Back on Internet and Researching Again

I am finally back to having Internet. They finally after over 2 year wait installed our google fiber and I am able to easily do Internet genealogy research again. I will be able to blog more easily also so I hope to at least once a week post something new. Thanks for staying with me.

I was surprised when I got on ancestry.com and looked at some of their new indexes to find my father in law listed in one that doesn't fit what we thought we new. I will share more later but I bring this up because just because you think you have exhausted everything there is always more to find. I will be going back and checking other members to see what I can find that is new in the new databases. More to come later this week

TBT Genealogy Vacation

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

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. Here are pictures of how I am starting a cemetery book for Ash Grove Cemetery in Ash Grove MO.

First picture is of the name of the Cemetery.

Second is a picture looking back to where the headstone we are wanting is in reference to the ones around it

Third is a picture from the front to the back in the section our headstone we want is in.

Last here is the picture of the headstone we were wanting to get.  You can see where it is in regards to others in the second picture. and the third too. In second is to the back of the picture in middle and third it is on the right of the picture in front.

Hope these pictures help you see what I mean about making a cemetery book. I will get mine together and do another post showing it too you later.

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 see if they 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. Here is a picture of his headstone we took while on the trip.

Springfield National Cemetery, Springfield, Greene County MO

Our ancestor Arthur Davis headstone at the Springfield National 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.

Throwback Thursday Post on Cemetery Sleuthing

It is so nice that we are getting into Spring and nicer warmer weather. I can not wait to get out and visit the cemeteries to find my ancestors. I love to go what I call cemetery stomping and sleuthing. Stomping because some of the cemeteries are over run with weeds and sleuthing because you might be going to find one ancestor and end up finding several if you look around. Let's all get out and sleuth now that it is getting warmer.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Cemetery Sleuthing

I was out at the cemeteries for Memorial day and thought I would remind you that when you go you should take pictures of the headstones for your records. This is a good way to share with others but also in case of the older ones being damaged or lost you will have a record of them. Where my great grand parents are buried we can no longer go there because of where it is located it is not a safe neighborhood and it is over run. We were able to go there when I first started my family history sleuthing and didn't follow this rule so now we don't have a picture to refer too. It was also not unusual when you went to that cemetery that headstones would be broken, moved or even stolen. Don't be like me, remember to document your ancestors headstones with a picture and if possible a rubbing on the older headstones.
When you are at the cemeteries look around and take note of others buried around and make sure you take down the names and dates of any that you aren't sure if they are family or not. We went last fall to Monroe County Mo to one of the cemeteries and did just that. It was a cemetery on a farm and even though we weren't sure on some of the names we took them down and that way if we find they are in the family later we will have it.
Always make sure to make a map of the way to cemeteries when they are older and located in rural areas or on farms so that if you ever go back you will be able to find it again. We have one cemetery in Buchanan County MO that we for years would just have to guess where it was and after driving around would finally find it. Now we have written down directions to it and we find it easier. We also have written down what row and exactly where the grave is for the ancestors I was looking for and we can find them easy now. This is such a simple thing to do but so easy to not remember to do. Make a map of where your ancestors are buried in the cemetery for future reference. These little steps now will be helpful in the future if your memory like mine isn't good.
Another tip is to research and see if you can find the history of the cemeteries if you can. I have one in Brown County KS that my ancestors are buried in that is on a farm and they held the deed for it and were the trustees for it for years. The one in Buchanan County we found out was part of my ancestors farm at one time and he donated the land for the cemetery. We found that most of the people buried in it are related in one way or another also. Do as much research on the cemetery as you can and you just never know what you might find out about your family.
Remember that if the cemetery is on private land to get permission before you go in to it from the owners. Also check on line and see if the records of burial have been put online yet.
We use to on our vacations take time to go and find our ancestors resting places and it was an adventure in sleuthing that we were glad we had done. So get out there and find your ancestors.

