Footprints In Time

Gone Gypsy ; Follow My Footprints

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 22:32:00 +0000

Hello everyone, it has been a very long time since I posted here. I thank you all for coming around to check on me and leaving such wonderful comments. (Except all the spam there seems to be.)

I am doing fine, and finally have started blogging again. However I am now on WordPress. You can find Me at Wandering Gypsy Spirit . I will leave my blogs up here on blogger, perhaps to revisit at some point.

I do need to get around and visit everyone, bear with me, I will get there sooner later.

A Temporary Pause

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 04:14:00 +0000

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I have started a new job. After completing a short but rather tough course of study, I will be embarking on my new career tomorrow. I’ll be driving, over the road, and not have easy access to the internet. I have not been able to get a lap top as yet, and until I can afford one, I will be putting my blogging activities on hold.

Hopefully before long, I will be able to get a decent laptop, and continue my hobbies on line. Until that time, I sadly must say a temporary farewell to the blogosphere. I’ll be thinking of all my friends, and keeping notes in many a journal in hopes of finding that frequent dream and fun stories. I wish all of you success, and will eventually return to join in the fun once again.

Simplicity Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:17:00 +0000

Image by Today is a good day via Flickr

Sundays are so pleasant, always silent and soulful. Personally I’m not much of a church person, my chapel is the outdoors, and Mother Nature in general. However, my ancestors were fairly well centered around the church. As a matter of fact, the church played a consistent role in their lives. The nice thing about this is that I can find many records in the churches, pertaining to births, baptisms, marriages, and all kinds of other things. It’s amazing to me just how much this helps to paint a picture of who they were.

If you can find out what denomination your ancestors were, and then search those churches in the areas they lived, you just might find a treasure trove of information. Religion often played a large part in the decision to immigrate, and other important choices in our ancestors life. It’s only fitting that the church records delineate the moments that were important to them.

Thankfully, most churches are, and were, very diligent in their record keeping. Without some of these records, I know I would be at a brick wall on many of my ancestors.

Quote of the Day:
ARH!! I found it!
--vyacheslavkozlovfan

Roots Run Deep

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 23:26:00 +0000

Image by jeffgunn via Flickr

And make connections that may have not been visible before.

One of the things I’ve learned from this little endeavor of mine, is that researching your roots has an interesting side effect. It can bring you so much closer to your living family, in ways that might be a little surprising. I think it has something to do with learning about the trials and tribulations of those who have gone before. It makes you appreciate what you have all the more.

I don’t know where the idea of this post came from. It just seemed to creep up on me, and I had to write it down. I know it sounds crazy, but it happens some times. I think it all started from an email conversation I had with a member of my family. They are having some troubles of their own, and I was trying to relate to her, that life is not written in stone. It’s a story that you write as you go, and things don’t always follow the outline you prepared for it. Somehow, I jumped into my philosophical mode, and tried to correlate things in a format I understood.

Researching your roots does that, it lets you see the story of your ancestors, in a format that you can relate to. For me it’s writing stories, for some reason that makes sense to me. When I research a relative, I’m researching in a way that provides for the telling of their story. As the story unfolds through my investigations, I often can gain the foresight that helps me understand the members of my family who came from that era. I don’t know how to explain it, and even sitting here reading back over this, I feel I have failed in my attempt. It simply doesn’t make sense, it just happens.

I continue researching my roots, so I can understand and maybe tell the story. At the same time, it helps me sympathize and show a little compassion to those of my family I may have not been as close to. After all, family is that one resource you have that will always be there for you.

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” Jane Howard, via Quotations Page.

Finding a Little Balance

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 03:22:00 +0000

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One of the things I have to work on, is finding that balance. If you're a weekend genealogist, you probably know what I mean. The research can be very fun, interesting, and just a little addictive. However, the needs of the living still has to take precedence. I have been doing a search of a different nature over the past few weeks. As of last week, I’m searching for a new job, and with a certain level of necessity to add to the circumstances.

Needless to say, I was not able to get much genealogy research done over the past couple of days. There were far more important things weighing on my thoughts. I got some good news today though, and hopefully things will fall into place. Once I can sit down and absorb all that has happened, and evaluate what new potentials are open to me, I’ll get back to the fun stuff. For now, bear with me, and wish me a little luck, I might just need it.

"By nature man hates change; seldom will he quit his old home till it has actually fallen around his ears." – Thomas Carlyle. via Quotations Book.

Interpretation vs Translation

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 03:15:00 +0000

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I missed my post yesterday and I’m sorry about that. Things have been pretty busy here of late, I have many things going on in real life that prevent my usual persistence with the family history. So, for the time being, it’s going to return to kind of a weekend hobby. I will continue to post daily if I can, but I won’t make any promises of that either. I’m on a different kind of hunt at the moment and hopefully will be successful very soon.

I’ve learned that one part of the family left England to find freedom from the church, and a profitable future. They found one, not necessarily the other. I have learned not to trust family “lore”, no matter who it comes from. The other hard lesson I have learned, is that genealogist’s results can vary depending on the part of a family they are researching, and how dedicated they are to documenting the records they find.

