Reflections From the Fence

Hey Lenawee, Your Circus Performer, Anson Babcock, Who Knew?

2012-06-02T06:07:00.010-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

There are days that I just love my volunteer job of formatting and editing books for the Lenawee County Family Researchers, this find rates as a fun and interesting benefit. The first two extractions were found in the current book I am working on and trying to finish. They are many pages apart in the book, but the first one tweaked my interest immediately. I even spent some time snooping around for Anson, but, to no avail, as the first article has his name typed as Anse. Then, I found the second article, the notice of his death, and I was off on a little research tangent.

From the May 20, 1896 issue of the Michigan Messenger published at Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan:

"After an absense of ten years, the noted circus rider, Anse Babcock has returned to Morenci from South America."

From the December 30, 1896 issue of the Michigan Messenger published at Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan:

"Anson Babcock, a noted circus rider, died in his rooms in Morenci, Wednesday, Dec. 23rd. He was 47 years of age and commenced work with Stowe Bros. in 1865. His wife, now with a "Trilby' Company in Kentucky, and a daughter, Mrs. V. W. Whitney, of Morenci, survive."

From the December 26, 1896, issue of the Adrian Daily Telegram published at Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan, I found another report of Anson's death:

Next, I just had to know what his death certificate said, from FamilySearch.org, sure enough it says he was a circus performer. I think that is the first time I have seen that occupation on a death record.

Michigan, Deaths, 1867-1897
name: Anson Babcock
death date: 24 Dec 1896
death place: Morenci, Lenawee, Michigan
gender: Male
death age: 47 years 9 months
estimated birth date: 1849
birthplace: Michigan
marital status: Married
father's name: Wm. Babcock
mother's name: Marian Babcock
occupation: Circus Performer
film number: 2363835
digital folder number: 4208790
image number: 828
reference number: p 154 rn 4672

The images for the death record appear on two pages at FamilySearch.org, the first is here, the second, here. Cause of death is listed as paralysis.

Continuing my web searching I found this at the Circus Historical Society page:

"VAN ZANDT, A. D. [r. n. Anson Babcock]. (1849-December 23, 1896) Began career as an acrobat at age 17. For 12 years, traveled with his brother as the Van Zandt Brothers, connected with John Stowe & Sons, 1868, 1871; G. G. Grady’s, 1869; Stowe & Orton, 1870; W. W. Cole’s, 1871-83; Great Transatlantic Allied Shows, 1879; Stickney’s Imperial Parisian Circus, 1880. 1877, he began riding and became a proficient bareback jockey. South America, 1886, with Dockrill’s; remained there until May 1896. Died at the home of his daughter, Morenci, MI."

Back to the search engines, I found this image, dated 1874 at the Library of Congress web site, sourcing information follows at end of this post. This rendition would have been done about 3 years before Anson starting bareback riding, so, there is little chance it is Anson, but, how cool is this?

In one last search I went to the Lenawee County Family Researchers work, "Burial Records of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume 1 : Seneca Township" to see if Anson's burial was noted, and sure enough, it was, in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Morenci. I was rather surprised to see his parents buried in the same lot (#443). I have no idea who the others buried in this lot are:

Yes, indeedy, some days my volunteer duties certainly provide some interesting little tidbits. And, now, I must get back to finishing this book, almost there, A*L*M*O*S*T!!

* Sourcing information on the graphic:

Title: The two-horse act
Date Created/Published: c1874.
Medium: 1 print : lithograph, hand-colored.
Summary: Photograph shows a male bareback rider on two horses balancing his female partner on his right leg.
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-pga-03752 (digital file from original print) LC-USZC4-13574 (color film copy transparency) LC-USZ62-1147 (b&w film copy neg.)
Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
Call Number: PGA - Gibson--Two-horse act (C size) [P&P]
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Notes:
E4328 U.S. Copyright Office.
Title from item.
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Checkers By Correspondence

2012-06-01T13:20:00.001-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

From the February 15, 1896 issue of the Michigan Messenger, published in Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan:

The checker contest between Harry Wonder and L. F. Cole of Hillsdale, which has been going on for sometime, has ended in a draw. Each has won two games and two draws. The contest was carried on entirely by correspondence.

*Graphic thanks to OpenClipArt.org

Treasure Chest Thursday :: Work Badge

2012-05-31T06:34:00.002-04:00

Man's mother's work badge, sometime in the early to mid 1940's. It is almost 2 inches in diameter. The outer ring is metal, inner ring is a heavy paper, and the 3rd layer down is, of course, the photo. Screw Machine Products was on Fort Street, near Outer Drive, Lincoln Park, Wayne County, Michigan.

Don't ya just love the back, the clasps to hold it together, the pin?? Ya, we do too!

