Genealogy Lessons Learned

The blog prompt from the world of Geneabloggers is "Week #21: Lessons learned. Fess up to your research mistakes so others can learn from them." Where do I begin? Seriously, I have done many things in genealogy the "correct" way. I had some excellent teachers early on in the dark ages of the 1980s. Did I listen to them all and do all that they recommended? Well, maybe not.

I am now someone who teaches other family historians through my writing, lecturing, and consulting. Do I always listen to my own advice. The honest truth? No. But, I mean well.

Here are a few of my lessons learned

1. Try to file paper away more frequently rather than let it pile up. The current view of my office stacks of paper is not for public viewing.

2. Do all years of city directories. I missed a couple years in the mid 1890s and years later kicked myself when I did check and found that several of the missing brothers of my great grandmother were listed at the same address as her.

3. I did not always copy the title page from a book when I made copies from the inner pages. That has led me back to libraries to get that info.

4. When you estimate the time needed at a courthouse or archive, double it. Or maybe triple it. I thought I was so smart I could get things accomplished faster that those who said that. I can't make the clerk retrieve a volume of records any faster than anyone else. Standing in line at a copier is slow for me, too.

5. I figured I had plenty of time to interview certain relatives. Turns out I did not. I have a cassette tape recorder and a digital recorder. Now it's too late for that older generation.

That's enough fessing up for one day.

"Small towns need to dust off websites"

Today's [Minneapolis] StarTribune.com carried an interesting column "Small Towns Need to Dust off Websites" by James Lileks. His comments about towns and websites hit home with me. I am sure that it will have great meaning for vacationers, genealogists, and others looking for information on a specific place. When I travel, I often look for a website of a place I am planning to work in or just stay the night in a motel. So often the info online is meager to say the least.

James is a unique writer -- I can just see him standing in his backyard or sitting at the dinner table when a column idea and the associated humor and commentary pop into his mind. His idea made me remember trying to find info online about the small towns where two of my adult children and their families were living.

A research trip to a new place always gets me planning. Is there a restaurant, park, any shopping, parking, and what does the place look like? Whether it is an outlying town or the county seat, I love to "see" what it looks like before my visit. James' emphasis on the history of the towns is right up my alley. Many libraries in these places in Minnesota and elsewhere have local history rooms that could provide much of the historical detail for such a website. A county history might have some neat details on the early history of the town.

James wrote "That's where the Minnesota Hamlet Website Project would come in. Sending unemployed Web designers around the state would be the modern equivalent of those WPA Guides the government used to sop up all the loose writing talent sitting around in the '30s. If they were put to good use, the idea went, they wouldn't sit around hungry and angry, writing rabble-rousing plays about woebegone Bolshevists. Send them around the country, the government decided, and have them do something nice and useful."

WPA [Work Projects Adminstation/Works Progress Administration] -- was he writing for me? Many of my readers know my passion for the records, abstracts, indexes, clippings, inventories, guides and other material created under the auspices of the WPA. The Historic Records Survey part created much that continues to assist family and town historians today. My lectures and articles on the WPA era are high on the list of requests.

I still believe that some sort of WPA system could help out-of-work Americans put food on the table for their family or pay the rent. Libraries and historical societies everywhere have less budget and staff to work with. Just think of all the tasks a WPA type worker could accomplish. Small town, county, and city websites would be wonderful projects also.

Anyone listening? Yes, the WPA and other parts of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal system was not perfect but it did produce a lot of good.

Support your local genealogical society and one other

Have you given some thought to all those other genealogists who walk through the cemetery and transcribe the info found on the tombstones? How about those who edit genealogy newsletters and quarterly journals? Who teaches classes in the area where you live? I'll bet the local genealogical society plays a large part in all of these.

What can you do to lend a hand to a genealogical society? What projects does your society have in the works. Have you been reading a really good guidebook and might be able to write a short article about its usefulness? Do you belong to your local society? Your local society may be a county or state society one. At any rate, be sure to join it And then join one in an ancestral area. Contribute to both. Can't make it to that other locality? Offer to do some typing, indexing, proofreading. Have the back issues of the quarterly publication been indexed -- if not, offer to do that so both your and others may benefit.

