So I've been doing my best to catch up on my tree now that November's over.
And I've also been posting an Advent Calendar this year for my ancestors, and I've done the first three posts, all on my dad's father's side of the family so far, but I've got a plan for how to space them out. I've had fun with them so far, and I'm learning more about what's missing from each as I write them up, and they're getting a bit longer with each person I write up. I am pleased to discover that, despite the fact that I'm starting with my great-great grandparents, I believe I have photos of all of the people I'm writing up, but three of them.
Follow Friday:
Just one post today.
Randy Seaver of Genea-musings discusses Standardizing Place Names in genealogy. Definitely a difficult subject, given that everyone has at least one ancestor who can trace their line back to an area that no longer exists or no longer has the same name as when our ancestor came from that location.
Tapestry.com
I have also been playing with a new toy today. I'm not sure what I think of it, yet, but if there was a software program that used the information taken from the questions at the site, I would definitely consider buying it. The site is called Tpstry.com aka Tapestry.com, and it is not your usual online genealogy site.
You create a (currently free) account, and fill in your name, then it begins to ask you questions. You can have several family groups on the site, and can invite friends and family to answer the questions as well. Some of the questions are a bit silly or otherwise jarring, like "what sex is this person" and "is this person still alive," but you can also make up your own questions, and therefore can configure it to what you need to learn about your family members.
From these questions, you create timelines and interrelationships between the people listed, not to mention a basic family tree, though the family tree part of the site isn't particularly great yet.
I've run across a few minor flaws in the programming, but the site is still very new, and I'm hoping that it will only improve from here on.
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:
Randy Seaver's blog had a good fun post this past Saturday, and I can't resist it.
1) Think about the games that your whole family would play when you were a child.
2) Tell us about one (or more) of them - what was it called, what were the rules (as you remember them), who played the game, where did you play the game, who usually won?
3) Write your own blog post, or write a comment on this post, or write a Facebook comment or note.
There are six years between myself and my sister, so I spent a lot of time when she was young making up ways to distract and to entertain her. Quite a number of games come to mind, really.
When she was very small, we used to play hide and seek, but she was too young to understand that she had to wait, and she was definitely to young to count yet, so I would tell her to wait where she was, then run ahead an try to find a place to hid before she could run after me. We actually had quite a lot of fun with the game, and played it quite often.
We also inherited a number of games, most of which were missing pieces in varying amounts, meaning we often had to loot other games to play anything. Which led to the idea of combining them.
Our favorite, which we played a number of times, was Payday, which I got from someone for a Christmas or Birthday present one year, but was rather dull on its own, so we would combine it with the game of Life, and occasionally with the game Careers. We'd play a month of Payday, then start the game of Life using the money we'd gained in that first round rather than what we were supposed to start with according to Life. When we got to the choice of career path, we would use Careers if we chose to go onto the university track to determine our career, and only play a month of payday if we landed on a Payday to determine how much we got. It made for exceptionally long games, but it also gave variation to games that I think we would otherwise have grown bored of.
So many more games I could mention, though. Monopoly, which my sister says she got good at defensively because she was so much younger than I. Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, and Scattegories, all of which we played at family gatherings for several years in a row. My sister and I are extremely scary when it comes to Pictionary--there have been times when one or the other of us have drawn a single line--and the other guessed it. There was also Take Off, gotten to improve my sister's geography, and Mille Bornes, which had their day...
Really, we played a lot of games as kids. It's one thing I miss quite a bit, really.
Family Tree Calendar:
Just one event for this week.
Hans Knudsen and Christine Jensdatter married on December 2, 1854 in Vejle, Denmark.
Showing posts with label Follow Friday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Follow Friday. Show all posts
Friday, December 3, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday Genealogy update
Had a friend abscond with me for a few hours today, so not much on the genealogy front, but I did make my post at Oh, Spusch this week. The final bit of the Visual Family tree I have posting there--the Jones Family.
I also had one possible revelation this week. My great-grandfather, Holger Hansen, has a brick wall on his maternal grandfather's side. I've always had his grandfather's parents listed as Lars Christensen and Oertha, and was never even sure whether that was a first or last name, as the tree had had been handed to me from my grandmother.
In entering everything into The Master Genealogist, I discovered that the name was never Oertha, but Bertha, with no given surname. Unfortunately, that made all three names horribly common, so, despairing, I asked one of my online Danish friends how the best way would be to find a marriage record for them.
He proceeded to check the record books of the town where their son was born, and found one record for the right name and date I had. But the names of the parents were off: Lars Andersen and Birreth Marie Sorensdatter. So...if I can figure out where we got the names we have (Birreth comes off sounding very much like Bertha in English), I may have found my great-great-great grandfather's parents. And jumped yet another wall on that side of the family. :)
Follow Friday:
Just a couple things today.
Two pieces on Scots-Irish; one from Carolyn L Barkley at GenealogyAndFamilyHistory.com, and one from Virginia Fox at The Faerie Folk Hid My Ancestors.
The other is a fun game about what you might want to get about/from your ancestors if you had a time machine from Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy.
From my Family Tree Calendar:
10/20/1845 - Rasmus Hansen was born in Knudstrup, Denmark
10/24/1865 - Else Katrine Larsen was born in Ringive, Denmark
I also had one possible revelation this week. My great-grandfather, Holger Hansen, has a brick wall on his maternal grandfather's side. I've always had his grandfather's parents listed as Lars Christensen and Oertha, and was never even sure whether that was a first or last name, as the tree had had been handed to me from my grandmother.
In entering everything into The Master Genealogist, I discovered that the name was never Oertha, but Bertha, with no given surname. Unfortunately, that made all three names horribly common, so, despairing, I asked one of my online Danish friends how the best way would be to find a marriage record for them.
He proceeded to check the record books of the town where their son was born, and found one record for the right name and date I had. But the names of the parents were off: Lars Andersen and Birreth Marie Sorensdatter. So...if I can figure out where we got the names we have (Birreth comes off sounding very much like Bertha in English), I may have found my great-great-great grandfather's parents. And jumped yet another wall on that side of the family. :)
Follow Friday:
Just a couple things today.
Two pieces on Scots-Irish; one from Carolyn L Barkley at GenealogyAndFamilyHistory.com, and one from Virginia Fox at The Faerie Folk Hid My Ancestors.
The other is a fun game about what you might want to get about/from your ancestors if you had a time machine from Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy.
