After my Dad passed away and Nana and Auntie had also, the Easter Holiday became a non event. My brother spent the holiday with his wife's family and my sister lived out of state. My young daughter spent the day with her father and his family. That left Mom and I.
Realizing that it would be the two of us I wanted to spend the day as a day of renewal. So on the day before Easter I went to the local garden center and bought some Easter lilies, Daffodils and Hyacinths and mulch.
On Easter Sunday Mom and I would plant them. We would freshen up the gardens, spruce up whatever needed sprucing up. A hopeful, beautiful start to the year. Reminising about those who had passed. A chance to slow down and just talk. Just the two of us.
In the following years we could see the fruits of our labors as the gardens bloomed in shades of yellows and pinks, reds, orange, green, lavender and white.
Tulips and Crocus, Lilies and Daffodils. The fragrance of the Hyacinths on the breeze saying "Spring". People driving by the house and taking pictures. Spring the season of renewal.
Mom has passed to be with Dad and our ancestors, I'm now on the other side of the country, far from "home". The house of the gardens a memory. But every Easter I remember the planting, the talking, and the exclamation "Oh Honey it's beautiful ! ". It was. She was. Happy Easter Mom.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Giving Back - Indexing
Dear Uncle,
My apologies for being away for so long. Life got in the way. In the midst of it all I did find time to sign up for indexing. The 1940 census is about to be released and I can say that if it were not for all of the folks who had previously done indexing then I would not have found all of the members on the family tree that we currently have.
It is my time to give back. It was really very easy to sign up. The instructions are very simple and while I and millions of others wait for the 1940 census to drop I signed up to do some indexing that needed to be done. I thought it would give me good practice.
I signed up at Family Search.org. They sent me a batch of my choosing, something that I felt I could handle. Each batch consisted of 20 records. I had death records for the state of Texas 1904, 1909 for a couple of different counties. For the most part I did pretty well. There were a couple of records that I could not decipher and I would challenge anyone to decipher them - doctors handwriting...need I say more?
I can say that all my years researching family history served me well. Names and places were relatively easy to figure out. And there were helpful things to be able to read the documents more easily. If I had a better knowledge of the areas I'd have sped right through them. At the most each batch took about an hour. It might seem like a long time but you can do a few records here and there when you have time.
I have a greater appreciation of the folks who have done all this work before. And I feel pretty good about being able to give back. I haven't done a huge amount, only about a hundred records, but now someone looking for a relative who died in Brazos or Bexar counties in 1904 or 1909 might actually be able to find them and that makes me feel good.
Indexing has also had it's emotional moments. Records of folks who died without a hint of where they came from- the dreaded "UNKNOWN". Or the records of Black americans born before the Emancipation. Date of Birth : Unknown, Fathers Name: Unknown, Mothers Name: Unknown, Place of Birth : Unknown. Granted there were folks of all races that had entrys like that but for the most part there was something that was known.
I guess it hit me that without the records, without the information filled in, the trail to family stops. Yes, I've been there but there was a way around it somehow and eventually I found a clue here and there. And yes, the Irish side is a bucket full of aggravation but once I get a few more clues I can "jump the pond" . How do you "jump" to anywhere when the record is "Mary" no last name, no mother, no father. The next record is "Jimmy" and he died 2 miles west of a farm. No date of birth, no last name.
Uncle, I am so very fortunate to have found the information that I have. Fortunate that folks had the foresight to realize that these records attach to real people, someones kin and that perhaps that kin might come looking for them someday. And no matter what genealogy group or association or church or whatever began to make these records available it is a blessing.
So now, when I type in a name of one of our ancestors and I come up with a new record I will bless the indexer for taking the time to enter the information so that I can find my kin.
Until the next,
Your devoted Niece
My apologies for being away for so long. Life got in the way. In the midst of it all I did find time to sign up for indexing. The 1940 census is about to be released and I can say that if it were not for all of the folks who had previously done indexing then I would not have found all of the members on the family tree that we currently have.
It is my time to give back. It was really very easy to sign up. The instructions are very simple and while I and millions of others wait for the 1940 census to drop I signed up to do some indexing that needed to be done. I thought it would give me good practice.
