Wonderland Girl's Genealogy

Now What Do I Do? Or, the Day My Internet Went Down!

2011-06-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday afternoon I tried to log on to my computer to check email and tech support email. Alas! No connectivity! I rebooted my modem (that usually works) and when it finished going through all its motions, I noticed my Internet light was off. Mostly I would do mundane household chores, checking back every 30 minutes or so. I worked on my quilt squares until about 11, when I decided to check one more time. Nope--not working yet. Off to bed I went, thinking of places I could take my laptop the next day to at least download email.

Fortunately, it was up again when I checked the next morning. Later in the day my ISP sent an email explaining the situation--a construction worker cut a Qwest cable the previous afternoon, knocking out the dsl lines for all of Infinity Internet customers. Nice to know it wasn't just me that suffered.

But this prompted me to try to remember what I did before computers and the Internet.

I spent a lot of time at my kids' school, volunteering in their classrooms and the media center, going on field trips and helping with other activities there. My house was cleaner. I sewed more. I knitted more. I cooked more. I did more cross-stitch projects. I bowled on a league once a week. I was just getting back into genealogy research again, after one of many brief hiatus's while raising 6 kids.

We got our first computer in January 1995. The Internet as we know it today was in its infancy. My brother insisted I needed the Internet, although I didn't know why I would need it. He signed me up for Prodigy--with a limit of about 10 hours a month (I could easily spend that much time in a day without even trying). I got the brilliant idea one evening to see what might be "online" for genealogy. Prodigy had Message Boards for surnames and locations, so I looked for a few of the surnames I was interested in. "Millet" was one. My gg grandmother Mary Millet married my gg grandfather Samuel Henry Johnson in Jo Daviess Co. IL in 1843, but that was about all I knew of her. I soon "met" another lady researching the same line in the same place. I "met" one of my current Facebook friends (Ray Justus) on the Prodigy Message Boards, thanks to Char Maloney. We posted back and forth, and I went over my allotted 10 hours a month several times--and had to pay extra for it, too. Also on the Prodigy Message Boards I found my husband's Allen family--something his parents were unsuccessful at in 35+ years of searching--thanks to a gentleman in Austin TX who just happened to have a book on our family.

That was all it took! I had started my research back in 1968 as a new mother of a newborn baby girl--thanks to an aunt who had done a family history of sorts while her aunts and uncles were still living. I worked at it off and on while raising all those kids--but once I discovered what was available online (albeit NOTHING like what's available today), I was hooked for good!

Next up: The birth of the USGenWeb Project, and more!

Elisbar Elisibaraschwili - 1902-1945

2009-10-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks I've been on a quest, brought on by a request for information from someone who discovered the tombstone of the above person on the Clark County Genealogy Society's Cemetery web site. A man from Georgia (country--not state) requested information on this guy because his last name is the same, and he is a genealogist who enjoys tracing people with the same last name as his. I can't imagine very many people with this last name, so I suspect most anyone with this last name is related in some way or other.

I got the exact death date from Washington State's online Death Index, and proceeded to the Library, where newspapers are on microfilm. I located the film that covered August and began my search. August 6th was the death date, which is the same day that our country dropped the atomic bomb on several cities in Japan. Naturally the papers for the following days were filled with stories about that event. I have gotten up to August 12th with no mention of this gentleman's death or an obituary, but will be heading back to the library tomorrow so will continue the search.

In the meantime, the *present-day* Mr. Elisbaraschwili had done some more sleuthing online and wrote me again, saying it looked like his shirt-tail relative may have been a German POW. Yet Russia was on our side, so he shouldn't have been considered a POW, unless he was captured by the Germans. Mysteries abound.

I was unaware of War prisoners being held in the USA at all, let alone in our area. I wasn't born until *after* WWII, and this wasn't something ever mentioned in our history books in school. I talked to the CCGS web master, who initially sent me the request since she maintains the online Cemetery pages. Pat's probably 10-15 years older than me and was born and raised in our area, so I figured she might know something. She wasn't aware of any POW camps in our area, either. Must have been a well-guarded secret.

The next step was to go to the LDS Family History Center out on 18th Street to get a copy of Elisbar's death certificate. I did this Wednesday evening, when my friends the Hornes were working there. When I explained the situation to them, John concurred that there were indeed POW camps in the US. He remembered hearing about them as a child in New Mexico, where there were several camps. He immediately got online and began searching for me. He found a report of 154 Russian POW's rebellion at Ft. Dix which explained how Elisbar might have become a soldier of Germany. Seems these 154 captured soldiers at Ft. Dix had rebelled against Stalin and somehow (not clearly explained or else I missed it) found themselves fighting for the Nazi's. The war with Germany was over and the US was preparing to send these men back to Russia. These Russian-German soldiers did not want to go--they were willing to die at the hands of the US than go back to Russia where they would surely be tortured and killed as traitors. Was this how Elisbar became a German soldier?

While John continued his online quest, I found the death certificate and John put it on my flash drive. According to the certificate, Elisbar died of TB and had been under this particular doctor's care for more than a year. And he was listed as Russian soldier, waiting repatriation to Russia. No mention of being a POW, no mention of being a German soldier.

This one will really put my sleuthing abilities to the test. Next steps include:

1. Continue hunting through the newspapers to see if there is any mention of Elisbar's death.

2. Post a "dead-end" question to the CCGS Chat room and put their head-sleuther's skills to the test.

3. Contact my friend who works for the Veterans Administration to see if he has any ideas on how to proceed next. The place of death was Barnes Hospital, Vancouver. I think that was the old VA hospital's name, and if so, there must be records somewhere for this hospital.

Wish me luck!

A Great New Discovery!

2009-09-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

I learned something new yesterday! I already knew that often in the 1920 & 1930 censuses, if you were lucky, the census taker scrawled the name of the street he was working on next to the families who lived there. If they lived in a city or town, and if the census taker remembered that he was supposed to do that.

