Research, Classes, and Writing!

What a crazy couple of weeks! It's been a great time, but unfortunately it's meant that I haven't written much for this blog. Are you wondering what I've been up to? Well, regardless... you're going to find out! First of all, I've gotten quite excited about my involvement in writing for The In-Depth Genealogist digi-mag. I'm their "Jewish Genealogy" writer and it's really been great to be able to focus on that aspect of my own research and learning. I really hope that as time goes on I am able to really help some newbies with their research. Or even point out some new sources to those who have been doing Jewish genealogy research for a while. With my participation as a writer for the digi-mag I'm really hoping that with time I will become MORE prolific with my writing. I've always harbored a dream of writing a book... and if it happens to be about my family history research- all the better!

Regardless, as I get to know the bloggers I am working with I find myself more and more energized. In particular, Stephanie & Terri who are the leads on IDG are really quite inspirational women. I've known Stephanie about 4-5 months now and must say that I don't know how she handles all that she does. She works from home as an editor, is taking the ProGen course, home schools her daughter, maintains her own blog/ website, and somehow is starting IDG which is a booming project. Terri is equally amazing- though I don't know her quite as well as Stephanie. She's a mom, travel agent, blogger, and active with IDG starting up. These ladies must not sleep or something. What started as a monthly newsletter has turned into an entire website, community, digi-mag, and who knows what else! I'm loving it! Little did I know when I made the suggested for an alternate title of the newsletter to be "Depth of Field" that it would turn into The In-Depth Genealogist. Literally that day they checked to see if the domain, facebook, and twitter name was available. It was... so in the span of just a few days things were rolling. I'm really impressed and excited to be involved. Please take a moment to pop in and see what we're up to. Regardless of whether you are a professional genealogist or doing it for your own family-- there are some great resources and people to get to know! After all, their mission is: The In-Depth Genealogist is a digital newsletter that contributes to the advancement of all genealogists.

What else have I been up to? Well, I attended two genealogy workshops on April 21st and learned about probate records and also about African American genealogy research. Great speakers! I wrote a blog post for IDG about it and really was inspired to kick it into gear on my research! I plan to use what I learned about probate records next week when I travel with my mom up to South Bend, Indiana (where most of our relatives live). I've requested probate records for my Engel family. I'm not sure what I'll find, but I'm hopeful that there will be a nugget or two of interest in there. I've also been in contact with the South Bend Jewish Historical Society. I'm not sure if they will have much about the Engels, but I'm hopeful. I also plan to meet with some relatives and ask some questions that have been nagging me. I'll see my dad, brother, and sister-in-law while I'm up there too. It will be an action packed couple of days, but energizing in their own way.

Afterwards, I'll drive back to Cincinnati to attend the National Genealogical Society Conference! I'll be staying with Stephanie and several other great women during the conference. I can hardly wait! Did you know they have a conference app for your smartphone? I downloaded it to my Droid and it's great. I've picked out my schedule and know I'll put it to good use. Also, I got a great surprise last week when I found out that I will get to attend Maureen Taylor's half-day workshop! She writes a column for Family Tree Magazine called The Photo Detective. She's well versed in tracking down time-periods and figuring out locations where a photo may have been taken. I can't wait to learn from her!

I've also made a few field trips to libraries to do some research.  Since the Ohio Genealogical Society Library is just 40 minutes up the road from me; I decided to spend a few hours researching.  While there I looked through their obituary collection and also the books that they had on Maine.  I'm still puzzling through some connections on the Morse side and found some valuable books.  Unfortunately they only had three of the four volumes that I needed.  I'll have to hunt around and see where I can take a look at the last one.  Of course most of my people were in that last volume.  Doh!

I also had the opportunity to hang out with my Central Ohio Geneablogger pals and do some 1940 Census indexing!  I managed to do 48 of the 50 states over the past few weeks.  Unfortunately I did not get Utah or Idaho!  It was a fun exercise and now I am focusing on my own states of interest- Michigan and Arkansas.  I can't wait for it to be done so I can finally track down some more relatives.

