Wordless Wednesday - Jacob Gress

Photograph in possession of my great aunt Lois (It would be her grandfather, my great-great grandfather).  I scanned during my trip to Florida last spring.

Tombstone Tuesday - Katherine Weiss Eichhorn Gorndt

Goals for the New Year

In 2010, I hope to accomplish the following:

• Interview my grandmothers, parents and great aunts, uncles and cousins on video ASAP!
• Goal is to do this by the end of February for my grandmothers
• Update each of my lines sideways and forward.
• I usually do well with my information about my ancestors siblings, but I have not done so well finding cousins in more recent generations.
• Focus my search for my German lines so that I can visit their hometowns while I am in Germany for 4 1/2 months
• I will therefore focus on the Eichhorn, Gresz, Fink, Weiss and Tross lines for the next two months
• Stay in touch with my relatives searching my fathers side of the family.
• I research my mothers side as I have great aunts and uncles who research my fathers.  I will be helping my Aunt Dottie with her search in Poland for the Karpinski's (my great-grandmother's line)
• Complete Dear Myrtle's finally get organization checklist from 2009
• Start researching my fiancé's line (at the very least, get the information he knows into my file)
• Blog: Participate in Surname Saturday each week in order to get my surnames out there and find new cousins!  I plan on going alphabetically though all my surnames.

SNGF - What I received for Christmas

This weeks Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:
1) What gift that you received for Christmas is your favorite for genealogy purposes? Book, magazine, hardware, software, website subscription, research time - what was it, and how will it affect your genealogy research?

2) Tell us about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment on Facebook in response to this post.


I received a fantastic genealogy present on Christmas - a reply to a blog post from my second cousin, once removed!  I couldn't have asked for anything better.  Thank you Alan, for a fantastic present!

Advent Calender - Opening Day 5

The GeneaBlogger Advent Calender prompt #5: December 5 - Outdoor Decorations
Did people in your neighborhood decorate with lights? Did some people really go “all out” when decorating? Any stories involving your ancestors and decorations?

In recent years, my sister has slowly become one of the more out-of-control light people. Each year after Christmas, she gets another one of those lit, movable, holiday animals to add to the collection. Her and my mom also put up icicle lights around the house for a complete winter wonderland.

My favorite lights are those of an unknown neighbor. Each year, for as long as I can remember, he has put up a huge Christmas tree, made out of green lights. It never feels like Christmas until I go home and see the tree all lit up against the dark night sky.

Advent Calender - Opening Day 4

The GeneaBlogger Advent Calender prompt #4: December 4 - Christmas Cards
Did your family send cards? Did your family display the ones they received? Do you still send Christmas cards? Do you have any cards from your ancestors?

My mother is fantastic about sending Christmas cards, which is a trait I am trying hard to pick up on. She would write out dozens each year, as would my grandmother and, in return, our mailbox would be full each day leading up to Christmas. Trying to display each one could be tricky, but we went through a multitude of card holders over the years to do so.

I do not have any cards from my ancestors and until reading this prompt had never thought to look for some. It looks like it is time to mention that to relatives as they pull out all their holiday items and hopefully find some old cards tucked away.

Advent Calender - Opening Day 3

The GeneaBlogger Advent Calender prompt #3: December 3 - Christmas Tree Ornaments
Did your family have heirloom or cherished ornaments? Did you ever string popcorn and cranberries? Did your family or ancestors make Christmas ornaments?

My mother has a multitude of ornaments her grandmother and other female relatives made over the years. Each year we would hang a few of these on the tree along with all of our Hallmark ornaments from more recent years. The ornaments I love the most are those with a story attached and my mom does an excellent job at picking them out for us year after year. My favorite from last year was the "First Christmas Together 2008" she got for Aaron and I and our first apartment together.

We also tell the story each year of when my grandmother bought each family a pickle ornament and my cousin Jake picked one up and it just crushed in his hand. He had the most crestfallen look ever, but after making sure he was okay, we all just laughed and laughed. Glass ornaments around a bunch of active kids did not work out too well. But they received another of the ornaments at a later date and it became family legend.

Advent Calender - Opening Day 2

The GeneaBlogger Advent Calender prompt #2: December 2 - Holiday Foods
Did your family or ancestors serve traditional dishes for the holidays? Was there one dish that was unusual?

My favorite holiday food story is also always brought up by my Gramma Acquard every time I see her:-) We spend Christmas each year with my father's family and for every Christmas dinner my grandmother makes baked beans. Every year she also forgets to take them out of the oven, which is where I come in. I always remember that they aren't out on the counter in the buffet line with everything else, so she will pull them out of the oven and find a place for them with everything else. This is apparently a long running tradition, as my mother used to always remind her before I was old enough to. She makes fantastic baked beans.

Advent Calender - Opening Day 1

The GeneaBlogger Advent Calender prompt #1: December 1 - The Christmas Tree

Did you have a real tree or was it artificial? How big was the tree? Who decorated the tree? What types of Christmas trees did your ancestors have?

We almost always had an artificial tree growing up, except for the few years my sister convinced my mom that a real one was necessary. After still picking up needles in July, we would switch back to the artificial for another year. We all helped decorate, pulling all the ornament boxes out of the attic and remembering why we had received each one or which relative had made them back in the day. Everyones favorite part was always the tinsel. As kids, we would throw it on in globs and my mom would add it in a more restrained way.

Since moving out, I have a very small artificial tree, which works perfectly with the miniature ornaments that I love. I put the few larger ornaments around it on the table, along with my Charlie Brown nativity scene and other random holiday items. Doing this post reminded me that I need to clear the school books and papers off the coffee table, pull my Christmas box out of the closet, turn some carols on and start the holiday decorating!

