Happy Father's Day

A few years ago, I found a poem entitled, “Fathers and Daughters” by an unknown poet. It seems a fitting tribute to the bond shared between a father and his daughter. In part the poem reads, “In his eyes, she will always be his little princess, the light of his life. In her eyes he will always be the brave knight who slayed the monsters in her closet, her hero, her protector.” No little boy grows up praying to become the father of daughters. It’s not really the kind of life ambition that has a high priority. Yet somehow, once that bundle of pink is placed into his arms, the boy turned man, grows into the role. The pinnacle moment for that role is when he walks his daughter down that long bridal aisle, handing his precious baby over to another. My father has made that walk three times – in 1972, 1974 and 1999. I don’t know what Dad said to my sisters as he guided them to the strains of The Wedding March, but with me, his eldest daughter, he was making little jokes and comments. People mistook this for radiance on my part, but it was just a case of my dad totally cracking me up – as usual.

 

I count myself lucky to have my father as my dad. A father is the yardstick by which all other men are measured. In my Dad’s case, he has set the bar very high. Happy Father’s Day, Dad. With love, Your Eldest Daughter

© 15 June 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

News You Can Use - Limited Time Free Viewing of Ancestry's Historical Newspaper Collection

Juliana Smith of Ancestry's "24-7 Family History Circle" Blog is reporting free access to Ancestry's Historical Newspaper Collection from now through June 19. According to Ancestry, a recent update doubled the collection by adding 20 million images. If you've wanted to checkout this collection, now would be a good time. Enjoy!

© 13 June 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Wordless Wednesday - A Day in Amish Country

Pictures Taken by Terry Snyder in Holmes County, Ohio June 11, 2008

© 11 June 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

An Anniversary

On June 9, 1952, my mother and father were married in Woodville, Mississippi. Neither family nor friends were present for the ceremony. Sadly, there were also no pictures to document this important event. My father, whose unit had been activated in August 1951, was stationed at a nearby army base in Louisiana. Because they didn’t know when or if Dad’s unit would ship out for Korea, the young couple decided it was a good time to marry. So my mother, with the knowledge and approval of both of their families, traveled to Louisiana to meet my father. The two slipped over into Mississippi, a state with friendlier age of consent laws, and eloped. The picture below was taken a month later when they were part of another couple’s wedding. It is the closest thing we have to a wedding picture.

 

There is my mother with that winning smile and my father handsome in his army uniform. Both so very young and so unaware how soon they would be parted. Two months later my dad was aboard a ship leaving for Korea, and my mother was on her way back to Fremont to live with her sister. A lucky break for dad occurred when he was one of three men aboard the ship chosen for reassignment to a base in Japan. He remained stationed there as a supply sergeant until the end of the war. 

In August 1953, Dad came home. His ship, which docked in San Francisco, was the first ship to arrive in the United States at the close of the war. He flew back to Ohio where his wife and four-month-old daughter (me) eagerly awaited his return. Four children, seven grandchildren, and two great grandchildren later, they celebrate their fifty-sixth anniversary.

Congratulations, Mom and Dad!

© 10 June 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

A Sunny Afternoon in June

Usually I am not at a loss for words. But the tragic events of yesterday afternoon have left me without my usual form of comfort. Though I knew none of the victims personally, my heart goes out to them and to their family and friends. 

Yesterday, a sunny, warm day in June, six individuals soared into the sky. One can imagine their smiles, the camaraderie of their shared adventure, and the infectious excitement of the youngest member, age four, who was getting a first plane ride. Of such things, we expect only happy memories, and not the tragedy that found them on a grassy field south of town. 

To those they left behind, I offer my heartfelt condolences. I pray for their strength in the days ahead, and I hope for each, that the day will come when the memory of those they have lost will bring not heartbroken tears, but the soft smile of remembrance to their lips. 

In memory of Gene, Bill, Allison, Matt, Danielle and Emily Rose – June 8, 2008.

© 9 June 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Sandusky County Kin Hunters Meeting This Sunday

Hey, guys, I received an email from Dave Golden of the Sandusky County Kin Hunters reminding me that this Sunday, June 8, is their regular monthly meeting. Scott Mitchell will be on hand discussing, “Researching Cherokee Ancestors.” The meeting, which is free and open to anyone with an interest in family history, will be held at 2:00 PM at the Sandusky Township Hall on Rt. 19 North in Fremont. Parking is ample and the building is handicapped accessible. 

If you would like further information, you can contact Dave at (419) 502-7620. 

Until Next Time - Happy Ancestral Digging

© 3 June 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

One SuperPower to Go - Please!

Over the past couple of days, I’ve been thinking about what superpower I could appropriate that would help me most in my genealogical snooping. I won’t delve into what short circuit in my brain would lead me into daydreaming about this possibility. Let’s just say anybody who would think it socially proper to a put a picture of their foot online, well who really wants to delve too deeply into such a disturbed mind. Nuff said! Anywho, once the thought of acquiring a superpower had settled into my brain, it wasn't going away anytime soon.

The thing is, it took me all of two seconds to figure out what power I wanted. I mean X-Ray vision might be fun and all that but who wants to see everybody walking around like a big pile of skeletal bones? After a half an hour or so, it would get sooo old! And no way do I want to possess the power of telepathy. I mean who wants to know exactly what negative thoughts the person sitting next to you is having. I certainly don’t want to eavesdrop on someone thinking, “Wow, that Terry has packed on quite a few pounds.” How depressing would that be? 

The ability to fly would be cool. I could fly out to Utah to visit the Family History Library and if I wasn’t done researching by the end of the day, no sweat. I’d just fly back the next day. I wouldn’t have to pay airfare or hotel room costs. Sweet! I could also use the flying thing locally. Just think how much gas money I could save by flying over to the local grocery store when I ran out of Pepsi, chocolate or other important necessities. And you just gotta know that all that flying burns mega calories – talk about a win/win situation. Of course, there could be a down side to this flying thing. Like say, hunters mistaking you for, I don’t know, maybe a really big goose or something. And what if the prospect of a human being flying set the bird world into such a tizzy that they went all crazy like that movie, “The Birds.” I couldn’t live with myself if any of you got Tippie Hedrened because of something I had done.

Nope, all those powers, cool though they may be, are not the power I want. What I want is the power that Samantha Stephens had on the TV show, “Bewitched.” You know, that power where she could put everybody into a state of suspended animation by simply twitching her nose. Think about it, what’s the one great impediment keeping most of us from doing some first quality genealogical digging. Time – am I right? So many things tugging at us - jobs, family, social obligations, emergencies, housework, yard work, sleep, getting the gray dyed out of our hair, daydreaming about superpowers – there’s always somebody or something dipping into our personal time bank.

