tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39917875848898675852024-03-07T23:23:50.899-06:00Tackling Brick Walls One Brick At A TimeThis blog is essentially a place for me to record my findings as I discover facts and other information on my ancestors. Most importantly, this is my place to share my successes at breaking down my brick walls.My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-43787476379399073842012-08-26T21:47:00.000-05:002012-08-26T21:47:01.816-05:00Sunday's Obituary - Frank R. VestalTonight's obituary post is a two-for-one deal. I have 2 obituaries for my great-grandfather, Frank R. Vestal.<br />
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What I know about my great grandfather:<br />
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Frank R. Vestal was born on Feb. 1, 1904 in Longton, Elk, Kansas. He married my great-grandmother, Ruby Irene VanRoyen on August 3, 1923. Together they had 3 children, but only 2 survived. One of their sons only lived 5 days. Ruby died in May 1929. He remarried to Eleanor Marie Baker on Feb. 2, 1931 also in Longton, Kansas. They had 4 children, however one died at birth. According to Census records, he lived in Elk County, Kansas all but the last 10 years or so of his life before dying on January 23, 1972 in Dodge City, Ford, Kansas, and a brief residence in Chautauqua County, Kansas between 1920 and 1930. Below are two obituaries I have for him.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D6BzSDSovKU/UDrbs9S62kI/AAAAAAAAAjU/3BMajnQJkUc/s1600/Frank+R.+Vestal+Obit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D6BzSDSovKU/UDrbs9S62kI/AAAAAAAAAjU/3BMajnQJkUc/s320/Frank+R.+Vestal+Obit.JPG" width="147" /></a></div>
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Transcription for the above obituary:</div>
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FRANK R. VESTAL</div>
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DODGE CITY, Kan - Services for Frank R. Vestal, 67, employe of Ford County Highway Department, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Hulpiett-Swaim Funeral Home. Burial will be at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Longton (Kan.) Cemetery. He died Sunday. </div>
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Born at Longton, he came to Dodge City about 10 years ago.</div>
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Survivors include his widow, Marie; three sons, Francis E., Salina. Kan., Ralph Jr., Dodge City, and Gary R., Denver; two daughters, Mrs. Chet Harris, Amarillo, Tex., and Mrs. Wilbur Persinger, Longton, and two brothers, Nathan and Garrett, and a sister, Mrs. Frank Kimzey, all of Longton.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3J8jmv2WT34/UDrbtluKfTI/AAAAAAAAAjc/9aRcL8x25cs/s1600/Obit+-+Frank+R.+Vestal.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3J8jmv2WT34/UDrbtluKfTI/AAAAAAAAAjc/9aRcL8x25cs/s320/Obit+-+Frank+R.+Vestal.JPG" width="116" /></a></div>
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Transcription of the above obituary:<br />
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Frank R. Vestal<br />
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Frank R. Vestal, 66, of the Prairie Village trailer court, died Sunday evening in Trinity Hospital, after a very brief illness. He was born Feb. 1, 1904, at Longton, in Elk county, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Hilary Vestal.<br />
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Mr. Vestal grew up in Elk county and lived there, where he was a farmer and stockman, until about 10 years ago. He and Miss Marie Baker were married Feb. 2, 1931, at Longton.<br />
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They moved to Dodge City about 10 years ago. Here, Mr. Vestal was employed by the county highway department.<br />
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He was a member of th Dodge City First Christian Church and of the Masonic Lodge of Elk Falls.<br />
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Survivors include the widow; three sons, Francis of Salina, Ralph Jr. of Dodge City and Gary R. of Denver, Colo.; two daughters, Mrs. Chet (Lois) Harris of Amarillo, Tex., and Mrs. Wilbur (Marjorie) Persinger of Longton; two brothers, Nathan and Garrett, and a sister, Mrs. Frank Kimsey, all of Longton; 14 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.<br />
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The Funeral has been set for 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Hulpiet-Swaim Funeral Home chapel with Sheldon Thomas, minister, officiating. Burial with Masonic graveside rites, will be at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Longton cemetery.My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-11784032208131840272012-08-25T18:07:00.001-05:002012-08-25T18:07:24.114-05:00Rainy Day Saturday GenealogyIt's been raining off and on all day today, including the thunderstorm that woke me up at 5am this morning. I did get back to sleep, only to wake up again around 8am. I decided to stay up since I had agreed to help my grandmother fix her computers and show her some of the documents and photos I've gathered recently on her side of the family tree. That's been postponed until tomorrow though.<br />
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I did make some progress today in my <a href="http://www.rootsmagic.com/">RootsMagic </a>database. I sourced the marriages of my great aunt Ozella Lee Hazlett and her husband. I also sourced the marriage of my 2nd great-grandfather Hillary F. Vestal and 2nd great-grandmother Malvina Chappel, and the marriage of my 3rd great-grandfather Alexander Vestal and Delanah Gross. Another marriage I sourced was of my 3rd great-grandfather, Moses Chappel and his wife Kissiah Swaim. I've been slowly making progress catching up on my source citations in my database.<br />