On this past Saturday I took a trip to Ohio State's Thompson Library to help out a connection on JewishGen.  This guy had put a request out on the message boards asking if someone could do a look-up for him.  I figured that since I was an alum and had not been to the library since the remodel that I could certainly help him out.  The library is beautiful and state of the art (for the first four floors now) and though I had some trouble tracking down the book initially I did end up getting it.  After I scanned the pages he requested I cropped and cleaned them up a bit and uploaded them to my Dropbox site.  Then I just shared the link with him so that he could copy them to his own computer.  Hopefully he got all that he needed.

While there I did some exploring and found a number of great collections on specific historical time periods. Their Civil War collection is pretty extensive.  The volumes of the official records was something that I was quite impressed by.  It had three full bookshelves.  If I'd done some homework ahead of time I could have spent hours looking through for my ancestors.  As it was, I decided to see what kind of Jewish books were in the library.  This turned out to be a good thing because I'd been hunting for a connection between some names that I'd found for my Krueger family and the books on Jewish given names was quite helpful.

What I loved was when I found out what Myer's name meant...  "he shines".  It really made me smile as I thought of how my grandma spoke of her father in her biography.  I think he must have been named well.

With that, I leave you for now.  I have an article to write for the IDG on "Schlepping to the Cemetery" and I've much to do in preparation for my road trip at the end of the week. Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday- Great Grandpa Edward Babe Morse

My Brain is Buzzing

This weekend I was fortunate to be able to join my fellow Midwestern Geneabloggers for a wonderful time of research, sharing, and learning while visiting the Allen County Public Library (ACPL).  A lot of people don’t know this, but the ACPL is the next best thing to the Salt Lake City Library.  Needless to say, I was very excited about the possibility of seeing some books and records that I haven’t been able to see firsthand.  Not to mention getting to hang out with my fellow genealogists and share stories! 

You may be wondering how "geneabloggers” meet.  First of all, there are lots of hugs.  Though some of us had only met “online” it was like catching up with old friends.  Many of the group had driven together from their area.  There was a contingent from the Chicago area, Canada, St. Louis area, Fort Wayne (so convenient for them!), and of course our gang of Ohio Gals- Shelley Bishop, Stephanie Fishman, and me.  Though it was a three hour drive for us- the time flew by!  We were discussing all kinds of things like what was going on in our families and our own personal histories and even discussing the challenges of learning the ways to document our sources while researching.  I loved it!  I felt like my brain was a sponge absorbing all this great information and I was inspired to do so much more.  Ah if only I didn’t need to sleep at night… I could fit in all that I dream of doing!

After arriving at the library (which is rather impressive with a huge atrium and beautiful marble floors) we made a beeline for the Genealogy Department.  There we were greeted by Tina Lyons   who had put together the event and was our local guide.  She gave us a personal tour of the department and we quickly took over several tables and began to gather books.  I had gathered a large stack of books on Michigan City and La Porte County, Indiana to see if there were any clues I had missed from my past visits to the library in Michigan City.  I was pleased to see a few books that were new to me and I began to pour through for my family surnames of Krueger, Morse, and Shon. 

There were a few new tidbits that I was gathering, but mostly I was confirming things that I already knew.  As we researched we whispered back and forth and welcomed other bloggers as they arrived.  Several of the ladies were tweeting to others about what we were up to, but I chose to try and take advantage of the time in the library to do research.  I did get to meet the famous (infamous?) Thomas MacEntee of the geneabloggers site and he was so sweet and friendly.  It’s funny when you’ve watched webinars taught by these folks and then you get to meet them in person.  I tend to be in awe a bit, but then you get to know them and realize what down to earth, cool people they really are. 

When the library closed at 6pm we went over to an Irish Pub called O’Donnells and met up with more of our group.  It was a fun atmosphere and I sat with Shelley and Susan and got to know them a bit more.  Jen Holek had just gotten her wonderful genealogy series for kids published and we were all excited to see them in print.  They definitely have wonderful lessons for use as a home schooling series or even for teachers.  I’m sure someone I know will be getting a book or two from the series as a gift!

The next day was another marathon of genealogy research.  We got to the library a bit before 10am and gathered for a tour of the facility with one of the librarians.  Once we made the rounds we all settled in and got to our research.  I continued with my list of surnames and counties in Indiana and found a few bits of information that was useful. I think I was getting a bit tired because eventually I thought the titles of some of the books were pretty funny:  “People of Pulaski County, Indiana”, “Some Pulaski County People, Indiana”, and “Tidbits of Pulaski County, Indiana Courthouse”. I just kept thinking, “Can’t they come up with better titles than that?”.

