Used Bookstores, Flea Markets and Libraries - Oh My!

Due to a recent job change I am thrilled to be working in downtown Tampa once again. As part of my daily walk at lunch I try to post an interesting picture on Facebook. While some folks on Facebook may be getting bored by the photos I am loving it!


Genealogy at Lunch

One of the first places I wanted to check out was the Old Tampa Book Company. When I worked downtown a few years ago I frequented the store and bought some great old biographies. While eBooks may be the rage, there is nothing as inviting as a used book store.

I made my way to the back of the store. Why? From my previous visits I knew this is where the history books were shelved. More precisely historical accounts of wars along with books divided by the regions of the United States.

I found books written about various military regiments, battles, county histories and memoirs. While none were books I could relate to my ancestors I am sure they would be a wealth of information for someone.

Back Away From The Computer

The reason I chose this topic for my blog is simple. Everything we need for our research is not on the Internet. We have to think outside of the Internet!

Does your town or a neighboring town have a used book store? a flea market? When was the last time you visited the library?

Whether you are staying close to home or going out of town on vacation check out the libraries, used book stores and flea markets. You never know what you may find.

Get out and enjoy the great weather, explore some local resources and maybe break down a few brickwalls.

Take Care,

Pattie



WPA, Public Libraries & Guy Fawkes Day

I have spent the last month under the weather and unable to concentrate for long period of time. That may be a bad combination for writing my blog but it did give me a chance to sit for hours looking up variations of the surname Haag and who lived at 93 Sands Street in Brooklyn in the early part of the 20th Century!

To read about my research on the Haag family check out my new Pack Peddler's Blog entry. Now for some tips to help you in your research.

Sunday October 30
* Iowa Graves Project - WPA - Works Project Administration 1930’s Graves Registration Survey
* Counties not indexed by the 1930s WPA Graves Registration Project, and thus not included in the database on this web site, include Appanoose, Benton, Cherokee, Clinton, Dallas, Des Moines, Dubuque, Hardin, Humboldt, Ida, Iowa, Jasper, Lyon, Monona, Osceola, Pottawattamie, and Warren.
* For more information on WPA Projects check out this article: Records of the Works Projects Administration
* Cyndi's List has a comprehensive list of WPA and other Depression Era Projects

Monday October 31
* Nevada became a state on this date in 1864
* Nevada counties started recording births and deaths in 1887 and are available at the Nevada County Recorder's offices or online.
* Check out Joe Beine's Nevada's Death Records

Tuesday November 1
* Researching in Scotland can span four languages: English, Gaelic, Scots and Latin.
* A name might be Hamish in a Gaelic record, but James if it is recorded in English.

Wednesday November 2
* North and South Dakota became a state on this date in 1889
* The North Dakota State University has a digital collection, online databases, and biographies
* South Dakota residents were counted in the census of Wisconsin in 1836, in Iowa in 1840 and in Minnesota in 1850 as the Pembina District.

Thursday November 3 
* Researching in Scandinavia?
* When researching it is important to understand naming patterns of the region. Your ancestor’s last name in Finland may have been taken from the farm they lived on as an adult.  Example: Isakki Lyllykorpi became Isakki Keturi when he moved to the Keturi farm.

Friday November 4
* Planning a combination vacation/research trip? Or researching at home?
*  Check out the Public Library Site to find local, college, state libraries and more!

Saturday November 5
* Guy Fawkes Day
* The Gunpowder Plot Society traces the events of November 5, 1605 when a group of 13 men tried to blow up Parliament.
* Check out the Gunpowder Plot Society website to see if your English ancestor was involved!

I will be speaking, along with my genealogy buddy Pam Treme at the Florida State Genealogical Society's Annual Conference on November 11th and 12th. If you live in or around the Orlando area please come by!

Take Care,
Pattie


 

Create a Genealogy Bucket List

I love Jack Nicholson movies. No one delivers the line "Here's Johnny!" like he did in The Shining. The other night I was channel surfing and came across Jack and Morgan Freeman in The Bucket List and it got me to thinking about my own bucket list... my Genealogy Bucket List.

My Genealogy Bucket List

What would be on your bucket list if you had unlimited resources or a time machine? While it is not complete, here are some of the ideas I had.

1. Travel to Sterbitz Germany, home of the Schwemm Family. While I would love to find all the birth and christening records what I would really like is to see Sterbitz and learn a bit about its history.

2. Organize a Keteri/Johnson Family Reunion. This is my mother's family and the majority live in Michigan and Minnesota. Since I am one of the older cousins there are many younger cousins I have not seen since they were young children or never met.

