My New Year's Genealogy Resolutions for 2007

Having already done some reflection on my genealogical accomplishments in 2006, it's time to look ahead to the New Year. Here are my resolutions:

• To continue and to improve my process of recording my research, especially when I search online databases. It's so easy to quickly enter one search term after another, without stopping to record which spelling variation or soundex code I used in each search. I know I waste time by repeating searches later on. I think I'll create a form to help me.
• To cite my sources properly. It's a lot of work, especially to go back and re-cite 20 years' worth of information that I used to enter in note form on my computer. Now that I have RootsMagic, its computerized source citation forms will ease that process, but it still will be time-consuming. My goal for this year is to get all the sources I currently have for my children's father's and my direct ancestors through our great-great-grandparents' generation cited properly. This includes printing up a lot of census records that I have accessed on Ancestry.com, but have not bothered to add to my hard copy files.
• To photograph and log my genealogical "treasures," items that have once belonged to my ancestors and late relatives. My friend Beverly Smith Vorpahl once wrote a terrific article about the importance of documenting these items, so that they will not be carelessly disposed of in the event of your death. I also plan to continue to take steps to preserve these items and to educate myself in areas where I am not sure of how to do so. I have already ordered two books by Maureen Taylor, Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs and Preserving Your Family Photographs: How to Organize, Present, and Restore Your Precious Family Images that should help me in these areas.
• To begin to slowly change my hard copy files from a file folder system to a notebook system, using archival-safe, acid-free page protectors. Currently, I have all my hard copies for each surname I'm researching jumbled together within one (or more) file folder(s). This is not very organized, and downright messy. I have so much information now. I want to organize it by generation. I already started this project for my HOEKSTRA files. It's going to be time-consuming and expensive, but I have to think about the big picture: having hard copy data stored in a preservable format. I plan to color code the D-ring notebooks: blue for my father's lines, red for my mother's, green for my father-in-law's black for my mother-in-law's, and white for my Location and Subject files (county and state resources and research topics such as probate, land, military records, etc.).

• To continue to blog at this location, and when I am lacking in time, to at least record my research in my Notepad Research Log (see my entry of December 29th). Also, to be consistent in writing both prompts and responses for my new blog, AnceStories2 (hope you'll join me!)

What's In A Name?

(I'm posting this as a response to the prompt on my other website, AnceStories2. I invite you to journal with me. It's a great way to leave a record behind for the generations to come!)

The name that was given to me at my birth was Miriam Joy Robbins. Now that I am married, it is Miriam Joy Midkiff, but professionally I go by Miriam Robbins Midkiff. My mom picked out my name from the Bible. Miriam was the sister of Moses, a prophetess, who danced when the Egyptians were destroyed in the Red Sea, and who grumbled with her brother, the high priest Aaron, against Moses' leadership. Her punishment was a temporary case of leprosy. My parents picked out Bible names for all of us children, either as first or middle names. They served as missionaries to Native Alaskan communities for many years, and so Bible names were a natural pick.

My great-grandmother, Lillian Fern (STRONG) HOEKSTRA, absolutely loved the name Mary. She gave it to herself as a nickname, and named her youngest daughter Mary. She also had a granddaughter named Mary. When I was nine months old, my parents went back to their hometowns in Western Michigan for several months, and during that time, we visited Great-grandma. She wanted my mother to change my name to Mary. Diplomatically, Mom told her grandmother that I was used to my name now, and that besides, Miriam was a variation of the name Mary, anyway.

Miriam is the Hebrew version of the Greek name Mary. The roots of both names come from the Hebrew word for "myrrh," the dried sap of a tree native to Somalia and eastern Ethiopia that is mentioned frequently in the Bible. For years, I did not like my first name, because it was a) hard to spell; b) hard to pronounce; and c) every name meaning book I read said Miriam meant "bitter." Then one day I came across an extended explanation of my name. While myrrh is indeed bitter, it is the base for healing ointments, incense, and perfumes. It was one of the three gifts the Wise Men brought to the infant Jesus. When the women went to Jesus' tomb on Easter Morning, they brought spices with them. It is likely that they had myrrh, as it was used to embalm bodies (and it covered up the smell of decay). Myrrh was worth more than its weight in gold in ancient times. The extant meaning, then, of Miriam is "bitterness turned into sweet fragrance," a definition much more acceptable to me!

"Joy," my middle name, is self-explanatory. My maiden name, Robbins, means "son of Robin." The name Robin is a nickname for Robert, which itself means "bright fame" or "red." Midkiff is still a puzzle. It is probably a U.S. southern dialect pronunciation of Metcalf(e), which means "meat calf."

My younger brother could not pronounce Miriam when he was a toddler, so he called me "Mimi" for a few years, which is actually a standard nickname for Miriam (along with "Mim"). My younger sister also called me "Mimi."

I prefer children to call me "Mrs. Midkiff," although I don't mind teenagers addressing me by my first name (I notice, however, that my teenage children's friends tend to either call me "Mrs. Midkiff," or simply avoid my name altogether when addressing me). Because I work at a middle school, the students there naturally call me "Mrs. Midkiff."

All my names (except for my middle name) are difficult to spell and pronounce. I could make long lists of the way they have been butchered in pronunciation and mis-spelled over the years! What is curious to me is that Midkiff, which is so easy to pronounce (yes, MID-kiff) is constantly pronounced "Metcalf" by strangers. It has also been mis-spelled as Midriff and Midkiss ("f" sounds like "s" over the phone, I figured out, so now when I have to give my name via telephone, I spell it out "M-I-D-K-I-double-F-as-in-Frank). Robbins is easy, too, but I constantly got "Robinson," "Roberts," and "Robertson." And Miriam is generally mis-pronounced as "MAIR-yum." The correct pronunciation is MEER-ee-um. Just two days ago, a clerk mis-read my name on my debit card and called me Mariah. Marion, Maryann, and Muriel are other mis-nomers. This explains why I named my children Melissa and Matthew. No odd names, no odd spellings!