I was looking at the 1930 census for my mother's hometown of Marysville, Kansas, for someone whose great-grandmother lived there at that time. When I had found the great-grandmother, I scrolled on down the census to the bottom of the page, and there was my mother's oldest sister, her husband, and their infant daughter--my cousin Laura Lee! I mentioned it to the lady for whom I was doing the lookup, and she thought maybe my family had known hers. My mother and all of her siblings have been gone for quite a while now, and I doubt Laura Lee would remember much about living in Marysville since they came to Oregon somewhere before 1936 when the rest of the family migrated. The lady asked what street they were on. I enlarged the census as big as I could get it, then tilted sideways to read the street scrawled along the side. Laramie Street! Then I noticed another column of numbers to the right, and next to the ones I was already familiar with that read "Dwelling Number" and "Family Number." It read "House Number if in Cities or Towns" (or something like that). Whoo-Hoo! I had addresses for my family in Marysville! Who knew!

Well, some of you may have already known this, but for me it was a New Discovery!

I opened up my Microsoft Streets program (since Googlemaps was taking its own sweet time loading), located Marysville, and the street this lady's great-grandmother lived on as well as my mother & her parents and remaining siblings. My aunt and family and the great-grandmother lived on Laramie St., while my mother & parents etc., lived one block over on Jenkins St. What fun! Next I'm going to locate the remaining members of my grandparents' family still in Marysville, since this thoughtful census taker followed his instructions to the letter by including house numbers, too! Give it a try! Then if you ever happen to visit the old home town, you'll have a place to go!

Lenawee County, Michigan

2009-08-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

WGLS blog 8/30

Still tracking down my Millet/Millett family. A great new "find" on the USGenWeb site for Lenawee Co., Michigan. This is one of those good sites with plenty of data. The particular family I am looking after at the moment is Alexander & Hannah Millet. Alexander was born about 1819 in Wayne Co. NY, according to his death records. His 1st wife was Hannah, possibly Hoag. I have not uncovered absolute proof of her maiden name yet, but have seen other family trees with "Hoag" as her maiden name. Therefore, I decided to research into the Hoag families in Lenawee County as well, to see if I could find some form of proof.

What I did find in Lenawee Co's web site for the USGenWeb Project was a couple of Millett marriages--one Rebecca Millett to Stephen Still, and Mary Jane Millett to Abram McNames. Marriages occurred in 1860 & 1859 respectively. I don't know who they are. They are not older children of Alexander and Hannah, as they are not listed with their family in the 1850 census. Also found a death notice for a Frank Millett, who died in 1876 at the age of 39, in Adrian, Lenawee Co. I also found a number of entries for Hoag family members, so will attempt to research them to see if I can make a connection to Hannah Millet(t).

Every time I get an answer to a question, I get new questions:

Answers: This Alexander Millet(t) is not the same Alexander Millet(t) who was an early settler of Jo Daviess Co. Illinois, nor the one who went off to the California Gold Rush in 1850. In 1850 THIS Alexander Millet(t) is happily living in Madison, Lenawee County Michigan with his wife Hannah and children Theron, Jonathan & Edmond. So of the 4 early Alexander's (one born in 1790, one born between 1790 & 1800, one born 1809, and this Alexander), I can eliminate one as the early Jo Daviess Co. IL pioneer. But, is he the same Alexander reported to be the son of my 3gg grandparents, William and Aurinda Millet(t) of Jo Daviess Co. IL? Oops, that goes in the next section for questions.

Questions: Who was Frank Millett who died in 1876? How does he connect with Alexander, if he does? Was he a brother of Rebecca and Mary Jane? And who were their parents?

Oh, and one more thing I found on the Lenawee Co. web site: A diary, kept by one Hannah Pierce, from 1835 till 1873, although her entries were sparse in the 1860's and the last entry was by a niece in 1873, who reported her death on New Years Day. I decided to take a look, since it was possible that she may have mentioned my family in her diary. Well, she did, there are several mentinons of Alexander Millet, A. Millet, and Hannah Millet. Mostly things like going to visit or their coming to visit her, but there is a mention of a child's death in 1858. Since the three children in the 1850 census are still in the 1860 census, there was another child born between 1850 & 1858 who died. More research is needed.

Hannah Pierce also details their travel from Williamson NY (same area as my Millet(t)'s are from) to Michigan, in 1836. They made the journey from Williamson to Palmyra NY by wagon, but the rest was made by canal boat and steamship across the Great Lakes. The entire journey from Williamson to Adrian, Lenawee Co. Michigan was made in approximately one week. To read this, go to http://migenweb.net/lenawee/diary.html
It's pretty long, and most of her entries are short (visited so-&-so, went quilting, etc.), but there are some very interesting entries about life in her era.

Bombshell!

2009-08-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

Cousin David dropped a bombshell on me the other day. He says that my gg grandmother Hobb (nee Elizabeth Parsons) was married before she married my gg grandfather. We knew he had been married before, but I didn't know that she was married before as well. I have a copy of her marriage certificate to James, she was married in 1863 in Missouri and was married using her maiden name, which probably isn't all that unusual. And I should have noticed the two daughters living with James & Elizabeth in the 1870 census, who were older than they should have been for an 1863 marriage. I knew one was the daughter of a previous marriage for James (who had actually been married two times before), I'm not sure that "Nydia/Lydia" ever registered with me, although looking at my genealogy program, I see I do not have her listed as one of their children.

Which brings up another question--one of many: GG grandma Elizabeth was from England, came to America when she was 9 years old and settled in Illinois with her parents, according to her obituary. She married in Missouri. I have not been able to find her parents thus far, in either Illinois or Missouri. Of course, a lot can happen in the 10 years between censuses that may miss documentation, but I wonder if gg grandma Elizabeth came to Missouri alone, or with a family. I find an Elizabeth of the right age and birthplace in Kane Co. IL in 1860, enumerated with a 41-year old Thomas Parsons. He is certainly old enough to be the father of a 17 year old. Thirty-year old Eliza probably isn't Elizabeth's mother, especially since there's a gap between Elizabeth and the next child--a pretty good-sized gap. Second wife? But I have been unable to find anyone thus far in Missouri (Clark Co.) who matches up.

And I have not been able to find a marriage record for Elizabeth and any Fife in Illinois, which is where they were supposed to have been married. The state of Illinois has a marriage index online, transcribed, so prone to errors, and someone could have miss-transcribed their names, or missed them altogether.