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Wedding Wednesday :: Jumps a Moving Train, Gets To The Chapel on Time

2012-05-30T06:26:00.003-04:00

From the March 17, 1897 issue of the Michigan Messenger published at Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan:

From FamilySearch, and waaahoooo, the bride's name and more:

Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925
groom's name: Edward E. Hinds
groom's race:
groom's age: 31 years
groom's birth date: 1866
groom's birthplace: Michigan
bride's name: Mary A. Michaels
bride's race:
bride's age: 29 years
bride's birth date: 1868
bride's birthplace: Ohio
marriage type:
marriage date: 28 Feb 1897
marriage place: Clayton, Lenawee, Michigan
groom's father: Wm. Hinds
groom's mother: Jerusha Kamp
bride's father: Isaac Michaels
bride's mother: Rachael Mineer
groom's marital status:
groom's previous wife:
bride's marital status:
bride's previous husband:
film number: 2342507
frame number:
digital folder number: 4207941
image number: 499
reference number: v 3 p 64 rn 50

And, from the marriage record, it appears that they did indeed marry, note, only part of the record is shown here:

Next stop, find out what a bachelor tax is all about, here are two links, In Ye Olden Days: The Bachelor Tax and John McCurdy who wrote, Citizen Bachelors: Manhood and the Creation of the United States. So, I wonder, really a bachelor tax in 1897?? or is the staff of the newspaper taking a bit of liberty and poking some fun at our Edward?? What cha think??

*Source for the graphic long lost, my apologies to the artist and the web site.
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Tuesday's Tip :: Here We Are, HERE!

2012-05-29T10:40:00.000-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Tip of the day. Don't give up and be creative with your search terms. OK, be SUPER creative with your search terms.

I figured David and Ida HALTERMAN (spelled with an "A" after that "H") were going to be MIA on the 1940 census. They lived on the farm in Virginia for years! Have them there for the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 census enumerations. They lived on the same farm basically until they died, he in 1965 and she in 1963.

Virginia was one of the early states that showed up on the FamilySearch index. I found others I was looking for, just not David and Ida.

I tried a lot of search terms trying to find them, first names, last name only, searched for her, searched for him, searched for one of them with the other name included. They were not to be found.

Last night, after a LONG weekend of printing the book, ya, that book, I finally finished the first print. I have more to do, but, I was tired of THE book and decided to reward myself with some genie snooping. With no goal in mind, just casual snooping, I found some fun things, and posted on Facebook, "Still cannot find David and Ida in the 1940. I still believe I never will."

And, then, because I either felt challenged or David and Ida were screaming, "HERE WE ARE, HERE", I did another search.

This time I searched only Ida, but, put in the county name and the enumeration district name, BAM, there they were.

Not indexed as HALterman, but as, HOLterman, see:

head David Holterman M 64 West Virginia
wife Ida Holterman F 65 West Virginia
daughter Sarah Holterman F 37 Virginia

Of course, I looked at the image, I see the A, not the O, I looked up and down the entire page, what do you think, A or O? You will note they got David, Ida and Sarah correct, and they all have that A thing going on.

The original full page of this image can be seen here. Tough call, eh?? I agree.

So, be creative, and remember, "spelling don't count" in genie! And, snicker, not in indexing either!

*FamilySearch, Facebook and any other web site I may mention here on Reflections have their own copyright issues, I use them, I chat about them, in case of pay sites, I may or may not use them, I may or may not endorse them. I do not earn any $$ from said mentions, not even a pat on the back from said sites. That is my disclaimer for the day.
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Happy Memorial Day :: 2012

2012-05-28T06:23:00.002-04:00

Top left: Donald Eugene Bowen, World War II Veteran.

Top right: Flag presented to the family of Arthur Norman Stevens, Jr. at his funeral.

Bottom right: Arthur Norman Stevens, Jr., World War II Veteran.

Middle: Fort Pulaski, Georgia flag.

* Watering can graphic courtesy of Webweaver.nu
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118th Carnival Of Genealogy :: Reading!

2012-05-25T10:01:00.000-04:00

Its that time again, Carnival of Genealogy, the 118th, and the subject this time is Reading.

Jasia, of Creative Gene, our host, asks:

"Do you come from a family of readers? What kinds of reading material was typically found around your house when you were growing up... fiction books, comic books, poetry, the Bible, magazines, cookbooks, prayer books??? What do you like to read now? Do you give books as gifts? Are you a fan of eBooks? The lazy, hazy days of summer are right around the corner and many of us will be reaching for a good book to read on the hammock or on the beach. What do you recommend?"

I have to say that I, as well as my three sons, daughter-in-laws and the grandtwins all seem to be a family of readers. Man does most of his reading on the net. I have one son who has in the past read the classics, his mom has not. And, the grandtwins, they read ALL the time. I am surprised there are any books in their local library they have NOT read. Heavens, when they come to visit, we have had to take them to our library and check out 6 to 10 books for a one week visit.

I don't have strong recollections of what kind of books were around my home as a child, except for encyclopedia type collections and school books. There must have been more, but, the memory has faded - -

Remember Little Golden Books?
Some of our boys favorites!

I enjoy reading research stuff, but when I am whooped I have to confess - - I read trash novels, some call them bodice rippers. Yea, something with little plot, no redeeming qualities, something that I don't have to think about, and most importantly, something that hopefully WILL put me to sleep! And, yes, I now do trash novel e-books, free downloads rock!

Do we give books as gifts? We have always given books to the children of the family, starting from the time they were 6 months old, even younger, when they received cloth books. As they got a bit older, they received those really thick paged books, the ones that withstood teething. After that, our boys graduated to Little Golden Books like the one shown here. And, as they got older still, we have encouraged visits to the library rather than finance their reading addictions, those grandtwins can go through $50.00 to $100.00 worth of new books in less than a week!

