More Joyful Times ~ Adding Another New Daughter-in-Law's Name to My Genealogy Database

September 12, 2016, 4:12 pm

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It has been such a wonderful and eventful year for our family. We added a beautiful daughter-in-law to our family in June when our third-oldest son married his sweet bride in Provo, Utah.

Earlier this month we added another beautiful daughter-in-law to our family. Our youngest son and his lovely bride were married on September 3rd in Fresno, California.

Our son and his sweet fiance (now wife) were married in the Fresno California Temple. They were sealed for time and all eternity. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that marriages performed in the holy temple can last throughout the eternities and not end at death.

Their wedding day was absolutely gorgeous.

Gwen Hawkins, owner of Gwen Hawkins Photography, did an amazing job. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the photos from our son and daughter-in-law's special day.

I have now added our sweet new daughter-in-law's name to my Legacy Family Tree database. Such happy times for our family!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

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Twile Integrates with FamilySearch

September 28, 2016, 11:37 am

≫ Next: Little Family Tree, A Genealogy App for Children, Now FREE to Download

≪ Previous: More Joyful Times ~ Adding Another New Daughter-in-Law's Name to My Genealogy Database

DONCASTER, UK and SALT LAKE CITY, UT (September 28, 2016)—Twileand FamilySearch International have announced the launch of a new feature that will let FamilySearch.orgusers generate a family history timeline and share their research with other family members online. The timeline is designed to make research and discoveries more engaging for the broader family—especially younger generations—and to encourage collaboration.

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Connecting securely to FamilySearch.org, Twile imports a user’s tree and automatically adds events, such as births and marriages, to a personal, interactive timeline of their family history. Users can then browse the timeline, add photos, and share it privately with other family members.

By presenting a family tree as a timeline, Twile makes it easier for the non-genealogists in a family to explore their ancestry through events, stories, and pictures. It also encourages collaboration by letting them add missing details, their own life events, and recent photos.

UK-based Twile won two awards in the Innovator Showdown at RootsTech 2016, including the People’s Choice award. In response to customer requests, Twile immediately started development on its FamilySearch integration.

Paul Brooks, Twile CEO, said, “The FamilySearch import has been our most requested feature, especially following our success at RootsTech. We have a passionate community of FamilySearch users who have waited patiently while we built it, and we’re so happy that it’s now ready for them.”

Currently, the integration imports FamilySearch’s Family Tree data into Twile. Soon, Twile will be adding support for FamilySearch’s memories and photos plus an automatic synchronisation that will keep the Twile timeline up to date as FamilySearch records change.

“FamilySearch is always looking for fun, engaging experiences that help our patrons make new personal discoveries and family connections. Twile’s rich, custom timeline of key family history events does exactly that!” said Steve Rockwood, FamilySearch CEO.

To utilize the new feature, FamilySearch users will need to register for Twile at www.twile.com. The basic service is free and lets users add up to 10 events and photos per month, while a Twile Premium account allows subscribers to add unlimited events and photos for $49.99 per year.

Link to or easily share this release online at media.familysearch.org.

###

About FamilySearch

FamilySearchis the largest genealogy organization in the world and is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.orgor through more than 4,921 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Twile

Twileis a UK-based interactive timeline of your family’s past, present, and future. The timeline consists of photos and milestones—such as births, marriages and deaths—that tell the story of your family from your earliest known ancestor right through to today. Family historians can import their family tree from FamilySearch and then add more recent events from their own life before inviting their family members to explore and contribute.

While the Twile website is aimed primarily at family historians, it is also designed to encourage the rest of the family to add their own content, including the younger generations. Since its beginnings, Twile has been backed by Creative England, a number of UK angel investors and Findmypast, with whom they partnered in February 2016. Twile was the winner of two innovation awards at RootsTech 2016, including People’s Choice.

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Little Family Tree, A Genealogy App for Children, Now FREE to Download

October 3, 2016, 9:41 am

≫ Next: Fab Finds on Hiatus

≪ Previous: Twile Integrates with FamilySearch

Little Family Tree, A Genealogy App for Children, Now FREE to Download

Herriman, Utah, October 1, 2016

Yellow Fork Technologies LLC has just released a major update to their app, Little Family Tree, making it FREE to download through the mobile app stores. Little Family Tree is an app that teaches children about their family history through interactive games and activities with information obtained from an online family tree.

Today's children intuitively understand how to use touch devices such as smartphones and tablets. Little Family Tree brings a child's personal family history to them through this learning medium and shares it in a way that is accessible to them. An adult logs into an online family tree account, such as FamilySearch, and the app synchronizes the data while children play. There is no need to manually upload or enter family history data into the app and any changes made or photos added to the online tree will synchronize with the app. The app is read-only and does not change the data on the online tree.

Playing Little Family Tree teaches children to: identify family members by name, relationship, and picture, understand who and where they come from, and recognize and navigate a family tree, all in a fun and engaging way. Most importantly, they will feel a connection to their ancestors as they learn about them.