With the rest of the world in suspended animation, I could take my own sweet time to get all my chores done, pop on over to the local probate court, take a drive over to that nearby cemetery and not kill myself playing catch up with all the other things that needed to be done while I was indulging in a genealogical craving. And if the superpower gods were truly generous, they would make it a two-fer. I’d get not only the suspended animation power with a simple nose twitch, but also that teleportation thing Samantha used to do by merely snapping her fingers. That way I could swoop on over to the Jackson County recorder’s office and look until my eyes bugged out for what happened to David Thacker’s land. Somehow I missed it when I was at the recorder’s office on my recent visit to Southern Ohio. Only unlimited time and patience will make me believe that the answer isn’t sitting there, undisturbed and waiting for me to find it – if only I had the time.

So how about it, you wouldn’t mind being put into a state of suspended animation for a good cause, would ya? I’d better start practicing my nose twitching - just in case. 

Until Next Time – Happy Ancestral Digging!

© 2 June 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Virginia is for lovers - of Genealogy!

I love the Library of Virginia. Now I have never been to the library personally, but thanks to the Internet and the library’s terrific website, I have been able to do quite a bit of research on my Virginia ancestors without having to leave Ohio. 

Having two sets of ggg grandparents who came from Virginia and one set of gggg grandparents born in that state, I have a significant interest in Virginia’s history and its genealogical treasures. Below is a sampling of services that you can take advantage of if you too have Virginia roots. 

1. Images and Indexes Online 

This list of catalogues was my first “find” on the LVA website. It’s always the first place I go when I find a new twist on the Virginia part of my family tree. Some of the indexes include: 

Death Records Indexing Project (1853 to 1896)

Index to War of 1812 Payrolls and Muster Rolls

Index to Virginia Confederate Rosters Obituary

Index for Richmond Enquirer/Richmond Visitor 

Petersburg Public Library Newspaper Index

Below is a list of some of the databases that have online images attached. It was a real treat to see a small outlined map for my sixth great grandfather’s land in what was then Frederick County of Virginia. 

Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants/Northern Neck Grants and Surveys

WPA Life Histories 

Collection Confederate Disability Applications and ReceiptsConfederate Pension Applications Robert E. Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers’ Home 

Applications World War I

History Commission Questionnaires 

Revolutionary Bounty Warrants 

2. Chancery Court Records Index 

Chancery Court cases are those involving two parties who are in dispute over conflicting claims. A judge listens to both parties and then renders impartial justice based on legal precedent, when there is precedent, or uses judicial discretion when there is not. 

Types of cases found in Chancery Court would include estate division cases, settlements of dissolved business partnerships and resolution of land disputes. This is an ongoing project for the Library of Virginia. 

You can use the index to search for parties involved in chancery cases for a particular county. Entries show the last names of defendants and plaintiffs, LVA’s index number and also the original case number. Some of the cases have been microfilmed, some are still found only in the original papers, but some have been scanned and put online in a PDF format. 

Shenandoah County, for instances, falls in the latter category. I was able to find and VIEW a court case involving my ggg grandfather Joseph Good – which by the way, didn’t make him look very honorable.

For a list of what is currently available click here. You will want to check back periodically, because as mentioned, this is an ongoing project. 

3. Microfilmed County and City Records 

LVA maintains a robust microfilm collection for each of the counties of Virginia and some of the major cities. Most of these are eligible for the library’s inter-library loan program. LVA does not charge for this service, however, my library, Birchard Library, does charge for the postage insurance to send the films back to Virginia.

Last time I ordered three films, the total charge came to $2.45, which netted me some, land deeds, some marriage records, and a peek at the index to a particular county’s wills. The Library of Virginia allows you to order up to five films, which you may keep for 28 days. You can renew these for another 28 days if for some reason you haven’t finished with them in the allotted time.

It’s hard to believe, but it’s easier for me to research various counties in Virginia than it is for me to research Ohio counties. Paul Heinegg, who has researched free African Americans pre Civil War, has said that he used this same inter-library tool to research Virginia records for his book, “Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware.” 

Check to make sure your local library participates in the inter-library loan program. If it does, you are all set to do some great long distance searching – close to home. 

Until Next Time – Happy Ancestral Digging!

© 28 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Wordless Wednesday - Driving Along in My Automobile

Al and Terry Search for the Covered Bridges of Vinton County

At the risk of making you want to stick your finger down your throat as I continue to rhapsodize over my brand new love for all things Vinton County, I’m posting the remaining pictures of the county’s covered bridges 

While I was feverishly working my arm and back muscles, hefting around those large probate ledgers, my spouse was becoming buds with the very nice lady at the Vinton County Convention and Visitors Bureau. I swear I could drop that man in the middle of the Gobi Desert and he would come out with a newfound friend and directions to nearest watering hole! 

We had made a half hearted stab at trying to locate the Ponn Bridge the day before with less than stellar results. 

Me: “I think we should turn around.” 

Hubby: “What was your first clue – the dirt road or the sounds of Deliverance?” 

My Kentucky friend Linda, had given us superb directions to Curry Cemetery (Linda, we would still be driving in circles without those directions – THANK YOU), and at the bottom of the map she had included the covered bridge. Proving that Al and I would be the nice, always get along couple that you either hate to love or love to hate on the Amazing Race, we nonetheless failed our map-reading test. 

Al was trying to explain to the nice lady at the VCC&VB about our unsuccessful attempt when she too made, I kid you not, her own reference to “Deliverance.” Isn’t Ohio humor great? 

So, when my husband met up with me in the lobby of Vinton County’s courthouse, he was loaded down with all kinds of goodies to help us navigate the back roads of Vinton County. With all those maps and guidebooks, not to mention a pamphlet entitled, “Covered Bridges of Vinton County,” we decided to go for it and spend the afternoon looking not just for Ponn Bridge, but all five covered bridges in the county. 

Understand that the county apparently does not think it sporting to put up any signs indicating that you are in the vicinity of a covered bridge. Nor are they big on little conveniences like road signs – so while they might tell you in their pamphlet to turn onto Cox Road, you have no idea if the road you turned onto is indeed, Cox Road. Oh and Road 43 B intersects Route 32, three (maybe four) times and should not be confused with Road 43 A or 43C. (I know you think I’m exaggerating but trust me, I’m not.) 

In any case, Al and I found all five of the bridges and we actually had a great time doing it. The hunt took us all over the county, led us to some beautiful sights, and was just difficult enough to make us feel like we had accomplished something each time we found one of the bridges. Only one of the bridges, the oldest, Arbaugh Bridge, is open to traffic. Built in 1871 it was closed to traffic for 30 years before money was obtained through a federal grant to allow needed improvements. I don’t know what the price tag was for the improvements but it was worth every penny. It was so nice, we went through it twice!