3. Track down the descendents of Gustav Blum's wife, Elsa. Gustav may have been my great grandmother's half sibling. Elsa was in an insane asylum when he killed their two children and himself. I would love to find out more about this tragic event and possibly some family photos.

4. Speak at a National Genealogy Conference. While I realize I have a lot of work to do to be considered for such a spot, it is on my bucket list.

5. Win a spot on Family Tree Magazine's top blog list.

6. Time Travel. If this becomes possible in my lifetime I would love an hour with Matilda Mueller Strunk Blum Schumacher. She may or may not be my great great grandmother. While I am fairly certain she was Gustav Blum's mother (see number 3) I have not been able to prove her relationship with Johanna Wilmeir Pahlke, my great grandmother. Johanna and Gus are referred to as half brother and sister, but I have nothing to prove the relationship. Plus, having been married 3 times, she probably has some great stories!

7. Research at the Salt Lake City library for a week. While I have been there before I find that just being there is inspiring and allows me to focus. I love libraries and that is the ultimate library!

Why Start a Bucket List?

I think atarting a Bucket List helped me focus on what I really want out of my genealogy. Sure, I would like to find every birth, death and marriage certificate for every relative but I would also like to connect with living cousins.

On a personal level I enjoy writing this blog and doing presentations so it is natural to want to kick it up a level or two. Listing it on my bucket list makes the goal more real.

So, sit down and do it - create your Genealogy Bucket List. It will help you focus and set goals for yourself and your research.

Take Care,
Pattie

Unknown Woman, Johanna Pahlke (standing) Florence Schwemm Pahlke sitting with son Newton Pahlke

Newspaper Research, Poison and my eReader

I have spent many hours reading newspapers at the Barrington Library (located in Barrington, IL). The library has the local Barrington paper on microfilm beginning in 1890. It has been a wealth of information over the years and has helped flesh out the Schwemm and Pahlke family trees.

Poison at a Children's Party

Newspaper research helps us learn when, where and how our ancestors lived their daily lives making them more real to us. They become more than just a group of vital statistics. They become members of the family who suffered through family tragedy, celebrated marriages, graduations and birthdays. Some even broke the law!

During my research I found that children's parties were quite often front page news. In the March 7th edition of the Barrington Review there were multiple parties! Here is a clipping from a party my great uncle Fred Schwemm attended.


Barrington Review - March 7, 1896 pg 1

Parties Held During the Week
Miss Homuth's Party

Monday evening about twenty of Miss Rose Homuth's friends assembled at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. Homuth to help her celebrate her birthday. Games of various kinds kept those present in a jolly mood until a late hour. "Poison," "I'll Bring Back What I Borrowed," "Keep House," "Fruit Basket," "Roll the Platter," and other games were played. At 10:30 o'clock a dainty lunch was served, girls choosing partners. A most pleasant time was spent by all. Among those present were:

Misses Tillie Hobein, Louisa Sadlic, Emma Schultz, Martha Groff, Maud Cady, Lillie Smith, Ella Homuth, Laura Homuth and Edna Homuth.

E. Weiseman, H. Robertson, Ed Groff, Charlie Schultz, Chas. Schwemm, Walter Homuth, Fred Schwemm, Reuban Homuth, Wilbert Smith and Mr. and Mrs. E. Hachmeister.

POISON is a children's game? While unusual, since it was in the paper I assumed that it was a harmless game which needed to be renamed. After I transcribed the newspaper article into my database I did not think much more of it.

Free Books and my eReader

Today while eating lunch I was browsing for free books on Amazon.com for my Kindle and came across Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie H. Bancroft. Since the copyright was 1909 it was FREE so I downloaded it. I wondered if it would have a reference to the game "Poison" and it did! Poison is a variation on the game of Tag, quite harmless and not deadly. I searched Google Books and it is also available there. I also found a book titled "What Shall We Do Now" which contains 500 games and pastimes written in 1907 by Dorothy Canfield.

Over the past few years I have downloaded many free books from Google Books, Barnes and Noble Online and Amazon. The great thing is that I can read them on my computer, my eReader or print out pages of interest to read or highlight.

I have been loading my Kindle with all types of free books. I have histories written at the turn of the century, fairy tales from countries of my ancestors origin and a popular 30 volume series featuring Ruth Fielding. When my grandmother died I came into possesion of a Ruth Fielding book - so I now have a complete series. Just think, my grandmother may have read them!

Over Labor Day I am going to be in Minneasota with Chuck's extended family, I may teach the kids how to play Poison, now that I know the rules of the game.

Take Care,

Pattie

Louisiana, Maryland and A Quick Trip Home

Louisiana

April 30th marked Louisiana's anniversary of statehood. The year was 1812 but Louisana had their first census in 1810 when it was the Orleans Territory.

