Wedding Wednesday - Ansley & Raiford

One of my many "unidentified" Ansley's.  Do you know who this young woman is?  Perhaps you know who her parents were?  If so I'd love to hear from you.  

The clipping is from an unidentified source, it came to me in an envelope via US Mail, stating only that the sender knew I was researching the Ansley line. 

So TWO mysteries in one envelope -  Where is the clipping from?  And who is Miss Edna Ansley?

Happy Wednesday!

Monday Musings

After finishing my project of naming, labeling, cropping & linking all my scanned images I took a day or two and pondered what to work on next. 

I've got all my images sorted and stored in folders on my hard drive.  Most are sorted by surname (direct line from pedigree charts), with the exception of Vital Records (sorted under that by state & county), Newspapers and headstones (sorted by cemetery name).  

When I first started to gather images I had everything just stored under the surname header it belonged to.  I decided that perhaps that needed to be modified.  So now everything is being moved so that it fits more into the patterns I want.  So ALL vital records (birth/death/marr) are all stored under vital records.  All newspapers (obits/news stories/ marriage columns) are now in one place.  The headstones have ALWAYS been under headstones.  No discussion even needed on that one.  With them all filed under the cemetery they are buried in it makes it very easy to find.  And I like it that way. 

I was sort of seriously dreading this task until I did a handful and found out that the software is intuitive enough that it knows when I move the items and it goes ahead and puts the new link in place!  WOWSERS!  Worry gone! 

Should be done with all the moving around by the end of this week!  Already pondering next project....

Wedding Wednesday - Prince & Ligon (1900)

The Bee, (Earlington, Kentucky), 18 OCT 1900, Pg. 7 -

    Phoenix Hotel the Scene of a Wedding Wednesday

  Mr. John T. Prince, a young farmer from Peacher's Mill, Tenn., and Miss Laura E. Ligon, a pretty young school teacher, were married at the Phoenix Hotel, Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock, by Elder H.D. Smith of the Christian Church.  The bride is a sister of Elder J.W. Ligon, of Slaughterville, and Elder Henry Ligon, of Hanson.

  She has been teaching school in the Peacher's Mill neighborhood.  They were accompanied to the city by several couples of young people. -- Hopkinsville Kentuckian

   Miss Ligon has many friends in Earlington, where she had made her home for some time, who offer congratulations and best wishes.

Wedding Wednesday

Gospel Messenger,  20 JAN 1934, Pg. 27

Eichhorn – Early  - Dec. 28, 1933, at the Bride’s home, the home of the undersigned, Gaylord Eichhorn of Troy, Ohio and Genevieve Early.
 --S.P. Early, Roaring Spring, Pa

  The week between Christmas & New Years Mr. Brown Eyes always takes me away for a few days of research.  This year we spent some time researching in three different locales in the area of Dayton, Ohio.  

  Thursday we spent at the Dayton Public Library getting obituaries using their obituary index for some of my "wants", others we had to search for.  Friday we worked at the Montgomery County Records & Archive Center.  Saturday we spent at the Brethren Heritage Center in Brookville.

I enjoy using all of these places to research the families I have in the Montgomery County area.  Today's wedding entry I found in the Brethren Heritage Center.  The Heritage center has a very large collection of Brethren periodicals, mainly newspapers.  They are indexed and the staff there is very knowledgeable regarding the indexes and the collection in general.  I had about 48-50 items on my to do list and the only items I didn't get were items that were in three issues that they did not have of The Gospel Messenger.  

Most of the entries that day were obituaries I was seeking on the Early family out of Rockingham County, Virginia.  While looking for the obituary of one of that family I just happened to notice the above under "Matrimonial".  I couldn't leave it there. 

 Genevieve Early is the daughter of Simon P. Early (1874-1948) and his wife, Emma Wine.  

 You'll be seeing more of the Early family in weeks to come as I have plenty of items I want to share.  They were in Rockingham County, Virginia and then migrated thru Pennsylvania (where some remained) into parts of southwestern Ohio and then into Illinois and Missouri.  

Happy Researching!

The Same Old Story

Shortly after beginning my research my father in law gave me a descedancy "type" chart on the Krugman family.  It was entitled "Krugman's To America".   The chart was roughly done and contained many names and dates, some of which were correct others that were close.  None the less, I appreciated what he had done for me.  So I began my research on the Krugman family.

I quickly learned that Krugman is not one of those names that is everywhere.  Not alot of people are researching the surname.  So the going was not in any way easy (but then who's surname is?)  I worked my way thru his chart, slowing verifying, disproving and documenting the things I saw on the chart.  I added children and dates, locations and surnames. 

