Tombstone Tuesday: Anna and Francis EISWERTH

Immaculate Conception Cemetery
Bastress, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania

EISWERTH
Anna V.
1903-1991
Francis C.
1901-1985

Follow Friday - Of Trolls and Lemons

Astrid's blog Of Trolls and Lemons is this week's Follow Friday recommendation. I love her tag line: "You don't really know where you're going until you know where where you've been..."

Here is a small selection of her posts to get you started:

Hellebaek Sawmill in Kongsberg, Norway

Progen Studey Group - Month 1

Genealogy Goals for Fall

Also check out her great posts about her trip to Sweden and Norway.

Days 1, 2 and 3

Days 4 and 5

Day 6 and 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Days 11 and 12

Days 13, 14 and 15

Take some time and explore Astrid's blog.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Week 38 - Second Life

Challenge 38 of 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy written by Amy Coffin is:

Week 38: Investigate Second Life: a 3D virtual world community. Check out the presentation What is Second Life? This learning tool has all the appearances of a video game, but there actually are vibrant genealogy social communities and discussions within the network. Genealogy Wise maintains a group of Second Life genealogists and a calendar of upcoming discussions. You do not have to join Second Life for this challenge. The goal is just to give genealogists exposure to this type of genealogy learning tool. If you have a blog, you may jot down your impressions of Second Life if you wish.

So I have been spending time in Second Life for a year and a half now. I love the genealogy community there and how people from all over the world come together to discuss genealogy. I've learned a lot in the various presentations that have been made. I've helped others work at solving their brick walls. I have found a cousin. Check out the Union of Genealogy Groups calendar to find out all the genealogy events that are happening in Second Life.

Also new in the Second Life genealogy community is the new Second Life Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists. I was one of the members that helped to get this chapter off the ground. I am currently serving as the chapter's secretary. We meet the second Thursday of each month at 5:30 SLT (Second Life Time) or 8:30 ET.

Try out Second Life for yourself. It does have a learning curve and requires a good (but not the newest, most expensive) computer, but once you spend some time there you will see what a wonderful community has been formed. Be sure to friend my avatar, Tina Ubble, and let me know you need any help learning about Second Life.

Tombstone Tuesday: Ambrose P EISWERTH

Immaculate Conception Cemetery
Bastress, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania

Ambrose P Eiswerth
Born Nov. 2, 1900
Died Jan. 21, 1909

Follow Friday - Greg Lamberson's Genealogy Blog

This week I'm pointing you to Greg Lamberson's Genealogy Blog for Follow Friday.

Here is a small selection of Greg's posts:
Family Recipe Friday: Grandma's Devil Food Cake - Sounds wonderful (and fattening)!
Wedding Wednesday: Unknown Wedding ca. 1918 - What a great theme!
Genealogy Goals For The Fall
Treasure Chest Thursday: Hair Wreath
The Genealogical Proof Standard - Why Isn't this Incorporated into my genealogy software?

Take some time and stop by Greg's blog.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Week 37 - Roots Television

The challenge for week 37 of 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy written by Amy Coffin is:

Watch Roots Television. This is a wonderful web site that has the look and feel of a genealogy television channel online. You can watch episodes on various genealogy topics right on your computer. Your challenge this week is quite easy. Watch Roots Television and enjoy. The goal is to practice continuing genealogy education through video. If you’re a blogger, write about one or more of the episodes. What did you learn? Did the video touch on an aspect of your own genealogy research?

See my previous post about Roots Television. I love watching the conference sessions there and wish more were available.

Tombstone Tuesday: Rose and Walter EISWERT

Immaculate Conception Cemetery
Bastress, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania

EISWERT
Rose M.
1904-1995
Walter J
1904-1960

Follow Friday - Elsie says...

For Follow Friday this week, I suggest you take a look at the Elsie says... blog. This is a blog created by Dear Myrtle to record the stories of her friend Elsie Naylor. This blog is a wonderful way to start recording to stories of others. Once you get all the stories down in the order that they are told, they can be reconstructed into a chronological book.

Please take some time to read Elsie's stories:
Climbing Mt. Fuji
Get it in notes
I remember when I saw Tojo

You can learn more about the project on Dear Myrtle's blog:
Tender Times
Revised Plan
Plan C
Friends come to call

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Week 36 - FHL Catalog

Amy Coffin's 36th challenge for 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy is:

Check out the Family History Library catalog. In terms of its library collections, there are no rivals. From this web page, you can search by place, surname, keyword, title, film/fiche, author, subject, and call number. Try all of them. Don’t do actual research with this exercise. Instead just click links and see all the catalog has to offer. Many of these items can be rented for a small fee and viewed at your local Family History Center. You do not have to be a member of the LDS Church to utilize this service. If you write a genealogy blog, tell readers what you found during this exercise, or describe the types of materials you’ve received through this genealogy tool.