The next question deals with recommendations of books to read. Since most of the books I read for "fun?" are nothing I would recommend, lets chat about books I do recommend, research books (but of course - LOL). You know the ones we pull off the shelves at our favorite research libraries all across the nation, like these from the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana. Shelves and shelves, book after book, hundreds, thousands of them. Wonderful books, books filled with facts and a now and then a few inaccuracies. A life line to our research.

Have you ever given much thought to how those books got there, aside from the fact that someone had to shelve them, someone had to donate them or the library had to purchase them. How did they actually come into being??

I just happen to have a bit of experience with this (just a bit LOL), so, let me share with you that all those weighty research tomes come into being due to the love and dedication of those that did the research, who then compiled or wrote them, edited them, and finally at some point published them. Hundreds and in some cases thousands of hours go into each and every one of those books. Think about that for a moment longer, each book you see in the photo above was the product of many hours, dedication, usually a hunk of ca$h, sweat, tears, maybe a few bug bites, sun burn, possibly a few frozen toes and noses and ALWAYS very tired feet by a lot of people that care immensely about what they are doing.

Printing the book from he*$, page
by page checking formatting as I go.

Those of you that follow me on Facebook or Google+ have probably grown tired of my chattering on and on lately about my current project - formatting a book. It has taken on a life and name of it's own, not a nice name, the formatting project/book from he*$. It seems, somehow, that just about every book I get involved with has issues. Formatting issues, additional research that just has to be done and no one else is available at that time to do the research, issues, one after another.

I end up spending hours fixing the messes, the issues, fighting computer foul ups, and this week, a huge mess when Man and I decided to bring a printer downstairs for me to work with. Short story, the printer was leaking ink and before we realized how bad it was, we had ink spots on about 25 feet of our carpet in the upstairs bedroom and hallway. If you have never had the pleasure of cleaning up that kind of a mess, believe me, you do not want to go there. I know, it is really not the BOOKS fault, it just felt that way! LOL

And, so, why the tails of woe? Why am I whining and wailing, and crying and sharing my pain with everyone? Well, for one thing, it does help me to vent. Thank you all so much for letting me bend your ear about my woeful stories. And, maybe just a little bit wicked on my part, the other thing is, I hope that my sharing my experiences will help others appreciate what they are using during their research.

I sit in libraries and watch researchers with a stack of books, lovingly compiled by someone or a group of someones. The researchers open them, glance through the index, and depending on what they find, they search the pages that look interesting, or simply flip the book over and grab the next one. I get it, time is of the essence and there is a HUGE stack of books waiting your attention. Keep it moving, hurry, bring another stack of books, start flipping through those indexes again, no names, next book. Move, flip, discard, hurry.

And, personally having spent hundreds of hours stomping cemeteries, sitting in dusty dark courthouse basement rooms pulling huge heavy old deed books down off the shelves, formatting, fighting with my computer, fighting with the home printer, fighting with the company that publishes these magnificent pieces of work, carting them home in the back of my car, standing in line at the post office mailing them, I have to admit to watch someone rather callously flipping all those books over and not appearing to give much thought to the fact other than, nope, none of my family in that book, well, it stings a bit.

A trunk full of books fresh from the publisher/printer, ready for you and you and - -
Are you ready to research yet?? Oh, yea, me too!

So, now that you have read my tails of woe, my hope is that the next time you are in a research library with a cart full of wonderful fact filled research books you will pause just a moment, think about the hundreds of people and the thousands of hours they dedicated to bring you those records.

I admit that when I am doing some research, using books from some far off locality that I will hit the index, look up any names that fit my research parameters and hurry along to the next book. However, probably because of my experiences, these days, I pause for just a few moments, acknowledge the people and the work involved in bringing me such wonderful resources, thanking them, and I quietly and respectfully lay the book aside.

Thank you for your blood, sweat and tears, thank you for this wonderful resource.

They won't hear the thanks, but, I know I gave them.

So, to answer the last question of this challenge, what do I recommend for your summer reading, why research books, of course, my favorite reading material.

With thanks.

* The disclaimer, Facebook, Google+, Little Golden Books own their copyrights. I did not receive any remuneration of any type, kind or amount to mention them in this or any other post I write here at Reflections.

** Oh, and I can almost guarantee, that if you are printing a book and the deadline is looming you will either crash the computer, run out of ink or jam the printer. No kidding, it is guaranteed! IT. WILL. HAPPEN. You read it here! And, yes, I did say that.
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Dorian Richard Prochnow, RIP

2012-05-23T11:53:00.000-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Early this morning, we learned of the passing of Man's cousin's husband, Dorian Richard Prochnow. He died from the evil cancer, but was surrounded by his family at the time of his passing.

Above, Dorian and his loving wife, Sandra, in Alaska in 2009.
Photo courtesy of Sandra.

Dorian loved his family, and the out of doors, including fishing at Roosevelt Lake. He worked for many summers in Alaska driving big rigs and Sandra joined him there many times. Dorian and Sandra lived a interesting, but, never easy life. Through the ups and downs, and believe me, there were many, their love of each other and of family and God always mattered the most.

There is no doubt Dorian will be greatly missed by his family. Rest in peace, Dorian.

