Amazing What One Little Letter Can Do

Many years ago I started researching my husbands family tree.  It began with a simple chart that his father or someone on the line had done.  It was a great little chart and it definitely gave me enough to get off to a great start. 

There was only one little hitch - her name was Caroline Reusch.  Caroline was the daughter of Heinrich Augustus Reusch and his wife, Anna Mary Gunther (Gundern).  Caroline was born in 1825, but there was no death date given.  It was reported that she married a man by the name of Henry Dencer.   No information on Henry at all.   And that is how Caroline & Henry turned into one of my brick walls.

I had Caroline on the passenger list with her parents in June of 1834,  on 1840 she is one of the hashmarks on her father's census in Liverpool Township, Medina County, Ohio.  Then she appears on a marriage record 1 JUL 1844 in Medina County, Ohio. 

"Reusch Caroline - Donzer Henry, Vol. B - p65 1844 July 1, Louis Richter, Minister of the Gospel"

Notice the spelling of Henry's name as DONZER?   Yeah I did too!

She appears on the 1850, 1860, 1870 & 1880 as Caroline DENCER.  Then the family disappears.  What huh?  I checked Dencer, Doncer, Donzer, Denzer... I used I, E, O, U... I changed the C to S, C to Z...  I searched and searched, to no avail.   I even gave up (that's hard to admit!) for quite a few years, hoping that I would stumble across something, ANYTHING that might give me some clue as to what had happened.

And then one day it happened. 

I was browsing some images for the county where I thought maybe they had relocated to and I stumbled upon this.  The death certificate for Frederick DENTZER.  

The spelling immediately got my attention, and it just got even better when I noticed who the parents are...  Its Henry DENTZER and his wife Caroline Reusch.  Imagine that.

I never thought to put a T in the name, EVER! 

Thus goes the saga of one little letter changing the surname and putting off my quest to locate Caroline Reusch DenTzer and her family.   Now I know where they are buried, when they died.  I was able to locate more information on the children as well with the new spelling.   In all my searches, changing up the vowels and the C and Z did the DenTzer spelling ever surface. 

Somehow I wonder if this fits the "no one will be found until they are ready" thingy?

Either way,  I'm glad she's found and I can finally say I've identified and tracked down all of Heinrich & Anna's children.   Now for the rest of the descendants. 

Happy Researching!
  Karen

Monday Musings

To say I've been away for a while is rather an understatement.   But sometimes life gets in the way.   I've been doing genealogy - working here on the stuff on our families, but just not blogging about it.

Sometimes you just wonder if anyone out there is reading?  Sometimes you wonder if there is anyone out there even paying attention?  Is anyone really related?  Am I doing something that really matters?

The interesting thing is - yes, I found out people are reading, people are related and they are leaving comments, even though I wasn't blogging.  So I'm back.  For how long?  Can't say. 

The past year has been a good year for genealogy. I hired a pro-genie to work on my Kreitzer line in Germany and he was very successful with his search.  Perhaps I'll share that soon.  My personal work on my data base is on going.  Moving notes, changing things and researching. 

The grandsons are all growing and wanting to spend time at grandma & grandpa's,  not going to refuse them.  The flower gardens here are so beautiful but they too want our time, and of course we have Mr. Brown Eyes, who does enjoy seeing me step out of this office now & then. Finally throw in my sewing and the start of my Etsy Shop - KarmelleHome.   Lots of stuff handmade here in my home, on my sewing machine.  Sewing has been another of my loves since I started at the age of 7 or so.  My friend Michelle is also a partner in the Etsy Shop.   Stop on in and take a visit.  Maybe you'll find something you can't live without. 

If you enjoy the blog, or have in the past, thanks for reading.  If you find me because of something you see here, drop a note - I'd love to hear from you.  Cousins are always a pleasure to hear from. 

Happy Researching!
   Karen

Monday Musings

This past week I found myself working on several different projects - some very basic some rather detailed, but all part of staying on track with my genealogy.

The genealogy vacations that we took in June & July produced a ton of obits, colonial records, deeds and more.  I think (notice that word think?) I finally have all that scanned and lots of it is linked and typed in to my ancestors files.  A lot of what I had from that trip were images that I collected at various repositories and they need to be cropped and typed in, then linked.  It appears that most of that has been taken care of.

The hardest project I have going on is the stack or two of papers that I'm just not sure what to do with.  Some are small cemetery readings that I pick up here and there.  You know the kind,  its a small family cemetery, the one that PERHAPS one of your great great grandparents is in, only they aren't listed.  But someone else in the family is... maybe the great grandparent is there or maybe not..  but what to do with the listing?  Yeah, those sort of things.  BTW, I ended up putting that in the back of the County Cemetery book for that county that I bought back in 1990.  Not everything is on Find A Grave so those books still come in handy!  But I have a stack or two of those sort of things laying around.  So working on those too!

Lastly,  I am working on a couple of new talks.  For those who aren't familiar with me I also do speaking and I have a list of talks.  A few new ones are in the works.  Hope to get them up on my speakers page later this week.