What do I mean by results may vary? It really comes down to how well the individual doing the research followed the records, and interpreted them. What I’m talking about, is three separate results I’ve found on line. Each one covers a different sibling of a particular family. What I found is that each one was a slightly different variations on the make up of the family. At first it took me a little while to figure out the first one. That was simply because there was a marriage I had been unaware of. The father of this family had been married three times, instead of two, or even just once. The first born child, a son was actually the result of the first marriage, then four by the second marriage, and one by the third. Can you see how things could get a little twisted around in interpreting these records. Now take into account that all of this occurred in the mid 1700’s.

Many of the older records are more difficult to reason out. You’ll find that they kept records in a different language than the rest of the populace. I’m not talking about language like French, German, or English, although it is not uncommon to find church or government records from the old days kept in Latin. What I’m talking about, is the difference between the way to educated spoke or wrote and the general populous who were usually peasants. Then factor in the fact that you might be translating the record from French, German, or maybe Latin, and you have the makings for some real confusion.

One of the most useful tools I’ve used so far, is the translator in the Google toolbar. It has been invaluable to me of late. You still have to remember that other languages, sometimes structure their sentences differently than we do in English. So even after you translate a page, you still have to interpret it correctly, and mistakes can be made. All of this is why I have been saying you have to do your own confirmation or corroborating research. You never know, you might be the one to stumble across something all the others who have researched this family missed.

There is another thing this research has reinforced, I am not infallible and I will always be learning myself. It never ceases to amaze me, where I can find the next lesson. Sometimes, that invaluable lesson comes from a completely unexpected direction. It’s amazing just how educational, my own family history has become, in more ways than I ever imagined.

Quote of the Day:
”School is a drill for the battle of life. If you fail in the drill you will fail in the battle.”
--Karl G. Maeser

Tricky Tuesday, Those Treacherous Tales.

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 03:57:00 +0000

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Family lore is a fabulous place to learn stories about your ancestors. But you might want to slow down a little, and check into those stories. More often than not, you’ll find they are made of very little fact, and a whole lot of fiction.

I used to love to sit and listen to stories my parents or grandparents told. Even if I knew they were tales of fiction, they were a lot of fun. I never suspected though that some of those old family stories traded long ago, and copied down into the family treasure might have been fiction. When I started my search for family records and histories, I had a head start. Some of the family had done a little of their own research and shared versions of their results with the rest, or more accurately, the interested few.

Some of the stories related, were fantastic characterizations of my ancestors. Nothing unbelievable, quite the contrary actually. Given the era and regional settings, those little stories could easily have been true. Take for instance, the story I heard of my great grandfather. His name was William, and he had been a blacksmith. The story that went along with it was that he was known as “Whispering Bill”. You see, according to one side of the family lore, he had been kicked in the throat by a horse or mule, and his larynx was permanently damaged. From then on, he always spoke in a whisper. Now it was fairly easy to discredit this, thanks to my Aunt who remembers no such thing. Too bad really, for if it had been true, just think about the “character” one could add to the information portrayed in a written story.

Another story of family lore was about a great great grandmother, who just happened to be named America. Really, she was actually named America Ann (Wrenn) Kelso, I have even located many records relating to her. Where the lore changed course, and became a tale of fiction was the reason she was named America. I have to admit, the lore made for a far more interesting story than actual fact. As the story went, she was born on board ship during the crossing, and her parents named her America as a hopeful tribute to their future. Now I’m sure there were a lot of kids born on board ship while transiting the Atlantic, or other seas for that matter. Unfortunately, birth and census records prove my family lore to be more fiction than fact. America Ann Wrenn, was born to John and Sarah Wrenn in 1836, Andrew County Missouri. Her father John was born 1816 in Kentucky, we’re not sure when her mother was born, or what her maiden name was for that matter.

Just remember, no matter how believable, a story that has been passed down might be, research the facts for yourself. I know the tale might be more fun and interesting, but the facts will mean far more to you in the end.

Quote of the Day:
”Creativity is the sudden cessation of stupidity.”
--Dr. E. Land

Not Just a Hobby, a Passion!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 02:33:00 +0000

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Genealogy has quickly gone from a simple weekend hobby, to a dedicated passion. How did this happen? It’s pretty simple, yet difficult to explain. After finding my first few set of records, I realized I was learning far more than the basic history of my ancestors. However vague those records were, they told me things about those who have gone before me. Things I never would have imagined I would learn.

Most people who know me, know all to well that I love a good story, and am always searching for the next one. Little did I know but very quickly realized, that I could find that story of a life time, right there within my own history. They aren’t my stories but I can feel a link to them, and that is what makes those tales so special. They are the stories of my ancestors, the people that… if they had not existed, I would not exist, for I came from them. However far down the line that may be, matters not.

With each new record I find, I learn another little piece of their story. Each birth, baptism, confirmation, marriage, and death leads to other questions and very often, a few answers. Each census, tax, occupational, or immigration record tells even more. When you can take all of these in the context of the era they occurred and research a little farther, perhaps outside the actual family, you learn to a greater extent, what made these people tick. This is one reason I have taken to collecting so many regional history texts and memoirs of specific eras. I can combine these with the actual records of my ancestors and get just a glimpse of their life, what it must have been like.