One person on the tree, a Mrs. Charles Krugman intrigued me.  There was no date, no place only the notation that she died in a fire leaving behind two young daughters and a husband.  No names no dates.  So the search began.  I found Charles Krugman on the 1900 census as a widower, living with his parents and three daughters.  Next I located a marriage record for him dated March 16, 1893 in Seneca County, Ohio.  I knew it was the same Charles Krugman as I found a newspaper ad stating that he had opened a tailor shop in Seneca County in October of 1893.  I now had a window to work with. 

I was unsuccesful with my attempts to locate much further information on the death of Mrs. Krugman.  However, knowing that she died in a fire, I decided to contact the fire cheif of Seneca County.  I sent him an email with all the information I had asking if he knew if any fire records exsisted from that time frame I had.  I also asked that if he could not help me, might he share my info with someone who could?  I included my mailing and email contact information, included a very nice thank you and then hit send.

Thinking I might hear something I checked daily, hoping for something ANYTHING...  days turned into weeks, weeks into months...  finally after several months the mailman brought a letter.

It was quite interesting.  When the firechief couldn't help me he turned my note over to a lady at the newspaper.  She took my note, researched, did some digging and FOUND me the information I needed.  Below is they typed version of the newspaper clipping she sent me.

Same Old Story

Fostoria, O., Nov. 26, --Mrs.C.F. Krugman was fatally burned as a result of trying to start a fire in the kitchen stove with gasoline. There were some live coals concealed in the ashes and the flame jumped from them to the can, causing its contents to explode and cover her with the burning fluid.

HORRIBLE Mrs. Charles Krugman Fatally Burned at Noon Tuesday Kindling a Fire with Gasoline and the Can and Contents Exploded

At this writing, two o'clock this afternoon, Mrs. Charles J. Krugman lies at her home on South Union Street, awaiting the summons of death, burned to a crisp and moaning, directing to her husband the care of their three small children.


Mr. and Mrs. Krugman and family moved here from Hammond, indiana, two months ago, and he has been employed by Mohler, the tailor, since that time. Both parties lived here about six years ago, he marrying her, Miss Kritzer, in this city, she being a sister to Mrs. George O'Brien.


Mr. Krugman said this afternoon that he went home to dinner, and hs wife thought she would get a quick dinner. There was a little fire in the kitchen stove and both he and she and a little child were standing beside the stove when she picked up what she thought was a coal oil can, but which may have contained gasoline, and taking off a stove lid began pouring the fluid onto the coals, when instantly the contents exploded, throwing now burning fluid in all directions and wrapping the body of the unfortunate woman in a sheet of flame. The glass in the stove was blown out, and the ignited fluid was distributed over the floor and table and blackened the walls of the room wherever it struck. Mrs. Krugman screamed in pain while her husband tried to extinguish the flames which enveloped her; in doing so he severely burned both of his hands while the little daughter is also slightly injured.


An alarm of fire was turned in, but the services of the department were not needed, though medical assitance, in the persons of Drs Hale, Leonard and Hoege, was hurried to the scene.


Mail carrier Lovett, who lives in the adjoining house, was the first person outside of the family to hear the cries of the woman and to rush in. He grabbed a lot of carpet and wrapped it about the woman, who was nothing more than a pillar of fire, and shortly had the flames extinguished, but the cruel flames had done their work. Most of the clothes were burned off her body, the hair was scorched and singed, the lips, nose, ears and eyebrows were burned to a crisp, and it is just possible for her to see.


The doctors state that there is not a spot on her body as large as one's palm which is not horribly burned. The physicians have done everything that can be done to ease the awful pain, but express no hope that she will live, and death is but a few hours off at best. Father Griss is with the poor woman to give spitirual comfort in her last hour.


The daughter who was burned is about three years old and her left hand is badly blistered.

The Study of Genealogy

Clicking on the image will enlarge in a new window.  Use your browsers back button to return to GFOM.

I found this article rather interesting because a few days ago I was reading an article very much like this one in a much more recent newspaper online.  It sounded as though this fascination with genealogy was something new.  Then yesterday when researching I found this.  Funny thing is, this clipping is from 1897! 

The newer one did not have the same point of view as this has in the second paragraph, which I find interesting as well.

*Image from The Hastings Banner (Mich.), 26 AUG 1897, Pg. 2

Happy Researching!

Karen

Wordless Wednesday - And Away We Go

Dorothy Ligon nee Shanklin is Mark's grandmother.

Undated Newspaper Clipping, in possession of Mark & Karen Krugman (2011)

The Song That Never Ends...

Did you ever hear that song? I think it was made popular on one of the children's shows of yesteryear. Don't ask which one, it might get that song going in my head again. I just remember it seemed that once you got it started there was never an end to it.