From my Family Tree Calendar:
10/20/1845 - Rasmus Hansen was born in Knudstrup, Denmark
10/24/1865 - Else Katrine Larsen was born in Ringive, Denmark
Friday, October 15, 2010
Friday Genealogy update
Posted some musings this week over at Oh, Spusch, and I've started a subject-a-day language blog called Glossology at tumblr for Welsh, Danish, and German, with more to come if I actually manage to learn something out of it, particularly languages relevant to my genealogy search. There are two more things that I'm probably going to post over at Oh, Spusch, but given that it's 7:30, they'll probably wait until tomorrow, one about Genealogy software, and one about brick walls.
ETA: My major find today was looking up an address for Leon (and Mindel) Seneft in London based on the address their daughter Jennie gave at Ellis Island. The view of the house is here. I believe their house was the black door. #66 Lucas Street, London.
I've added that and the location of one of the other Seneft children, Jack (found on the back of a photo of my great-grandfather) to a map I'm slowly working up with all the locations I'm finding as I do my research. There's a lot I haven't added in yet, but if people are interested, here's the link.
Follow Friday:
From the Armchair Genealogist: Defining Today's Family, about how today's mixed families are even more confusing than those of the past. I'm not entirely sure I agree, except that these things are out in the open more than they were in the past, that's all.
Genealogy's Star wrote a Testimony against procrastination in genealogy that everyone should take to heart.
Olive Tree Genealogy had a great idea--You Tube & Genealogy--using You Tube (and similar sites) to see your ancestors' home towns.
The JewishGen Blog posted the final installment of the Cycle of Life: Natural Disasters series.
In my Family Tree this week:
Henrick Bergthon Bordewick and Leonharde Marie Bordewich married in Norway on the fourteenth of October, 1887.
ETA: My major find today was looking up an address for Leon (and Mindel) Seneft in London based on the address their daughter Jennie gave at Ellis Island. The view of the house is here. I believe their house was the black door. #66 Lucas Street, London.
I've added that and the location of one of the other Seneft children, Jack (found on the back of a photo of my great-grandfather) to a map I'm slowly working up with all the locations I'm finding as I do my research. There's a lot I haven't added in yet, but if people are interested, here's the link.
Follow Friday:
From the Armchair Genealogist: Defining Today's Family, about how today's mixed families are even more confusing than those of the past. I'm not entirely sure I agree, except that these things are out in the open more than they were in the past, that's all.
Genealogy's Star wrote a Testimony against procrastination in genealogy that everyone should take to heart.
Olive Tree Genealogy had a great idea--You Tube & Genealogy--using You Tube (and similar sites) to see your ancestors' home towns.
The JewishGen Blog posted the final installment of the Cycle of Life: Natural Disasters series.
In my Family Tree this week:
Henrick Bergthon Bordewick and Leonharde Marie Bordewich married in Norway on the fourteenth of October, 1887.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Busy and genealogy-filled week this week.
Went up to my Aunt's cabin on the coast on the West side of the Olympics with my aunt, my mom, my sister, and my niece. I was a bit nervous to be without the Net for two days, but I was surprised how little I missed it. I missed people I talk to, but that was about it.
Sis brought her computer so we could go through family photos, and I found a few extra branches to our family tree--two which I knew about, but one which I did not, and still need to find the exact connection to my tree, but, still very exciting to have more names. Sorted out a few things, still working on others, but it was a very productive and nice visit.
I spent some of today and a little of last week looking through images of the paperwork about my father's father's family in Germany. I'm pretty sure I have towns now. Next step is to look into a few addresses I have (one in Germany, possibly two in London), and look on JewishGen for more information about those specific towns.
I also spent some time today looking into the Howells/Gabriel line. I might have found a bio of the man I currently have listed as the father (Even Lewis) of the matriarch (Catherine Jones) of that family, but the link was broken. All I can do is hope that the link will be fixed at some point.
I still have a long way to go on both searches, but I do feel like I'm making baby steps, at least.
Follow Friday Links:
* George Geder at Geder Genealogy talked about some of the things missing in Genealogy programs, in particular, blended family support and ethnicity. Pt 1, Pt 2, Part 3. He also posted a fun list of 10 Essentials for Genealogy & Family History Success. I might have to make my own list like that... But I loved his choices.
* Laura at It's All Relative posted her 12 Step Program for Genealogists.
* The Jewish Gen Blog added two more articles about Natural Disasters in our Families' lives. Part 3, Part 4.
* Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy wrote about getting past Brick Walls.
No events in my family tree events list this week.
Hope everyone else had a good week, and is looking forward to the weekend. :)
Went up to my Aunt's cabin on the coast on the West side of the Olympics with my aunt, my mom, my sister, and my niece. I was a bit nervous to be without the Net for two days, but I was surprised how little I missed it. I missed people I talk to, but that was about it.
Sis brought her computer so we could go through family photos, and I found a few extra branches to our family tree--two which I knew about, but one which I did not, and still need to find the exact connection to my tree, but, still very exciting to have more names. Sorted out a few things, still working on others, but it was a very productive and nice visit.
I spent some of today and a little of last week looking through images of the paperwork about my father's father's family in Germany. I'm pretty sure I have towns now. Next step is to look into a few addresses I have (one in Germany, possibly two in London), and look on JewishGen for more information about those specific towns.
I also spent some time today looking into the Howells/Gabriel line. I might have found a bio of the man I currently have listed as the father (Even Lewis) of the matriarch (Catherine Jones) of that family, but the link was broken. All I can do is hope that the link will be fixed at some point.
I still have a long way to go on both searches, but I do feel like I'm making baby steps, at least.
Follow Friday Links:
* George Geder at Geder Genealogy talked about some of the things missing in Genealogy programs, in particular, blended family support and ethnicity. Pt 1, Pt 2, Part 3. He also posted a fun list of 10 Essentials for Genealogy & Family History Success. I might have to make my own list like that... But I loved his choices.
* Laura at It's All Relative posted her 12 Step Program for Genealogists.
* The Jewish Gen Blog added two more articles about Natural Disasters in our Families' lives. Part 3, Part 4.
* Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy wrote about getting past Brick Walls.
No events in my family tree events list this week.
Hope everyone else had a good week, and is looking forward to the weekend. :)
Friday, October 1, 2010
Friday Genealogy update
September went so fast... And now it's October, and I've at least a half-dozen more things planned this coming month, when I usually tend to have one or two things planned in a month max. Oh, well, at least they're fun things.
This past week I spent a day with my sister and niece, and yesterday with a family friend down from Vancouver, and come Monday, mom, sis, niece and I will be heading up to my aunt's cabin to have a "Bordewick girls get together," never mind that none of us actually use the surname. ;) I've been trying to decide what paperwork to bring with me...hopefully I won't forget anything.
