Genie Road Trip

I would guess that his lovely sombrero was picked up in Mexico? (Gran can correct me if I’m wrong.) My Great Aunt has lived in Arizona for decades and at one time or another a large portion of us have been down to visit and gotten a grand tour complete with trips into Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Anyway… Looking good, Grandpa Bill!

Happy hunting!

Jess

PS. Can you tell what O. J. Simpson’s selling there?

I now feel like I have just enough of a backlog of digital images to participate in the meme “Tombstone Tuesday”… so, the first up is one of a set of sinking stones from the “New” Rockford Cemetery.

This is the headstone of my 3^rd Great Aunt Katherine Baker Sears who died 162 years ago today. She is buried in the Sears Lot just south of the Hessler Mausoleum.

Katie Baker was the eldest child of Eugene and Amelia (Grove) Baker and the oldest sibling of my 3^rd Great grandmother Lena Grove Baker Johnson. She was born 05 December 1874 probably in Joliet, Illinois where her parents married and lived for a short time before Eugene brought them back to Kent County, Michigan.

In 1895 she married Clifton F. Sears. They had at least two children before he died in 1899—Dorothy and Charles F. After Clifton’s passing she kept house for her brother Frank Baker for a time and and from 1909 to 1943 she worked for C. F. Sears Co, her father-in-law’s dry goods store.

Katie was involved in the community with the Methodist Church, the Garden Club, Tuesday Club, Dorcas circle and more.

Rest well, Aunt Katie!

Happy hunting,

Jess

Happy belated birthday to the twins! You’ve come a long way…

But I still know who’s who in this picture.

I had the chance to head back to Rockford, MI on Saturday to meet up with some of the ladies I used to volunteer with at the Rockford Historical Museum as well as do a little research. I’ve mentioned it before but I have got to repeat… It is absolutely amazing what you can find in small local museum collections.

One of my goals on Saturday was to look at some of the society related holdings—like the membership ledger of Rockford’s Odd Fellows or the Rockford Garden Club—and a few of the old farm and mill ledgers. Both types of ledgers offer a snapshot of something important to the men and women involved.

With societies and fraternal  orders it shows you something they believed in the importance of—for humanitarian or social status reasons—enough to pay dues. And each comes with its own elements of bureaucracy, for example, in the case of the I. O. O. F. ledger, entries gave the occupation, age, and dates of advancements within the society for its members along with the credits and debits associated with tracking dues. The page below is for my 5th Great Uncle Embree Lapham.

The farm and mill ledgers give an interesting—if hard to read—look at the day-to-day commitments of this hardworking lot. The shot below is a random page that just happened to include a payment to Dr. Charles Holden (my 4th Great Grandfather) for medical attendance. As you flip through the pages there are a number of people mentioned but in 1867 alone there are a number of mentions of Dr Holden as well as his sons Horatio and Chapin (my 3rd Great Grandfather ).

What else might you find in those out-of-the-way and under promoted museums? Pictures, surname files, genealogies, cemetery records, artifacts, bibles, etc. Sometimes families want to pare down their collections, share their history, or promote their towns. All of that fabulous treasure has the potential to end up in community collections. So, it is totally worth checking them out, asking questions, and (dare I add) helping out at your local museum.

Happy hunting,

Jess

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

My “Hello World” post went up a year ago today (Sorry, Geneabloggers, but it’s definitely today) and it’s been a fun and bizarre, but research-rich, year. While I had hopes of making more road-trips I’ve often had to opt for short hops and learning more about my local institutions—which, mind you, are none too shabby. But this has been a good year for getting organized, connecting with family, and connecting with fellow researchers.

I want to thank all my followers, subscribers, and friends. It may seem funny to say it, but it’s so cool to know that there are people reading my posts! A special thank you to Anne at Adventures of a Kidney Donor! A blog had never crossed my mind until we got to talking about hers. Thanks so much, to the supportive, informative and fun Geneabloggers community. And they’ve heard it before but Sue, Bobbie, Kris, Jeri, and Ariana… Thank you for your continued support! And here’s to another fun and productive research year.

My parents didn’t do the big first birthday parties the way their parents or my generation seems to be stuck on (which I’m totally fine with) so I had to go back to find a good graphic.

Happy Hunting,

Jess

We believe this is Earl Shea with my great grandfather (and Earl’s older brother) Robert Shea. According to the 1900 and 1910 Census listings Earl was born sometime around 1893. In his mother’s obituary he was listed as living in Middleton, Ohio. Grandma thought that he might have married a woman named Gussie, and they might have had a daughter. That’s about the extent of what I think I know about him.  I haven’t found him in later Census and I’m very curious about where he went. Ah well… for now he remains one of my elusive relatives.

But the brothers look pretty dapper here!

Happy hunting,

Jess

Relocating from Michigan to a base in Alaska? Pack up the “V-Wagon”—as it’s labeled on the back of this picture—of course. The Johnson family did just that loading up this van with parents, 3 kids, 2 dogs, and a cat. They have a bunch of interesting stories of their trip and their time in Anchorage—like being chased by moose, housing with flat roofs and tons of snow (yes, they caved in), and the fact that they managed to move on to Grandpa’s next base posting in time to miss the 1964 earthquake where the prominent image from the quake was their destroyed elementary school, Government Hill.

Happy hunting,

Jess