 

If covered bridge hunting sounds like the kind of “sport” you might be interested in trying yourself, ODOT maintains a webpage with a map and directions to Ohio’s historic covered bridges that you can check out yourself. Going on a trip or live in another state? No problem. A website entitled “Ohio Barns” has covered bridge listings for 42 states as well as directions for unique barns such as Mail Pouch Barns, Ohio’s Bicentennial Barns, Quilt Barns, Round Barns and just about any kind of special barn you can think of to enjoy. 

Proving that once you start looking for covered bridges you just gravitate to them, we found, by accident, Byers Covered Bridge in Jackson County, and Helmick Bridge in Coshocton County. 

Until Next Time!

© 27 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder

Walking on Humpback Bridge

Last week, my husband and I traveled to Southern Ohio. My father’s paternal lines, former Virginians and Pennsylvanians, for a time made their homes in Ohio’s Appalachian region during the nineteenth century. Within that region lies the least populated of Ohio’s 88 counties, Vinton County. Vinton County is made up of forests, rolling hills, country roads, and small villages. In the spring it is a beautiful place to visit. Its southern most township is Wilkesville, which is home to a small village of the same name. It is here, in this township and village of the same name, that my Smathers, Cope, Thacker and Marcum families made the connections needed that would eventually produce me. The township is also the location of an unexpected treasure, a covered bridge. 

Vinton County boasts five covered bridges within its borders. One of these, nestled on a forgotten stretch of township road in Wilkesville Township is the Ponn Bridge. The bridge, which crosses Raccoon Creek, was built in 1874 by Martin E. McGrath and Lyman Wells. It has three spans, and is a combination of Burr Arch, King Post and Whipple truss designs. It is believed to be the only bridge of this kind still in existence in North America. The Ponn Bridge, or the Humpback Bridge as it is also known, replaced another bridge that had been built in 1870. The older bridge, The Barnes Mill Bridge, caught fire a month after it had been completed. The Humpback was not completed until four years later at a cost of $1898. The bridge, no longer open to local traffic, is unfortunately a magnet for graffiti artists, as you can see clearly in the photos below.

 

I tell you, there is something magical about walking through an old covered bridge that you know your great grandparents, as well as their parents and their grandparents would have also walked upon. I know – totally sentimental and sappy. But I loved every step taken, and my trip was all the more rewarding because of it.

 

Until Next Time – Happy Ancestral Digging!

© 25 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Ancestry Offering Military Databases Free – For a Limited Time

Just in time for the long Memorial Day Weekend – Juliana at 24/7 Family History Circle is reporting that Ancestry is offering free access to its military database until May 31. If you don’t subscribe to Ancestry but are in the mood to do a little research from home, here’s your chance. Click on this link and get started! 

Maybe my mind is a little fried but I don’t remember seeing Michigan databases available on the FamilySearch Labs website, so if you already are aware of this – just excuse my tardiness on reporting this item. Below is a list of Michigan databases currently offered: 

Michigan Births 1867 – 1902 

Michigan Deaths 1867- 1897

Michigan Marriages 1868 – 1897 

These databases have linked images – no relying on another’s abstracting abilities. You can see the pages for yourself! 

I was surprised to find some of my Bettsville family members listed in the marriage index. It actually created one of those “ah ha moments” when I found my great grandmother’s brother, Ross Feasel, marrying his former wife. There had been a huge gap between their first child and their remaining children – now I know why. 

The databases do not indicate how complete they are, which leads me to suspect that FamilySearch is merely at the beginning stages of adding to these databases, so you will want to keep that possibility in mind. Seriously, if you have not checked out the FamilySearch Labs website lately, you may be pleasantly surprised at the number of databases that have been added. 

Until Next Time – Have a Safe Weekend!

© 24 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Wordless Wednesday - From Ohio's Appalachian Country

What's better than a carnival coming to town - two carnivals!

The Carnival of Genealogy has been posted by Jasia at Creative Gene . This edition's topic was, "Mom, how'd you get so smart?" A pretty fitting topic considering last week's special holiday. 

Jasia, bless her heart (does using that phrase make me an honorary Southerner?), let people know that I now have an RSS feed. Thanks, lady! 

A carnival that posted last week on Mother's Day was my friend Footnote Maven's Smile For The Camera - A Carnival of Images on her new blog, Shades of the Departed. The blog was inspired by FM's own collection of vintage photographs. For those of us who love old photograph's this blog is a special treat. Mosey on over, and check it out! 

Until Next Time - Happy Ancestral Digging!

© 18 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Because I Can

So, I'm writing this at 1:00 AM Saturday morning, mostly because I CAN. Not only can I write this post, but I can actually post it - to the Web - on my blog - on the weekend. Now, that might not seem like much to you, but since I started blogging online for the News-Messenger, I've had to wait patiently (okay, not so patiently) for the editor to have the time to post to my blog. This was a definite buzzkill, especially when I had three or four posts stacked up, circling out there in email land, waiting to land on my blog. 

However, the system did have its pluses, like attitude-drenched missives from a certain editor and the fact that I'm pretty sure he knew how to spell the word, "gardener" whereas, obviously, I do not. (Okay, I finally saw the error, but something like 24 hours later. I'm now using my Merriam-Webster to check the spelling of about every third word. But the good news - I can edit my own blog and fix the sucker.) 

I also now have RSS Feed. For those of you who don't know what RSS Feed is, don't worry, neither do I, or at least I don't understand what it is when it comes to the technology behind it. But what it means is that people, like you, can subscribe to any blog and if you have a reader, like say the Google Reader, anytime a new post is added to that blog, it will be shown in your reader.

Right now, this very instant, I subscribe to 49 different sites - most of them blogs. It sounds like a lot. Well, it is a lot, but the reader helps keep me on top of things. It's kind of like the secretary I've always wanted, but I don't have to buy it a Christmas present or give it a yearly bonus.

If you already have a Google account for Blogger or Gmail, you already have access to the Google Reader, it's just a matter of setting it up. If you don't have a Google account, and want to set one up along with the Google Reader, I have found a blog that covers the topic in a step-by-step manner with pictures! Just click on the hyperlink found on the phrase "a blog" and it will take you straight to the website where Meg of "Dipping Into The Blogpond" lays out all the details. 

Meg's an Aussie, but I don't think you'll mind crossing this international line. My suggestion, print out the blog post so you can follow it step-by-step. I subscribe to The News-Messenger's local news which is a handy, quick way for me to keep abreast of what's going on locally. I can easily pick and choose which articles interest me at a glance. 

Until Next Time ...