Half way through the semester

It is the midway point in my first semester of graduate school. I have been incredibly lucky, learning quite a few things that will help me with my career as a genealogical reference librarian in the future. The first is that the American Library Association has a division which focuses on reference services and in the division is a part for history/genealogy librarians. I will be joining this ASAP to network and learn more. They are also giving a full-day workshop in Boston in January on genealogical librarianship that I plan on taking. Second is that librarians are tremendously nice. I interviewed the head of the local history/genealogy department and she gave me a lot of tips, which I look forward to implementing:-) Most of all, I have been constantly citing everything for papers and have assignments where we have to write down every site or item we search, even if it comes back negative. This is a habit I really need to get better at for my genealogy research, so I am hoping it will carry over.

I am looking forward to actually doing some research in about 7 weeks and hope to have until the end of February to do so... I also may have a very exciting announcement soon about school and some international genealogical research... Wish me luck!

New blog

If you have been missing my posts (and how could you not be?), please check out my new ePortfolio blog Amanda's Athenæum, where I will be posting my journey through starting graduate school to becoming a genealogy and local history librarian.

Not much time for genealogy

I apologize for the lack of posts the past few weeks, but graduate school has taken over my life, leaving little room for anything other than work and sleep. I promise to keep this blog as updated as possible, but it may not be much until winter break.

Wordless Wednesday

The gavel my great-grandfather William Herbert Whitehead used at the American Legion. In the possession of my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Bud.

Genealogy Happy Dance - Marcantonio Casillo

I had the best night ever at the FamilyHistory Center today. I walked in, grabbed my microfilms and the woman working asked what I was looking at today. I said Canadian land records and Italian birth records, but I wasn't so sure on the Italian. She said that Italian records were her favorite and offered to help!

Apparently, back in the day, someone helped her at a FHC with the Italian records and now she was going to help me. She asked about my family and my interest in genealogy. I told her I was looking for my great-great grandfather Marcantonio Casillo's birth record. According to his daughter who told her nephew (my grandfather) Marco was born 11 January 1868 in RocRoma, Caserta, Italy. Try as I may, I never have been able to find a RocRoma, but in checking familysearch.org, I saw many Casillos listed in Roccaromana, Caserta and thought that was close enough and ordered the microfilm. According to my grandfathers family tree Marco's father was Peter, mother Unknown. According to Marco's death certificate his parents were John and Angeline.

The woman who helped me said it was the worst microfilm she ever saw. Very tiny, bad writing and very fuzzy. It took quite a while, but then we FOUND IT!!!

Registered on the 15 January 1868. Father Pietro Casillo, son of the dead Guiseppe, age 33, profession Guardilegata(?any ideas anyone? hard to read), living in Roccaromana. Baby, masculine, born 11 January 1868, at 4 o'clock. Mother Angela Rosa Palmiero, daughter of the alive Rafeal and Maria Guiseppa Agua/Agia/Igia/Izio, age 23. Baby named Marcantonio Maria.

And I got luckier still, on the side of the page was a notation that Marcantonio married Carolina Izio 5 December 1901 (I had September from my grandfathers information. This explains why I couldn't find a certificate in Buffalo, they married in Italy. I also had Carolina Izzo)

Now I need to try and find some relatives on the film... Even if I can't though, I found him! I have a town! And parents! And grandparents! And proof of a marriage! Woo-hoo!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Lucy Casillo

SNGF - My 16 great-great-grandparents

From Randy over at Genea-Musings: Here is your SNGF assignment for the evening (if you choose to accept it - this is not stump the genealogist or even Mission Impossible):

1) List your 16 great-grandparents in pedigree chart order. List their birth and death years and places.

2) Figure out the dominant ethnicity or nationality of each of them.

3) Calculate your ancestral ethnicity or nationality by adding them up for the 16 - 6.25% for each (obviously, this is approximate).

4) If you don't know all 16 of your great-grandparents, then do it for the last full generation you have.

5) Write your own blog post, or make a comment on Facebook or in this post.

1. Joseph Francis Eugene Acquard, Jr.: born 17 Jan 1855 in Cheektowaga, Erie, NY; married 15 Oct 1878 in Bennington Ctr., Wyoming, NY; died 10 Sept 1943 in Bennington Ctr., Wyoming, NY. FRENCH
2. Mary Ann Kollin: born 15 Oct 1878 in Bennington Ctr., Wyoming, NY; died 5 Feb 1938 in Bennington Ctr., Wyoming, NY. 1/2 GERMAN and 1/2 BELGIAN
3. Franciszek Karpinski: born 16 Sep 1880 in Poland; died 22 May 1943 in Erie or Wyoming, NY. POLISH
4. Jozefa Szydlik: born 26 Sep 1886 in Poland; died 4 Apr 1973 in Warsaw, Wyoming, NY. POLISH
5. John George Nuwer: born 21 Mar 1869 in Lancaster, Erie, NY; married 19 Apr 1893 in Lancaster, Erie, NY; died 1 Feb 1948 in Alden, Erie, NY. FRENCH
6. Anna M. Zaepfel: born 28 Sep 1874 in Elma, Erie, NY; died 7 Aug 1943 in Alden, Erie, NY. 1/2 GERMAN & 1/2 FRENCH
7. Edward Roll: born about 1888 in Alden, Erie, NY; married 22 Jun 1910 in Alden, Erie, NY; died 12 May 1941 in Alden, Erie, NY. FRENCH
8. Lidwina Agnes Pautler: born 16 Jan 1888 in Alden, Erie, NY; died 11 Oct 1975 in Batavia, Genesee, NY. FRENCH
9. Marcantonio Casillo: born 11 Jan 1868 in Italy; married 5 Sept 1901 in Buffalo, Erie, NY; died 26 Nov 1937 in Colden, Erie, NY. ITALIAN
10. Carolina Izzo: born 3 May 1876 in Italy; died 2 Oct 1934 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. ITALIAN
11. William Fred Eichhorn: born 22 Jun 1874 in Chippewa, Ontario, Canada; married 14 Jun 1899 in Buffalo, Erie, NY; died 9 Mar 1931 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. GERMAN
12. Augusta M. Tross: born 6 Sept 1877 in Germany; died 1 Jan 1939 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. GERMAN
13. Charles William Whitehead: born 12 Jun 1872 in Burlington, Ontario, Canada; married prior to 1896; died 27 Dec 1927 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. ENGLISH
14. Anna May Sanderson: born 17 Jun 1871 in Burlington, Ontario, Canada; died 29 Apr 1928 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. ENGLISH
15. Jacob J. Gress: born 26 Jan 1869 in Buffalo, Erie, NY; married prior to 1888; died 11 Aug 1932 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. GERMAN
16. Elizabeth Fink: born 6 Jul 1867 in Buffalo, Erie, NY; died 24 Apr 1957 in Buffalo, Erie, NY. GERMAN