Little Family Tree is available for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets and may be downloaded directly from the app stores. The FREE version includes five games; five additional games are available in the premium version for $3.99 in the U.S., priced accordingly in other regions. More information, videos, and tutorials can be found on the website at http://www.littlefamilytree.com.

About Yellow Fork Technologies LLC:

Little Family Tree is the inaugural product of Yellow Fork Technologies, LLC, of Utah. Yellow Fork Technologies, LLC was founded in 2015 with the key mission to make family history more accessible and engaging through technology. http://www.yellowforktech.com

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Fab Finds on Hiatus

October 7, 2016, 3:41 pm

≫ Next: Family History Library Begins Construction of New Discovery Center

≪ Previous: Little Family Tree, A Genealogy App for Children, Now FREE to Download

Just a quick post to let you know that my weekly Fab Finds posts will be on hiatus until further notice.

In a previous post I shared the news that we bought a new house and are in the process of selling our current home. I am happy to tell you that we have received an offer on our current home and it is now in escrow!

Escrow closes a month from today and our new home is scheduled to be completed at the end of January 2017, which means we will be moving twice. We will be moving into our temporary rental home by the end of October.

As you can imagine, we have a lot going on around here including packing for our move. Hopefully things will settle down a bit once we move into our rental home and then I will be able to get back to my usual blogging schedule.

Thank you for your patience!

Jana

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Family History Library Begins Construction of New Discovery Center

October 10, 2016, 11:28 am

≫ Next: Mary and Albert Webster ~ Why did they die only weeks apart?

≪ Previous: Fab Finds on Hiatus

Family History Library Begins Construction of New Discovery Center

Salt Lake City, Utah (October 10, 2016)--The popular Family History Library in downtown Salt Lake City has begun construction on its new Family History Discovery Center. When complete, the main floor attraction will create family history experiences for patrons of all ages. The project is on a fast track to be completed in February 2017. Admission will be free to the public.

"We have been excited for quite some time to start construction on the new discovery ce

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nter," said Tamra Stansfield, manager of the Family History Library. "Our guests, particularly those who are completely new to family history, will be able to enjoy fun, personal discoveries through interactive technological experiences with their family's history."

Stansfield said the new center will make the library another unique and exciting destination for locals, families, and youth groups, as well as for tourists of all ages visiting Utah or Temple Square from around the world.

The Family History Library is the flagship facility in a network of over 4,900 family history centers worldwide managed by FamilySearch International, a nonprofit subsidiary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The fun, engaging activities designed for the discovery center are part of an organizational effort to introduce more people to the many fun facets of personal and family discovery.

FamilySearch is learning that if individuals and families have fun, personalized, quick successes and experiences with their family’s history, they will continue to be more involved at different levels throughout their lives. It also deepens appreciation for family connections across multiple generations.

The new discovery center will create a fun environment for families to discuss their family history together in inviting, unexpected ways. Youth particularly will enjoy the life-size touch-screen computer monitors for some of the interactive stations. In addition, there will be an enclosed space for parents with smaller children that will allow them to explore their family history while also being able to observe their children play.

A fun green-screen feature will let guests choose from a variety of themed backgrounds to create a lasting photo memory of their visit to the discovery center.

The new transformations are designed to offer unique interactive and immersive discovery experiences for visitors of all ages while still offering the vast collections and expertise the library is known for among family history enthusiasts and researchers.

When the new discovery center opens, "We expect to find the next generation of dedicated family historians at play in our library," said Stansfield.

Many of the interactive features in the new discovery center will use a patron's family history in the FamilySearch.org Family Tree to create custom learning experiences at a variety of stations. Stansfield suggests individuals and families take the time now during construction to create a free account at FamilySearch.org from home and begin building their family tree, adding favorite family stories and photos together. A developed family tree will enhance their experience when the discovery center opens in 2017.

The Family History Library's staff and other typical services and historic record collections will continue to be accessible during the construction of the discovery center.

The prototype discovery center currently located in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City will be closed to the public once the new center is opened in 2017 but will continue to operate as a FamilySearch development lab, where future experiences can be created and tested. A smaller discovery center was opened earlier this year in Seattle, Washington.

If you would like to follow the new center's construction progress, a time-lapse camera link is available online here.

Find this news release and more artist's renderings of the new discovery center online here.

###

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,921 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Mary and Albert Webster ~ Why did they die only weeks apart?

October 19, 2016, 5:34 pm

≫ Next: Veteran's Day Tribute ~ 2016

≪ Previous: Family History Library Begins Construction of New Discovery Center

While researching my maternal 2nd great-grandfather, Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster, on Ancestry.com, I found something that really struck me. I was looking at the LifeStory feature for Ebenezer, and found the following entries. (LifeStory is basically a narrative of an ancestor's life in a timeline format.)

