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 ...