© 17 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Thank You, Ninja Gardener

Back in the cold wintry days of January, I fantasized about the warm, flower filled days of May. Every year I eagerly await May with all the sunshine, the budding trees, and the fresh cut grass it brings – until it gets here. Then I’m like all “atchoo,” what was I thinking?

I suffer from allergies. Each year the doctor asks me what I’m allergic to, and each year I tell him, “I don’t know – everything?” This year my big mistake came in April, on an unusually warm day when a birthday party met outdoor cookout and a high pollen count met me.


My sinus cavities swelled up, leaving my eyes like little slits – all very attractive, I can assure you. This led to a raging sinus infection, which led to three doctor visits, the last of which was caused by a mysterious, non-itching rash that we think ( I say we meaning my buddy doc and I) may have been the result of antibiotics.


This in turn led to teeth problems, because my teeth were all like – “quit worrying about your sinuses – we’re here, we promise we’ll keep you busy worrying!”


So this past Monday I had oral surgery, and at a point when I was in never never land, you know the place where all those wonderful pain meds have worn off and it’s about an hour before you can safely take the next batch,, my husband turns and says to me, “Terry, have you been pulling weeds?”


Pulling weeds, indeed!


And then, a few minutes later he says, “I think somebody planted flowers.” We both look at each other, and the same name popped out of our mouths.

A very nice somebody, whom we shall call, Ninja Gardener, had paid a discreet visit to our house while we were away and had planted three perennials and several annual flowers for my benefit.





This was made all the sweeter because Ninja Gardener had sometime ago been blown by a very harsh, cold wind into what I will describe as a deep crevice in the cliff of life. He had managed, sometimes with the aid of others, and sometimes just through his own grit and determination to finally, finally, climb his way out and stand on solid ground.


So, on a crappy day, in what was becoming a crappy month, my Ninja Gardner friend not only managed to bring beautiful sunlight into my day, he also managed to let me know that not only was he walking on solid ground, but that he found the ground to have it’s own beauty and charm. .By planting those flowers, those plants he had shared this found beauty with me.


Thank you, Ninja Gardener, I am both humbled and honored by you gift.

© 15 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Desktop GenealogistCivil War Pension Index - Free! Free! Free!-

Just a quick note. I saw this reported by Kimberly Powell at her About.genealogy. She reported that you no longer have to register to have access to Family Search Labs. One of the new databases - Civil War Pension Index. I checked, the index is said to be 90% complete. Right now this is a free and open website, so go on over and check out all the lovely goodies this site has to offer. You will be pleasantly surprised! Great heads up Kimberly!

Until Next Time!

Note: This post first appeared on Desktop Genealogist May 14, 2008.

© 14 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Look What the Newspaper Fairy Left

Like an excited kid on Christmas, I wake up, rub my eyes and look to see what the Newspaper Fairy has left under the tree for me. 

Today, as you may know, is the BIG DAY! The new website is going LIVE! I get online and hmm, The News-Messenger website looks the same. I click on the link to the Beta website, and yup, there’s the new version, but no NEW news as of yet. There I am at the bottom of the page, a little smack talk beside my picture, and I think, NOW WHAT? 

I believe the plan is for me to add my piece about why I love The Library of Virginia, but woman's prerogative, I’m putting this post out there first – loving LVA can wait. As I understand it, I get to type my own posts now directly into the site. The editor, Vince, then looks it over with a “jaundiced eye” – his words, not mine. (Note, I’m not sure what a jaundiced eye is but I think it probably relates to his misspent youth, maybe some liquor, and other things too scary to contemplate.) 

If it meets with Vince’s approval, he then presses a button, and presto I am posted. I bet Vince is snickering to himself and thinking, “now let’s see how little Miss Desktop likes all those links she is so fond of adding!” The thing that has me scared silly is that anybody and everybody can have their own blogs now on the News-Messenger. I keep thinking about all those potential rebuttal blogs. You know, my husband, for example could post a blog called “Terry’s Husband Strikes Back,” or my mom could go with, “Ham This, Kiddo!” Then there is my dad, my bosses, siblings, nephews, children, friends, strangers, and a whole slew of people who may have some unfair axe to grind with me. I tell you it gives me the shakes just thinking about it. But the good news is that you, the reader, can have your own blog. 

All you need to do is create your own account (you have to create one anyway to comment), open up the blog tab, fill in a couple blanks and you too can be on your way to the fun filled world of blogging. From what I can tell it works similar to Blogger, with of course the added difference of Vince having to press a button before it will post. (I’m sure he will look at your blog with his “good” eye – he still likes you.) Vince is an all right guy, who pretty much believes in freedom of speech, within reason. That you are reading this post is proof of that. (See Vince, I had a reason for poking you in the eye with a stick.)

If you do set up your own blog, drop me a link in the comment section, so I can come on over and leave my own little snarky comment on your blog. (Would you expect anything less from me?) We all say we want change, but most of the time we sit around and complain about change when it happens. Here’s your chance to embrace something new – I know I am. Besides, I love the fact that Vince has posted his picture online. I needed a new center for my dartboard. 

Until Next Time …. 

Note: This post first appeared at Desktop Genealogist May 14, 2008

© 14 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Momma's Smile

If you know my mother, then you know her smile — “the smile.” It's always there warm, welcoming ready to greet friend, family or soon to be former stranger. My siblings and I were often recipient's of “the smile.” It was a great way to grow up — with momma's smile and my dad's own brand of humor — is it any wonder there's always laughter when we all get together?

So here's to you mom, Happy Mother's Day!

Note this post first published online, May 9, 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 9 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

The Year of the Great Bean Soup Dilemma

When you are number seven in a tribe of nine children, there are CONSEQUENCES. Consequences like big brothers who think it's funny to tell their little sister in graphic detail exactly where ham comes from - from a pig, from a pig's, well, butt to be exact. And when you are six, and a teensy bit headstrong and definitely repulsed by the image of ham coming from — well, a pig's butt, then you do what any reasonable child would do under the circumstances — you refuse to eat ham, ever. No exceptions.

Now normally, this ban on ham eating would not be a problem, unless of course, you happen to be going to a rural school in Arkansas in the late 1930's, and they happen to serve a lot of bean soup with ham for lunch. They served the soup so often that it was noticed that the little Ohio transplant wouldn't touch the stuff.

Cajoling wouldn't change her stance, nor reasoning (the beans and soup TOUCHED the ham — you just can't reason something like that away!) and finally, when all else failed, threats were made.

And not just any threats, they made the big threat — “We're going to write a note home to your mother!” And when the little girl still refused to eat the soup, the school followed through and sent a note home detailing the child's refusal to eat.