Later a group of about eight of us went back to the Irish pub and actually had the same waitress again!  How funny!  Back to the research!  I started looking at some of my “brick walls” when I returned to the library.  Soon I was combing the shelves for books that might reveal the secrets of my ancestors.  I had some minor success in finding books on my Maine relatives.  I will have to spend more time on this in the future because there were several shelves on Thomaston, Friendship, and Meduncook Plantation.  I did find a surname that I had not known before and that was pretty cool. 

Just before 6pm I gathered up my stuff and got ready to join the rest  of the group at Tina Lyons’ house.  She had invited everyone over to have pizza and hang out.  I must say that the “hanging out” was my favorite part of the whole weekend.  Interesting conversations and thought provoking questions (thanks to Thomas) made me realize how much I still have to learn!  It was a wonderful weekend and I can’t wait till we get together again.  In the meantime, I have a lot more blogs to read and new friends to keep in touch with online.  What fun!

Funny Friday- The Original Bowl Cut?

Memories of 1614 McKinley Avenue

Growing up I had always hoped that one day I would inherit grandma's house.  I loved that house even though I was scared to death of the basement.  I spent a lot of my childhood there and thought that it would be mine someday.  Things do not always work out that way though and instead of living there when I grew up- I watched the house get sold.  Grandma moved into an apartment and then eventually a nursing home.  To this day I drive past her house and wish it was still in the family.

After my parents' divorce I was babysat by my grandma on a regular basis while mom went to work at Robertson's Department Store.  I was going to the local Hebrew Day School and though it was neat getting to see my cousin Shellie every day in class I really did not like it there.  But getting to stay with Grandma on a regular basis was great.  I would come in the house to the foyer with tiny aqua and tan tiles on the floor and sniff in the familiar scent of her house.  Grandma taught me how to tap dance on that tiled floor. 

She'd give me a big hug and kiss and we'd go hang out in the kitchen.  I would sit at the kitchen table with my coloring book and crayons and watch TV while Grandma would cook dinner.  Grandma and I would go for walks around the block in the evening after dinner. She would stop and chat with her friends in the neighborhood and I would sit quietly and listen to their gossip and stories. By the time we got back to the house it was late and usually mom would be there to pick me up and take me home.

 

 

 

 

 

After my parents divorce, the house became a trading point between my parents. Dad would come pick me up there and take me for the weekend.

 

 

 

The living room was one of my favorite rooms to play in.  There was this cool kidney shaped desk that I used to pretend I was working in an office.  It also had a good hiding spot under it for those games of hide-and-seek.  Grandpa was usually sitting in his chair.   

 

 

 

I particularly liked to play the piano.   I loved playing songs from “Mary Poppins” and “Annie”.  I also remember learning the song, “On Top of Spaghetti”.  Grandma would eventually tell me, “That’s enough” and I’d go play in the basement.  Grandpa’s cancer was taking its toll and the plinking on the piano was not doing him any favors.

Sometimes I would go down into the basement and play with all the old toys that had accumulated there from my mom and her siblings and the many cousins.  I would play in the back yard and snack on raspberries off the bush against the fence.  I was always good at entertaining myself and could sit and color for hours.  Being at Grandma's house was always a peaceful place to be for me.

There were many times that I slept over at Grandma's house. And I almost always slept in the bedroom with the bamboo wallpaper against the exterior wall of the house. She had all kinds of artwork on the walls from her many travels with my grandpa around the world. They kind of scared me, but I’d look at them every time. I would lay there watching the headlights from the road travel around the room till I fell asleep.

 

When I would get up in the morning I was always trying to sneak downstairs without making a sound. I'd slide down the banister to minimize the sounds of the creaking steps. It's a miracle that I never hurt myself doing that. Once downstairs I'd help myself to whatever cookies grandma had on top of the refrigerator. Sometimes there were good ones like the chocolate covered graham cookies or Oreos. Other times there were just the chocolate covered marshmallow treats that I didn't care for. I'm sure I got my love for sweets from my grandma. Then I would have some cereal and sit down and watch the morning cartoons till the rest of the house awoke.

