Is There A Doctor In Your House?

Did you know the AMA (American Medical Association) maintained a database of deceased physicians?  The AMA Deceased Physicians Card File developed out of an attempt by the AMA to keep a reliable directory of physicians in the United States.  Up until 1969, the staff maintained over 350,000 of these physician index cards and after that date began entering the information into a computer database.  In 1993, two volumes of these cards were published as Directory of Deceased American Physicians 1804-1929. 


The database is searchable at Ancestry.  Knowing that I had a few physicians in my family, I decided to see what I could find.


Dr. William Anderson CHEW (1858-1914) was a physician of Salamonia, Jay County, Indiana and my paternal 2nd-great granduncle.  He was found in the database, though they have him indexed as William H. CHEW.

I did not find an entry for his father, Dr. Ezekiel Cooper CHEW (1822-1888), who also practiced in Salamonia.


Jethro Ayres HATCH (1836-1912), my maternal cousin 5 times removed, was a graduate of Rush Medical College and practiced in Indiana and Illinois before retiring to Texas.

Abraham Leander SHERICK, my paternal 2nd-great granduncle, practiced in Ashland, Ohio and founded his own private hospital.  He interned at Bellevue Hospital in New York and attended Baldwin University.

Are You Reading My Mail?

I think Wendy at All My Branches Genealogy must be reading my mail or my mind.  Her recent post on Genealogy Attention Deficit Disorder had me rolling with laughter until it dawned on me that she was describing my genealogical condition.


Many times I've started out working on Ancestry or some other database such as FindAGrave to begin filling in the gaps in my genealogy database.  Maybe it's making sure I have a burial place listed for all direct ancestors, or maybe it's making sure I've documented where everyone was in the 1930 census, etc.  No matter what my goal, it doesn't take too long for Genealogy Attention Deficit Disorder (GADD) to take over and soon I find myself tracking down vital information far from my original goal.


Why is it so hard to remain on task?  Perhaps it is due to the benefits of today's technology that allows us to have so many records to search from the comforts of home.  I can so relate to Wendy's experiences in getting so caught up in tracking down the tidbits of information that you lose sense of time.  When I'm "in the zone" I've been known to forget to eat!


But it's not just the online databases causing this disorder.  My piles of photocopied records from a research trip last November stand waiting, unentered and undocumented.  My inbox is full of research from other researchers that would make interesting blog posts.  I have notebooks created specifically for researching certain locales that I've yet to complete, and several unfinished posts to be written for this blog.  My research goals for 2011 are woefully incomplete.  All due to Genealogy Attention Deficit Disorder.

Exploring WWII U.S. Navy Records Online

Ancestry has placed the U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 online, and what a lot of good information I've found this Memorial Day.  The muster rolls give information such as the sailor's name, his service number, when and where they enlisted, as well as movements from ship to ship.  

• John M. High - he was my maternal great-uncle.  Served aboard the USS Oklahoma and survived Pearl Harbor.  He came onboard the Oklahoma on 9-3-1938 and enlisted in the Navy on 4-10-1937.  It appears he was aboard the USS Sepulga after the attack.

• Floyd Ray Lambertson - another maternal great-uncle.  He served aboard LST 779, the ship that supplied the famous flag photographed at Iwo Jima.  He enlisted 1-4-1944 at Indianapolis, Indiana and was rated as a "Comm. Rep." [Navy friends - help me out here]

I did not find everyone that I believe should be listed in this database.  Perhaps not all have been indexed.  The information provided is very valuable, including service numbers of the men who served.