The details are what make the story and genealogy is all about finding the details. When you can find enough details and learn a little more about that particular era and region, you have the makings of a first class story. The trick comes when you try to put that story together in a format that others can understand and enjoy. After all isn't that a big part of genealogy, to preserve the ancestral history for future generations. I hope to be able to tell my ancestors story, in a way that will be entertaining and fun for those future generations. Perhaps even to pass on just a little bit of my newest passion.

What brought this little tirade on? A simple book review! Go check it out and perhaps even enter the contest to win a free copy of Shaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist. You can see this little review over at GenaBloggers, by clicking on the link “A simple book review” above or just by visiting GeneaBloggers.

Quote of the Day:
”Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.”
--General Omar Nelson Bradley

Sunday Thoughts and Questions

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 20:57:00 +0000

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Sitting here, listening to music streamed through the internet, enjoying a quiet Sunday morning, a funny thought struck me. Was music important to my ancestors? From many of the stories I’ve read, it was an important part of their life, just not as easily accessed as today. One of the book’s I've read, “Memories of Elsie, 1887-1987” pointed out in the memories of individual families, that enjoying music was a regular thing. Granted they had to go somewhere to do so, unless they were lucky enough to have a family member graced with the gift of music.

Mothers own memoirs mention the music she enjoyed while in Central America. She stated how beautiful and captivating it was, and how it had given her an appreciation of music she still holds to this day. Music played on guitar, with someone singing along to add the melody of life. A little thing that was as common to her as turning on the radio is to me.

In the early days, they had to wait for a dance or party to enjoy the soothing benefits of music. I suppose many of them learned to play an instrument for that reason, so they could entertain the family on cold nights. Of course there was always some music at church, and perhaps that is one reason church was so important to them back then.

I wonder just how many of my ancestors possesed the gift of music, and became one who entertained others on weekends? I can assure you they didn’t pass it down to me, I have tried different interment, but never been able to master any. You certainly wouldn’t want to hear me sing, unless maybe you were trying to scare someone off.

It’s the little questions like this, that intrigue me, and start me thinking. Things that I take for granted, until I realize that they were not exactly common in the old days. I suppose that is one reason I enjoy reading old memoirs, or diaries. I love to learn the little things, the stuff that made life interesting and fun.

Quote of the Day:
"A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently.”
--Saint Augustine of Hippo

Surname Saturday; Hawks / Hawkes

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 21:14:00 +0000

The Trerice House near Truro Nova Scotia photo by Andrew Longton CC Attribution Share Alike 2.0
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One of the family names in my tree, has had an extensive amount of information accumulated and published on it. Terris / Trerice, is a among the names that I descend from, and I was lucky enough to obtain a copy of the ebook “Terris / Trerice More Tracks Through Time” by Irene Kauffmann and Greg Brown, CC 2004. During time of their research for this book, my Mother had been researching her grandparents history in Nova Scotia. She had made a trip there, and was searching some archives and a tiny little library when she met one of the people involved in the project. They got to talking, and Mother mentioned her grandmothers name. This researcher perked up and said “yes, and she married Robert Dykin Pitt”. Of course this floored my mother, because at the time, she was unaware of the Terris / Trerice project this lady was working on. Needless to say, many of Mothers questions were quite quickly answered, and the lady agreed to keep in contact.

My Great Grandmother, Ida May (Terris) Pitt, was the daughter of John Edmund Barlow Terris and Grace Elizabeth Vena Fenton, who was the daughter of William J Fenton and Mary Ann Hawks. The Fenton line continues on quite a bit farther, and I have even had contact with another person researching the same line, who has very kindly sent me all of her information. So I can trace the Fenton family pretty well. One interesting thing, is that Mary Ann Hawks is actually listed on a pedigree chart my Grandmother did back when Mom was born.

The difficulty I currently have, is that I can not locate any further information on Mary Ann Hawks. The Terris / Trerice book lists her as being born 1831, in New Brunswick, but I can not find any actual records as yet. Family Lore has her or her family coming from England, I know not very specific huh. I am talking with another person who has the same difficulties with what we believe is the same Mary Ann Hawks, except his records list her as a Hawkes. Pretty common thing to have happen from what I’m finding. So this Mary Ann Hawks, has become one of my dead ends, and a little frustration of mine.

If anyone has any leads on the Hawks name, I would be very grateful for any help what so ever.

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” – Denis Waitley via Quotations Book.

Thoughtful Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:34:00 +0000

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You’ll notice from time to time, I like to post sunset or sunrise pictures. When I’m trying to find a little, soul centering peace, there's nothing better than a beautiful sunset or sunrise. I just find them to be so… relaxing and refreshing. Lends comfort to my thoughts to remember that the cycle continues no matter what. Not to mention, the simple pleasure of absorbing such wondrous beauty.

I’m trying to figure a strategy for the weekend. Yes, I’m already looking forward to the weekend, trying to figure out where to start. I have such a huge pile of records that I really need to get entered into Legacy, and the sources cited, that it’s just a little overwhelming. I think I’m going to have to once again refrain from any fresh research until I can make progress on what I already have. If I don’t, I might just get lost, and end up repeating work needlessly. Over the past three weeks, I have gone through two whole packs of paper, and three print cartridges.