When we would have big family gatherings it was at her house.  The adults would sit in the dining room at the big table and the kids would be in the kitchen at the table there.  Then we'd run off to go play in the basement some more.  We played hide and seek on a regular basis.  It still amazes me that grandma didn't get annoyed when we'd hide in her closets and cupboards and knock things off the hangers.  I had my favorite places to hide- the back of her bedroom closets, under beds, and in the scary basement.  My favorite hiding spot was behind the bar.  I was afraid of the basement for two reasons.   First of all, there was this weird air vent fan that was in the main room of the play area.  One time a bird had gotten stuck in there and while I was playing it flapped around a few times.  It startled me and for years after that I would stare at the vent intently making sure no birds were in there waiting to scare me again.  Secondly the basement had an area with wood paneling that hid the furnace and hot water heater.  This area had a panel that you could open to come out into the play area.  I was always a little scared that someone or something would pop out of the dark recesses to "get" me.

All in all, there were a lot of special, yet seemingly ordinary moments that I shared with my Grandma in that house.  Every time I travel past her house I tear up a bit at the thought that she’s no longer there.  But the house and the memories of family will always have a very special corner of my heart.

Funny Friday- Childhood Career Options

Construction Worker/ Electrician

Crossing Guard

Funny Friday- The New Mower

You know it's a big deal when you get a lawnmower...

... and the whole family gets their picture taken with it.  Classic!

Wordless Wednesday- Morse Family's ship

The Helen Taylor
Picture is said to have on board: Frank, Art, Edward H., and their father, Edward B. Morse

Supposed to have been sunk in 1932 in the Michigan City, Indiana harbor. (not confirmed)

My Genealogy Goals for 2012

Here are my much-anticipated genealogy goals for 2012.  Some are pretty general and some quite specific.  I am hopeful that I'll be able to go to all the conferences I've mentioned.  I think the main thing is to just set aside time each month to work on one or two of these goals.  I'll keep you posted as I accomplish each one.


General Genealogy Goals..


Education
1.  Attend the Ohio Genealogical Conference in Cleveland, Ohio (April 12-14).
2.  Attend the National Family History Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio (May 9-12).
3.  Visit the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana and learn about the resources available there.
4.  Finish the Advanced Jewish Genealogy Coursework that I began in November.
5.  Take the courses that I won last year through the Family Tree Magazine.
6.  Finish reading the Jewish Genealogy book that I bought last year.
7.  Finish the Methodology Part 1 course through the National Institute for Genealogical Studies.
8.  Attend the Midwestern Roots Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana (July 20-21).

Blogging
1.  Write at least once a week.
2.  Promote my blog on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+
3.  Invite others to write as guests on my blog.

Networking
1.  Continue to meet with the COG's (Central Ohio Geneabloggers).
2.  At all conferences make at least one new connection.
3.  Become active in the Licking County Genealogical Society and volunteer in the library.

Family Interviews
Interview the older generations in my family about their memories growing up.  Use pictures to spur stories about relatives that I know little about.  Record these interviews to digital audio for later reference and sharing.



Specific questions and goals for the family lines that I'd like to examine this year...

Morse
1.  Find out more about Margaret Maude Nolan Morse McGraw.  According to my Great Uncle, she was married once before she met George Frederick Morse.  Was Nolan her maiden name or was it her 1st married name?
2.  Who was George Frederick Morse married to before Margaret?  My Great Uncle said he was married once before... who was she?
3.  What happened to Arthur Morse's daughter Helena Irene?
4.  Join the Morse Family Genealogical Society.

Krueger
1.  Find out more about Alex/ Ellye Kriger in Belarus.  Was he born there or elsewhere?  When & where was he buried?
2.  Did Myer Krueger have any siblings?  According to my grandma there was a sister in Minnesota that married and had several children.  When did she come to America? 
3.  Where is Sophia/ Zipe Soloman Krueger buried and when did she die?  Where was she born?  Did she have any siblings besides Sarah Soloman Shon?

Engel
1.  Did Samuel Hirsch Engel have any siblings?  Did his family remain in Slovakia?
2.  Did Dora Fleckman Engel have any siblings?  Did her family stay in Slovakia?