That gives me 31.25% German; 28.125% French; 12.5% Polish; 12.5% Italian; 12.5% English ; and 3.125% Belgian. The French and German parts are hard to tell as most of my fathers family came from the Alsace-Lorraine region which kept changing hands. The fact that my 3rd great-grandmother was born in Belgium (like the waffle) has always been cool to me. Oddly, I most identify with the Italian part of my heritage, even though it is way down on the list.

Fleeman Obituaries

I found the following obituaries today on Old Fulton NY Postcards. The most interesting to me is finding out that my gggg grandfather, Adam Fleeman, remarried after his wife Barbara died. You have to feel bad that his second wife died 4 years after his first and then his son died a few months later. The last obituary is this Adam's grandson.

Buffalo Daily Courier, 2 Oct 1870

At North Buffalo, Mrs. BARBARA FLEEMAN, wife of Adam Fleeman, at 9 o'clock, Oct 1st, aged 46 years, 8 months and 8 days.

Funeral to be held Monday Oct 3., at 2 o'clock P.M., at St Johns Church, on Amherst street, North Buffalo. Friends and acquaintances are invited to attend.

Courier & Republic, Buffalo, NY, 18 May 1874

In this city, MAGDALENA FLEEMAN, wife of Adam Fleeman, aged 48 years and 10 days respectively.

Funeral on Tuesday, at 2 o'clock P. M., at residence No. 59 Tonawanda street. Friends and acquaintances are respectfully invited to attend.

Fremont, Ohio, papers please copy.

Courier & Republic, Buffalo, NY, 5 Aug 1874

In this city, Aug. 5, LOUIS C. FLEEMAN, son of Adam and Barbara Fleeman, aged 19 years, 2 months and 27 days.

Funeral to take place Friday, August 7th, at 2 1/2 o'clock P.M. Friends and acquaintances are most respectfully invited to attend.

Rochester, N. Y. and Fremont, Ohio, papers please copy.

Evening Republic, Buffalo, NY, 28 Jul 1884

FLEEMAN-In this city, on the 27th inst., ADAM LOUIS FLEEMAN, son of Adam and Henrietta S. Fleeman, aged 3 months and 24 days.

The funeral will take place from the family residence, 214 Dearborn street, this Monday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock.

Friends and acquaintances are respectfully invited to attend.

Erie, Pa., and Cairo, Ill., papers, please copy.

When I feel most like a genealogist

Over at Olive Tree Genealogy is a well-deserved rant about genealogists who only will look for records in the comfort of their own home on the Internet. Some of these people have been looking for years, nearly a decade even, without ever stepping out into the world to search other records.

In my own research, I have to say I feel most like a genealogist when I am sifting through papers at the library, searching through huge index books at the court house and flipping through microfilm at the FamilyHistory Center. Finding information online through a search tool is always a nice addition to my work, but to feel truly accomplished I need to do more than type in a name, some dates and a location and hit "search."

If you are new (or not so new) to genealogy, remember that your family history is not online, ready for you print out back to Adam and Eve. If it were, this would not be a fun hobby, or even any hobby at all, since you wouldn't have to do any work. Go out into the world, head to those libraries, courthouses, churches and search. Drive around your ancestors hometown if you can, take pictures of their houses and their tombstones. I guarantee it will give you a much greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishment than anything you have found online.

My Maria (Strassheim Tross)

My great-great-great grandmother Maria Tross's death certificate arrived earlier this week, as I discuss here, with a birth date of 18 May 1841 in Germany and her father's name as John Strassheim. The source of information was Adoph Wetzlelen, her son-in-law. The passenger list she is listed to America on with her 6 children has her as being from Hessen, Germany.

I decided to check familysearch.com for the off-chance she was listed here and she was (I think)!

Maria Elisa Strassheim, b. 18 May 1841, Eberstadt, Giessen, Oberhessen, Hessen to Jacob Strassheim and Catharina Argin.

As two of her daughters are Elise and Katharine, this would definitely add evidence to it fitting. Then, I looked further down the list and found:

Maria Elisa Strassheim married to Wenzel Trost, 18 Nov 1866 at Eberstadt, Giessen, Oberhessen, Hessen.

My Maria was married to a Wenzel (also seen as Wesley) and their first child that I know about was born approximately 1869, which would also fit with the date.