The Year in Review (2006)

Jasia is encouraging those of us who participate in the Carnival of Genealogy to write about our New Year's (Genealogy) Resolutions for 2007. Before I do that, I need to write about my accomplishments in 2006. Too often, when we set out to make New Year's Resolutions, we don't take the time to credit ourselves for all we HAVE done. Our resolutions tend to have a negative theme in that they stress what we should have been doing, yet didn't do (lose weight, pay off debt, quit smoking, etc.). So here's a list of things I achieved in 2006, genealogically speaking:

• My main theme in 2006 was to get documentation for my great-great-grandparents' generation. I think I did pretty well. I searched for 8 birth records and came up with 4 (one was a duplicate, though). During my search, I did find quite a few birth records for siblings of these ancestors, which expanded my knowledge of their families as whole groups. I now have 6 of the 8 marriage records and 9 of 16 death records needed for this generation. I have 15 obits and 15 grave photos for this generation, thanks to the wonderful volunteers at RAOGK and Find A Grave.
• Speaking of RAOGK and Find A Grave, I performed many volunteer services doing records lookups and some gravestone photography at local cemeteries. I researched the life of Herman THOENI, a gardener for the Campbells, a wealthy Spokane family from the turn of the century, whose home is now a part of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. I also took on more responsibilities for my local genealogical society. Helping out the genealogical community is one way of paying forward the many favors I have received over the years!
• My husband's ancestry is one that we've had a lot of info on for many years, but precious little documentation, so this year, I started gathering evidence to support all the events I have listed for his ancestors: vital and census records, obits and grave photos.
• I started keeping better track of my research, using research log forms bound in a notebook, as well as a research log in Notepad, and this blog. I don't always have time to sit down and blog my research notes, but I can always quickly whip open my Notepad log and jot down a few notes, everyday. I learned this trick in an article in Smart Computing magazine: Open Notepad and in the first line of the file, type .LOG (make sure you enter this in all uppercase). Press ENTER twice. Then choose File and Save. Create a name like "Research Log" and file in a folder you'll easily remember ("Genealogy," etc.). I created a shortcut to my desktop by right-clicking on the folder icon and choosing "create a shortcut." Then I can easily access it. The cool thing about this Research Log is that every time you open it, it date and time stamps the log, so it's all ready for you to record your notes.
• I purchased a copy of RootsMagic, upgrading from my old Family Origins software. I love that it has an electronic form for easy citations of sources! I also purchased GenSmarts, and it has given me tons of possibilities for finding and researching documents of my ancestors. I was able to obtain a good used laptap, and although it doesn't currently have a wireless card, it is handy to do non-Internet computer tasks. We also upgraded to a new, larger, faster computer with a flat screen monitor, and DSL Internet connection. These technological upgrades and additions help make Internet research faster, more efficient, and productive.
• Through my local community college district, I taught online genealogy for three quarters, as well as two Internet genealogy classes for my local genealogy society. I didn't get much of a chance to add to my Atlas Project website, but did create another genealogy site for a client.

Now that I've listed what I've done, I can write about what I want to achieve in 2007.

Gerald R. Ford (1913 - 2006)

Gerald R. Ford, 38th President, died yesterday at the age of 93. He was born in my ancestral city, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, where 29 of my direct ancestors were either born, married, lived, or died. That doesn't count the many other siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles of ancestors that also made Grand Rapids their home. My Grandfather DeVries attended South High School with him (a grade behind Ford), and later attended the University of Michigan, Ford's alma mater.

Christmas Gifts

Merry Christmas!

My family came over to our house to spend Christmas Day: my parents, my sister and her three little boys, and my brother (who lives on the other side of the state). I am so blessed to have such a loving family!

As always, we adults drew names to exchange Christmas gifts, and my sister drew my name. I mention this, because her gifts to me had a definite genealogical theme. She got me a year's subscription to Family Tree Magazine, and also a couple of acid-free, archival-safe photo storage boxes from Wal-Mart. Yippee!

Research Log - ROBBINS research

Spent some time looking into the life of Eva E. ([--?--]) LYTTLE / LITTLE of Benona Township, Oceana County, Michigan. I am wondering if she is the missing sister of my ancestor, Charles H. ROBBINS, Evaline ROBBINS, who makes only one appearance with her parents in the U.S. Federal Censuses (1860 - listed as "Eveline L."). The family moved from Liberty Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania to Oceana County in the late 1860s. In the 1870 Federal Census, I can account for all of Joseph and Marinda ROBBINS' children except Evaline. I had assumed (yes, a bad word in genealogy!) that Evaline had passed away by 1870. However, a biography of Joseph in The History of Manistee, Mason and Oceana Counties, published in 1882, states that he has (emphasis mine) seven children, and includes "Evaline E." in that list.

I started searching in Federal Censuses for any woman whose name started with "eva" or "eve" who was born c. 1853 (+ or - 2 years) in Pennsylvania who lived in Michigan. I kept coming up with Eva E. LYTTLE (sometimes spelled LITTLE), married to Joseph, b. c. 1840 in Ireland. Her father was born in New York and her mother was born in Pennsylvania (consistent with Evaline ROBBINS' parentage). She lived in Benona Township during the 1870 - 1920 censuses. He disappears after the 1880 census, and she is listed in the 1900 census as a widow. Of course, the 1890 census for that area does not exist. So sometime between 1880 and 1900, Joseph had to have passed away. I double-checked the 1890 Veterans Census, and did not find either one of them, at first concluding that he must not have been a veteran and/or died before 1890.

Then I looked at the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System website and made an interesting discovery. A Joseph LITTLE served in Co. I of the 42nd Pennyslvania Regiment (also called the First Pennsylvania Rifles)...the same company that Evaline's brother Charles and his step-brother-in-law Angelo Crapsey served in! Now neither Joseph nor Eva appear in the 1890 Veterans Census, so I am still in the theoretical stage here...trying to discover what does or does not add up.

Eva LYTTLE had 12 children, 10 of whom were still living in 1900. Although widowed, she stated she had been married for 32 years (she was 48 years old) . If Joseph died right around 1899 - 1900, this means she would have been about 15 or 16 when she married. This is consistent with the family structure of Evaline ROBBINS, who likely would have been married by 1870, when she does not appear with her parents or siblings during that year's census.

If I can obtain a death certificate for Eva LYTTLE, or a marriage record, it may determine if she is my Evaline ROBBINS.