I signed up at Family Search.org. They sent me a batch of my choosing, something that I felt I could handle. Each batch consisted of 20 records. I had death records for the state of Texas 1904, 1909 for a couple of different counties. For the most part I did pretty well. There were a couple of records that I could not decipher and I would challenge anyone to decipher them - doctors handwriting...need I say more?
I can say that all my years researching family history served me well. Names and places were relatively easy to figure out. And there were helpful things to be able to read the documents more easily. If I had a better knowledge of the areas I'd have sped right through them. At the most each batch took about an hour. It might seem like a long time but you can do a few records here and there when you have time.
I have a greater appreciation of the folks who have done all this work before. And I feel pretty good about being able to give back. I haven't done a huge amount, only about a hundred records, but now someone looking for a relative who died in Brazos or Bexar counties in 1904 or 1909 might actually be able to find them and that makes me feel good.
Indexing has also had it's emotional moments. Records of folks who died without a hint of where they came from- the dreaded "UNKNOWN". Or the records of Black americans born before the Emancipation. Date of Birth : Unknown, Fathers Name: Unknown, Mothers Name: Unknown, Place of Birth : Unknown. Granted there were folks of all races that had entrys like that but for the most part there was something that was known.
I guess it hit me that without the records, without the information filled in, the trail to family stops. Yes, I've been there but there was a way around it somehow and eventually I found a clue here and there. And yes, the Irish side is a bucket full of aggravation but once I get a few more clues I can "jump the pond" . How do you "jump" to anywhere when the record is "Mary" no last name, no mother, no father. The next record is "Jimmy" and he died 2 miles west of a farm. No date of birth, no last name.
Uncle, I am so very fortunate to have found the information that I have. Fortunate that folks had the foresight to realize that these records attach to real people, someones kin and that perhaps that kin might come looking for them someday. And no matter what genealogy group or association or church or whatever began to make these records available it is a blessing.
So now, when I type in a name of one of our ancestors and I come up with a new record I will bless the indexer for taking the time to enter the information so that I can find my kin.
Until the next,
Your devoted Niece
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
When The Fire Alarm Sounds - Again
Dear Uncle,
As you might remember, 2 years ago last October our apartment building caught fire. It took 11 minutes to run through the building. Thank God there was no loss of human life largely due to the fact that the fire occurred in late afternoon, although sadly many pets were lost. You might also remember the miracle that our apartment was the only apartment of 12 apartments, untouched by the flames and smoke and water. I still thank the ancestors for pulling that one off. The Fire Marshall said in his opinion it was no less than a miracle.
I'm sure that you can imagine my panic when the building alarm went off last Friday evening. When we moved last year we selected a complex that had sprinklers in every apartment. You never quite get over a fire.
We darted out into the parking lot looking for the flames. We didn't see any but that really doesn't mean anything. Fire hides inside walls. I ran back into our apartment hearing the sirens getting closer, ( I know it was a very stupid thing to do) grabbed a suitcase, loaded it with essentials, just in case. Again memories of smelling of smoke and shopping at midnight at Walmart for underwear and socks my motivator. The prior time we had only the clothes on our backs.
The second thing was the Genealogy. I ran into the office and stopped dead. What to grab? I was paralyzed. There was no way we could grab 3 computers and their monitors, the printer, 6 boxes of files and research, 10 photo boxes of pictures, a box full of CD's full of document scans and the old pictures on the walls of my parents and grandparents.
Then there is the secondary stuff-- like clothes, receipts, insurance papers, passwords, bills and account information. It's amazing the things you can not do without account numbers. And heaven forbid you don't remember who set up the account originally and what their social is, or what their "secret password" is. Yes, we learned the hard way the last time. That's why we have "THE BOX". Which I immediately forgot about. That's the first thing we are supposed to grab in case of whatever.
I can tell you it's the LAST thing I remembered to even think about grabbing.
As we stood looking at the apartment that had the fire ( grease fire and sensitive sprinklers) and all of the water from the sprinklers pouring out of that apartment, I was very thankful. I am sure you heard my prayers that evening. No one was injured, only two other apartments were affected by smoke and water. And I'm relatively sure that the neighbor downstairs from the fire has some major issues. Who fries Tater Tots in oil for goodness sake?
