Gottlieb Piltz

Friday, June 4th at 2 p.m. in Oakwood City Cemetery in Traverse City, Michigan. myself with several other board members and other Grand Traverse Area Genealogical Society Members, dedicated the headstone for Austrian born stone cutter, Gottlieb Piltz. 

Gottlieb was an Austrian born stone carver who came to our area of Michigan.  It was brought to the attention of the Genealogical society that Gottlieb had no headstone marking his grave in Oakwood Cemetery.  One only needs to walk around Oakwood itself to see Gottlieb's work.  Many other local cemeteries also have his works found in them.  My own Great-Great-Great-Great Grandparents have a headstone carved by Gottlieb Piltz.  My GGGGGrandparent's are buried a short distance from Gottlieb Piltz and I was able to show a couple of people who are descendents of Gottlieb their stone as an example of his work.

This is my 4th Great Grandparents stone.  Lorenz (Laurentius) and Barbara Courtade.  Lornez's information is on the other side of the stone.

The interesting thing about Piltz is that he signed his work, which is very unusual.  He also seemed to prefer working in marble as it is a softer stone than Granite and easier to carve.  Not only are his stones ornately decorated, but they frequently have various amounts of text in different fonts. 

Our program consisted of a Big Piper, our Cemetery Committee Chair person, Kathi Farley, giving a history of Gottlieb, the Fife Lake (Michigan) Historical Society Present and retired minister giving a blessing and unveiling to stone, which was set that morning just before the dedication, myself playing Beethovan's "Ode to Joy" on my clarinet and our past president, Mary Briggs, giving a thanks to all those who helped make the headstone project possible.

Members of GTAGS (back row) and decsendents of Gottlieb Piltz (front) that attended the dedication.  That's me on the far Right in the pink and black.

This is me playing my clarinet during the ceremony. That's my Mom holding my umbrella over me while I was playing.  Thanks Mom!

Happy Hunting!

Find-A-Grave

Week 22 for Geneabloggers challenges us to visit the website Find-A-Grave and write about our impressions of the website and any interesting entries we find while we are visiting the website.


I have to say the Find-A-Grave is one of my favorite websites. There is so much I can say about it. I have been a member of the website for just a couple months shy of 4 years.

Find-A-Grave is a free website created by a group of people that just love cemeteries. From the main website one can choose to view famous gravesites or "normal" gravesites.

Under the famous website is various divisions of organization, for example, you can search by name, let's say Al Capone for example.

 From the results page, we find several listings from the Capone family members and gang. So I choose Alphonse "Al" Capone. Which brings me to his individual memorial.

Here is can read the bio written about Capone, see photos of him as well as a photo of his Grave. For famous people, you can 'vote' at the bottom about how famous (or infamous) the person was.

Each person listed on Find-A-Grave has their own memorial page (famous or not) in which the creator can include information like birth date and place, death date and place and, of course, where the person is buried. There is also a bio area where biographical information can be typed in by the memorial creator.

One feature nice for memorial creators is the ability to request a photograph of the grave, even if the grave of their ancestor is in another state or even another country. Let's look at one of my memorials for an example.

This is John Fitzgerald, my Great-Great-Great Paternal Grandfather. I recently learned that his was buried in Old Rosemont Cemetery in Columbia County, Pennsylvania.

 I created this memorial from the main page under the 'Add Burial Records' selection.

You can also use the search for a cemetery function and add a memorial from the cemetery's page. I live in Michigan near Traverse City and my GGG Grandpa was buried in Columbia County, PA in Old Rosemont Cemetery. Old Rosemont Cemetery is about 700 road miles from where I live and a 12 to 13 hour drive. Not something I can just hop in the car and go check out. So that's where Find-A-Grave comes in! Find-A-Grave allowed me to add John's name to the cemetery and request a photograph of his headstone, if there is one.

One note here, there is no guarantee how fast my request will be filled. I've had requests filled very quickly and I've had requests I've requested quite a while ago that are still waiting to be fulfilled.

I also enjoy being a photo volunteer in my area and taking photographs of headstones for others. It is very satisfying to me to help someone else as well in their search.

There are so many other features to Find-A-Grave that you can discover by visiting their website!

Haapy  Hunting!

Murphy's Law for Genealogists

Yes, Murphy even comes to Genealogy!  Hope you get a giggle or two out of this!

Murphy’s Law for Genealogists


1) The public ceremony in which your distinguished ancestor participated and at which the platform collapsed from under him turned out to be a hanging.

2) When at last after much hard work you have solved to mystery you have been working on for two years, you aunt says “I could have told you that.”

3) Your grandmother’s maiden name that you have searched for, for four years, was on a letter in a box in the attic all the time.

4) You never asked your father about his family when he was alive because you weren’t interested in genealogy then.