P.S. When I originally published this post on my old blog site, Terri left the following comment on January 18, 2007:

Miriam, Have been enjoying the blog. I decided to take a quick poke around the message boards, in hopes someone else was working on your familiy. Here is a post from the Ancestry / Rootsweb message boards. The person who left this message indicates his ancestor was Joseph Lyttle and Eva Stewart. :-(

If you locate another Eva who might be a candidate, you could also send for death certificates for her children, which should give the mother's maiden name.

Good luck in your quest!

Research Log - LYTON / TURK research

Received an obituary for Emma Alice (LYTON) CHAPLIN from Christine Gray, RAOGK volunteer for Multnomah Co., Oregon. There wasn't a lot of new information, with the exception of the fact that she had two great-great-grandchildren living when she died. Emma's father was Henry LYTON, a Civil War soldier who had immigrated from Canada to serve in the Union. His real name was George TURK, and for some reason which is not quite clear, assumed the name Henry LYTON.

Research Log - ROBBINS research

From Shawn StGermaine, I received via e-mail a photograph of Arthur Roy ROBBINS taken during his military service in WWI, as well as his obituary, and the obituary of his brother Albert. She also sent a newspaper article written about his wife, Ellen HANSON, who lived to be over 100 years old; Ellen's obituary; and their son Russell's obit and funeral card.

A Genealogist's Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas
When all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even my spouse.

The dining room table with clutter was spread
With pedigree charts and with letters which said...
"Too bad about the data for which you wrote;
Sank in a storm on an ill fated boat."

Stacks of old copies of wills and such
Were proof that my work had become too much.
Our children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.

And I at my table was ready to drop
From work on my album with photos to crop.
Christmas was here, and such was my lot
That presents and goodies and toys I forgot.

Had I not been busy with grandparents' wills,
I'd not have forgotten to shop for such thrills.
While others bought gifts to bring Christmas cheers,
I'd spent time researching those birth dates and years.

While I was thus musing about my sad plight,
A strange noise on the lawn gave me such a great fright.
Away to the window I flew in a flash,
Tore open the drapes and yanked up the sash.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But an overstuffed sleigh and eight small reindeer.
Up to the house top the reindeer they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys and ol' Santa Claus, too.

And then in a twinkle, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of thirty-two hoofs.
As I drew in my head, and bumped it on the sash,
Down the cold chimney fell Santa--KER-RASH!

Dear Santa had come from the roof in a wreck,
And track soot on the carpet (I could wring his short neck!).
Spotting my face, good ol' Santa could see
I had no Christmas spirit, you'd have to agree.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work
And filled all the stockings (I felt like a jerk).
Here was Santa, who'd brought us such gladness and joy
When I'd been too busy for even one toy.

He spied my research on the table all spread.
"A genealogist!" he cried (my face was all red!).
"Tonight I've met many like you," Santa grinned
As he pulled from his sack a large book he had penned.

I gazed with amusement--the cover it read,
Genealogy Lines for Which You Have Plead.
"I know what it's like as a genealogy bug,"
He said as he gave me a great Santa hug.

"While the elves make the sleighful of toys I now carry,
I do some research in the North Pole Library!
A special treat I am thus able to bring,
To genealogy folk who can't find a thing.

"Now off you go to your bed for a rest.
I'll clean up the house from this genealogy mess."
As I climbed up the stairs full of gladness and glee,
I looked back at Santa who'd brought much to me.

While settling in bed, I heard Santa's clear whistle
To his team which then rose like the down of a thistle.
And I heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight,
"Family history is fun! Merry Christmas! Good night!"

--Author Unknown

(Thanks to my cousin--and fellow HOEKSTRA researcher--Kathy Birnell for sending this to me!)

Research Log - ROBBINS research

Received an e-mail from Shawn StGermaine, who is a sister-in-law of a descendant of Ben Frank ROBBINS and Helena SWEET. She has added both grave info and photos of the ROBBINS family to the Find A Grave website from West Cemetery, Hesperia, Michigan, including photos of Joseph and Marinda ROBBINS' graves (graves which another photo volunteer had been unable to find this summer).

Grave photos of Peder and Regina LERFALD and sons

Anne S. Anderson and her husband (Find A Grave photo volunteers) kindly gave of their time to locate and photograph the graves of my husband's great-great-grandparents, Peder and Regina LERFALD. Our records indicated that the LERFALDs were buried in Lone Pine Cemetery, Woodville, St. Croix County, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson went to three cemeteries in Woodville, ending up at Zion Lutheran. They found not only Peder and Regina's shared headstone, but the headstones for two of their sons, John and Ole (named respectively for Peder's and Regina's fathers).

It's not clear at this point if Zion Lutheran and Lone Pine are two names for the same cemetery, but it appears to be so. I have to do some more checking, perhaps with the St. Croix Valley Genealogical Society or the St. Croix County Historical Society. The good news is that since I know they are buried at Zion Lutheran Cemetery, I am assuming that they may have been parishioners of Zion Lutheran Church. Perhaps I can find some church records that can help me "humanize" this family...so that they are less names, dates, and locations, and more people with needs, wishes, failings and strengths. I found a lot of helpful information at the St. Croix County USGenWeb site, including a history of Woodville. Seems this area was part of the "Big Woods" of Wisconsin, made famous by Laura Ingalls Wilder's first book, Little House in the Big Woods.

Above is a photo of Peder and Regina on their 50th anniversary in 1931, probably in Woodville. Look at the size of Peder's hands!

Peder Johnsen LEFALD and Regina Olasdotter LERFALD were first cousins, although not on both their fathers' sides, as it would seem by their common surname. Peder's father, John Nilssen LERFALD, and Regina's mother, Ane Nilssdotter LERFALDHOLMEN, were siblings, children of Nils Pedersen LERFALDTRØEN and Randi Olasdotter LERFALDHOLMEN. The variations of the LERFALD surname indicate the various farms in the Lerfald area of Norway (east of Trondheim) where the family members last worked before immigration. In other words, LERFALD and its variations, are place names which became surnames. It's been very difficult finding the LERFALDs in U.S. records after they immigrated (between 1866 [Peder and parents] and 1874 [Regina and mother]), and they tended to use patronyms. Trying to find JOHNSENs (Peder) and OLSENS (Regina - masculine version of Olasdotter) or their parents' patronyms of NELSON (for Nilssen and Nilssdotter) and PEDERSEN/PETERSON in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the late 1800s - early 1900s, is a challenge, to say the least!