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Tombstone Tuesday, Soldiers Cemetery, Fort King George, Darien, Georgia

2012-05-22T09:29:00.000-04:00

During our trek northward towards the stick built in SE Michigan, Man and I stopped over near Savannah Georgia. While there we did some sightseeing, relaxing and a bit of family research. One of our (my) stops was to revisit Darien, McIntosh County, Georgia where my great-grandparents lived for many years, and where they are both reportedly buried. While there we investigated and shortly visited Fort King George. There is a small cemetery there, named, simply, "Soliders Cemetery".

All stones had the same inscription.

Oh, Danny Boy, Really, Ya Gonna Get Married?

2012-05-19T10:44:00.000-04:00

One of my little joys (side benefit of the formatting project from &^#$) is that I get to read some really neat ole news articles, and I never know what I will find. I will confess that in my desire to be done with this project that sometimes I skip reading many of the pages. However, now and then, there will be a short article that I read while cleaning the streaks, dots, marks and messes. I found one this AM. This was published in the December 1, 1897 issue of the Michigan Messenger, published at Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan.

I thought it was rather, mmm, humorous. Now, we have to consider that this IS a news report, and I am not sure that in 1897 the reporting was all serious, or factual, and well, we do sell papers with a bit of controversy, right?? I mean, Dan, really, making love to 42 women in 1897? So, I decided to do just a bit of research, I did not want to spend a lot of time on it, but, ya, I was driven to go have a quick look. So, over to FamilySearch.org I went and I found:

"Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995"
groom's name: Daniel W. Whitman
groom's birth date:
groom's birthplace:
groom's age:
bride's name: Sophia Rich
bride's birth date:
bride's birthplace:
bride's age:
marriage date: 29 Nov 1897
marriage place: Lenawee, Michigan
groom's father's name: Daniel Whitman
groom's mother's name: Rebecca Butterfield
bride's father's name: Wm. Rich
bride's mother's name: Sarah
groom's race:
groom's marital status:
groom's previous wife's name:
bride's race:
bride's marital status:
bride's previous husband's name:
indexing project (batch) number: M01819-4
system origin: Michigan-ODM
source film number: 2342507

AND:

"Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925"
groom's name: Daniel W. Whitman
groom's race:
groom's age: 68 years
groom's birth date: 1829
groom's birthplace: Pennsylvania
bride's name: Sophia Rich
bride's race:
bride's age: 19 years
bride's birth date: 1878
bride's birthplace: Michigan
marriage type: License
marriage date: 29 Nov 1897
marriage place: Lenawee, Michigan
groom's father: Daniel Whitman
groom's mother: Rebecca Butterfield
bride's father: Wm. Rich
bride's mother: Sarah
groom's marital status:
groom's previous wife:
bride's marital status:
bride's previous husband:
film number: 2342507
frame number:
digital folder number: 4207941
image number: 474
reference number: v 3 p 103 rn 396

Now, this second data base comes with images, and yes, I did open the image, despite the fact that I have been having serious connectivity issues, I clicked and then I walked away while it loaded. And, when I came back, it was so worth the time spent.

(Note: screen captures of only the specific portion of the page that applies, the full page of records can be viewed here. I did overlap the captures a bit.)

License returned not used

Sophia, did you call off the wedding? Or is this a case where the marriage took place and the recording procedure went amuck?

I did not discover Daniel on the 1900 census, I did find a possible on the 1910, noting 1910 said he was single and he was not living in Lenawee County.

I discovered Daniel's fate, at SeekingMichigan, note it says he is a widower:

Not being able to stop my research, I charged over to Find a Grave, and there is a very respectful memorial there with quite a bit of family information and a photo of his headstone.

I have done no further research on Sophia cause I have to get back to the formatting this book. My break is over.

Fun, err, Frustrating Finds Friday, Geo-caching Style

2012-05-18T09:25:00.000-04:00

Recently while in Saline Michigan for a wonderful lunch with Son # 1, his significant other and the grand twins, we decided to give them a demonstration of our newbie (that = inexperienced and still learning) geocaching skills.

The cache was marked medium difficulty, there was a nice history of the area in the directions, but, no specific hints. It was TOUGH. We looked, we re-read all the info given on the web site (several times, slowly, out loud for all to hear), we walked around some more with the GPS unit.

Just as we were about to give up (some of us needed to find a potty, seriously!) when Man just had to have one more go at it. He followed that GPS once more and then, convinced he was onto something, he snooped around, kinda stood on his head, stretched, and ta da, there it was, a rock disguising the goods, err, the cache.

The cacher that placed this one went to a bunch of work, he/she drilled out a hole for the little micro cache holder in the rock (yes drilled a hole in the rock!). He/she even placed a magnet at the bottom of the hole (one end of that little red cache holder is magnetized). The hinge was actually screwed into the rock (really, I can only imagine). The hinge flipped back over the hole. Can we say creative? Ya!

Note, that when the rock was found, the hinge was not facing up, eh?? All you could see was a r*o*c*k.

Let me tell you, it is almost as hard taking out the little roll of paper inside that cache container, signing our user name and re-rolling it, as it was finding it. Well, not quite, but almost!