Within about 2 weeks time, Ebenezer lost both his daughter, Mary Alice, and his younger brother, Albert.

Mary Alice passed away when she was only 2-1/2 years of age on 8 March 1862. Albert passed away when he was only 3 years of age on 22 February 1862.

Albert Gallitan Byers Webster was the son of my 3rd great-grandparents, Moses Augustine Webster and Amanda Melvina Carlisle.

Mary Alice the eldest child born to Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster and Cynthia Maria Waterman. Cynthia was expecting their second child when Mary passed away. In October of that same year, she gave birth to their second child, a little girl they named Lura Elizabeth.

Albert was the seventh of eight children born to Moses and Amanda. Unfortunately, Albert was not their only child who passed away at young ages. Only four of their eight children reached adulthood. I've written about two of these children in previous posts: Wednesday's Child ~ Remembering Asbury and Wednesday's Child ~ Remembering Fred Lincoln Webster, Asbury's Brother. I still need to write about Mary Irene Webster, who passed away when she was almost three years old.

Albert and Mary passed away only two weeks and one day apart. They both lived with their families in Winnebago, Illinois. I wonder what happened. Why did each of them die? Was there an outbreak of some kind of illness in the community or was there an illness isolated to these two families? Hopefully I will be able to find out the causes of death for Mary and Albert in the future.

It's so beneficial to use timelines when researching ancestors. These tools can provide a more complete and richer context about their lives. Thank you Ancestry.com for your LifeStory feature on your website!

Note: A comment brought to my attention that the timeline may be a bit confusing. Under both dates in the round circles on the left side it says "AGE 23" which refers to Ebenezer's age at the time his daughter and brother passed away.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2016 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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Veteran's Day Tribute ~ 2016

November 11, 2016, 9:33 am

≫ Next: When Did My Grandparents Vote In Their First U.S. Presidential Election?

≪ Previous: Mary and Albert Webster ~ Why did they die only weeks apart?

Happy Veterans Day!

I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of the brave men and women who have served or who are currently serving in the military to preserve the freedoms we all enjoy. And thank you to their families for their sacrifice as well.

In last year's Veterans Day tribute post I listed the blog posts I've written about some of the military veterans in my family tree, whether or not the posts were actually about their military service. I've added a few more posts to my list this year. Those new posts have an asterisk next to them.

Revolutionary War

War of 1812

Civil War

Korean War

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2016 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

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When Did My Grandparents Vote In Their First U.S. Presidential Election?

November 16, 2016, 2:15 pm

≫ Next: Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for November 18, 2016

≪ Previous: Veteran's Day Tribute ~ 2016

Katherine R. Wilson's recent post titled My Grandparents’ First U.S. Presidential Election caused me to wonder about my own grandparents and when they may have been able to vote for a U.S. president for the first time in their lives too.

While doing research for this post, I found a helpful website called "270 TO WIN." The website includes a "Historical Presidential Elections" feature under the "Presidents" tab. You can see presidential election results from 1789 to 2012.

Arthur Harry Iverson

The first presidential election my paternal grandfather, Arthur Harry Iverson, would have been able to vote in was held in 1936. He was 25 years old at the time and was living in California. The candidates were Franklin D. Roosevelt and Alfred M. Landon.

Ingrid Anna Gillberg

My maternal grandmother, Ingrid Anna Gillberg, would not have been old enough to vote in that election. Her first opportunity to vote in a U.S. presidential election would have been in 1940. At that time she would have been 27 years old and was living in California. The candidates were Franklin D. Roosevelt and Wendell L. Willkie.

Debs Warren Webster

My maternal grandfather, Debs Warren Webster, immigrated to the United States in 1952. He became a U.S. citizen in 1973, so his first chance to vote in a U.S. presidential election was in 1976. Debs would have been 63 years old at the time and was living in California. The candidates were Jimmy Carter and Gerald R. Ford.

Willis Quillin

My maternal grandmother, Willis Quillin, (technically step-grandmother, but she is Grandma to me) immigrated in 1952 along with her husband Debs and their family. She also became a U.S. citizen in 1973. Therefore, her first opportunity to vote in a U.S. presidential election was in 1976. She was 56 years old at the time and was living in California. The candidates were Jimmy Carter and Gerald R. Ford.

Did my grandparents actually vote in these U.S. presidential elections? I don't know. But these are the dates when they were first eligible to vote.

How about your grandparents? When was their first opportunity to vote in a U.S. presidential election?

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2016 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for November 18, 2016

November 18, 2016, 2:34 pm

≫ Next: FamilySearch celebrates 10 years of indexing historic records

≪ Previous: When Did My Grandparents Vote In Their First U.S. Presidential Election?

Hello wonderful readers! Fab Finds is back! Thank you for your patience while Fab Finds was on hiatus for a few months. I'm happy to tell you that we sold our home and escrow will be closing soon. Now we can enjoy the holidays and spend time with family while we wait for our new home to be completed, which should happen around the end of January 2017.

