Post Scanning Reflection

So its taken me a few days, but I've almost completely scanned everything in my genealogy files.  I have a few more pages to go and my scanner won't scan those 11x14 inch pages, I think I'm going to have to buy a flatbed scanner that will scan that size page.
I think taking on this progect was one of the best things I could have done for my genealogy research.  I kept a stack of 4x6 index cards and wrote notes to myself on things I needed to follow up on and was also albe to reassess the information that I have already complied.  I discovered some new leads that I had in my own informat on my Fitzgerald ancestors and wrote a follow up letter to one of the churches in the area where they lived for possible additional information.  Keeping my fingers crossed!  Every little tid bit of information gets me one step closer to breaking down this brickwall. 

Happy Hunting!

Tombstone Tuesday

William Henry Bennett

b. 27 Dec 1818 Steuben County, New York

m. Mary Ann Rowlader 28 May 1842 Wheeler, Steuben County, New York

d. 18 Jan 1863 Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee

buried Nashville National Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee

Tombstone Tuesday

Louise Mary Valley

b. 10 Jun 1912 Mapleton, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

d. 23 Dec 1920 Mapleton, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

buried 25 Dec 1920 St Joseph's Catholic Church, Mapleton, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

My own Mini Scan fest

With the recent death of my beloved Grandma, I have inherited many family documents, things that may be rather benign to the common observer, but are genealogical gold to those of us whose life’s work has gone to researching our roots.  In as much I have realized, looking at the piles of paper that I have accumulated over the years, what happens to all my paper as it deteriorates….so now here I sit at my trusty laptop next to the scanner, even as I type…oh excuse me a second….even as I type, scanning in page after page of my research.  I am having my own little private scan fest…one that will probably last for days.  So my New Year’s resolution is to get all this scanned…and I’m not waiting until January 1^st to get it started.  The one thing that I love about our HP scanner is the program with it allows me to scan in PDF files and all multiple pages for one file.  Makes scanning things and naming them a lot easier…can’t wait to scan all 75 pages of my Great Great Grandpa’s Civil War service record.  Oh and don’t worry, I do plan to back up all my files online and to disk just in case my trusty laptop decides to bite the big one….that would be tragic!

Families for the iPhone

It's no secret that I am an avid legacy user.  Now my favorite genealogy program has made me love them more!!!  I joined the techy world this year and got an iphone.  I also discovered the program Families for my iphone that works with my Legacy program on my computer.  Now I can my ENTIRE legacy file, including photos, anywhere with me just by remembering my phone.  It's lots of fun sharing some old family photos with my coworkers.  I'm also to take more than one Legacy file with me. 

It's a pretty intuitive program, but you definately have to read the directions to get your file out of legacy properly, but after that it's pretty easy.  You also have to download the sync file to your computer....I found this out the hard way...I guess I should have taken my own advice and read the instructions. 

So my recommendation is that if you love Legacy and your love your iphone, this is a must get!  It isn't very expensive and it is well worth the investment!

Happy Hunting!

Tombstone Tuesday

William "Bill" Fitzpatrick Glynn

b. 1 Jul 1977 Lampasas, Texas

m. Shalene Loper

d. 1 Dec 2008 Belliare, Antrim County, Michigan

buried Southern Cemetery, Central Lake, Antrim County, Michigan

Tombstone Tuesday

Barbara Host Courtade

b.2 Jan 1810 Bayern, Germany
m. Lauretius Courtade 2 Jul 1836 Norwalk, Huron County, Ohio
d. 15 Feb 1882 East Bay Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

 

 

Tombstone Tuesday

Martha Matilda Furrow Greenman

b. 22 Mar 1891 Maple Rapids, Gratiot County, Michigan

m. Hawley Manigold 25 Jan 1908 Thompsonville, Benzie County, Michigan

m. Ernest J. Fitzgerald 1 Jan 1912 Hollister, Wexford County, Michigan

m. Ralph Helferich 2 Feb 1929 Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

m. Franklin Newberry King 

m. Chester Clinton Greenman 21 May 1955 Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

d. 21 Oct 1973 Onekama, Manistee County, Michigan

buried Oakwood City Cemetery, Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

