52 Weeks of Online American Digital Archives and Databases: Kentucky

This is the 18th post in a weekly series of Online American Digital Archives and Databases found for free at state, county, municipal, college and university history, library, and archive websites, as well as public and private library and museum sites, and historical and genealogical society sites.

3DFlags.com

Kentuckiana Digital Library - http://kdl.kyvl.org/ - finding aids database; digitized newspapers, books, images, journals (including the Daily Racing Form), and Sanborn maps; oral histories, and manuscripts.

Kentucky Genealogical Society - http://www.kygs.org/ - genealogical index, military reports, vital records indexes, city directories, family files, cemetery records, obituary and newspaper article indexes, yearbooks, photos

Kentucky Historical Society - http://history.ky.gov/sub.php?pageid=94&sectionid=14 - digital collections (images, sound, video, text, photos, manuscripts, oral history, maps, etc.); Civil Rights Movment; Historical Marker database; Cemetery Records database; virtual library, and a link to the Kentuckiana digital library

Kentucky Secretary of State Land Office - http://sos.ky.gov/land/ - informative descriptions of records and searchable databases of  patents and warrants, including those issued to military veterans; gazetteers, maps, Louisville Genealogical Society journals; lots of great Kentucky land resources here!

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Berea College Hutchins Library Digital Content - http://cdm272901.cdmhost.com/ - college history, photos, oral history, radio broadcasts, Appalachian studies, and more

Centre College Library Special Collections - http://www.centre.edu/web/library/sc/spec_coll.html - digital collections (texts; includes Kentucky School for the Deaf), college archives (finding aids), early photographs, college history, biographical sketches of presidents, selected documents from Kentucky College for Women and other women's educational institutions, special exhibits, 1890 alumni search

Eastern Kentucky University Library Digital Resources - http://libguides.eku.edu/content.php?pid=8499&sid=54425 - photo and image database, map index database, Leslie Anderson Papers (photos of first graduating class and more), Walter J. Binder Papers (WWI photos and more), Board of Regents/Faculty Senate Indexes, Civil War Collection, Correctional Photos Archives (prison, rehabilitaion), historical resources, negative and photo collections, Anna Kadlec Papers (settlement house movement), Milestone Index (student newspaper), postcard collection, Jimm Taylor collection (photos from 1940 - 1965)

Georgetown College Special Collections - http://library.georgetowncollege.edu/Special_Collections/Home.htm - lists of alumni, as well as those who become college presidents and members of Congress; memoirs of the college fire of 1930

Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College Appalachian Archives - http://www.secc.kctcs.edu/AppalachianCenter/archives/archive.htm - a searchable index of artifacts documenting the history and culture of the central Appalachian coalfields

Sullivan University System Archives - http://library.sullivan.edu/archives/index.asp - "a reference collection of Sullivan University historical materials. Materials include pictures, newsletters, catalogs, and banners documenting the history of Sullivan University, Spencerian College, Louisville Technical Institute, and Sullivan-Lexington." Searchable indexes.

Transylvania University Gay/Thomas Library Special Collections - http://www.transy.edu/academics/library/collections.htm - Bullock Photograph Collection and Doris Ulmann Photographs

University of Kentucky Special Collections and Digital Programs Division - http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/lib.php?lib_id=13 - postcards, oral history, online exhibits, Notable Kentucky African-Americans Database

University of Kentucky Vital Records Index - http://ukcc.uky.edu/vitalrec/ - indexes for Deaths (1911 - 1992), Marriages (1973-1993), and Divorces (1973-1993)

University of Louisville Ekstrom Library Special Collections - http://louisville.edu/library/ekstrom/special/ - photographic archives, digital collections (African-American, music, advertisements, postcards, photos, bookplates, maps, theses and dissertations, and more)

University of Louisville University Archives and Records Center - http://louisville.edu/library/archives/ - digital collections (see description above), university history, online finding aids and subject guides, oral history center

Western Kentucky University Kentucky Library and Museum Online - http://www.wku.edu/Library/kylm/collections/index.html - Civil War materials, quilts, arrowheads, paintings, diaries, furniture, letters, genealogy, clothing, maps, photos, postcards, oral histories, greeting cards, newspapers, land grants, campaign buttons, folk songs, scrapbooks, sheet music, toys and games, photograph record

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Boyd County Public Library Genealogy Databases - http://www.thebookplace.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34&Itemid=233 - indexes for obituaries, cemeteries, marriage records, and surname files

Carriage Museum of America - http://www.carriagemuseumlibrary.org/about-cma - history, photos, descriptions, and more!