I was also thankful for backing up my trees on ancestry and again sending my backups to my niece 1500 miles away. But this did teach me yet another lesson. I need a fireproof/waterproof black box for original documents or a safe deposit box. Files can be recreated bit by bit ( hence the 3 computers: old, older and does that thing still run?) Document/ picture scans are at least SOMETHING if I cannot have the originals.
As organized as I am, there is still room for improvement. We need to once again document our belongings for insurance purposes. Gather all receipts to one area and make duplicate copies of important info and put it into the fire box. This is the second go round with fire. It's going to take me a while to relax again.
And so my Dear Uncle, if you and the ancestors once again took it upon yourselves to assist in containing the fire I thank you- again.
With much love,
Your Devoted Niece
As you might remember, 2 years ago last October our apartment building caught fire. It took 11 minutes to run through the building. Thank God there was no loss of human life largely due to the fact that the fire occurred in late afternoon, although sadly many pets were lost. You might also remember the miracle that our apartment was the only apartment of 12 apartments, untouched by the flames and smoke and water. I still thank the ancestors for pulling that one off. The Fire Marshall said in his opinion it was no less than a miracle.
I'm sure that you can imagine my panic when the building alarm went off last Friday evening. When we moved last year we selected a complex that had sprinklers in every apartment. You never quite get over a fire.
We darted out into the parking lot looking for the flames. We didn't see any but that really doesn't mean anything. Fire hides inside walls. I ran back into our apartment hearing the sirens getting closer, ( I know it was a very stupid thing to do) grabbed a suitcase, loaded it with essentials, just in case. Again memories of smelling of smoke and shopping at midnight at Walmart for underwear and socks my motivator. The prior time we had only the clothes on our backs.
The second thing was the Genealogy. I ran into the office and stopped dead. What to grab? I was paralyzed. There was no way we could grab 3 computers and their monitors, the printer, 6 boxes of files and research, 10 photo boxes of pictures, a box full of CD's full of document scans and the old pictures on the walls of my parents and grandparents.
Then there is the secondary stuff-- like clothes, receipts, insurance papers, passwords, bills and account information. It's amazing the things you can not do without account numbers. And heaven forbid you don't remember who set up the account originally and what their social is, or what their "secret password" is. Yes, we learned the hard way the last time. That's why we have "THE BOX". Which I immediately forgot about. That's the first thing we are supposed to grab in case of whatever.
I can tell you it's the LAST thing I remembered to even think about grabbing.
As we stood looking at the apartment that had the fire ( grease fire and sensitive sprinklers) and all of the water from the sprinklers pouring out of that apartment, I was very thankful. I am sure you heard my prayers that evening. No one was injured, only two other apartments were affected by smoke and water. And I'm relatively sure that the neighbor downstairs from the fire has some major issues. Who fries Tater Tots in oil for goodness sake?
I was also thankful for backing up my trees on ancestry and again sending my backups to my niece 1500 miles away. But this did teach me yet another lesson. I need a fireproof/waterproof black box for original documents or a safe deposit box. Files can be recreated bit by bit ( hence the 3 computers: old, older and does that thing still run?) Document/ picture scans are at least SOMETHING if I cannot have the originals.
As organized as I am, there is still room for improvement. We need to once again document our belongings for insurance purposes. Gather all receipts to one area and make duplicate copies of important info and put it into the fire box. This is the second go round with fire. It's going to take me a while to relax again.
And so my Dear Uncle, if you and the ancestors once again took it upon yourselves to assist in containing the fire I thank you- again.
With much love,
Your Devoted Niece
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
My Friend Now Has Siblings
Dear Uncle,
As I wait for results from enquiry's I have not been a lazy layabout. To the contrary I have been a busy family historian. But not for our family.
My friend Mike had approached me several months ago and asked if I could find his birth father. It wasn't an adoption situation but rather a divorce and the husband had disappeared, the wife remarried and the first husband never mentioned to my friend ever again. It wasn't discussed. (Just one of the banes of family historians)
Now my friend, after all these many, many years wanted to know where he came from on his fathers side. Me and my big mouth had told Mike that it might take quite a while to find him since Mike really didn't have any info other than the mans' first and last name, where they had lived and his mothers name. And one more thing...this man had walked out on his mother when she was pregnant with him.