I made two posts on Oh, Spusch this week, not including the Surname post I'll be putting up tomorrow. The first was an experiment in birth order position in one line of my tree (the longest I could find). It was interesting. The second was a piece about all the names for "grandmother" my family has used, complete with photos.
So much going on that I didn't do a whole lot of actual Genealogy work on the tree itself today, but I did find an interesting article for Follow Friday about keeping track of name variations.
Three events in my Family Tree Calendar this week, all weddings:
Johan Bordewick married Henrikke Roness in Nordland, Norway 0n September 27, 1860 (his second marriage, and third woman to bear his children)
Jens Hansen married Else Larsen in Vejle, Denmark on October 1, 1885
and Mathias Frandsen married Kristen Poulsdatter in Ringkobing, Denmark on October 2, 1796.
And I had a rant on American Genealogists and Heraldry, but I'll save that for a week when I can think.
This past week I spent a day with my sister and niece, and yesterday with a family friend down from Vancouver, and come Monday, mom, sis, niece and I will be heading up to my aunt's cabin to have a "Bordewick girls get together," never mind that none of us actually use the surname. ;) I've been trying to decide what paperwork to bring with me...hopefully I won't forget anything.
I made two posts on Oh, Spusch this week, not including the Surname post I'll be putting up tomorrow. The first was an experiment in birth order position in one line of my tree (the longest I could find). It was interesting. The second was a piece about all the names for "grandmother" my family has used, complete with photos.
So much going on that I didn't do a whole lot of actual Genealogy work on the tree itself today, but I did find an interesting article for Follow Friday about keeping track of name variations.
Three events in my Family Tree Calendar this week, all weddings:
Johan Bordewick married Henrikke Roness in Nordland, Norway 0n September 27, 1860 (his second marriage, and third woman to bear his children)
Jens Hansen married Else Larsen in Vejle, Denmark on October 1, 1885
and Mathias Frandsen married Kristen Poulsdatter in Ringkobing, Denmark on October 2, 1796.
And I had a rant on American Genealogists and Heraldry, but I'll save that for a week when I can think.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday Update
Not having the greatest of months, but I do have a lot to share today.
I: Ancestry.com and Footnote.com
I saw the news about Ancestry.com acquiring the parent company of Footnote.com. I'm not a fan of Ancestry.com for several reasons.
1 - I don't like how they've set themselves up as the monopoly company online for genealogical records. Yes, I know it makes finding the records easier, but what if they suddenly fail? Are all those records going to disappear into the ether? It worries me.
2 - I dislike any company that insists on getting your card number for a "free" account. If it's a free account, they don't need it. If it's an option to store it after you have an account, that's different. But making it necessary to have an account at all really rubs me the wrong way.
3 - They are not the actual repositories of these records (yes, I get that this seems to speak to point one, but it really doesn't, because many of the sites they've taken over have been subsumed by the larger site, so the actual online access to the record is only through Ancestry any longer. So if they crash, that record is no longer available online.). As such, I have a hard time paying a third party to get a record that I can get some other way, if not online.
4 - Their records are far more limited than their ads would have you believe. This isn't something I know by personal experience of the site, but more personal experience of the American genealogical community at large. They, like any other American site, tend to focus more on American records than anything else, which does me no good when most of my ancestors weren't here in America. So why should I pay for something that will be of almost no help? And how can I be sure it will, if I can't access the records freely enough to know there's something in there worth paying for?
Thank god that they won't be able to take over FamilySearch.org or JewishGen, because I like having the variety of choice, and not having to pay unless I see something I know will be worth buying.
II: Who Do You Think You Are?
I enjoyed this show when it started last year here in the states, but for the constant Ancestry.com ads in the show and between segments of the show (see rant above), but the stories didn't feel like they spoke at all to the searches I was doing for my own family. Most seemed to focus on "being American," which was hard for me to relate to, given my recent foreign ancestry. I enjoyed the show, and I look forward to future episodes, but there just felt like a disconnect there for me.
So my husband got me the first five seasons of the UK version. I have never been so enthralled. Even when they didn't connect to my tree in some way, they felt less nationalistic than the US counterpart, and some of the stories got so close to my own as to make me tear up. They still haven't really covered Welsh genealogy to my satisfaction, but the stories they have covered have been amazingly varied.
I can't wait to see the most recent two seasons.
III: Personal genealogy pursuits
Posted about my Brick Walls today over at Oh, Spusch. An update on how I'm doing with the first three I posted about a few months back, and an addition of a fourth line that causes me trouble.
Got a new Genealogy program from my folks for my birthday: The Master Genealogist. I've been slowly importing my family tree from scratch, starting with what I'm sure I knew when I started my search, then going through all the versions of the family trees I have on paper and adding in new information from those. It's slow going, but I think in the long run it'll be worth it. I expected to have more trouble with the program, because I've heard how hard it can be to deal with, but I've only had a few minor problems so far. And I love that it keeps track of actual twin births.
And I seem to have narrowed down the town for my great-grandfather's birth in Galicia: Sedziszow.
IV: Follow Friday
Lots of links to share:
Family Tree Folk posted about uncontaminated Viking DNA found at a Viking dig site.
Genealogy's star posted about Identity Theft and Genealogy.
Adventures in Genealogy posted a great article on the origin of Surnames.
Layers of the Onion wrote about Basics for Beginning Genealogists (which are pretty good for those of us who've not really given it a lot of thought, too).
The JewishGen Blog did an article on natural disasters that our ancestors might have witnessed or been affected by in some way. Part one - Part two
And there will be a new book coming out about Anne Frank and her family, including many more sources beyond her journal.
And last but not least, there is a new project out there called the Restore the Ancestors Project that is hoping to create an archive specifically about the slave plantations of South Carolina in order to provide a database for those looking for their slave ancestors. A great project, and I hope they have great success with it. I'd love to see more of the same in other states.
That's everything for today. No events from my family tree this week. Hope everyone out there is doing well.
I: Ancestry.com and Footnote.com
I saw the news about Ancestry.com acquiring the parent company of Footnote.com. I'm not a fan of Ancestry.com for several reasons.
1 - I don't like how they've set themselves up as the monopoly company online for genealogical records. Yes, I know it makes finding the records easier, but what if they suddenly fail? Are all those records going to disappear into the ether? It worries me.
