Snow, Snow and more Snow

Yesterday it snowed and snowed and snowed and at the end of the day and snow storm we had 12- 14 inches of snow. It was up to the door and in fact when I opened the screen door it would not open all the way because the snow was that high. I didn't get to do any blogging because we were afraid of losing power so I had the computer off. When I thought it was safe to try I turned the computer on and not 5 minutes or so later the power went out. Maybe I jinxed us, but luckily it was only out a minute or so but I decided to wait to turn it on till today. Now after we get dug out I will be back to blog more. Hope everyone has a safe warm day.

Old Newspaper Clipping Part 2

Back during WWII newspapers would list the wounded, killed and missing. This is the list that I have from Chicago Times Friday April 13, 1945. I have this one page that was given to me because of the information on Pres. Roosevelt's funeral so I am sharing the names here. If you would like a copy of the page just leave me a comment with your email address and I will send it to you.

Chicago Times 1945:
Navy Killed
Seaman 2/C Glen O De Long son of Mr and Mrs Samuel  Eli De Long

Navy Wounded
Marine 1st Lt Ben C Brostoff
Seaman 1/C Donald Gordon Devore son of Mr and Mrs Clyde Warren Devore
Marine Pfc Robert Filipovich son of Mrs Anna Kotur
Seaman 1/C Edward Joseph Komski mother Mrs. Josephine Komski
Seaman 1/C William Matrasko
Marine Corp Mike L Nauert
Lt J.G. Walter Howard Sobel

Army Killed ( European Area)
Pvt Wilbur A Broom
Corp Daniel B Buckley brother of Miss Mary Buckley
T/Sgt Paul E Colby son of Mrs Hazel B Colby
2d Lt Nello F Fiorio son of Mrs Olga Fiorio
PFC Theodore S Genga
Pfc John J Giblin son of Mrs Elizabeth H Giblin
2d Lt Charles L Jones son of William H Jones
Sgt Arnold T Keating son of Mrs Marcella M Keating
Pfc Elmer D Kopecky son of Mrs Anna K Kopecky
Sgt George T Kusel son of Mitchel Kusel
Pfc Stanley W Lacny son of Charles C Lacny
Pfc Albert F Lewellen son of Mrs Euphraisia Lewellen
Pfc George R McMinn
Corp Alfred T Mohiser
Pfc Steve J Mrozowski
Pfc Melvin A Oesterreich
Pvt Edward T Reddington son of Mrs Alice Reddington
Pvt John D Roy
Pvt Edward Rybacki son of Mrs Victoria L Rybacki
Pfc Joseph F Themann son of Mrs Elizabeth Themann
Pfc Erwin Tylennis son of Mrs Mary Tylennis
1st Sgt Edward S Warzel
Pvt Gene F Ziemba son of Mrs Catherine K Ziemba
Pvt Joseph Zink

Army Killed ( Pacific Area)
Pfc Henry S Ciura son of Mrs Josephine Ciura
Pfc Frank F Folinazzo son of Mrs Angeline Folinazzo
Pfc Harry E Seaberg
2d Lt Irving Weinberg son of Abe Weinberg

Next time will be the listine of the Army Wounded. In this list they also have the address and if married the wives names but I didn't list those. Hope this will help someone in finding information on their ancestors. Let me know if you want a photocopy of this page.

Old Newspaper Clippings

I love to look at the old newspapers and to glean what I can about the history of a place as well as the lives of the people that lived there. In looking for information on my family I always check newspapers in the area they lived for obituaries and any mention of them that might be in the paper. I know they use to always put in social news like Mrs Wilder and son to visit her parents in South Dakota and so on. I look first for obituaries in the paper of the area they lived in but also I skim through to see if there name is mentioned otherwise.  I have found interesting facts about what my ancestors lives were like by reading the old papers.

I recently was given clippings out of the old Chicago Times that had announcements and pictures from when Pres. Roosevelt died but on the back of some of those clippings I have found mention of others in the military and deaths. I decided that I would transcribed the ones that I could in hopes that it would help someone looking for their ancestors. There is not many but hopefully it will help someone. The only problem is I know the name of the paper but actual dates of the clippings are not there. All are about the funeral and death of Pres. Roosevelt so that gives us a time frame. If anyone reads this post and finds that it mentions a ancestor I would be glad to copy the page that I have transcribed and send to them.

Here are the names out of the Chicago Times:no date but some time around Apr 1945

Noble J Puffer Cook County superintendent of schools picture is included
Eugene L. Wyman college division winner oratory champion  picture is included
William G Ehler high school champion oratory contest  picture is included

John B Herboth son of Mr. and Mrs J B Herboth promoted to Colonel with picture
John Tuzinski talking about war experience
S/Sgt Le Roy E Laffey reported as missing in action
Pfc Joseph E Czuban wounded in action
Pfc Melvin Daskal son of Rabbi and Mrs B A Daskal home on furlough recovering from wounds
S/Sgt Harry S Poturalski talking about war
Lt William Brady Liberator bomber returns to unit in Italy
Sgt Ed Nelson artilleryman gives his address
William Fortier allegedly slugged by John Comise

Chicago Times April 13, 1945
Lt William C Lewis death notice

Chicago Times in Apr 1945
M/Sgt Lester M Kuehl so of Mr and Mrs George Kuehl awarded medal of heroism
S/ Sgt James Coleman, and S/Sgt John W Kurtz receive battlefield commissions as 2nd Lieutenants


Next week I will list the names that were in the Chicago Times Apr 13, 1945 of the wounded, prisoner of war and killed in the war. It is a long list

Back to Work

I have been on a break from blogging and genealogy for awhile but I am back and ready to work on both my blogs and genealogy. We are planning another genealogy trip in March and hope to go to Oklahoma for much needed cemetery sleuthing as well as courthouse and archives. Along the way we are going to take the old route 66 and stop to see the museums and sights as we go. Of course we will take pictures and I will let you know how it all goes.