Looks like a good fit so far. I need to find Maria's death notice/obit in the near future to hopefully confirm some of this. I also need to read the packets on searching in Germany I found on familysearch.org.

They arrived!

Yesterday my two other microfilms arrived at the FHC. I went through the Halstead marriage records, still none for my ancestors, but a few for their siblings. The roll also happened to have marriage banns from Knockholt, Kent, where I have relatives from! Again, none for direct ancestors, but some for siblings, including one of the siblings from Halstead, who married a man in Knockholt. That was a nice surprise:-) The records from Roccaromana, Caserta, Italy also came in and I can't read them. Now, obviously I realize I can not read the Italian, but it is so tiny (it's one of those small microfilms) that I cannot make out any of the words/letters. I am going to buy a magnifying glass, but I'm not sure that will help enough. Any recommendations are more than welcome!

Today my birth/death/marriage certificates came in from Buffalo. It took just a week and a day from ordering them, which is really decent time. Unfortunately, the marriage record couldn't be found, but the index was fuzzy, so I think I must have guessed the wrong year. Next time I'm there I'll check the library microfilm, which might have the record.

I received death certificates for:

• Charles Herman Eichhorn, which has his parents names, Nicholas Eichhorn and Dora Schneider, and shows I had the right family in Canada! Now I have to continue my search there and eventually back to Germany. He was buried at Buffalo Cemetery and hopefully his wife is next to him, as I have no idea when she died.
• Elizabeth Whitehead, my great aunt, who died at 9 days old. The death cause is different than the one listed in the church records; this one makes more sense (cerebral hemorrhage).
• Maria Tross, which has her maiden name as Strassheim (on a marriage record of her child it looked like Crossheim or Crosshein). It also says she was buried in Buffalo Cemetery, so hopefully I can find some info on her husband (Wenzel/Wesley Tross) there and in her obituary.
• Mrs. A. [Barbara] Fleeman. She died in 1870, so there is pretty much no information, other than she was born in France about 1824, but no maiden name. Also no cemetery, but based on her probate file, they might not have been able to afford burying her.
• Adam L. Fleeman. Not my ancestor as hoped, but rather his grandson, who died at 3 months, 24 days. He is buried in Forest Lawn, so I will go visit next time I am in Buffalo.

I received birth certificates for some of the siblings of my ancestors as follows:

• William Tross Eichhorn, son of William F. and Augusta (Tross) Eichhorn.
• Clara Evelyn Eichhorn, daughter of the same.
• Adeline Whitehead, daughter of Charles and Anna M. (Sanderson) Whitehead.
• Amelia Angela Maria Casilla [sic] daughter of Marcantonio and Carolina (Izzo) Casillo.

Time to go update the Legacy file:-)

Wordless Wednesday - Charles and Anna May (Sanderson) Whitehead

Scanned at my Aunt Lois's home in Florida. I am not sure who the child is.

Tombstone Tuesday - Joseph and Sophia Gresz

Joseph J. and Sophia Gresz buried at Forest Lawn cemetery in Buffalo, Erie Co., New York. They are my great-great-great-grandparents. This is the nicest stone I've found so far for my family. I am amazed it is in such great shape considering its age. If only Sophia had made sure her maiden name was on it...

Amanda's Excellent (Genealogical) Adventure (Day 2)

Last Thursday began in Buffalo, this time I was spending the day with my Grandmother. We headed out to Forest Lawn in between rain storms and hoped for the best. The man at the desk was tremendously helpful and found the location of Gottlieb Finck and Joseph and Sophia Gresz. We walked over to the Gresz stone first, as it was located right behind the office. It is a large, very nice stone. We then drove to the end of the cemetery and found Gottlieb's, which matches his wife Barbara's. We were trying to find Barbara's (we had found it on our last trip, it's in the same area). After a couple minutes of searching I returned to Gottlieb's, as in front of it I had seen a granite Mason symbol. Hoping it belonged to him (maybe there was an arrow...) I started pulling the grass and weeds away... and found another tombstone for him! This one was older and had the same dates, but had his last name as "Fink." Why does he have two stones? This is a mystery for another day...

After our adventure it was time for me to head back to Syracuse, as 3 of my FamilyHistory Center films had come in. I arrived before the volunteers and anxiously waited in my car. Upon the center opening I put in film one of Halstead, Kent, England parish records and hoped to find the baptismal record of Thomas Hayman. Much to my amazement, it was the first one! With that good omen, I kept reading the records, which are filled of my Hayman and Whitehead relatives! The man next to me was impressed by all the writing I was doing and I just said "He was the first one!!!" Small English CoE parish records are my new favorite genealogy records, as I have about 30 pages of written notes from the parish records and two bishop's transcripts for the area. I just finished the second microfilm as they closed. I can't wait to go back Wednesday to check out my Ontario land records and go over the parish films again.

Currently, I am trying to figure out how/if all of these people are related. The earlier records (early and mid 1700's) were really difficult to read, so I skipped over them to the early 1800's, and I have to feeling a lot of the answers I need lie in them. Following the lead of the man next to me on the microfilm reader I will be bringing a magnifying glass... I also have 2 more films that should be arriving soon, another of Halstead records and my Italy records, which will really be testing my skills.

Amanda's Excellent (Genealogical) Adventure (Day 1)

It began Wednesday at 6:40am. This is when I left my apartment and headed toward the inactive records center in Buffalo. I arrived shortly after their opening at 9am and was directed to the new CD version of the Buffalo death index, available for 1852 - 1944. Someone has recently scanned the book indexes and created pdf files that you can view on the computer. This makes it much easier for the workers, as they do not have to bring out the huge index books for every searcher who visits. I ordered death certificates for 4 of my ancestors, meaning I only could not find one I was searching for. I also ordered one for my great-aunt who died as a baby. These should arrive in my mailbox sometime next week.