2 - I dislike any company that insists on getting your card number for a "free" account. If it's a free account, they don't need it. If it's an option to store it after you have an account, that's different. But making it necessary to have an account at all really rubs me the wrong way.
3 - They are not the actual repositories of these records (yes, I get that this seems to speak to point one, but it really doesn't, because many of the sites they've taken over have been subsumed by the larger site, so the actual online access to the record is only through Ancestry any longer. So if they crash, that record is no longer available online.). As such, I have a hard time paying a third party to get a record that I can get some other way, if not online.
4 - Their records are far more limited than their ads would have you believe. This isn't something I know by personal experience of the site, but more personal experience of the American genealogical community at large. They, like any other American site, tend to focus more on American records than anything else, which does me no good when most of my ancestors weren't here in America. So why should I pay for something that will be of almost no help? And how can I be sure it will, if I can't access the records freely enough to know there's something in there worth paying for?
Thank god that they won't be able to take over FamilySearch.org or JewishGen, because I like having the variety of choice, and not having to pay unless I see something I know will be worth buying.
II: Who Do You Think You Are?
I enjoyed this show when it started last year here in the states, but for the constant Ancestry.com ads in the show and between segments of the show (see rant above), but the stories didn't feel like they spoke at all to the searches I was doing for my own family. Most seemed to focus on "being American," which was hard for me to relate to, given my recent foreign ancestry. I enjoyed the show, and I look forward to future episodes, but there just felt like a disconnect there for me.
So my husband got me the first five seasons of the UK version. I have never been so enthralled. Even when they didn't connect to my tree in some way, they felt less nationalistic than the US counterpart, and some of the stories got so close to my own as to make me tear up. They still haven't really covered Welsh genealogy to my satisfaction, but the stories they have covered have been amazingly varied.
I can't wait to see the most recent two seasons.
III: Personal genealogy pursuits
Posted about my Brick Walls today over at Oh, Spusch. An update on how I'm doing with the first three I posted about a few months back, and an addition of a fourth line that causes me trouble.
Got a new Genealogy program from my folks for my birthday: The Master Genealogist. I've been slowly importing my family tree from scratch, starting with what I'm sure I knew when I started my search, then going through all the versions of the family trees I have on paper and adding in new information from those. It's slow going, but I think in the long run it'll be worth it. I expected to have more trouble with the program, because I've heard how hard it can be to deal with, but I've only had a few minor problems so far. And I love that it keeps track of actual twin births.
And I seem to have narrowed down the town for my great-grandfather's birth in Galicia: Sedziszow.
IV: Follow Friday
Lots of links to share:
Family Tree Folk posted about uncontaminated Viking DNA found at a Viking dig site.
Genealogy's star posted about Identity Theft and Genealogy.
Adventures in Genealogy posted a great article on the origin of Surnames.
Layers of the Onion wrote about Basics for Beginning Genealogists (which are pretty good for those of us who've not really given it a lot of thought, too).
The JewishGen Blog did an article on natural disasters that our ancestors might have witnessed or been affected by in some way. Part one - Part two
And there will be a new book coming out about Anne Frank and her family, including many more sources beyond her journal.
And last but not least, there is a new project out there called the Restore the Ancestors Project that is hoping to create an archive specifically about the slave plantations of South Carolina in order to provide a database for those looking for their slave ancestors. A great project, and I hope they have great success with it. I'd love to see more of the same in other states.
That's everything for today. No events from my family tree this week. Hope everyone out there is doing well.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Friday Genealogy Report
I spent a good portion of the day with my mother today, mostly going through old photos, and trying to "name" more of the older generation (her grandparents' siblings, mostly). It was nice to be able to spend time with her, and show her some of what I've discovered online--including the census form from 1900 that lists the Park family in Philadelphia, PA.
I also got to visit with dad, which was nice, because I found myself drawn into that side of the family tree yesterday--or rather, his dad's side. It's always been the side I've known the least about.
My grandfather was never a talkative man, specifically when it came to his childhood. And with the history his family has, I can't say I blame him. He and all his siblings were born in Frankfurt, Germany the 20's (except one), and they were Jewish. We're lucky. His dad got out and took the family with him in the early thirties, but it left a mark.
I've always known it was there, but the more I uncover in my research, the more I realize just how deep that mark goes.
* Sam, my grandfather, was only about ten or eleven when they left for France, but he remembers better than his (younger) sisters. Even his twin, Minna, says that he recalled more than she did. Likely a good thing, given the fact that the atmosphere against Jews at the time was already quite dark.
* Alex, their father, was born in what I now know was the state of Galicia. I've always known the family was from "Prussia" or thereabouts, but not much beyond that. Dora was born there, too. I'm still in the process of tracking down the names of the actual towns they were presumably from. In researching Galicia yesterday, I learned just how bad it must have been for them. The Polish nickname for the area was "Naked- and Hunger-land." Though I did learn that the Jewish towns were known for their increasing learning.
* Alex was in England during WWI, and was caught up in the anti-German movement of the time, and sent to a camp known as Camp Douglas, which was a place Germans and Prussians and other enemy aliens were kept. I had heard his family went together, but I'm not sure if that is true or not, as I have since found a picture of him alone at that camp, but addressed to his brother Jack.
I used to watch Fiddler on the Roof and think to myself, "Oh, but my Jewish family lived differently than that." After my research this week, I have to admit to being wrong all those times. The Galician Jews had a great deal of connection to their Ukraine neighbors. To the point where the Jews of both countries were probably closer to each other than their gentile neighbors. While my great-grandparents might not have been born in "Anatevka," it sounds as though their towns were probably not too far different.
It does make me sad that what they did to my family destroyed that religious conviction in my grandfather. Because of it, I lost things I know I can't even begin to understand. In going through my blogs this week, I learned something I never knew before. That yarmulke are actually labeled to record the gathering they were made for. It just makes me wonder how much else I don't know.
Just one more link for Follow Friday on somewhat the same note. The Accidental Anarchist wrote about Prejudice in his blog this week. How little we've changed...even if the names and locations have. Makes me wonder if we ever will.
Just one event in my Genealogical Calendar this week. This September 14th would have been my Hansen great-grandparents' 92nd wedding anniversary.
I also got to visit with dad, which was nice, because I found myself drawn into that side of the family tree yesterday--or rather, his dad's side. It's always been the side I've known the least about.
My grandfather was never a talkative man, specifically when it came to his childhood. And with the history his family has, I can't say I blame him. He and all his siblings were born in Frankfurt, Germany the 20's (except one), and they were Jewish. We're lucky. His dad got out and took the family with him in the early thirties, but it left a mark.