Traverse City Record Eagle
Monday, October 22, 1973

Obituary
Page 13

Greenman- Martha M. Greenman, 83, formerly of Old Mission Peninsula, passed away Sunday at Omekama Memorial Hospital following a long illness. Surviving are three daughters, Mrs. Rufus (Joanne) Blaylock of Traverse City, Mrs. Basil (Dorothy) Worm of Battle Creek, and Mrs. Lawerence (Grace) Helfrich of Muskegon; Two sons Thomas L. Fitzgerald of Traverse City, and Alvin Jack Fitzgerald of Lansing; and other relatives. Mrs. Greenman is also survived by 32 grandchildren, several great-grandchildren and [great] great-grandchildren. Preceding her in death were her husband Chester, who passed away in 1970; a daughter Amber June Sanderson; three brothers and two sisters. She was born at Lake Odessa, Mich., March 22, 1891 to the late Francis and Elnora Furrow. Friends may call at the Martinson Funeral Home in Traverse City from which services will be held Wednesday at 3 p.m. by Rev. Larry Beaverson. Interment will follow at Oakwood Cemetery.

What happened to Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Anthony Gale

Lieutenant Colonel Commadant Anthony Gale was the 4th Commandant of the United States Marie Corps.  The following link was sent to me by my husband and an interesting genealogy article from Leatherneck magazine.

http://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/mystery-lieutenant-colonel-commandant-anthony-gale

I found it to be very interesting reading about a hisotrical figure lost in time.  Perhaps someday genealogists will reveal the answers to the questions provided in the article.

What do you think?

Happy Hunting!

Tombstone Tuesday

Lillian Helen Lardie Wood

b. 14 May 1899 Old Mission, Peninsula Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

m. Stanley William Wood 9 June 1919 Mapleton, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

d. 19 October 1975 Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

buried 22 October 1975 St Joseph's Catholic Church, Mapleton, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

Tombstone Tuesday

Magdalena Yorda Jordi Courtade

b. 16 Nov 1849 Switzerland

m. Peter Courtade

d. 7 October 1922

buried 11 Oct 1922 Oakwood Catholic Cemetery, Traverse City, Michigan

Tombstone Tuesday

Aloysius Henry Courtad

b. 21 Sept 1895 Cleveland, Ohio

m. Nellie Lydia Courtade 22 Nov 1916 Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

d. 3 May 1960 Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

buried Oakwood Catholic Cemetery, Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

Tombstone Tuesday

Mary Catherine Valley Lardie

b. 20 Sept 1865 Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

m. John Lardie 30 June 1885

d. 17 Mar 1931Grand Traverse County, Michigan

buried St Joseph's Catholic Cemetery, Mapleton, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

Greenwood Cemetery, Petoskey, Emmet County, Michigan

Recently I started helping a work colleague research his genealogy and I discovered a website that was shared with my by another research that is too good not to share.  Greenwood Cemetery in Petoskey, Michigan is a huge cemetery in Emmet County overlooking the water.  I have been there once, it is quite beautiful.  The Greenwood Cemetery Website has its own treasures.  From the main page you can click on genealogical resources and in the search box type the last name that you are looking for.  The cemetery has taken many obituaries from the local newspaper and indexed them on their website.  These are not just obits from people buried in Greenwood Cemetery either.  The obituaries cover people that were living in Emmet County.  In one search I found 34 obituaries for my friend that I am researching for!  Thank you Greenwood Cemetery for supplying us genealogists with such a valuable tool!

Now if only I could find something like that for my family......

Happy Hunting!

What happened to Baby Louise?



Louise Mary Valley abt six months old

Up until recently I had a little girl, Louise Mary Valley, living with my Great Grandparents, Stanley and Lillian Lardie.  That's how Louise showed up on the census.  I had one of those moments where it finally occured to me that Louise's last name was Valley, not Lardie, not to mention I knew she wasn't my grandma's sister...or at least I hadn't heard of her from Grandma.  When I asked my Grandma about her, all she could remember was vague details.  So I set off to find out who Baby Louise was.

Louise as a toddler

I actually discovered who Baby Louise's parents were when I came across the article about John Peter Valley's death.  John was killed from injuries resulting from a car accident on 26 October 1917.  In the article is lists that John is survived by one daughter, Louise.  I found John and Louise's death certificates online at Seeking Michigan.  Louise's death certificate lists her parents as John Valley and Mildred Evans.  I also found that Louise was born 10 January 1912 and died 23 December 1920.