My Genealogy Gift List: Victoria's Secret? Never!

The other day, my 16-year-old daughter and I were watching television together when a commercial for Victoria's Secret aired during the break. The gist of the message was "every woman wants Victoria's Secret for the holidays." I rolled my eyes and said to Missy, "Not this woman. Give me death certificates or census records any day!"

As I thought it over, I realized that there were actually a few Secrets I'd like, none of them having to do with women named Victoria, however. For instance, there's Mariah Emily DAILEY and her daughter, Emma Alice LYTON, my children's father's 2nd-great- and great-grandmothers, respectively. Just exactly where were they when the 1880 Federal Census was being taken? They should have been in Iowa, specifically in Thurman, Freman County. Mariah's first husband, George TURK, assumed the name Henry LYTON, and immigrated to the U.S. from Ontario to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War. After his death, Mariah married German immigrant John KLINDER in 1875. By 1880, Mariah and John had two children, Nancy Florence and Laura Luella, as well as Emma and Agnes LYTON from her marriage to Henry. Mariah's Secret or Emma's Secret would be great gifts for Christmas!

And in my own ancestry, I have yet to figure out Mary Jane's Secret...Mary Jane FREDENBURG, that is. My 2nd-great-grandmother was 8 years old in 1880, yet she and her six-year-old brother, George Franklin FREDENBURG, are missing from the Greenwood Township, St. Clair County, Michigan home of her widowed mother Cornelia (McCLELLAN) FREDENBURG, younger brother William Anthony FREDENBURG (age 3 1/2), older half-sister Sarah E. FREDENBURG (12) and paternal grandparents Anthony and Hannah (FOX) FREDENBURG. Can't find them anywhere in Michigan, or the U.S., for that matter.

I did get Helen's Secret and Rena's Secret for Christmas last year. My children's father's paternal grandmother, Helen Mary WESTABY, and her mother, Rena (LERFALD) WESTABY, went missing, along with father George Rice WESTABY, III, during the 1920 Federal Census. I thought I had figured it out when I read George's obituary a few years ago. It stated that he had come from Montana to Washington State in 1920. "Aha!" I thought. "That's why I couldn't find them...they were moving, en route across the Northwest." I was right...sort of. I was given some significant missing details by my children's paternal grandfather during our 2005 Christmas visit. He told me that his grandfather George had been employed by the Northern Pacific Railroad in Montana, along with George's father and brothers. Seems George and his brothers made a little extra on the side by selling brass they stole from the railroad. George apparently sold to the wrong person, and managed to discover his mistake shortly before his impending arrest, making a midnight move with Rena and little Helen west to the Yakima Valley, where they likely hid out at the home of George's cousin, Charles WESTABY. If they weren't exactly in transit when the census was taken, it is certain that neither Charles nor his wife would have divulged to a government employee (i.e. census enumerator) that they were harboring a fugitive from the law!

And I did uncover another Mary Jane's Secret this year...I think. Mary Jane BARBER, my great-grandmother and daughter of Mary Jane FREDENBURG mentioned above, was married many times. In fact, she apparently was married so many times, even her family members may not have known the exact count. My records show she first married my great-grandfather, Howard Merkel YORK, when she was only 14 years old, in 1924. That unhappy union ended three years later. Mary Jane later married her step-brother, Archie Louis KELLER, when both were in their thirties. After that divorce, Mary Jane married what we had believed to be her third husband, Jay DUNLAP. It was my searching for Mary Jane in the 1930 Federal Census that led to my theory that there was another husband between Howard and Archie. Since I couldn't seem to find Mary Jane, I looked for her older brother Jim. I found a man with his name, the right age, birthplace and parents' birthplaces in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Coincidentally, there's also a Mary Jane KUPSH in Manitowoc, age off by only one year, born in Michigan, parents born in Michigan. Ordering Arthur KUPSH's marriage record to Mary Jane should clarify if this is my great-grandmother. Interestingly, I asked Uncle Jim's widow if she had ever heard that her late husband and sister-in-law had lived in Wisconsin. She said no; however, Jim's widow came late into the family, as a second marriage for both Jim and herself. She may not have known Mary Jane's Secret.

So a few Secrets uncovered...yet many more to be found! So put away those laces, satins and silks...give me dusty documents, faded photographs (but not too faded!), or samplers stitched with my ancestress' maiden name instead:

My genealogy gift list for myself (and for you!) is to uncover a few more family secrets in 2007...a few more surprises, a few more times exclaiming "so THAT'S where they were!" and many more genealogy happy dances to jig!

Merry Christmas!

P.S. When I originally published this post at my old blog site, Lee left the following comment on December 18, 2006:

Love your post! Who has a need for Victoria Secret when there are juicier secrets out there just waiting to be uncovered?

~ Lee

WESTABY and WILSON ancestors' immigration on Western World

Ancestry has added a great number of records to its Immigration Collection, and I was able to find my husband's immigrant WESTABY and WILSON ancestors today. George Rice WESTABY, I (1822 - 1894) and Ann WILSON (1822 - 1902) arrived in New York on May 22, 1850 on the Western World. Accompanying them was George's brother Charles (1825 - 1897) and a three-year-old Emma WESTABY, a new name in our family history. Was she a niece (Charles' daughter? He married for the first time--so we thought--in 1852 in Illinois...or perhaps another sibling's daughter?) George and Ann were newlyweds...their marriage was recorded in the General Registry Office in June 1850, so they had to have been married sometime between March and May. They were married in Glanford Brigg, Lincolnshire, England, and both George and Charles had been born in Barrow-Upon-Humber in Glanford Brigg.

Also on board was a John WILSON...perhaps a relative of Ann's, although our current family history doesn't list a brother by that name. There are also some small WILSON children emigrating with what appears to be a mother and step-father named MILLTHORPE. John WILSON's family is listed on the passenger list between two MILLTHORPE families. Could the WESTABY, WILSON and MILLTHORPE families emigrating together also all be related to each other? Very likely. I need to do some more detective work!

I also found some info online about the Western World. Apparently she sunk off the coast of New Jersey in 1853, and is a scuba diver's paradise.