NOTE: Next week is Thanksgiving here in the United States. Therefore there will not be a Fab Finds post next Friday. Fab Finds will resume on December 2, 2016.

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

The value of the 30×30 challenge by Janine Adams, author of Organize Your Family History
Family History at Thanksgiving! by Risa, author of RestlessRisa
Easy DIY Ancestor Advent Calendar by Jen, author of Genealogy Jen
Becoming an Accredited Genealogist: Levels 2 & 3 Study Group – Session 4, The Oral Review and Ethics Agreement by Diana Elder, author of The Family Locket Blog
My Grandparents’ First U.S. Presidential Election by Katherine R. Willson, author of the Social Media Genealogy Blog
Who Was the First President Your Ancestors Could Vote For? by Dawn Kogutkiewicz, author of Dawning Genealogy
Norway: Three dates of death by Martin Roe Eidhammer, author of Norway Genealogy and then some
Keep Sharing Small Bites! by Melissa Corn Finlay, author of The Finlay Family
HAVE A LOYALIST OR TWO IN THE FAMILY? CHECK UELAC’S DATABASE AND GENEAGEM – REVISITING STEPHEN MORSE’S ONE-STEP WEBPAGES by Linda Stufflebean, author of Empty Branches on the Family Tree
All caught up with this part of the We’re Related APP by Russ Worthington, author of A Worthington Weblog
about a recipe card (free download) by Allison Kimball, author of simple inspiration
Google’s new PhotoScan will Scan Your Photos and Automatically Remove Imperfections, No Scanner Needed by Dick Eastman, author of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
DO YOU HAVE MAYFLOWER ANCESTORS? by David Taylor, author of The Family Nexus
A 303-Year-Old Marriage Record Found for My 7th Great-Grandparents by Cathy Meder-Dempsey, author of Opening Doors in Brick Walls
An Accident and a Friendship by Zola Troutman Noble, author of Rattling Old Bones: Writing a Family History

RootsTech Posts

"May I Introduce To You" Interviews on GeneaBloggers.com

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Blogosphere This Since My Last Fab Finds Post

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Jana’s Place

New Kitchen and Dining Room Flooring and Some Big News

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2016 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

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FamilySearch celebrates 10 years of indexing historic records

November 28, 2016, 2:06 pm

≫ Next: Light the World ~ A Special Christmas Video. Share His Light Through Service

≪ Previous: Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for November 18, 2016

FamilySearch celebrates 10 years of indexing historic records

Unprecedented crowd-sourced initiative has made billions of records easily searchable online for free

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Salt Lake City, Utah (28 November 2016), You go online to FamilySearch. You type an ancestor’s name. You instantly find your ancestor in any number of 5.5 billion historical records in the free online database. You are elated at how easy it was as you fill in another missing piece of your family tree puzzle. That successful experience was brought to you by a phenomenon called indexing. And most likely, you were the recipient of a free gift empowered by the efforts of many online indexing volunteers.

Next week (December 5th) is International Volunteer Day, and FamilySearch International is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its web-based, volunteer-driven, indexing initiative, which started in 2006. The migration from the previous CD-ROM-based format to the web has been nothing short of amazing, and the rest has been record-making history—literally. The indexing initiative is the largest undertaking of its kind and is unparalleled in its achievements.

As a thank you to indexers and the millions of people who have found family documents from their efforts, FamilySearch is sharing a collection of free downloadable “I HEART Families” images for use on social media, or as cell phone and computer wallpaper.

FamilySearch and its predecessors have been gathering and preserving the world’s historic records to assist people like me and you in making family history discoveries. It publishes millions of digital images of historic records from around the world on FamilySearch.org weekly. FamilySearch’s proprietary software, a lot of computing power, and the contributions of hundreds of thousands of volunteers and countless millions of donated hours make the genealogically rich names and information hidden on those historic records easily and freely searchable to millions of curiosity seekers online.

In 2006, the call went out for volunteers to help in this unprecedented, global cause, and the online community responded. In fact, in just 10 years, over 1.2 million volunteers worldwide have joined the cause and continue to donate much needed time and talent to help index the world’s historic genealogical records.

In the past 10 years, online volunteers have personally pored over 1.5 billion images of historic records from all over the world and made over 5 billion ancestral names conveniently searchable to me and you from any web-enabled device.

Who are these unsung heroes? “They are your next door neighbors and work colleagues who continue to respond to the call to make the world’s historic records freely searchable online for anyone interested in discovering the branches of their family trees,” said Collin Smith, a marketing manager for FamilySearch Indexing. “They hail from all over the world—200 countries to be exact and collectively, the volunteers speak and read 58 languages.”