Nydia Fite is the daughter of Elizabeth and her first husband, reportedly Albert Fite. She only appears on the one census as a child, as she married Luman Washington Quinn in 1879 in Iowa (found the marriage on a marriage index). So in 1880 she is in Des Moines IA with her husband. The next Federal census is 1900, and the family is in Saginaw, Michigan. So is Elizabeth--listed as mother-in-law to Luman. Elizabeth is also listed back in Missouri in a son's household. If she was visiting, she stuck around until 1920, although I suppose she could have gone back and forth, since she made the journey there in the first place. In 1910 and 1920 she is still living with Nydia, in Chicago, although in 1920 Luman has died and Nydia has remarried. Nydia died in 1922, and Elizabeth moved back to Kansas, living with her oldest daughter she had with James, my great grandmother, Sarah Hobb Rathbun. Elizabeth died the following year.

So many questions, still looking for answers.

1. How did Elizabeth happen to come to Missouri? Did she travel alone or with family? What happened to her family?
2. How did Nydia get from Missouri to Iowa to marry? How did she meet Luman Quinn? Was he in Missouri? Did Nydia travel alone to Iowa?

I still have more places to look. Iowa has a pretty good state census, I hope to find them in the 1885 census, if they haven't already moved to Michigan by then. Perhaps Luman will be found in an 1875 census, if there is one.

At least we know where a couple of odd names in the family come from. My grandfather Rathbun had a sister named Nydia. And one of James & Elizabeth's sons name was James Luman, although I believe he went by Luman.

Millet's, Simmons, & Browns, Oh-My!

2009-08-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night, I decided to see if I could possibly find any further data about my 3gg grandmother's sister, Betsey Millet Simmons, and her family. I had tried before, and they all seemed to disappear after 1863, when their son Watson married Mariette J. Brown in Branch Co., Missouri. With a little searching, I found them on the 1870 census in Monroe Co., Missouri. And a bonus find--Hiram Millet, whom I believe to be my 3gg grandfather's brother. Finding him with a child of Betsey adds one more little chink of proof that I am right as I attempt to put this family together.

What I found was a household headed up by "Mary J. Simmons," and which included two Simmon's children (Glen age 3 & Horace age 1), an older Brown couple, Melville Simmons (brother-in-law to "Mary J.", and Hiram Millett (age 74). What a mixed household, and I'd certainly be interested in knowing just how they all drifted from "up north" to Missouri.

Since this was the latest time frame for anyone in this particular family, I decided to do a little more exploring. Going to the 1880 census, they were no longer in Monroe County. I could not find a Millett or a Simmons of the right ages in Missouri, but when I took the birth date parameter out of the search engine, I turned up the two Simmons boys in neighboring Shelby County, with step-dad William T. Carothers and their mother "Etta J." Carothers. Ancestry.com has Missouri marriages at their web site, so it wasn't difficult to find an 1871 marriage between the two, and a copy now resides on my computer. No Melville, although I did find him in Nebraska in 1880. No Hiram Millett, but given that he would be about 84, I would have been more surprised if I had found him.

More sleuthing between Ancestry.com, the Missouri Digital Archives site with their death records online, and the USGenWeb site for Shelby County, allowed me to put most of the pieces of this family together. A Shelby County history on this USGenWeb site confirmed that the two Brown's (Henry & Sarah) were indeed Mariette/Mary J./Etta's parents, and that her first husband was indeed Watson Simmons. Found wives and children for the two Simmons boys, death and burial records for them as well.

Would I have found them without the Internet? I doubt that I would have lived long enough to have found them without the Internet, nor been lucky enough to come across any current-day relatives to share information with.

The saga will continue..............

Sorting Out My Millet Family

2009-08-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

What? Two posts in the same day? I can go months with nothing, then suddenly I do two in one day--not to mention one last week. Maybe I'm turning over a new leaf

I was going to tie this in with the previous post, but it didn't seem right, so here you go--two in one day. Enjoy, who knows when I'll do another one.

From everything I can find in my research, I am a descendant of Jonathan & Jenet (Edmond) Millet of Voluntown, New London, Connecticut. My assignment, and I have accepted it, is to figure out which one of their sons I am descended from.

I have ruled out the oldest son, John, born in 1764. His family went to Darke County, Ohio, by 1830 when he appears in the census for Twin township. His will is made out in 1831, and he died sometime before May, 1833. His will names all but two of his children. His "two youngest daughters" are listed this way, not by name. I was never sure if this was "my" John, but later on a timely email from someone who had in his possession a family history of sorts, indicated this was indeed the oldest son of Jonathan & Jenet. I've found no trace of him between 1800 & 1830, but have traced his descendants enough to know that he is not my 4gg grandfather, in spite of having a son named "Merrit."

I have also ruled out Samuel, born in 1772. His family is well-documented, first in a history written in the late 1800's by someone related to his wife, Rachel Douglass, and by further research. Most of his family remained in upstate New York, although a few did migrate west and settled in Illinois, which is where I first pick up my gg grandmother Mary Millet.

And I've ruled out William, although at one time I was pretty sure he was my 3gg grandfather. However, he seemed to be most prominent in Jefferson Co., Indiana, as well as Geauga Co. Ohio and Jo Daviess Co. IL, so he always made me scratch my head in wonder. Later, we discovered why he was hopping around so much.

The other sons are Andrew (born 1767), Daniel (born 1774), Jonathan (born abt 1780), William (born about 1784) and Alexander (born 1790).

My gg grandmother was Mary Millet. She married my gg grandfather, Samuel Henry Johnson, in 1843 in Jo Daviess County, Illinois. She had two sons, Merrit and Samuel Henry Jr., before dying prior to 1850. Samuel married Roxy Lyon in 1850, who turns out to be a cousin of Mary's. A descendant of the second marriage has a paper which she found in her great grandmother's things, giving a listing of some of this family. The paper credits Alexander Millet for being the father of Alexander, William, Hiram and Martin Millet, as well as daughters Rhoda and one who married a Simmons. The paper also gives credit to this William as the father of my Mary. I had thought William was my 3gg grandfather, but I had the wrong William!