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I was browsing <a href="http://www.ancestry.com/">ancestry.com</a> earlier, and I found city directories for my great-grandfather Ralph Leo Hazlett and my great-grandmother Lois Lavon McDonald (with both Ralph Hazlett in 1942 and her 2nd husband in 1954) and add residence entries for each with source citations for them.<br />
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All in all, not a bad way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon.My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-21258194789366819632012-08-18T17:23:00.002-05:002012-08-18T17:23:12.415-05:00Getting back into the swing of thingsSo I have taken quite a break in my own genealogy research. Mostly because I work full time and had to choose work over the research unfortunately. I've been slowly digging through the 1940 census records looking for my ancestors and have found several so far! <br />
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Still haven't found my <a href="http://mygenresearch.blogspot.com/2012/02/elusive-ancestors-in-1900-census.html">elusive Hazletts in the 1900 census</a>, but I still hold hope that they will be found someday.<br />
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I make no promises, but am going to try to update here more often than I have in the past. At least on the weekends when I am off from work and not buried in records/research!My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-14127838464997932742012-02-18T02:25:00.000-06:002012-02-18T02:25:55.722-06:00Elusive ancestors in the 1900 censusMy great-great grandfather, John Wesley Hazlett along with his parents and siblings continue to elude me in the 1900 census.<br />
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John Wesley Hazlett was born November 4, 1884 in Jewell County, Kansas. He married my great-great grandmother, Mamie Kate Wallace on January 6, 1906 in Brunswick, Charition, Missouri. According to the 1910 census they were living in Boons Lick, Howard, Missouri. Since the 1890 census was mostly destroyed and he wasn't born until after the 1880 census, I thought I could find him around age 5 or 6 in the 1900 census... but so far no luck.<br />
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His father, William H. Hazlett (born November 18, 1846 in Ohio) and mother, Jessie Henderson (born October 30, 1856 in Eccles, Berwickshire, Scotland) were living in Jewell County, Kansas as of the 1880 census. In the 1910 census, William and Jessie were living in Brunswick, Chariton, Missouri.<br />
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I have slowly been going through the census records for Chariton County, Missouri on ancestry.com but so far have yet to find them and searching for common misspellings of Hazlett hasn't yielded any luck either. I still hold hope that this brick wall will come down and I will someday find where they have been hiding in the 1900 Census.My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-32704900024330652922011-07-11T22:22:00.000-05:002011-07-11T22:22:47.115-05:00Death Certificate received!Today's mail finally had what I have been waiting for from the State of Indiana. My great-great grandfather, Arie Blom's death certificate! <br />
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</div>There was a note attached to the receipt regarding the fact that many of the older records were printed on very porous paper and that due to the age and condition of the orginal document, the above certificate was the best reproduction they could make.<br />
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So, in addition to the ships passenger list, I now have a second source listing Jacob Blom as his father, but still no documentation of who Arie's mother was.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"></div>My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-39804968154802236882011-06-26T13:22:00.000-05:002011-06-26T13:22:38.674-05:00Small Brick Wall torn downSo I have been researching my great-great grandfather, Arie Blom Sr., and had gotten stuck on getting his death certificate. I had sent away for it in the state of Illinois based on the following newspaper posting I found on <a href="http://www.ancestry.com/">Ancestry.com</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/---nnEQ0Zq2k/Tgd1gh9dFKI/AAAAAAAAAUo/qyoQiKcFT-0/s1600/Arie+Blom+death+notice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/---nnEQ0Zq2k/Tgd1gh9dFKI/AAAAAAAAAUo/qyoQiKcFT-0/s320/Arie+Blom+death+notice.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So with the above article, I had decided to search in Cook County, Illinois for his death records since the article had mentioned Lansing as where his daughter and her husband were going to. I also checked the date of the newspaper and looked up a calendar for 1943 and found according to the article his date of death was July 19, 1943. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, I sent off for a copy of his death certificate from Cook County, and was surprised when I got a letter back stating no records found for the information I gave him. Especially since I found an entry on <a href="http://www.interment.net/data/us/il/cook/homewood/home_ag.htm">interment.net</a> for him and his wife buried at Homewood Memorial Gardens in Homewood, Cook, Illinois. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I called Homewood Memorial Gardens and asked them to send me a copy of his burial record and the first one I sent was actually for his son, Arie Blom, Jr. When I finally got the right record, I figured out why Cook County doesn't have a death certificate for him:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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At the very bottom of the record, under remarks... "POD: Hammond, In. No int order, too old". So now, I am waiting for the State of Indiana to do their search and hopefully within a week or so I will have my great-great-grandfather's death certificate in my hands.My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-79608424497519008302011-06-26T08:53:00.000-05:002011-06-26T08:53:04.218-05:00Absent no moreI had pretty much abandoned the blog for awhile because life just got in the way.<br />
