The package arrived

Well the package from Steve arrived today and it contains copies of the letters he collected as well as the transcriptions of those letters, the brief family history of the Morrisons and the Stanleys, census records, Civil War information on Amos and Robert Morrison, as well as his correspondence with Jason. He also included a photo of who he believes to be Robert Morrison in his GAR uniform around 1900.

I also saw two other names through his correspondence that I may try to contact. One was an e-mail and the other came from Ancestry in a family tree. The latter I can't do anything with till I go to the library. I didn't read through everything as it is a thick stack of pages but am grateful to Steve for making the copies for me. I learned that he found the information on the Morrisons because he was researching the soldiers in the 1st OVI (Ohio Volunteer Infantry) and isn't actually related to them but I agree that you feel like you are when you do that much research.

I'm going to post a link to the mystery photos on various message boards and may ask photo detective Maureen Taylor for some help. I'm not giving up but I'm running out of ideas about how to solve this mystery of mine.

The Mystery of the photos continues

Upon checking my e-mail this morning I learned that Jason's cousin could not ID any of the photos in my album. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement as like Jason, I was hoping for at least one ID to give me a further clue as to who those people are. They have to be someone in the family because why would Emma Wilhelm, my great-grandmother's sister be among them. I asked Jason to relay my thanks to his cousin and ask him (when he gets over his cold) about his connection to the Wilhelms, as I'm curious as to where he fits in. Being that they both live in Ohio and I'm assuming both live near to Minerva (Jason lives in Malvern) that his cousin's connection isn't to another Wilhelm, as both Minerva and Malvern are small towns.

If you think I'm going to give up on ever identifying the photos you are wrong, the problem is that I don't know anyone else that I could send them to. I've even sent them to 'cousins' that have nothing to do with the Wilhelm line simply because I have to try anyone. The only reason I feel they are connected to the Wilhelms or even the Walkers (my great-great grandmother's maiden name) is because of the photo of Emma Wilhelm. That one picture is my only clue as to who they might be. I've got some other avenues to try so wish me luck and if you are curious or want to look at the photos in case you think you can recognize them let me know.

Happy Monday.

Good News, Bad news and other stuff

The good news...the guy that first contacted me about having information on the Morrison line has finally mailed the package to me. He sent it Priority on Saturday so maybe with a little luck I'll get it tomorrow, though with the mail delivery service we have around here, I'd be REALLY lucky to get it tomorrow.

The bad news... I still haven't heard from Jason's cousin about the photos. Jason is the one that is related to the Wilhelms 'by marriage', which frankly is another way of saying one of your parents married into the family.

I've decided to write an entry each day (hopefully I can actually keep that up). I watched the movie Julie and Julia tonight and I liked that Julie created the blog and blogged about the recipes she made and even ones that didn't turn out so well. I may not start the daily blogging right away but I do know that it'll be something around the subject of genealogy, that I'm sure of.

Genealogy is very similar to reading about history in that its the history of our ancestors. It isn't just names, dates and places but what they went through as they went from children living with their parents (or grandparents) to young adults to when they married and had families of their own and how the world changed around them.

I've really enjoyed the show 'Who Do You Think You Are?' and even though it isn't returning with a new episode for another week, I have to speak my mind about something. Various websites and even Facebook have places where you can comment about the show and in all honesty I have gotten so sick and tired of people complaining not only that the show evolved around 'celebrities' but also that those same celebrities are just 'handed' the information and that none of the real research is shown.

People, first off, those celebrities you keep complaining about ARE people just like the rest of us. They have family histories just like you and me and BEFORE they became famous or were discovered or whatever they were 'normal ordinary' people. Second, the show more than likely would NOT exist if they didn't have celebrities as the subjects of the searches and they probably wouldn't have gotten good ratings if 'ordinary' people were the focus. I think the genealogical community is LUCKY that Lisa Kudrow finally brought this show to the US and even luckier that it was picked up for a second season. The show isn't about the research, at least it isn't the main focus. The show is about celebrities finding out something about their own families that they never knew and hadn't thought about.