Take all those genealogy projects and toss in getting the flower gardens ready for the winter,  decorating to some degree for the different holidays, and the sewing projects I'm working on for Christmas...  you get the idea!  But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Researching!
  Karen

Monday Musings

Being in the midst of this massive re-org project with all my digital files really is leading to some interesting finds.  This weekend I found a paper that I had no idea existed.  Pretty cool stuff, take a look...

   I, Hester H. Hull, being duly sworn state that I am the widow of William D. Coleman who was a soldier in Co. F, 17th Regiment Ky. Vol. Calvary, and that after the death of the said William D. Coleman I married Marion F. Dunkerson in 1869, that I was divorced from the said Marion F. Dunkerson in 1899 according to certified copy of Court record hereto attached.  In 1900 I married Alansun Hull who died in July 1909.  Neither Marion F. Dunkerson nor Alanson Hull rendered any military or naval service.
  I further state that I do not now own any real estate or personal property and have not disposed of any since January 26th, 1910.  I do not have any income from any source and no means of support.
  I further state that the said Alansun Hull, at the time of his death, did not leave me any property or real estate, did not carry any life insurance at the time of his death, and did not leave any will.  I am now a widow and do not receive any pension from the United States.
    /s/ Hester H. Hull

State of Missouri
County of Dunklin

   Above statement subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of March, 1910.
My term expires Jan. 21st, 1912.
  /s/ Cyrus Bray, Notary Republic


The woman who signed this is in fact Hester Teague, daughter of John P. Teague and Lucretia Dunkerson.  She is a Metcalf descendant and a second cousin to Mr. Brown Eyes.  I knew about her marriage to William D. Coleman, but only "suspected" the other marriages.  What a great find!  I guess that Review Review Review thing works even when its your digital images! 

Happy Researching!

Karen

Review Review Review

In yesterday's Monday Musings post I mentioned that I had started to review my older files.  I also noted that I had placed the date of the last review on my folders, and that the date was 1998.

Quite a time lapse eh?

EVERY SINGLE FILE is being gone thru.  Here's what I have (and am modifying).

In my desk drawer I have the main lines that are being worked on.  There are about 45 or so of these files.  They are stored in a deep file drawer on my right side about knee height.  Very accessible for when I want to check on current stuff.   In the lateral file cabinets are files for every surname on my pedigree chart, plus some smaller ones that are of interest.  Mainly names that had many of that line intermarry with my lines. 

The ones in the lateral files are the ones that I am now going thru file by file.  Most of which have not been reviewed since 1998.  So far I've found some interesting stuff.  Stuff that didn't fit then but, as I found out, fits now. 

• Death record for Frederick Appla who died in 1893.  He is Mark's GGgrandfather.  Funny I had just noted on my master to do list that I needed that item.  Not any more! 
• Passenger list for Henry Reusch & family.  I have it recorded in my file, but no scanned image.  Score! Image found with out going back and searching again.  And as a bonus it has the FULL source citation on the back.  
• Land deed between Frederick Appla & Gotlieb Appla, his brother, selling land he inherited from his parents!  Score!  This is the one item I have connecting them to the parents, Jacob & Dorthea.  Again, I had noted that the deed had been found but did not have all the details.  At the time it didn't fit....  IT DOES NOW!  

I'm sure that as I delve into other family files I'll find more that didn't fit then but it will NOW.

What's hiding in YOUR files?

Happy Researching!

Karen

Monday Musings

Yes, I am back.  It felt good to take some time off.  While I was off alot has happened.  First of all we added a new grandson to the pack - Joshua Luotonen was born January 29th.  He's adorable and joins brothers, Jacob (18 months) and Jonathon (7 years).  A full house for sure! 

I just returned on Sunday morning from my first EVER genealogy conference. Man what an experience that was!  The NGS conference in St. Charles, Missouri was a totally awesome experience.  Listening to such awesome speakers as Elizabeth Shown Mills, Warren Bitner, Thomas Jones, and Judy Russell (the Legal Genealogist) and so many more was like a webinar on some serious steroids. 

It felt good to hear them talk about their methodology, their knowledge - It inspired me to come home and just dive in with both feet, like I could solve all my brick walls NOW.  And maybe I will solve some of them with the knowledge I gained there.  The only way to explain it is like drinking at a fountain of knowledge and it just keeps flowing and flowing.  At times I felt as though my brain was going to just fall out of my head...  So much knowledge, so many awesome speakers & sessions and only 4 days to digest it all.  OH MY!

If you've never done an NGS conference you should seriously consider it.  One stop shopping in the exhibitor hall led to so many fabulous books and finds, discounts on software and so much more...  Good thing I took an empty briefcase because I sure needed it when I went to return home. 

I'm really geeked about everything I learned at NGS.  I spent much of time in German research sessions and Civil war sessions, but couldn't resist mixing in a few sessions from Elizabeth Shown Mills.  Her sessions were just fascinating. 