Why do they do it? Their motivations vary according to Smith. Some are paying it forward because they personally have benefited from priceless searchable record collections online. Others like participating in something meaningful and historic that will make a big difference somehow. Ornella Lepore, a native of Naples, Italy, now living in the United States, helps index Italy’s records online—particularly those pertaining to her ancestral roots. “I can’t afford to travel to Italy as often or whenever I want to do my family history research,” said Lepore. “Having the historic records indexed online where my ancestors are from will help me in my research in the long run.” Not every historic collection from Italy she helps with will hold keys to her personal research, but she knows in time, some of them will. And that’s motivation enough for her.

The entire suite of US Censuses from 1790 to 1940 is most notable of the volunteers’ efforts. All of those records are now freely searchable online at FamilySearch.org. In 2010, the power of this online community was unleashed on the newly released 1940 US Census. They indexed the entire census—all 3.8 million pages of it—in just 4 months, giving access to 134 million names.

And so these volunteers continue to show up daily online, unsung and untold in the internet clouds, ages 12–95, picking historic projects of interest and making a difference for the next person online hoping to find an ancestor in the growing sea of historic records.

Learn more about volunteering online at FamilySearch Indexing. Find this release and additional supporting photos in the FamilySearch Media Room.

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About FamilySearch

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Light the World ~ A Special Christmas Video. Share His Light Through Service

November 29, 2016, 3:57 pm

≫ Next: Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for December 2, 2016

≪ Previous: FamilySearch celebrates 10 years of indexing historic records

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has produced an inspirational video that I'd like to share with you today. It's not even December yet, but I wanted to share this video before December because of the wonderful daily service event that begins on December 1st.

This is a truly beautiful way to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We can share His light with those around us through acts of service.

The following link has ideas for the 25 days of service leading up to Christmas Day.

Follow Our Savior Jesus Christ. In 25 Ways. Over 25 Days.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2016 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for December 2, 2016

December 2, 2016, 1:58 pm

≫ Next: Homer Horton Webster ~ He Deserves To Be Remembered

≪ Previous: Light the World ~ A Special Christmas Video. Share His Light Through Service

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

Making Family History Fun for the Kids by Miles Meyer, author of Miles' Genealogy Tips
What Was Your Ancestor’s Property Worth? by Dick Eastman, author of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
Preserving Diaries and Journals AND When Genealogy has Gone to The Dogs! AND Documenting Your Ancestor's Transportation by Melissa Barker, author of A Genealogist In The Archives
Know the History, Know the Records by Sue, author of KindredPast
Creating and Preserving Heirloom Decorations With Children this Christmas by Nicole Dyer, author of The Family Locket Blog
DIY Ancestor Cards Advent by Jen, author of Repurposed Genealogy
BACK UP, BACK UP AND BACK UP! AND RELEASING SLAVES OF JOHN F. WILLIAMS, 1814, HARDIN COUNTY, KY by Linda Stufflebean, author of Empty Branches on the Family Tree
How to Properly Store Your Negatives by Cora Foley for Organizing Photos
The Small Bonuses of Family Genealogy by theailurophile, author of Leaf Twig and Stem
Slave Name Roll Project: RELEASING Sophia and Her Child AND A West Virginia Coal Miner’s Poetic Memories by Cathy Meder-Dempsey, author of Opening Doors in Brick Walls
Military Monday ~ Short Snorter by Elizabeth Handler, author of From Maine to Kentucky
Genealogy Blog Party: Celebrating Traditions --My Grandma's Rolls by Andrea Kelleher, author of How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey
Genealogy Blog Party: Chickie Pitcher and Butterscotch Brownie Traditions by Marian B. Wood, author of Climbing My Family Tree
We’re Related–The APP was correct AND We’re Related–Update 30 Nov 2016 by Russ Worthington, author of A Worthington Weblog

"May I Introduce To You" Interviews on GeneaBloggers.com

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Jana’s Place

Fall in Provo Canyon

Grandpa's Postcards

Avenida São João – São Paulo Brazil

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2016 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

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Homer Horton Webster ~ He Deserves To Be Remembered

December 7, 2016, 8:47 pm

≫ Next: Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for December 9, 2016

≪ Previous: Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for December 2, 2016

I recently received an email from a newly-discovered cousin on my Webster side. In her email, she mentioned that she had enjoyed looking through some of my blog posts. I really appreciate hearing that so much!

She had a couple of questions for me, one of which was about Homer Horton Webster, my 1st cousin 4 times removed. As I was looking at what I had on Homer, I did a little research on him on FamilySearch.org and found the following death record for him.¹

This death record shows a different date and place than what I had in my genealogy database. It also provides a cause of death for Homer.

Information gleaned from Homer's death record:

Number: 226
Name in Full: Webster, Homer
Date of Death: January 20, 1873
Condition: Single
Age: 19
Place of Death: Lebanon
Place of Birth: Lebanon
Color: White
Disease, Direct or Indirect Cause of Death: Heart Disease
Place of Residence: Lebanon Twp.
By Whom Reported: Assessor

Wow! Homer's cause of death was heart disease? At 19 years of age? That is so very sad.

