Disaster in Joplin

We live not far from Joplin and the worst disaster on American soil this century. It is unimaginable the destruction that an F-5 Tornado can do when it comes down on a city. This one began at the main N/S street on the west side of town and continued a 1/2-3/4 mile wide sweep through the heart of Joplin.


In most countries around the world people would be sitting, wandering, shattered and wondering when their government was going to DO something. Not here in the heart of America, here we all pitch in and clean up the mess, pick up our lives and rebuild.


Rebuilding America isn't done with government handouts, it is done through loving community support, working people willing to sacrifice their time, materials, wealth. To take in families, pets, provide rides.
This is what America is about, and has been about for over 200 years!


Have you asked your parents what happened when someone's house burned down, the husband was lost, tragedies occurred and how their families and neighbors handled it? Well, for your future generations, write down what you see here in Joplin! They are the Heart of America!

Scotland--Where Surnames Began

After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, many of the Highland clans changed their last names from the name of the Clan to a more generic last name based on their occupation, where they lived, father's name, or even a physical trait.  

Whole clans would change their last name from one surname to several surnames to avoid punishment and revenge.  It sometimes took several generations even after the threat of punishment was gone to return to the clan surname.  

There are many books available that give the history of Scottish clans and families, but Robert Bain's 1989 book titled Clans and Tartans of Scotland is one of the best available. Pick it up and discover even more about your roots!

Difficult Marriage Dates

Sometimes the information we have SWEARS that Great-Great-Aunt Calamity was married to Bill Anderson, but the only records we have are that she was married to James Topman.  We search the county courthouse, but we cannot find that she was ever married because the documents are gone!  What's next?  Of course the census records.  

Those records may show that she was married to one man in 1920 but somebody else by 1940.  Next you can search military/draft records, death certificates, city newspapers, and finally even town directories which often showed which women were widows and listed the deceased husband's name.  

Sometimes we just have to go on a scavenger hunt to find the information for which we are looking.

Genealogy and the Holocaust Part Two

Here, during a time when our country seems to be stiff arming our allies, let us remember our Jewish allies and why we stand behind them. Remember what they have gone through for centuries, and if we have Jewish ancestors, honor our dead by honoring our commitments to the living.

The records that the Jewish communities collected are called Yizkor books, Pages of Testimoney, and lists of victims and deportees.  The Yizkor books are usually written in Yiddish or Hebrew and contains the histories of a town or community, memories of the town, and testimonials from friends about families who had no survivors.  

These books are usually privately printed in small publishing runs.  Pages of Testimony is a list of information on over 3 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.  Each page records the individual's name, year and place of birth, names of parents and spouse, place of residence before the war, places of residence during the war, and circumstances of death (place, date, and so forth.)  

The record is signed and dated by the person giving the testimony.  A good guide to researching Holocaust families is How to Document Victims and Locate Survivors of the Holocaust by Gary Mokotoff.

Genealogy and the Holocaust Part One

Pre-World War II, 80% of the World's Jewish population lived in Central and Eastern Europe.  But during the World War II years, they were systematically murdered or driven away.  The fortune Jews who were able to escape immigrated to other countries.  

The Jewish community made a huge undertaking to create records of document towns and deportees. These records can be a source of information about distant relatives who may not be as lucky as others.

Congratulations Graduates!

Have you ever thought of the schools your parents and grand or great grand parents attended? Where were they? Are there any records or certificates? Well if you click here-http://data.genealogytoday.com/contents/Graduation_Lists.html you will come to an alphabetized Table of Contents for graduations from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

It must have taken quite of bit of time and effort to compile and index this list that stretches from Abington, Indiana to the Young Ladies Institute Commencement of New York. If you are curious and happen to know what school your parents etc went to school you might take a look. Or, if you are just curious about what happened in 1925 go to -http://genealogyfinds.com/documents/arkcity.htm. Here they have the Arkansas City, Kansas 1925 Graduation Program with a list of the graduates and Honor Graduates. 

Take a look at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/civilrights/NRCS1890NationalScholarsProgram.html it will boggle your mind!

Ten questions to ask in a family history interview

There has been an interest in how or what to ask when speaking to a relative. Here are some suggestions;

1.  What was your profession and how did you choose it?
2.  How did you meet your spouse?
3.  How did you spend your holidays?
4.  How did you choose the name of your children?
5.  Did you participate in any school activities?
6.  What were the fads when you were growing up?  Hairstyles? Music? Dancing?
7.  Are their any physical characteristics that have been passed down?
8.  What are the full names of your siblings?
9.  What chores were you expected to do growing up; what was your first chore?
10. What would you like future generations, your descendents, to know about you?
11. Did your family have a tradition such as a 4th of July picnic or a yearly family trip?

Family history isn't just about names and dates.  It's about getting to know where we came from.  Events that shaped who our parents were and how they parented.  Find out what was important to them and what they did for fun. What they did for fun growing up and the places they lived.


Discovering why your family has a tradition different from other families or what makes your family extra special will be a treasure you will pass down to future generations. So, don't be afraid to ask, just be respectful.

Researching in Ireland

Name, location, and date are the keys to finding your Irish ancestors.  It's a daunting task to find the records of an Irish ancestor without most of that information.  To begin search documents from their home country, anything from obituaries to wills could hold keys to their origins.  

The information could include the town they were born in or a piece of land they own in Ireland.  Once you have that information it's much simpler to search the Irish records to find birth certificates and the census records.

Overseas Research Helps

Have you recently found an immigrant and you're not sure how to start your overseas search for more information?  Familysearch.org has some wonderful how-to videos and podcasts with PDF handouts available to print out.  In return, all they ask for for course feedback.  

They have everything from learning the basics of Italian and Irish research to learning how to read handwritten records from Europe.  And my personal favorite was "If Only I'd Known:  Beginning Genealogy Mistakes."  I wish this video had been available when I first started learning my way in the world of Family History.

GM

Family heirlooms can tell alot about our ancestors!

Family heirlooms are amazing items.  I was just watching an episode of Antiques Roadshow that had a "sampler" done by a relative in the late 1700s.  The sampler was not in particular good condition and not cared for well.  In the condition it was in the expert maintained that it was still worth several thousand dollars at auction.  

We may feel our family heirlooms are priceless simply because of what they mean to us.  They show what was important to them or even what type of household they came from (poverty, middle class, affluent), but to others they are worth much more.  If you have a family heirloom, it wouldn't hurt to have it appraised, take pictures of it and place the pictures with your family history then remember to include it in your homeowner's insurance.