We will be booking our hotel on Wednesday for NGS 2016, May 4-7 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  Why don't you plan on joining us??? 

Happy Researching!
   Karen

Monday Musings

Happy Monday to everyone!  Hope your weekend was great.  The snow is melting here and temps are on the rise. Maybe winter is on the way out!  One can hope eh?

Spent much of this past week working on linking and naming images.  Seems as though that is a never ending process.  I use it not just for genealogy but for recipes as well.   Once I type them in to my recipe data base I link the scanned images to the recipes.  Works great!

On the genealogy front,  I'm cleaning up my digital files and image folders.  Somehow, there's always a duplicate or two.  So I'm getting rid of some, recropping some and some just linking.

Going to work on some genealogy this morning.  Have more digital images that I want to take care of.  Its nice not having tons of papers laying all over, but the number of images can at times be overwhelming.  In the long run it will all be worth it when I am done.

The next major project is going thru every photo and making sure they are linked as they should be.  I don't anticipate this taking more  than 2 years or so, working an hour or two every day.  But it will be worth it.  Going to start with all the cemetery & headstone images first.

Oh well,  keeps me out of trouble for the most part, and I know when I'm done it will be an awesome thing.   I'm doing a wee bit of research here and there, mainly figuring out the "unknown's" in my file.  I keep a file of the unknown's with the surnames I am working on.  Basically in the area's where I know our lines are, I come across a headstone or a death certificate or obit and I try to figure them out and add them to my regular file.  Love the challenge of figuring those out.

Maybe the luck of the Irish will be with me today while I work on some of those...  one can only hope eh?

Happy Researching!
Karen

Monday Musings

Spent the weekend on identifying some Ligon's I found on the Georgia death records over at Family Search.  I can't say it was easy - but I do love a good challenge. 

Out of the eight I started with I have only one I still can't identify and add to my Ligon data base.  Not bad for a weekend's work! 

I've been working on re-organizing, cleaning,  and rethinking how I do some things.  I'm also STILL working on all the images I had scanned over the past year.  I'm about half way thru, cropping, naming and linking them in my data base as I go. 

This doesn't include the several hundred scanned recipes that I am also typing into my cookbook software, where I have well over 100,000 recipes already typed in.  I've been collecting recipes for well over 30  years.  The newest have images attached as I've found them.  Makes for a nice searchable file.

I inherited a new desk (few months ago) from my daughter.  It was originally my late father in law's desk so its been around a while. But its HUGE.  Lots of room, several drawers and did I say tons of desk top space.  So I have room for my dual monitors and more!  LOVE IT!   One of the best things is the large "file" drawer on the right bottom.  I've turned that into my space for the copies or papers & folders I am currently working on.  As I am going thru folders in my file cabinet and I find things I want to focus on or look at again,  I place them there and I can stay focused without having tons of stuff laying all over my desk.  Important!

It's tax time so of course its been busy with tax clients coming & going alot!  We've also got a new grandson (#5), Joshua Mark Luotonen who was born January 29th.   What a cutie! 

Time to get busy - the daily chores are done, time to get focused and get some stuff done. 

What challenges are you working on in your genealogy??

Happy Researching!
Karen

Technology Tuesday - IPhoto - It's So Easy!

First of all,  this "blog" entry is heavy on images today.  So if you are on dial up you may have trouble with delayed loading.  So you've been warned.

I've always been a windows user, UNTIL about a year and a half ago my son introduced me to the world of MAC.  I love my MAC.  There was a bit of a learning curve, won't deny it.  And I must say I'm still learning.  The hardest thing for me was not having that photo editing software to work with.  I'm a creature of habit, once I find something that works for me, I don't change it. Ever.  Well toss that out the window.  Being on this Mac I had to change my editing software.  No choice. 

So I sat down one day  and went thru the video's at UTube until I found some on using iPhoto.  Wow.  If you get someone who really knows their stuff you can conquer about anything.  So let me show you how I learned to work with my images in iPhoto!

First thing you have to do is figure out where you have the images you want to work on and then where you want them to go when you are done with them.  Once you have that you've got it made.  Now comes the fun part.  So here we go!  The captions UNDER each photo will explain the process for that screen....  READY?

 Above -  The screen that starts it all.  Ignore the "Recent". Look at the pull down window.  See where it says, IMPORT TO LIBRARY?  Yeah that one.  Click on it.  When you do it opens .....

 Yep, it opens this window above.  I have a windows photo storage thing going on here so I follow the path to where the photo's are stored.  In this case I had previously removed some images from flash drive #3 and stored them as you  see above.  So I followed the path  you see above and clicked on that folder.  It will immediately grab those photos (yes that entire file folder) and import them into iPhoto.

Once your download is complete you will see your photo's displayed as you see above.  Up in the right corner it will even tell you how many photo's you have in that download.  Next you need to choose the image that you want to edit.   You need to choose the photo that you need to edit.  When you click on the photo, it will put a yellow "frame" around it. 