Hopefully we can hone up those hunting skills a bit before school ends, we plan to have them out here for several visits over the summer vacation. There are LOTS of caches out here for us to hunt up, hope the grand twins are up to it, haha, hope the grandparents are up to it!

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Treasure Chest Thursday :: Leaves of a Different Kind

2012-05-17T12:59:00.000-04:00

As we continue to sort through Man's Mother's goodies, we continue to turn up some interesting tidbits, like

Lather Leaves:

There are 23 leaves in this packet, at least one was used. I did a short Google search, sure did not find much. The image results I found during my search showed different covers, obviously aimed at different markets (one was for fishermen). I checked Google Books, and could only look at a snippet view. I looked at that snippet and it seemed to indicate a possible patent number, so next I went on a patent search with that number and with a word search of "lather leaves" and even added in the year (1943). So far, I am still searching.

If you know anything more about Lather Leaves, I would love hearing from you.

Jacksonville Florida Zoo and Gardens, Jacksonville, Florida

2012-05-16T09:43:00.000-04:00

On a particularly warm sunny day we decided to visit the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. I was a bit concerned about the temps, but, the foliage kept us comfy and we enjoyed the visit. I have been posting some photos of the creatures and critters over at Reflection's Flora and Fauna, so, guess where you need to visit?? Yep, Flora and Fauna. Don't forget to check the Blog Archive list.

This guy will meet you before you even pay your entry fee - -

As a bit of a teaser for the photos already on Flora and Fauna and the ones to come as I have time, what would a zoo in the deep south be without an American Alligator?

Reflecting On 1955

2012-05-12T18:47:00.001-04:00

* Photos from the 1955 Cardinal Echo, Melvindale High School, Melvindale, Wayne County, Michigan.
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Census, 1940 and a 1910!

2012-05-11T06:29:00.003-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

I spent a few minutes the last few days looking at the census indexing at FamilySearch.org. It was announced just this week that 6 states have been fully indexed and are searchable. One such state was VIRGINIA! Oh, ya, I can work in Virginia for a VERY long time. But, since I am short on time, story of my life it seems, I went for the two most important ancestors on my "hit" list at this moment. My dad and his parents AND my great grandparents.

So, how did I do?? Well, mixed, but, of course.

Let's start with the great-grandparents. The ones with the farm and the cemetery I visited last month. The ones where I have found them on the 1900, 1920 and 1930 census, but had never found them on the 1910, despite line by line searches and mega index searches (including the WPA project index). Yes, disappointing, but hey, not everyone is enumerated each and every census year. I had accepted that they just were missed. Sighing, but accepting.

I had done a line by line of the 1940 of several ED's where I thought they should be. Nope, as reported I did not find them. So, now that Virginia is indexed at FamilySearch.org, I go searching the indexes. So far, I have not found them in the index, but, guess what I did find?? No kidding - - the 1910! Well color me tickled.

The search for them on the 1940 will continue.

Now, my dad and his parents. First try early on the morning of the release, I did not find them. But, later in the day I did! They were living I believe in an area around Norfolk Virginia known as Fentress. I am still working on that.

My grandfather was 44 years old and had finished 1 year of high school. His occupation data was spot on, he was working at the lumber mill. My grandmother was 36 years, and here was a bit of a surprise for me, she had only finished 7 years of schooling. She worked most of her life, in women's clothing, retail. She was working as a buyer in 1940, spot on again. Later in life she owned several of her own businesses, very successfully, until the last was taken out by fire during a hurricane. But, I never dreamed she only had a 7th grade education. Well, spunk and determination will take you far, eh, gramma?? My dad was 13 years old, had finished 6 years of education and was enumerated as working as a carpenter in a building construction business. MMMM, not sure bout that folks, as the fellow that was enumerated next on that page was 59 years old, had a wife and two youngsters to provide for, and no employment was shown. I think this is a case of the enumerator entering data on the wrong line. Of course, there is no one to ask.

So, 1 found, 1 still MIA. Not bad for the few minutes I do have for researching lately. One step at a time, one census find at a time. I am smiling!

Now, back to that indexing project. Six states are now fully indexed and searchable at FamilySearch.org, they are: Delaware, Colorado, Kansas, Oregon, Virginia, and New Hampshire. Sit down to read this number: in just over one month, about 30 % of the census, some 45 million records have been indexed by 100,000 volunteers! WOWSERS! There are whispered rumors that if these wonderful indexers keep up at this rate that the entire 1940 could be done by mid summer?? There is a really nice graph of the progress. Really have a lookie see, save the URL and visit again in a week or so, see how fast those numbers are going up! Amazing effort, and to me, it just shows the dedication and enthusiasm we genie types have for our sport! Of course, we all know how enthusiastic we are, but this just proves it to anyone who doubted it!

Thanks to all the indexers and arbitrators. Job well done! WOOT!

* The disclaimer, I am am Ambassador for the1940census project, writing this blog may or may not enter me into a contest. Just so ya know.
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Fernandino Beach, Florida

2012-05-10T07:06:00.001-04:00

A day trip to Fernandino Beach, because, well, because it was there. A pretty downtown area:

It was spring break time, people were visiting, parking Jolly was going to be difficult at best (there are times when we have parking issues with this big green giant of a truck), so we opted to just drive around, and snap a few photos.