What does all this connecting with genealogical societies do for you? You may gain access to special databases, learn about area experts, find an index to an ancestral cemetery, and maybe even find a place to donate some funds.

Becoming a member and reading the publications and perusing the website could help you expand your genealogical knowledge, find others to network with, learn about the massive number of recommended (and a few not-so-hot) genealogical guidebooks, keep up-to-date on vital records legislation, gain you entry to some libraries and courthouses, plan your continuing genealogical education, and find out that someone else was researching one of your ancestral lines.

It really is quite simple. Join a genealogical society. That’s it. If you are already a faithful member of one or more, join a new one. Some even accept online credit card payments for memberships.

Multiple benefits

How many do you belong to? None? Well, let me tell you what you are missing. Or are you a member of only those in ancestral areas and not where you live? Continue reading for some reasons why membership is beneficial.

• In some localities you need a membership card to gain entry to a historical society, archive, town hall, or courthouse.

• Info in the society’s library or publications may not appear anywhere online. Or if online maybe only accessed by members.

• Some have the capability for online discussions and queries – but only for members.

• Local society events are the place to find new acquaintances that might be willing to car pool to a seminar a distance away, to the state archives, or to a major genealogy library.

• If you don’t drive, you may find someone that travels monthly to research at a large library and has room in the car for you to tag along.

• You would miss newsletters and flyers that tell about upcoming educational events.

• The society’s publication may contain articles from the local experts that share news about the updating of the newspaper index at the local library, of the volunteer efforts to transcribe all the local cemetery tombstones for an upcoming publication, or of the recent donation to the local history room of the 50 years of material collected by a local genealogist.

• Lending of lecture audiotapes, books, and periodicals may be for members only.

• You might find a fellow member that might lend you their entire bookshelf of back issues of a genealogical or historical society publication.

• Stuck on a genealogical software problem? A fellow member might be available to teach you the finer points of that software.

Old Queries
The publications of societies are often a gold mine. Even the queries published ten, thirty, or 60 years ago may help solve one of your genealogical situations. That person may no longer be interested in genealogy (although, I cannot fathom that!), may have died, may be ill, not have a computer, or for some other reason has not posted family information or queries online. This older periodical may be the only place you find some long sought after clues. (If your research shows that this long-time genealogist is deceased you may be able to find current relatives through an obituary or probate file.)

Take the step
Are you ready to consider joining or rejoining if it has been a while? Check for brochures at your area historical and genealogical libraries, and check online for names of societies at Society Hall , which is a joint effort of Ancestry.com and the Federation of Genealogical Societies.

Check out their websites
One way to find out more is to see if the society has a website. Society Hall is one place to find links. You might also try typing in the name of a society in a search engine or simply type in some key words such as: genealogical society Smithtown.

Please
While you are joining, please consider some volunteer time for the society. It can be in your local area as an on-site volunteer. If you live distant from one of your favorite societies maybe you could offer other services as mentioned above. They may need someone to do data entry of their old typewritten cemetery transcriptions, to write articles, or index a newspaper that is on microfilm. Participate further by donating genealogical books, CDs, and periodicals you no longer need. If the society has a library, your materials may be needed in their library. If they are duplicates of what is already in the library, or the society has no library, selling the donated materials helps with the society budget. Thirdly, why not add a society or two to your list of charitable organizations to which you donate funds? Almost all societies have very limited budget and would appreciate some extra funds for helping to share information and education.

82 years ago today -- Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic. Today's news is not so good.

82 years ago. This is the anniversary of the day Minnesota's own Charles A. Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. May 21, 1927 was the date he flew the "Spirit of St. Louis" from New York to Paris. It's easy to learn more about the man and his flight on a variety of websites. Type in his name or the plane's name into your favorite search engine and plan on a lot of interesting reading.

His childhood home and a visitors center are a historic site run by the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS). The home has original family furnishings.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the current economic situation may be forcing the Minnesota Historical Society to close the historic site of "Lindy's" childhood home in Little Falls, Minnesota.