I then moved on to birth indexes. It is here that I must thank Marvin, who happily lugged out 10 different index books for me to go through. He was the most happy and helpful government worker I have ever met. I ordered a couple of my ancestors sibling's records, as I am a big fan of cluster genealogy.

Lastly I looked at the marriage index which is located on microfilm and found the listing of one of my great-great grandparents and ordered this certificate as well. Unfortunately, the other listing I was hoping to find was not there:-(

At about 11:30 I left and went to the central Buffalo & Erie County library branch. My goal there was death notices and I did rather well, finding 8 of 13. The multitude of Buffalo newspapers in the late 18- and early 1900's make it a challenge, as you will find the death listing in a "vital records" section, but the death notice will be listed in another paper. I am hopeful that I will be able to find the rest, plus those of the people whose death certificates I just ordered, on my next trip.

This was the end of genealogy for day one, outside of showing my finds to my mother and grandmother. I will post on day 2 at a later time.

Old Marcellus Village Cemetery

As part of my RAOGK volunteering, I went to the Old Marcellus Village Cemetery in Marcellus, Onondaga, New York. An inactive cemetery located right in the middle of the village. This is my new favorite cemetery for a multitude of reasons, most shown here.

First, it has the following notice outside the cemetery gate:

THE MARCELLUS VILLAGE CEMETERY

Here rest the forefathers who gave so much character to the community that they founded. We cannot forget those old families, who built fine homes, lived wholesome lives and contributed in a large measure to the life of the community.

Here rests many a soldier of the American Revolution, of the War of 1812, of the Civil War, their warfare over. Here they all sleep among their kindred, waiting "till the day breaks and the shadows flee away."

There is no one to speak for or guard the remains of those interred in the heart of our village. There is no one to preserve the memories of and the legacy from our past. There is no one but us.

Please treat this area with respect.

It seems to work at least a bit, this is an old cemetery, but in relatively decent shape.

Many stones that are no longer in decent shape, due to weather or

breakage, have these little replacement stones with

name, death date and war veteran information: Imagine if all cemeteries could do this! Kudos to whomever has undertaken this task!

Lastly, come two of my favorite ever tombstones, the first was located next to a small tree at one point. The tree h

as now grown around it.

Inscription reads: "In Memory of the widow Thankful Bachelor, who died June 3, 1805 in the 81 year of hes Age." What a fantastic married name! I wonder what she thought of this name

Postcard - London Pubs

In 2001, I had a friend who was studying in London for a semester. When I went to visit over Thanksgiving break we went on a pub crawl and I bought this postcard for my scrapbook. It is glued to the paper, hence no back available. I recall having a lot of fun on "Thanksgiving" night...

“It will remind you what a great person you are”

Please read this wonderful article on writing an autobiography/journal. A man with short-term memory lost works to remember by reading his autobiography. The link was posted by Kathy Gunter Sullivan on the Rootsweb TGF list.

Sons of England Benevolent (or Benefit) Society

The obituary of my 3rd great grandfather, Charles Whitehead, invited members of the Sons of England Benevolent Society to his funeral.

From what I can find online, this appears to be a society that helps lower class protestants from England in Canada get health insurance and burial plots in hopes of gaining support for the monarchy. As Charles was Church of England, I assume he was a member and helped others with these things. There are some microfilms available that have membership rolls, that would be interesting to find. I am also trying to find a book or website that explains this society in some depth, but so far have come up short. More information as soon as I can find it:-)

Pies

"Cherry" she would call and I would stand up from the porch step and run to the right, not touching the driveway, around the first tree, staying in front of the small the small flower garden, but out of the road, and around the second tree as she chased me. With her hand outstretched I just reached the porch. Safe... for now...

The thing I remember most about summers as a child was playing outside with the neighborhood kids. I grew up on a dead end street, with a girl my age named Tammy, her older sister Kelly, my younger sister Chris and a bunch of other people of similar ages.

During the day we would congregate on Kelly and Tammy's front lawn and play "pies."

For anyone who hasn't played this, there is the person who is "it." They have to come up with a category, such as pies, and all the other players think of a pie. The person who is it then starts naming pies, pumpkin, cherry, apple, strawberry rhubarb, and when they call yours you have have get up and run around the desired area without being tagged. If you get tagged, you're the new "it." Basically, it's a more interesting form of tag.

We would play it over and over, coming up with weirder and more interesting categories and answers. With the wide age range, at least 8 years, it was a game that stayed fun for everyone, as you could always come up with something (and if you couldn't, there was always help available). I remember always thinking that when I wrote my autobiography someday I would name it "Pies" for that will always bring back the memories of summer during my childhood. Memories of street hockey, kickball, swimming in the pool, wandering through the woods at the end of the street, hide-and-go-seek, chalk drawings on the driveway and staying up late.

While writing this post, I thought to check if this really was a game and it turns out, it's listed on gameskidsplay.net. It makes me smile to think of children outside as I write this, hoping the sun doesn't go down for just one more opportunity to make it back to the porch step.

Wordless Wednesday - Ralph, Carrie (Gress) and Ethelyn Williams

Ralph, Carolyn M. (Gress) Williams and their daughter Ethelyn. Carrie was born approximately 1871, so I would guess this picture was taken around 1900. I like the glasses on Carrie (hopefully footnoteMaven will, too:-)) and her dress.

Carrie is my great-great grandfather's younger sister. This photograph is in possession of my Aunt Lois and was scanned during my recent trip to Florida.

