Sunday, April 30, 2006

FindAGrave.com's Virtual Cemeteries

I stumbled onto their website about 6 months ago, while doing a Google search on an ancestor, and now I find myself strolling cemeteries on my lunch hour, photographing tombstones to contribute back to the genealogical community.

You can create a memorial even if you do not know in which cemetery your relatives are buried. You can also leave 'virtual flowers' and upload photographs and biographical information.

Originally designed to be a site where you could locate graves of the rich and famous, many researchers also use FindAGrave to enter internments from smaller, family cemeteries. I've had some success in locating photographs of tombstones in distant cemeteries. When the opportunity presents itself, I reciprocate in kind.

Check out the listings of the virtual cemeteries I've created for my branches of the family tree.

Today in my database : Edmund G. Pierce (b. April 30, 1837)

Today's featured relative in my database is my maternal 3rd great-grandfather, Edmund G. Pierce.

Edmund was born April 30, 1837 in Wayne Co., IN., and died January 8, 1875 in Madison Co., IN. He was the son of Francis S. & Rebecca (Page) Pierce.

Edmund married Lydia P. Duell, daughter of Joshua & Abigail (Borton) Duell, on October 17, 1858 in Preble Co., OH. Lydia was born March 26, 1838 in Pilesgrove, NJ, and died September 14, 1860. There were no known children from this marriage.

Edmund married secondly to Catherine Groenendyke, daughter of Elias & Nancy (Jenkins) Groenendyke, on May 5, 1864 in Madison Co., IN. Catherine was born February 4, 1843 in Madison Co., IN, and died December 10, 1913 in Lafayette Twp., Madison Co., IN.

I descend from Edmund & Catherine (Groenendyke) Pierce, through their son, William Francis Pierce.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

My Grandmas & Me



I came across this picture today on my PC and thought I'd upload it.- The photo is of my grandmothers, Ruth (Haley) LeMaster and Bonnie (Lambertson) Wright, celebrating with me when I obtained my Eagle Scout rank. The photo was taken at the First United Methodist Church in Alexandria, IN. I was a member of Troop 381, and one of the youngest, if not the youngest, Eagle Scouts the troop has ever had.

One of my favorite merit badges, was of course, Genealogy!

I remember interviewing my Grandma Wright for my merit badge - her stories about the Lambertson family are some of the oldest files in my family history.

I also remember a trip we took to Dearborn, MI with both grandmas in the car, and being the oldest grandchild, I was able to hear stories from both of them. Grandma LeMaster would tell about milk routes, and living on the farm, and Grandma Wright would tell stories about World War II.

Just missing them today....

Today in my database : Carey W. Lambertson (b. April 29, 1847)

Today's featured relative in my database is my maternal 3rd great-grandfather, Carey W. Lambertson.

Carey was born April 29, 1847 in Butler Co., OH and died March 18, 1918 in Elwood, Madison Co., IN. He was the son of John and Sarah A. (Wilson) Lambertson. Some say that the "W." initial stood for Wilson.

Carey married Clara E. Cook on October 1, 1869 in Butler Co., OH. Clara was born November 16, 1848 in Ohio, and died January 23, 1943 in Atlanta, Hamilton Co., IN. Her death certificate lists her parents as William Cook and mother's maiden name as "Hirhager".

I descend from Carey & Clara's son, Charles Wilson Lambertson, who married Pearl May Beals.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Today in my database : Mary Heritage (b. April 28, 1666)

Today's featured relative in my database is my paternal 9th great-grandmother, Mary Heritage.

Mary was born April 28, 1666 in Sutton, England, according to my database. She was the daughter of Richard and Mary (Timms) Heritage.

Mary married J. William Clark on September 13, 1687 in Gloucester Co., NJ. J. William was born 1656 in Gloucester, England and died in 1733. Mary died 1740 in Gloucester Co., NJ.

I descend from Mary & J. William's daughter, Mary Clark who married Nathaniel Chew.

Looking at this line, it is more than likely Quaker, and I wonder if the dates that I show are correct. Quaker dating did not use the pagan names of the months or days of the week, so this information in the database maybe incorrect.