Gotta love this family! They are not original when naming their children--they use the ancestral names over and over again, and it gets confusing when there are many Williams, Alexanders, etc., who are born pretty close together and often in the same place. The William I "thought" was mine, turns out he's only an uncle! Thank you, Sandy Groezinger, for appearing on the genealogical scene long enough to share this information with me!

However, in my research, I have not found an Alexander Millet old enough to be fathering any children in the 1790's to early 1800's. The above-mentioned Alexander wasn't born until 1790; the other Alexander's were born even later, and are apparently sons of some of the brothers. One Alexander was born in 1809, and through court records of Geauga County we can assume this one is a son of William, grandson of Jonathan & Jenet.

This is getting long, so I will cut to the chase. I have narrowed down the possible candidates to be the grandfather of Mary Millet Johnson, to Andrew, son of Jonathan & Jenet. In checking through 1800-1830 censuses, he is the only one with enough children listed in his household to qualify, compared to his brothers Alexander, Daniel, William & Jonathan. Samuel has already been ruled out due to the Douglass genealogy, and he did not have an Alexander according to this biography. Or a William.

So, I'm looking for an illusive will or land record that will give me the definitive proof I need to declare the identity of my 4gg grandfather. And while I'm at it, I'm trying to sort out the later generations who keep popping up here and there in the same places as my known Millet family.

Stay tuned for more!

2009-08-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Over at the USGenWeb Project:

Elections for the USGW Project's Advisory Board were recently completed, although we do not have the results yet as to who won or lost. I have one more year on the AB, serving as the Northeast-North Central County Coordinator Representative. Then I plan to "retire," and get out of politics. It's been somewhat of an exercise in futility. I naively thought that I could make a difference, but when you're dealing in politics, you just can't make some people happy no matter what you do. There are some people who think the AB can step in and solve all the problems, and there are others who squwack when we try to do something. Since the title and job description are pretty closely tied (aka "advisory"), we really don't have the power that some people think we do.

Another County Coordinator bit the dust recently, in a southern state which my husband has genealogical ties to. The dust hasn't settled there yet, but I don't think the CC plans on protesting or filing any grievances for her unjust "firing." Too bad, from what I see it's an open & shut case of unjust relieving of duty. But the CC is probably smarter than I would be, because if she files and wins, she still has to live with the State Coordinator, who would undoubtedly do it right the next time. Easier for her to pack it up and be independent. With the search engines these days, her web site will still be found.

Garden of the Gods

2009-07-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

We just returned home from our annual trip to Colorado Springs to visit my dad. One of our favorite things to do while we're there is to take a trip through the Garden of the Gods. This place has a special meaning to me, because as a young girl, my grandmother camped out here en route from Boise, Idaho, back to Marysville, Kansas. Seems her father was always looking for some place better than the flat lands of Kansas, and one of the first places he tried was Boise, Idaho. I am not sure of the time frame for the travel, but one of her younger sisters was born in Boise in 1889. She was named "Idaho Rose," although she always went by "Rose." So somewhere between 1889 and 1994, when the next child was born, the family returned to Kansas. My grandmother told us that they stopped to visit relatives in Colorado Springs, camping out in the Garden of the Gods while her father worked to earn more money to make the trip home. In researching the family, I find that my great grandmother had a sister Julia, who settled in Colorado Springs about 1888 with husband and children. By process of elimination, the Watson's are the ones who my grandmother's family visited on the way home.

My great grandfather also tried the Oklahoma Gold Rush, some place in Canada, and Arkansas as a new home for his family. Finding nothing to suit him in any of these places, he always went back to Marysville. I've been to Marysville, and if he was looking for a prettier place, I'd say Colorado Springs wins it, hands down. I've seen pictures of Oklahoma, and I've been to Boise, so there's not much difference (IMHO) between these locations. I don't know where in Canada he went so can't compare, but I'm thinking that most of Canada is MUCH prettier than Kansas. Maybe he thought it was too cold, I don't know. I do know that if he had gone further west to, say, La Grande or on to Portland, my whole history and personality could have been changed by that one decision. But as he always returned to Kansas, it allowed my grandparents to meet and marry and produce my mother. Who knows who I'd be, or where I'd be--otherwise.

Somewhere in the mid-1930's, after my great grandfather's death, my grandparents brought their family west to Oregon to join two of their married children who had already settled there. We traveled over the same roads 70-some years later, culminating in a stop in that very place where my grandmother spent some time as a young child.

Internet Genealogy

2009-04-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

I am amazed when I think of how many new genealogical records have been added to the 'net in the past 14 years. Fourteen years ago, wondering what I was going to do with this new-fangled tool that I had been given (the Internet), I typed the word "Genealogy" into a search box on Prodigy, and that launched me into online genealogy--something I haven't quit doing in all this time. Prodigy had their Message Boards, and I quickly located a few for the surnames that I research. Millet was one, and Allen was another one. I made great strides in the year that I was on Prodigy, and then my dear brother decided that I was ready for the "real" Internet.

This is where I discovered "real" online records. The first ones I discovered were census records on a Darke County Ohio web site, run by my online friend, Wally Garchow. Discovered some Millet's on some of the census transcriptions, and saved them "just in case" they were part of my family. Years later, thanks to Rootsweb Message Boards and mailing lists, it was confirmed that they were a part of my Millet line.

In 1996 I was invited to become part of the USGenWeb Project, an ambitious project to create a web site for every county in the United States. I knew nothing of html or web site publishing, but a wonderful volunteer named Nancy Trice held my hand through the process, and Marshall County, Kansas was added to the Project. I felt so good about this that I adopted two more counties in Ohio, my home county in Washington state, and just last December, two more in Colorado. While the USGenWeb Project has grown by leaps and bounds in nearly 13 years, other entities have been added to the game.

Many states have begun to digitize their records and you can find actual images online for Missouri marriages and deaths. Washington state will undoubtedly have their death certificates online soon (currently there is a good index for them). Utah has online records--actual images too. There are other states with online records, and of course the LDS Church has been indexing from their vast collection of microfilmed records and putting the images online for better than a year now.