Genealogy Wise

Yes, I have a page... I am not sure how often I will be able to follow it (I can't even keep up with my Facebook groups, but I figure it is one more way to get my surnames out there.

Tombstone Tuesday - Beethoven

Beethoven's tombstone at Vienna (Austria) Cemetery. Even in the middle of January, visitors keep it decorated with flowers. Photo taken by Amanda January 2009.

New Header

I received a new header today from Deez of Cemetery Explorers. He has become the go-to header creator for geneabloggers for obvious reasons:-) Thank you so much Deez, I love it!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Lillian Eichhorn Casell

The only picture I have of my great-grandmother Lillian L. Eichhorn Casell

In Memory

Today would have been the 79th birthday of my grandfather, Robert Alfred Casell. This picture was taken approximately March 1983. I am on the left, just over a year old, and my cousin Erin is a newborn. Unfortunately, he died 29 May 1983, seven months before my sister, his 3rd grandchild, was born.

Growing up I would go through his scrapbook over and over and claimed it as my own at an early age (eventually, at least and before my Uncle's ever asked for it...). It has pictures of him, his parents and siblings, his wedding, my grandmother, his children, Erin and I, and the family tree he put together, as well as other ephemera. Upon his death my grandmother added items about his death, such as cards, flower decorations, etc. It is beyond a doubt what got me interested in genealogy, long before I knew what genealogy was. The start he provided from information he got from living relatives has been invaluable to the start of my search.

Happy birthday Grandpa! You're loved and missed.

Family History Center

On Thursday I make my second trip to a Family History Center. The first, many months ago, did not go well, as the volunteers weren't very friendly and I felt like a nuisence. As such, I put off going back, but my experience Thursday was FANTASTIC!

The volunteers were very friendly and helped me with everything I needed. In a few weeks I should receive the following items:

Parish Registers of Halstead (Kent, England) 1561-1900

Bishop's transcripts of Halstead 1813-1898

Abstract Index of books of Chippawa 1796-1955

Registri dello slato civile di Roccaromana 1866-1886

Hopefully, I'll be able to push my Whitehead line back another generation or two with the Halstead items and find Charles Whitehead and Mary Ann Hayman's marriage.

My Eichhorn line should make an appearance in the Chippawa index.

The Roccaromana, Italy records are rather scary for me, as this will really be testing my reading skills. I have my Italian words to know ready, now if only the Casillo's I need are listed:-)

Freedom Isn't Free

Franklin and Lois Bowers, young couple on left

Franklin Bowers fought in World War II, as it was his duty. He died on the beach of Normandy, France, 9 July 1944, just 13 days before his 22 birthday and less thank 5 months after marrying his high-school sweetheart, my great-aunt Lois. According to Lois's mother Vera, Franklin saw the person who shot him and did not shoot back, as he would have been unable to hurt, let alone kill, someone. He was a kind and decent young man.

While I always knew I had an uncle who fought and died in WWII, it was only recently I learnt he died in the battle of Normandy. This battle plays such an important part in history classes throughout school, yet I never even knew it lasted for 24 days, as D-Day was always the topic of discussion. I was never able to understand how some many thousands of young men were able to jump into the water and run onto the beach, all the while knowing that they would probably not make it home.

I dedicate this entry in the Carnival of Genealogy to my great-uncle who died while fighting for freedom and independence.

Photo courtesy of my aunt Barbara.

"Just Make Up Some Lyrics" Challenge

Here is my entry to the "Just Make Up Some Lyrics" Challenge by Bill West:-)
"They're Mine" to the tune of "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz

Well, you changed your name and you bet I lost you
I tried to follow but you hid every record
You fell right through the cracks, now I'm tryin’ to get you back 
before the night done run out I'll be givin’ it my best-est 
and nothin's gonna stop me but divine intervention 
I reckon it's again my turn to find that Eichhorn(Eichorn/Eichkan/Eckorn/Thorn)
 
But I won't hesitate no more, 
no more, it cannot wait 
G-G-G-Grandpa Nicholas!
 
Well open up that gedcom and see like me 
open up my email and new cousins for the tree
look into you mailbox and you'll find vital records
listen to my great aunts talk: Sanderson and Whitehead 
They're just perfect as can be
Someday I'll find the truth to those family mysteries
 
So, Anna May/Elizabeth Ann
Sanderson/Lawrence
I'll find you this time i'm sure 
Hiding at every chance, 
Then no tombstone...
 
I've been spendin' way too long checkin' Ancestry in the library 
and changin' all the spellings just to try to find the answer 
But my crazy searches finally worked
and so I drew a new chart and happy-danced
I guess what I'd be sayin' is there ain't no better reason 
to search through old microfilms and in courthouses 
Genealogy’s what we aim to do 
our goal is our history
 
But I won't hesitate no more, 
no more, it cannot wait
I found you!
 
Casell, Casillo, Tross
Acquard, Nuwer, Gress and Bond
look into my gedcom and you'll find lots of family 
listen to me ramble of happy dances and brick walls
ah, la one big family 
even if they're black sheep, they're mine, mine, mine, mine 
  
 
  
But I won't hesitate no more, 
no more, it cannot wait 
They’re mine
  
 
  

Family Lines: Maternal Branches

Thank you to Becky for this wonderful idea!

