February Already!

Its February first and where I live (Chicago) we are about to get hit with what meteorologists keep proclaiming will be the 'biggest' snowstorm since 1967. Unfortunately, I wasn't here for that one but vaguely recall the snowstorm we had in 1979 because in order to get to school (and yes we DID have school) we had to walk in the street because there was so much snow on the sidewalks. My brother (who is 13 years older than me) was only 8 in 1967 and according to my dad went outside jumped off the brick banister from our front porch and promptly disappeared into the snow.

So if you are living in the path of this latest snowstorm that is going to start sometime this afternoon and last till tomorrow afternoon or evening, here's a suggestion from a genealogist.

Stock up on food, water and candles. Make sure your laptop or iPad batteries are charged and in case you get a power outage. Warm up your printer and have your genealogy websites at the ready. A winter storm is probably the best time to do some research or even get started on your family history if you haven't already. Let's face it, you have to keep busy doing something if we're getting 1 to 2 feet of snow right? Tell your kids (or grandkids) stories about when you (or your parents) were younger and what they did when there was a snowstorm. Heck tell them stories about the blizzard of 1967, 1979 or earlier ones (like 1930 for Chicago). Tell them what it was like to see cars, and buses abandoned in the streets because of all the snow. Or what it was like to try and get to work downtown, like my dad tried but didn't quite make it.

Then once the snow has stopped falling and the winds have died down enough you can go outside, dig out as a family, since the kids probably won't be in school till Friday. Build a snowman (or snow family) or a fort in the backyard. Have a snowball fight, I think the most important thing is to do something fun as a family with your family. You could also help out your neighbors by shovel, snowblowing or plowing their sidewalks or driveways, especially the older neighbors that can't get out and do it themselves or if they live alone.

Genealogy isn't always about just doing research but exploring family history and getting to know the family you have around you right now. Make genealogy fun and make the time pass faster especially during a blizzard.

Stay safe, stay warm and see you on the other side of the blizzard of 2011.

Not all records disappear

When it comes to doing research, we genealogists have to learn to take the good with the bad and vice versa. Take yesterday for example, records I had come across last November decided to disappear and I have yet to find them again. But today, I got an e-mail from someone researching a surname that I am also researching, KOENIG (or KONIG). I wrote back with some info I had and remarked that I hadn't worked on that particular line in a while. So, this afternoon I decided to take another stab at it.

After trying to find Michael Koenig (Konig), my 3rd great grandfather and not finding anything of interest I decided to tackle one of his children, his son Joseph. All I knew about him was that he was born in 1863 in Chicago and had died 10 Dec 1896. From his death certificate I also knew where he had been living at the time of his death, 406 N. Robey, which is also where his father had lived before he died in 1901.

I started poking around the FamilySearch website, and put Joseph's name and year of birth in just to see what would come up. I found a Joseph with a wife named Louisa. Knowing he died before 1900 I first tried finding a marriage record. Once I found that I looked for Louisa (nee Olson) in the 1900 census to see how many (if any) children they might have had. There's never a bad time to say BINGO when it comes to genealogy research. Per the census, Joseph and Louisa had 3 daughters, Edna, Anna and Louisa. Louisa's father was also living with them at the time. Now you might say, well how do you know it was the right one? That's the kicker. Most if not all of my maternal lines lived in Chicago BUT the key to finding them is just WHERE in Chicago they lived. That key is 'West Town'. Don't ask me why but for each family that I've searched for in the 1900 census I have found them in West Town and knew I was on the right track.

My next step was seeing if I could track the three daughters to the present. I found a marriage record for Edna and also found a sister living with her in 1910. But the best clue I found that I had the right family was the birth certificate I found for daughter Louisa. It listed her parents as Joseph and Louisa (Olson) Koenig AND where they were living at the time of her birth. 406 N. Robey! The exact same place that Joseph was living when he died AND where his father lived up to 1901.

I still haven't found Michael Koenig's parents BUT I can at least track another sibling of my great-great grandmother Rose to the present, or as much to the present as 1930.

So if you get frustrated, take the good with the bad or like in my case, the bad with the good.