MHS like so many other historical organizations, archives, museums, and libraries is in the midst of humongous funding and budget cutbacks. It's similar to what is happening with households, businesses, governments, and other organizations today. Staff, public hours, collecting and processing artifacts and manuscripts, cataloging, publishing, and other services are being cut dramatically. The Lindbergh site is on a preliminary list of places MHS maybe forced to close. Legislatures and governors across the U.S. are still in the throes of budget talks and not all value history. Our history both locally, statewide, and nationally is in dire straits.

Our historical memory is threatened at so many levels. Those involved in preserving history are constantly being put out of work, historical society staff trips around a state to pick up records in need of preservation and proper storage are being canceled, families are selling off beloved heirlooms in order to put food on the table, travel to research our family histories has been put on the back shelf, research and museum hours at repositories have been slashed dramatically and some have been closed entirely.

The immediate future is not looking up. Don't forget to let your legislators at the state and federal level know that history is fading away and if it is not saved, preserved properly, or kept within reach, it may not be retrievable.

Six weeks now left to save $50.00 on the FGS Conference price

We have just six weeks left to save $50.00 on the FGS/AGS Genealogy Conference!

Save $50.00. Sounds like a deal. The Federation of Genealogical Societies and Arkansas Genealogical Society invite you to four full days of genealogical education (and fun) surrounded by fellow genealogists, historians, librarians, archivists, editors, authors, and others who speak genealogy. Beautiful Little Rock, Arkansas is the site of the 2009 Conference “Passages through Time.”

How do you save $50.00? Register by July 1, 2009 and save $50.00 off the full conference registration cost. That is a significant savings, but to take advantage of this make your online reservation before the end of July 1st or make sure your regular mail registration is postmarked on or before July 1st. Of course, you may register after that, but saving $50.00 is mighty tempting.

• View the extensive conference program at www.FGSConference.org. It features many well-known specialists in genealogy, history, archives, and libraries along with lots of new faces and many lectures you have never heard before. There is something for every level of family historian. Learn about techniques, databases, libraries, archives, and maps that will help your search. Several tracks on Wednesday are geared toward those involved in running genealogical societies. Librarians and professional genealogists will find lectures dedicated to them.

• Use that $50.00 savings in the Exhibit Hall where you’ll find row after row of genealogical vendors, societies, software, memberships, magazines, databases, newsletters, books, maps . . .

• Check the conference blog (a online newsletter) for conference and locality news, updates, hotels, local transportation, expanded vendor, speaker and lecture info, advertising opportunities for businesses, individuals and societies, special events, FAQs and so much more. www.FGSConferenceBlog.org

• The FGS Conference has gone green. Watch the blog for details.

• Join your fellow genealogists for a night at the ballpark complete with a baseball game, lots of food, and door prizes. The Arkansas Travelers team is a Texas League AA affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

• Arrive on Tuesday, September 1st, pick up your registration packet anytime after 2:00 and join us for a free Ice Cream Social from 3:00-5:00 for registrants only. A couple of workshops that day make it a 4.25 day conference!

Louisiana Slave Records, 1719-1820

One of the blogs I regularly read is the "Ancestry Insider" which is written by "a person" who is currently a FamilySearch employee and formerly worked for Ancestry.com. The Insider continues to cover both FamilySearch and Ancestry.com. The writing is entertaining educational, and truthful. Successes, problems, neat features, corrections, and future plans for both sites are talked about.

A posting today discusses Ancestry.com’s version of the “Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy, 1719-1820” database, which Ancestry lists as “Louisiana Slave Records, 1719-1820.”

"In 1984, a professor at Rutgers University stumbled upon a trove of historic data in a courthouse in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Over the next 15 years, Dr. Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, a noted New Orleans writer and historian, painstakingly uncovered the background of 100,000 slaves who were brought to Louisiana in the 18th and 19th centuries making fortunes for their owners.