Research Log - Obits for Norm's Ancestors, Part 2

Heard from Christine Gray, RAOGK volunteer for Multnomah Co., Oregon. She will be looking for obits for Emma Alice LYTON and John Franklin MARTIN. Requests reimbursement of 25 cents per obit (copying fees) and $1.25 parking fee. She's done a lookup for me before; found Leona Mary MARTIN's obit a month or so ago, and did a great job.

Also heard from Joyce Obland, RAOGK volunteer for Rosebud Co., Montana, willing to look up obits for George Rice WESTABY, II, Reuben Wohlford SNOOK, and Elizabeth NEARHOOD. She requests reimbursement for gas (50 cents per mile is the standard donation...however, she has a 60-mile round trip to do her lookups), plus $1.00 per obit copy. I e-mailed her back and told her I will have to wait until after the holidays, as the $30.00 for gas is a little much right now.

Lastly, I heard from Linda Kolinski, RAOGK volunteer for Los Angeles Co., California. She had done an online search in ProQuest Historical Newspapers in the Los Angeles Times (1881 - 1985), and was unable to obtain an obituary for either Clark Pleasant R. TOLLIVER or Senna COLLINS.

Research Log - Obit for Regina LERFALD

Heard back from Dave, a RAOGK volunteer for Eau Claire Co., Wisconsin. He could not find an obit for Regina LERFALD, but did find a death record and sent me a transcription in an Excel file:

	A	B
1		Wisconsin Death Record
2		(not official or legal, for genealogy purposes only)
3
4	Name	Regina Lerfold
5	Maiden Name
6	Sex, Race, Status	F, W, widow
7	Date & Place of Birth	April 2, 1860 Norway
8	Date & Place of Death	Dec 23, 1943 Eau Claire, WI
9	Address	Woodville, WI
10	Age & Occupation	Age 83 yrs, 8 mns, 20 dys
11	Spouse	Peter Lerfold
12	SS#
13	Informant & address	Mrs. Anna Nelson, Eau Claire, WI
14	Parents & Birthplace	unknown - NORWAY
15	Cause of Death	unknown chronic disease, 4-6 months duration
16	Hospital or Doctor	Sacred Heart Hospital, J. W. Lowe, MD
17	Burial	Woodville, WI
18	Funeral Director	Lenmark & Sons, Eau Claire, WI
19	Source	Eau Claire County Death, Vol 40 Page 529
20	.
21	Miscellaneous	Had been in USA for 75 years
22	.

Regina was Norm's great-great-grandmother, and she married her first cousin, Peder Johnsen LERFALD. Family records indicate she came to the U.S. in 1874, not 1868, as her death record infers. Peder immigrated in 1866, according to family records. I have not been able to find them in Ancestry's Immigration Collection. But Norwegian names can be complicated. They may have used a different last name, depending on the last farm their fathers worked before immigration. Or they may have used patronyms. Johnsen and Olasen/Olsen would be Peder and Regina's respective patronyms, and both are extremely common names.

The Anna Nelson referred to in the death record was their middle daughter. Norm's great-grandmother, Rena, was their youngest daughter and youngest surviving child. It appears that Anna cared for her mother after Peder's death.

My next plan is to have an obit search in the Woodville papers.

Research Log - Obits for Norm's Ancestors

Requested obituaries though various RAOGK volunteers for Norm's ancestors:

Peder Johnsen LERFALD
Regina LERFALD
Clark Pleasant R. TOLLIVER
Senna COLLINS
Emma Alice LYTON
John Franklin MARTIN
George Rice WESTABY, II
Reuben Wohlford SNOOK
Elizabeth NEARHOOD (step-ancestor, second wife of Reuben Wohlford SNOOK)
Angelia Rebecca LUKE.

My Hubby's HUBBYs

Clarence Cassler did a good deed for me by photographing several HUBBY graves in the Hull Cemetery in Luther, Boone Co., Iowa. These included the shared headstone for my husband's 3rd-great-grandparents, John HUBBY, Sr. and wife, Hannah JONES. A unique feature is that on their headstone it reads "born in New York" for Hannah, and "born in Canada" for John. Would that all our ancestors be so considerate as to list their birthplaces on their tombstones!

HOEKSTRA - STULP Marriage License and Certificate

My cousin and fellow Hoekstra researcher, Kathy Birnell, sent me a photocopy of the marriage license/certificate of my great-grandfather/her grandfather, John Martin HOEKSTRA and his second wife, Anna STULP. Anna's brother and sister-in-law witnessed the marriage. She worked as a housekeeper for years for my great-grandparents, and shortly before my great-grandmother, Lillian Fern STRONG, an invalid, passed away, she (Lillian) encouraged John to marry Anna. He did...21 months after her death.

MyHeritage Website

I mentioned that I received my first issue of Internet Genealogy yesterday. There was an article about the My Heritage site written by Lisa A. Alzo, so I decided to take a look...and was I impressed!

The first part is just a fun area: the Face Recognition program. I uploaded up a photo of myself, and received a list of celebrities that are my look-alikes, among which was Annette Bening, Joan Collins, and Jesse McCartney (the last brought forth a few hysterical giggles from my teenagers).

The second part of the site has a free downloadable family tree software program, plus a beta program for creating your own family tree pages online.

I was most impressed with the "Research" portion of the site (accessed through the orange menu bars at the top of the page). It claims to have the "most powerful genealogy search engine on the planet," and I was not disappointed! I ran some of my more unusual surnames through the search engine, and checked off some of the alternate spellings using the Megadex feature. I got some terrific hits, and discovered many genealogy websites I never knew existed! The one that I think will prove most helpful is Odessa: A German - Russian Genealogical Library. I don't even have German - Russian ancestry, but my sister's children do, on their father's side. I e-mailed a link to the Odessa page to my sister, and I hope that she will be able to break through a lot of brick walls with this resource!

P.S. WhenI originally published this post over at my old blog site,

Cameron left the following comment on December 19, 2006:

This site is really good. I'm not too interested in the face thing, but the database search is a great tool for finding sources you didn't even know existed. The number of hits this search engine locates is almost overwhelming. It certainly made its way onto my "A" list.