Good Resource Videos To Help in your Research

Rootstech 2014 has come and gone. I watched the live stream videos during this time but missed some of them I wanted to see. They have them on the web and you can see them still along with downloading some of the syllabus for the sessions which are available on the website.  Here is one of the video classes that I don't think you want to miss on 5 Ways To Do Genealogy In Your Sleep with Deborah Gamble https://rootstech.org/about/videos/?id=3168208992001. this was an interesting class on how to let the internet search for you while you sleep using watch features on other sites. Good ideas that will enhance your research. Christa Cowen has one on Getting The Most Out Of Ancestry.com which was great and informative at https://rootstech.org/about/videos/?id=3168869866001
There are so many good ones with so much good information that you will want to check them out. The have some archived videos also from Rootstech 2013 that are worth looking at. I hope you will take the time to look at some of these they are an excellent resource to help you in your research.


Until next time


Keep Sleuthing, Hunting and Stomping through your family history.

Throwback Thursday Repost of Cemetery Sleuthing

Thursday, September 1, 2011

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!

Researching at Midwest Genealogy Center

If you are in the Kansas City area a must is to go and research at the
Midwest Genealogy Center
3440 S. Lee's Summit Road
Independence, MO 64055-1923
Phone: 816-252-7228
Hours: Mon - Thurs 9-9; Fri 9-6; Sat 9-5; Sun 1-5
This is a fantastic place to do family research. The libraries holdings make it well worth the trip. If you are looking for family in Missouri or other states they have the resources to help. They have All available U.S. federal population census schedules 1790 - 1930, including Soundex/Miracode indexes. They have reference books for the states. You don't need to have ancestors from Missouri to benefit from this library, it is well worth the trip for the census of every state alone. They also have classes to help you start or learn more on how to do genealogy. The next class being offered according to their website is June 24, 2010, Thursday at 7:00 PM
Finding Your Pioneer Ancestor along the Oregon-California Trails you can register for this class as well as the others by going to their website. They have the Kansas City Star and Times Newspaper and the Independence Examiner newspaper. You really must come to this library when in the area. Their website is
http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/genlh/mgc.htm I hope you check it out.
I have used this facility for many years to do research. The books of the different county histories from all over the US as well as the cemetery books from MO have been a great help for me in my research. I highly recommend you use this resource.

Memorial Day Trip to Cemetery

Memorial Day we went to put flowers on the graves at the cemetery again. As we went to the different graves Mike and I discussed how many graves go undecorated or attended. We can no longer go to one cemetery here in town that has my great grandparents and other ancestors in it because of the area it is in and also the disrepair. The last time we were there headstones had been taken or moved or broken and the graves themselves, in some cases, had sunken in. When I first started doing genealogy many years ago and could get to this cemetery I never thought about taking a picture of the headstones or rubbings because we went every year. Now that I can no longer get there and the records are not good, or in most cases, non existent I wish I had thought to do the pictures back then. I guess what I want to convey is always go prepared to take pictures or rubbings of the headstones when you go to a cemetery. Don't be left wishing you had like I am now. This year we took pictures of the headstones we go to every year and I will share them here. Most bigger Cemeteries will give you a map showing where your graves you are looking for are located and it is always a good idea to get one if possible to include in your cemetery book of your ancestors. If it is a smaller cemetery or one that doesn't offer this then walk the cemetery find your ancestors graves and make your own map. It will help when you return to that cemetery or want to share with someone else where the ancestors are buried.

Pictures of headstones for Bilyeu Family at Chapel Hill Cemetery in Kansas City,KS Wyandotte County located in the Old Rugged Cross Section
Memorial Day 2010:

George and Sophia Jones Bilyeu


Cline and Marie Outlaw Bilyeu with son Terry





Clarence and Helen Bilyeu and James and Opha Bilyeu Smith

Jesse and Gusta Bilyeu Jester

Wm Clay and Josephine Bilyeu


Robert and Barbara Bilyeu

I took some pictures of the full headstone followed like in Wm Clay and Josephine's with a close up of names and dates where both can be seen. I a cemetery book for each family try to get both pictures so that you have it for later reference. This is just one area in one cemetery that had most of my Bilyeu side of the family that I am using as an example.
Most important is to make sure you visit the cemeteries and record all the info you can.