Some may agree with me and some may not, that's your right, however there IS a program that does focus on us ordinary folks. Its called The Generations Project and it comes from BYU in Provo Utah. It is on their own BYU Television channel which can be found in some areas but if you don't get the channel, you can always catch the episodes online. The program airs on Monday nights on BYU television and is re-aired (so to speak) online at their website, the link to the episodes are also posted on Facebook, which is where I watch them and much like WDYTYA, it too has been picked up for a second season. Try to remember that just because they are famous doesn't mean they don't have a few black sheep or skeletons in their family closets.

Never liked waiting

Patience is not one of my virtues, especially when it comes to genealogy. I finally found someone that could possibly identify some photos that were in an album I found at my paternal grandparents house. There are about 2 dozen photos most are those you find in antique stores mounted on cardboard but there are a couple that are on metal, one being about the size of a postage stamp. None of the cousins I share research with recognize any of them and I was about ready to give up on ever being able to put names to the faces. I did manage to read some faint writing at the bottom of one that said 'Emma Wilhelm'. She was my great-grandmother's sister. There at least I had a clue as to who the mystery people could be, part of the Wilhelms I had researched.

It was only after I had posted to a message board about a collateral line, the Morrisons that I thought I would finally have names for those photos. A cousin of a friend, of a friend who was helping to research the Morrisons was actually related to the Wilhelms by marriage. HIS cousin is directly related to them so I sent the first one a link to the photos and am still waiting to hear if he was able to recognize anyone. I had scanned the photos that were on metal and sent those as well. The only one I didn't send now that I think about it was the one of Emma Wilhelm.

The first contact that was helping a friend research the Morrison line offered to send me some of the research he had done, letters and other information that I didn't previously know about but has actually helped me put some pieces together about that family that my great-great grandfather's sister married into. I still don't like waiting but hope that the wait will be worth it not just for the Morrison information but also that I will finally be able to put those photos in my family album and solve that mystery that has bugged me since I discovered the album. Hope to have some good news soon.

Genealogy and the Holidays

I haven't posted in quite a while but with the holidays approaching once again I thought I would post before the craziness begins. The holidays are usually quiet around my house because there isn't a whole lot of family left. Its just me, my dad, and my older brother and that's it. But I don't mind because any family is still that...family. All my cousins are around the country and don't get to Chicago anymore. Speaking of cousins, I've found a number of 2nd and 3rd cousins on Facebook and although I've never met most of them, I like that there is more family out there.

So whether you have 50 people over during the holidays or 5, enjoy them not matter what holiday you celebrate.

JK

Genealogy and more genealogy

Here's a thought, when you start planning your long holiday weekend, invite family over and get them interested in their family history. That doesn't mean bombarding them with all kinds of questions they probably have no answer for, start simple, show them how much fun it is looking up census records and see if they can find their parents or themselves, if they are old enough. They might be surprised to find a sibling that their grandparent never mentioned. Have a happy and safe Memorial day and if they don't like sitting and searching for relatives in census records, offer to take them to the cemetery and put flowers on a grave of a loved one that served their country. Even better, find a relative that's still living and give them a hug and a 'thank you' for serving their country and be thankful they are still here to share another Memorial Day weekend.

Genealogy databases

Well its that time of the year again, the holidays. Tomorrow is my birthday and with a winter storm coming through I don't expect to be doing anything special. But I don't mind, because it usually snows on my birthday anyway.

The genealogy databases that are available keep growing. One I happen to like comes from FamilySearch, which is the Latter-Day Saints, or more commonly the Mormons. They have a site called FamilySearchLabs, which is their indexing site, where you can help bring more records online for FREE to fellow genealogists. I have done some indexing and am proud to say that the records that are continuously updated have been a great help to my research. For example, the Ohio Death Certificate index that they have goes from 1908-1953 and has helped me find dozens of names that I either had but didn't have information on or ones that I didn't expect to find living in the state of Ohio.

The other has to do with my home state, Illinois. They recently put up Illinois, specifically Cook County Marriage license records with IMAGES, which is always a plus. That one isn't complete but there are enough records online already that I have filled some blanks in or confirmed information I obtained elsewhere. I'm hoping that Birth records from Cook County will also come online in the near future.

Hope everyone has a great Christmas and I'll probably post after the first of the year.

Here's hoping you have tons of genealogical discoveries in 2009!!!!!!!!!

JK