Internet Genealogy Magazine

I received my first issue (January/February 2007) of Internet Genealogy today, which includes a nice article by friend and fellow EWGS member, Donna Potter Phillips about doing a family research project utilizing mainly online sources.

Internet Genealogy is published by the same company that publishes Family Chronicle and History Magazine.

I spent some time on the phone with my sister this evening, discussing some of the articles and links found in the current issue. I had purchased a year's subscription for both her and my sister-in-law. Genealogy magazine subscriptions make great birthday and Christmas gifts for family and friends!

Free Access to Subscription Sites during Thanksgiving Weekend

I have heard that there is free access to subscription genealogy websites during Thanksgiving weekend.

Ancestry offers free access to its Immigration Collection until November 30th. They've recently added 80.5 million names to the collection, mostly in passenger lists. If you find your ancestor on a passenger list, you may also be lucky enough to find an image of the ship posted. I blogged recently about finding my TON and Van KLINKEN ancestors at Ancestry. They came over on the E.C. Scranton, an image of which is not available. However, there is a drawing of a similar ship available here, along with the history of the Scranton.

Another site that is offering free access is the National Genealogy Society, which has opened up its "Members Only Section" to the public, using the user name member and the password ngspromo. Warning: the site was hit so many times, it was rendered virtually unusable. I sent out an e-mail to the webmaster, and received three very nice e-mails in response, encouraging me to keep trying. I was able to get in for a short period (15 minutes), but the results I got on the searches I made were rather disappointing.

Valk Photos

I got a nice surprise in the mail yesterday. Richard Valk, a first cousin of my mother, unexpectedly sent me a handful of photos of my VALK relatives. One was a nice shot of my maternal grandfather, William "Bill" Valk, in his Army uniform (WWII).

Another was of his oldest brother, James "Jim" William Valk, also in his Army uniform (pre-WWII).

The third was of their youngest brother, Theodore "Ted" William Valk, which appears to be perhaps his wedding portrait: he's dressed very nicely with a boutonnière tucked into his lapel.

There were also a couple of snapshots taken c. early 1980's of Ted and his wife, Jim and his wife Thelma, and one of their step-brother Clarence and his wife.

TON, Van KLINKEN, PAPE, TUINSTRA and Van ESSEN research

Found my 3rd-great-grandparents, Pieter TON and Maria Van KLINKEN, on Ancestry.com's passenger list (on the ship "E. C. Scranton," which arrived in New York on 7 Dec 1857). Pieter's name was right under Peter TIMMERMAN. The whole list was mis-transcribed. My Pieter is listed as "Peter Con Zimmerman" and so therefore, Maria, his wife is listed as "Maria Zimmerman." Zimmerman, by the way is German for "carpenter," and Timmerman is Dutch for "carpenter."

(click on photo several times to view zoomed image)

Also with Pieter and Maria are Adriana "Zimmerman" (Ton) and Cornelia "Zimmerman" (Ton), which I believe are Pieter's sister and perhaps a niece. [Correction: A closer look at the Zeeland Provincial Archives online database led to the discovery that Cornelia was the daughter of Maria Van KLINKEN, prior to her marriage to Pieter TON. It's not clear whether Pieter was Cornelia's father, although she is listed as "Cornelia TON" on the passenger list. I believe Cornelia died young, as she does not appear in the 1870 Federal Census with the rest of the family. In addition, Pieter and Maria named a later daughter Nellie (b. 1860). It was not uncommon for the Dutch to name a child after a deceased older sibling.]

There is also Pieter's sister Suzanna "Susanna" Van KLINKEN, her husband Izak "Isaac" PAPE and their daughter, Netye PAPE. ("Netye" is probably supposed to be Neeltje, who would have been named after Pieter, Suzanna, and Adriana's mother.) They are all with a group from the Netherlands headed for Ohio. My family records show Pieter and Maria lived in Cincinnati for 16 years, then moved north to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'm not sure what it was about Cincinnati that attracted them...jobs, a Seceder's Church...?

---------------------------------
This evening at the Family History Center, I reviewed FHL microfilm # 1,377,933, Item 2: City of Grand Rapids [Michigan] Record of Burials, 1874 - 1877, and made some terrific finds!:

Van KLINKEN, Maria, age 51 [my records say 50], White, Female, Place of Birth: Holland, Disease: Dropsey; died 22 Apr 1878; buried in the Pottersfield, Valley City Cemetery, record #6168 - this is my 3rd-great-grandmother, mentioned above

TRIMSTRA (TUINSTRA?), Stjoestje, age 3 mos, 5 days, White, Female, Place of Birth: City; Disease: Cholera Infantum; died at 224 Elizabeth St., 24 Jul 1886; buried in Lot 75, Block K, Greenwood Cemetery, record #6046 - not sure if this is a TUINSTRA, but if so, she would be related

Van ESSEN, Meinn [sic - Meine], age 86, White, Male, Place of Birth: Netherland; Disease: old age; died at 2 Fifth Ave., 17 Jan 1887; Permit [4, 9, 7, C, G...?...can't read it], Valley City Cemetery, record #6471 - this is my 2nd-great-grandfather's father-in-law (of 3rd wife)

Van KINKEN [sic], Giertje, 52 yrs, 7 mos, 11 days, White, Female; Place of Birth: Netherland; Disease: malignant tumor; died at corner of Alpine & 10th St., 18 May 1887; buried in Lot 14, Block N, Greenwood Cemetery, record #6485 - this may be a relative of my Van KLINKENs

My Jackson Line - Connection to the Mayflower and Ol' Stonewall?

Speaking of my Pennsylvania ancestors, Charles' wife, Viola Gertrude Peck was the daughter of Lura Ann Jackson.  I've discovered Lura's father was Joshua Jackson of Potter Co., Pennsylvania, and her mother was probably Elsie Rounds (Joshua's second wife).  This week another descendant of Joshua, Linda Smith, contacted me.  She believes her ancestor, Lucinda Jackson, a (half) sister of Lura, was the daughter of Joshua's first wife, Miriam Standish...yes, THOSE Standishes, of Mayflower fame!  Linda quoted a biography of one of Lucinda's grandchildren that states the Standish connection, as well as making the claim that Joshua was related to Stonewall Jackson.