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I am back now and am working on a post about my great-great-grandfather, Arie Blom Sr. that I am going to be posting a little bit later today.My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-24030163599773231042011-03-08T14:41:00.000-06:002011-03-08T14:41:49.734-06:00Yes, I am alive!It seems like it has been forever since I've written here. Working full time has kept me busy and I haven't had much time for my genealogy research. <br />
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Since my last mailbox waiting game post, I have received my grandfather's death certificate and my great-great-grandfather's naturalization documents. I've been having a hard time trying to successfully digitize the naturalization documents as they are on larger paper than my scanner can handle. I did take some photos of them with my digital camera but it's not as clear and sharp as it could be if I had scanned them.<br />
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I am still waiting on the death certificate for my great-great-grandfather. Hopefully by the end of this week it will be in my hands. My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-13152275813442344322011-02-14T16:03:00.000-06:002011-02-14T16:03:01.719-06:00Update for the mailbox waiting gameSo a couple of weeks ago, I sent off for a copy of my grandfather, Wesley John Blom's death certificate. I also sent off for my great-great grandfather, Arie Blom's death certificate and naturalization documents.<br />
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I still have not heard anything back regarding the death certificates, however one of the checks I mailed off has been cashed so hopefully I will see the one for my grandfather soon!<br />
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I did, however, get a letter today from the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Illinois's office regarding the naturalization documents. They found the documents and were sending me a letter detailing the cost of photocopies and mailing fees, a total of $17.94. So once again I am playing the waiting game as I mailed off the check this morning before going to the grocery store. At least now I know the process a bit more so that when I go to order the naturalization documents of my great-great grandfather Henry J Moes, his wife Gertrude Hillegonds and Henry's mother Jennie, I will be better prepared. My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-82079726736751815642011-02-01T09:00:00.008-06:002011-02-01T09:00:01.414-06:00Ancestor Approved Award<div align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TUeO_p5epDI/AAAAAAAAAP0/3TqKdUdDYT8/s1600-h/ancestor-approved%5B2%5D.jpg"><img alt="ancestor-approved" border="0" height="216" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TUeO_6-l5jI/AAAAAAAAAP4/4u4nHl1tX84/ancestor-approved_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px none; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="ancestor-approved" width="199" /></a></div><br />
So back in November, I was nominated by <a href="http://johnbrownkin.blogspot.com/2010/11/finally-back-and-found-i-received-2.html">Alice Keesey Mecoy (author of John Brown Kin blog)</a> for the Ancestor Approved blogging award. I was still getting into the swing of posting blogs and kinda set it on the back burner so to speak as I hadn’t really thought of homework aspect of the award much. <br />
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Part of receiving the award is to “<i>list ten things I have learned about any of my ancestors that has surprised, humbled, or enlightened me and to pass the award along to ten other blog writers whom I feel are doing their ancestors proud</i>.”<br />
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Well, I was also given the award on the 12th of January by <a href="http://aremyrootsshowing.blogspot.com/2011/01/ancestor-approved-again.html">Jenny Lanctot (of her blog Are My Roots Showing)</a>. I work full time so I hadn’t really given much thought (again) to the ten items list.<br />
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I figured this week, however, since I took a couple days off from work so I wouldn’t have to be out in the snow, I would go ahead and work on it. My list of ten things I have learned will be in an upcoming post. I just wanted this post to recognize the two great bloggers who had given me the award with this one!My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-55809136601474921142011-01-31T22:05:00.000-06:002011-01-31T22:05:39.935-06:00Mobile Monday - New ancestry app for the ipod touch, iphone, and ipadThere's a new post on <a href="http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2011/01/31/new-ipad-and-iphone-app/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ancestry+%28Ancestry.com+blog%29">Ancestry's blog</a> regarding the newly updated Ancestry app for the ipod touch, iphone and ipad. This new update to their mobile app <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ancestry/id349554263?mt=8">Ancestry</a> (formerly Tree to Go) brings the app in line with the way you view member trees at ancestry's website.<br />