That evening I got on to the computer, went right to Ancestry.com and plugged in the name and hit search. After a couple of double takes I was looking at a record of divorce. A few more searches and I had a public family tree that had been put up by actual, direct line descendants. I sent an email to Mike asking him for a few more details so that I might verify the info that I was looking at. The pieces seemed to fit.
A couple of days later Mike presented me with a 3 ring binder that had a cursory genealogy of his family. Eureka! People to check out! Using the info I went on a mad search on Ancestry and at Family Search to see what I could come up with. I had results, I had the right info. I had some bad news.
How do you break it to someone that the person that they have wanted to make contact with has passed? I hemmed and hawed as to just how I was going to tell Mike. I finally decided I'd take the band aid route. Rip it off quickly. I met with my friend and explained that yes I had information but sadly the gentleman in question had passed. BUT that the information that I did have might lead to other folks in the family.
It did. I connected with some of the individuals, cautiously feeling them out. Would they be willing to correspond with Mike? Was there anything I should "break" to him first? This was a very sensitive situation. Fortunately all the folks were more than willing to be in touch. Mikes wife got on the Internet ( the woman has detective genes in her that she didn't know she had) and using general searches found an obituary for Mikes dad.
And that's when things went crazy. He was married 4 times. The obit listed the names of his siblings. SIBLINGS !!!!!!!!!! Yes, indeed, not one or two but THREE half brothers!
The names of his Aunts were in the Obit. We had hit the mother lode. Mike was no longer an "only child".
We've made a lot of progress since that day. Mike has had face to face visits with one of his Aunts who surprisingly, lived fairly close by. And a very gracious widow, with a delicious sense of humor, contacted the half brothers who responded with enthusiasm wanting to be in touch with the brother they didn't know they had. Handing Mike the emails with the contact information made me feel so incredibly happy.
Mike's story is still unfolding. Information is still coming in. But Uncle I have to tell you that this has been the most rewarding search I have ever done. Being told "You don't understand how much this means to me. You have given me FAMILY. I am not alone."
Goosebumps all over. Yes, Uncle I do know that feeling. Finding the lost and gathering them up to put into the blanks on the Family Tree. Knowing you have kin. Knowing that you are not alone. Bloodlines and Lovelines, the blending of families and what comes of it.
"The Best Thing To Hold On to In Life Is Each Other". I have that plaque on my wall. I see it a hundred times a day. It's just opposite of the plaque that says "Family".
My friend Mike likes both of those plaques. Now they mean so much more.
Until next, Uncle,
Your Devoted Niece
As I wait for results from enquiry's I have not been a lazy layabout. To the contrary I have been a busy family historian. But not for our family.
My friend Mike had approached me several months ago and asked if I could find his birth father. It wasn't an adoption situation but rather a divorce and the husband had disappeared, the wife remarried and the first husband never mentioned to my friend ever again. It wasn't discussed. (Just one of the banes of family historians)
Now my friend, after all these many, many years wanted to know where he came from on his fathers side. Me and my big mouth had told Mike that it might take quite a while to find him since Mike really didn't have any info other than the mans' first and last name, where they had lived and his mothers name. And one more thing...this man had walked out on his mother when she was pregnant with him.
That evening I got on to the computer, went right to Ancestry.com and plugged in the name and hit search. After a couple of double takes I was looking at a record of divorce. A few more searches and I had a public family tree that had been put up by actual, direct line descendants. I sent an email to Mike asking him for a few more details so that I might verify the info that I was looking at. The pieces seemed to fit.
A couple of days later Mike presented me with a 3 ring binder that had a cursory genealogy of his family. Eureka! People to check out! Using the info I went on a mad search on Ancestry and at Family Search to see what I could come up with. I had results, I had the right info. I had some bad news.
How do you break it to someone that the person that they have wanted to make contact with has passed? I hemmed and hawed as to just how I was going to tell Mike. I finally decided I'd take the band aid route. Rip it off quickly. I met with my friend and explained that yes I had information but sadly the gentleman in question had passed. BUT that the information that I did have might lead to other folks in the family.