Thus I can open up my genealogy program, select a family, and go online to find records and information about them. Over the past few days I've been looking at my Hobb/Hobbs line, found in Missouri. This is my stepdad's paternal grandmother's parents. How incredible it is to find a marriage license and application--actual image--online for them, to save and to print out for my files.

Looking for cemetery or tombstone records? You'll find them online, affiliated with the USGenWeb's Tombstone Project, or at interment.net and findagrave.com. We truly live in a wonderous age, and locating our ancestors has become MUCH easier now than when I started nearly 41 years ago. I expect that as time passes, we'll see even more miracles in the field of "Internet Genealogy."

Using Censuses to Find Your Family

2009-02-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

Earlier in the week I was spending a little time surfing the 'net and working on my elusive Millet line. I was checking out early census records on Ancestry.com, and had come across a couple of new (to me) Millet's whom I had never run into before.

Now keep in mind that in all Federal censuses before 1850, only the heads of household were listed by name, with tally marks by age group for all members of the household--parents, children, anyone who lives in that household. Depending on the year, the age groups are broken down by "under 10," or "under 5," "5 to 10," etc. And they're also broken down by males or females, so you can tell there are x number of children by age and gender. They aren't especially helpful since they do not list all residents of the household by name. You can look at the information you already have and try to determine if you have all the children or not. And of course you don't know if all the children belong to the head of household who is listed by name. Case in point: The gentleman whom I believe to be my 4th great great grandfather is Andrew Millet, and in 1830 he is living in Walworth, Wayne Co. NY. He was born in 1867, so by 1830 he's in the neighborhood of 63 years old. You would think there would be no children in his household, at least not very young ones, especially since his wife is older as well. But in this census there are younger adults and small children living with them. Now I am using this as a possible clue that one of his married children & family are living with them. Since I cannot locate his probable son William, whom I am even more sure is my 3gg grandfather, there is the possibility that this younger family is William's.

As I was strolling through the pages, a new Millet jumped out at me. Martha Millet, living in Rushford, Allegany Co. New York in 1830. I had never noticed her before, and so far I've been unsuccessful at finding her in 1840. In 1820 three Millet brothers are living in this county--Daniel, Jonathan, and Alexander. In 1830 Alexander is still here, but no Jonathan and no Daniel. Now, family legend tells us that Daniel went somewhere (Ohio or Michigan?) and was shot by a hunter who mistook him for a bear. If this is really true, and I have not been able to confirm it, Martha may be the widow of Jonathan, if he died between 1820 & 1830. I've not been able to locate him in later censuses either, which makes me think he had died between those dates. He could also have been moving west, leaving his family at home until he found a suitable homestead site and prepared to bring them west.

I'm certainly not done hunting, and will be undertaking a search in 1850 to see what Millet's may be in the area. In 1850, all household members are identified by name. We don't know what the relationship is for sure, but at least there are names.

But I digress. I have discovered that perhaps it's not the wisest thing to do to wait until bedtime to start researching. It literally took me HOURS to get to sleep that night, I was so excited and busy thinking about possibilities.

What's next? Looking at later censuses to see if I can find Martha, although she may have remarried and I would not have her new name, unless her children were listed under Millet and not the new husband's name. And renting some microfilm from the LDS Family History Library for Allegany Co. NY land records, which should tell what these men's wives names were--if they bought and/or sold land.

More later, I hope!

Serendipity in Oklahoma

2008-10-23T22:58:00.000-07:00

This is the ideal place to share this event. I realize I haven't written here in several months, but this looks like a good story to share, since it relates to family history.

I recently received a request to look for an obituary for someone, from an unknown lady in an unknown place. After I located the obituary for her and typed it up and emailed it, she thanked me and said, "If there's anything you need in Oklahoma, just let me know."

Well, people have said similar things to me before, and I usually just thank them and say I will contact them if I have a need for. And I never do, for most of the time they live in areas where none of my family ever lived. This time was different.

I remembered that some of my grandparents' relatives lived in a small town in Oklahoma called "Lookeba." I recently submitted names for temple work for some of them. My great grandmother Johnson's sister (nee Belden) had married a Chambers, and I remembered that later on they had gone to Lookeba, but I forgotten that my grandmother's brother also lived there. In fact, he was the husband of one of the people I had submitted for temple ordinances. Something just told me to mention this town, even though I figured the chances of her being anywhere near it were remote.

Imagine my surprise when she replied and said that her mother had been born there, was still alive (and age 89), as was an older sister, and she goes there every year to put flowers on the graves of her family who are buried there. She asked for the names of my family, so I had to do a little digging to get them all straight, but I sent them on to her yesterday.

Tonight she replied, saying she had met one of my grandmother's nephews, still living and still living in Lookeba, this past spring. And her mother remembered many of the people I had mentioned to this lady.

Talk about a small world! You just never know who you will meet online!

We will continue to correspond, I'm sure. She has promised pictures of tombstones when she goes to the cemetery next Memorial day. I hope for an opportunity to correpond with my mother's cousin Charles (the one she met), it will be great to "get together" with a branch of the family who went south 100 years ago, while my branch came west. And I can't wait to tell my cousin Mike about this latest contact!

A Belated Memorial Day Adventure

2008-06-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we finally got the chance to do the "Memorial Day" activity that was delayed by the early birth of our 11th grandchild some three weeks early. We took our youngest daughters and our new son-in-law on this trip, which actually was an extended sightseeing tour that we often take. Putting flowers on the graves of my mother and my in-laws, who are interred in the same cemetery, was actually one of the last things we did, but we had a couple of other genealogical moments before and after.