In a previous post, I wrote about Homer's father, George Kinney Webster. In that post I shared that most of George's children, including Homer, passed away before they reached the age of about thirty. In fact, most died while they were in their twenties. Now that I have the cause of death for Homer, I'd like to do some research to try and find the causes of death for his siblings.

According to The History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut,² Homer never married, so he has no descendants to remember him. Homer deserves to be remembered, so we will remember him in this post.

I'm glad that my cousin emailed me and that it caused me to do more research about Homer Horton Webster. This is more proof that blogging about family history is beneficial. Cousin connections are awesome!

Have you made cousin connections because of your blog?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2016 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

1 "Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-695Q-M8N?cc=2128172&wc=Q68D-8SX%3A1296112677%2C1296112678 : 30 September 2014), Meigs > image 84 of 373; county courthouses, Ohio. Homer Horton Webster, Line 226, Page 62 and 63. 1873. Accessed 7 December 2016^↩
2 Webster, William Holcomb, and Melville Reuben Webster, D.D. "XXVI."History and Genealogy of the Governor John Webster Family of Connecticut. Vol. 1. Rochester: E. R. Andrews Printing, NY., Homer Horton Webster, 1183. Print.^↩

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Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for December 9, 2016

December 9, 2016, 9:05 am

≫ Next: Rollin's Been Working On The Railroad

≪ Previous: Homer Horton Webster ~ He Deserves To Be Remembered

NOTE: Fab Finds will be on hiatus until January 6, 2017 for the Christmas and New Year's holidays. May each of you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

Make a Wish (List) at the Genealogy Blog Party! by Elizabeth O'Neal, author of Little Bytes of Life
Family History Blogging: What is Your Why? by Lynn Palermo, author of The Armchair Genealogist
Family Tree/ Christmas Tree by Colleen G. Brown Pasquale, author of Leaves & Branches
Genealogy Changed Dramatically in 2016. I Can Prove It. by Kerry Scott, author of Clue Wagon
Cloudy Night Rainwater--Really? by Michelle Ganus Taggart, author ASouthern Sleuth
Holiday Gifts to You -- Genealogy Style -- 15 Free and (Relatively) New Family History Resources -- Part 2 by Diane L. Richard for UpFront with NGS
Fantastic Find: United States Digital Map Library by Pat Hartley, author of Ancestry Island
#LIGHTtheWORLD with Family History by Jaycee Morrill for FamilySearch Blog
Find old Norwegian photos on the web by Martin Roe Eidhammer, author of Norwegian Genealogy and then some
I love Google!! by Lark Dalin Robart, author of Eight Roads to Montana
7 Things You Can Do in Less Than 30 Minutes by David Taylor, author of The Family Nexus
Remembering with Oral Histories AND Preserving War Correspondence and V-Mail by Melissa Barker, author of A Genealogist In The Archives
One is the Loneliest Number by Cheri Hudson Passey for Worldwide Genealogy ~ A Genealogical Collaboration
What You May Find in Government Papers and Journals by Dianne Nolin, author of Genealogy: Beyond the BMD
Can Your Own Memories Help Break Through Ancestral Brick Walls? by Jacqi Stevens, author of A Family Tapestry
The Cousins I Almost Never Knew by Sondra Bass Hawkins, author of Beyond the Branches
My Mennonite Ancestors and the Revolutionary War by Dana Leeds, author of The Enthusiastic Genealogist
Self-Publish Your Genealogy by Devon Noel Lee, author of A Patient Genealogist
Cruising on the SS Lurline - 1949 by Debi Austen, author of Who Knew?
How to Avoid Awkward Family Photos by Denise Levenick, author of The Family Curator

"May I Introduce To You" Interviews on GeneaBloggers.com

May I Introduce To You . . . On Holiday Vacation 2016

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed It….My Contribution to the Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Homer Horton Webster ~ He Deserves To Be Remembered

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Rollin's Been Working On The Railroad

January 17, 2017, 4:59 pm

≫ Next: Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for January 20, 2017

≪ Previous: Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for December 9, 2016

Rollin Waterman Webster

I've written about my maternal great-granduncle, Rollin Waterman Webster, in previous posts. He was one of Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster's brothers. Watson was my great-grandfather, also known as "The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog.

I am in possession of two letters that Rollin wrote in 1951, when he was around 81 years of age. One letter was written to Mr. Harper C. Pendry, who was employed at the Athens Board of Trade and the other was written to my grandfather, Debs Warren Webster. In these letters Rollin talked about his employment in both the Denver & Rio Grand Western Railroad and the Santa Fe Railroad. Here are portions of those letters.

Transcription of cropped letter above (highlighted portion): "I am Retired from the Santa Fe R.R. since 1937 I had 31 years R.R. service as Stationary Eng I worked 10 years for the IC. RR 21 years Santa Fe R.R."