Charles H. Robbins, of the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, Company H ("Bucktails")

I heard today from August Marchetti, one of the founders of the Kanes Rifles, Company H re-enactors. He was interested in posting the biography of my 3rd-great-grandfather, Charles H. Robbins, on his website, Kane's Rifles: 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, Company H ("Bucktails"). Along with the history of the company, there are biographies and photos of the original soldiers, as well as photos of modern re-enactors. Fascinating!

You can see the biography of Charles on my website here, as well as his memorial page on Find A Grave.

P.S. When this blog was orginally posted at my other blog site, the following comment was added by August Marchetti on January 4, 2007:

Good Morning,

I'm not certain who posted the last comment in regards to the Robbins Biography, but my guess is Miriam Robbins Midkiff. Anyway I just wanted to point out that Robbins Biography, along with several other biographies of Robbins' comrades in the Pennsylvania Reserves, can be found at www.pareserves.com - the website mentioned above was deactivated because our company chooses to do most of its discussion thru email.

I'd like to say that this website (www.pareserves.com) contains information on the Original Pennsylvania Reserves, history broken down by regiment and company if possible, numerous biographies, photographs, along with much information on the reenactors who portray the Pennsylvania Reserves as well.

Kindest Regards,
August Marchetti

Bev's Website

I think I finished Bev's website.

Beverly Smith Vorpahl, whose name is familiar to the genealogy world as a contributor to Family Chronicle and other genealogy magazines, is a member, along with myself, of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society. Over the course of the past year, we have struck up a business partnership (with her hiring me as the webmaster of her new genealogy website), and--most importantly--we've developed a friendship.

When I say I think I've finished her website, it means that as a webmaster, I always find ways to improve, correct, and add information. Sometimes I drive myself crazy that way. As someone offering a service to a client, I also have to take into account their wishes and needs.

I think Bev deserves a medal for patience for putting up with me all these months. We first started talking about this website in February 2006. I began work in the spring, I believe, a difficult time for me to begin any intense project, as I work for my local school district. I tried to do a lot of work over the summer...but must admit, I have an unrealistic view of how much I can do during my summer vacation. I have a lot of projects I attempt to work on during June - August! Once the 2006 - 2007 school year began, it again became a challenge to squeeze in time to work on the site.

So here it is. I hope you take a look around and read the fascinating stories Bev has written about her childhood, her siblings, parents and ancestors. She truly has a gift for making the people of the past come to life. Make sure to sign her guestbook, too (a link is provided on every page of her site).

P.S. When I posted this over at my old blog site, the following comment was left by Beverly Smith Vorpahl on November 12, 2006:

Thank you, Miriam. Worth-while things are worth the wait, and our new Website was certainly worth the wait. It's beautiful and professionally done. I could not have asked for anything better.

Need a recommendation? Give 'em my number.
Bev;)

The Incredible Story of an Act of Kindness Done for My Infant Brother's Grave

Earlier, I posted a message about how Judy Zenge planned to take a photo of the grave of my infant brother, Aaron James Robbins, in Metlakatla, Alaska.

This act of kindness in turn created an even more incredible one in a story you can't miss. I posted the story, along with 10 photos at Aaron's memorial page on Find A Grave. Click on each photo to view the captions (only three photos are viewable on the main page...you'll have to click on the link that says "Click here to view all images" to view all 10 photos...again, click on each photo to view the detailed captions).

You won't want to miss this one! I promise it will warm your heart!

Strong Reaction by Family Researchers to the "New" Ancestry.com

OK, nobody else (that I've seen) has blogged about it, but it is really big news: Ancestry.com changed its website, including the way information is accessed. No one seems too happy about it, but apparently Ancestry is not willing to change it back...only to address some of the more serious problems. In the past 18 days, there have been 185 comments posted to the Ancestry Weekly Journal post about the changes...of those, I only found one comment that was NOT negative.

There's a lot of frustrated people out there who say they are cancelling or choosing not to renew their subscriptions when they come due. One fellow warned, "AOL wouldn't listen to their customers, either, and look what happened to them!"

I'm not too pleased myself. I loved the "People I'm Looking For" feature, which has been messed with. I had to upload my GEDCOM to continue it, and I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Years ago I didn't like that Family Tree Maker took people's GEDCOMs, turned around and put them on CD, and then sold them...with mistakes and old incomplete data galore. Makes me wonder...?!

Well, if ain't broke, don't fix it. I think a business has a lot to lose if it doesn't listen to its customers. It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be. I think Heritage Quest, with much similar data, will be giving Ancestry a run for its money.

I invite your comments below.

Mark Your Calendars!

The Eastern Washingon Genealogical Society will be starting out its 2006 - 2007 year with our first meeting on Saturday, September 9th. While we normally meet the first Saturday of each month, excepting July and August, the first Saturday of September usually falls during Labor Day weekend, so we will have it on the second Saturday this year. We meet in the meeting rooms on the main floor of the Downtown Library, off to the left of the main entrance as you walk in from the street. There is parking in the library basement (access from Spokane Falls Blvd.) or across the street in River Park Square, which is connected to the library via a skywalk (the library basement parking is cheaper, but there are less parking spots).

We will have coffee, cookies (free!) and conversation at 12:30 PM. Our meeting starts at 1:00 with some business and then our guest speaker will do her presentation. September's speaker will be Linda Walston, an ex-Microsoft and NASA employee. She will be giving tips on making our computers work better and safer.

In addition, we will be selling raffle tickets for special prizes ($1.00 a ticket, or 6 tickets for $5.00), and will have various helpful and fun genealogical items for sale. This will also be a good time to register for our October Workshop with Michael John Neill!

I hope you will join us. You do not need to be a member to attend the meetings or workshops, and we always have a warm welcome for visitors!

Many people decide to come early or stay late to do their research. There will be EWGS volunteers on duty in the genealogy section of the library (3rd floor). This is a great time to find out about all the great resources available...not just for the Spokane area, but for other states and countries as well. Learn how to use a microfilm reader, too! Bring your research notebooks! The library opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 6:00 PM.

Grave photos of Charles Anderson and Emeline Mary (WILBOURN) MIDKIFF

I discovered that back on May 31st, Laural D., a Find A Grave photo volunteer, took photos of the unmarked lot where my husband's great-great-grandparents, Charles Anderson MIDKIFF, Sr. and Mary Emeline WILBOURN were buried in 1919 and 1923, respectively. Click on the links to view their memorial pages, portraits, and their cemetery lot photo. You can also click here to read a synopsis of Charles' life.