My husband grew up in the area of Washington Park, in Portland. All of our children enjoy going through the park, and through his old neighborhood, recalling the stories he told of growing up there. Our first stop was in Washington Park, taking a walk through the lower park, and into the Holocaust Memorial. More on that later. We then went on to the Rose Gardens, which were disappointing because there were very few blooming rose bushes due to our cold and wet spring. Then we drove up past his old house, which has changed since the family sold it back in 1995. A quick look at our kids' favorite houses in the area--the "Spider House" and the "Castle," then we were off to the cemetery. Even though my twin daughters aren't at all interested in genealogy and family history research, cemeteries have always had a certain fascination for them. We visited their Allen grandparents' graves first, and left flowers. There was a new bench which served as a tombstone for someone buried nearby, that wasn't there the last time we visited. Interesting, and a nice touch. Also on a nearby grave, a picture of the deceased was on the tombstone, which we found interesting. Then we drove down to the Mausoleum just down the hill from my in-laws' grave, and added flowers to her burial site. Our younger three children never knew their "Grandma Irene," but have seen pictures of her and have heard stories. She died a year before our son was born, and three years to the day that the twins were born. They were not quite 3 when their "Grandma Nora" died, and not quite 10 when their grandpa died. Our three younger children carry on their legacy a bit: son is named for both of his grandfather's, the twins' middle names are their grandmother's. My mother always went by her middle name rather than the first, and I could never figure out her objection to my dad being called by HIS middle name instead of his first name (by his family mostly). I'm afraid the oldest twin is destined to pass on the tradition of using "Irene" for the middle name of her daughter--since she's the third generation to carry it herself.

But I digress, my real purpose in writing is about the Holocaust Memorial that is set up in Washington Park. This was our third time to visit, and it is just as sobering the third time as it was the first. Especially this time, because our new son-in-law is of Jewish descent through his mother, who is a full-blooded Jew. We read the complete write-ups on the walls of the Memorial, and wondered how the Nazi's could be so cruel to their fellow man. Son-in-law said that he has heard that there were family members who perished in the various purges of the Holocaust, but his mother and grandmother have been unable to learn any details so far. While I did not lose anyone in the Holocaust that I am aware of, this is especially sobering to me as well, because in the closing days of World War II, the Russian Army came through Pommern, driving all German residents, old and young, weak and well, out of their homes and country that had been theirs for who knows how long. My birth father was born in Stolzenhagen, Pomerania, right in the path of the invading Russian army, I'm quite sure. While he came to this country as a 6 month old baby with his parents and brothers, and his mother's family was already here, I know that my grandfather left a brother there, according to immigration records. I am certain that there were still members of my family there following World War II. What happened to them? I can only guess. Millions died in that purge, according to history books. I can only hope that one day I will be able to locate records for them. And the words in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 1:6: "Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord," have even greater meaning for me.

Dousing For the Dead

2008-04-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

Are you intrigued by the title? Do you know what "dousing" is? Do you know what "witching" is? Well, let me explain this to you.

Dousing for the Dead, or Grave-Witching, is similar to water-witching or dousing which you may have seen depicted in an old movie or tv show. But dousing for the dead, or grave-witching, hopefully will turn up something other than water: a body!

Dousing, or grave-witching--is the art of locating a body with a pair of metal rods which react when they come near a body. It's very useful when one is trying to find a burial which does not have a tombstone. And it's weird, but it does work.

One day last week our genealogy society made a field trip to a nearby cemetery. There were about a dozen of us, and only 4 sets of witching rods. Two sets were made from 1/8 " brass welding rods, the other 2 sets were smaller and made of aluminum. About 6 inches of the rod is bent into a handle shape, making each rod look a little bit like the letter "L." After a brief rundown of what to expect when we got to the cemetery, we were off!

Lethene, the lady in charge, showed us how to hold the rods. Taking one in each hand, she set off slowly towards a grave that was marked by a tombstone. When the rods come in "contact" with a buried body, they react, usually by crossing with each other. We watched carefully to see what would happen--and sure enough--her rods crossed as she held them over a grave. We each took our turns with the rods, and it worked for all of us. Some people even had the rods do odd things like turn completely around and point over their shoulders; both rods turn one way or the other instead of crossing, and things like that. There's supposed to be a way to determine if your body is male or female by how the rods react, but none of us knew just what that was. And if a body is more than 100 years old, the reaction of the rods might not be as strong as with a more recent burial. Since we were in the pioneer cemetery of our city, most of the graves were over 100 years old--but we noted pretty good reaction from all of the ones we tried.

On another note, a relative of my dad's had written me last fall to say that the gentleman who is the record keeper of the cemeteries back in Lincoln Co. Kansas, was a grave witcher, and had witched around the grave of my dad's grandmother. You see, she died in 1885-ish and was buried in a cemtery there. Dad's grandfather died in 1920, and was supposedly buried in a different cemtery, which we thought strange since he had never remarried in all the 35 years he was alone. There was no record of Great Grandpa Watson's being buried in the other local cemtery, so the witcher took his rods out to Great Grandma Watson's tombstone and began witching. He reported that there is a man buried next to Great Grandma with no tombstone, and that he is sure it's Great Grandpa! This report came shortly after I first heard about grave witching, and about 6 months before I got to try it for myself. While dousing for the dead probably isn't going to do you much good unless you dig up the body and run dna tests to find out who it is, it's an intriguing activity, and one that you might find interesting if you have any bodies you are looking for. Just get yourself some metal rods about 3 feet in length, bend a handle, and head on out!

Genealogy Heaven!

2007-10-05T00:41:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to report today. I think yesterday I mentioned my Paxton finds. I was able to verify today that the people mentioned in the deed records were indeed Paxton's. In checking resources for Mason Co. KY I also came across some Pangburns. They're connected to the Paxton's somehow, I just can't remember how. Spent a good part of the day in Mason Co. Also talked over the missionary lady's family from the Vancouver area and gave her some suggestions on what to do next for California. I need to check for marriages for the kids when I get home and have access to the Clark Co. Marriage index.

We had a meeting with the Church's Indexing people today. They'd like our genealogy society to get interested in helping with the indexing project. I've been doing it for several months now. The Church is planning on putting indexes as well as digitized images of all their microfilms, online and for free. A lofty goal, and one that will take years to come to a complete realization of that goal. But you've got to start somewhere.

If you've ever looked for someone on Ancestry's 1930 census index with little or no luck, perhaps this explains it: I learned today that Ancestry farmed out the indexing to China. No wonder I can't find anyone on the index. Silly people!