I have had all of this information floating around in my head, cluttering my thoughts with the possibilities of more familiar links. Until I review everything, and make certain they are truly linked to my ancestors, and get the data entered and cited, I won’t be able to think straight. Everything I found this last weekend, isn’t even counting the 300 plus people of the Wren family I still have to get entered, that was an amazing find for sure.

So bear with me if I seem a little distracted for the next few days.

Quote of the Day:
”All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened.”
--Ernest Hemingway

Wednesdays Genealogy Blog Round Up, # 4

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:04:00 +0000

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It’s Wednesday once again, and darn near Thursday for that matter. I’m going to have to get this post written and up before I lose that privilege of calling this a Wednesday post. Things have been pretty hectic and fast paced around here lately. Between all the information I obtained from the free search weekend on Ancestry.com, and a very recent find on RootsWeb, of a whole side to my Grandparents family, I’ve been real busy. Not to mention, my Aunt is forwarding transcribed sections of a book on the Softley / Griggs family (my paternal grandmothers side) from England, so I have been in seventh heaven of late.

Enough with the excuses, shame on me for not keeping my posts regular. Let’s get on with the business at hand. Perhaps some of you may be researching your Irish roots! Well, how about a blog with a solid Irish title and feel. Brophy’s Irish Genealogy Blog, is a place you might find a few tips and tricks to help you along your way. This fine Irish info-pub, is packed with articles ranging from news of an Irish archeological dig to the 1901 Irish census being posted on line. I’ll be spending some time over there before long, for I have a few ancestors who came from the green Isle.

One of my favorite blogs, The Family Curator, is authored by a Denise Levenick, a fun and creative writer. She shares all kinds of useful information dealing with genealogy, and research. There are a few tech tips as well, like how to auto generate consecutive numbers in MS Word. There are discussions on topics such as, whether to photograph or photocopy historic documents. How about reading about the four tried and true systems for genealogical research. Topics any weekend genealogist would be interested in. She also adds the personal touch of sharing family stories through her “Family Road Trip” posts. Just recently, she shared the sad news that she lost her mother, but did so in a true genealogical way, sharing important dates and events in her mothers life.

How about a blog by a full time, certified genealogist. Paula’s Genealogical Eclectica, is loaded with very helpful resources and tricks. You’ll find reports of the successful projects and conferences she attends, and all kinds of information about different genealogical societies. She also posts articles about the release of new records, and where to find them.

Perhaps you like doing a little cemetery stalking. Take a look at Tombstone Territory, and tour any number of cemeteries whenever you desire. You’ll find pictures of tombstones, and other intriguing items here.

Well, that should do it for tonight, and It’s still before midnight, so I still qualify for the “Wednesday” tag. I hope you all have a wonderful night / morning, and enjoy your genealogical research.

Quote of the Day:
It's not how much you have that makes people look up to you, it's who you are.
--Elvis Presley, celebrity singer

They Risked All, and Left Everything They Knew

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:54:00 +0000

Image by State Library of Queensland, Australia via Flickr

This weekend has added to my “pile” of records to sort, compare, and corroborate. In other words, a fabulous weekend of record finding has added to the work needing to be done. That’s quite alright though, for I would rather have a stack of records to filter through, than no results what so ever. I look forward to getting the time to sit down and enter what information I have, and add to the stock of data I have collected on my ancestors.

One of the interesting things I found this weekend was, a few more trees of siblings of my ancestors on RootsWeb, a free collection of genealogical search tools and data. It is interesting to find these, and see the decadency, not necessarily directly related to me. I’m trying to decide whether to add this information to the tree I have, it keeps getting bigger by the day, and the additional families add to the bigger picture. I suppose in the long run, I will go ahead and add the data after reviewing the source information for accuracy. I also located many of their names and families in the passenger lists. Knowing that information has helped me to paint a clearer picture of the era of immigration for my own ancestors.

As I dig through the histories, regional and otherwise, I hope to find enough information to compile a fairly accurate picture of the reasons my ancestors immigrated. It amazes me to think, they left everything they knew, and many of their family and loved one. Taking a chance on the vague promise of prosperity and freedom in a new country filled with a conglomeration of people from all over the world. They didn’t have the benefit of our information system, only stories passed along by word of mouth, or advertising by shipping companies. I wonder at their thoughts, what worries and concerns they must have had. What hopes and dreams they had for themselves and their children. The total uncertainty of it!

I wonder if, after the fact, they believed their gamble had paid profitable dividends? I bet they did!

Quote of the Day:
At the working man's house hunger looks in but dares not enter.
--Benjamin Franklin

Sentimental Sunday; The Grandfather I Remember

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:30:00 +0000

A couple a weeks ago, I posted an article about my Fathers unfortunate accident while hunting with his grandfather. Now let me tell you about how I remember my Grandfather. Who was a very loving, playful, joking and crafty man.

Grandpa was a creative man, always working in his wood shop located in the basement of their house. I can recall a number of visits when he had just finished making a series of puzzles he had seen in stores. You know the ones, made of metal, in different shapes. They generally had two to three parts, and the challenge was to separate the parts.   Grandpa would see these things somewhere, and think to himself, “I can make that!”. He had all the tools he needed, and many of them were put together by using parts of other things. He had a wood lathe, table saw, drill press, sanding wheels and belts, and many metal working tools also.