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To me, this update is just what I was looking for with their mobile app. As soon as I saw the blog update in google reader, I immediately grabbed my ipod touch to update Tree to Go so I could see it for myself. <br />
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I went into my main tree and after it finished the sync, I was presented with the tree view. I flicked right to left in the top half of the screen until I got to my great-grandfather, John A. Blom<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TUeEvZIgzxI/AAAAAAAAAPc/SzkbCLXOCMU/s1600/IMG_0018.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TUeEvZIgzxI/AAAAAAAAAPc/SzkbCLXOCMU/s320/IMG_0018.PNG" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After selecting my great grandfather's little card, I was then brought to this screen:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is the family view:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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And here's the photo view: <br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TUeFVvr9_qI/AAAAAAAAAPo/w1oQyQa3PSg/s1600/IMG_0022.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TUeFVvr9_qI/AAAAAAAAAPo/w1oQyQa3PSg/s320/IMG_0022.PNG" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And last, but certainly not least... my personal favorite... The Evidence view:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">From what I also read at the ancestry blog, they are also considering a Droid app, which would be great for me because then I would definitely have my ancestry tree anywhere I go since I have a Droid phone as well as my ipod touch. Until the android version does become reality however, if you do have an iphone, ipod touch or an ipad, and you are a member at ancestry, I highly recommend you go download this app. After all, the app itself is free!</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span id="goog_516983276"></span><span id="goog_516983277"></span></div><span id="goog_533100330"></span><span id="goog_533100331"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a>My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-25706054641190876772011-01-27T11:39:00.000-06:002011-01-27T11:39:44.704-06:00The mailbox waiting game...Yesterday, before work, I dropped off 4 items to be mailed out at the post office. One was a few photos I had promised to send to my little brother. The other 3 were genealogy related. <br />
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I sent in a request to the state of Missouri for a copy of my grandfather, Wesley Blom's death certificate. I have a copy of his delayed birth certificate already and figured it was finally time to get the death certificate to go with it. <br />
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I also have a couple of requests on their way to Illinois regarding my great great grandfather, Arie Blom. One is a copy of his death certificate, and the other is a copy of his naturalization record. <br />
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So now, I get to sit back and anxiously await my new-to-my-genealogy-collection documents to show up in my mailbox. I think I am most excited about the naturalization records as it will be the first time I've seen a set of them.My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-74993777775169199642011-01-25T20:14:00.001-06:002011-01-27T12:51:27.209-06:00The Ultimate Family History Journey sweepstakes...I was browsing through ancestry.com message board posts earlier and when I clicked back to my home page, I noticed the ad on the right:<br />
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Clicking on the image took me to <a href="http://www.ancestry.com/wdytya2011?o_iid=46880&o_lid=46880">enter the sweepstakes</a>. You can enter once each day until April 8, 2011.<br />
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Here's what you have a chance to win (and I sure do hope I am a winner!):<br />
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If you win the grand prize, you will get: <br />
<ul><li>$20,000 in travel money </li>
<li>Up to 8 hours of consultation time with an expert genealogist</li>
<li>Help from up to 5 experts in fields relevant to your family history</li>
<li>A yearlong Ancestry.com World Deluxe membership for you and 5 family members</li>
</ul><i>20 First Prize winners</i> will get an annual Ancestry.com World Deluxe membership<br />
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So, if I were you, I would be going there every day until the 8th April to sign up for your chance to win!My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-11202936865872967242011-01-23T09:23:00.006-06:002011-01-23T09:25:11.097-06:00<div class="GK43L3BBDN GK43L3BBPM">It's been awhile since I've gotten a chance to write a post here. Working full time sometimes has the downside of not having enough time for my genealogy addiction.</div><div class="GK43L3BBDN GK43L3BBPM"></div><br />
<div class="GK43L3BBDN GK43L3BBPM">Today I was thinking I would check the stats and see some of the searches that have brought people to my blog in the last 30 days. There's only a few but it's still pretty neat to see that people are being directed here through searching for things. </div><div class="GK43L3BBDN GK43L3BBPM"></div><div class="GK43L3BBDN GK43L3BBPM">Here are the search keywords from the last 30 days or so:</div><div class="GK43L3BBDN GK43L3BBPM"><br />