I mostly research my mother's family, as my father has an aunt and uncle who have traced a lot of his line. Here is where I am at currently. As you can see, I am currently trying to find many of my immigrant ancestors' parents. I am hopeful that next week when I go to Buffalo, I will find obituaries that assist in this. Please leave a message if you would like further information:-)

THE LINEAGE OF MY MATERNAL GRANDFATHER (Mom's Father)

Casillo/Casell

Alfredo Marco Casillo (Alfred Marco Casell) [1906-1981] and Lillian L. Eichhorn [1908-1938] ~ Buffalo, Erie, New York

Marcantonio Casillo (Marco Antonio Casell) [1868-1937] and Carolina Izzo [1876-1934] ~ Italy > Buffalo, Erie, New York

John or Peter Casillo [Unknown] and Angelina Unknown [Unknown] ~ Italy

Both Alfred and Marco legally changed their name to Casell. I am not entirely sure who Marco's parents are, these are the names I have found so far. According to my grandfather's family tree, Marco was from RocRoma, Caserta, Italy. No one in my family has been able to find this place, however, familysearch.org has many Casillo's listed under Roccaromana, Caserta, Italy, so this is a possible search option.

Eichhorn/Eichorn

Lillian L. Eichhorn [1908-1938] and Alfred Marco Casell [1906-1981] ~ Buffalo, Erie, NY

William Fred Eichhorn [1874-1931] and Augusta M. Tross [1877-1939] ~ Ontario > Buffalo, Erie, NY

Charles Herman Eichhorn [1848 - ~1905] and Katharine Weiss/Wise [1869 - ~1905] ~ Germany > Chippewa, Welland, Ontario > Buffalo, Erie, NY

Nicholas Eckorn/Eickhan/Thorn [~1799-1878] and Dorothea Unknown [Unknown] ~ Germany > Ontario

Nicholas and Dorothea are still under investigation, but evidence keeps accumulating.

Izzo

Carolina Izzo [1876-1934] and Marco Antonio Casell [1868-1937] ~ Italy > Buffalo, Erie, NY

Peter Izzo [Unknown] and Catherine Donufrio(sp?) [Unknown] ~ Italy > NY

Tross

Augusta Tross [1877-1939] and William Fred Eichhorn [1874-1931] ~ Germany > Buffalo, Erie, NY

Wenzel/Wesley Tross [Unknown] and Marie/Mary Crosshein(sp?) [~1843-~1913]~ Germany > Buffalo, Erie, NY

THE LINEAGE OF MY MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER (Mom's Mother)

Bond

Emma Bond [~1812-1877] and Charles Whitehead [~1811-1887] ~ Knockholdt, Kent, England > Halstead, Kent, England

Richard Bond [Unknown - Bef. 1841] and Mary Unknown [~1798-1862]

Fink/Finck

Elizabeth L. Fink [1867-1957] and Jacob J. Gress [1869-1932] ~ Buffalo, Erie, NY

Gottlieb Fink [1838-1910] and Barbara Fleeman [1846-1929] ~ Württemberg, Germany > Buffalo, Erie, NY

John Finck [Unknown] and Barbara Killster [Unknown] ~ Württemberg, Germany

Fleeman

Barbara Fleeman [1846-1929] and Gottlieb Fink [1838-1910] ~ Buffalo, Erie, NY

Adam Fleeman [~1820-1889] and Barbara Gris [~1824-1870] ~ Hesse, Germany > Buffalo, Erie, NY

Gress/Gresz

Vera Louise Julie Gress [1900-1976] and William Herbert Whitehead [1896-1965] ~ Buffalo, Erie, NY

Jacob J. Gress [1869-1932] and Elizabeth L. Fink [1867-1957] ~ Buffalo, Erie, NY

Joseph Gresz [~1841-1899] and Sophia Persales/Possehl [1846-1929] ~ Germany > Eden, Erie, NY > Buffalo, Erie, NY

Joseph Gresz [~1806-~1865] and Catherine Unknown [~1810-~1875] ~ Germany > Eden, Erie, NY

Hayman

Mary Ann Hayman [1845-1877] and Charles Whitehead [1840-1902] ~ Halstead, Kent, England > Ontario

Thomas Hayman [~1799-1867] and Susan Whitehead [~1802-1867] ~ Halstead, Kent, England

Whitehead

William Herbert Whitehead [1896-1965] and Vera Louise Julie Gress [1900-1976] ~ Buffalo, Erie, NY

Charles William Whitehead [1872-1927] and Anna May Sanderson [1871-1928] ~ Ontario > Buffalo, Erie, NY

Charles Whitehead [1840-1902] and Mary Ann Hayman [1845-1877] ~ Halstead, Kent, England > Ontario

Charles Whitehead [~1811-1887] and Emma Bond [~1812-1877] ~ Halstead, Kent, England

Wordless Wednesday - Sophia Gresz/Gress

This is a tin-type photo of my ggg-grandmother Sophia (unsure of maiden name) Gresz/Gress. Her granddaughter (my great-grandmother), Vera, looks like her, as does Vera's daughter (my grandmother) and me. It was amazing to see this photo to see how far back it goes. I'll do a photo spread here on that soon. Photo courtesy of my great-aunt Lois.

They Worked Hard for the Family

This is a photo of my great-grandfather William Herbert Whitehead, located in the back corner, when he worked for Socony Mobil "The Flying Red Horse" on Elk Street in Buffalo. He was the head clerk for payroll there, hence the nice corner desk:-) I believe this photo was taken in the 1950's. If anyone has relatives in the photo, please let me know so I can give you a copy. It is courtesy of my grandmother.

Obituary - Elmer J. Daniels

The obituary of my step-great grandfather. From an unidentified Buffalo, NY newspaper. Original in possession of my great-aunt Barbara.

Syracuse, NY City Directories

City directories are not a source I have used often, due to there not being many online and my not knowing that the Syracuse library has the Buffalo ones on microfilm (now that I know I may have to move into the library next week:-).