Catch-Up

2007-10-03T20:51:00.000-07:00

No, not the stuff that goes on french fries. I'm behind, with all the neat stuff I'm finding at the Family History Library I've neglected to tell all. So here it is in a nutshell:

1. Bates Co. Missouri. DH's mother's family was from here, and after reading the county history and checking records, looks like they have been here anywhere from 1842-1856. Surnames are DeWeese, Wix, Beghtol, Bruner. The Beghtol's and Bruner's don't appear to have made much of a presence in the area, but there were a lot of DeWeese's and Wixes. Found marriages, cemeteries, obituaries (again--those useless old ones with little to no information), and more. My folder for these families runneth over.

2. Union Co., Oregon. I actually researched microfilm here before I turned to Bates Co., to go along with the onsite research I'll be doing on my way home next week. Found death records for Ora McDonald Smith Lindsay's husband, which listed his parents. Found some other deaths in the family too, so I can look for obituaries in newspapers. This family's temple work has not been done yet, for the most part. Permelia Belden Smith (great grandma's sister) had her work done by descendants of another sister who died in a housefire in Marysville, Kansas, but "Aunt Millie's" husband has not. Well, his baptism is done, his endowments and sealing to spouse is in the works. I've got enough information on Ora & Frank to do their work too, since it appears there are no descendants for either of them. Interesting how things come about, isn't it?

3. I may be on the verge of a break-through for one of my dead-end lines: Paxton's in Franklin Co. Ohio in the early 1800's. We've been at a stopping point for my 3gg grandfather for more years than I care to think of, but locating some deed and court records today has given me a couple of possibilities to check out. Seems 3gg grandfather's father was already deceased in 1823 when Samuel Paxton (the 3gg grandpa) married Amy Wilcox. At least that is what is mentioned on his application for a marriage license. He was apparently under age 21, as his mother had to give her consent for his marrying. But in checking early deed and court records, I've come up with three possible fathers for ggg grandpa Sam. One was apparently still living after 1823 since he was wheeling & dealing in land up to at least 1850. That was Jonathan Paxton. The next one was James, who was dead by 1826 when his heirs were buying some more land. Then in 1840 they apparently decided to sell it all for the tidy little sum of $3,050.00. Most of the heirs were from Mason Co. KY. A new place to search? The third one seems to be the most likely candidate (IMHO). Charles Paxton and his associates took one of the founding fathers of Franklinton, Ohio to court twice in 1817 and won both judgements. That's the only mention of him I have come across. There is no 1820 census for Franklin County, unfortunately. But we now have 2 possibilities to check out.

I met a lady today who needs some research done in Clark County WA. She's on a family history mission for the Church. Her family seems to have disappeared between 1920 & 1930. While she & I were discussing her family, she thinks she has located the woman in 1930 in Chico CA, as a servant in an apparently unrelated household. No children with her, no husband. Of course by 1930 the children are probably grown. She is a widow, so the husband died, but did he die in WA or CA? There may be a gentleman by his name in the WA State Death Index, but I have to bring my magnifying glass with me because I can't read whether the last name is Hill or Hall. If it's Hill, I'll check out the death certificate. If it's Hall, he probably died in California between 1920 & 1930.

Tomorrow is day 4. What will I find tomorrow?

On My Way

2007-09-29T22:20:00.001-07:00

I left this morning, shortly after 10 a.m., about an hour after I had intended to. Arrived in La Grande a little before 3, and checked into my motel, unpacked, unwound just a tiny little bit before heading off to Eastern Oregon University's Pierce Library, to look up some obituaries on microfilm for some of my Union County Oregon relatives. The one I really wanted was for my gg grandmother, Nancy Elizabeth (Davey) Belden, who died in 1889 (not looking up exact date buy I have it) according to the LDS Ancestral File. I know it was a lot to hope for, because these very early obituaries usually contain very little family information, but you never know when you'll get lucky. Looks like I won't get lucky here, because it appears there are no newspapers available which includes the date she supposedly died. I was hoping for (and I know it was a longshot anyway) mention of her parents or at least where she was born. She was married to my gg grandfather in Cayuga Co. NY in the late 1840's, and appears there with husband and a couple kids in the 1850 census. Unfortunately, there are no other Davey's in the census index. Was she dropped off from another planet? I suppose I could get ambitious and read through each township line by line on the 1850, because indexes can be wrong. I just haven't gotten that ambitious yet, but I can see it might come to that some day. Of course there is no guarantee her family was still in the area anyway.

I might add that it took me a long time to get to this library. The camus maps left a little to be desired, and it seems I drove around and around forever with no luck. I ended up at the house I grew up in (we left La Grande when I was 7), but we had already been there a few times over the past few years so it wasn't any big discovery to me. I did ask for directions from a couple of neighbors, but by the time I got back on the road, I had forgotten half of what they told me. I did eventually stumble upon it.

I spent a couple of hours looking at newspapers. Those early newspapers don't usually have obituaries in a neat little section like they do nowadays. So it's read through every page. The first one I found was for Ora Lindsay, who was the adopted daughter of my great grandmother's sister. She died in 1913 at the age of 23. The obit mentioned her husband, but not by name. I assume there were no children, but who knows. I have on my list an obituary for a Laura Lindsay, who died in 1912. Could she have been a daughter of Ora & John Lindsay? Hope to find out on my return trip.

Next I checked for one David Greiner, who was the grandfather-in-law of the lady in Oklahoma who sent me a CD full of pictures of my family in the La Grande area. Her mother-in-law had them, she had no idea why, or if there is any connection between our families. But it was a case in point for posting your families everywhere you can, on message boards, mailing lists, etc. She found me, spend who-knows how many days scanning these pictures, burning them on a CD and sending them to me. One family mystery was semi-cleared up, but a couple more have been introduced.

The last one I found was for my great grandmother's sister, Permelia Elvira Belden Smith, adoptive mother to Ora Smith Lindsay. The obit didn't get mention her name and didn't even get her husband's initial's right. It read "F.M. Smith." Should have been "S.N. Smith." At least it mentioned her surviving sisters and brothers and son, so I know I had the right person in spite of the butchered name/initials. I looked for one for Ora Smith Lindsay's birth mother, who I knew as Rose Anna Hammack McDonald. Thanks to the CD full of pictures and letters, we know who the birth parents were. Ora (her brother is Frank) father died in 1902 in a train accident in North Powder. Was this why these children were given to the Smith's to raise?