It did. I connected with some of the individuals, cautiously feeling them out. Would they be willing to correspond with Mike? Was there anything I should "break" to him first? This was a very sensitive situation. Fortunately all the folks were more than willing to be in touch. Mikes wife got on the Internet ( the woman has detective genes in her that she didn't know she had) and using general searches found an obituary for Mikes dad.
And that's when things went crazy. He was married 4 times. The obit listed the names of his siblings. SIBLINGS !!!!!!!!!! Yes, indeed, not one or two but THREE half brothers!
The names of his Aunts were in the Obit. We had hit the mother lode. Mike was no longer an "only child".
We've made a lot of progress since that day. Mike has had face to face visits with one of his Aunts who surprisingly, lived fairly close by. And a very gracious widow, with a delicious sense of humor, contacted the half brothers who responded with enthusiasm wanting to be in touch with the brother they didn't know they had. Handing Mike the emails with the contact information made me feel so incredibly happy.
Mike's story is still unfolding. Information is still coming in. But Uncle I have to tell you that this has been the most rewarding search I have ever done. Being told "You don't understand how much this means to me. You have given me FAMILY. I am not alone."
Goosebumps all over. Yes, Uncle I do know that feeling. Finding the lost and gathering them up to put into the blanks on the Family Tree. Knowing you have kin. Knowing that you are not alone. Bloodlines and Lovelines, the blending of families and what comes of it.
"The Best Thing To Hold On to In Life Is Each Other". I have that plaque on my wall. I see it a hundred times a day. It's just opposite of the plaque that says "Family".
My friend Mike likes both of those plaques. Now they mean so much more.
Until next, Uncle,
Your Devoted Niece
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Ancestor Birthdays This Month
Dear Uncle,
It is time again to acknowledge those who came before us.
Anna Alden 144, Polly Andrews 240, Samuel Alden 189.
Clara Balcom 163, George Balcom 134, Abraham Beal 290, Arabella Beal 159, Bathsheba Beal 319, Bethiah Beal 277, Catherine Beal 208, Clifton Beal 150, Eliza Beal 326, My Grandfather - George Beal 114, Jacob Beal 278, John Beal 277, Mary Beal 360, Molley Beal 276, Olive Beal 212, Benjamin Borden 197.
Child Chubbuck 285, Huldah Chubbuck 282, Jonathan Chubbuck 296, Thomas Chubbuck 280, Jonathan Chubbuck 331, Ephraim Cleveland 300, Emma Colbath 165, Savery Collins 191, Patience Crapo 251.
Prudence Deacon 410, Hattie Downs 149, Hannah Dyer 329.
Alice Eddy 297, Ebenezar Eddy 337, Edith Eddy 104, Joseph Eddy 208, Joshua Eddy 332, William Eddy 178.
Abigail Fellows 182, Rachel Franklin 257.
Lucy Gould 183, Sarah Greenleaf 329, Samuel Gulliver 362.
Persis Hildreth 352, Elder Hovey 270, Betsey Howe 201, Philena Howe 195.
Joseph Joy 367, Samuel Joy 373.
Guy Leighton 127, Deborah Lincoln 295, Elisha Lincoln 315, George Long 113.
Pluma McNeil 155, Nathaniel Martin 403, Ernest Morey 130.
Jacob Perkins 328.
Mary Rawson 196, Ebenezar Rood 308, Thankfull Rood 291, Phineas Russell 215, Rhoda Russell 230.
Wilder Smith 143, Alden Spooner 179, Asa Spooner 183, Micah Spooner 194, Samuel Stodder 293.
Seth Wasburn 261.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Organized - Really and Truly
Dear Uncle,
While pondering what to do next with my Irish folks I realized I needed to gather all the facts that I have on hand. Which, much to my dismay were NOT all together. So what to do? I have been following Michelle Goodman’s blog – The Turning of Generations – and she just happens to be doing a series of workshops regarding getting organized.
I have been pretty good about having files for families, and putting information into those files. I have been pretty good about citing sources. I visit Ancestry.com daily checking for more info as new collections crop up and I check in with Family Search on a weekly basis just in case.
The other day I came across – in one of my many folders- an article that I had in my “At some point in time” folder . It was from Family Tree magazine, May 2010. The title of which was “Organizing Your Hard Drive”. Why I had not done this , I mean Really done this before, is beyond me.