To say that her mother was unhappy about receiving the missive from school is to understate the response by a couple of miles. As my mother put it, she caught holy heck from her mother.

But even this didn't change my mother's mind on eating the soup. Finally, everybody just gave up trying to get her to eat it. Curious, I asked her, what did you eat instead? Mom said she didn't know what she ate on those days when bean soup was on the menu, but she knew what she didn't eat — bean soup with ham.

So in a little country school in Arkansas, where some of the children went to school barefoot, and where all the first-, second- and third-graders were taught in the same one-room building, my mother learned a couple of lessons.

She learned that listening to the big third graders reading out of their more advanced readers made her a better reader, which turned out to be a huge advantage when she went back to Ohio to finish her education.

She learned at the ripe old age of six, when it was important, she had the power to say no and to make the no stick.

And she learned that a person could live a full life without eating bean soup with ham.

And that my friends is the answer to the Carnival of Genealogy's question, “Mom, how'd you get so smart?”

Until Next Time!

Disclaimer: No pigs were harmed in the writing of this post. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the writer's own thoughts on the subject of pork and or ham. In fact, they no longer reflect the author's mother's feelings on the subject of pork and or ham. In do course, and as a cognizant request, please do not send any brochures from the “Council on Pork,” nor from the “Save the Pigs” foundation. Really, we are just a normal everyday family - normal, normal, normal.

Note this post first published online, May 8, 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 8 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

The Berlin Connection

Last week I spoke about the homeland of my Great Grandparents. I spoke in generalities. Today I indulge in some specifics. 

As a child, my sister and I would be play a game we made up called, “Berlin Wall.” I was eight when the wall between East and West Berlin was built. Television shows, quick to see the compelling drama that stories centered on this subject would have, proved to be ample fodder for our young minds. It never occurred to me or my younger sister that for some of our relatives, this was not make-believe drama, bur rather a fact of every day life. At the time, we didn't know that our grandmother had aunts, uncles and cousins she had never met living in Berlin and East Germany.

In a November post, I wrote about a box that my younger sister had “inherited” that contained precious clues to our German relatives. 

“The box went from my great-grandparents' house to their eldest son, William. Upon William's death, his widow, Louise, gave the box to my parents. Because the papers in the box were all in German, my parents gave the box to my sister, who had taken two years of high school German. My sister dutifully stored the box of German papers on a shelf in the closet. And there the box sat half-forgotten gathering dust.” 

Among the items in the box was a letter written from Leo's sister Minna. The letter, written in 1907 has not been translated, but the address is easy to read — the letter came from Berlin. It was signed Paul und Minna, and the reason I know she was Leo's sister is because of another item that was also in the box. 

Only two things in the box were placed there after World War II. One was a German bible that my great grandmother Emma had carried with her every week as she walked to Sunday church service at St. Paul's in Clyde. The bible was added to the box after her death in 1952. The other was a copy of a funeral notice for Minna von Malottki, who died May 31, 1958.

Among other things we learn from the notice is that she outlived her husband by a year and a half, her survivors include a daughter Kathe Corsten and her husband Dr. Walter Corsten. Also surviving are Kathe's two children, Manfred and Wolfgang Corsten, a daughter-in-law Charlotte von Malottki and presumably Charlotte's two children, Victoria and Sylvia von Malottki. No son is mentioned, but Charlotte is listed with a maiden name of Karl indicating that there was probably a son who predeceased Minna. 

Part of the opening lines “unsere über alles geliebte Mutter, Schwiegermutter, Oma, Schwester und Schwägerin,“ refer to Minna as being a mother, a mother-in-law, grandmother, sister and sister-in-law . This leads to speculation that perhaps some of those siblings who remained in Germany were still alive. 

Leo, my great grandfather, came to the United States in 1906. Another sister, Hulda Kollat, emigrated in 1904 along with her husband Carl and her children. Carl Kollat acted as a sponsor for Leo and Emma. It is known that another brother, Franz, had died before my great grandfather was born, but two sisters, Ida and Emma, are unaccounted for as well as two brothers Carl and Paul. I suspect that either Ida or Emma was married to a Tuschy because in 1910 a letter arrived from Budow. The letterhead read, “Albert Tuschy, Gastwirt.” Gastwirt means innkeeper. 

The greeting in the letter is “Lieber Onkel und Tante!” or Dear Uncle and Aunt. I have not found any more information on Albert or the Tuschy connection to the Schröder family. Minna's funeral notice gives the place for the burial service as the chapel at Wilmendorfer Cemetery. Wilmendorfer was in the British Sector of Berlin. It is quite likely that Minna was living in the British Sector. Of course, she died before the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961, but she would have been living in Berlin in 1948 when the Soviets decided they wanted the Allied Forces out of Berlin. 

As I wrote last week, after the war, Berlin was divided into four occupied zones. The Eastern section of the city was under Soviet occupation, while the western portions of the city were under either France, American or British rule. The problem was that Berlin itself was situated in what was to become the German Democratic Republic, more commonly known as East Germany, which was entirely under the control of the Soviet Union. The Soviets decided the best way to get rid of the Allied Forces was to impose a blockade so that no Allied trucks could go into or out of Berlin. The effect of this blockade would be to keep food and fuel getting to the American, French and British troops in Berlin. It would also keep 2 million Berliners from getting these same items. 

Because Berlin's two airports were in the British and American sectors, and because in 1945 a 20-mile wide strip of free air corridor had been agreed upon by all parties INCLUDING the Soviets, the British and American forces launched the Berlin Airlift to supply the troops and the people of Berlin. It seemed at first an almost impossible task, but with ingenuity and the help of the West Berliners themselves, the operation was a success. The Airlift lasted from June 1948 until September 1949. Approximately 2.3 million tons of goods were delivered in that time. A very interesting account of the Berlin Airlift is here http://www.spiritoffreedom.org/airlift.html. Be sure to read the paragraph labeled, “OPERATION LITTLE VITTLES” which tells the story of one Air Force Pilot's efforts to go the extra mile for the children of Berlin. 

Minna's funeral notice was sent to Hulda's family and someone from the family copied the notice and sent it to Leo. It is the only tangible proof we have that a member of Leo's family survived the war. The upside of being a genea-blogger is that I can put my unsolved riddles out here on the Internet. You never know — someone out there may Google the Tuschy or von Malottki name and find this post. Stranger things have happened.

Until Next Time! 

Note this post first published online, May 6, 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 6 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Part II: Pomerania - War and Consequences

Note: In my previous post, I talked briefly about the County Stolp in the province of Pomerania. This is where my Germanic roots lie. Today I conclude with the end of the war and its aftermath. 