But it's late, I am heading to bed in a few minutes. The rest of the trip to Salt Lake will be completed tomorrow. Another report hopefully on Monday.

Salt Lake or Bust!

2007-09-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

Every year about this time, my local genealogical society (Clark County Genealogical Society) plans and sets up a research trip to Salt Lake to the LDS Family History Library. This year's trip begins on September 30th, and ends on the 7th of October. A FULL week of genealogical research in the world's largest genealogical repository.

My trip is going to start a day early. I will be leaving on Saturday the 29th, with a stop in La Grande, which is where I was born. I plan on spending some time reading early newspapers on microfilm at Eastern Oregon College, in hopes of finding obituaries for my gg grandmother and one of her sons who died there in the late 1800's. I have a death date for my gg grandmother from the LDS Ancestral File, so that's the place to start looking. I know her son was married in 1890 and does not show up on the 1900 census (nor does his bride, at least not under the Belden surname). Family rumor has it that Alexander Belden was shot or stabbed in a fight over cards in La Grande. Since I don't have a death date, it's read through all the newspapers and hope he died early on. If he really did die in a fight over cards, there should be some newspaper articles. We have visited their gravesites in the Summerville cemetery and there are no tombstones; their cemetery or funeral cards (available on microfilm through the LDS FHL) also contain no death dates. I'm in for a fun time! Now, if those early newspapers are just readable!

Then Sunday morning it's back in the car and drive the rest of the way to Salt Lake. On the way home I'll be stopping in La Grande again, with a full day of newspaper research if I need it.

Originally I was stopping in La Grade on the way home for two extra days, but to make my family feel better about the fact that I'm driving alone, I decided to go part way each day and break up the La Grande trip both coming and going. This makes my dh feel better about my driving, because he was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to handle a 12-13 hour drive alone.

Some of my other daughters worry because they think I'm doing this alone. Once I'm in Salt Lake I'll have a whole bunch of people to hang out with. We usually go as a group each morning to the FHL, eat lunch as a group, eat dinner as a group, and come home as a group. We usually walk there, but the hotel we're booked at always brings us back at specific times (like 5 p.m., 8 p.m, or 9 p.m.). So I'm not walking the streets alone, nor eating alone or anything else alone, except the drive there and back and my time in La Grande.

Today I went to Joann Fabrics. As I was getting into the car, the thought struck me that someone could abduct me just as easily in my own home town in any store parking lot, just as easily as they could from a restaurant, store, gas station, motel, college campus library. So for my daughters who are worrying about me, I'll be fine. I'll have my cell phone, I'll be phoning home my every move (so if I am abducted you'll know where to start looking for me), I'm driving a rental car which stands a MUCH better chance of making the trip than anything we own. I will be safely in my motel room in La Grande after dark, with all the locks locked. Once I get to Salt Lake I will be hanging around with the rest of the Society members so no worries there, either.

I can't wait!

You Never Know Who You'll Run Into Online

2007-09-04T23:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight I got an email from a "shirt-tail" relative of mine in Arizona, forwarding a request for information on one of my family lines.

Let me first give you some background on "Ray." I first met Ray on the Prodigy Message Boards some 12 years ago, when I first got my computer and decided to use the Internet (such as it was back then) to do a little Family History Research (aka Genealogy). Ray is probably related to everyone who ever lived in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, which is where my great grandfather was born, in 1848. Ray has a picture of one of my relatives, an Alexander Millet, who was an early settler of Jo Daviess County. Ray also has "The Gold Rush Letters." They were saved and passed down through his family until Ray ended up with them. The letters were written by his gg (unsure of how many "gg's it is) grandparents when "grandpa" went off to the California Gold Rush and left wife and kiddies back home in Illinois. In the letters, my gg grandmother, "the Widow Millet" is reported to have married Adonijah Bixby. He also mentions seeing "A Millet" in his travels. Well, we're pretty sure that "A Millet" is the Alexander Millet that Ray has a picture of. We're not sure yet if this Alexander is my gg grandfather's brother or Uncle, but we know there's a relationship there somewhere.

Ray is also responsible for "The Jo Daviess Family Circle." This group is made up of a bunch of descendants of early Jo Daviess County Illinois settlers. Most of us are related to one another somehow. My main interests are the Johnson and Millet families, with a side interest in some others, like Lyon, Tyrell, Partridge, and so forth.

Now that you know a little bit about Ray and our "circle," you'll perhaps appreciate the events that took place tonight.

I got an email tonight from Ray. Haven't heard from him in a while. It was a forward from someone who was researching our Johnson line. He had sent it to those of us who were from the Johnson's of Jo Daviess County. I began reading the email, and got to the part that said, "my grandfather was Milton Melvin Johnson." Well, that's my grandfather too! Who is this person who is a grandson of my grandpa, and carries the name "Johnson." My grandparents only had one son! His name hadn't registered with me when I first began reading, so I went back to the beginning and read the name.

OMIGOSH! This must be my 1st cousin, whom I haven't seen in anywhere from 20 to 38 years, depending on whether he was at my mother's funeral in 1981, my aunt's funeral in 1987, or my grandmother's 85th birthday in 1969. Thinking back, I remember being at his house when I was a kid--probably a teen-ager as he is only 8 years older than me. But he was married with a couple of small children at that time. Eight years is a big difference when you're young.

My mother was married for 10 years before she had me. There was a war in there, which was convenient in some ways, because I'd probably be somewhat older if it weren't for the war. My cousin David was born several year before the war. He had an older brother as well, and a little sister who was 2 years older than me. There was an older sister to my mother and David's father, whose children were also a lot older than me. In fact, I was nearly grown up when I realized that their kids were only "once removed" cousins, and that our full cousins were their parents. So that is one reason I suspect, why we lost track of each other.

Anyway, cousin David may still live in Portland. "Cousin Ray" lives in Arizona. Only on the Internet can you be re-introduced to your first cousin who lives probably half an hour away, by someone who is a 2-3 hour plane ride away. I'll report back if I hear back from David, and if we get together for lunch or dinner or something.