Funny that's how it sometimes seems genealogy is. Or should I say my genealogy projects are? I've got typing going on from Darke County, Ohio, its just obits, deeds, wills - stuff like that. Obits from Dayton and more stuff from my last research trip to Ft Wayne. But even I need a break from that now and then. SO after thinking, pondering, contemplating... and a discussion at lunch with one of the Wild Ones - I decided today was the day to just jump right in! I'll be back typing alot of that this weekend while hanging around the hotel in Traverse City, for now it was time to do some newspaper searches.

When you've been doing genealogy a while sometimes you start to rethink the way you are doing things. I've been contemplating redoing a few of my sources, not major redo's but just tweeking them a bit. One of the biggies that I've wanted to tweek was my newspapers. I've got quite a few - I do ALOT of newspaper research, from many different area's. And to be quite honest, I just didn't feel that my newspaper source information was as complete as I thought it should be!

So yesterday after a nice lunch I opted to start on the newspaper source redo instead of laundry! Now that was a tough decision! I'm going thru each newspaper listed on my source list. As I locate the newspaper I go on a hunt on line for such information as, year founded, published or owned by, where copies are available, legal name etc., filling in the information as requested on my source form in Legacy. I didn't get anywhere near a good dent made in the listing of papers, but I am really happy with the amount of information that I have found.

It's amazing what a little work with a search engine and a list of newspaper names will get for you! Tweeking your master sources - Its a very good thing!

Happy Researching!
Karen

The Search for Mrs. John Doe

Yesterday amidst the on going construction - I decided I needed to get back to typing obituaries. I've still got about another 25 or so to go on the ones from Elkhart County, Indiana. One thing that continually haunted me throughout the day of typing was the "....daughter, Mrs. John Doe...." that I kept running into.

With so many of these popping up in my genealogy research I've finally devised a plan of attack on figuring out just who these Mrs. John Doe's really are.

First thing I check is to see if the other parent - has an obit and if so, how is the Mrs. John Doe named there? A few times I was able to end the search right there. Most of the time I was not so lucky. Depending on who else is listed in the obituary itself, sometimes you can look for clues there. If not, here's some tips on trying to figure out the identity of Mrs. John Doe.

• Other parents obituary
• Siblings obituaries
• Census records - only if in correct time frame
• City directories - often spouses are listed as well as primary resident
• Published Thank You note in newspaper
• Ancestry - don't forget that this must be followed up on & proven by you!

I'd love to hear your "sources" for finding Mrs. John Doe... share them in my comments section - I don't respond to them all, but I do read them!

Happy researching!

Karen

Extra Extra Read All About It Con't....

The other day I did a post on newspapers and all the great things that can be found there. Today I want to touch on places to find the newspapers you need.

There are quite a few possiblities when it comes time to begin searching for newspapers in the area's where your ancestors lived. A really good place to begin is in that city itself - especially if you live in the area or live nearby. Check with the main branch of the local library. Usually they have the older issues on microfilm.

Nothing really compares to just sitting down and reading the newspapers of your ancestor. Pick the time around a wedding or important occassion to start your search, that gives you something to focus on. Then start reading. Birthday's, weddings, baby births are all good reasons to start reading as well. The social pages are a really good place to start. This is not the time for scanning quickly thru the pages, you want to take your time and just read thru. You'll be glad you did.

If you do not live nearby and can not get to the area where your ancestor lived, then perhaps an interlibrary loan could be arranged. This is usually done thru YOUR library, where a form is filled out and sometimes a small fee is to be paid. They bring in the time frame or issues you want to look at on microfilm and you have a window of time in which to read the film and then it gets returned. You will have to check with your local library to get the details on that.

Another option if visiting the area of your ancestor is not an option there's always the internet.

The websites I am going to mention here are for "Pay" sites. It will cost you to use these sites, however if you can not get to the area where your ancestor lived, this may be your best option. I am not advocating that you run out & buy yourself subscriptions to these sites, most do offer trial subscriptions - read the policy very well before you commit, know the rules on how to cancel and make sure you are well within the bounds when you do cancel.

Besides knowing the rules for canceling your subscription (trial or otherwise) also make sure you know what the holdings of the site are. Why pay for a site that doesn't have the papers you need for the time frames you want? Make sure you do your homework so that you don't sign up for a site that has nothing you need. Also check to see if they have different plans, maybe you don't need a years subscription, maybe six months would be better. Do your homework before you plop down the plastic or write the check.

• Ancestry.com - has both newspapers & a very big obituary collection
• Newspaperarchive.com - allows you to view a portion of the obit and then if you want the rest you pay to get it.
• Footnote.com - site also has lots of military records as well.
• Genealogybank.com - biggest advantage this site has is that the collection is extensive and goes back into the 1700's. Something that not all of these sites can boast.

