I’ve got my Aunts from Ohio here, so I’ve been having a real good time this weekend. I thought I’d pop on real quick this morning and share my most patriotic pictures with you. These are from my Washington DC day trip back in April.
Have I ever mentioned I’m a Genealogy Hoarder? Oh right, I suppose I have. Have I mentioned that my Great-Grandparents were also meticulous record keepers, who never threw out things that might later be important? Oh, I suppose I’ve told you that too.
Here’s one of my “treasures”, it really gave me a glimpse into the early life of my Great Grandfather, William Lawrence Moore. This is a resume he had from the late 1920s.
Continue reading “Treasure Chest Thursday: Great Grandpa”It’s been quite awhile since my last Google Earth Adventure. I really love playing in Google Earth so I really need to make the effort for more of these!
Today’s adventure came about because I am in the midst of trying to plan a Genealogy trip. My first ever. I did make a trip to the Ohio Historical Society once, but technically my Mom has planned all those trips and I’m never quite prepared for being at these very helpful places. So I’m going to try my best to prepare. If anyone wants to leave tips for me, they would be most welcome! I’m probably going to spend a lot of time Googling.
One of my biggest “wants” is to visit the cemetery in Brooklyn where William H Moore is buried. I’m hoping that will verify some dates for me at the very least. Not to mention, I think it’s been awhile since they’ve been visited. So they’re do for some attention from family.
First thing I have to do is take my cemetery deed and locate where the graves are located. The cemetery in Brooklyn is HUGE to say the very least.
Continue reading “GEA: Brooklyn Cemetery”
Today’s Mystery Monday centers around this fine lady. I first noticed her in my first Scan-Go-Round. I noticed probably about 4 copies of the picture on the right. Then in my second Scan-Go-Round, I finally found a face front shot of her.
Things I know about this picture:
When I was thinking this morning about something to highlight for Follow Friday, there was one thing that stuck out among many. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online. My father’s family may be from Ireland but they spent a good 40 years in Brooklyn. This site is probably the best find I’ve ever made. It’s also the only reason I’m not crying like a baby that my local library changed it’s policy for using NewspaperArchive.com.
It’s a project that’s run by the Brooklyn Public Library. The years cover 1841-1902! Those are wonderful years because it encompasses the big Irish immigration. Those years make me giddy just looking at them.
Continue reading “Follow Friday: Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online”I’m still chugging along on my website. Right now I’m putting up my sources on the Doremus family. Re-visiting this family reminds me of some of my old contacts. These were made between me, my mother, and Aunt Diane many many moons ago. Mom and I were using email addresses provided by our Internet Provider at the time. Then they folded up pretty quickly and we switched to cable internet. After that I took a break from my genealogy as I was going to college and working full time. I’ve lost contact with many of these people. It makes me sad to think about that as it’s my Dad’s side of the family that these contacts were made from.
Going through RootsWeb, I actually ran across some emails that were exchanged all those years ago. July 7, 2002 to be exact. Gosh I’m jealous of other people’s organization and thought for sources at the time. I still remember where I got most things but I didn’t source at the time, keeping everything in my own memory. That was so bad of me. I’m regretting it now. I know it’s a common mistake by new researchers. I just beat myself up about it though. More and more as I go through this clean up process now.
Going into my Local Family History Center just really put it all into perspective for me. Did I find anything out new? Not really. I did realize I have to stop taking such a casual stance on everything. I need to keep a research diary, I need to log my correspondence, not just stick it in a genealogy folder after I’ve responded. Have I even responded to some of those? I don’t know because I’m not organized!
So this post is a shout out to all you organized, experienced researchers who are such an inspiration to beginners like me. I’m not a complete beginner sure, but in many ways I still am and always will be. I love the learning process so much, and I appreciate all that I’ve learned in just the short time I’ve been blogging. Now I just need to overcome my social anxiety and comment on the blogs I’m reading and let those who are inspiring me know!
♥♥♥
Today is a glorious day. We’re having a girls day. In our pajamas, watching movies (Avatar right now), and I’m doing genealogy on my laptop. I couldn’t ask for a better day. Except of course if I might have finally found George Thorward in 1870.