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<tr><td align="left" style="vertical-align: top;"><div class="gwt-HTML"><div class="GK43L3BBGP GK43L3BBHP"><b>hillary vestal longton kansas - </b>I wish I knew who this person doing the search was, as this is my great-great-grandfather and perhaps we are somehow related.</div><div class="GK43L3BBGP GK43L3BBHP"><br />
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<tr><td align="left" style="vertical-align: top;"><div class="gwt-HTML"><div class="GK43L3BBGP GK43L3BBHP"><b>mygenresearch.blogspot.com - </b>Wonder if this one was typed in the search bar instead of the address bar instead?</div><div class="GK43L3BBGP GK43L3BBHP"><b><br />
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<tr><td align="left" style="vertical-align: top;"><div class="gwt-HTML"><div class="GK43L3BBGP GK43L3BBHP"><b>tackling brick wall - </b>I've managed to do this a few times since August when I got back into my genealogy research again.</div><div class="GK43L3BBGP GK43L3BBHP"><b><br />
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<tr><td align="left" style="vertical-align: top;"><div class="gwt-HTML"><div class="GK43L3BBGP GK43L3BBHP"><b>to my great great grandfather </b>- I wonder who your great great grandfather was? One that we share as a common ancestor perhaps? </div></div></td><td align="right" style="vertical-align: middle;"><br />
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The image I found on ancestry.com is below:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TSjDMwiZOzI/AAAAAAAAAPY/1TMoQc7oPOc/s1600/1900+Census+-+john+Moes+and+family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TSjDMwiZOzI/AAAAAAAAAPY/1TMoQc7oPOc/s320/1900+Census+-+john+Moes+and+family.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Year: <i>1900</i>; Census Place: <i>Chicago Ward 34, Cook, Illinois</i>; Roll: <i>T623_290</i>; Page: <i>5A</i>; Enumeration District: <i>1115</i>.<br />
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Anyone out there who thinks they know what the occupation is, I would be really grateful for the help! My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-5714656477231206332011-01-01T15:37:00.000-06:002011-01-01T15:37:42.276-06:00Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - My Very Best 2010 ResearchThis post is in answer to Randy Seaver's posting on his <a href="http://www.geneamusings.com/">Genea-Musings</a> blog. <br />
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From his blog post:<br />
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<blockquote>It's <strong><span style="color: #351c75;"><u>Saturday Night</u></span></strong> again (I know, you just celebrated New Year's Eve - are you home for the night?) -- time for some <strong><span style="color: #351c75;"><u>Genealogy Fun</u></span></strong> (what else is there?)!!<br />
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Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:<br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">1) Decide which of your (many?) genealogy research adventures was your "very best" (your definition). </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">2) Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Status report or comment on Facebook. </span></strong></blockquote><br />
I think mine would definitely have to be finally finding the marriage date of my great-grandparents John A. Blom and Jeanette Moes. The Blom/Moes lines have always seemed to elude me ever since I started researching my family tree around 1996 and I had always gotten stuck trying to get past my great-grandparents. <br />
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This past August I recently got back into researching my family with a passion, and after listening to hours and hours of podcast episodes of <a href="http://www.genealogygems.tv/">Genealogy Gems</a> and <a href="http://www.genealogyguys.com/">The Genealogy Guys</a>, I tried going about my research a little differently, using ideas heard throughout the shows I had been listening to. <br />
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I initially had guessed that my great-grandparents had been married between 1920 and 1930 based on the 1920 and 1930 US Federal Census Records I had found for each of my great-grandparents. I had been browsing newspaper articles and on <a href="http://www.archives.com/">archives.com</a>, had found an article in April of 1926 that had listed my great-grandmother Jeanette Moes under her maiden name. Well, my grandfather was born on July 4, 1930. I found my great-grandparents living together in the 1930 census with my Great Aunt Lois, so I knew by 1930 they were married. While browsing further newspaper articles though, I found a birth announcement for my grandfather's oldest sister, Lois from October of 1926. <br />
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Using this information I had successfully narrowed down the marriage date to being between April and October of 1926 but I still didn't have an exact date. Until I found an index online of the <a href="http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Einnwigs/Archives/MarriageBooks-Lake.htm">Lake County, Indiana Marriage Indexes</a>. The index only listed up to 1920 but something compelled me to check anyways just in case, and wouldn't you know it... I found them! Under both bride and groom listings there before my eyes on my laptop screen was the names, date of marriage, date of application, date the license was filed, the book and page numbers of the applications. So, $3.00 plus a mailed request later, I was able to get my hands on the documents that confirmed that my great-grandparents were married on April 15, 1926 in Lake County, Indiana. <br />