5) The will you need is in the safe on board the Titanic

6) Copied of old newspapers have holes occurring only on the surnames, especially the ones you need.

7) John, son of Thomas, the immigrant whom your relatives claim as the family progenitor, died on board ship at age 10.

8) Your great grandfather’s newspaper obituary states that he died leaving no issue of records.

9) The keeper of the vital records you need has just been insulted by another genealogist.

10) The relative who had all the family photographs gave them all to her daughter who has no interest in genealogy and no inclination to share.

11) The only record you find your great grandfather is that his property was sold at a sheriff’s sale of insolvency.

12) The one document that would supply the missing link in your dead-end line has been lost due to fire, flood, or war.

13) The clerk to whom you wrote for information sends you a long handwritten letter which is totally illegible.

14) The spelling of your European ancestor’s name bears no relationship to its current spelling or pronunciation.

15) None of the pictures in your recently deceased grandmother’s photo album have names written on them.

16) No one in your family tree ever did anything noteworthy, owned property, was sued, or named in wills.

17) You learn that your great aunt’s executor just sold her life’s collection of family genealogical materials to a flea market dealer ‘somewhere in New York City.’

18) Ink fades and paper deteriorates at a rate inversely proportional to the value of the data recorded.

19) The 37-volume. 16,000 page history of your country of origin isn’t indexed.

20) You finally find your great grandparent’s wedding records and discover that the bride’s father was named John Smith.

Funny, HAHA

Yesterday I was at Grand Traverse Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Traverse City, MI taking photos for volunteer look ups on Find-A-Grave when I had stopped to take a photo and didn't realize I had parked in the path of a sprinkler.  My baby had started fussing a little bit, so I opened the side door of my van to check on him.  All of a sudden I got a blast of water across my back!  The cemetery has underground sprinklers so they aren't the fastest moving sprinklers.  Not only did I get soaked, but a bunch of stuff in my van was soaked and my little guy got a blast of water as well.  He really didn't like that.  My little guy let out a screech to let me (and the rest of the township) know that he was not happy about gettnig wet.  I looked at my 4-year-old, who was also with us, and just broke down laughing.  I really didn't mind the water anyway seems it was in the 90's yesterday.
I did get all my photos taken and posted online yesterday.

Happy Hunting!

Good Old Letter Writting

This week's 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy challenges us to write letters, not email letters, but good old United States Postal Service paper, envelope and stamp letters.

I had to laugh at first when I read this challenge/topic for the week.  In the past week I had written 8 letters and then wrote another one last night.  I like getting mail, especially when it relates to my genealogy.

I sent out requests for some birth certificates to the Grand Traverse County Clerk's office.  There were 3 of those in the past week or so.  Out of 3 only 2 were on file, but that's not bad odds for the 1880's. I requested these for 3 of my Great Grandma's sibilings.  Daisy Bell Lardie, who died when she was a month old, Julius Arthur Lardie who died when he was only 10 months old and Mary Louise Lardie (Garland, Sunquest).  The first two we are just curious to what had happened to them.  Mary Louise, or Mamie, is supposed to be buried in the local City Cemetery, but there is no record of her burial there. 

I wrote 4 letters to a local catholic church inquring about records.  The first letter was for Daisy Lardie.  The return reply stated that they have no records of Daisy nor do they show her buried in the church's cemetery.  The second letter was for information about Daisy's (my GGGGranpa) Grandfather, George Lardie, if there is any information in the church records about him or his wife.  The third and fourth letters are also to the same church, but I am mailing them one at a time so I'm not asking for a bunch of information all at once. 

 One letter is making its way to Ulster County Surrogate Court in New York State.  I am trying to get a copy of a will for my GGGGGrandpa, Eliakim Wardell, who ended up being the Guardian of my GGGrandpa, George C. Wood, after his father, George Wood, and mother, Mary (Wardell) Wood died when George C. was a young boy.  I am still waiting for a response to that letter.  My letter is asking for information on how to obtain a copy of the will/probate file. 

The last letter I wrote, which I the one I wrote last night, is to a catholic church in Lewisburg, PA.  I am requesting information on my GGGGranpa Fitzgerald, Thomas Fitzgerald's, brother, James Frances Fitzgerald and his wife, Susan Francis (Quigley) Fitzgerald.  I have previously written to the same church to confirm that Susan is buried in their cemetery.  I also learned in that letter that a Mary Fitzgerald is also buried in the same cemetery, although I'm not sure how, or if, she fits into my family tree.

All my letters are written in formal format.  For Example:

Date
My return address
address Line #2

The Reciever
Reciver address
address line #2

Dear Sir or Madame;

The body of the letter with the specific information that I am looking for and the details needed about the person or people to help aid in the look up of the information. I always make sure to read over my letters and I also have my husband read over my letters to proof read as well as to make sure I don't have extra information that I don't need in the letters.