After you see the yellow frame, look down into the bottom right hand corner of your iPhoto screen.  You want to find the image you see above.  Pretty straight forward eh?  You want to click on EDIT.

 Once you click on EDIT,  the the window above will appear.  Not rocket science at all.  It does exactly what it says it will do.  The primary ones I use are straighten and crop.  It should offer a bit of comfort knowing that you can always UNDO or REVERT TO ORIGINAL. 

As you can see in my image above the headstone photo is a bit off kilter.  So I've chosen "straighten".  The Slider bar and grid on the screen make it easy to straighten about any image you have need to.  Not complicated, simple and functional.  Just what the technology challenged need! 

 Once you have finished straightening you click on Crop and the window you see on the right opens.  It gives you all sorts of choices.  You can start at the top of the list and work your way down.  As you choose you can see right on your screen what it will be like on your image.  How can you miss it when its showing you as you do it?  When you get it done the way you like, you simply click DONE.  That's it.  You edited your photo and had no strokes or heart attacks.  No you are ready to move the images you've edited into a folder.  Once again you'll have to decide where to put the photo's. 

 Next step is back to the window again.  File>EXPORT.... yep you are going to send the images to a new home.  No stress, No worry!  Its really quite simple.  Click on Export and you'll get another window....

When you get this window you've really been busy.  So you choose the kind of picture - I chose TIFF, but Jpg and others are in there as well.  I always mark HIGH QUALITY, and I include Title & Keywords and Location information. I also tell it to USE FILENAME......

Finally It will say SAVE AS....  and you name the image you want to send and where it is going.  Be careful here, because once you fill these in and click OK.... the images will be moved INSTANTLY. 

SEE, I told you it wasn't that big a deal.  And once you do it a couple of times it makes things so easy!   Hope this helps.  I'm not the biggest techie in the world but when I find something and it works I like to share it.  I know that not everyone likes or uses iPhoto,  but if you've thought about it, now might be a good time to give it a try!  

Happy Researching!
  Karen

Lists - My Favorite Research List

Last week I did a series on feeling overwhelmed in your research.  In that series I talked about my research lists and promised to share how I do them in Legacy.  Warning this post is heavy in the images department so it might be slow to load if you are on a dial up connection.

First of all let me start by saying I don't like the report feature.  I've never liked it, not even when I used other software.  So I set out to find a way to get what I want in the easiest way possible.  That's when I figured out that I could make the "search" feature work for me.  I've used this for years, I love it and today I'm going to show you how I do it.

When you open Legacy you see the top of your screen which has your tool bar and the tabs across the top.  We aren't going to deal with the tabs.  Today's blog is about the tool bar.  You will want MY TOOLBAR highlighted.  Under that if you look to YOUR left of that you will see SEARCH.

Click on SEARCH and it will open the window you see below.  Its not a complicated window so you should be able to see there are THREE conditions available to search by.  You set the conditions based on what you are working on.  You may or may not need all three conditions.  Your choice.  When I am going to an archive to work I usually use all three.   You should take some time before you get into this to decide what you want to use this for and exactly what it is you are after.  This is my favorite for archive & locality work.  Helps me see where the holes are in that area. 

 Once you figure out where you want to research then you can focus on the people that are there. You do this by filling in the "conditions.  As you can see below there are three "conditions" available to use.   I use "individual" and then continue on with birth place, Marriage place, death place or whatever conditions you want.  After that you decide on where you are going to research.  For this example I chose Montgomery County, Ohio.  You type in what you want.  Make sure that you fill this in exactly as you have it in your program or you get no where.  It has to match.   Once you've made your choices you will see at the bottom CREATE LIST.  Click it.

 The program is going to take a few seconds/minutes depending on how many people in the area you have.  This Montgomery County list that I created has abt 280 pages.  My family (maternal) has been in Montgomery County since the very early 1800's.  When it has done its thing it will give you a screen much like the one below.  It has your list on the left.  On it is everyone who fit the "conditions" that you put in above.  A very nice little list indeed!  And so simple to get!

 One little thing that greatly affects the length of your list is shown below.  If you look directly below your list, you will see a small button, OPTIONS.  The pull down window will open.  Make sure that you unclick "include married names".  It gives you many duplicates that I personally find totally uncalled for.  To the right of that button is one that says print.  Click on it.

 When you click on that PRINT button the screen below comes up.  This is where you define how your report will be spaced.  I keep it pretty simple, spread it across one page, one row.  Very seldom do I see a need for two rows.  If you look under the OPTIONS tab on the screen below this text you can see the options for headers and the name you want on the report. 

 Down in the far right corner you see the REPORT settings.  I like using the PDF option as I can save it and have a copy just in case.  Once you decide if you want pdf or whatever, you go back to the top right and click CREATE.  You won't see the CREATE button unless you mark the pdf button.  Once you hit create it will ask you what to name your file and where you want it saved to. Your choice on that one.