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What I realized after I reviewed the marriage license applications and the marriage certificate and re-visited the newspaper article mentioning my great-grandmother in April of 1926? Great-Grandma was about 3 months pregnant with my Great Aunt Lois when they got married. The "miscellaneous" shower mentioned in that April news article must have been in reference to both a bridal and baby shower unless I am mistaken on that. <br />
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I think the above case is my best research of 2010 because I had to use several different sources to investigate and narrow down the exact date that my great-grandparents were married. It was so exciting when I finally found them in the marriage index, and I'm sure my husband thought I was crazy when I did my little genealogy happy dance the day the marriage documents had finally arrived in the mail to confirm what I had found in the marriage index and proving just how useful the research techniques I had learned from the podcast episodes were. My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-56817090351866122602010-12-20T14:24:00.000-06:002010-12-20T14:24:03.288-06:00Mailbox Monday - The importance of reading directions!I recently sent off for copies of my own parents' birth certificates and marriage certificate so that I would have them in my growing collection of records. <br />
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Today, I got a letter back from the Indiana State Department of Health requesting a copy of my birth certificate in order to receive my father's birth certificate. Apparently, I would have known I needed this if I had read the instructions a little better.<br />
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Oops!<br />
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I'm sure we've all made a mistake like this so I don't feel bad about it, just frustrated that I get to wait even longer to get that document in my hands. So I guess this post is just my way of reminding folks that if they are dealing with other states than they reside in to make sure to fully research what is required when requesting vital records so you won't have to wait longer and waste time and stamps.My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-89230549871302379132010-12-14T21:52:00.001-06:002010-12-14T22:06:31.823-06:00Tombstone Tuesday - Jack Blom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TQg7QNqNXnI/AAAAAAAAAOg/401pqdM9llU/s1600/Jack+Blom+-+gravestone+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TQg7QNqNXnI/AAAAAAAAAOg/401pqdM9llU/s320/Jack+Blom+-+gravestone+photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This post is pretty much a Tombstone Tuesday and Mystery Monday post all rolled into one. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I believe the above image is the gravestone of my Uncle Jack Blom. According to information from another of my uncles, my Uncle Jack was born in July of 1958 and a few years ago they had found him in the Social Security Death Index as having died in November of 1997. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The mystery part of the post is that in the late eighties, my Uncle Jack moved to Illinois to live with one of his brothers. He was supposed to appear in court one morning and instead hitch-hiked out to California. No one really heard from him after that. It was thought that he had died in a fire in California, however, the above image was found at findagrave.com listed in a Houston, Texas cemetery. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If indeed he died in California, it leaves me to wonder just how he ended up being buried in Texas or if the above image is even the same person that was my Uncle Jack...</div>My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-51600903207006867782010-12-06T14:31:00.000-06:002010-12-06T14:31:45.678-06:00Monday MailboxSo my husband checked the mail this morning and a couple of documents I had been waiting on have finally arrived!<br />
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The first document was the death certificate for my great-great grandfather John A. Blom. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TP1BQVfBUbI/AAAAAAAAAN0/DL2l3Jg3Er8/s1600/SCAN0097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TP1BQVfBUbI/AAAAAAAAAN0/DL2l3Jg3Er8/s320/SCAN0097.JPG" width="293" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">A few posts back, I posted a copy of my great-great grandfather's obituary and looking over the death certificate it looks like a great deal of that information is confirmed by this. More importantly, I now have an exact date of birth rather than just the year of birth for him. Next up on my todo list for my great-great grandfather is a copy of his birth certificate and his SS-5. Eventually I also want to track down academic records for him from Northwestern University and I imagine there will be quite a few church records to track down as well. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The other documents I received in the second envelope were the marriage license applications for both great-great-grandparents, John A. Blom and Jeanette Moes, as well as their marriage certificate: </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">So now, after looking over the applications, I am wondering what my 3rd great-grandfather Henry Moes was a Foreman of. I am also wondering what a Hod Carrier (sp) is as that is the occupation of my other 3rd great-grandfather Arie Blom. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Isn't it funny how answering questions in genealogy generally leads to more questions?</div>My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-231859785036073562010-11-25T01:01:00.001-06:002010-11-25T01:23:08.843-06:00Thriller Thursday: Sexton C. VestalMy great-granduncle Sexton C. Vestal was born in 1879 and died in 1923, at the age of 43. During the 43 years of his life, there are at least 2 major accidents that I know of, the 2nd one was the cause of his death.<br />