Place search is my favorite way to search the FHL catalog. It's the easiest way to find all the material available for a particular county. Make sure to click on the "View Related Places" button in the top right corner after you do your search. If you search for a county, then it will show the towns in that county. The towns will have new and different records than the county as a whole.

The other way I like to use the catalog is through the film search. If you use the Family Search Pilot or Beta sites, often the transcriptions you find there will reference a film number. Enter that number into the catalog and you can find out where the information was taken from and then you are able to order it for yourself.

Jeanetta Bascom - The Lost Daughter

Carley H Bascom is my 4th great grandfather. He had 6 children:

1. Robert Bruce Bascom married Olive Bovard. (My 3rd great grandparents.)
2. Cynthia A Bascom died at the age of 22 unmarried.
3. Azora Ann Bascom married Lewis Downey.
4. Margaret Bascom married Taylor Smith.
5. Jeanetta Bascom
6. Melissa Ellen Bascom married Marion Thomas Cole.

Notice how I don't have any information on Jeanetta? That was true until I received an email from a cousin last week.

The last thing I knew about Jeanetta was that her father, Carley, had given her all his land in his will. None of the other children were mentioned (except Robert Bruce as executor). The other children were all married at the time of Carley's death in 1889 and had probably all received land or money at the time of their weddings.

So what happened to Jeanetta? My newly found cousin's email told me that Jeanetta had married a Dr. William McCarty and sent me the entry for her tombstone on Find A Grave in Jefferson County, Indiana. Her birth date on Find A Grave was incorrect by about 10 years and no death date was given. Was this the correct Jeanetta?

I looked at some online trees for Dr. William W McCarty and found mentions of Jeanetta Bascom McCarty. But they had all placed her as his daughter instead of his wife. Was it his daughter or his second wife on his tombstone?

I found the Jefferson County (Indiana) Public Library has a website called History Rescue full of genealogical indexes. There I was able to find the marriage of Geanette Bascom and William W McCarty on 9 February 1896.

I searched census records for Jeanetta. I found her and William living together in the 1900 and 1910 censuses in Shelby Township, Jefferson County, Indiana. Then I found her as a widow in the 1920 census and 1930 census in Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana. Her ages in the censuses matched her age in the censuses when she lived with her parents, giving a birth date around 1853. So we had found the correct Jeanetta.

Jeanetta probably met William while visiting or living with her sisters, Melissa and Margaret. Both of them lived in Jefferson County. According to an index of church records, Jeanetta died in 1943. Her death was never recorded on the tombstone of her husband and his first wife. Jeanetta did not have any children and her step children (who were her age) might not have wanted to spend the money on her death.

But what about the wrong dates on her tombstone? Well it appears to be a transcription error on Find A Grave. A look at other transcriptions of the cemetery show her birth as 29 August 1853.

Now I have found the last of Carley's children. But I forgot to mention one other thing my new cousin sent me. A picture of Jeanetta Bascom McCarty.

Fall Genealogy Goals

After an exciting summer, it's time for the temperatures to start cooling off and the days to get shorter. Fall means that I have to go back to work, so there will be less genealogy research. But I do have a lot of things I want to get done. Here are my genealogy goals for this fall:

• Make DVDs of my grandfather's 8mm films for the family. (I finished making copies of them and now I need to do some editing and production work.)
• Finish National Institute of Genealogical Studies course - Analysis and Skills - Part 2
• Write some ancestor profiles. I have 3 or 4 that are ready to go if I would just write them.
• Participate in Family History Month at ACPL.
• Read genealogy books
• Enter information found on trip to Williamsport, Pennsylvania into my database.
• Finish work in Toledo City Directories for husband's line.

So there is my list. What's on yours?

Family History Month at Allen County Public Library

October is my favorite month for genealogy. That's because October is Family History Month and it brings a genealogy event to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana every day of the month.

This year they have broken the month into themed weeks. The first week is General Genealogy Week. It ends with the 3rd Annual Military Symposium. This year Amy Johnson Crow will be speaking about civil war research.

The second week is Preservation Week. Then it's Technology Week.

The final week is Dead Week. It ends with Start Sharing The News! A Celebration of Collaboration. Friday night is dinner and Curt Witcher presenting "How The Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne Became a National Tourist Attraction". Saturday is filled with sessions about collaborating with others and sharing your genealogy.

Bonus features of the month include Tuesday consultations and the library being open until midnight on Friday the 29th.