Poring through documents from all over Louisiana, as well as archives in France, Spain and Texas, Dr. Hall designed and created a database into which she recorded and calculated the information she obtained from these documents about African slave names, genders, ages, occupations, illnesses, family relationships, ethnicity, places of origin, prices paid by slave owners, and slaves' testimony and emancipations. . . ."

Check out the Ancestry Insider for the rest of the discussion and some previous problems with it on Ancestry.com, changes made by Ancestry, and comments from Dr. Hall herself. The Insider will have a later post reviewing the current Ancestry.com version of Dr. Hall's compilation.

David E. Rencher named Chief Genealogical Officer of FamilySearch

I can say I knew him when! A long-time friend, David E. Rencher, AG, CG, FUGA, FIGRS, has been named the Chief Genealogical Officer of FamilySearch. David is well-known in genealogy circles worldwide, yet he remains "one of us."

David is a former President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and is a dear friend to many in the genealogy world. It was nice to be able to congratulate him in person at the NGS Conference in Raleigh last week.

David will coordinate FamilySearch's activities and presence in the genealogy community and will act as a liaison to key industry communities and associations worldwide. He will also explore third-party affiliation opportunities and related marketing initiatives for FamilySearch.

Rencher is both an Accredited Genealogist and a Certified Genealogist. He holds a BA in Family and Local History from Brigham Young University. He served as president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) from 1997 to 2000 and the Utah Genealogical Association (UGA) from 1993 to 1995. He is a Fellow of the UGA and the Irish Genealogical Research Society, London. David is a former Director of the Family History Library. He is currently serving as the chair of the joint Federation of Genealogical Societies and National Genealogical Society committee for Record Preservation and Access and serves as a director for the National Institute of Genealogical Research Alumni Association (NIGRAA). He will continue to serve as the vice president of the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU) and the director of the Planning and Coordination Division of FamilySearch.

Many genealogists appreciate his involvement to ensure that patrons of family history centers had more timely delivery of microfilm, and he has extended microfilm circulation to public libraries. He initiated the book-scanning program for the Family History Library collection, and helped produce the automated indexes for the Social Security Death records, the 1880 U.S. Census, the 1881 British Census, and the military casualty files for Korea and Vietnam.

As if all this isn't enough, David's conference presentations are excellent. He is one of the speakers at the September 2009 Federation of Genealogical Society's Genealogy Conference.

Hello from the NGS Conference in Raleigh

Genealogists everywhere you turn. This is a good NGS Conference. Registrants and vendors seem pleased and the meals at the one banquet and two luncheons I attended have been great. I have seen people from my genealogy family that I haven't seen for years. Lots of hugs to catch up on. I have had opportunities to chat with some of the Facebook friends I had never met. Other genealogy friends I had seen more recently, but it has been a few months. The hugs are prolific, even with relatively new friends. These conferences are events that I crave -- for the knowledge, networking, and the laughter. My credit card seems to crave being used in the Exhibit Hall at several of the vendor booths.

The one banquet I attended was a very friendly, relaxed evening. It was the annual banquet for the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors and one of the awards that evening went to Jay Fonkert, CG, a fellow resident of Minnesota. I was privileged to be the speaker at this dinner.

The FGS/AGS booth in the Exhibit Hall is where the word is spreading about the September 2009 FGS/AGS Conference to be held in Little Rock. It has been a busy booth and people from all over the country have indicated they plan to register for that conference. Quite a few additional vendors have reserved booths in the Exhibit Hall.

U.S. National Archives Grants "Excellence in Genealogy" Awards.

This press release was just received from the National Archives. Nice to see promotion of things genealogical. This year is the 75th anniversaryt of the Archives.

May 6, 2009

NATIONAL ARCHIVES GRANTS "EXCELLENCE IN GENEALOGY" AWARDS
Essay contest celebrates 75th Anniversary of the National Archives

Washington, D.C. . . . Acting Archivist Adrienne C. Thomas has announced the winners of the National Archives "Excellence in Genealogy" Awards. The essay contest was held to celebrate both the 75th anniversary of the National Archives and the Fifth Annual National Archives Genealogy Fair. The awards recognize significant achievements in genealogy research, based on genealogical records from the National Archives. Acting Archivist Adrienne C. Thomas presented these awards at the Fifth Annual Genealogy Fair at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, on April 22, 2009.

