Genealogy Jottings

Years ago, when I worked for Big Oil, occasionally our boss required us to clean our offices. (Yes, we had offices, not cubicles). We would all take a 2-hour block of uninterrupted time, and no telephone calls would be put through. Everyone would purge and file like crazy. After that, it seemed much easier to work without the mess that invariably accumulates at a busy desk.

Last week I cleaned up my desk at home. It took way more than 2 hours because I had not done it in a long time.  No genealogy got done, but this week, at a clean desk with everything neatly put away, I can work much more efficiently.

Already this morning I have corresponded with a second cousin in a search for his family photos, exchanged common ancestor information with a distant relative, and looked at a roll of microfilm. Sadly, it was the wrong roll of microfilm (again!), but that is another story. I can easily find something else to work on when I sit behind a clean desk.

I use The Master Genealogist software program to keep track of my work. One thing I like about it is the Task feature. For each person, you can keep an electronic list of research tasks to do. But thanks to a helpful researcher at the Computer Interest Group, last spring I learned you can also sort these lists by keyword. He puts county names in the keyword field whenever he creates a task. Later, he can pull up a list of all tasks to do in a given county! I am using this trick again this week. My great-grandfather’s first wife owned land in Trego County, Kansas, and recently I contacted the courthouse to find out if her estate had been probated there. The answer was “no”.  So I will create a new task that includes the Trego County keywords to remind myself to look at the land records there. Someday. Not a high priority.

Last week I said I would focus next on the newspaper microfilm from Charleston, Illinois. That plan did not work, because when I eagerly arrived at the library to look at it, I found they had ordered film from Charleston, South Carolina by mistake. So the reels went back, and the staff placed my order again. Microfilm reading will have to wait–probably another 6 weeks. In the meantime, I learned of a new Ancestry.com database of membership applications for the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Because I have several ancestors who served in that war, I decided to take a look at them. One who fought from Virginia was my great, great, ever-so-great uncle, Joshua Reed, and our family records show that he had just three daughters. I had assumed his line had daughtered out. When I looked at the applications submitted by his descendants, I was amazed to find that someone had applied for membership based on descent from Joshua’s son. He had a son? A new avenue to investigate! I am not sure yet where I will put this on the research priority list, but I am glad I took the time to search a new database.

Suddenly, several tempting research avenues have opened up for me all at the same time. Yesterday, my dad’s cousin called with information on the location of photos of various family tombstones. Today, the library called me to say 6 rolls of newspaper microfilm came in for me to view. I need to get marriage records for my grandfather’s siblings, including one in a city I will be passing through next week. I have promising leads on my great-grandfather’s dealings in Indian land. I can hardly decide which to tackle first, but I think it better be the microfilm. It has a due date!

We always tell beginning genealogists to start out by gathering family papers. I thought I had done that years ago. Yet this week I came across a folder of documents I did not know we had. My father seems to have done some genealogy research shortly after he retired in the 1980’s. I found copies of  Reed papers from libraries and courthouses. Some of these were on my research to-do list because I had no idea my dad had already done the work. And good work it was! I just wish he had told me about it long ago.

 This week the probate file for my great-grandfather’s first wife, Nancy Jane Dudley Reed, arrived in the mail. It held a couple of surprises. First of all, the family waited over 20 years to probate her estate. Why? I am guessing it was because they finally wanted to sell her Kansas land (location unknown to me) and could not do so until they cleaned up the chain of title. Since Nancy died as a resident of Illinois, that is where I found her probate record. Luckily, it gives me the land description in Kansas. I am intrigued to find that her land lies not in Neosho County, KS where Nancy and Sam lived as newlyweds in southeastern Kansas, but in western Trego County. Now I wonder how she acquired a tract so far away and whether she ever visited it. I am off to search some Trego County land and probate records to find out more.

Last Saturday we went on the first leg of the road trip and visited Lakeside Cemetery in Canon City, CO. I thought I went prepared (I had a camera, good shoes, rain gear, grass clippers, and a stiff brush) but as usual, I overlooked something. This cemetery has over 1500 graves, and I had no idea where to find my great aunt and uncle, Hettie and Thomas Reed. I had planned to check in with the cemetery office on arrival to get the location, but the office was closed, and there was not a cemetery worker anywhere. I should have called ahead. Luckily, my ever-resourceful husband was able to zero in on the likely grave location, and he found the spot. We took photos of the Reed graves, and then we went on to fulfill some FindAGrave requests for that cemetery. We posted those as soon as we got home, and one of the recipients sent us a very nice thank-you message.

Many Americans have German ancestry. Huge numbers of immigrants arrived from the German states after the revolutions of 1848. German culture flourished in American communities until World War I. After that, people hesitated to mention their German heritage, and we no longer saw many German events. But now, memories of the world wars are fading and people seem more willing to celebrate German culture. This summer alone, the Denver area will see two large German festivals. In genealogy, too, interest in German research grows. A couple of years ago I joined a relatively new group, the Germanic Genealogical Society of Colorado, to help me research Tony’s family. Because of the interest in Germany we see in the greater community, I think this group has potential, but we sorely need a leader. Only 8 people attended the summer picnic this week. I wish someone would step up, someone with German connections and good program ideas. German research can be difficult, and a focused group could fill a real need for guidance.

Family reunions are fun. My husband’s family has them, and even we “outlaws” have a great time. But when it comes to my own family, a reunion is not something we do. Living in the Denver area offers a good substitute for me.

We are at a crossroads for the nation, and many relatives come through here on their way to somewhere else. That is when I get to see them. Just last weekend we had wonderful visits on Saturday with Tony’s brother and on Sunday with my aunt as they traveled through. We caught up on all the family news, and no one had to organize a party.

For some time I have been trying to think of a quick and inexpensive genealogy trip Tony and I could take this summer. I wanted something within driving distance in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, or Kansas. Finally I made a list of cemetery markers not available on Find-A-Grave that I want to photograph. A few of the cemeteries I still need to search lie within driving distance of Denver, so now I have an idea for two trips instead of just one. First, I will visit Reed graves in southern Colorado, and later on I will take photos of various family plots in the Casper, Wyoming cemeteries. These two trips will add about 10 grave photos to my collection.