George is the first known Thorward I have in America. He lived in Caldwell, New Jersey until he died in 1940. I have him in censuses from 1880 through 1930. One bone of contention I’ve always had is that I can’t find him in 1870, even though in all the censuses he puts his arrival sometime in the 1860s. In his obituary it states that he was born in Obberstetten, Germany. Unfortunately, that is my only hint for where George comes from. Even worse is that there is more than one Oberstetten in Germany. So I’m going to need a better clue.
His obituary is actually a really good source. It gives his age, when he celebrated his wedding anniversary, the church he was a member of, and about when he entered the country. It also verifies the census information of him being a cigar maker/manufacturer his whole career. All good hints.
I always thought I was stalled with George. I didn’t hold out much hope on getting much further until I learned more about the great divide of researching in other countries. That is until I was re-entering his wife’s 1870 census information. She was only 15 but she was living in the household of Samuel Bond as a domestic servant. It makes sense for me, since her father died in 1862 (Civil War maybe?). Today I noticed something on the census page I’d never noticed before.
As you can see, Josephine is there on line 18. What I noticed is actually on line 9. George John/Yohn. He is age 18 (it fits perfectly with my George Thorward). His occupation is listed as a cigar maker’s apprentice. The family George is living with is another Bond family. What really caught my eye is the birth place of Wurtemburg. I can’t find much, but I do know there is an Oberstetten in Wurtemburg, Germany.
Is this my George?
It can’t be a coincidence that Josephine is living with a cigar manufacturer and George would later become a cigar maker. All these things just keep adding up, but I still can’t find where George entered the country. I do feel as if I’ve found him in 1870 now though.
Today I’m choosing to highlight the first known Thorward and his wife. I know that George Thorward immigrated to America very early in his life. There is a family legend that his brother also came over, but that they never spoke. I’ve never found any evidence of another Thorward, but that doesn’t mean one or both of the boys didn’t change their name.
Usually a Monday post would be something randomly thought up by myself, or it would have something to do with Madness Monday at GeneaBloggers. There is certainly enough madness to go around today. I’m deep into my 2010 Cleanup (Personal and Genealogy). On the genealogy front, I need to shape up my website a bit more in the design area. I would like a seamless transition between the main site and the blog. All my issues will be addressed in my next re-design. I just have to be patient enough to let them be for awhile!
Getting back on subject, since I don’t want to bore you guys with constant website nitpicking. I decided that since I have 1,000,000,000.9 unsolved photo mysteries, why not showcase one every Monday. Maybe someday, a person will come along that can help me solve it. It’s also a great way for me to let my extended family see a lot of these photos!
The background behind this photo is… nothing. There was nothing written on the back, there isn’t a group of photos anything like it. This photo is just thrown into the box of treasure. It’s not from my Mom’s side, so that puts it in the New Jersey, New York side of the family. Of course, that side came from Ireland, England, and Germany. So your guess is as good as mine about the origin of this photo.
This is my first Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post! This is a prompt put forth by Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings. I thought this one would be particularly fun since a lot of my Mays relatives had a great many children.
I didn’t need to go far to find one of the most prolific fathers in my tree. There may be one with more children, but they aren’t confirmed by me yet.
The children count for William’s children may be subject to change. I haven’t finished researching them all yet.
born: About 1813, Kentucky
As I stated by Jane’s information this family confuses me too much on the census. The children’s information is always fluctuating. Rebecca has been known to jump around in age by 10 years. I really don’t like to base anything for the Mays’ on any census information if I don’t have to. As you can see they were VERY prolific. It wasn’t just William. His brother Nathan also had 16 or so children. I can’t be sure of Nathan’s though because he was taking care of grandchildren by time the 1880 census came along, so I got very confused about who were children and who were grandchildren. Eventually I’ll sort it all out. They really could have helped out by varying the names of their children but all the Mays’ rotated the same 20 names or so. With each one having children numbering in the teens, well you can see how it would get confusing!
William and Anna Mays household, 1860.