The Case of the Missing Record

Okay, I know I promised I would 'try' to post something every week or so but other things got in the way last week and this entry won't have a tip or suggestion in it. But rather its going to be a way for me to vent about something that I just don't understand.

I posted here not that long ago that I had 'possibly' found my 2nd great-grandfather, Fred Ring's parents and was very excited about it. But today in fact just this afternoon, I was poking around the 'enhanced' FamilySearch site and can't find the record for the Frederik Alexander Ring (born 17 March 1854) that led me to believe (or better yet suspect) that I had found his parents, grandparents and even a couple of siblings. That's right, the record has VANISHED and to say that I am irritated is an understatement. What's worse is I can't find it on the old 'pilot' site either. The other siblings are there, or at least the girls are and I can find his 'father' and 'mother' and even go back two more generations, but Fred and Carl are NOT listed. It doesn't make any sense that a record that could (and did) lead to at least three generations back to Denmark where Fred was born ARE NOW GONE, VANISHED, DISAPPEARED!

I'm not going to remove the information from my files (well my hard copy files I haven't added it to my genealogy program yet), because I saw the record and it show the EXACT SAME date of birth. Its not like there was an image attached to the record or anything but I still think its a good clue and I intend to pursue it and I WILL find that record again.

New Year, new strategy for research

I promised myself that I would try to post a suggestion for genealogy research either every day or at least every week in 2011. Now I said 'try', however I really mean to try to post some kind of suggestion or strategy to either jumpstart your research, or approach a project or branch of your tree from another angle. And I know that you've probably heard these before but for the most part they have worked for me because and let's be honest, when it comes to genealogy research, you not only have to become a detective but you also have to become creative in some cases in order to knock down tough brick walls.

So here goes.

Since this is a new year and that usually means a new beginning my suggestion for today which can also apply when you finally decide to start researching your family. Talk to your relatives, especially the older ones, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc. Do what I didn't get the chance to do when I started my research. My grandparents were all gone when I started in 1991 (has it REALLY been 20 years, YIKES!). I didn't start out asking family about names, dates and places and if I could go back BELIEVE ME, that is exactly where I would start.

But if you have already started and don't have older relatives available here's another suggestion, talk to friends of your parents and grandparents (provided they are still living and you know how to contact them). My biggest regret is not having done both of these things, but you can before its too late.

Here's hoping all my fellow genealogists have a 2011 filled with much success in your research and that you knock down dozens of brick walls.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Another mystery to unfold

Its me again. I was poking around trying to see if I could find Cowden Roxberry's obit (or Joseph Cowden's for that matter) and came across something that like the last piqued my curiosity. The Butler County Library has a page where you can do a search for obituaries and then order copies of them. They also have a page where you can order a set of CDs that contain the 'News of the Day' which is similar to the Prospect Memories in that they are tidbits from the various newspapers in the area. I was poking around the News of the Day page and found a tidbit for a Lydia Lepley and the mention of a daughter that 'died' in April of 1883. IF and its a big 'IF' but if she is MY Lydia Lepley as in the same one who married Cowden Roxberry (Joseph Cowden) then the article (tidbit) could be a clue as to why in the 1900 census she is listed as having had a child but that he/she was not living at the time of the census. As far as I knew, my paternal grandmother was an only child. So if this little mention turns out to be her mother BEFORE she married (ten years before) it will certainly confirm what the census record shows about her.

Its also interesting to note that 1883 is about three years BEFORE my great-grandfather married his first wife Mary Wagner, a marriage that didn't last very long because Mary died in 1888. I doubt there could've been another Lydia Lepley in Butler county or for that matter Prospect township, but I suppose its possible since apparently there was another Upton Roxberry. The most frustrating thing is that the FamilySearch websites have very little if ANY databases for Pennsylvania and that's where the Lepley, Neely and Roxberry lines in my tree originate (or lived for most if not all of their lives). I sent an e-mail asking how to order specific articles from the News of the Day since I don't want to buy the CDs (not for $100 bucks). Five articles are $10 and I think I can find four more along with the Lydia Lepley one.

More later.

Another possible clue?