OK, I would have loved to stop and get a better photo of this and investigate any story, isn't it marvelous? Tile work supreme.

I love staircases, fences, plants, curves, balconies, this has it all, I just sigh at the beauty:

So, off we go to "discover" the beach. And, we found a parking spot! And, a dog friendly beach, see how the fur kids did over at Reflection's Flora and Fauna. That Gallagher, he loves the ladies, err, people. After their walk, we sat on a bench for a while, just enjoying the moments, Gallagher and Cappy did too!

Cappy, almost seems like he is saying, "nothing like a little surf and sea spray in your face, ahhhhhh".

We knew there was a lighthouse nearby, so, next we went in search of that. Found! Amelia Island Lighthouse. Unfortunately, the gates were all locked, but, I still got a pretty good photo (where there is a will there is a way, shoot right over or through the fencing).

An enjoyable day out, especially that dog friendly beach part! Good memories were made.

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Jacksonville Arboretum And Gardens, Jacksonville Florida

2012-05-09T06:26:00.003-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

While spending a bit of time in Jacksonville Florida we took a few hours to go on a nice walk at the Jacksonville Arboretum and Gardens with MOC friends Steve and Vicki. It was a rather warm day, but, the heavy foliage, plus the fact that a rain storm visited the Gardens while we were there, kept it reasonably comfortable for walking.

Below, our walk started out through a palm "forest". OK, not a forest, just a lot of palms planted together.

Man leads us over this little log bridge, can we say, "smarty pants" ?? Yes, I think we can.

A pretty view, lots of tanic colored water, and yes, reflections:

They had a "artist in the park" day going on, this gal was painting a view of the pond ladden with lillies.

And, the pond:

I have been posting other photos taken during this day trip over at Reflection's Flora and Fauna over the last several weeks. If you ever find yourself in Jacksonville, you might want to consider visiting and taking a walk.

On our drive back to the campground we drove over this beautiful bridge. I am discovering it is harder to take photos out of Jolly than it was to take photos out of Big Butt. Another challenge in life to over come.

Stepping Back in Time, Gulf Shores Alabama to Florida

2012-05-08T13:57:00.003-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

I know, I should have blogged this a while back, sorry, been doing other stuff, so, this will be short and sweet. On April 19, 2012, we left Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores Alabama where we had been since November 17, 2011. A long time to sit, but, it was wonderful.

We took 2 days to drive to Jacksonville Florida, and I did not take a lot of photos, but, here are a few:

Below, crossing a nice hunk of water on a pretty bridge in Florida:

Below, what that looks like on the GPS, one of my silly moments, shhh, don't tell, Man was exceeding the speed limit by 4 MPH.

And, at a rest stop near Pensacola, one of my favorite things, airplanes and the Blue Angels:

We would spend a week in Jacksonville, visiting with MOC friends Steve and Vicki, and doing a bit of sightseeing.

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Lenawee County Family Researchers, Member Passing

2012-05-08T08:52:00.000-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

On Sunday, the Lenawee County Family Researchers lost a long time member, Jeannette E. Dickerson. Jeannette was my co-compiler/helper/assistant in one of the very first books I worked on for the club, the work was based on her earlier work of extracting marriages and deaths from early newspapers here in the county. She was a great teacher and a great example of giving back to your society. She has been ill for some years and had been unable to attend meetings.

Jeannette's obituary appears here. RIP Jeannette.

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Up in the Sky, My Super Moon

2012-05-06T12:15:00.000-04:00

Taken about 9:30 P.M., a bit past the optimum time to get a really HUGE moon image, as the best time to show off the size of the moon is when it is just above the horizon. The leaves add a bit of dimension and the clouds are covering the moon. Was thrilled to get this, as earlier we had full cloud cover, plus the woods behind the house blocked the earlier full circle of golden color. That golden full circle only lasted about 2 minutes and the clouds rolled right back in, heavy clouds.

RIP Ann Kohl

2012-05-05T19:37:00.001-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

The Montana Owners Club lost one of our own this afternoon, Ann Kohl, wife of H. John Kohl, she died in Florida from cancer. The family will have a celebration of her life gathering Saturday 12 May 2012, in Pennsylvania. Details are forthcoming.

Ann and John have been members of the MOC since May 31, 2003 and their membership number is 311, a very low number indeed. They were both strong supporters of the MOC, attending many of our rallies and helping out whenever and where ever they could. Ann had many very good friends at the MOC. She will be sorely missed by the MOC membership, her friends and her family.

RIP Ann.

* Photo from the CaringBridge site that John so lovingly wrote and updated during Ann's last illness.
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Reply, No Reply, Lori Has Great Instructions

2012-05-05T15:22:00.000-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Fellow blogger Lori E. over at Family Trees May Contain Nuts has a great "how to" post today on how to fix the no reply irritation. Well, it is an irritation to me, and obviously to Lori as well.

I cannot tell you how many times I have done a reply from the email notifications that come when you leave a nice or funny comment on one of my blogs. I have blissfully typed away a nice little message to you my valued readers, only to discover days later (OK, who said I was overly observant, eh?) that you would never see that witty little response, because your email goes to someone whose email addy is "no reply". I mean, who the heckie doo is "no reply" and can you imagine how much email that dude (or dudette) has sitting his his (or her) spam box?? Geeshhh.