Transcription of cropped letter above: "I started with the Denver & Rio Grand Western, with Debs Father 1890 he was a Coach Trimmer of R.R. coaches, for the Rio Gr R.R. in 1890"

Transcription of cropped letter above (highlighted portion): "I am retired from the Railroad I worked 31 years as Stationary fireman and Engineer an car repairer, I started in Denve, Col, in 1890 then worked for the IC. R.R. 10 years and the Santa Fe 21 years"

As you can see in these letters (above), Rollin mentioned working for the I. C. Railroad for 10 years. I didn't know what those initials stood for so I did a search for them on Google. I found out that they stand for the Illinois Central Railroad. I also found that there is an Illinois Central Historical Society and they have a website.

I found this card (below) on Ancestry.com.¹ It's a railway prior service record index card and is part of the Kansas, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Prior Service Records, 1859-1935 database on Ancestry.com. The card corroborates what Rollin said in his letters that he retired in 1937. This card gives his exact date of retirement.

Webster, Rollin Waterman - Kansas, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Prior Service Records, 1859-1935

Information gleaned from this card:

Name: Webster, Rollin W.
Location: Corwith, Illinois
Retired: July 31, 1937

Unfortunately, I don't know what the number in the right side of the column titled Aug., 1935 means. Could that have been an amount paid, such as $80.16?

I'm so glad Rollin wrote so much information in his letters to Mr. Pendry and to my grandfather. They hold a wealth of valuable genealogical information.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

1 Ancestry.com. Kansas, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Prior Service Records, 1859-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Rollin W. Webster. Image 306 of 974. Accessed 1 April 2014. Original data: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company Records. Topeka Kansas: Kansas State Historical Society.^↩

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Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for January 20, 2017

January 20, 2017, 12:51 pm

≫ Next: Wednesday's Child ~ Remembering Thomas William Iverson

≪ Previous: Rollin's Been Working On The Railroad

NOTE: Thank you for your patience while Fab Finds was on hiatus. Due to family health issues, the hiatus was a bit longer than expected. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

Define Your Dash: Start Writing Your Personal History with the #52Stories Project by Angie Lucas for FamilySearch Blog
Creating Family Photo Coloring Pages with BeFunky by Nicole Dyer, author of The Family Locket Blog
Using a calendar to introduce variety in your research by Janine Adams, author of Organize Your Family History
To Remove or Not Remove Tape on Documents by Melissa Barker, author of A Genealogist In The Archives
Social Media Helps – FamilySearch by Claire V. Brisson-Banks, author of Budding Genealogists
Discover What You’re Made of with Grandparent Inheritance Charts by Legacy Tree Genealogists
Stories by and about Norwegian immigrants by Martin Roe Eidhammer, author of Norwegian Genealogy and then some
Researching Family in Norwegian Records by Genealogy Mom
Family Recipe Friday - Spritz Cookies by Anna Matthews, author of Tripping Over My Roots
How To Be Cost Effective When Researching Genealogy by Lisa Lisson, author of Are You My Cousin?
Timelines for Analysis & Correlation by Jill Morelli, author of Genealogy Certification: My Personal Journal
More on Uncle Wilt by Debi Austen, author of Who Knew?
My FamilySearch experiment AND My FamilySearch experiment Part II by Michele Simmons Lewis, author of Ancestoring
What can happen, when you share history stories by Dr. Bill Smith, author of Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories
Obituaries matter when it comes to genealogy research by Brian Sheffey, author of Genealogy Adventures
St. John's Lutheran Church's Records — Online and Free by Caroline M. Pointer, author of Find your family story
7 Key Pieces of Evidence from John Gooch’s Bounty Land Warrant File by Dayna Jacobs, author of On Granny's Trail
GeneaBloggers Celebrates Eight Years! by Thomas MacEntee, founder of GeneaBloggers

"May I Introduce To You" Interviews on GeneaBloggers.com

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed It….My Contribution to the Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Rollin's Been Working On The Railroad

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Wednesday's Child ~ Remembering Thomas William Iverson

February 22, 2017, 12:44 am

≫ Next: A Precious Photo of Chester Malvin Iverson

≪ Previous: Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for January 20, 2017

Photo courtesy of Jaci, Find A Grave volunteer #47592448

Thomas William Iverson was my paternal first cousin once removed. He was the son of my granduncle and grandaunt, Christian Julius Iverson and Florence McIntosh.

Thomas was one of three children born to Christian and Florence. Sadly, Thomas passed away when he was only six months old. His death must have been so heartbreaking for his family.

Thomas was born on 27 September 1929 in Hennepin, Minnesota and passed away on 31 March 1930 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota.

While doing research about little Thomas on Ancestry.com, I was directed to the People Finder page on the Minnesota Historical Society's website. That website gave me Thomas' birth information. I'll show you how I found it.

On Ancestry.com, I was given this search result about Thomas. I clicked on "Go to website."