I've always known it was there, but the more I uncover in my research, the more I realize just how deep that mark goes.
* Sam, my grandfather, was only about ten or eleven when they left for France, but he remembers better than his (younger) sisters. Even his twin, Minna, says that he recalled more than she did. Likely a good thing, given the fact that the atmosphere against Jews at the time was already quite dark.
* Alex, their father, was born in what I now know was the state of Galicia. I've always known the family was from "Prussia" or thereabouts, but not much beyond that. Dora was born there, too. I'm still in the process of tracking down the names of the actual towns they were presumably from. In researching Galicia yesterday, I learned just how bad it must have been for them. The Polish nickname for the area was "Naked- and Hunger-land." Though I did learn that the Jewish towns were known for their increasing learning.
* Alex was in England during WWI, and was caught up in the anti-German movement of the time, and sent to a camp known as Camp Douglas, which was a place Germans and Prussians and other enemy aliens were kept. I had heard his family went together, but I'm not sure if that is true or not, as I have since found a picture of him alone at that camp, but addressed to his brother Jack.
I used to watch Fiddler on the Roof and think to myself, "Oh, but my Jewish family lived differently than that." After my research this week, I have to admit to being wrong all those times. The Galician Jews had a great deal of connection to their Ukraine neighbors. To the point where the Jews of both countries were probably closer to each other than their gentile neighbors. While my great-grandparents might not have been born in "Anatevka," it sounds as though their towns were probably not too far different.
It does make me sad that what they did to my family destroyed that religious conviction in my grandfather. Because of it, I lost things I know I can't even begin to understand. In going through my blogs this week, I learned something I never knew before. That yarmulke are actually labeled to record the gathering they were made for. It just makes me wonder how much else I don't know.
Just one more link for Follow Friday on somewhat the same note. The Accidental Anarchist wrote about Prejudice in his blog this week. How little we've changed...even if the names and locations have. Makes me wonder if we ever will.
Just one event in my Genealogical Calendar this week. This September 14th would have been my Hansen great-grandparents' 92nd wedding anniversary.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Friday Update
Busy week. My brother-in-law is getting married tomorrow. It's been one of the busiest Genealogy years in a while for me this year. Births, deaths, and marriages on several sides of my family. I'm hoping, after this weekend, it will calm down a little. I have a feeling I'll have a big end-of-year summary about the changes in my tree this year as well as the finds...
Because it's been a crazy week, I decided to take it easy today, and had a friend down to watch some Buffy and just visit.
I did my usual scroll through my Google reader, though. I found a few interesting things:
A: Family Tree Maker 2011 came out this week. A lot of geneabloggers have been talking about it this week.
I've used Family Tree Maker for most of the time I've worked on my family tree--probably about 8 years now. But when Ancestry bought out the company, and it became more and more an offline version of their site, I became less and less pleased with it. I don't mind Genealogy programs that have connections to sites online, but to make whole sections of a program dependent on having a paid subscription to a site seems very greedy to me. But then, many things about the way Ancestry does their business bothers me.
So I've been looking for replacement. At the moment, I'm playing with Legacy 7.4. It's very equivalent to FTM, and has some things that work far better, though I'm not as pleased with their reports system. I also installed Roots Magic on a friend's computer, and that, too, has some nice options. I think, though, if I could afford it, I'd probably get The Master Genealogist. Mostly now, I just need to decide, I think. But those three seem to be the top contenders.
The main problem with choosing is that there aren't many people out there who have tried more than a handful of programs for a more than a moment or two, as Genealogy's Star mentions in a blog post.
So I'll keep playing with Legacy, and unless I find something in it that truly annoys me, I'll probably buy myself the latest copy. Unless I find I have enough money to afford the Master Genealogist, I think.
I'm still debating whether to type it in fresh to make sure I have the facts all sourced properly when I finally do choose.
B: I found an article about the dialogue between the Mormon Church and the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors about the Jewish ancestors found in the Mormon genealogical databases. I don't think this is likely to end any time soon, really. It seems uncomfortable to me that the only ancestors of Jewish faith that they're negotiating about are the ones who died in the Holocaust.
I'm glad the Mormons have this interest in genealogy, because it benefits the rest of us, but it feels wrong to baptize people in a faith they would have refused to take part in while they were alive. I don't care what their reasons are for it, it's like renaming an ancestor. Not something you should ever do, for any reason.
The problem is, those of us who have Jewish European roots need as many options as we can get. So do we let it go because we can get the information from them, and hope they follow the rules they're setting down for themselves? Or do we hope that JewishGen becomes that big and comprehensive on its own?
C: The Disney Channel will be premiering a kid-centered Genealogy program starting in November. I hope it encourages a whole new generation of genealogists.
D: The Slovak Yankee wrote an interesting article about standardizing Genealogy in the common law way.
E: Family Tree Folk made post about the Seven Daughters of Eve, or the Mitochondrial Mothers of the human race.
F: And last but not least, two articles about genealogy and the movies:
Movie vs Reality: The Real Story of the Von Trapp Family
and
Climbing up Gene Kelly's Family Tree
Some blogs I'm following as of this week:
We Tree and Apple's Tree, which I have been following on my reader for some time, and The Jones Surname, which covers the Welsh Jones roots. It's a new blog, so I'm not sure if it will help me or not, but I'm hoping so.
No moments in my family tree this week, though I think it's about time to update that soon...
And I do have a Surname post all ready for tomorrow.
Because it's been a crazy week, I decided to take it easy today, and had a friend down to watch some Buffy and just visit.
I did my usual scroll through my Google reader, though. I found a few interesting things:
A: Family Tree Maker 2011 came out this week. A lot of geneabloggers have been talking about it this week.
I've used Family Tree Maker for most of the time I've worked on my family tree--probably about 8 years now. But when Ancestry bought out the company, and it became more and more an offline version of their site, I became less and less pleased with it. I don't mind Genealogy programs that have connections to sites online, but to make whole sections of a program dependent on having a paid subscription to a site seems very greedy to me. But then, many things about the way Ancestry does their business bothers me.
So I've been looking for replacement. At the moment, I'm playing with Legacy 7.4. It's very equivalent to FTM, and has some things that work far better, though I'm not as pleased with their reports system. I also installed Roots Magic on a friend's computer, and that, too, has some nice options. I think, though, if I could afford it, I'd probably get The Master Genealogist. Mostly now, I just need to decide, I think. But those three seem to be the top contenders.