 The list will appear on your screen and a box will pop up asking if you want to view your pdf. If you say yes, then something like this will appear!  My search list looks like this....  As you can see it gives me the persons name, id number, birth, death, spouse and marriage information.  With this I can walk into any Archive and I know exactly what I am in need of.  You can change those settings to reflect more or less information,  depending on what it is you are in need of.  As in any piece of software its only as good as you make it. 

 So now you have it. My favorite list to use when I'm researching at an Archive or library.  I've shown you how to do this in Legacy, but I'm sure that other pieces of software are capable of doing the same thing, it just take you a few tries to get it the way you want it.  Although this post seems long and the process difficult, I can generate & print one of these in under four minutes (yes, I timed it!).  Leaves me plenty of time to dress, grab my keys and be out the door and on my way to a great day of reseaching ANYWHERE very quickly.   Hope it works for you!

Karen

Monday Musings

I've been going over some of my lists - stuff that I need to focus on.  I discussed my list making last week in my "Overwhelmed"series.  So much I want to do and so little time to get it done.  Seems like when you get one done you come up with another project another list that you just need to work on.

I was in Ft Wayne at the Allen County Public Library researching for a few days this past week.  Can't say I broke down any major brick walls but I did find some things.

Today is Thanksgiving Day here in Canada.  We are here while Mr. Brown Eyes is on a job assignment for Ford.  In a very nice apartment here with very good wi-fi so the research and blogging can continue.  Sure beats a hotel!  Many of the comforts of home here, just on a smaller scale.  Either way I'm just thankful that I have the opportunity to travel and be with him where ever it may be.

I'm planning on writing a few blog posts today,  at least one focusing on how to make the lists with my genealogy software. 

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers! 

Karen

Overwhelmed? Just Say NO!

You made it!  You've gotten thru all the previous steps I posted on how to stop feeling overwhelmed both in your genealogy & in your personal life.  I think I've saved the hardest one for last. 

I'm not sure why saying "NO" is so difficult but for me, Its one of the hardest things to do.  Don't know if its the not wanting to disappoint anyone or if I just hate letting people down.  It's just difficult!

If there's an easy way to do this I don't know what it is.  I can't give you a magic equation so my advice is to just do it.  Just say it. 

We are trained from childhood that "doing good" is important.  We are "programmed" so to speak, to to be nice, help each other.  And having to disappoint someone by saying no is hard.  BUT, in order to keep us on even keel,  to make sure we keep our priorities in line sometimes saying "no" is just something we have to do.  There's that priority thing again.  Figuring out what matters, what we want to focus on. 

Some thoughts to help -

• Be Selective!  You don't have to say "yes" to everything that comes along. Seriously, if we spend all our time focusing on things that don't matter to us, we get burned out and have no time for the things that do matter.  Step back and figure out exactly what really matters then focus there.  
• Do The Math!  Seriously,  take a good hard look at your life.  THEN make the choices based on what you know.  If you want to spend (INSERT YOUR NUMBER HERE) hours a week on genealogy,  and you need (INSERT YOUR NUMBER HERE) hours a week for cleaning, transporting children, and (INSERT YOUR NUMBER HERE) on other "family" things, can you really afford to donate 20 hours a week to volunteer at the animal shelter?  Before you say yes, organize your priorities, the things that matter and see what you have available.  Then prioritize how you want to spend it.  I volunteer for an organization at Ford.  When the call comes out each month for workers, I stop, look at what I have going on,  what my other commitments are and what time I have available and then (AND ONLY THEN) do I commit. 
• Don't be Compulsive!  Don't rush in.  Just because they ask now doesn't mean you have to answer now.  Be honest - "Gee, I'd love to help, but can I get back to you after I check my schedule?".  If they truly want your help they will understand.  Take the time and step back, check your priority schedule and then make your decision.  Be especially wary of making decisions when you are tired or stressed.  I've found when I just cave in and commit because I'm tired or because everyone else around me said yes, I always regret it. 
• Be Honest!   It's always better to be honest up front.  It's not always the easiest way to go, BUT in the long run it's better for your relationships if you just say it right up front.  "I just don't have the time to commit to anything else right now.", is far better than committing then finding out the next morning that this really wasn't something you wanted to do and have to cancel.  In the long run (hopefully) it will be better for both parties that you were honest and upfront about it.
• Be Flexible!  Sometimes no matter how hard we try things come up and BAM! our little list making, prioritized life has to bend.  Whether it's grandkids, kids or just a neighbor in need,  we are a persons last hope for that hour of assistance that they desperately need.  Emergencies happen, cars break down, power goes out, or someone needs a ride.  Yes, those things do happen, its called life.  It's important to step back and understand that we don't have total control.  Things happen its called life.  Be flexible enough that if you get a call and someone needs you to stop and help for an hour its not the end of the world.  You will recover and move on.  Remember,  one day it might be you on the "needy" end of that phone call.