Alford
1.  Find out more about my dad's half-brother Kenny and Kenny's mother.  Where did they end up & is Kenny still alive?
2.  Find out more about Naomi Reynolds Alford's family and whether any more pictures are "out there".
3.  Join the Alford Family Association.

Clifford
1.  Find out where in Ireland the Cliffords came from originally.

Scrapbook Sunday

This week’s activities have certainly opened my eyes to the benefits of digital scrapbooking.  Though I really enjoy the feeling of working with paper, photographs, and laying it all out… the digital method makes it so much easier to customize and adjust as you go.  Being able to adjust photographs to be the right size without cutting it up is just wonderful.  I was able to put both of these pages together in just over two hours and the nice thing is that I can revise them for different people in the family quite easily.  I foresee some pretty cool gifts for people using these new skills I’ve acquired!
Here’s what I did this week…

It surprised me that I had so many actual pictures of my ancestors and it made me wonder if there might be more “out there” that I just haven’t gotten yet.  Regardless, it was fairly easy for me to fill in this family tree.  I then moved on to the Pedigree Chart.  The example from the class only has the ancestors names, but I think when I get a chance I will add birth, marriage, and death dates and locations.  I might also adapt it so that I could show even more generations then the template shows currently. 

So as you can see, I’ve been busy!  I’m hoping to do some more digital scrapbooking throughout the week, but we shall see if I have the time after I get home from work each night.  I really wish there were more hours in the day so that I wouldn’t have to give up any sleep to get to do all this fun stuff!

Remember to Check Your Sources

Several months ago I learned a valuable lesson about researching my family tree.  I had thought I was related to James and Hannah Morse.  This was mainly due to not double-checking that my ggg grandfather, William Morse, was born in 1834 and not 1826.  This discrepancy was pointed out to me by the lovely researchers of the Morse Society.  I provided them with my research on the Morse line and they worked with me to clear up some confusion I’d had. 
Apparently my ancestors are descendants of John DeMorse who was originally from Ireland and had intended to join William Penn’s Colony.  As the story goes, he became shipwrecked and though all the passengers were saved, their belongings were lost.  They landed near Mount Desert Island in Maine and he eventually settled in Meduncook which later became Friendship.   Based on the information provided to me it seems that he was one of many who signed a petition protesting the actions of the British government in 1774.
This nudge in the right direction has led me to discover all kinds of interesting ties to the settling of America.  I learned of ancestors that were killed by Indians and others who acted as interpreters for Indians.  I’ve definitely learned some caution though in getting excited about these leads.  At this point in my research I am going through and generation by generation confirming that the census information I’m referencing is in fact for the right person.  It’s quite easy when you use a website like Ancestry to get carried away in the excitement of those little bouncing leaves that suggest new clues to your family tree.  I’d much rather know the real people I’m descended from than the random possible matches of an algorithm.  In the meantime, I’ll continue my searching for my people.

Happy Holidays

I haven’t had a chance to post about the family history research I have been able to do over the past couple months.  I suppose that happens when you get wrapped up in finding a job (success!), traveling, visiting family, working on home improvement projects, and making Christmas presents.  Anyway, I’ve had a few minor breakthroughs that have opened new doors for my research.

In August, I traveled to Maine with my fiancé and we went to Thomaston where my Morse family lived in the late 1800’s.  After checking out the local cemetery I went to the Rockland Public Library where I did further digging to get more information.  The coolest thing was that I ended up getting books with the history of Thomaston and mentions my Morse relatives specifically.  I learned that James Morse had a lime quarry which produced 4000 casks in 1860.  James also served in the War of 1812 and was on the Board of Trustees for the Methodist Church.  His son, William, came to Muskegon, Michigan where he was a sailor.  His family grew there in Muskegon and eventually moved down to Michigan City, Indiana.

 

In November I went to Michigan City and South Bend, Indiana and found obituaries for many of my great grandparents which revealed some interesting new leads.  In the Abstracts from Declaration of Intents filed in the Superior Court in Michigan City, La Porte, Indiana I learned that great grandpa Myer Krueger came to America from Liverpool, England to the port of Philadelphia on July 3, 1901.  I plan on taking advantage of the Family History Library to request the passenger lists for that date in Philadelphia.  I’m hoping it will list a city that he was originally from in Russia.  Regardless, it proved that he was not in the country for the 1900 census which is contrary to what I’d been told previously.  I’m hoping to find out once and for all if Krueger is really how their last name was spelled too.  It’s been a story in the family for a long time that our name was changed when they came to America.  I’m hoping to finally answer this question once and for all!