Now for this week I will be working on the Livingston side of our family to see if I can find out more about our Irish roots. I am also going to work on my Snodgrass, Webb and Crews from OK to get ready for our trip.

When trying to get ready for a genealogy trip always make sure you map out the cemeteries, court houses, and libraries you want to visit. I like to do a time line and place chart to make sure I don't miss anyone or anything.

 That's all for now will be back on with more info later

Genealogy Vacation

We just returned from a fall vacation in which we went to several cemeteries, a couple of courthouses, and a library. We planned our trip around places we wanted to go for genealogy and then saw the sights around those places. We went to 6 different cemeteries and only in one did we not find who we were looking for, so I would say we were pretty successful. I have started a cemetery book and so while we were there we took pictures of the headstones and then took pictures that gave us reference points to find the headstones again. We also took pictures of the name of the cemetery so we would have that also. We are hoping by doing this that anyone who would look at the pictures would be able to find the headstones themselves if they go to the cemetery or we could find them again if we want. The one cemetery we could not find the headstones for we did find WPA records for that cemetery and got info for it from the Library we went to in Washington, Washington County, IA. They had a very nice genealogy department and very helpful volunteers. We also went to the Washington County, IA courthouse and they turned us loose to look at the books for deeds and marriages. We then visited the Keokuk County IA courthouse and though they weren't as friendly we still were able to look at the records. They had a index card file cabinet  with index of records and then copies in the books that you could look at. We were able to piece together some lose ends and all and all was a fun successful trip.

When planning a genealogy trip make sure you have all the known info on the family in the area you are going to do research with you. If you can find out where the cemetery is and have a map to help you find it. If you can find where the records are kept that is helpful also or you can do like we did and go row by row looking in the smaller ones. Make sure when in the court house to take note of any names with the surname you are researching because you don't want to find out later that even though at the time that name didn't fit anywhere that you knew of, that they do belong in your tree. Make a list of all the marriages, deeds, land records, vitals and any record they have by surname and figure out later if they are related or not.

One highlight of the trip was going to Springfield National Cemetery in Springfield, Greene County, MO to find my husbands gggrandfather who was buried there. He was a CW vet and where he was buried were many unknown soldiers buried from the CW also. It is a nice cemetery.

We are already making plans for our next genealogy trip and can't wait till we can go again. The best part of genealogy is going to the places your ancestors are from and getting a feel of how the place is and was in their time.

Research Trip

We are getting ready to go to a couple of counties to do research on the Jester, Forbes, and Fullerton lines and so the work begins here at home first. To have a successful trip I first need to get together notes and a copy of those lines trees so that I have with me what I already know, as well as areas and family names to look for. I next research addresses and times of local libraries, historical societies and court houses that I will need to visit. If I know where someone is buried I also get an idea of where the cemetery is so I can go cemetery sleuthing. Always go prepared with paper and pens and pencils so that you can take notes. Also it is important to take change and money to get copies of things you find. Always make time to check the court houses to look for wills, deeds, marriages, divorces and birth records. Make a note of everyone that has that same surname so that if you find later they are in your line that you have the info. When you go to libraries and historical societies make sure you check the history books and their card catalogues to find your ancestors. Usually they are very helpful at these places. Most important go with an open mind and your sleuthing hat on and make it a well thought out profitable trip.

Cemetary Sleuthing

One of the best things to do when looking for ancestors is to do what our family does and go cemetery sleuthing. What is cemetery sleuthing you ask? It is going to a cemetery your ancestors are suppose to be buried at and start walking, looking at the headstones, and noting all the names of people buried near your ancestors. If the cemetery is small then you can make note of all the headstones and take pictures of them also, so that you can make sure you don't miss any related families.
This is a lesson I learned the hard way. When I first started doing genealogy we would go to the cemetery and look for that ancestor that we knew was there. We never looked at the other headstones just for the one we were after, we went through the cemetery with blinders on bent on finding that ancestor. We would get home and I would do more research and then find out that other related families were there in that cemetery also, so back to my to do list on places to go. Luckily two of the cemeteries I did this at were with in 100 miles of my home so I could go back to them easily, so off we went again. This time I noted all the names and low and behold most of the people were related in one way or the other in these cemeteries. Look at all I could of gotten done on that first visit if I had done some sleuthing the first time around. Lesson learned, never go through a cemetery with blinders on but instead with your Sherlock Holmes hat and magnifying glass ready to sleuth out all the clues and ancestors you can.

A good place to start to find a cemetery if you aren't sure where it is located is at the websites
findagrave.com and billiongraves.com
These  places are great for finding cemeteries and for getting pictures of headstones that are too far away for you to travel to and get yourself.
Check out these sites!