Haven't posted anything in a while became the holidays always become a time where other things need to get done and there is very little time if any to do some genealogy research. But since the holidays are coming to a close I had been thinking about starting 2011 off by posting at least once a month with a genealogical tip or strategy that has worked for me.

But I had to post something today because of what I came across when doing some transcribing. I had purchased the 4-volume set of 'Prospect Memories' which is basically a collection of newspaper tidbits regarding the goings-on in the town of Prospect in Butler County Pennsylvania from 1886 till around 1924 or so. They are exactly what I said too, 'tidbits' including when someone's just bakes pie were 'stolen' from a windowsill.

You may not think there would be anything of significance in the four volumes but believe it or not if you are familiar with certain names in your tree you can read through the books and pick out those ancestors and you might even learn a little more about them. My main reason for getting the books was to see if I could perhaps solve the mystery of just WHY my great-grandfather, Joseph Cowden (aka Cowden Roxberry) changed or rather 'assumed' a different name when he moved his family to Ohio, yet when he visited Prospect he was once again known by the name given to him at birth.

I didn't find much about Joseph, but did find a couple of entries regarding Cowden or 'Doc' and that brings me to what I noticed today. I had just started transcribing Volume #2 or Prospect Memories (and putting each into a Word document so that I could print them out) and noticed an entry that piqued my curiosity. It was an 'entry' of sorts, since the books are almost like a diary I guess that involved Lepley (Lepley) Cowden, my great-grandmother's brother Warren. It says 'Warren Lepley has moved from the borough into the house recently occupied by the late Doc Roxberry.'

I know what you're thinking, 'late' must mean that he died but I don't think that's the case here. In fact, I think this narrows down the time frame that 'Doc' went from being known as Cowden Roxberry to when he began calling himself Joseph Cowden. I know from other records that in 1910 Joseph, Lydia and their daughter Arrea, my grandmother were living in Minerva Ohio; this according to the census taken that year. I also know that later in this series of articles (volume #4) that 'Doc' and his wife come back to Prospect for a visit and it mentions Minerva. It also mentions Minerva a second time when it is actually reported that he was involved in an accident while digging a ditch. Both times he is referred to as 'Doc'.

I have been assuming that not long before my grandmother was born in 1903 that Cowden became Joseph, but now I have to consider that its just possible that once Cowden or 'Doc' decided to move from Prospect to Ohio and more specifically Minerva that it was THEN that he became Joseph Cowden and Lydia became Mrs. Joseph Cowden instead of Mrs. Roxberry. I still have not found an obituary for either Joseph Cowden OR Cowden Roxberry and I think that would provide some clues even if it wouldn't solve the name change mystery.

Once again more research is needed and in this week before we close out 2010 and begin 2011 I think I will pursue this mystery and see what other clues I can uncover.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and here's hoping that 2011 is a year of many genealogical discoveries in your own research.

Frustrations of Genealogy Research

Do you know what drives me absolutely crazy when it comes to genealogy research? Having more luck finding information on collateral lines than direct ones, or worse finding tons of information on a line that isn't even a collateral one, but one that is only linked to one of my lines because the person married more than once.

Yesterday I traced a line back, well more than one and although tracing any line back is exciting, the lines are neither direct nor collateral to me. You're probably asking, well then why do that research if the lines/branches aren't even linked to you? Simple, ANY research is a challenge and since I feel that even collateral lines are just as important than direct ones doing the research for them might prove invaluable to someone else someday, especially someone that IS directly linked to the line.

Heck, if genealogists didn't have these frustrations or the occasional brick wall there wouldn't really be any point in doing the research to begin with. Not only that the research itself, especially if you only tackle the direct lines, would become really boring and no one wants that. Besides, you never know when doing collateral research when you'll come across that connection to a direct line that you've been wanting to find for YEARS.

So, even though it drives me crazy to find more on collateral or even non-connecting lines it still gives me a thrill when I CAN trace the line back to England and find the parents that I've searched for or have thought about lately. Like one of my favorite wrestlers is fond of saying, Never Give Up, and that's especially true when it comes to genealogy research.

Later.