogy research, I enjoyed this book for those reasons. Would I recommend this book? Yes, because this book illuminated several movements and life in America at this time period and because of this fact, I believe this book would be beneficial in giving historical social context for genealogists researching in this time period. I hope that other people might enjoy this book and find it interesting as I did.

A Summer Reading Challenge!

As you may or not remember, I participated last year in reading challenge where I had to read five non-fiction books, and I wanted to do so again this year. Until today, I had no idea as to whether or not the challenge was still occurring, but I happened to find the link here. So, stay tuned for this summer's reviews. Enjoy!

Family History Center Visit 9

Earlier today, I stopped by the local Family History Center, and ordered three more microfilms. Two of the mircofilms are indexes: one for the probate records of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania and the other for the grantees for Huntingdon County's land records. The other microfilm is of church records from the Protestant church in Trippstadt, Germany. I am hoping that these mircofilms of the indexes will help me with my research into my Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania ancestors. Stay tuned for further updates ...

19th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

Welcome to the May 2009 edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. For this edition, submitters had to submit articles that dealt with food. Although this is a small edition, this edition is still an excellent read. Here are this edition's submissions:

First off, we have an article from Evelyn Yvonne Theriault of A Canadian Family. In Carnival of Central and Eastern Genealogy - Traditional Dishes, she writes about a cook book she found in a bookstore, and shares a version of a Russian dish.

Next, we have an article from Greta Koehl of Greta's Genealogy Blog. In A Tribute to Sauerkraut, she writes about one of her favorite foods, and shares a recipe for a sauerkraut dish.

Last, but not least, we have an article from Jessica Oswalt of Jessica's Genejournal. In An Interesting Cook Book, she writes about a cook book that contains recipes of traditional dishes from Central and Eastern Europe.

Well, that is it for this month's edition of the carnival. At the moment, I am waiting for a reply from the host for June's edition, so I do not have any information on the topic for the next edition. I will post an update when I learn more. On another note, I need hosts for at least four editions of the carnival because I will be busy with school work. The months that definitely need hosts are:

• September
• October
• November
• December

At the moment, I do not know if I need a host for August. I should be able to do July, but I do not know about August. If you are interested in hosting, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

An Interesting Cook Book

I'm a bit late in writing this post due to the fact that I am busy with school work, but I wanted to submit an entry for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy.

Since this edition's topic is on food, I thought I would mention a little about a cookbook that I own, Russian, German & Polish food & cooking edited by Lesley Chamberlain (London: Hermes House, 2006). This cook book contains recipes of traditional dishes from Central and Eastern European. (Recipes from other countries besides Germany, Poland and Russia are represented as well. The Balkan Peninsula has its own section in the book.) Various types of dishes are represented in this book, from soups to deserts, and the book as gives a little background information on the culture and ingredients typically used in the dishes for the different regions. I have enjoyed looking at the pictures and reading through the book. (Although, I would have liked to share one of the book's recipes, I do not believe I can do so, due to copyright laws.) I hope someone else might enjoy this book as well. Enjoy!

13th Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted!

The 13th 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 vacations, and you can read more about it here. The topic for the 15th edition will be on the 2nd summer reading challenge, and you can read more about it here. Enjoy!