Place to research

There are so many places to do research on the internet but there is nothing like going to a courthouse in the county of your ancestors. While you are there try just looking around a little this paid of for us when we went to the the courthouse in Washita County OK. They had pictures up on the wall of migrant workers in the cotton fields in the 1930's and they had one that said do you know these people and there in the front was a picture of a woman that looked just like my Grandmother. She had always told me they picked cotton and she did even when she was 9 months pregnant with my mother. These pictures were proof that they really did pick cotton in this county in the time frame she had said and though I can't prove it I am sure that was my Grandmother in that picture.
Things you want to remember to check while at the courthouse are marriage records, deeds, and any court records you can look at. Make sure you look for the ancestor you are there looking for but also be sure to take note of records of the same surname. Like in the marriage records copy in a notebook all the ones you find for the surnames you are looking for whether you think they are in your tree or not. The reason is that you might find later that they fit in to your tree and if they do you already have the dates copied down to go back to. I did this when researching my Capp line in Monroe County MO and was glad about a year later that I had because I found that one I didn't think fit in did from one of the brothers to my ancestor. I also have not done this and wished I had later when I found that the person in question was in my line. It just saves time to do it while you are there. Also make sure you check deeds closely. Probate records and wills are also necessary to look at while there. Again check for all you can at the time you are there.
Be sure when going into the courthouses to be courteous and not demanding. I went into one and they said they had bad experiences with people coming in doing genealogy because they were rude and demanding. This makes it bad on the ones coming in after and will limit how willing they are to help you or let you look at records. Most importantly just go and learn about the county and what it was like when your ancestors lived there.

Cemetery Sleuthing

I was out at the cemeteries for Memorial day and thought I would remind you that when you go you should take pictures of the headstones for your records. This is a good way to share with others but also in case of the older ones being damaged or lost you will have a record of them. Where my great grand parents are buried we can no longer go there because of where it is located it is not a safe neighborhood and it is over run. We were able to go there when I first started my family history sleuthing and didn't follow this rule so now we don't have a picture to refer too. It was also not unusual when you went to that cemetery that headstones would be broken, moved or even stolen. Don't be like me, remember to document your ancestors headstones with a picture and if possible a rubbing on the older headstones.
When you are at the cemeteries look around and take note of others buried around and make sure you take down the names and dates of any that you aren't sure if they are family or not. We went last fall to Monroe County Mo to one of the cemeteries and did just that. It was a cemetery on a farm and even though we weren't sure on some of the names we took them down and that way if we find they are in the family later we will have it.
Always make sure to make a map of the way to cemeteries when they are older and located in rural areas or on farms so that if you ever go back you will be able to find it again. We have one cemetery in Buchanan County MO that we for years would just have to guess where it was and after driving around would finally find it. Now we have written down directions to it and we find it easier. We also have written down what row and exactly where the grave is for the ancestors I was looking for and we can find them easy now. This is such a simple thing to do but so easy to not remember to do. Make a map of where your ancestors are buried in the cemetery for future reference. These little steps now will be helpful in the future if your memory like mine isn't good.
Another tip is to research and see if you can find the history of the cemeteries if you can. I have one in Brown County KS that my ancestors are buried in that is on a farm and they held the deed for it and were the trustees for it for years. The one in Buchanan County we found out was part of my ancestors farm at one time and he donated the land for the cemetery. We found that most of the people buried in it are related in one way or another also. Do as much research on the cemetery as you can and you just never know what you might find out about your family.
Remember that if the cemetery is on private land to get permission before you go in to it from the owners. Also check on line and see if the records of burial have been put online yet.
We use to on our vacations take time to go and find our ancestors resting places and it was an adventure in sleuthing that we were glad we had done. So get out there and find your ancestors.

Success with Civil War Ancestors

I am like so many others who have ancestors who fought in the Civil War on both sides. I have heard family stories and seen records of many of them. When looking for your Civil War ancestors make sure you try as many of the resources as possible.
I start with 1.family stories, then go to 2.county records, then 3.state archives, then websites like 4.ancestry.com and the National Parks Service Soldiers and Sailor database which gives you what unit your ancestor was in and then can give you info on the units as well as some info on some of the battles the units fought in, the website address for this is www.civilwar.nps.gov/cwss/and then I go to the 5.National Archives website and order the ancestors military and pension records, web address is archives.gov. All of these are very important places to look for the info on your ancestors civil war experience.