The main problem with choosing is that there aren't many people out there who have tried more than a handful of programs for a more than a moment or two, as Genealogy's Star mentions in a blog post.
So I'll keep playing with Legacy, and unless I find something in it that truly annoys me, I'll probably buy myself the latest copy. Unless I find I have enough money to afford the Master Genealogist, I think.
I'm still debating whether to type it in fresh to make sure I have the facts all sourced properly when I finally do choose.
B: I found an article about the dialogue between the Mormon Church and the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors about the Jewish ancestors found in the Mormon genealogical databases. I don't think this is likely to end any time soon, really. It seems uncomfortable to me that the only ancestors of Jewish faith that they're negotiating about are the ones who died in the Holocaust.
I'm glad the Mormons have this interest in genealogy, because it benefits the rest of us, but it feels wrong to baptize people in a faith they would have refused to take part in while they were alive. I don't care what their reasons are for it, it's like renaming an ancestor. Not something you should ever do, for any reason.
The problem is, those of us who have Jewish European roots need as many options as we can get. So do we let it go because we can get the information from them, and hope they follow the rules they're setting down for themselves? Or do we hope that JewishGen becomes that big and comprehensive on its own?
C: The Disney Channel will be premiering a kid-centered Genealogy program starting in November. I hope it encourages a whole new generation of genealogists.
D: The Slovak Yankee wrote an interesting article about standardizing Genealogy in the common law way.
E: Family Tree Folk made post about the Seven Daughters of Eve, or the Mitochondrial Mothers of the human race.
F: And last but not least, two articles about genealogy and the movies:
Movie vs Reality: The Real Story of the Von Trapp Family
and
Climbing up Gene Kelly's Family Tree
Some blogs I'm following as of this week:
We Tree and Apple's Tree, which I have been following on my reader for some time, and The Jones Surname, which covers the Welsh Jones roots. It's a new blog, so I'm not sure if it will help me or not, but I'm hoping so.
No moments in my family tree this week, though I think it's about time to update that soon...
And I do have a Surname post all ready for tomorrow.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Friday Genealogy Update
It has been a crazy week, starting on Saturday with family photos with hubby's family, then a memorial for my Nana Sunday up on Mount Rainier. Yesterday sis and niece and I went to my Aunt's house to go through all of Nana's papers and things. It was a great visit, and I have a lot to think about. Even added a few notations to the family tree, and I now have a possible birthplace for my grandfather's parents--if I'm right. The paperwork's in German, and partially hand-written, not to mention the print being in a gothic font. All of which will make it especially interesting to translate. I might run it through hubby's scanner, see if that makes it any easier.
Highlights of my discoveries:
1- I've always heard about Nana's Tante Margrethe. I'm now certain I have her marked in the tree (I've heard of her several times in the past, but failed to figure out which Margrethe she was). When Nana's mother died when she and her siblings were still young, Tante Margrethe came to help out for a while. Apparently she was Holger's mother's sister, but was living in New York, so she was close by to help out until he moved himself and the kids in with one of his brothers who lived in Cleveland as well. The family lived there until he married his second wife Rose, I believe, or shortly before.
2- From the German paperwork, I've been able to understand a few things at least. Leon is listed nowhere in the papers (that I can see). This may be because Seneft (as the paperwork lists the name) was no longer recognized as Alex's surname because his parents were married only in a religious ceremony. His mother's name is listed in the paperwork, however. As Hilinger. One L, not two as we spell it now. I believe the double-L began to be used when they moved to the states, but I don't yet have a perfect grasp on that, so I could be wrong.
3-I also found the surname of a Hillinger cousin I did have, but had no surname listed. I'll have to sit my dad and his siblings down at some point and comb through that part of the tree with them, because I'm sure there's more I should know that I've just not connected correctly.
I now have a bag of paperwork and letters to go through. I can tell this is going to be a long process...but I think it will be worth it. So much to learn.
Once I got some of the paperwork sorted from yesterday, I put the more difficult bits aside. I figure I'll transcribe a few a week to get them out of the way. But for today, I focused on something I should have been doing from the start: I made a contact list. We've got a large family, but I've never been good about letters or phone calls, and only a bit more so about emails. But with all of Nana's old phone books, I decided it would be the perfect time to sort one out. I know I'm still missing a ton of people, but it's a good start. I even wrote down spouses (and whether they were dead or divorced, so that I didn't make *that* sort of boo boo), any kids (even if grown), and what side of the family tree they'd be most interested in. It's a pretty long list, but I know I've got a very long way to go--there are a bunch of second and possibly even third cousins I might be able to get in touch with through Facebook, or through first or second cousins. But I definitely need to do so NOW, before it's too late.
I've slowly been writing up research sheets (found here, with another interesting one here that I might need to play with) on each of my great and great-great grandparents with as much as I have on them. Some are a bit sparse (the Jewish line in particular), but I've tried to come up with as many questions as I could for each of them. Next step is to do the grandparents, but I think I might work differently with those, given that I knew them all personally. Might try to write out a timeline of their lives before writing up questions on what I still need.
And I've got a ton of posts I want to do, not even including the papers I want to transcribe:
* The Bordewick Visual Family Tree
* The Jones Visual Family Tree
* Brick Wall Update on the Seneft/Hilingers
* New Brick Wall post about the Welsh side of the family
* Software Comparison (IE, "Why Not to buy Family Tree Maker any more")
* New link list (with a possible focus on location)
* A Genealogist's Dictionary Pt 1 (something I have no doubt I'll be adding to quite a bit over the years)
And a few last bits:
I've added two more blogs to follow today - Greta's Genealogy Blog, a nice blog which I have been following for some time now, and Tracing the Tribe, which is specifically focused on Jewish Genealogy.
Highlights of my discoveries:
1- I've always heard about Nana's Tante Margrethe. I'm now certain I have her marked in the tree (I've heard of her several times in the past, but failed to figure out which Margrethe she was). When Nana's mother died when she and her siblings were still young, Tante Margrethe came to help out for a while. Apparently she was Holger's mother's sister, but was living in New York, so she was close by to help out until he moved himself and the kids in with one of his brothers who lived in Cleveland as well. The family lived there until he married his second wife Rose, I believe, or shortly before.
2- From the German paperwork, I've been able to understand a few things at least. Leon is listed nowhere in the papers (that I can see). This may be because Seneft (as the paperwork lists the name) was no longer recognized as Alex's surname because his parents were married only in a religious ceremony. His mother's name is listed in the paperwork, however. As Hilinger. One L, not two as we spell it now. I believe the double-L began to be used when they moved to the states, but I don't yet have a perfect grasp on that, so I could be wrong.