Grandpa had been a railroad engineer until he retired. I can remember he was gone for long periods of time, at least to me, in my very young mind, it was long periods of time. Through out his wood shop were small trains, models or toys. I seem to remember one mounted on a track that went around the ceiling of the woodshop, but I could be wrong on that.

He also had a pool table in the basement, that he would practice on. He could make just about every trick shot in the book. The other thing I have fond memories of, is the garden they had in the back yard. A huge vegetable garden, with everything you could imagine. Tall corn stalks, and other vegetables grown fresh, just can’t be beat.

Grandpa was also an avid fisherman, and would make a practice of being among the first of the season to fish Jefferson Lake. He fished many of the reservoirs in South Park, I think mainly because we lived there, and very seldom came to Denver. He had an old black Ford pick up truck with a red interior.   I don’t think I ever saw that truck dirty, or in disrepair. There was of course a small fishing boat, but I don’t recall ever being out on it.

I can remember him joking around with us kids, when we did make it to Denver for a visit. One of the best memories I have, is of when he retired.   He had a lot of time on his hands, and had started to feed a squirrel that frequented the yard, or possibly the park near their house. Eventually he made friends with that little guy, and it would come up and take food right from his hand.   I remember it even visiting on his shoulder, to Grandmothers despair.

The picture above, was taken at Grandpa and Grandma’s 50 th wedding anniversary, Dec 1979. From left to right is Grandpa (Travis), Grandma (Elaine), Aunt Catherine, Dad (Lanny), Aunt Gail.

One Find After Another!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 01:36:00 +0000

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So far, it’s been a very productive weekend. The volume of records I’m finding during Ancestry's free weekend surprises even me. Right off the bat, I was able to locate my great grandfathers declaration of intent, that he filed for citizenship. The information on it, was pretty much everything I already had, but I did learn a couple of things, The Pitt family originally came from England. We had not been sure, thinking there was a possibility that we were from Ireland or Scotland, but no, it was indeed the old UK. I also learned exactly when and where they came into the United states. Much later than I expected, and by land, not sea. Of course when I sent a copy of it to Mother, she said, “Ohh I have that some where around here”!!!! I wanted so much to say “and you didn’t think I would be interested in it?”, but I stilled my tongue, and behaved myself.

Shortly after that I found my Great Great Great Grandparents in the passenger lists coming over from Bremmen Germany. The Wedeking’s traveled with a group of people from Kolenfeld Germany, so now I may end up researching those names, just for the fun of it. This record I know is my ancestors, because the time and ages were correct. I believe they may have been part of the Saxson exodus during the Lutheran church revolutions. A time when many of the younger people of the church had a rather serious falling out with the elder generations. My research of the history of the area, and era is really quite alarming. They certainly didn’t have an easy life.

I’m still filtering my way through so many records of the Schweer name. I was taken completely by surprise, just how many passenger records would show up for that name. I’m going to continue filtering my through them, one by one if I have to. I would love to find the name of the ship they came over on. All of the new information is leading me to research other things, not necessarily related to genealogy, but more out of curiosity. I have suddenly become far more interested in history, especially regional histories of areas my families came from or traveled through. I’m finding myself becoming more and more engrossed in the whole endeavor.

"What we know of other people's only our memory of the moments during which we knew them." – T.S. Elliot via Quotations Book.

Ahh, It’s Going To Be A Full Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:17:00 +0000

Image by mrzeta via Flickr

Ancestry.com is hosting a free weekend. Started this morning at 12:00 AM, 2 Sep. And it goes all the way through to 6 Sep. I can’t wait to get my grubby little mouse clicks on those records. They are only making immigration records available, but with the list of names I have in my tree, it could take me all weekend to to search through them. I plan on taking full advantage of it, and make my weekend well worth the time. U.S. Immigrations records hold some of the most in-depth information, especially if you can find the petitions or applications for citizenship. So don’t be surprised if I miss a post this weekend.

Quote of the Day:
”I do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
--Voltaire

There Are Many Ways to Research

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:59:00 +0000

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I’ve been running across many results that are not available anywhere but the public library system.   Last weekend, I broke down and went to town to get my library card. It cost me $25.00 because I’m not a resident within the city limits, but I think it’ll be worth it in the long run. The first thing I did was request an library transfer of researchers note on the Clan McCullough from a library in Missouri. Why you ask, well because a search on Family Search.org related that my Grandmother was listed within this published document. It is currently held by only two libraries, and guess what? They don’t want to share! My request was cancelled the first day. The Librarian said that it was not uncommon with research notes. The libraries are very worried about losing their material.   She suggested I contact the libraries myself, and explain my request, perhaps they will be more favorable that way.

I took it a step further, and wrote a letter to the author also. She just happens to live in Colorado Springs, and I have my own contacts there, namely, my sister. In the meantime, I picked up a little paper research of another nature. I signed out two books, A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Germanic Ancestors: How to Find and Record Your Unique Heritage (Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Ancestors) and a little book I found very interesting, A Dictionary of Traditional First Names. Obviously, the first book is because I am doing so much research about my Germanic ancestry.   The second, is simply a intriguing curiosity that I has resulted due to the genealogical research I’ve done. I noticed that so many common names are used by my ancestors in naming their children.   I began to wonder at the significance of the individual names.