First place ($1,000 award) was awarded to Myron McGhee of Decatur, GA, who is a Library and Information Science Masters student at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA. Mr. McGhee's essay, "The Use of National Archives Holdings for Genealogical Research," traces his family's ancestry using Federal, state, and local government records.

Second place ($500 award) was awarded to Stephanie D. Smith of Richtor Park, IL, who is studying intellectual property law at the John Marshall Law School, Chicago, IL. Ms. Smith's essay, "Resounding Resonance: Heeding the Call of My Male Ancestors," details her use of Federal census, military service, and pension records to trace her family history.

The National Archives is known worldwide as a treasure chest of genealogical information. Each year, millions of people use Federal records in the National Archives to search for their family roots. Census schedules, ship passenger arrival lists, citizenship papers, military pension files, land patents, and court records offer detailed evidence to flesh out family histories. Information about National Archives holdings relating to genealogy can be found at http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/. This competition provided an opportunity for students to share their research "treasures" with the public.

DearMyrtle debuts a new blog

I hope you readers know about DearMyrtle and her genealogical activities. This lady has energy. She has begun a new blog and this is what she had to say about her new venture:

"Well, after much anticipation and behind-the-scenes effort, Ol' Myrt here is pleased to announce the birth of a BRAND NEW Genea-Blog namely the Internet-Genealogy Blog featuring my take on topics presented in Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, Discovering Family History and History Magazine. NOT TO WORRY Ol’ Myrt here is not abandoning her own DearMYRTLE’s Genealogy Blog.

You can count on me to continue to opine” here on a regular basis. (Opine is a word Genea-Musing's Randy Seaver used recently to characterize one of Ol' Myrt's posts.)

WHY ANOTHER BLOG? As if six to twelve DearMYRTLE blog entries each week aren’t enough, eh? Seriously though, all sorts of great things are happening in the magazines from Moorshead Publishing, Ltd. and I’ve jumped at the chance to spotlight the work of some mighty talented genealogy experts.

Hmm, does Myrt really jump? You betcha. Just ask my grandchildren.

Visit http://blog.internet-genealogy.com today, and subscribe to the RSS feed using whichever blog reader you are familiar with.The best part is they’ve turned on “comments” so you can freely share your feedback with the other blog readers. I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy family tree climbing!

Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE, Your friend in genealogy.

Myrt@DearMYRTLE.com

Blogs:
http://blog.dearmyrtle.com
http://blog.teachgenealogy.com
http://blog.internet-genealogy.com"

Family sleuth knows how to connect the dots to the past

The online edition of the Jordan Independent newspaper in Minnesota has a May 2, 2009 article about a woman whose name is closely associated with the history of the City of Shakopee and Scott County, Minnesota. Betty Dols has done a lot for history and genealogy in Scott County.

I first met Betty Dols many years ago at a Minnesota Genealogical Society meeting. We saw each other over the years and she always had news on some interesting Scott County history or whatever project she was than working on. Genealogists do not often get publicly recognized for what they do in the field of genealogy. In Betty's case many descendents of Scott County ancestors have a lot they should thank her for. You can read the nice article at http://www.jordannews.com/news/activities/family-sleuth-knows-how-connect-dots-past-105

I blogged about one of Betty's projects back in June, 2008.

National Archives Kansas City Opens in New Location

I receive this press release today from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration’s Public Affairs Office.

Spring Prologue Magazine Highlights National Archives Move into Kansas City. New issue also features Harry S. Truman's 125th Birthday

Washington, D.C. . . . In May, the National Archives at Kansas City will open a new location in downtown Kansas City, MO, near historic Union Station. The new quarters and a special exhibit are described in the Spring 2009 issue of Prologue magazine, the official publication of the National Archives and Records Administration.