Check out all the genealogy programs offered by the Genealogy Center on their website. I'm definitely attending the Military Symposium and Start Sharing the News! events. My work schedule will determine what else I am able to attend.

Tombstone Tuesday: Peter EISWERT

Immaculate Conception Cemetery
Bastress, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania

Peter A. Eiswert
Died
June 24, 1867
Aged 77 years

Follow Friday - Food.Family.Ephemera

This week I'm featuring a new blog for Follow Friday. It's called Food.Family.Ephemera and it's written by Gena Philibert Ortega. This blog is a look into the genealogy of community cookbooks. What a great way to explore the culture and time period of your ancestors!

So far there are only 3 posts:
Welcome to Food.Family.Ephemera
Cookbooks Reflecting Our Religion
Introduction: Community Cookbook Detective - This is a series of guest blog posts from Madaleine J. Laird. I met Madaleine at FGS and am very excited to read her series about identifying the people in community cookbooks.

Take a look at Food.Family.Ephemera and I hope to see a lot more from them in the future.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Week 35 DAR

It's week 35 of 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy. Here is this week's challenge from Amy Coffin:

Examine the Daughters of the American Revolution® Genealogical Research System (GRS). Even if you aren’t a member of DAR, you can benefit from this wonderful database. Look at the page and enter some test searches. If you know of a Patriot in your line, try that name in the search box. If you don’t have a Patriot name, use John Smith. Explore the results and see the type of information you uncover. Bloggers are encouraged to share their knowledge of this great research tool with their readers.

I have used this site before and found that it can give you some great information to learn more about your soldier ancestor. I found my ancestor John Shepherd (hopefully the link works). I just wish that you could order the record copies online instead of by mail. I searched for a few more of my ancestors and found them in the database. Eventually I might apply to the DAR, but at least for now I can find some sources for my family tree through their records.

September Shout Outs

Thanks to all who commented on this blog last month.

To be on the list you must link to your genealogy blog in your comment.

Ginger at Genealogy By Ginger's Blog
Lorine at Olive Tree Genealogy Blog
Barbara at Life From The Roots
Linda at Documenting The Details
Amy at Amy's Genealogy, etc. Blog
Greta at Greta's Genealogy Bog
Michelle at The Turning of Generations
Tonia at Tonia's Roots
Elyse at Elyse's Genealogy Blog
Amy at The We Tree Genealogy Blog
Joanne at Keeper of the Records
Jenni at Berry in My Family Tree
Missy at Bayside Blog
Kathy at I Will Remember
A Rootdigger
Jennifer at Jennifer's Genealogy Blog
Kathleen at a3Genealogy
Heather at Nutfield Genealogy
Madeleine at KInfoLit
Jenna at Desperately Seeking Surnames
Caroline at Family Stories
Drew at Social Networking for Genealogists
Carol at iPentimento - Genealogy and History
Kerry at Clue Wagon

Thanks again everyone!

Summer Genealogy Goals Reviewed

Summer officially ended for me on Monday when I got called into work. So it's time to review what my summer goals were and see how I did.

So here are some of my goals:

• Order FHL films for wills and probate records of my Indiana ancestors. I plan to order the first one this week. I got through all the will books on microfilm. Of course one was on the page that they forgot to scan, so I guess a court house adventure is in my future. I'll start working on the probate records soon.
• Order death certificates for my ancestors. I read somewhere (unfortunately I don't remember where) that vital records are in lots of danger from laws that keep them hidden. So I am going to attempt to get as many death records as I can this summer just in case laws change. I got through all the Indiana death certificates that I needed for my direct line. Still waiting on the one I ordered from Pennsylvania. I'm probably going to have to complain about it.
• Read my genealogy books. I read some, but not much.
• Work on National Institute of Genealogical Studies course. I will be working on the Analysis and Skills Mentoring Program-Part 2. I started it, but haven't really dived in yet. It is my last course in the intermediate course set. I did the first part of it, now for the second part.
• Write at least 3 ancestor profiles. This is part of my 2010 resolutions. Did not even attempt these. But I do have a few coming up soon (I hope).
• Visit my ancestor's graves in the Cincinnati area. Done!
• Borrow more photos from my grandma's house to scan. I never did get anything new from my grandma. But I did get through making copies of the 8mm film that I borrowed from her house a while ago. Plus I was able to get more home movies, photos and more from the other side of the family when I visited them.
• And the big finale for the summer will be attending the 2010 FGS conference in Knoxville, Tennessee. BEST TIME EVER!

So I didn't get everything done. But as always happens in summer, I found some other opportunities that I couldn't pass. Plus I had to work on my tan. Now to figure out what I need to get done before the end of the year.