I knew from previous research that Mildred, or Millie as she is frequently listed, was John Peter Valley's wife.  Another search of Seeking Michigan's website revealed the Millie died from complications due to childbirth seven days after Louise was born.  Again this information was obtained from Millie's death certificate online at Seeking Michigan. 

Louise about age 8, I believe this was taken the summer before she died

So the sad death of both parents explains why baby Louise came to live with my Great Grandparents.  Sadly Louise contracted diptheria and died at eight years old.  At the same time my Great Grandparents, Stanley and Lillian's oldest son, John George, also died of complications of diptheria.  Baby John died on 18 Decemeber 1920, only seven months old.   Louise and John George were both laid to rest in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in Mapleton, Grand Traverse County, Michigan in the family plot. 

The Lardie/Valley family plot in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in Mapleton, Michigan

A closeup of the plaque on the center of the cross with the names of the family members buried in the plot. 

Tombstone Tuesday

Lyndell Burdette Sanderson

b. 26 June 1907 Weidman, Isabella County, MIchigan

m. Amber June Manigold 23 Feb 1929 South Bend, Saint Joseph County, Indiana

d. 24 Aug 1940 Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

buried Oakwood City Cemetery, Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

A Family Affair

For those of you that remember my top ten things I cannot research without, my number one was my husband. Well I was reflecting today as we were packing up the kids, age 5 and 20 months, into the family van and off to search for Findagrave.com requests, on how much my love for genealogy has become a family affair. My daughter, 5, gets really excited when we drive by a cemetery and says, with much enthusiasm, “Mommy, Look! Genealogy!” Both my children have taken first steps in cemeteries and I even have a photo of my daughter at a younger age in a local rural cemetery.


My husband has always been very good at spotting headstones in cemeteries when we are looking around for headstones, that skill I attribute to 10 years as a police officer.

Now my son, 20 months, spends time with mommy at the library and in cemeteries. He even has taken to having his own research forms and his crayons and filling in his own “research”. As an infant my son spent many society meetings snoozing in his car seat carrier and being oogled by the women of the society.

I hope to pass on at least some of the curiosity that I have for my family history to my children and to ignite their own passions for whatever hobbies that they choose, even if it isn’t genealogy. Heaven forbid!  Most of all I just want my children to have good memories of family times together when they are older, even if they don't appreciate it until they are adults. 

Tombstone Tuesday

Stanley (Wheeler) William Wood

b. 11 August 1893 Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York

m. Lillian Helen Lardie 9 June 1919 Mapleton, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

d. 17 Dec 1960 Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

buried St. Joseph's Cemetery, Mapleton, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

Traverse City Record Eagle

Monday, December 19, 1960

 Stanley Wood Taken by Death

Page 7

                Stanley W. Wood, 67, of Traverse City R. 1, died at Munson hospital later Saturday morning after suffering a heart attack at a Traverse City store.

                Son of Mr. and Mrs. George Wood, he was born August 11, 1893, in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, N.Y. and came to Traverse City in 1915.  He had been and employe[e] of the Grand Traverse county road commission for the past 30 years.

                Mr. Wood was a Traverse City fireman for four years and at the time of his death was the chief of the Peninsula township volunteer fire department.

                He served in France with headquarters company of the Second Field Artillery in World War I and was a member of Peninsula township’s Garland-Tompkins Post 339 of the American Legion.

New Hobby

I have recently discovered a new hobby, no I'm not going to now or ever give up my obsession with genealogy.  I recently started and finished my first miniature dollhouse.  I remember my mom making miniature furniature when I was a child.  My daughter, Lily, and I worked on the house together.  She helped paint and hand things to mom, although any of you that have or have had a five-year-old know how much "help" they can be sometimes, not to mention how long that help lasts.  But, I hope when she's older that she remembers building that house with mom.  We've even started building our second house and have our 3rd house bought and on standby! 

I think we're hooked, but or right now with the nice weather we have spent some time in the local cemeteries and libraries working on Findagrave requests and Random Acts of Genealogy Kindess requests.

Here are some photos of our completed miniature house!  Enjoy!!!!
And Happy Hunting!