The people of Pomerania knew that the Russian Army was rapidly advancing on them. Hitler had made sure that everyone heard of the horrors that had happened in Nemmendorf when the Russians had overtaken that village in the fall of 1944. Women crucified on barn doors, children murdered, old women shot as they sat in their homes. 

Anxiously the people of Stolp waited for the required permission to evacuate to the coast — some would be taken in ships to Mecklenburg and others to Denmark. Finally, at the beginning of March the word came to evacuate the villages in the Southwestern point of Stolp. Budow, Muttrin and Klein Gansen were ordered to evacuate on March 6. Klein Nossin, Nippolglense, Gross Gansen and Gaffert were ordered to leave the following day. But had the evacuation orders come too late? 

The Russian Army moved quickly and some of the refugees were overtaken by the army and were forced to retreat back to their homes. Others, not overtaken, found themselves behind enemy lines, making it perilous to continue. On March 8-9, the county of Stolp was the site of fierce fighting and the danger to those who journeyed to the coast was increased even more. The net effect of all this was that most of those who set out to leave were still in their villages when the Russian Army took control.

Yet, some managed to make it to safety and boarded refugee ships. An interesting collection of letters and recollections of the events of March 1945 were edited and published by Heino Kebschull in 2002. Called, “Klein Nossin, Flight and Expulsions Recollections,” and translated by Leslie and Martha Riggle, you can read a more detailed account of the experiences of those who lived in Klein Nossin during those fateful days at http://www.klein-nossin.de/dateien/flight.pdf.

There are also recollections about what was to happen next. The redrawing of borders was finalized at the Potsdam Conference in July and August of that year. Germany and Austria were divided into four occupied zones, as were their respective capital cities, Berlin and Vienna. The land that Hitler had “annexed” would no longer be a part of Germany. Russia added to its territory by taking a chunk of what had been East Prussia and by grabbing 70,000 square miles of Poland along what was known as the Curzon line. The Poles who had lived in the area east of the line were to be expelled, but would be given land elsewhere in compensation. 

“Elsewhere” turned out to be German lands east of the Oder and Neisse Rivers. Two-thirds of Pomerania was east of this line. A plan of “humane” expulsion of the Hinterpommern, West Prussia, Silesia and the remaining portion of East Prussia took place between 1945 and 1949. They were joined by ethnic Germans who had lived in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Romania. Depending on whose numbers you believe, up to 12 million Germans were expelled from their homes, an estimated 10 percent died or went missing as a result of their flight from the Russians or the expulsions. In a world weary of war, and in the wake of uncovered atrocities of the Germans, no one raised a syllable of protest when the Polish citizens were expelled from the new Russian territory, nor did they protest the followed expulsions of the Germans. 

Those in the Hinterpommern were allowed to take one suitcase — sometimes not even the suitcase arrived at their new destination. And the destination — a war-ravaged Germany that had little room for them. 

Karl-Heinz Pagel, in his book, “The District Stolp in Pomerania,” gives the following statistics. He reports how many wanted to live in the occupied zones controlled by the British, American and French forces. This area was commonly known as West Germany. The fourth zone was under Soviet control and was commonly called East Germany.

Budow - 310 to West Germany, 122 to East Germany, 31 killed in war, 20 civilians dead, 41 missing

Gross Gansen - 193 West Germany, 186 East Germany, 23 killed in war, 22 civilians dead, 63 missing

Klein Gansen - 244 West Germany, 98 East Germany, 21 killed in war, 26 civilians dead, 44 missing

Klein Nossin - 129 West Germany, 54 East Germany, 17 killed in war, 11 civilians dead, 41 missing

Muttin - 465 West Germany, 126 East Germany, 26 killed in war, 36 civilians dead, 75 missing

Nippoglense - 150 West Germany, 125 East Germany, 15 killed in war, 9 civilians dead, 25 missing

Gaffert - 153 West Germany, 59 East Germany, 7 killed in war, 9 civilians dead, 42 missing 

The Soviet controlled German Democratic Republic or East Germany had closed borders, restricting travel between the “two” Germanys. While West Germans were permitted limited access into East Germany, most East Germans were not allowed to cross over into West Germany.

In 1990, the two halves of Germany were reunited. One of the conditions of reunification was that they agreed to make permanent the Polish Border at the Oder-Neisse Line, thus officially ending any German claims to the Hinterpommern.

Should I choose to visit the former homeland of my great grandparents, the Baltic Sea would still be there, as would the deep green forests, and the gentle countryside, but the signs would not be written in the language of my ancestors, nor would the faces searched be those of any distant relative. But as I looked for information about the village of Budow, now known as Budowo, I found a journal entry mentioning an old church there. 

I remembered seeing a picture someone had taken of the church on Google Earth. It was labeled, Budowo Ko_ció_ zabytkowy z XIV w, which roughly translated means “antique church in Budow.” Could it be the same church where my great-grandparents and their two oldest boys had been baptized? Anxiously, I looked for the picture again, this time comparing it to an old picture I had found online a few years ago. It was the SAME church — it still stands, and the thought that it still stands there, surviving both time and war, seems somehow right. 

Until Next Time!

Note this post first published online, May 2, 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 1 May 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Part I: Pomerania - An Introduction

In February 1945, as World War II was drawing to a close, the leaders of the Allied “Big Three” — Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill — met in Yalta to discuss, among many things, the realignment of borders after the war. Of the four proposals given for the partitioning of Germany, three of them would have kept the province of Pomerania as part of a partitioned Germany. The fourth proposal, pushed by Stalin and eventually agreed upon, did not.

It is in the province of Pomerania where my German roots lie. Pomerania's northern border is the Baltic Sea. To its west lies the province of Mecklenburg, to the south Brandenburg and to the East, Poland. The part of Pomerania that lies west of the Oder River is known as Vorpommern, while the land to the east is called Hinterpommern. In 1939, at the beginning of World War II, Pomerania was comprised of 32 counties. In German, a county is called a Kreis. The Kreis Stolp was one of the northern most counties, and the second farthest eastern county, and it was this county where my great grandparents, Leo Schröder and Emma Gleffe Schröder, were born.

Their families lived in the southernmost area of the county, very close to the Rummelsburg and Butow counties of Pomerania. Stolp was one of the least populated of the counties and it was dotted with many small villages whose names I now recognize. Names such as Budow, Gross Gansen, Klein Gansen, Wundichow, Gaffert, Muttrin, Klein Nossin, and Nippoglense have become like familiar friends. 

Budow, for example, was the village in which my great grandparents were living when their oldest son Wilhelm, or Willi, was born. The village is mentioned in a document dated 1340 but it is thought to be older than that. Slavs settled first in the area and later Germans moved in and coexisted peacefully with their Slavic neighbors. According to one legend, the village was moved after a particularly devastating plague killed many of the villagers. They shoveled under the old village and rebuilt it in another location not far away. 