The new facility will be dedicated Memorial Day weekend, May 22-23, 2009. Highlights will include an official dedication with remarks by Acting Archivist of the United States Adrienne Thomas, an open house and history/genealogy fair, and a speech by Clifton Truman Daniel, former President Harry S. Truman's oldest grandson. Performances by the 312th Army band will precede and follow his remarks. Tours of the new facility and exhibits, It's Big! and The Kansas-Nebraska Act, will be available, along with family activities. For more information see
http://www.archives.gov/central-plains/kansas-city/dedication.

Harry S. Truman, whose standing among the public and historians has steadily risen since he left office several generations ago, is remembered on the 125th anniversary of his birth in this new issue of Prologue. Three articles written especially for the issue - including one by grandson Clifton Truman Daniel - explore Truman's devotion to history and his views of historians; his relationship with artist Thomas Hart Benton, who created the famous mural in the Harry S.
Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri; and his role as a grandfather to daughter Margaret's four boys.

Samuel Rushay, supervisory archivist at the Truman Library, recounts in "Harry Truman's History Lessons" the former President's lifelong abiding interest in history and the lessons he drew from it. "Truman's view of historians went beyond indifference; it bordered on contempt," writes Rushay. "In 1950, he lectured a newspaperman . . . that 'real history consists of the life and actions of great men. . . Historians editorializing is in the same class as the modern irresponsible columnist.'"

Raymond Geselbracht, a longtime Prologue contributor from the Truman Library staff, recalls the initial frosty relationship between Truman and Benton. The bond between the two eventually warmed, Geselbracht writes, and "each time [Benton visited,] the two men sat together in Truman's office and shared some friendly conversation and a glass of bourbon."

Clifton Truman Daniel recalls Truman's post-presidential years as grandfather: "I was six years old before I discovered that my grandfather had been President of the United States. That's because my parents kept it from me. Up to that time, Grandpa Truman was just someone who came around from time to time and was either to be accorded a great deal of respect or avoided entirely."

Special activities at the Truman Library are planned for May 8 and 9.
For details, see http://www.trumanlibrary.org/images/May8_9events.pdf.

Copies of this issue of Prologue are for sale in the gift shops at the Truman Library at 500 West U.S. Highway 24 in Independence and at the National Archives at Kansas City at 400 West Pershing Rd. in Kansas City, MO. For subscription information go to
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/order.

National Archives at Kansas City
One of 13 Regional Archives, the National Archives at Kansas City will hold Federal records from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, along with select material from Minnesota and the Dakotas. Among its holdings are original records of the U.S. District Courts, U.S. Attorneys, Bureau of Prisons, Steamboat Inspection Service, Bureau of Indians Affairs, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, National Parks Service, and microfilm publications of many of the nation's most significant records.

Treasures of the National Archives at Kansas City include records relating to the milestone Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, Wild West showman "Buffalo Bill" Cody, President Ulysses S. Grant, and Walt Disney which are among the 50,000 cubic feet of records in its holdings.

For more information about National Archives programs and exhibits, go
to www.archives.gov.

My Dad

Yes, it's been a while since I posted to my blog. The reason is family. After a week in Intensive Care, my father died on April 23rd, 2009. My Mom died 15 months ago and now they are together. We tried telling her she couldn't have him yet and from the extreme ups and downs during the week in ICU she wasn't quite sure if we could still have him for a while.

William E. Stuart died peacefully while his daughters Sheila, Linda, and Paula along with other family and caregivers were on the way to see him. Just the day before the doctor had commented that Dad would probably pull through this. We were fortunate to have lots of short conversations while he was in ICU. His full obituary is in both the Minneapolis StarTribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press online. I must remember to go buy the papers today. I usually read them online and this is so great when I am out of town lecturing or researching.

From the time he was a teenager, Dad was involved with the auto industry in one way or another. He began long ago by pumping gas and once owned his own station at Cleveland and Ford Parkway in St. Paul.

Dad tried to enlist in WWII but was turned down twice due to his color blindness. Then he was drafted and accepted! Dad spent his Army Air Corps WWII years maintaining planes, as a Flight Engineer, and as a trainer for other countries including some Russians. He became very ill while serving and at one time was the only American in a British Naval Hospital and while there Jack Benny visited him personally. After serving in the Army Air Corps for three years in World War II he turned down a job to work in Iraq for the Arab American Oil Company as a flight engineer on their aircraft. He wanted to come home.