I found out that in 1910 when great grandfather Myer Krueger married that his mother was living in Michigan City and his father was living in Orad.  I’d been told that his mother was in Israel and that his father was deceased.  This was all discovered by finding the marriage application.  As a result, I’ve learned that his mother who I had thought was named Sophia Soloman may have gone by the name Zebia or Zebra.  It can be challenging to decipher the handwriting so I try to consider all the different alternatives when I’m searching through the genealogy databases like Ancestry and FamilySearch.  I now also have a new name to look at for Myer’s father- Alex.  I had thought his name was Samuel.  Using the autobiography that my grandma Morse had written is sometimes a risk of following a false lead, but as I uncover more firm details from various documents on file with local government I learn more and more.

Lastly, I went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as my fiancé interviewed for a job and visited the Family History Library there.  The volunteers there were very helpful and we traded information about helpful websites and research strategies that I had not thought of before.  I didn’t make any big discoveries while there, but I learned how about how requests for microfilms work and plan on putting that information to good use very soon.

Clifford Family Revelations & Morse Breakthroughs

Earlier this month I was fortunate to have my dad come and visit.  I don't get to see him very often so I appreciated the fact that he drove the 6 hours to see me.  It was great catching up and getting the chance to see photos that he'd gotten from my Uncle Tom's apartment.  We sat down and went through them and I heard last names that I'd never heard before and saw relatives that I'd never seen.  It was pretty cool and exciting for me as I considered all the new information I had to process now.  I borrowed the photographs overnight and scanned like a mad woman throughout the day on Saturday.  I still need to wrap up organizing it all, but I was able to scan all that I wanted so that my dad could take the photos back with him and send them on to relatives in California. 

Dad shared a number of interesting stories while we were going through the photos.  In one story, a relative was reprimanded for leaving his post to rescue a tail gunner who was clinging to the tail section of his plane. I’m sure that guy was pretty glad that he was rescued. Another relative served her country and worked as a stenographer at the Nuremberg trials.

In other genealogical news, I've finally found my Morse family's census records from Maine.  I'm planning a vacation up in Maine and thought it would be interesting to do some family research while I'm up there.  For the past two years I had been trying to find what I thought was my ancestor by the name of Frederick Morse.  I then realized that perhaps that wasn’t really his name.  So I searched for the wife and discovered that his name was actually William G. Morse (ca. 1834-1880).  He and his wife Anna Stevens (ca. 1834-1924) lived in Thomaston, Maine in 1860.  In about 1865 they moved to Chicago and eventually settled in Muskegon, Michigan.  William worked as a mariner and his sons followed in his footsteps. 

I emailed the Thomaston Historical Society and was thrilled to get a detailed response with information regarding when my ancestors were engaged and married.  More details on their parents’ names were included and so much more.  I’m thrilled that I’ll be going there and may actually see a gravestone and will see the town where they lived.

Guest Blog Post!

Since you may not be aware, I was recently invited to submit a blog post to the Jewish Gen blog.  Since I was just wrapping up my Beginner's Genealogy Class that they offer that was my topic.  If you'd like to read it you are welcome to visit my  Guest Post.

In other news, I'm going on a vacation!  Hurrah!  Yes, I'll be traveling up to beautiful Maine and hoping to do a little side research on my Morse family that is originally from there.  I've got some leg work to do ahead of time, but with the hot weather that has sprung up I do believe I'll have time over the next few weeks.

Sadly, I must share that my Uncle Thomas Clifford passed away this week.  He was always such a staple at holiday events that I'm sure I'll miss him when Thanksgiving comes and he isn't there.  Tom served in the Navy during the Korean War.  He worked as a clerk in a number of different stores over the years.  He had three older sisters who all passed away before him.  He lived to be 78 years old and for the most part had a pretty active and healthy life.  He was always one to get around by either walking or taking local transit.   I hope that he is at peace now and is reunited with the rest of his Clifford family.