Read all about it on Lori's post, she does a much better job at describing this than I am.

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Tuesday's Tip, Don't Be Too Proud to Ask for HEL*P

2012-05-01T17:21:00.002-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

The other night I was trying to chase down an actual copy of an article I first found on GoogleBooks, in the snippet form. We love GoogleBooks, and even love the snippet form, but, it can be frustrating, so close, but so far! LOL Here is the snippet I was interested in.

From this page I clicked on "Find in a library" and it took me directly to WorldCat. There were pages of hits. I looked at about the first 5 pages (there are about 6 different institutions or libraries listed on each page). I spent some time investigating these 30 or so listings. Some of the listings were fairly easy to follow, and I was able to determine that a particular library did not hold my 1927 issue. Other listings, when I clicked on them, left me confused. My thought was, there really ought to be more detail here, but, I could not figure out why there was none. (In hind sight, I think, maybe ?? you need to be students or have library cards at some of these institutions to gain full access to their catalogs.)

So, I snooped around, actually did so on a couple of different occasions. Finally, one evening when I was just a bit overwhelmed and frankly, tired, I posted a query on Google + and on Facebook, almost identically worded, begging for help. Then, I sat back and waited. Actually, I went to bed and slept!

By noon the next day fellow blogger and friend Ginger Smith of Genealogy by Ginger's Blog had spotted my cry for help, checked out her university catalogs, found what she believed to be the correct volume and year, and ordered a copy of the article. A few days later, ta da, the article in all it's wonder arrived in my email.

Here is a snippet of the article (ya, I know, snippets, sighhh) that shows the main entrance to the hospital as it appeared in that 1927 article. Then you can compare it to the photos I took and posted here.

Moral of the story, err, tip, do not be afraid to ask for help. It this HUGE fast moving world of research and the world, there is no way a single solitary individual can have understanding and knowledge of all the resources available. Heavens, if I don't use a resource for a few weeks or months, they change stuff and I have to re-learn the resource all over again. Your friends will use different resources than you will, they will have understanding you may not. Your friends may have access to resources you do not, just by virtue of who they are and where they work or study.

Ask, and ye may receive. Genealogists and family researchers are a helpful bunch.

Ginger was not my only helper, I received lots of hints, suggestions, offers of assistance and a few URLs too. Thanks go to everyone, as I posted on Facebook:

"BTW, thanks to ALL for your participation in this exercise, you have given me some good ideas, reminded me of sources I have not used in a LONG time, and been good friends. WOOT!!"

Yep, don't be too proud to ask for help, it cannot hurt and it may be a big help.

Research on - - Ask - - Just sayin' - -

* The disclosures, I have no interest in, nor have been given any gifts or cash to mention, GoogleBooks, Facebook, Google+ or WorldCat. Sometimes I use em, sometimes with great results, other times with mixed results, other times I bomb out. It is that way with research and the internet.

** On the other hand, Ginger Smith is a good genie buddy and friend. But, she did not pay me either to mention her. She did get me that copy of that article, for which I am very thankful.

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117th Carnival of Genealogy, 1940! Fibbin' Fun

2012-04-30T17:14:00.012-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

1940 ! Census that is.

Jasia at Creative Gene is graciously hosting this month's Carnival of Genealogy, where she has challenged us to chat about our finds in the 1940 census. Now, you will all recall that the 1940 is not indexed in full just yet. By the way, the project at the1940census.com is coming along so wonderfully, thanks to all that are indexing.

Anyway, this challenge reads: "1940! Have you found a family member in the newly released 1940 U.S. Census? If so, what have you learned about them? No family member in the 1940 Census? No problem. Write what you know of your family back in 1940 anyway. Let's take the COG back to 1940 and create a history lesson that brings our families to life!"

So, as some of you know, Man and I have been traveling a lot since April 2 when the 1940 census went LIVE on the internet. Truth, I have not had a lot of time to search for our ancestors on the 1940. So, what limited time I have had, I decided to look for direct line ancestors only. Looking at our pedigree or ancestor charts I quickly determined that I would need to search for our parents, grand parents, and our great- grandparents, no further. SOOO, if you chart it out and start counting, that is 14 ancestors (male and female) for each of us. Truth here, I have had very little time to study the information I have found.

So, for the 117th COG, I am sharing how many of the 28 ancestors I have found, a few tidbits about my finds, focusing for the most part on the fibs I found, or did not find. I even have a few theories about the fibs. SOOOO, here is how I did, noting the fibbers and those that fibbed a little more. Not exactly history, although Man's and my family histories are full of fibbers!

Man, out of his 14, 8 of those ancestors either did not live in the United States or had passed, or both. So, I needed to look for 6 that should be enumerated.

Man's father is still a MIA, he was most likely living with his first wife, and to be honest, I have no idea where, have some suspicions, but, this search will wait for indexing to be complete. No fibbin' going on here, yet.

Found Man's paternal grandparents, his grandmother was the informant, she fibbed about a LOT of stuff, no surprise there, she is a renown fibber. Yep, our resident fibber. She fibbed most about her information. The grandfather was working as a plasterer in an automobile plant, no surprise, no fibbing, just verification, we like verification. The great grandparents of this direct line, have all passed or live elsewhere, no searching required.