Daviess County Public Library Kentucky Room - http://www.dcplibrary.org/departments/kentucky_room/ - obituary index

Filson Historical Society - http://www.filsonhistorical.org/ - while there is not an online collection per se, there are enough scanned images from various photo, postcard, manuscript, and scrapbook collections to make this site interesting and worth visiting. Finding aids are also available online; additionally, the current newsletter is online.

Henderson County Public Library Obituary Finder - http://www.hcpl.org/evanced/genealogy/obitview.asp - 1972 to present; 1972 and 1973 are being added

Jefferson County Public Schools Archives and Records Center - http://lms.jefferson.k12.ky.us/lms-archives/index.html - school history, historic photos, reunions and alumni

Kenton County Public Library Genealogy and Local History - http://www.kentonlibrary.org/genealogy/index.cfm - digital library (atlases, journal, biography), family and local history files (cemetery, census, church, city directories, court, general, hospital, military, organizations, school, slave schedules, vital statistics), biographies, historical societies, National Historic Register, Northern Kentucky Heritage Magazine

Lexington Cemetery Genealogical Research - http://www.lexcem.org/index.cfm/genealogy.html - this searchable index lists birth and death dates where known, as well as burial or cremation dates, disposition or cremation numbers, funeral directors, and interment location by section, lot, part, and grave

Lexington Public Library Kentucky Room - http://www.lexpublib.org/page/kentucky-room - Local History Index, lists of genealogical resources (many links are broken; you must use the site's search engine), postcard collection, Woman's Club of Central Kentucky Slides, funeral notices collection, Fayette County Cemeteries Index

Louisville Free Public Library History Resources - http://www.lfpl.org/loc-hist-resources.htm - while this list does not include online data, it is a very nice finding aid for Louisville and Cincinnati (Ohio) area genealogical and historical resources

Mammoth Cave National Park Cemetery Database - http://www.nps.gov/maca/historyculture/maca_cemetery_db.htm

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Check out my Kentucky Online Historical Directories and Kentucky Online Historical Newspapers pages.

Even More About Sgt. Walter Scott

This afternoon, I had about an hour in the genealogy room of the downtown branch of the Spokane Public Library. I wanted to see what I could find out about Sgt. Walter Scott, even though an hour didn't give me enough time to really do a lot of digging. First, I looked at the microfilm rolls of the Washington State Death Index for 1910 - 1919 and for 1920 - 1929. I was looking not only for Walter, but for his wife Josephine. There were many Walter Scotts listed in the WSDI, and I had to eliminate them by subtracting the age listed at death from the year of death to see if I could come up with a date of (or close to) 1847, the date Craig determined Walter had been born. I found only one Josephine listed in that 20-year-span, and her age was too young to have fit the Josephine found on the 1870 and 1880 Federal Censuses. I finally found Walter listed in the 1920 - 1929 WSDI, age 75, death on 6 January 1923 in the City of Spokane.

From there, I went in search of Spokane newspapers on microfilm for that week. In 1923, the city had three newspapers, The Spokane Press, The Spokane Daily Chronicle (which later became simply The Spokane Chronicle) and The Spokesman-Review, the only one of the three still in existence. Most people in those days did not have obituaries, unless they were prominent citizens or celebrities. Occaisionally, one might find a short "blip" of a paragraph or two tucked away behind the front page, notifying the public of the death of a well-known or beloved person in the community. Births, marriages, deaths, funerals, and cards of thanks were listed with the public notices directly before the advertisements, not unlike today's paper.

In The Spokane Daily Chronicle of Saturday, 6 January 1923, on page 14, column 1, I found Walter's death notice:

Scott - Walter. Age 75 years, passed away a E3604 2d avenue, January 6th. He is survived by his wife, Alice M.; a daughter, Eva M. Petway of Spokane; two sons, Miner [sic] L. of Seattle and Walter of Anaconda, Mont.; also a granddaughter of Portland. He was a member of the K. P. lodge and Reno Post. The body is at Smith & Co.'s funeral parlors.

The Spokane Press had a funeral notice two days later on page 7, column 2:

Walter Scott, Tuesday, 3 o'clock, from Smith & Co.'s. Rev. Johnson, Reno Post of GAR and Knights of Pythias to officiate. Greenwood.

There was nothing found in The Spokesman-Review. I ran out of time to check funeral home records, city directories, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, and a number of records I could have accessed in the genealogy room, Northwest Room, or microfilmed newspaper section. On my To-Do list is to discover when and where Josephine died.