While the village was once a part of the Holy Roman Empire, and as such a Catholic village, a local priest by the name of John Stojentin began to follow the doctrine of Martin Luther, and the villagers became Lutherans by default. This did not set well with their Polish neighbors and once, in the early part of the 16th century, Polish raiders came and burnt the village along with the church as the people who had been worshiping watched in horror. The word of the burning of the church spread, and donations from all across the Pommern came, enabling a wonderful new church to be built. 

During the Thirty Years War, once again, the church went up in flames and once again, it was rebuilt. The church burned a third time in September 1815 when a house next to the church caught fire and the straw roof of the house blew onto the wooden roof of the church. The church that was rebuilt this time was the same church in which my great grandparents had their sons Willi and Max baptized in 1903 and 1905, respectively.

In Gross Gansen, where my great-great-grandfather Gleffe lived, the population numbered 362 in 1905. It was this village that Emma and Leo listed as their home on the ship's manifest in March of 1906. The county Stolp, had as its largest city, a city also named Stolp with slightly more than 31,000 people in 1905. A letter from Stolp arrived in Clyde, Ohio in 1908. The language spoken in Pomerania was Plattdüütsch or Low German, which is still spoken in parts of Northern Germany and it is a separate language from High German, the official German language.

An Internet friend from Germany, Jörg Gliewe, translated the letter into High German for me, so that I could get an approximate translation from my online translator. The letter is from Emma's brother Paul and his wife, Bertha. Karl who is also referred to in the letter was Emma's youngest brother, who was 10 years older then his nephew Willi. Below is an approximate translation of the letter: 

Dear brother and sister

We have gotten your letter and the picture. We have always asked if you still think of us. Karl has always talked about Willi. He says he remembers quite well how he and Willi drove to Gross Gansen in the wagon. He was very pleased about the picture. We will also send one. We now have 3 (2 boys and a girl) The smallest boy is 1.5 years old. Dear Sister, write us whether you still want to come back. Or don't you? Or do you think you do (in America) better than in Germany? I like it in Stolp and it is also quite good. I deserve also very beautiful. I am here also in the Steinsetzern. I will make 4 Mark each day. I still learn and I only receive about 6 Mark each day. Then I will be ready. Write us, whether the work is also very difficult and how long you have to work. We work here 10 hours from 6 to 6. Tell us whether you also live in the city or in the countryside. And if you live in the country, do you have cows and pigs and chickens -- Just like here, too? Do you have grain and potatoes? And is it also expensive as here? Or is it cheaper? Write us again exactly how it for you. What else I do not know to write. Now you as well and send us back soon. Karl says to say hi to Willi. He says: Willi should come back again. Now you write to us soon.

Best Greeting Paul and Bertha 

An address directory in 1938 confirms that Paul and Bertha were still living in the city of Stolp at that time. As far as we know, because the letters stopped coming from Germany at the start of World War II, all the remaining family were living in either the city of Stolp or in the villages of Stolp as the Russian Army approached from the East in early March 1945. 

Tomorrow I will continue this series with a look at end of the war and its aftermath. 

Until Next Time - Happy Ancestral Digging! 

Note: At http://pomeranianews.com/pomerania_map.html you will find these maps of interest. Pomerania – Mid 19th Century 

The German Empire – 1871 – 1918

Pomerania – 1938 

At this website, you can see the villages and towns of Stolp. Most of the villages mentioned can be founded at the southern most tip of the map. http://www.stolp.de/images/Stolp-Kreis/Kreiskarten/Kreis-Stolp-72-2.jpg

© 30 April 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

I am a German girl

For many years, I avoided doing research on my German ancestors. As a child I had read such books as, “Diary of Anne Frank,” “Escape from Warsaw,” “Snow Treasure,” and “Mila 18.” 

I remember watching World War II movies as I drowsily fell asleep in the back of our old Chevrolet station wagon at the local drive-in. The lesson from all these books and movies was clear — Germans bad, everybody else good. I consoled myself with the thought that most of my German ancestors had made it to American shores by the end of the 18th century, so I hoped that whatever character flaw allowed the evil of Treblinka, Dachau and Buchenwald to occur, had not yet entered the German gene pool.

But one set of great-grandparents did not make the American voyage until the beginning of the 20th century. They left behind, in the old country, a large family of siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces. Many of their family, my family, were still alive when the Nazis came to power. With as much trepidation as a child opening an old cellar door, I have opened my own door to my German past. It is an ongoing project, whose treasures are not easily found. 

Tomorrow, inspired by the Carnival of Genealogy's next edition, “A Place Called Home,” I will share with the information about my own German homeland Until Next Time ...

Note this post first published online, April , 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 29 August 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

My earliest, scariest television moment — a Sunday in November

Cheryl of “Nordic Blue” has started an intriguing meme that asks the question, “What was your earliest, scariest TV moment?” For Cheryl, who like me is a member of the Baby Boom Generation — the first generation to grow up with television — her answer was the very first episode of “The Outer Limits.”

I've been sitting here pondering what my own answer to the question would be. I have a hunch if I could remember back that far, my answer would be seeing Clarabell the Clown, on “The Howdy Doody Show.” I've never liked clowns and to this day just seeing a picture of Clarabell makes my stomach hurt. But I was too young, and the actual memory has long since dissipated. 

I know for years that the annual showing of “The Wizard of Oz” would necessitate my hiding behind the couch when the Wicked Witch of the West appeared calling Dorothy “my pretty.” Really, I hated that show — even though I watched it year after year. The sight of those beautiful ruby red slippers kept me coming back. But if I were to nominate the scariest moment of all, it would have to be what I witnessed on TV at the age of 10.

To this day, I don't know if I witnessed the actual event as it happened, or if I just saw one of the many replays that flooded the television later. All I can say for sure is that when I saw it that very first time, I didn't realize what was actually happening until it was over. At 10, before I had become hardened to the violence that the magic living room box could bring nightly into our home, I was inconsolably horrified.

As I watched unsuspectingly, the Dallas police brought Lee Harvey Oswald, arrested for the assassination of President Kennedy, out through the basement door of the police station. Jack Ruby, a local nightclub owner, stepped up and shot Oswald in the abdomen, on television, in front of a shocked nation. Those three days in November, almost 45 years ago, with the shooting of an American President, and the subsequent shooting of his accused killer two days later, shook the very core of my emotional being. 

It stripped from me that gentle cloak of childhood innocence, and I remember quite clearly thinking if no one could keep a President from being shot and a group of policemen could not keep his killer from being shot, then how safe could anyone, like, say, my father be? Before those three days, I did not run out into traffic, not because I really thought a car would hit me, but because I knew if my parents found out there would be lectures and some sort of punishment.