In the long run, all of this stuff,  every single bit of what I've said in this series on relieving the feeling of overwhelmed boils down to PRIORITIES.   Call it what you want,  read it anyway you want, its all about PRIORITIZING what really matters to each of us.  I can't tell you what your priorities are.  They are different for each of us.  And that's okay.  I encourage you to sit down, take a long hard look at your life and decide what really matters to you.  Not what matters just for today, but what matters to you the person.  And then base your daily stuff, your genealogy and the other things you want to do on those priorities.  I'm sure if you do, you'll see that in the long run, if you take care of the priorities in your life, the rest will fall right into place.

Hope this helps someone.  I'm not a shrink or anything but this whole process helped me tremendously.  Hope it does the same for you!  

Happy Researching! 

Overwhelmed? Let's Talk Organization!

Organization is a major issue for a lot of people.  I'm not exception.  I'm working very hard at organizing some things in my life,  but I can tell you right now,  it's not easy.  

Organization covers alot of ground.  It applies to lots of different aspects of our lives.  Things that we need to organize in order not to feel overwhelmed can include all sorts of things - for example -

• Kitchen
• Closets
• Daily Chores
• Computer Files
• Garage
• Collections (in my case my cookbook collection)
• Offices

And the list could go on and on.  But the problem is, we only have so many hours in a day.  So we pick and choose what we choose to work on.  And we stick to those choices and see it thru.

Last year I went thru all my closets (except Mr. Brown Eye's).  One closet a week.  All items taken out, gone thru.  Some stuff donated, some stuff moved to another location, some stuff just tossed in trash.  Deciding what I needed, what I didn't was a major chore.  But I did it.  It's not just about our household organization but our genealogy space organization. So I also did my office closet and desk.

Whether you have a room you call an office or whether you have a corner desk in the living room for your genealogy, organization is a major issue.  There is nothing worse, at least to me, to go to a major repository to research, make a MAJOR find, go to type it in your computer data base only to discover its ALREADY THERE!!!!!!!!!    And I know that you've done that.  We all have.  Because we haven't taken the time to stop digging long enough to dig ourselves out of the mess & clutter we call our "office" or "genealogy desk".    If we stopped researching, just for a week or two, and took the time to get rid of the piles of papers, the clutter, the mass of disorganization, what a difference it would make in your productivity.  Yes, I know its hard!  

Just think if your desk wasn't covered in piles of paper you could have a list of exactly what you want to search for.  Then when you have 15 minutes to sit down and research, you'll know exactly what you want to look and where!  It would make such a difference in how you see things.  With a decluttered desk you won't feel so overwhelmed. 

There is a Facebook page for genealogy organization, "The Organized Genealogist".  It is a closed group, meaning you will have to ask to be included.  Keep in mind that reading all the posts can be very overwhelming.  But there is alot there, with the focus being on organizing your genealogy.  No genealogy surnames or such allowed.  Great group. 

So what will you take time to organize this week?  Have you recently reorganized your genealogy space?  Do you wish you had done it sooner?

Wedding Wednesday - Elopement!

Hopkinsville Kentuckian, Pg. 12 SEP 1908, Pg. 5

      Madisonville Soldier
  Captures A Trigg County Bride

   Another romance has resulted from the stationing of troups in Trigg County.  Two or three months ago, a Middlesboro Soldier married a pretty girl at Golden Pond.  Amos Winstead, a Madisonville soldier, lately on duty at Cerulean, is the next of the military boys to capture a Trigg County bride.  On Sept. 2 he eloped with Miss Sarah Nabb, a pretty daughter of C.T. Nabb, and they were married in Nashville.  Parental objections made the elopement necessary.  The couple met first a year ago, while the bride was a schoolgirl at Georgetown.
   The Cadiz Record says the groom is an electrician in Madisonville, and is said to be a splendid young man and of a good family.  He has been given a discharge from the State Guard and is now out of the military service.
  The Bride is a very beautiful girl of sixteen and very popular.

Overwhelmed? Let's Talk Priorities!

In Monday's post on feeling overwhelmed, my number #1 to help decrease that way of feeling overwhelmed was to prioritize.  Often when you are overwhelmed just figuring out where to start is difficult.  So I'm going to offer some suggestions - elaborate on just how to do the things I suggested. 

The first thing I suggested was to PRIORITIZE your life.   For me it wasn't that hard,  I already knew what my priorities were.  I just needed to see them again.  Remind MYSELF of what they were.  We get so caught up in just being alive that we sometimes let things get out of hand. 

So I sat down and made a list of just what matters to me.  Your list may change as things change in your life.  The list of a retiree will probably be different than that of a new mom or a mom with small children. 

I won't put my whole list up here but an example of my list would be:

1. My family - includes husband, children & grandchildren
2. Our home
3. Genealogy
4. Gardening
5. Reading

As I said this is not my exact list but it gives you an idea of what I mean by prioritizing.   My family WILL ALWAYS come above all else.  Granted there are boundaries on that,  but we won't go into that here.  Last month when our daughter was injured in a car accident everything else went by the wayside while we stepped in to take care of her, the children and home that they share.  They were our priority.