Week of July 23 - 29, 2006

Saturday, July 29
Diana Wilkes, a Find A Grave photo volunteer, blessed the socks off of me by not only taking many photos of my Robbins ancestors' graves at Hesperia West Cemetery in Hesperia, Michigan, but also submmitting a cemetery map with all the Robbins' graves marked! In addition, she will be mailing me a CD with all the photos. The photos she submitted to Find A Grave were for Joseph Josiah Robbins, Marinda (Robbins) Robbins, Charles H. Robbins, and Viola Gertrude (Peck) Robbins.

Sent a link to my Robbins Family Page to the McKean County, Pennsylvania GenWeb site.

Found info online about the Wyckoff House Museum, which my ancestor, Pieter Claessen Wyckoff, built c. 1652 on Long Island. It is the one of the oldest standing wooden homes in North America, and New York City's first Landmark.


Friday, July 28
Andrew Whitlock, a Find A Grave submitter, e-mailed to say he had updated my Civil War ancestor Benjamin Henry Kimball's information, which I had sent him a few weeks ago.


Thursday, July 27
Requested photos of my Higby ancestors graves in Old Westfield Cemetery in Middleton, Connecticit from Norma Unger.

Matt and I went to Holy Cross Cemetery and took photos of the graves of George Ogden and Dessie Lola (McCready) Purviance for a requestor. It was my first time there, and I found it to be a beautiful, well-laid-out cemetery with easy-to-find graves. It is a newer cemetery (built 1931).


Wednesday, July 26
Added details to a memorial page on Find A Grave, which I created for my grandaunt, Mary Louise (Hoekstra) Glashower.

Heard back from Judy Zenge, a Find A Grave photo volunteer who is looking into taking a photo of the grave of my infant brother, Aaron James Robbins. She talked to an individual in Metlakatla, Alaska who said his parents are buried right next to Aaron, and he and other Metlakatla citizens continue to tend the grave out of loving respect and memory of all my parents did as Salvation Army officers to that village over 30 years ago. He also stated that the cross Dad made for Aaron's grave was still intact. Judy is hoping to get over to Metlakatla on Annette Island from Ketchikan soon, to take a photo. This news was very touching to me.


Tuesday, July 25
As pre-arranged, I received a telephone call from Laurie Perkins, Education Historian at the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing. She is in charge of developing and overseeing the Future Historians program for 9 - 15 year olds at the Museum. She told me about the program and answered my many questions. She also gave me contact information for the person in charge of the Genealogy Sprouts Day Camp program through the Library of Michigan. I am hoping that my local genealogical society can develop (a) similar program(s) in the Spokane area, with the help of the Spokane Public Library and/or the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.


Monday, July 24
My son, Matt, and I went to Greenwood Memorial Terrace to take a photo of the grave of Allene Eugenia (Castlio) Castlio for someone who requested it through Find A Grave. We stopped first at the cemetery office, and were informed that Allene was not buried there; she was buried at Fairmount Memorial Park. Greenwood and Fairmount are both owned by the Fairmount Memorial Association, which also owns Riverside Memorial Park, Spokane Memorial Gardens, and Woodlawn Cemetery, so they have all the records at the central office at Greenwood. I was given the locations of some more Castlio burials; two at Greenwood (Edwin Sparks and Dora A. Castlio) and two at Spokane Memorial Gardens (Raymond W. and Alma L. Castlio). Since I was already at Greenwood, I went and took the photos; then I went to Fairmount and, after a little help from the office there, found Allene's burial place (her grave is unmarked, except for a curbstone family marker off to the side). After adding Allene's photos to her memorial page at Find A Grave, I created pages for the other Castlio individuals at that site. I used information from the Washington State Death Index at Ancestry to fill in some unknown information.


Sunday, July 23
I worked on my friend Bev's family tree website, and I now have three pages up. Once I get it complete, I'll put a link here for my readers, so that they, too, can read it. Bev is a great writer; a professional journalist who writes for many genealogy magazines, and her family stories on her new website will warm your heart and make you feel like you've known these people all your lives!

One of the ladies from the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society contacted me; she recently ordered a copy of the GenSmarts software by phone. She talked to Aaron Underwood, the owner of the program, and suggested that he donate a copy as a door prize for our October workshop. He agreed, and I think that this will make a wonderful addition to a great program (Michael John Neill will be our guest lecturer)!

I've agreed to be the coordinator for the EWGS' educational program for 2007. We offer free computer classes for members each month with a different topic. So far, we covered Using the Boolean Search Method, Using Ancestry.com, Placing Queries for (and Finding) Surnames Online, Using FamilySearch.org, How to Fix Broken Links (see my blog entry of July 16th), Patriotic and Lineage Societies Online, and Using GenSmarts Software. My job will entail signing up people for the classes (there's a limit of 15, due to the amount of computer stations in the computer lab), of which we hold three each program day.

I also started adding a lot of cemetery information from various sources to the Goodrich Cemetery (Atlas Township, Genesee County, Michigan) listing at Find A Grave...kind of an outgrowth to my work on The Atlas Project.

Broken Links and Other Tips and Tricks - Free Syllabus

A couple of months ago, I taught a computer class offered exclusively for members of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society. This class was titled "Broken Links and Other Tips and Tricks." Have you ever heard of a great genealogy website from a friend, or seen a link to a great new database in an e-mail or on a website...but when you've gone to the site (either by entering the URL yourself or clicking on a link) you get the dreaded 404 Page ("this page not found")? There are tips and tricks you can use to find the site you need. I wrote this presentation from things I learned from experience, plus from other tips I've found along the way over the years. For those who could not attend (and for all of you reading this blog), I am offering the syllabus for that class. It is a step-by-step procedure on how to find those sites when the links are broken. This syllabus is offered for free, no-strings-attached (I won't send you spam or put you on a mailing list). Just e-mail me (find my address in My Profile - see right-hand menu) and ask for the Broken Links syllabus.

P.S. This syllabus isn't just for genealogy websites...it will work for ANY kind of site you are looking for online.