Between the two books, I have discovered there was significant reasoning behind the naming intricacies.   In old Germany, it was common for the first born male to be named after either the father’s father or the baptismal sponsor’s father, the second male to be named after the wife’s father, or the child's father’s father in cases where the baptismal sponsor’s name was used . It was also common to add a name or two to the list. This explains why I have so many Friedrich Christoph Schweer’s in my background. With each generation, an additional name was added, there is a Fiedrich Christoph Conrad, and a Hans Friedrich Christain, or even Hans Heinrich Friedrich, and so on. I also learned that the middle name was generally how the individual was known. It was very common for them to shorten or use a derivative for every day use. For example, many of my Ancestors were known as Christ, Henry, Will, or Bill when they came to the USA. The women were named in the same way, using the name of the mother’s mother, or father’s mother. In one family, I have an Engel Sophie, Marie Ilse and then there is a Sophie Marie Margaretta, and so on. So that there are a total of four sisters named Sophia Marie, each with a different name added in. The prominent names of the females are Dorothea, Sophie, Engel, and Marie, or variations of them. The Dictionary of names also informed me that many of the names are representative of the saint’s. My ancestors were very involved with the Lutheran Church, and I suppose would have adhered to the churches naming conventions.

All of this was just a curiosity of mine, that ended up shedding some light on my ancestors from a new direction. It seems, I am learning far more about my family history than I would have thought was involved in Genealogy. However, I also learned that genealogy is just that, family history, not just simply tracing your pedigree to it’s origins. I am very happy to learn all I can, for that will make the writing of our history that much easier, and more entertaining.    As a side note, I discovered my wife's name appropriately means, “dazzling”.

“Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blue prints of your ultimate achievements.” - Napolean Hill, via Quotations Book.

I need to find the links that bind!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:01:00 +0000

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Well, Manic Monday turned into one heck of a day. I found yet another Schweer tree on RootsWeb, and it just so happens that most of them are from the same general area of Germany as my Ancestors. So that makes a total of three trees, containing around 30-40 Schweer’s each, that all lived within a 15 to 20 mile radius of each other in Germany. Each tree is missing information from different generations, and sibling information on a lot of them. One of the things I keyed in on was the same use of given names as my own ancestors. This leads me to believe that the three trees, are very likely connected, I just have to find the links.

I spent nearly 15 hours last night, digging through each of these trees. I kept searching for that common link that would connect them. The interesting part about it is My trees solid information ends around 1720, prior to that I have very limited data other than names, and guesses as to the year of birth. One of the trees, starts around a little before the time mine ends, and goes back four generations. The other start’s even farther prior to that, so if I can just find the information for about two generation between each set of trees, I bet I can connect them.

I plan on starting a series of letter writing campaigns to churches around the area. I will very politely ask for help researching records to find information. Until I can get all of this figured out, I will continue digging through these trees, and send off a couple of emails to others who have listed the Schweer surname as a research topic.

I was so involved with what I was digging through, I completely forgot to post an article here, nor my other blogs. I was amazed at just how fast the night disappeared, and the sun rose without my knowledge.

A Successful and Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:39:00 +0000

Last week, I mentioned that I had found a lot of information on the Schweer name. I thought I would share the sites where I found this information. One of them is the Fillmore County Nebraska GenWeb site, where I found the baptismal records for the Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ohiowa Nebraska. Part of what I found interesting, is that my ancestors, three generations of them, were among the founding families of that church. Within that listing, are a very large number of names, that are tied to my family tree, if not my gene pool. Finding that record, actually allowed me to tie certain cemetery records from other places in the US in to my own family. The person responsible for setting up and maintaining Fillmore County Nebraska GenWeb page is Sharlene Miller, who also authors a blog by the title of Midwest Genealogy. I was impressed with both sites, and like her layout and organization of information. I even left her a comment on her blog, thanking her for her hard work.

The other site, is called KarensGen.com, and is probably one of the most information filled sites I have found on the web. She has posted so much genealogical data in a very easily navigated and understandable format than I could even believe. I was amazed at the fact that she even posted information from her research that did not necessarily pertain to her own family. Many of the surnames, she lists, just barely graze her family tree, yet she took the effort of record the data so anyone else could find it. I have spent probably around 24 ours over the last two to three weeks, just sifting through her information, and finding common and direct links to my family. I was able to print off family group sheet information, and save a few photos I may never have found if not for her. I’m find that I’ve been citing her site and many of the specific pages within it in my source writer far more frequently than many other sources.

Sentimental Saturday; Moore Traditions

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 02:38:00 +0000

One of the traditions of my Grandfather on Mothers side, was to assign each and every grand child a nick name. He would from that point on, call you by your nick name. My Brother was Jeremiah, and in Jeremiah was a bullfrog, and I was Eric the Red. I’m not really sure why he chose that name for me, he must have been at a loss for ideas. Toad’s name, as we called him, stuck just fine, but mine, not so well. My sisters took to calling me Rico, and that has stuck even to this day.