3-I also found the surname of a Hillinger cousin I did have, but had no surname listed. I'll have to sit my dad and his siblings down at some point and comb through that part of the tree with them, because I'm sure there's more I should know that I've just not connected correctly.
I now have a bag of paperwork and letters to go through. I can tell this is going to be a long process...but I think it will be worth it. So much to learn.
Once I got some of the paperwork sorted from yesterday, I put the more difficult bits aside. I figure I'll transcribe a few a week to get them out of the way. But for today, I focused on something I should have been doing from the start: I made a contact list. We've got a large family, but I've never been good about letters or phone calls, and only a bit more so about emails. But with all of Nana's old phone books, I decided it would be the perfect time to sort one out. I know I'm still missing a ton of people, but it's a good start. I even wrote down spouses (and whether they were dead or divorced, so that I didn't make *that* sort of boo boo), any kids (even if grown), and what side of the family tree they'd be most interested in. It's a pretty long list, but I know I've got a very long way to go--there are a bunch of second and possibly even third cousins I might be able to get in touch with through Facebook, or through first or second cousins. But I definitely need to do so NOW, before it's too late.
I've slowly been writing up research sheets (found here, with another interesting one here that I might need to play with) on each of my great and great-great grandparents with as much as I have on them. Some are a bit sparse (the Jewish line in particular), but I've tried to come up with as many questions as I could for each of them. Next step is to do the grandparents, but I think I might work differently with those, given that I knew them all personally. Might try to write out a timeline of their lives before writing up questions on what I still need.
And I've got a ton of posts I want to do, not even including the papers I want to transcribe:
* The Bordewick Visual Family Tree
* The Jones Visual Family Tree
* Brick Wall Update on the Seneft/Hilingers
* New Brick Wall post about the Welsh side of the family
* Software Comparison (IE, "Why Not to buy Family Tree Maker any more")
* New link list (with a possible focus on location)
* A Genealogist's Dictionary Pt 1 (something I have no doubt I'll be adding to quite a bit over the years)
And a few last bits:
I've added two more blogs to follow today - Greta's Genealogy Blog, a nice blog which I have been following for some time now, and Tracing the Tribe, which is specifically focused on Jewish Genealogy.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Follow Friday and more
I- Follow Friday
For Follow Friday today I've only added one more blog, Olive Tree Genealogy. It's a lovely blog that I'm very much enjoying so far.
II- Genealogy
Oh, Spuch post for the week is the second part of my Visual Family Tree, this time focusing on the Hansen side of the family tree. Includes 4 generations of Hansens, reaching back before 1900.
Comparing the photos of my great-grandparents' siblings was rather interesting. One of my Danish friends mentioned that my great-grandfather's family looked rather well-off, given how they're dressed, though that could have more to do with the fact that Holger's family were near a city, while Oline's family was in the country. Something to look into, at least.
It was also mentioned that the naming in my great-grandfather's family was a bit odd. Holger had two brothers named Hans--Hans Jorgen and Hans Knudsen. Jorgen is less unusual, but Knudsen is distinctly a surname, in this case being used as a middle name. In looking into it further, it seems that one brother was named for one grandfather (Hans Knudsen, hence the Hansen name for the entire family), and one for the other (Jorgen Larsen). Definitely made me think I've a lot of interesting things when it comes to surnames used in odd ways in my family--I'll definitely have to work on a blog-post about that.
A few weeks back I made myself a research log using Excel and making tabs for each of my four major families to keep them separate for now, and so that I don't duplicate too much research. Then, in an effort to focus on the people I need the most information about, I went through my direct ancestors and made a new list of people who fit that bill. So now I have five tabs, and I'm considering making a sixth, just focusing on the dead-end brides in my tree.
No other discoveries today, big or small, though I did learn that ukendt kvinde means "unknown woman" in Danish... :)
III- Cooking
Cooked my chicken today. It's okay, but I don't think I'll be making it again. The sweet and earthy didn't quite mix right for my taste buds.
I'm thinking I'll make something with paprika, yogurt, and lemon juice next time. Now I just have to find a recipe that works.
Did make myself some garlic bread with the sourdough round. That was nice, though I don't think I cooked it quite long enough. The garlic was a bit sweet.
For Follow Friday today I've only added one more blog, Olive Tree Genealogy. It's a lovely blog that I'm very much enjoying so far.
II- Genealogy
Oh, Spuch post for the week is the second part of my Visual Family Tree, this time focusing on the Hansen side of the family tree. Includes 4 generations of Hansens, reaching back before 1900.
Comparing the photos of my great-grandparents' siblings was rather interesting. One of my Danish friends mentioned that my great-grandfather's family looked rather well-off, given how they're dressed, though that could have more to do with the fact that Holger's family were near a city, while Oline's family was in the country. Something to look into, at least.
It was also mentioned that the naming in my great-grandfather's family was a bit odd. Holger had two brothers named Hans--Hans Jorgen and Hans Knudsen. Jorgen is less unusual, but Knudsen is distinctly a surname, in this case being used as a middle name. In looking into it further, it seems that one brother was named for one grandfather (Hans Knudsen, hence the Hansen name for the entire family), and one for the other (Jorgen Larsen). Definitely made me think I've a lot of interesting things when it comes to surnames used in odd ways in my family--I'll definitely have to work on a blog-post about that.
A few weeks back I made myself a research log using Excel and making tabs for each of my four major families to keep them separate for now, and so that I don't duplicate too much research. Then, in an effort to focus on the people I need the most information about, I went through my direct ancestors and made a new list of people who fit that bill. So now I have five tabs, and I'm considering making a sixth, just focusing on the dead-end brides in my tree.
No other discoveries today, big or small, though I did learn that ukendt kvinde means "unknown woman" in Danish... :)
III- Cooking
Cooked my chicken today. It's okay, but I don't think I'll be making it again. The sweet and earthy didn't quite mix right for my taste buds.
I'm thinking I'll make something with paprika, yogurt, and lemon juice next time. Now I just have to find a recipe that works.
Did make myself some garlic bread with the sourdough round. That was nice, though I don't think I cooked it quite long enough. The garlic was a bit sweet.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Follow Friday and Genealogy Frustrations
Today I focused on one of the shortest sections of my family tree--my father's father's side. As Jewish Germans, it is one of those places that has always been a dead-end for me. My grandfather never liked talking much about his early life, and so I only had what had already been written down by he and his siblings.