My line of descent from Mary Heritage is as follows:

Mary Heritage & J. William Clark
Mary Clark & Nathaniel Chew
Jeffrey Chew & Amy Driver
Jesse Chew & Mary Richards
Nathaniel Chew & Sarah Springer
Nathaniel Chew & Mary West
Ezekiel Cooper Chew & Caroline Bishop Woolston
Mary Keziah Chew & Luman Walker Lemasters [my 2nd great-grandparents]

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Obituary : Clara (Cook) Lambertson

Source : Noblesville (IN) Daily Ledger, January 25, 1943

MRS. CLARA LAMBERTSON DIES AT AGE OF 94

Atlanta, Ind. Jan. 25. - Word has been received here of the death Saturday of Mrs. Clara Lambertson, age 94, formerly of Elwood, at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Omer Whisler, west of Atlanta. The funeral was held Monday at the Arcadia Dunkard church with burial in the Elwood City cemetery. She is survived by two daughters, two sons, 13 grandchildren, thirty-six great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren.

Clara was my maternal 3rd great-grandmother.

Today in my database : John Waller (b. April 27, 1567)

Today's featured relative in my database is my maternal 13th-great grandfather, John Waller.

John was born in Rattlesden, Suffolk, England on April 27, 1567, according to my database. I have no information on his parentage. John's wife was named Jane (maiden name unknown).

I descend from John & Jane's daughter, Anne Waller, born February 8, 1560/61 in Rattlesden, Suffolk, England.

This gentleman was totally unfamiliar to me, until I pulled him up by date of birth in my database. My line of descent from this individual is as follows:

John Waller & Jane [________]
Anne Waller & Christopher Strutt
Elizabeth Strutt & Thomas Scott
Elizabeth Scott & John Spofford
Samuel Spofford & Sarah Burpbee
Thomas Spofford & Bethiah Hazeltine
Elizabeth Spofford/Stafford & Bennett Field
Bethiah Field & Seth Pierce
Gordon Pierce & Thirsa Smalley
Francis S. Pierce & Rebecca Page
Edmund G. Pierce & Catherine Groenendyke
William Francis Pierce & Clara Pennisten
Edna Muriel Pierce & Virgil Lee Wright (my great-grandparents)

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Still Scanning After All These Years

This morning I'm back to scanning to .PDF files the massive amounts of paper that I've collected over the years in doing genealogy work. When I married, my wife told me that I needed to get rid of the 5-drawer and 3-drawer filing cabinets that I had stuffed full of notes and research. I believe that I ended up with over 20 boxes of paperwork, all of which was not very organized.

To prevent data loss, I've been scanning them into files and burning CDs so that I can preserve the information for my children. Plus, it will make it easier to organize. So much of this information has not been sourced into my Family Tree Maker database, I may even hold the answer to some old family mystery right under my nose.

It is a slow process, but when completed, it will not only save storage space in my garage, but will allow me to organize & update my database. At least, that is what I am telling myself.

Are 20,010 Emails Too Many?

Perhaps. My wife would say so, but she doesn't understand my addiction to genealogy, and consequently, to genealogy mailing lists. After years of having multiple email addresses to sort out my personal email from genealogy email, I've settled on consolidating everything under one email address at Gmail.

Overall, I'm very happy with Gmail, particularly with the fact that I no longer have to worry about space and about deleting old emails. The ability to have 2718 MB of space, and the archive feature have really made this a good choice for me.

My only problem is that because I'm on so many email lists on both Rootsweb and Yahoo groups, that I do not have the time to get through all of the email in a timely manner. But that's a small price to pay to have all of that space, in my book.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Today in my database : Michael Grundbacher (b. April 25, 1642)

Today's featured relative in my database is my paternal 8th great-grandfather, Michael Grundbacher.

Michael was from Sumiswald, Switzerland, and was born April 25, 1642, according to my database. His parents were Ulrich Grundbacher and Christena Graber. Michael's wife was Anna Brand.

I descend from Michael & Anna's daughter, Barbara Grundbacher, born November 5, 1672 Sumiswald, Switzerland.

Welcome

Welcome to my Genealogy Blog! Only time will tell if I keep up with this new phase in the life of my genealogy research, but I'm excited to be able to jot down some thoughts and hopefully meet some new cousins through this medium.

I've been working on genealogy and family history for over 20 years. I started as a young Boy Scout, and my dad had laid the groundwork for my early research. The fact that he was as history teacher inspired me to become interested in not only the history of my family, but the history of the country as well. The U.S. Civil War is probably the most interesting period to me, and I fondly remember visits to battlefields in Tennessee and Georgia as a young boy. Thanks, dad.

I've published a bit of my research on the web