Grandpa, when he was home, would come in the living room carrying a beer, and a bowl. Sitting down in his favorite chair, he would lean over and place the bowl on the floor and pour a little of his beer in it. Then he’d call his dog, a tiny little Pomeranian, and let it slurp up its share of the beer. Nothing like having a tipsy fur ball running around a house full of kids.

If the weather was nice, we would all go out front where they had a huge old tree. It was something like a weeping willow. The tree had white bark, and the branches spread far out from the tree. The leaves, hung on tendrils off the branches, draping toward the ground. The tree was so big all of the grandkids could climb up in it and each have perch all their own. I have many fond memories of climbing in that tree, and listening to Grandpa with his gruff laugh teasing us and the dog.

Quote of the Day:
Too many people miss the silver lining because they’re expecting gold.
--Maurice Setter

Fantastic Friday Family Finds

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:16:00 +0000

Image by ConanTheLibrarian via Flickr

I have found such a plethora of information on my family history is just the past few days, that I just might be suffering from information overload.   Keeping track of what I found where, and just exactly when, not to mention the question of WHO it pertains to, is going to become a problem. Luckily, Mother was kind enough to send me her extra copy of Microsoft One Note. I think this program is really going to help. I can save web pages to One note notebooks, and organize them by family name. Although that may not be enough, because so many of the names tie together, back and forth through the generations. At times it can get a tad bit mind boggling.

I think I will try to set the notebooks up as “Descendants Of” type of thing, and formatting them as family fact sheets, like I have seen done elsewhere.   This may be the best way for me to be able to follow along with where I am in the process, and not “lose” any of the information I find. Until I can get everything entered into Legacy Family Tree, and my sources cited thoroughly, I won’t be satisfied.

One of the interesting thing I found, was a couple of sites that list the church in Ohiowa Nebraska, where many of my family immigrated to, by way if Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and so many other places.   The church was founded by 14 pioneer families, many of which were direct ancestors of mine. The history lists them very prominently, and even lists a few of the firsts for the church. One of those firsts, just happens to be the first burial. No big deal right. Well that first burial, just happens to be the infant son of my Great Great Great Grandfather. The other thing I found there was a complete record of baptisms, many of which were my ancestors and their offspring. I’m finding that the Schweer family was heavily involved with this church.

For tonight though, I am forcing myself to take a break. Because I’m already seeing double, and having some trouble concentrating. Concentration is one thing I will definitely need as I work toward inputting all this data. I wish everyone a happy healthful weekend, filled with productive research.

Quote of the Day:
Commerce is the great civilizer. We exchange ideas when we exchange fabrics.
--Robert Green Ingersoll

Treasure Chest Thursday, My Digital Treasure Trove

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:53:00 +0000

Image via KarensGen

Schweer / Wedeking descendants – about 1906
Row 1) Lydia Niemann Schweer, Rosetta Schweer Hadsel Schufeldt, Reeka Schweer Thaden
Row 2) Henry Schroedder, Minne Schweer Schroeder, Christ Schweer, Henry Schweer
Row 3) Doris Schweer Grumen, Henry Schweer (G,G, Grandfather) Doris Wedeking Schweer (G,G, Grandmother) Bertha Schweer Brutsman

This picture in and of itself may not be a “Treasured Item”, but I found it in what I consider to be a treasure trove of information. Let’s start off with the picture, it is of the Schweer / Wedeking descendants, taken about 1906. Heinrich Frederich Christoph Schweer and Sophia Maria Dorothea (Doris) Wedeking are my Great, Great, Grandparents. The caption I added, lists everyone in the picture.

As for my treasure trove, it is called Karen’s Gen, authored by Karen S. Rowe. This is a site I found by pure accident. I had googled my own surname, so many times I can’t even count them. One night, I did it once more, and on the second page, a link to the Heinrich Fredrich Christoph Schweer family group sheet site popped up. As the saying goes, the rest is history. I found on this site , so much new and extremely thorough information, and a ton of pictures.

The interesting part about this, is that because of this site, I found tombstones of members of the extended family. These are headstones, I would have never credited before this find, because they were not in my “direct” lineage. But it’s interesting that they are in different areas of the country, where I suspected my family had been, but never had any proof. I found these tombstones on Find A Grave.com, and was impressed to see that whoever had entered them included Census data with children's names, and a lot of other information.

Isn’t it interesting how one success can lead to so many more. Like stepping stones through a garden, all you have to do is stay on the correct path. I hope everyone has a wonderful evening, and I wish you all the success possible in your research.

“Men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but to their capacity for experience.” – George Bernard Shaw, Via Quotations Book.