He had another job offer from Northwest Airlines for aircraft maintenance. The interview took place at University and Prior avenues in St. Paul. The pay was only $1.00 per hour which he felt was too low. He did not take that job and instead walked up the street to the Slawik's auto dealership at University and Fairview avenues and applied for a job. He knew the general manager, Carl Dokmo, from his gas station days. He began work there in 1945. His family is grateful because that is where he eventually met my mother, Patricia Hanley. They were married October 4, 1947 and nine months later I was born.

From 1945 on, he worked at auto dealerships. He ended that career with 32 years at Superior Ford in the Minneapolis suburb of Plymouth. He quit working at age 87 only because Ben Stroh sold the dealership. For many years he was in fleet sales and sold a lot of trucks, cars, and police cars to the state, and many counties, cities, and school districts. On Friday, April 24th my oldest granddaughter and I were on Highway 169 in Shakopee and she asked if the vehicle in the next lane was an old police car. It was a maroon car -- an old highway patrol car and I told her that most likely her Great Grandpa Bill had sold that car to the Patrol.

In the 1950s he owned a gas station and car dealership at 650 Grand Avenue in St. Paul. Ace Hardware now occupies the building. A couple years ago I took Dad to visit the place and he pointed out where everything had been in that building including the paint booth, offices, and where the specialty sports cars were shown. I remember going there many times and eating next door at Fran O'Connell's restaurant where I learned to love lobster. In later years the family always knew that wherever we went Dad would know someone. Even in other places beyond St. Paul. He could remember the names of neighbors from his growing up years at 2019 Princeton in St. Paul.

Growing up we had new cars around most of the time. I wish I still had that early Ford Mustang that I got to drive as a teenager. My husband and I bought our first Minnesota car from him in 1969 but it wasn't a Ford! In December 2006 I bought the only car that I ever bought alone and had my own name on the title. He guided me along the way at Superior Ford. He loved my Ford Escape and every time I picked him up he had nice words to say about the vehicle. I may keep it forever. The family definitely misses the discounts on cars and trucks.

He was a good dad -- we had snow horses in the yard at 1080 Bowdoin St. in St. Paul, ice skating rinks in the back yard, and volleyball in the summer. They built the house in 1950 and the early pictures just south of St. Paul's Ford Plant show lots of empty space around that house in Reserve Township. That was a great neighboorhood and Dad and I drove through there a few weeks ago and talked about the families that lived in each house. He was a Dad who worked long hours but did take time to play games with his three daughters on Sundays. His BBQ skills are legendary. Pan fries (potatoes), rotisserie chicken, hamburgers, steak -- he did them all well. He and Mom loved to travel, but never on an airplane. They were always taking off once their kids were out of the house.

He loved his grandchildren and great grandchildren. In his later years, he asked about each of them constantly. Dad was always checking up on how his sister Jean was doing and her children. He really missed his sister Dorothy who passed away in 1994. He kept up on what her children were doing and where they were living. His memory never really failed and we are so grateful for that. Sure, there were some things he would forget to do, but he was still amazing at 89.

He went through some serious health scares over the years and overcame alcohol and tobacco addiction. Through all this he never stopped living. He was too antsy to sit still for long. Sure, he had his faults, but we just have to keep the great memories alive.

September 7, 2009 would have been his 90th birthday. We were planning a party at my sister Linda's lake place and they had figured out a way to get Dad down to the lake and on to a pontoon. He was so looking forward to that and we will still have the party and tell Grandpa Bill stories. We will laugh a lot and probably shed a few tears as we will also do tomorrow, April 27th at his funeral.

Minnesota History Fair, Minnesota Genealogical Society

Second Annual Family History Fair, April 18, 2009

Minnesota Genealogical Society
1185 Concord St. N.
South St. Paul
Free Parking in lots next to the building and on the street.