Man's maternal grandparents, found. There was a bit of fibbing here as well. The fibbing/stretching in this case had to do with ethnic heritage and the after effects of the World War I. Again, the great grandparents of this direct line had all passed by 1940, no searching required.

On my lineages, I need to search 11 of the 14 ancestors. My father and his parents are MIA. I had a few addresses, one as late as 1937, but, alas, they are not enumerated at that address. They will remain MIA until the indexes become available (and hopefully not AFTER that, LOL)

My father's paternal grandparents have been found, only one small inconsistency in their report, his age was off by a few years. He was retired. Nothing much new here. One of the most accurate findings.

My dad's maternal grandparents, well, he died in 1904, so I went looking for her, you may recognize the name, Lorena. And, I was successful at finding her, see:

I did learn from Lorena's entry in the 1940 that her hubby was working as a night watchman in a fertilizer plant (first employment information I have on J.C., new data! Woot!). Lorena told the truth, no fibbing here.

My mother and her parents were found quite easily, and fast, they were on the first page in the enumeration district. The fun find, was that in the houses nearby, were names I recognized, you see, next to my grandparents home was what we called, "the Hoover house". Guess who lived in the Hoover house in 1940, well, YAAA, the Hoovers! I know I will be playing with that information again. My grandfather reported the information and he fibbed too, he got the birth places correct and the age of his children correct. Grampa's fibs were about, age, a continuing issue with him. The age fibbin' issues followed him to the grave, even the birth year on his headstone is incorrect. SIGH

My grandfather's folks had already passed and no search was required. My grandmother's folks, on the other hand, lived until 1963 and 1965, and should be enumerated. So far, they are MIA. I know where I believe them to be living, in fact, I was stomping around the farm just last week. (See the photo below, yes, there is the farm, and just a mile or so west of here, is the West Virginia/Virginia state line.)

I pulled what I believe was the correct enumeration district for the farm, but, they are not there, or I skipped over them. I looked twice at the pages. I will revisit them again, but of course, but, think that I may have to wait for the indexing to be complete. See the thing is, somehow they were not enumerated in Rockingham County Virginia on the 1910 census. They were found in the 1920 and 1930 census enumerations. Will they eventually be found in the 1940? I have my doubts, am hopeful, but, have my doubts.

So, there you have it, the fibs, big and small and everywhere in between.

Next up, really studying each and every one of the reports I have pulled, extract the other interesting facts that were enumerated and see if there are any surprises. I am sure there will be.

For now, with the very little time I have had to play in the 1940 census, there are no major surprises, those that have been known to be fibbers, were fibbin' in 40. I find it interesting that they stuck to the fibs for years and years.

Who and what did you find in the 1940?? Do you have any fibbin' going on ??

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Coming Home, Flora and Fauna Report

2012-04-28T15:59:00.002-04:00

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

We arrived back in SE Michigan about 4:30 April 27th. Man started looking at lawn mowers, cars, batteries, water pumps, removed the BBQ that had been sitting in the hallway of the house for about 20 months (HUGE WOOT) and all sorts of mechanical stuff. I, of course, grabbed Sony and walked around the place discovering the situation with the flora and fauna and such.

It looks like it will be a bonus year for helicopters, which translates into, mucho weeding of baby trees, I could probably start my own forest from the looks of it, whew, every maple in the yard is loaded, really loaded - -

The forsythia and star magnolias are DONE! Ditto for the daffodils. The iris are just beginning to bud out, the grass is Irish Hills kelly 'hurt your eyes' green. The weeds are growing and I am already behind.

For the most part the dandelions have bloomed:

The johnny jump ups have jumped:

The bleeding hearts are right on time, they rarely bloom in my yard before April 23rd.

My wild violets that spread all over the yard, showing up someplace different each spring, are at peak, I think these are about on time, maybe a bit late:

There is water under the bridge, not as much as a few years ago when both ends of the bridge were actually UNDER water, but more than we see many years:

Usually I am not thrilled about the unpacking process, Tana is my home, at this point in my life, yes, Tana is my favorite home, I mean, look where she (and Jolly and Man) take me. But, I have to say that this year I have not been minding too much, and one of the major reasons is this, my Korean Spice bush (below). This is about 3 weeks early, usually full bloom does not happen until mid May, right about Mother's Day. It is a bonus blooms year, just love bonus blooms, don't you?

There are times I would so dearly love to have smell-a-vision/computer. This is one. Korean Spice has the most delectable smell, even walking 4 feet away you can smell it. There are not words to describe, except, maybe a bit of heaven. Every trip to Tana to bring something into the stick built has been enhanced by the delightful and heavenly scent I get to walk by. I purposely planted the Korean Spice near the driveway and garage so I could have just this experience year after year.

My lilacs are also in full bloom, again, several weeks early, the color on this is a deep reddish purple, rich in color and yes, they also smell heavenly.

The baby goslings are about a week or so old, still have some yellow about them, but, are about triple the size of new hatches, so I have to say they are a bit early too, maybe by a week or so.

It was an interesting walk about. Some of the flora were blooming right on time, others are 2 to 3 weeks early.

And, now, let the weeding and planting and such begin. Summer is right around the corner - -

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