After I began to post information at Oh, Spusch, my father sent me a copy of a letter my grandfather sent to someone who had contacted our family about more information on the Hillinger surname. It gave me a few more tidbits, but I still have no clue where his father was born, and I'm not even certain the name he was born under. The family story has been detailed at Oh, Spusch here, here and here.
Because of all the family moves (somewhere in the Prussian states to England, back to Germany for my great-grandfather, then France, then the US), the name confusion because of the change from Senft to Hillinger in the late ninteen-teens, and the fact that likely many of the records I need were destroyed during World War II because the family is Jewish, sometimes I wonder if we'll ever find anything.
I've glanced through JewishGen, but with the minimal information I know, it seems almost impossible for me to find anything there. I did make a copy of what little I had and posted it there. All I can hope now is that someone else will be able to make a connection to my tree and contact me.
For Follow Friday this week, I've started following these three Genealogy blogs: Genealogy's Star, Anglo-Celtic Connections, and the Armchair Genealogist.
After I began to post information at Oh, Spusch, my father sent me a copy of a letter my grandfather sent to someone who had contacted our family about more information on the Hillinger surname. It gave me a few more tidbits, but I still have no clue where his father was born, and I'm not even certain the name he was born under. The family story has been detailed at Oh, Spusch here, here and here.
Because of all the family moves (somewhere in the Prussian states to England, back to Germany for my great-grandfather, then France, then the US), the name confusion because of the change from Senft to Hillinger in the late ninteen-teens, and the fact that likely many of the records I need were destroyed during World War II because the family is Jewish, sometimes I wonder if we'll ever find anything.
I've glanced through JewishGen, but with the minimal information I know, it seems almost impossible for me to find anything there. I did make a copy of what little I had and posted it there. All I can hope now is that someone else will be able to make a connection to my tree and contact me.
For Follow Friday this week, I've started following these three Genealogy blogs: Genealogy's Star, Anglo-Celtic Connections, and the Armchair Genealogist.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Welcome
I. Who I am and why I'm here
Welcome to my blog. We'll see how long I can keep this up. I intend to keep this blog loose, with my thoughts on a few things. As it is, I intend to focus mostly on my ramblings about genealogy. My more formal Genealogy posts will be posted at Oh, Spusch, but everything else of a more rambly nature will be posted here, along with anything else I feel like posting.
II. Follow Friday
Seeing as I'm starting this on a Friday, I'm going to start this as a Follow Friday.
I generally follow most blogs via Google Reader, but now that I've set this up, I'm going to start following my favorite Genealogy blogs (and other blogs), adding a few of my favorites each week until I've added all of them.
For this week, I'll start with Dear Myrtle, whose advice always seems so amazingly helpful; Genea-Musings, by Randy Seaver, who always seems to have fascinating things to say.
III. Genealogy
A. Oh, Spusch
Fridays are my Genealogy days, when I concentrate on my Genealogy research, and post something about my family tree at Oh, Spusch. Today I wrote about Where I Come From, since I sometimes have trouble with the fact that my roots just aren't very deep in the US.
B. Breakthrough
I also had an interesting breakthrough on my family tree today.
I've not made much headway on my grandmother's side of the family since starting working on it in 1991 or so. But I had printouts for much of the family, so I had a few generations before my grandmother on that side. When getting the information from my grandmother, she tried to remember back further, and gave her maternal grandmother's parents as Hugh Roberts and Ellen Griffiths.
However, today while looking for information on that side of the family, I found their daughter's death record from Vancouver. Most of the details were exactly as I had recorded, with a few more specific dates, and one very different name. According to the record, my great-great-great grandmother's last name wasn't Griffiths, but Pugh.
I'm thinking when my grandmother was trying to remember the name, she mixed up Ellen's last name with that of her grandmother on the other side of this family, Hannah, who I have listed as Hannah Griffiths.
So...I have a new surname in my lists. Kind of exciting, really.
C. Links
And a few interesting Genealogical links I found today:
Stadsbygd Genealogy - for Norwegian genealogy related to the town of Sør-Trøndelag
Jerry Longstroms Genealogy Research Site - For Swedish (and a bit of Norwegian) Genealogy Research
Danish Demes - a Regional DNA Project for Danish Americans and Danes around the World
And to everyone reading out there... *waves* Hi!
Welcome to my blog. We'll see how long I can keep this up. I intend to keep this blog loose, with my thoughts on a few things. As it is, I intend to focus mostly on my ramblings about genealogy. My more formal Genealogy posts will be posted at Oh, Spusch, but everything else of a more rambly nature will be posted here, along with anything else I feel like posting.
II. Follow Friday
Seeing as I'm starting this on a Friday, I'm going to start this as a Follow Friday.
I generally follow most blogs via Google Reader, but now that I've set this up, I'm going to start following my favorite Genealogy blogs (and other blogs), adding a few of my favorites each week until I've added all of them.
For this week, I'll start with Dear Myrtle, whose advice always seems so amazingly helpful; Genea-Musings, by Randy Seaver, who always seems to have fascinating things to say.
III. Genealogy
A. Oh, Spusch
Fridays are my Genealogy days, when I concentrate on my Genealogy research, and post something about my family tree at Oh, Spusch. Today I wrote about Where I Come From, since I sometimes have trouble with the fact that my roots just aren't very deep in the US.
B. Breakthrough
I also had an interesting breakthrough on my family tree today.
I've not made much headway on my grandmother's side of the family since starting working on it in 1991 or so. But I had printouts for much of the family, so I had a few generations before my grandmother on that side. When getting the information from my grandmother, she tried to remember back further, and gave her maternal grandmother's parents as Hugh Roberts and Ellen Griffiths.
However, today while looking for information on that side of the family, I found their daughter's death record from Vancouver. Most of the details were exactly as I had recorded, with a few more specific dates, and one very different name. According to the record, my great-great-great grandmother's last name wasn't Griffiths, but Pugh.
I'm thinking when my grandmother was trying to remember the name, she mixed up Ellen's last name with that of her grandmother on the other side of this family, Hannah, who I have listed as Hannah Griffiths.
So...I have a new surname in my lists. Kind of exciting, really.
C. Links
And a few interesting Genealogical links I found today:
Stadsbygd Genealogy - for Norwegian genealogy related to the town of Sør-Trøndelag
Jerry Longstroms Genealogy Research Site - For Swedish (and a bit of Norwegian) Genealogy Research
Danish Demes - a Regional DNA Project for Danish Americans and Danes around the World
And to everyone reading out there... *waves* Hi!
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