The second annual Minnesota History Fair will feature DNA Research, Ethnic Resources and Research Tools for beginning and advanced genealogists. The April 18 program is co-sponsored by MGS and its ethnic and national Branches and Affiliates. One program track will be devoted to DNA, with talks on family medical history, the use of DNA testing for genealogy, and privacy/legal issues in DNA testing. The six other sessions will include an introduction to the Immigration History Research Center, located in Minneapolis, two beginning genealogy talks, and three more-advanced talks. An MGS members' meeting as well as a Q&A session will be held during the lunch hour-see http://www.mngs.org/quarterly for more details.

Reminder: Pre-registrations must be received by April 13 and can be done online. After that date, registrations are at the door.

April 18th: Minnesota Genealogical Society Quarterly Meeting

The Minnesota Genealogical Society's first quarterly meeting for 2009 is the second annual Family History Fair. It will be held April 19th at the MGS Office and Library site at 1185 Concord St. N., South St. Paul, Minnesota. Click here for a map.

The April 18 program is co-sponsored by MGS and its ethnic and national Branches and Affiliates. One program track will be devoted to DNA, with talks on family medical history, the use of DNA testing for genealogy, and privacy/legal issues in DNA testing. The six other sessions will include an introduction to the Immigration History Research Center (located in Minneapolis), two beginning genealogy talks, and three more-advanced talks. A MGS members' meeting as well as a Q&A session will be held during the lunch hour. The full schedule, name of the lecturers, and how to register is on the society's website. A light lunch will be available with advance registation.

NGS Conference early registration deadline

I received this from the National Genealogical Society today: "The registration deadline for the early-bird lower conference rate for the NGS Family History Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina is approaching! Make your conference registrations by Tuesday 31 March 2009 to save $35!

The NGS Family History Conference is scheduled for May 13-16 2009 at the Raleigh Convention Center. Join us for over 150 educational sessions and workshops, luncheons and social events. Everything for the complete beginner through to the most experienced genealogist.

Full conference information can be found at www.ngsgenealogy.org. To register today go to: http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/register_online

[What do you do with the $35 savings? Spend some time in the Exhibit Hall and you will surely be able to spend it. ]

Make your voice heard for vital records access in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Have Pennsylvania ancestors? Frustrated with tough access issues? It is time to let Pennsylvania legislators hear from you. In yesterday's Lebanon Daily News, Pennsylvania professional genealogist wrote his column describing what is needed from genealogists in order to help pass a bill that would loosen up the access requirements. You can read Jim's column here. I thank Elissa Powell, also from Pennsylvania, for pointing this out on another list I monitor.

Pennsylvania isn't the only state with over the top restrictions on old vital records. I am so happy with the indexes to state level-reported Minnesota births and deaths via the Minnesota Historical Society and Ancestry.com and the films of the actual records at the MHS and the Family History Library, that I forget about the opposite being true in many other places. There are good states though, including Missouri and Arizona with both indexes and actual images online.

For a great listing of various vital records and other genealogical gems online, visit this site compiled and frequently updated by Joe Beine. CyndisList.com also has great vital records connections.

The FamilySearch pilot site has indexes and some images to vital records. This is a enormous project and the website tells how you can become involved with the indexing at home and at whatever amount of time you can give.

Did you read the Betsy and Tacy books?

OK, I am dating myself. As a child I spent a lot of time borrowing books from the Highland Park Library in St. Paul and my Grandma Toots made sure I had plenty of Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins books to read. One other series I liked was Maud Hart Lovelace's series about Betsy and Tacy. Maud lived from 1892-1980.

Apparently I was not alone for there is a Betsy-Tacy Society and many other websites devoted to discussion of the series. Much of the series is based on family, friends and sights in Mankato, Minnesota where Maud grew up, but in her books is called Deep Valley.

I was reminded of these books when I read about the destruction of the home of a real-life person, a man that she based one of her characters on. You can read more at Minnesota Post in a article by Joe Kimball.

During my own genealogy research I discovered I had relatives that had and do live in Mankato. I wonder if Maud or her parents ever spent time with any of my relatives. Perhaps my relatives purchased shoes in the shop Maud's father owned?