Yesterday I was looking up some people in the Syracuse city directories for a ROAGK person and found that not only do they list occupations and addresses, but marriage dates and to whom for women, death dates, who a women is a widow of and where a person moved to when they leave Syracuse. This is just amazing! Here's hoping other city directories are this fantastic!!!

Whitehead-Gress Wedding Announcement

This is the wedding announcement of my great grandparents, Vera Gress and William Whitehead, from an unknown Buffalo newspaper in late March/early April 1921 (They married 28 March 1921). We found this in a box of family items my great-aunt Barbara had on my recent trip to Florida to visit. I am planning on finding the microfilm of the newspaper to see what Vera's middle name is listed as, as she appears to have changed it at some point in her life.

Belated Thank Yous

Thank you all for the congratulations and especially to those who gave my blog awards over the past month. I will be back to posting more as life has calmed down a bit:-)

Amanda

Whitehead birth certificates arrived

I ordered a few birth certificates from the GRO a couple weeks ago and they arrived Saturday.

I am most excited about the one for my great-great-great grandfather Charles Whitehead. Based on census records and his Ontario death record, I knew he was born about 1840 in Kent, England. I assumed it was in Halstead, located in the Sevenoaks district, as this is where his family lived at the time of his birth, but I was unable to find him in the index. Recently, I realized I could search for a last name without a first name and up popped "Male Whitehead" born 1840 in the Sevenoaks district. Luckily it is him! Born 10 Oct 1840 in Halstead to Charles and Emma (Bond) Whitehead. This also confirms Emma's mother being Mary Bond who was with them in the 1861 census (she was listed as grandmother to the head, which is incorrect. Should be mother-in-law).

I also ordered the birth certificates for his two sons born in England before they immigrated to Canada. Benjamin was born 31 Oct 1866 in Halstead and Joseph was born 2 Nov 1869 in Halstead to Charles and Mary (Hayman) Whitehead.

If only I could find Charles and Mary Ann's marriage certificate.

Listed on the same page as Joseph was an Elizabeth Whitehead, born in the same quarter, same district and I found her death record about a year later. Wondering if she was his twin, I ordered the certificated. Turns out she was born 10 Nov 1869 in Shoreham to Joshua and Elizabeth (Beeching) Whitehead. She later died 22 Oct 1870 from convulsions from teething. As far as I know, there is no relation, but if anyone is related, let me know and you can have the certificates. I like knowing that her short life is now documented and here for a relative to find.

Ancestors to search doubled...

On Friday night, my boyfriend proposed!!! I am, of course, tremendously excited!  Plus, this gives me a whole other family to start researching:-)

Wodless Wednesday: New York, in lots of miles

Here is a picture my grandfather took while in the airforce (I believe it's in Korea) and a picture of me in South Africa under the same type of sign.

Tombstone Tuesday

William Fred Eichhorn

1874 - 1931

Mason

Acacia Park and Resthaven Cemetery, Tonawanda, Niagara, New York

New York Gravestones

Lamb's Tree, Two has a fantastic link today: http://newyorkgravestones.org/.  They are trying to get all the tomb stones for New York state.  Part of the Gravestones Photo Project (GPP), there are also sites available for Massachusetts, Oregon and Utah.

According to their site: "The mission of this project is to capture digital images of gravestones of our ancestors. As decades pass-- many stones are becoming harder, if not impossible, to read the inscriptions they originally contained. 

By archiving the images, we can help save these important records and also assist researchers using this valuable resource."

I do not see any of my ancestors yet, so time to start editing my photos to their specifications and adding them.  The specifications alone are worth visiting the site: http://www.sampubco.com/gpp/crop.htm.

I only wish that all the tombstone project sites would get together to form a comprehensive site, instead of having to check and add to all the known sites.

The Erie Canal

"Map of the Canal, and Profile of the Canal" -- from: Marco Paul's Voyages & Travels, Erie Canal / by Jacob Abbott. (Harper & Brothers, New York, c1852) -- frontispiece.  From http://www.eriecanal.org/maps.html

In writing a post on local history, I thought it interesting to connect my current location, Syracuse, NY with where I grew up, Buffalo, NY.  Buffalo is also where my ancestors settled and stayed for generations.

The Erie Canal is well known in upstate and western New York as the reason cities such as Buffalo, Albany, Utica and Syracuse became prime trade locations and grew so large.  Connected to each other by 363 miles of hand- and horse-dug canal.  The Canal ended at the Hudson River, where ships head to New York City.

Known as Clinton's Folly, then governor DeWitt Clinton dreamed up the project and used his political savvy to have it created.  No one believed something of that mass could be created.  The canal was built between 1817 and 1825.  The Erie Canal is what made New York City America's largest and busiest port as it connected it to the west.  According to http://www.epodunk.com/routes/erie-canal/start.html, "Cities along the route boomed. The population of Syracuse, a swampy settlement of 250 people in 1820, grew to more than 22,000 by 1850. The city's salt industry supplied half the nation's salt.

The Erie Canal lasted until the 1920's, due to the rise of railroads and highways.  In Syracuse, the Erie Canal is now Erie Boulevard and is has the Erie Canal Museum.  Other parts have trails for hiking, biking and snowmobiling.  One can also take a canal boat ride which even goes up and down on the locks.  I highly recommend taking a trip if you ever get the opportunity.

Just this week I learned from my great-great-great grandfather Gottlieb Finck's death certificate that he was a canal lock tender.  It is thrilling to know that my family played a part in such an important part of our country.

Sources:

http://www.epodunk.com/routes/erie-canal/index.html#

http://www.nyscanals.gov/cculture/history/

http://www.nycanal.com/recreation/nycanalrec.html