Second on the list was OUR home.  No, OUR home is not all my responsibility, but I take great pride in taking care of our home.  I am a homebody, I love being here at home, surrounded by the photo's and things that make this house our home.  And I like it kept a certain way.  That's important to me.  So I make a window of time each day available for its upkeep.  I'm primarily an early bird so I'm up getting Mr Brown Eyes off to work.  While I'm up and he's headed out,  I plan dinner, toss in laundry, straighten up, make the bed and I'm done with housework and usually in my office by 8:30.  In the summer it might be later because I enjoy weeding and doing gardening when its cooler outside.

Third, fourth and fifth - the genealogy, gardening and reading really are flexible to me.  Alot depends on other factors.  If its going to be a beautiful day outside I might take my laptop and work on the patio, with breaks from typing to pull some weeds.  The only two items on that list that are locked in stone are #1 & #2.

It ALL boils down to PRIORITIES.  It really is that simple.  So what are your priorities?  Have you made your list?  What makes your list? 

Overwhelmed? Here's Five Steps To Help!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of genealogy information being "thrown" at you these days?  A sense of being totally overwhelmed by the "information highway"?   It seems like everyday there is some new technology, something new to search, something new to try, a new website, a new genealogy Facebook page,  you want to look at them all but you've got kids to take care of, the laundry calls, someone has to make dinner and the list seems to just keep growing on both the personal and the genealogy sides?

I know how you feel!  It can be tough.  But I've learned some things so I thought I'd share them with you.  This is how I survive, can't swear it will work for you but some suggestions that might help.

• Priorities  -  Sit down, step back and take a hard look at just what it is that is truly important to you.  Yes, I know you really want to find out who the parents of John Smith are.  We all do.  But the fact is, he's been dead for over 200 years.  He can wait.  Stop and take a good look at what really matters.  Then plan your time around those things.
• Organize -  You would be amazed at how much easier life is when you organize your life.  Not just your genealogy but your day to day life as well.  I didn't say it was easy or that it would happen over night, but it can be done.  By having things organized, you can quickly get things done without spending half the time you wanted to use researching or doing household chores looking for things to help get the job done.  Make a place for everything and put everything in its place. 
• Simplify - Again it really makes like easier if you learn to simplify things.  I enjoy cooking and baking as one of my "other" hobbies.  I sometimes see really great recipes with tons of ingredients and steps to making them.  Reading over the process I usually find a way to side step alot of the process and still get the same results.  There are alot of things that you can do to simplify things.  In genealogy, when doing some internet searches I search using ONE group sheet. Yep, just one family and search only for that family. No rabbit hole running.
• Make Lists  -  Not just in your genealogy but in your daily life.  Sit down and make a list of the chores that you need to take care of.  Sometimes by multitasking & dividing you can shorten the time it takes to get the job done.  By making a list you can see what chores are the most time consuming and perhaps do one per day, combined with several smaller chores each day.  Everything gets done and you win with more time for doing the things you want to do instead of what you have to do. 
• Learn to say NO -  Being a stay at home mom for all of our marriage meant that I was one of those who got asked to do EVERYTHING.  You know,  you are at home watching soaps and eating bon bons so of course you have time to be on every committee and do everything right?  I learned early on that if I accepted everything that I was asked to do I quickly had no time to do the things I needed/wanted to do at home.  So I stepped back, decided which things were the most important for me to do at school to support the activities I felt important and then adjusted my time to fit that in.  Everything else was "Sorry, I'd love to help but I'm already volunteering on several other projects."  

In the long run, it really boils down to one thing.  PRIORITIES.  What really matters to you?   We all love our genealogy.  It's addictive, it's challenging and I could go on and on.  But the fact of the matter is very few of us are "Islands".  We have people we live with, people who depend on us for other things.  And as much as we'd love to research 24/7 it really isn't possible.  At least not for me.  So take a few minutes, step back and take good hard look at your life.  Decide what things matter and then take it from there!  You'll be much happier and so will those around you!  
          

Like Father Like Son

Academy Cemetery, Jefferson, Jackson County, Georgia

The Jackson Herald,  October 26, 1894 

 Andrew Ansley  

    Little Andrew Ansley, step-son of Mr. R. L. Dean, who lives about three miles above town, died of dropsy on last Sunday and was buried at the Academy burial grounds Monday.

The first time I knew that my ancestor William Ansley had a brother, Andrew, was the 1880 census for Jackson County, Georgia.  I had been searching for William for some time but until now had not been successful in locating him.  In fact I wasn't even sure it was him for quite some time. 

The 1880 Federal census shows the family as - Ansley, Mary, a white female, age 22, keeps house, can't read or write.  She was born in Georgia as were both her parents.  Ansley, William, white male age 3, son, single, born in Georgia and Ansley, Andrew, white male age 1, son, single, born in Georgia.  

Mary E. aka Marietta Waddel had married Joseph Ansley 17 NOV 1875 in Jefferson, Jackson County, Georgia.  

However, the newspaper clipping is the ONLY time, besides the marriage record that Joseph & Marietta are EVER together.  He appears on NOTHING, no census, no land records no NOTHING.