First talk to those in the family who might know or who have heard stories about your ancestors who fought in the civil war. My Grandma Snodgrass use to tell me that her Grandpa Vincent fought for the Union side because the Confederates had killed his brother. He hid out in the woods and then went and signed up with the union army. Now her Grandpa Thomas E Vincent did serve on the Union side and he did have a younger brother that died but it was of disease according to court records. He did serve from Monroe County Mo. that was mostly Confederate at that time but I found no proof that he had to hide in the woods from them. The story he told her and she passed down to me did give me a place to start looking though. Another family story was that one of my ancestors was fighting for the Confederate side from Monroe County MO. and was killed at the battle of Corinth in 1864. This gave me a place to start looking because of the story.
Next make sure you check county records to see what they might have on CW ancestors. I found in the Court records where the brother of Thomas E Vincent had died and his siblings were claiming his pension. It listed all of his living siblings and told how he died of disease.
The third place to look is the State Archives of the state your ancestors served from. They should be able to give you some insight on when and what unit they served in.
The fourth place to look is at ancestry.com because they have some records on pensions and if they served or not. I found just recently the ancestor that was killed at Corinth and it gave when and what unit he served in when he was killed. I then went to the National Parks site and looked him up and got more info on when he was killed and what units he was in and what battles they fought in. I then looked up info on the unit. This is a valuable site that many overlook.
Last I go to the National Archives site with the info I have found and send for the pension and military records of my ancestors. I always ask for all records even though this costs more because I want to see everything they have and not just what they think is important. It is well worth the money to get these records.

Snodgrass Family Stories, Okay I should of listened

How many times have you heard your relatives reminiscing and not really paid attention and then later when you are trying to learn your genealogy you wish you still had that relative around to ask questions? I am sure that this has happened to us all. We should all pay more attention to the stories and even jot them down or record them for future use and future generations. I wish when my Grandparents were still alive that I had done a better job of this but I wasn't doing my genealogy then I just liked hearing the stories. Then when I started doing the genealogy I only had one Grandmother and my husbands Granddad left to ask questions of. I did have a few great Aunts and Uncles and tried learning what I could from them at that helped but oh how I wished I had recorded or written down all the stories that they would tell and now are lost to me and my children. Lesson is pay close attention and write them down.

Another thing is no matter how far fetched you think a story is write it down or record it because you may just find out that it is true. An example of this is when I talked to my Grandmother about my Mom's dad's side Grandma told me things I just didn't think were true but I took note of them and found out she was right.

I found that my Grandma and Grandpa Snodgrass got married in Kansas City, KS and that they had lied about there age by a couple of years. She said that during the depression they lived on a side room of Grandpa Snodgrass's dad's house in Oklahoma City and that the room was made out of used thrown out lumber because none of them had money. Then they went to Cordell OK and picked cotton in the fields which I figured was her remembering wrong until we went to the courthouse in Washita County, OK and they had pictures of migrant workers picking cotton in there county back in the 1930's. In fact they had a picture on the wall that asks do you know these people and it looked like a younger picture of my Grandmother in the fields. Ok so the story she told was right.
Next she told me that Grandpa Snodgrass's mother changed her name from Sallie Ann to Cleo Ruth and that she was married to a man named Crews when she died. She also said that she was buried in OK somewhere. Now why she changed her name she didn't know but they never got along so Grandma didn't care to know either she said. Well I once again was skeptical but in the 1920 Census I found that she had changed her name to Cleo Ruth and was married to Simon Nix. I know it is her because my Granddad Emmett Snodgrass and his sister Snow are living with them. Okay now I knew that she had changed her name next to find if she had married a man name Crews and where she was buried. Sure enough she is buried where Grandma thought at the Lookeba Cemetery which is located ½ mile north of Lookeba Ok. in Caddo County, OK. So two stories she told me were true but I still haven't been able to proof the last story and that is that Grandpa Emmett Snodgrass is part Indian. His mother Sallie Ann/Cleo Ruth is suppose to be half Indian and her mother full blooded Indian but so far I haven't been able to prove this. I have been told by Emmett's other two daughters that we found two years ago that they were told the same story and that a cousin of theirs from Snow Snodgrass told it too. We are still looking and I have this story written down so that when I prove it one way or another and can give Grandma credit again.
The thing is we need to listen and record everything we are told whether we think it is possible to be true or not and then research to find the truth. I hope to find more interesting stories and truths so I keep looking through our tree.