Monday, September 06, 2010

Genealogy Juices

There's nothing quite like the thrill of a new discovery to get your genealogy juices flowing again.  This Labor Day weekend has been quite productive for me in this regard.  


On Friday, I placed a call to the Central Records office in Madison County, Indiana, hoping they might have a copy of a marriage record of my 2nd-great grandfather.  During a recent search at the Family Search pilot, I made a possible new discovery of a second wife. The record at Family Search, however, did not indicate which county the marriage occurred, and I was hoping that it was in Madison County. Central Records were able to locate the record, and I'm hoping to pick up a copy of it on Tuesday.  This was the start of my good fortune this weekend. Will be blogging about this as soon as I obtain the copy.


Saturday, Eileen & I headed north to Plymouth for the Blueberry Festival.  It had been 8 years since we had last been able to attend, as my work schedule will not normally allow it.  This year was different, and I had Labor Day free from work. 


After enjoying the sights, sounds, and food of the festival, we headed towards downtown Plymouth, as I wanted to visit the Marshall County Historical Society and see what information they might have on my CHEW family line.  Unfortunately, they were closed so I will have to plan a return trip.  The society has been very helpful in the past by providing a copy of a photograph of my CHEW ancestors.


We grabbed a quick bite to eat just south of Plymouth at the Log House Restaurant, an interesting place, and then continued back towards home. We had time to kill, so we decided we would take a road trip over to Lake Maxinkuckee.


A slight detour of our route of U.S. 31 lead us to Maxinkuckee, where Eileen's maternal PEEBLES line had lived.  I was hoping that we would be able to find the cemetery where her ancestors were buried, and also to see the lake.  It was a most productive drive, as the cemetery we needed to find ended up being right off the highway.  The Washington-Lawson Cemetery is well maintained by the township trustees.  


Her ancestors must have wanted to be discovered, as I stopped the car just inside the cemetery, took two steps and there was the gravestone of my wife's great-grandmother.




As I began walking around, I was able to locate the graves of Eileen's 2nd, 3rd & 4th-great grandmothers - all within a few feet of each other.  Fortunately, I had taken my digital camera with me and was able to snap away.  I will be uploading these pictures later to the FindAGrave website and will write future Tombstone Tuesday posts.  


Right there in one spot all of the data in the family group sheets were coming to life, so to speak, and I was trying to do my best to explain the relationships of everyone to Eileen.  I think she may have caught a little bit of my excitement as well. I tried to photograph as many of the tombstones that were in the same vicinity  and any that appeared to be family. 


Back home, I opened up my Rootsmagic database and began comparing the newly minted photographs with the data I already had.  I was able to identify relationships and discovered that there were other related names at the cemetery that I didn't photograph.  A return trip is in order.


I spent time at Ancestry until late Saturday evening locating more family history for Eileen, and discovered that one of her lines crossed with a collateral line of mine back in Brown County, Ohio in the early 1800s.


Sometimes new discoveries will get my 'genealogy juices' flowing...and this is one of those times.

Family Milestones: September 6th

My maternal 4th-great granduncle, James GROENENDYKE, was married on this date in 1834 in Fayette County, Indiana to Charity DURMAN.  James was the son of James and Joannah (ANTONIDES) GROENENDYKE, and the older brother of my Elias GROENENDYKE.  Charity's parentage is unknown.  James was born August 12, 1812 in New Jersey.  Charity was born February 17, 1815.  They raised 7 children and lived in Mt. Pleasant Township, Delaware County, Indiana.  Charity died April 12, 1878.  James died October 3, 1878 in Delaware County, Indiana.  Both are buried in the Sharp Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant Township, Delaware County, Indiana.

My paternal 7th-great grandparents, Jeremiah HAINES and Hannah BONNELL, were married on this date in 1736 in Burlington County, New Jersey.  Jeremiah was the son of William and Sarah (PAINE) HAINES.  Hannah was the daughter of Robert and Frances (GOODWIN) BONNELL. Jeremiah was born March 25, 1713 in Burlington County, New Jersey.  Hannah's birthdate is unknown.  They raised 7 children.  Hannah died August 15, 1774 in Burlington County, New Jersey.  Jeremiah died October 30, 1774 in Burlington County, New Jersey.

My maternal 4th-great granduncle, William B. JACOBS, was married on this date in 1834 in Brown County, Ohio to Mary Polly EDWARDS.  William was the son of James Thomas and Isabella (FEILY) JACOBS.  Mary's parentage and dates of birth and death are unknown.  William was born February 10, 1813 in Adams County, Ohio.  William died February 9, 1898 in Brown County, Ohio.  Nothing further is known at this time.

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Family Milestones: September 5th

My paternal 3rd-great grandaunt, Cyrene PHILBRICK, was born on this date in 1824 in Johnstown, Licking County, Ohio.  Cyrene was the daughter of Joel and Sally (FOX) PHILBRICK, and the younger sister of my Emeline PHILBRICK.  She married on May 29, 1856 to William Goldsberry COX.  William was born April 14, 1818 in Cumberland, Ohio.  They had 3 children.  William died April 1, 1889 in Rose Lawn, Indiana.  Cyrene died December 15, 1898 in Huntington, Huntington County, Indiana.