Check out my blog, Celebrate Your Louisana Heritage, for links to help in your research.

Maryland

Maryland became a state on April 28, 1788. For a list of what census records are available for Maryland check out Maryland Census Records.

The Maryland State Archives holdings span the spectrum of Muster Rolls from the American Revolution to Index of Colonial Probate Records 1634-1777. It takes more than a few clicks to appreciate all the information available online.

If you live in the area the Maryland Genealogical Society has a "Back to Basics Workshop" on June 25th, 2011. The Society website also has an online database "Baltimore City Church Register Transcriptions" and they are FREE!

Going Home (aka A Quick Research Trip)

I try to to visit my mom and sister at least once a year. An email flyer I received this week from the McHenry County Genealogical Society talked about some historical presentations, walks and new publications that were being sponsored this month. Since I could I decided I would. I booked my flight and will be going home to the northwest suburbs of Chicago in mid May.

My sister will be going with me on an "Old Town Algonquin Walking Tour" and then we will be visiting the Cary-Grove Historical Society to pick up a copy of "Images of America: Cary and Fox River Grove.

I will also be spending time at the Barrington Library so I began a list of people I needed to look up. I had also found some errors on Findagrave.com recently, so that was another list. Recently I found one local cemetery listed twice, so a ride to Dundee to visit and document the error is needed.

While I was in Barrington I needed to visit the local funeral home to find out why my grandfather does not have a military marker. I also wanted to stop at the Barrington Historical Society to see if they ever found that box of 'lost Schwemm photos'.

If the opportunity presented itself, would you be ready to take a 'quick research trip'? I am ready for the research trip now I just have to fit in some time to spend with my mom!

Take Care,
Pattie

New Mexico Research - Part 2

On January 6 my blog entry was about researching in New Mexico. I am happy to pass on another great tip for researching in New Mexico.

My friend Pam Treme recently requested an obituary from a library in Clovis, New Mexico. It ended up that her request was to the wrong library, but an industrious librarian forwarded the request to the New Mexico State Library and voila the obituary was found.

Here is an explanation from the librarian, Terri, of the Clovis-Carver Library:

1. Enter the request with the local library. If you’re looking for an obituary in Clovis, they have an index you can check: http://www.usgwarchives.org/nm/curry/currobit.htm

2. If the local library can’t find it in their collection, the library can forward your request to the state library to see if they can fulfill your request.

If the state library finds the obit, they forward a PDF to the local library, which can then be forwarded to you. In the case of the Clovis-Carver Public Library, the service is free as long as you are able to accept a PDF via email.

Always be sure to check with the library you are working with about any fees that may apply.

New Mexico Archive Project

The New Mexico Archive Project is part of the USGenWeb Archives Project and offers a wealth of free information donated by your fellow researchers. Never pass up a chance to find a description of the "Towns of Harding County" or a transcription of the "Old Anton Chico Cemetery" in Quadalupe County.

You never know what you may find!

Take Care,
Pattie

Books on New Mexico History and Genealogy Research:

Final Destinations: A Travel Guide for Remarkable Cemeteries in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana

Origins of New Mexico Families: A Genealogy of the Spanish Colonial Period

Larger Than Life: New Mexico in the Twentieth Century

Bailing Wire and Gamuza: The True Story of a Family Ranch Near Ramah, New Mexico

Bridge to the Past: The New Mexico State Monuments

Las Vegas isn't just for Gambling.... if you have Neveda Ancestors

If you are researching in Neveda there are many sites on the Internet to assist. If you are in Las Vegas and have a little time on your hands because the dealers and the slots are winning, check out the Clark County Library.

I visited the libray in 2009 and spent hours researching various newspapers on microfilm. I also noticed that the library is advertising at the airport when we landed.

If you are planning a trip to Las Vegas to do some research be sure to contact the Clark County Genealogy Society. The supplied me with great information on what was available and places to visit.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nvccngs/

You can also visit the Nevada State Museum:
http://www.museums.nevadaculture.org/index.php?


If you are not in Las Vegas I have listed some links for Neveda and Las Vegas genealogy research.

Take Care,
Pattie

http://www.ancestorhunt.com/nevada-genealogy.htm
http://www.kindredtrails.com/NV_Clark.html
http://digital.lvccld.org/lvage.html
http://ilsweb.lvccld.org/search/X?searchtype=X&searcharg=las+vegas+sun
http://lvccld.org/library/information/index.cfm
http://usgwarchives.net/maps/nevada/
http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1705&Itemid=421

Everyday Genealogy Desk Calendar