Wednesday’s Genealogy Blog Round Up #3

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:34:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Wednesday has rolled around once again, sneaking up on me like a stalker in the night. I have been so busy entering data in my new genealogy program, Legacy Family Tree, that time just got away from me. Next thing I knew, it’s almost 8:30 PM, and I still have a post to write, actually a couple. So let me see if I can get myself in line, and share a few sites I’ve found. The three blogs I’m highlighting tonight, are blogs I came across over the weekend while browsing through the GeneaBloggers feed for Sentimental Sundays. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

First up is Lucie’s Legacy, a fellow researcher of Canadian ancestral ties, however her ancestors were French Canadian, and mine were English, Irish, Scottish, and probably a few other “breed’s” thrown in for good measure.   Over at Lucie’s, you’ll find some grand memories of time with her “Papa”, and some great family history. Now the old softy that I am, of I course gravitated to her memories first off. She shared a wonderful story about her Father, in a post entitled Papa and Me. It was one of those articles, that just might have ~~brought a tear to my eye~~, but I’ll never admit to it. I really enjoyed her latest article, A Tale of Two Families, where she related the events leading up to a discovery of information she had been looking for, for some time. Her site is well worth the time it takes to investigate her archives, who knows what rich stories may be found.

The next site I’ll share is written by a pretty energetic genealogist. Random Relatives, is authored by DianaR, and she shares many of the tricks she finds while doing her own genealogy. You can find all kinds of useful information here, and quite a few very helpful on line tools and web sites. She recently wrote about her research into her German roots. One of the tools she learned about is an on-line map of the German Empire, that is housed at the University of Wisconsin of all places. I can tell you I would probably never have found this map site, if not for reading Diana’s article.   It’s these little hidden tools that make genealogical research so much easier.   I’m going to have to spend some time, trolling through her archives, see if I can find any other little secrets to make my life simpler.

Next up is a fun little site called Sassy Jane Genealogy, authored by, who else but Sassy Jane! Sassy Jane is a librarian, and has some pretty helpful tips on genealogy research. For instance, she did a post on Planning a Genealogical Research Trip, where she highlighted a pretty well thought out list of suggestions, “From a librarians point of view”. She also announces the release of new resources, such as an on-line index of naturalization records, including over 400,000 declarations of intention, the paperwork that will have the most information about ancestors. You can read about it on her post Cook County Illinois Naturalization Index Online.

Well, that should be enough for this evening, and I have no idea where the last 2 hours went. The only thing I can say, is that I kept having problems with my Firefox browser. The newest version has a few bugs that need to be worked out I guess. Anyhow, enough of my pitiful excuses, and here’s to hoping you have a wonderful night, and some really productive research.

Quote of the Day:
”ARH!! I found it!”
--vyacheslavkozlovfan

Getting Carried Away With Research

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:08:00 +0000

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I’ve spent the last few hours doing even more research. I found a new site, thanks to Genealogy Wise, during a chat session, ~~I was lurking~~. Tribal Pages, is another family tree web site, where you can enter your family tree manually, or if you have one, upload a GEDCOM file. You can search the web site for names in other trees that might match yours, or search birth and death records. The search functions are pretty easy and simple. It provides a series of possible matches, and you have to go browse them to see if what kind of possibilities there are.

I found a couple of possible, and sent a request for information to the tree owner. If this goes as all the other sites have, I will probably be finding more information to add to my “to Research and Document” pile. I have been so surprised at how helpful all the genealogy geeks like me are. Everyone seems to want to help each other out, and share in your success.

Another interesting note. A distant relative has found my profile on Genealogy Wise, and contacted me. We are now talking back and forth and sharing information. Her husbands Grandmother was my paternal Great Great Grandfathers sister. How about that! They are even planning a Schweer Family Reunion in Nebraska next year, and I might even get an invitation.

I’m going to have to really get serious about inputting my data on Legacy, a software I downloaded to help me. Then I’ll just export GEDCOM files, and upload them to the Tribal pages site. I can even invite family members, and do all kinds of neat things like a family newsletter and different reports, and so on. I think my biggest issue, will be making myself stop researching, and get the tedious stuff done. The sooner the better, because I have really got a stack growing, seemingly every day.

Wishing everyone success on your searches, with few brick walls or dead ends.

"Intuition becomes increasingly valuable in the new information society precisely because there is so much data." – John Naisbitt, via Quotations Book.

Mayhem Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Eric S.) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 23:55:00 +0000

Image by wintersoul1 via Flickr

The one thing about Monday that seems to becoming a recurring theme is. The compilation of information found over the weekend, requires serious organizing. With the time I dedicate to actual research over the weekend, I always seem to end up with a whole stack of data sheets or records that need to be sorted and assigned a potential value, and filed with the appropriate family group.

I may need to eventually revise my filing setup, making allowances for different leads, of varying value. I’m finding that the organization of my records and paper work has become one of the most import parts of the research process. Being able to go back, and check notes on individuals and family groups can be hectic if you don’t having everything stored in an understandable format. Especially when you find a number of records that “could possibly” be that one person your looking for, but need corroborating data.

Then there is the matter of citing the sources, and making sure everything is accurate. I’m learning, there is far more to this research than simply finding bits and pieces of information and slipping it into your tree. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, just making an observation, that is probably something everyone researching their family has made. I’m still having more fun than I could have ever imagined.

I think I’m going to have to put some serious thought into my filing system, maybe even my whole office layout. See if I can come up with something easy, and very inexpensive to help solve these issues. Nothing that can’t be solved with a little ingenuity and creative organizing.

I hope everyone has a grand evening of productive research and no brick walls.

"Within your heart, keep one still, secret spot where dreams may go." – Louise Driscoll via Quotations Book.

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