When Joseph disappears, sometime between 1879 & 1882, I figured I still had Mary, William & Andrew.  With no census for 1890, I couldn't track the little family during that window of time.  The 1900 census comes and Marietta/Mary has remarried and has been busy having babies with the new husband. William is living next door to his mom & her new family.  Only Andrew is NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!   First thing comes to mind is that possibly he is with Joseph, his father.  For years I search to no avail. 

Then one day Mr. Brown Eyes types Andrew Ansley into a search engine and up  pops the clipping on Andrew.  Telling of his death from dropsy, his burial.  Different circumstances, but still alot like his dad.  We know so much but we know so little.  Andrew's little snippet from the paper tells us he died of dropsy, that he was the step son, no mention of Joseph at all.  He rests in an unmarked grave in the cemetery pictured above.  Perhaps that too is like his father, perhaps Joseph rests somewhere in an unmarked grave?  We may never know. 

Wedding Wednesday - A 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

 Golden Wedding

  Fifty years ago, October 32, 1863, Lewis H. Zehring and Miss Elizabeth Gebhart, daughter of Emanuel Gebhart, were united in marriage by Rev. C. Albrecht.  For a half century they have resided in Miamisburg, excepting a brief period, when they resided in the country near town.

  Squire Zehring is one of the best known men in the county, and has always been active in the life of the community.  For over thirty years he served as justice of the peace, and for over forty years has been a notary public.  He served three years as county commissioner.  He is still a director in the Mutal Building Association, in which he was secretary.  For ten years he was mayor of Miamisburg, and is now a member of the Board of Education, and a cemetery trustee.  Industrious, genial and faithful, Squire Zehring counts his friends by hundreds, and though past three score and ten, is still a young man in thought and action.

  Handsome invitations have been issued to many friends for a reception at the Zehring home on Linden avenue this afternoon and evening, when an opportunity will be afforded to extend congratulations and best wishes to the happy couple, who have enjoyed fifty years of life in unbroken wedlock.

  Their two daughters, Dr. Blanche Zehring of Wells College New York, and Mrs. Laura Zehring Dosch of Elizabeth, N. J., are both at home visiting with their parents for the happy anniversary.
**The Miamisburg News (Miamisburg, Ohio), Thursday, 23 OCT 1913, Front Page; Copy in files of Karen Krugman.

Tombstone Tuesday - Forgive & Forget - Doesn't Appear So!

Headstone Ann Margaret "Martha" Cook

1774-1863

  The headstone of my 5th great grandmother, Ann Margaret "Martha" Cook.  She was married to my 5th great grandfather, Christian W. Cook.  I wish I could tell you who her parents were, but I don't know.  

  Margaret dies 13 NOV 1863 at the age of 89 years, 9 months and 2 days.  She rests in Slifers Cemetery, Jackson Township, Montgomery County, Ohio.  Her husband, Christian rests in an unmarked grave next to her (according to the readings I have found).  

 Margaret left a will, dated 21 JUN 1852, Montgomery County Will book Vol. G, Pg 17.  In it she names her children - Ann Margaret, Henry, Frederick, Elizabeth (heirs of),  Mary (heirs of), John (Heirs of), Sarah, Christina and Michael.  She names one other daughter, Catherine Cook Boomershine, but leaves her and her family only $1 in her will.  

I believe the following had something to do with that decision:

  "Boomershine, Abraham & wife, Catherine vs Margaret Cook et al 28 MAR 1849. Petition for partition for 1/10th share of SE 1/4 S23 T4 R4 -160 acres owned by Christian Cook dec'd. in Jackson Twp. Left widow Ann Margaret......."

Seems Margaret didn't take lightly to that little challenge and didn't forget about it either!  I wanted the paper to prove the relationship but I'd rather have found it shown in other ways!  

Monday Musings

Been a busy few weeks here and an awesome weekend to top it all off.   We've been staying busy with yard work.  This past winter was so cold here in Michigan and the snow amounts were so bad...  I know I've not seen this much snow here since I moved here 21 years ago.  That said,  our roses took a major hit.  After much research and discussion we opted to cut them back drastically and see if maybe over the next few months they will come back.  I'm pretty sure that at least two are done.   We have many flower beds here at Karma Gardens and keeping up with them at times can be a daunting task.  That's okay, the beauty they provide more than outweighs the work we do to keep them up.

Took a break from the upkeep of the property and went to Lansing on Friday and Saturday for the Summer Seminar put on by the Abrams Foundation & the Michigan Genealogical Council.  What a great job they did.  A wide variety of speakers covering a wide spectrum of topics.  I think all the attendees really enjoyed themselves.  Friday night was the lock in,  38 lucky persons were "locked" in the Michigan Archives for an evening of research.  What a great evening.

There will be another seminar at the library on Saturday November 1st.   All the details are in process but from what I saw at this past weekends seminar, the focus will be German & Pennsylvania research.  Mark your calendars!  I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Happy Monday everyone!

Karen