I read the article and at 11:00 the other night I decided that right then and there was the perfect time to do it. In the quiet of the evening, just me and my computer I began. Somewhere around 1:15 AM I was done.
Such relief and pride I had! I can now, in a moment, gather the information that I need. Amazing! No more scrolling up and down in “Documents” looking for something that I knew I had if only I could remember just how I named it. No more jumping into folders searching for that one picture that I had scanned and put where? The military histories of my boys in the Civil War are now in their respective folders. Wow!
Now if I want to send information about one of my folks I can just send a folder to whoever needs the info! Astounding!
Uncle, it was just a wonderful feeling. Genealogy File Management……who’d a thunk it.
I think that I can now say with pride that I am a 21st Century Organized Historian! And I am even more sure that my next generation historians, my niece and nephew, will thank me for it.
Personally, I thank Michelle for passing along the information and incentive for getting me started. I will go back to her blog and start at the beginning and follow her suggestions.
Wow! Organized!
Until the next,
Fondly, Your Devoted Niece
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Funeral Home requests...Any Advice?
Dear Uncle,
I have searched the internet looking for advice for the best way to ask for assistance from a funeral home in my genealogical search.
It's been interesting to note that in my searching I have found several funeral homes who actually have a tab for genealogy requests. When you go to the page they have forms to fill out and the fees that they charge. How fabulous is that? The Homes are right on top of things. Not to mention an additional little money maker or a very, very nice service. I mean to say that if there were several homes in a town and one of those homes was pro- genealogy I would be more apt to rest my bones at that home than the others. After all don't we all want to make sure our folks can find us?
Mine, however, does not. So I've copied the forms and pasted them to a Word document and compared them to each other. They basically ask the same questions. So I think I will do up a form based on what I've seen and hope that I will get a response. I might just send an email to a couple of homes that I am (unfortunately) very familiar with with the links to these other homes on the web and perhaps that will cause some action.
Before I do that I think it would be best if I asked some of the other folks who blog if they may have some suggestions as to how to approach the funeral home. I will also ask their overall experience in doing so.
1. Do I send a letter attached to the forms?
2. What do I say?
3. How much money should I send?
4. How much information do I ask for?
5. Should I send a letter at the same time to the cemeterys?
6. What is the best thing to ask for in that case?
7. Do I ask for a copy of the internment card information or Lot information or both?
Uncle, these are the days when I wish that I lived nearby the old home town and I could simply drive to these places and get the info myself. I know Uncle, I need a pound of patience but today there doesn't seem to be one in the pantry. My Irish are driving me batty.
Until the next,
Fondly,
Your Devoted Niece
I have searched the internet looking for advice for the best way to ask for assistance from a funeral home in my genealogical search.
It's been interesting to note that in my searching I have found several funeral homes who actually have a tab for genealogy requests. When you go to the page they have forms to fill out and the fees that they charge. How fabulous is that? The Homes are right on top of things. Not to mention an additional little money maker or a very, very nice service. I mean to say that if there were several homes in a town and one of those homes was pro- genealogy I would be more apt to rest my bones at that home than the others. After all don't we all want to make sure our folks can find us?
Mine, however, does not. So I've copied the forms and pasted them to a Word document and compared them to each other. They basically ask the same questions. So I think I will do up a form based on what I've seen and hope that I will get a response. I might just send an email to a couple of homes that I am (unfortunately) very familiar with with the links to these other homes on the web and perhaps that will cause some action.
Before I do that I think it would be best if I asked some of the other folks who blog if they may have some suggestions as to how to approach the funeral home. I will also ask their overall experience in doing so.
1. Do I send a letter attached to the forms?
2. What do I say?
3. How much money should I send?
4. How much information do I ask for?
5. Should I send a letter at the same time to the cemeterys?
6. What is the best thing to ask for in that case?
7. Do I ask for a copy of the internment card information or Lot information or both?
Uncle, these are the days when I wish that I lived nearby the old home town and I could simply drive to these places and get the info myself. I know Uncle, I need a pound of patience but today there doesn't seem to be one in the pantry. My Irish are driving me batty.
Until the next,
Fondly,
Your Devoted Niece
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