All of these sites have search engines on them allowing you to search by surname. However, my past experience shows that you can NOT depend on these search engines for everything. If you are searching for information on a wedding or other event, take the time to manually search the papers for information - I usually go as much as two weeks after the event in my searches. Keep in mind that if you ask for a Mary Smith in the search engine and her obituary or whatever has her as Mrs. John Smith you may not find her. So a manual search may be in order.

There are other sites that have newspapers on them, I have given you the top four in my opinion.

As with your software and other issues in genealogy I encourage you to explore ALL your options, find the one that works best FOR YOU, and then work it! You'll be amazed at what you can find when you take off the blinders and find the good stuff!

Extra Extra Read All About It

So many times we as genealogists put on blinders. We get so "focused" in our quest for birth & death dates, we overlook the good stuff. There's so much more to newspapers than just locating the birth or death dates of our ancestors.

Researching in newspapers is not the easiest thing, many newspapers do have obituary indexes, many times there is no index for other goodies you can find there. Many of the on line editions, especially on some websites, do have search engines which can help locate the surnames of interest.

Some things besides obituaries that can be found in your local newspapers:

• Marriage write ups - often elaborate with details on dresses, attendants, flowers, and guests
• Funeral write ups - again with details on guests, sermons and more
• Sports - if your ancestor was athletic you might find him on the sports pages
• Divorces - many newspapers wrote up information on divorces sometimes giving cause of the divorce and other information such as dependant children
• Travel & vacations - Anytime anyone went away it was sure to make the news, travel out of the state or country was big news, and usually it made its way into the paper.
• Parties & social gatherings - who celebrated what where and with whom
• Political - was your ancestor involved in political activities? many times political careers were made in the newspaper. Sometimes will include photo's.
• Police situations - perhaps your ancestor was a witness or the victim. The newspaper sometimes ran these stories and they can be very detail oriented.
• Advertising - one of my husband's ancestors did an advertisment for one of the local "medicine man" type places. It was done in the first person testimonal style and it was great - although at times the husband isn't thrilled to admit it.
• Perhaps your ancestor was one of the correspondants for the newspaper, covering his or her township.
• Birth announcements - even if you didn't post announcing the birth of your baby sometimes the neighborhood correspondant got wind of the birth with details and included them in the column she did.
• Thank you notes after the death of a loved one, often including names of family members and funeral information.

I'm sure if I sat down and thought about it, I could come up with more. But for now, this list should inspire you to locate the newspapers from your ancestors home town and read all about it!

Tomorrow we'll talk more about places to find newspapers, both online and off.

Happy researching!

Karen

Read All About it....

I've been here this morning working on typing in some of the obituaries I pulled on our recent research trip/vacation. As I am working on this stuff I keep thinking about the accuracy of the newspapers.



I remember one time my grandmother telling me that it was important to read, especially the newspaper, because you "can learn so much" from there. Well I do read alot - but not so much to learn, and not so much the newspaper. Maybe my genealogy exposure to the newspapers has taught me that not everything in print is truth?



Errors & confusion seem to abound, especially in newspapers. Some things I have found -

• Persons listed as living who have died previously


• children left out yet we know are living


• confusion over dates - conflicting date info


• two papers - different info on same story, both newspapers

These are just a few of the issues I have found with newspaper research. Granted some of the info that is incorrect was reported by the persons responsible for reporting it to the newspaper.

Newspapers can be a great source for genealogical information. The social columns & social pages are full of relationships & "gossip" about who was doing what when. Great color to add to your ancestors genealogy file. I know alot about the women my grandfather dated before he married my grandmother, seems he was quite the man about town. Seeing my grandfather in those social pages/columns paints my grandfather in a much different light than the grandfather I knew. Traveling, dating, parties and more. All show me the young side of a man I called grandfather.

Family gatherings, weddings, funerals and more can be found in the social pages of yesteryear. Some of these things are things that we can find no where else, so our reliance upon them for dates & details is rather strong. And as good as they may be we still should use them with a limited amount of caution knowing that this information was provided by outside parties who may or may not have links to the family.

My great grandfather's illness and slow death were chronicled in the local newspapers. Both of them followed his slow demise, posting weekly updates on how he was doing. But when it came time to post his obituary they couldn't agree on the date or place he died.

This weekend when I wasn't out in the beautiful sunshine gardening I was working in all the items - mostly obituaries that I pulled on this recent trip. Time & time again I found inconsistancies in the date & place of death. Many times I saw, "...died yesterday..." when in fact the death date occured several days before, not yesterday as stated.

So, I encourage you to use the newspaper, for its social pages, news items, and obituaries. All things where details can be gotten that maybe we can't find elsewhere. BUT I encourage you to go there with "eyes wide open", knowing that there are errors, mispellings, and bad dates. Knowing that there are issues that if you allow them to, can take you off track or lead you to believe things are true that really aren't.

Source your material, back it up with further documentation, and read it with "eyes wide open"...