When I got home, I was curious to see what I could find on the Washington State Digital Archives website. I noticed that Walter's wife was listed as Alice M. in the death notice, so I figured he had married again after Josephine's death. My search for Walter Scott turned up many results, most of which were not the man I was researching. However, three were of interest: the 1910 Federal Census of Spokane County; a 1911 Spokane County (historic) marriage record to Alice M. Harris; and a Walla Walla Penitentiary record. The 1910 census listing is actually an index, and does not list other members of the household. Since Craig had already found this information (likely on Ancestry.com), I didn't feel compelled to dig deeper here. The marriage record was definitely a jackpot, because one can view images of these historic records! It confirmed Walter's birth in Ohio, and gave his mother's maiden name: Sophia Hall, born in Kentucky. His father's name was unknown. Alice had much more detailed information, including the fact that she was an octoroon, divorced, and her parents' names and birthplaces. The record contained the Scotts' signatures as well. I could not make out the last name of one of the witnesses: Belle Sear? The other witness was definitely a relative: W. E. Scott. They were married by F. L. Donohoo, elder of the A.M.E. Church in Spokane.

The penitentiary record was probably not this Walter, but may have been his son. A Walter Scott, Negro, was convicted of Grand Larceny in King County (Seattle) in 1915, and served time in Walla Walla.

There are certainly many more things I could research on this family. Currently, my curiousity has been satisfied. Perhaps having this information online may bring about a result for a descendant Googling Walter Scott's name.

An Afternoon at the Cemeteries

Yesterday afternoon, my 16-year-old daughter accompanied me to two local cemeteries so that we could honor the deceased of our families. I had planned to go on Saturday, which was a gorgeous warm day, but errands--including purchasing a new flag for the holiday and a bouquet of roses for the purpose of distributing them at the graves--took up most of my day. Sunday arrived with strong gales of wind, so strong I dared not put up my new flag for fear of bending the aluminum pole or snagging the banner on the gutters above. Thunderstorms were forecast for the late afternoon and evening, so I decided it was now or never.

The first cemetery we visited was Riverside Memorial Park, where a special little boy now rests in peace: Brandon Tyrone Chapman, a special-needs student I worked with for four years, who was like a second son to me. He is buried underneath some pines not far from the Spokane River. The cemetery was beautifully decorated, with hundreds of memorial flags fluttering along the roadsides and graves brightly trimmed with real and silk flowers, flags, and pinwheels. At the entrance, throngs of people milled, visiting Heritage Funeral Home, which normally has a historic display for the public every Memorial Day weekend. Last year, Ulysses S. Grant had been the focus; this year was Elvis, so I did not go in (I like his music, but I had hoped for a more "historical" figure). Classic cars were being shown in the parking lot, and I took a quick shot with my camera while my daughter picked up some free pizza from a nearby booth (yes, it's quite an event!).

We then crossed the road to Greenwood Memorial Terrace, where we noticed a large American flag was posted near the monument of Chief Spokane Garry. We drove up to the first terrace where a large Midkiff monument marks the lot where George Henry, his wife Arzella (Glasgow), and their son Samuel C. Midkiff are buried. I've done a little research on this family, and can trace George back to Kentucky, but how he may be related to my husband is still a mystery. There are no descendants; their only son Samuel died in 1918, so our family has "adopted" the graves to clean and decorate them on Memorial Day. My daughter remarked that Samuel was only 16 when he died (her own age), and I told her he had probably died in the Influenza Epidemic.

We then went up to the top terrace, where two of my cousins, Christopher Wrex Pierson Zaagsma and Caren Jeanne "Carrie" Pierson Zaagsma, are buried in the Inspiration block. We stayed for a while at their graves, while I told my daughter the stories of my cousins, what their personalities were like, memories of special times together, and how they had died. Then we went over to nearby Honor Lawn, where some distant Midkiff cousins are buried. I shared memories with Missy about Betty Lou(Midkiff) Bryant, a petite woman who had researched the Midkiff family in the area and had contacted us about 18 years ago to try to fit us into the family tree (she was my father-in-law's second cousin). Together, she and I organized the first local Midkiff Family Reunion in 1990. Betty's husband, George Wesley Bryant, is buried next to her; a salty-tongued WW2 veteran, he had worked on the Grand Coulee Dam as an ironworker. On the other side of Betty rests her brother, George Vernon Midkiff, a Navy veteran whose life was cut tragically short by an automobile accident.

When we were done with the graves of family and friends, we returned to the first level, where the graves of many Civil War veterans are situated around the Grand Army of the Republic monument. We chose graves that had no flowers or flags (and sadly, there were many) on which to lay the last of our roses. I took photographs to upload to Find A Grave. There was a nest in a pine above us and a baby bird fell out, fluttering around. My daughter was very worried, but I assured her the bird's mother would return as soon as we left, and that the good thing was there didn't appear to be any predators in the area.

We returned home tired from our outing in the wind, but satisfied in having enjoyed our time together, knowing our loved ones had been honored.