The following box popped up. I then clicked on "OPEN WEBSITE."

I was taken to this page on the Minnesota Historical Society's website.

I typed Thomas' name in the search box.

The correct Thomas William Iverson was at the top of the results list.

I clicked on Thomas' name and the following page appeared.

Isn't this great? It shows the birth date and place for Thomas. It also includes Thomas' mother's maiden name as well as his birth certificate number. And as you can see, there is an option to purchase the birth certificate as well.

It's so sad that little Thomas passed away at such a young age. If you'd like to see Thomas' Find A Grave Memorial page, please click on the link below.

Thomas William Iverson's Find A Grave Memorial Page

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2017 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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A Precious Photo of Chester Malvin Iverson

March 1, 2017, 11:41 am

≫ Next: Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for March 3, 2017

≪ Previous: Wednesday's Child ~ Remembering Thomas William Iverson

In June 2016, I shared the exciting and wonderful news about a new cousin connection I made because my family tree is on WikiTree.com. This new cousin's name is Maureen. She is so awesome and sweet and it's been really fun sharing and receiving family history photos and information with her. I'm grateful that Maureen has been so willing to share these precious photos, documents, and information with me. I'm also grateful that she has given me permission to share them on my blog.

In my post from last June I shared one of the beautiful photos that Maureen shared with me. It was a photo of Rose Josephine Iverson, my first cousin twice removed.

Today, I'd like to share another of the photos that Maureen shared with me.

Chester Malvin Iverson
Photo Courtesy of My Cousin Maureen

This is Chester Malvin Iverson, my first cousin twice removed, and one of Rose Josephine Iverson's brothers.

Chester was born on 26 August 1900 in Benson, Minnesota to his parents, Iver Martin Iverson and Mary Cecelia Miller.

He was the second oldest of five children born to Iver and Mary.

Chester enlisted in the United States Navy in Seattle, Washington when he was only 16 years old, just shy of his 17th birthday.

In an upcoming post, I will tell you more about Chester and his service in the Navy during WWI.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

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Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for March 3, 2017

March 3, 2017, 8:56 am

≫ Next: On Hiatus

≪ Previous: A Precious Photo of Chester Malvin Iverson

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

Family History for Children Blog Link Up by Nicole Dyer, author of The Family Locket Blog
How to use metadata to keep the story with the picture by Legacy Tale Blog
Using the Back Door at FamilySearch for Missing Records by Cathy Meder-Dempsey, author of Opening Doors in Brick Walls
Fearless Females Blogging Prompts Series Returns for 2017! by Lisa A. Alzo, author of The Accidental Genealogist
Beware the Woman and Her Gun by Devon Noel Lee, author of A Patient Genealogist
It’s 30 x 30 challenge time! by Janine Adams, author of Organize Your Family History
Welcome to Women's History Month 2017: The World War I Years by Gena Philibert-Ortega, author of Gena's Genealogy
Bertie May Price Doyle: A Gold Star Mother by Heather Collins, author of Of Trees & Ink
Tuesday's Tip/Getting Techie...Just A Little Bit by Ellie, author of Ellie's Ancestors
Keeping a Journal: A Genealogist's Guide by Heather Collins, author of Young & Savvy Genealogists
The Organized Yearbook: How to Save Time and Still Tell Your Stories by Caroline Guntur, author of Organizing Photos
Where Did My Immigrant Ancestors Come From? by Lisa Lisson, author of Are You My Cousin?
Fantastic Find: The Ancestor Hunt Can Help You Find U.S. Newspapers by Christine Manczuk, author of Ancestry Island
GenealogyPhotoADay March 2017 Prompts by Fran Kitto, author of TravelGenee
Jerry, the Super-hero Indexer by Amberly, author of TheGenealogyGirl
Organize Your Genealogy: Tips from a Professional Organizer by Amy Johnson Crow, author of Amy Johnson Crow.com
Sleuth Along Interstate Highways for Your Ancestors by Dick Eastman, author of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
Was Emma Catholic or Lutheran? by Caroline Pointer, author of Family Stories
Four Reasons Why the 1910 Census is My Favorite by Amie Bowser Tennant, author of My Kith N Kin
Amp-Up Your Group Sheet! by Lisa, author of The Shy Genealogist

RootsTech 2017

RootsTech 2017 Blog Compendium -- UPDATED by Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings

"May I Introduce To You" Interviews on GeneaBloggers.com

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Blogosphere Since My Last Fab Finds Post

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

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On Hiatus

March 20, 2017, 12:09 pm

≫ Next: Celebrating 5 Years of Blogging

≪ Previous: Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for March 3, 2017

Just a quick post to let my wonderful readers know that my blog will be on hiatus for a while. We are moving into our new home this week.

It's time to pack, move, and then unpack and settle into our new home.

We are so excited for this new adventure! Thank you for your patience. I'm hoping to be back to regular blogging in the near future.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2017 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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