I always thank the person for their time in a seperate line.

Sincerley,

(My Signature goes in here on the printed page)

Alanna Fant

When I write away for information I always include a Self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE), however if I have to pay reserach fees I do not, unless it is a genealogy society or similar and they specifically request a SASE.

With this day and age of computers and email and online research we forget about letter writing.  One thing we must remember as genealogists is letter writing is one of our strongest research tools that we have in our repetoire, but I also think it is probably one of the most forgotten.  While I'm writing this, I sit here and wonder how many records exist with my ancestors' names on them versus how many are online! 

I challenge you to write a letter (or more) a week for the next month.  Leave a comment in the comments section about your experiences and results!  Your ideas may spark another researcher and help them track down tha elusive ancestor!

Happy Hunting.

"Oh Danny Boy"

For this Month's Blog Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture, we are challenged to write about a favorite Irish Blessing or Poem.  (Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Challenge ) My Grandpa's favorite song was the very famous and familiar song "Danny Boy".  Although it is not a poem or a blessing in the traditional sense, this is one of my very favorite Irish things.  Every time I listen to the song it reminds me of my Grandpa who died in 2002.  I can hardly ever listen to the song without a few tears in my eyes.  I miss my Grandpa so much.
The song was written by Frederick Weatherly.  Acoording to one website that I read on Brobdingnagian Bards the song was written around the begning of the 20th century.

The words are:

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling

From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.

And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

To hear the music to this song click Here.

You can also download on MP3 of Danny Boy by Clicking on the image below from Amazon.com

Tuning in to Technology

I haven't written from a geneablogger's prompt in a while so after checking out this week's topic I thought I would add my 2 cents worth.

This week's prompt comes from We Tree: Jump Start your Genealogy.  Amy Coffin has come up with 52 blogging prompts to help 'Jump Start Your Genealogy'.  This week is #14: Talk about the different types of technology you use in your genealogy research.  *Just a little side note, after rereading Amy Coffin's post, I realized I wrote about 2009's prompt #14.  Oh well, it made for interesting writing anyway.

Ok so the obvious one is my computer, which I am using now.  My new Acer Aspire One.  (Just a side note, walmart.com has a great deal on these right now.)  I also have an Acer Aspire mini that I just love for its portability.   Most of my photos are digital and of course, Legacy runs on the computer.  I also have a program that goes on my Palm Pilot called GedStar Pro, which is basically a GEDCOM file reader.  Very convient for those unplanned stops at local cemeteries or the local library.  I have also used a similar program for a pocket pc calledn Pocket Genealogist.  (Both are available to purchase from the Legacy Website.) 

Another piece of equipment that I used frequently is my printer which is a HP Inkjet all-in-one printer/fax/copier.  Having a copier is definately a plus at home for making extra copies of a form and not having to dig it out of a file folder on my computer somewhere, although I'm sure I could find a form on my computer just as fast as I could throw it in the copier.  I occasionally use my fax, but not very often for genealogy purposes.  The scanner funciton is handy, espcially for the collection of old family photos that my Great Aunt has and let me scan in for digital copies. 

My digital camera is another tool that I frequently use.  I mainly use it for photos of headstones in cemeteries (as far as genealogy goes) and we just got a JVC digital video camera a few weeks ago.  I have heard that people use them in cemeteries, but I'm not sure how.  Although I see where it could be useful for family interviews and other events.  I'm sure I will use it on our trip to Pennsylvania this fall. 

One thing we don't think of very often is good old pen and paper, when we talk about technology, but it is.  I frequently use pen or pencil and paper when I am researching to take notes, extra information from websites or print out my to-do list.  In fact my to do report is sitting here on my desk next to me and I have 3 pens laying next to my computer.  I also have a thing for pretty (colored) pens, for which I frequently get teased about, but it makes is more fun for me when I am writing. 

The telephone is another thing I think that we frequently take for granted in our technology driven world.  I use is to talk to my Grandma a lot, who is probably my biggest genealogical cheerleader, to try to nail down details of a story I heard or to jar her memory about some family information.  When I had a Blackberry I used the GPS function on it to help me mark cemetery locations.

Speaking of GPS, that is something I use.  I have been so lost in places that even a map woudln't help.  Thank you to the guy that invented GPS.  (It was the military I think).  And to my husband who now leaves his Tom Tom in our Mini Van (which is the car I usually drive or we take when we are out with the family anyway) so I always have access to the GPS when I get lost. 

I'm sure there are many other things that I haven't even thought of to include in the list of Technology that I use for genealogy, but I can't think of anymore right now.  This has been a fun entry to think about and to write.  I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Happy Researching!
Have a Happy Easter everyone!!!!!