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The first incident, I was able to find a description of through an old news article printed in <i>The Sedan Lance</i> on July 16, 1896 describing the accident. In July of 1896, he was bringing a hay rake from one field to another on his father's farm. While coming down a hill, the horse ran away, turning the rake over on him hurting him internally.<br />
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I received a copy of a letter, sent to me by a distant cousin in the Vestal lines. The letter was sent from Hillary Vestal to his mother Delanah (Gross) Vestal. He wrote it in October of 1896 and it confirmed the accident, mentioning that Sexton was badly hurt on the 6th of July. According to my great-great-grandfather Hillary Vestal, Sexton was just getting able to return to school in October and his accounting of the hay rake accident was that a horse had run away with him and threw my great-granduncle Sexton against a tree. The letter says that Sexton had been close to death for several days, but given the great care he had been given and a good doctor, he was able to "get up one more time".<br />
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The second accident was the fatal one. My great-granduncle owned a coupe that had to be crank-started. On January 25, 1923, farmers found his body crumpled under his own car at the bottom of a hill a few miles from Winfield, Kansas. Apparently, the car either died or was stopped on an incline and he had to get out to hand crank it to get it to start. When it did start, it ran him over, dragging him to the bottom of the hill and killing him. According to the article, Sexton's wife and relatives were notified by phone of the accident and they were going to go into town to claim the body.My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-9405887019701897962010-11-24T12:52:00.000-06:002010-11-24T12:52:28.606-06:00Wordless Wednesday: Ruby Irene Van Royen and her sister Myrtle Sylvia Pearl Van Royen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TO1eotVWTxI/AAAAAAAAANA/-aLSN9m2xZM/s1600/ruby-myrtle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TO1eotVWTxI/AAAAAAAAANA/-aLSN9m2xZM/s320/ruby-myrtle.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-10665672357346218302010-11-21T10:50:00.000-06:002010-11-21T10:50:38.618-06:00Sunday's Obituary: my great-grandfather John A. Blom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TOlLriJR6GI/AAAAAAAAAM0/bFKK9J5EL8M/s1600/John+A+Blom+Obituary+part+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TOlLriJR6GI/AAAAAAAAAM0/bFKK9J5EL8M/s320/John+A+Blom+Obituary+part+2.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TOlLneHXIbI/AAAAAAAAAMw/3TV5npqAXNE/s1600/John+A+Blom+Obituary+part+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XcO3O6fLBQo/TOlLneHXIbI/AAAAAAAAAMw/3TV5npqAXNE/s320/John+A+Blom+Obituary+part+1.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Source: <u>The Hammond Times</u> newspaper, Apr. 5, 1956 edition; Hammond, Indiana; Hammond Public Library repository.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> Highland's John Blom Dies at 51<br />
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HIGHLAND -- John A. Blom, 51, former Highland town trustee, chairman of the town board, and clerk-treasurer, died of a heart attack at 2:40 p.m. Wednesday in St. Catherine Hospital, East Chicago.<br />
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Blom suffered the attack over the Easter weekend, and entered the hospital early Monday morning. He was apparantly recovering when he suffered a relapse Wednesday.<br />
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The Highland civic leader was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1944 to 1947, during which time he served as chairman. In September of 1948, he was appointed clerk-treasurer to fill a vacancy caused by a sudden resignation, and served in that office until 1951. <br />
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He worked for 32 years at the American Steel Foundries, Hammond. He had been personnel manager for the past 17 years.<br />
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BLOM was born in Chicago, but his family soon moved to Lansing. He was a graduate of Hammond High School and Northwestern University, where he studied personnel management and accounting.<br />
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He lived with his wife at 2832 Garfield St., in Highland.<br />
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His civic work, other than public office, was confined to religion and education. He served as a member of the Christian Grade School Board and the Illiana Christian High School Board for more than 20 years. He was an elder in the Second Christian Reformed Church.<br />
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Services will be Saturday at 2 p.m. in the First Christian Reformed Church of Highland, the Rev. C. Oliver Buus officiating. Burial will be in Hope Cemetery.<br />
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FRIENDS may call at the Fagen Funeral Gardens, 2828 Highway Ave., Highland, after 7 o'clock tonight. Family requests that contributions be made to the Children's Retreat.<br />
