Aunt Vera's Diary - January 1st

In the summer of 2019, I was able to photograph the entries in the diary of my maternal great-aunt, Vera (Haley) Stuber.  The entries cover the years from 1968-1971 time frame and provide an interesting view of her daily activities. Items in brackets are my notes for further research.

Stuber, Vera Delphene (Haley). "Journal." MS. Fort Recovery, Ohio, 1968-1971. Privately held by Juanita (LeMaster) Steigerwalt, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Muncie, Indiana, 2020.

1968 - January 1 - Monday

10 degrees below zero this morning.  Didn't do much today.  Watched Orange & Rose Bowl parades today.

1969 - January 1 - Wednesday

New Years day. 4 degrees below zero this morn.  Cold and some wind not much snow but icy.

1970 - January 1 - Thursday

Another New Years day.  And plenty of snow.  Been watching the parades on T.V.

1971 - January 1 - Friday

Nice winter day : Watched some of the parades.  Clarence attended Anna Yeagers funeral this P.M [Anna Yeager 1876-1970 buried at Salamonia Cemetery, likely daughter of Henry Yeager & Mary Ellen Stuber].  We had roast chicken, dressing, mashed & sweet potatoes, celery, pickles, fruit salad & cookies for dinner.

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Vera Delphene (Haley) Stuber was born 10 March 1890 in Jay County, Indiana, daughter of Eli Weldon & Cora Belle (Metzner) Haley.  She married 14 February 1915 in Jay County, Indiana to Clarence Leroy Stuber.  Vera died 17 June 1987 in Portland, Jay County, Indiana. Clarence was born 4 February 1891 in Jay County, Indiana, son of Henry and Margaret (Metzger) Stuber.  Clarence died 20 May 1981 in Portland, Jay County, Indiana.  They had no surviving children. 

No Genealogical Resolutions

There will be no genealogical resolutions made for this blog for the year 2020 for a number of reasons. Namely, I'm terrible about keeping up with the blog, as evidenced by the lack of recent posting activity.  Making a resolution and then failing to keep it would just end up adding more unnecessary guilt to my pile.  Believe me, there is enough baggage in life with adding to the stress of trying to hit a genealogical goal.

There are so many blogging themes, such as '52 Ancestors' that I've started and stopped over the years that I've just decided no longer to beat myself up over failure to complete.

I do have a number of post ideas rattling around in my head that I need to take the time to make a start on.  There have been some progress in the past few months on my research - namely the DNA front, which should be told.  Christmas brought me a new, easier-to-use scanner that is allowing me to convert a lot of paper to digital as well.

Additionally, I do hope to 'jump start' my research by taking a hard look at some of the data I've accumulated and making sure that I'm prepared to pass it on to the next generations.  I'm at the mid-point in my life, and if there is no successor on the horizon, I want to be sure the research is readily available.

Here's to wishing you all Peace and Prosperity in the New Year....

Updating Burial Location Information in My RootsMagic Database

It has been awhile since I've updated on how the family history work is going.  While work has kept me busy, I have managed to begin updating and adding to my RootsMagic database by utilizing the WebHints to add burial locations for individuals.  Many have been found where I had a death location, but hadn't added a burial record.

Utilizing sites such as FindAGrave or Billongraves, I've managed to find additional clues for research about families and have added them to my working file for later research.

In RootsMagic, I began this by setting my search criteria to show me individuals with a a Death date that was after 2000 and whose Burial fact was false.  Working through the large database in this manner gave me some of the more recent generations to update.

Of course, not all of the individuals had WebHints that provided details about their burial location.  Some had hints at FindAGrave, but actually weren't buried, but were cremated.  This seems to have become a more popular option in recent years.  In those instances I've added the cremation information, if given.

Once I worked through the database for all deaths after 2000, then I moved back twenty years and began working individuals who had deaths after 1980.  Many of these individuals at FindAGrave had details linked to them regarding siblings and parents.  For those who were direct lines, I added the additional children's information.

By working backwards in this manner, I hope to be able to catch additional information on the recent generations, which in turn will help me better identify some of my DNA matches.

In my database, when a couple marries, I try to add the parents information for the spouses if known.  In so many cases, there are families that are intermarried and later I find out they were distant cousins.  This is particularly true in areas where my lines have stayed in the same geographical location for generations.  Additional children who are listed are entered if the line is one that I am researching as well.

As I work backwards in successive increments, I will catch family members I've missed on the first pass and increase the size of my database.  Mainly I'm been able to work on this early in the morning each day before I head out to work.

One thing to be aware of is that FindAGrave and Billiongraves provide information that is user submitted and often has errors with date transcriptions and birth/death information.  There have been some 'hints' that I've caught that are incorrect guesswork.  Like anything, it has to be examined.