Death 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!

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.

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.

Small Brick Wall torn down

So 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 Ancestry.com

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.  

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 interment.net for him and his wife buried at Homewood Memorial Gardens in Homewood, Cook, Illinois. 

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:

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.

Absent no more

I had pretty much abandoned the blog for awhile because life just got in the way.

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.

Yes, 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. 

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.

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. 

Update for the mailbox waiting game

So 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.

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!

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. 

Mobile Monday - New ancestry app for the ipod touch, iphone, and ipad

There's a new post on Ancestry's blog regarding the newly updated Ancestry app for the ipod touch, iphone and ipad.  This new update to their mobile app Ancestry (formerly Tree to Go) brings the app in line with the way you view member trees at ancestry's website.

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. 

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

After selecting my great grandfather's little card, I was then brought to this screen:

Here is the family view:

And here's the photo view:

And last, but certainly not least... my personal favorite... The Evidence view:

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!

The 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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - My Very Best 2010 Research

This post is in answer to Randy Seaver's posting on his Genea-Musings blog.

From his blog post:

It's Saturday Night again (I know, you just celebrated New Year's Eve - are you home for the night?) -- time for some Genealogy Fun (what else is there?)!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  Decide which of your (many?) genealogy research adventures was your "very best" (your definition). 

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. 

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. 

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 Genealogy Gems and The Genealogy Guys, I tried going about my research a little differently, using ideas heard throughout the shows I had been listening to.

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 archives.com, 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.

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 Lake County, Indiana Marriage Indexes.  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. 

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.  

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. 

Tombstone Tuesday - Jack Blom

This post is pretty much a Tombstone Tuesday and Mystery Monday post all rolled into one.  

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.  

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.  

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...

Monday Mailbox

So my husband checked the mail this morning and a couple of documents I had been waiting on have finally arrived!

The first document was the death certificate for my great-great grandfather John A. Blom. 

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.  

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: 

 

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.   

Isn't it funny how answering questions in genealogy generally leads to more questions?

Sunday's Obituary: my great-grandfather John A. Blom

Source: The Hammond Times newspaper, Apr. 5, 1956 edition; Hammond, Indiana; Hammond Public Library repository.

Highland's John Blom Dies at 51

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.

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.

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.

He worked for 32 years at the American Steel Foundries, Hammond.  He had been personnel manager for the past 17 years.

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.

He lived with his wife at 2832 Garfield St., in Highland.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Sunday’s Obituary – 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 Ancestors Live Here.
 

Hidden Gems in Plain Sight

I 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!

I was browsing around at archives.com and found a couple of newspaper articles from The Hammond Times 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. 

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 Lake County, Indiana Marriage Book Index 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.

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!

Narrowing down a date and place

So I have been trying without luck so far to find when and where my great grandparents on the Blom line. 

My great grandmother Jeanette Moes is found under her maiden name living with a different family in the 1920 US Federal Census.  In the 1930 US Federal Census she is found living with my great grandfather John A. Blom and their daughter. 

So at least I have narrowed down the decade.  Now I just need to find the date and place. 

Marriage Record found!

I was browsing the familysearch.org site last night and I was looking through records for my paternal line, the Blom surname.  Well, I managed to uncover a marriage record for my great-great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother and I now finally have the date and place they were married.  Below is an image of the marriage license with the date the marriage occurred also.

So now I have some new information to process and more research to do in the Chicago area. 

I also found a couple of other documents but I am waiting until I can confirm they are for the ancestors I think they are before I will post them here.