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Blom is survived by his wife Jeanette; three sons [incorrect information], Louis [should be Lois, a daughter], of Norwalk, Calif., Wesley and Bruce, both of Highland; six grandchildren; two brothers, Peter of Highland and Arie of Lansing; four sisters, Mrs. Tadie Eenigenburg and Mrs. Agnes Porter, both of Lansing, Mrs. Petronella Jabaay of Byron Center, Mich., and Mrs. Trena Selles of Burdette, Canada.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong>Sunday’s Obituary</strong> – if you have obituaries of family members and ancestors, consider posting them along with other information about that person as part of Sunday’s Obituary. This is an ongoing series developed by Leslie Ann at <a href="http://ancestorslivehere.blogspot.com/" style="color: #2244bb;" target="_blank">Ancestors Live Here</a>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span>My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-90356295395286516692010-11-19T18:58:00.000-06:002010-11-19T18:58:32.545-06:00Found a great deal on eBayI came across a book the last time I was at the Wichita Public Library regarding the history of Elk County, Kansas. This is where my grandfather and great-grandfather on the Vestal side were born and where my great-great-grandfather Vestal moved in the late 1880s. Well, I wanted to get a copy of the book for myself, however everywhere I looked for used books showed a minimum price of about $75 all the way up to a price of around $120. This was a bit out of my budget so I put it on the back burner so to speak.<br />
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That is until I checked eBay the other morning. I was going through my email and found an alert for a search I saved at ebay.com for Elk County Kansas and there before me was a listing for the book "Elk County: A Narrative History of Elk County and Its People" for only $29.95! I clicked through to see if it was still there for purchase and sure enough it was. So now I am eagerly awaiting my copy of this book which will be my first genealogical book in my personal collection. My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-28950945925805961382010-11-13T23:43:00.000-06:002010-11-13T23:43:05.843-06:00Hidden Gems in Plain SightI have been searching extensively for a few months trying to track down the marriage date of my great-grandfather John A. Blom and great-grandmother Jeanette Moes without much luck. That is... until earlier today!<br />
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I was browsing around at <a href="http://www.archives.com/">archives.com</a> and found a couple of newspaper articles from <i>The Hammond Times</i> paper, and in April of 1926 my great-grandmother was mentioned under her maiden name because her friends threw her a "miscellaneous" shower. A few months later in October of 1926 there was a birth announcement mentioning my great-grandparents being the parents of a 9 pound baby girl. This information matched what I had already narrowed down by census records. I had guessed that my great-grandparents had been married sometime between 1920 and 1930 as on the 1920 Census my great-grandmother was still using her maiden name Moes, and in the 1930 Census she was living with her husband and daughter. <br />
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I decided to do a search for Lake County, Indiana marriage indexes because I knew that both great-grandparents had died in Indiana and had spent a lot of time living in the Lake County area. I came across a site containing the <a href="http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Einnwigs/Archives/MarriageBooks-Lake.htm">Lake County, Indiana Marriage Book Index</a> with links to listings both by Groom's surname and Bride's surname. I wasn't sure I would find anything as most references to the Indiana Marriage indexes seemed to show the latest year to be 1920, however I decided to look anyways just to see.<br />
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Well, it turns out, I hit the jackpot! I found them listed in both links with the same information! I now know that I will need to a copy of page 77 of book 59 for their marriage that occurred April 15, 1926 in Lake County, Indiana. I am going to be sending that request by mail on Monday morning, and I can't wait to have it in my hands!My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991787584889867585.post-37988801083543642782010-11-06T11:23:00.000-05:002010-11-06T11:23:55.939-05:00One brick wall has been smashed to the ground!I was browsing around the internet last night and came across the <a href="http://www.lawrencecountymo.com/">Lawrence County, MO genealogical society</a> site which wasn't loading for some reason. Well, I went back this morning and it loaded up just fine. I am sure glad it did because it's led me to a treasure trove of information on one line of my family.<br />
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It had a link to the <a href="http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/#search">Missouri Death Certificates</a> online images and so far I have found at least 6 ancestors in my Hazlett lines. I've found great-great-grandma Mamie Kate Wallace and her husband John Wesley Hazlett who I already had some information on thanks to my grandmother. I have also finally, after years of trying, broken through the brick wall and found John Wesley's parents (and their death certificates too!). Another great find was the death certificates for my great-grandmother's parents on the McDonald lines. <br />
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I highly recommend that if anyone has relatives who have died between 1910 and 1959 in Missouri to go visit this site. I can't wait to comb through my tree and see who else I might find in this database!My Gen Researchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06883062153239095192noreply@blogger.com0