I didn't accept candy from strangers, not because I feared poison or some pedophilic lure, but because again, I knew my mother would know and again there would be a lecture and punishment. The world became a darker place for me after those three days in November, and I adjusted my life and my thinking accordingly. Did this in some fundamental way change the person I became? I don't know — maybe, probably. But the sight of a real living, breathing man being shot on television certainly was my earliest, scariest TV moment. So, what was it for you? What was your earliest, scariest TV moment?

Note this post first published online, April 24, 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 24 August 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Pension File Stories: The Mystery of the Missing Bible

Last month, in my first installment of pension file stories, I introduced you to my great great grandparents, Louisa Ish Smathers and Henry Smathers. Their story was a sobering account of life in the aftermath of war. But not all information found in a soldier's pension file requires such somber thought. Sometimes you come across a piece of family history that will cause a smile.

Take the case of the missing family Bible. Henry had several brothers who served with Union forces. Two of those brothers, Reuben and Franklin, served, like Henry, in Company E 53rd Infantry Regiment Ohio. Henry enlisted November 21, 1861, followed by Reuben on January 6, 1862, with Franklin enlisting on February 29, 1864. According to their military records, the brothers were 23, 20, and 18, respectively, on their dates of enlistment. 

Congress passed one of several pension acts in 1907, specifically the Act of February 6, 1907, setting the monthly pension payments for veterans of both the Civil War and the Mexican-American War based on the age of the veteran. At age 62, provided the veteran met the other requirements of this act, he would be entitled to $12 a month, while at 70 the amount increased to $15 and at age 75, the amount topped out at $20 a month. 

On April 1, 1909, Reuben applied for an increase in monthly pension, claiming that he had turned 70 earlier that year in February. One problem — he had stated his age at enlistment as 20 years old in January of 1862. A February birthday would mean that he would have been born in 1841 and therefore was only 68 years old in 1909. According to the pension papers, Reuben's testimony was:

He was born in (the) Month of February in year 1839, and the way I fix the date of my birth is that I voted my first time for Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States in the fall of 1860. There was a family record of my birth but it has long since been lost, and I know of no public record of my birth. Was baptized when quite a small child but am not able to give a record of it as it has been so long ago. It seems that the Officers made a mistake in my age when I enlisted in the Army and I thought it not necessary to ever have it corrected, and can only make affidavit that I am positive I am over 70 years of age. 

The pension board was not content with Reuben's testimony and on April 27, 1909, his brother, Lawson Smathers appeared in neighboring Athens County and testified to Reuben's age. The following statement is found in Reuben's pension file derived from Lawson's (whom the record listed as Losen Smathers) statement. 

He is a Brother of the above named Reuben Smathers, of Co. E. 53rd, Ohio Volunteers Infantry. And that he is the youngest of the Smathers Family and that the family record was left in his care and that his children got hold of it through some means and destroyed the records. And that his brother Reuben Smathers was born in the month of February 1839 in Clarion County, Penn. 

In truth, Reuben probably was not certain himself of his actual age. In the 1850 census, his age is listed as 10. The 1860 census has him as 21. The 1870 census finds him at 28. In the 1880 census, he is listed at 39. The 1900 census shows him at 54 and in his final appearance in a census, he is listed as 71 in 1910. It's interesting to see that he aged 16 years in the 10 years between 1900 and 1910. 

Franklin Smathers, the younger brother, also makes a statement about the family Bible in his application dated October 30, 1915. He states that there is no public or family record that proves his date of birth, which Franklin states was January 20, 1846. 

Affiant further alleges that his brother, Lawson at one time put a sum of money in the family Bible and during the night season the house was burglarized and the said family Bible together with the money was taken and never recovered.

Same brother, same record, different story. Maybe family Bibles were hot commodities for thieves at the turn of the century, but my hunch is that if the Bible had indeed ever existed, the first version of the missing Bible would probably have been closer to the truth. 

Though my goal in poring over page after page of pension file papers is that of finding some vital statistic to add to the family tree, these well-mined anecdotal nuggets are the true reward. They fuel the imagination and add to the “color” of my family portrait. For each unexpected find, I am always delighted and grateful. 

Until Next Time - Happy Ancestral Digging! 

1. Reuben Smathers (Pvt., Co. E, 53rd Ohio Inf., Civil War) pension no. 414111, certificate no. 509149, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1863-1934, Civil War and Later pension files, Dept of Veteran Affairs National Archives, Washington D.C. 

2. Franklin Smathers (Pvt., Co. E, 53rd Ohio Inf., Civil War) pension no. 896663, certificate no. 676404, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1864-1934; Civil War and Later pension Files; Dept of Veteran Affairs National Archives, Washington, D.C. 

3. 1850 US Federal Census, State of Pennsylvania, Clarion County, Madison Township, v 1319, Head of Household, Jacob Smathers, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

4. 1860 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Vinton County, Clinton Township, v 498, Head of Household, Jacob Smathers, online digital image, Ancestry.com. 

5. 1870 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Jackson County, Milton Township, v 238, Head of Household, Reuben Smathers, online digital image, Ancestry.com.

6. 1880 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Jackson County, Milton Township, v 284, Head of Household, Reuben Smathers, online digital image, Ancestry.com. 

7. 1900 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Jackson County, Madison Township, v 90, Head of Household, Reuben, Smathers, online digital image, Ancestry.com. 

8. 1910 US Federal Census, State of Ohio, Jackson County, Madison Township, v113, Head of Household, Ruben (sic) Smathers, online digital image, Ancestry.com. 

Note this post first published online, April 22, 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 22 April 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Genealogy Quick Notes — The COG has arrived and Desktop Genealogist Archives

Carnival of Genealogy

The Carnival of Genealogy has arrived. The focus of this edition is inherited family traits. To check out the interesting variety of traits each of the genea-bloggers highlighted, go to http://creativegene.blogspot.com/2008/04/carnival-of-genealogy-46th-edition.html. The subject for the next edition is A Place Called Home.

Archives

If you read this blog on any kind of a regular basis, you've probably picked up on the fact that one of my frustrations is that there ARE NO ARCHIVES, so to speak. So rather than continuing my sniffling whine on the subject, I slapped myself on both cheeks and said to myself, “SELF, DO SOMETHING!” So I did.

I've set up a separate blog site specifically for archives of “Desktop Genealogist.” It's called “Desktop Genealogist Unplugged.” (I know, but I only told myself to do something. I forgot to order myself to be creative & original.) For now, it's strictly for archives and my plan is to update the site the first of every month with the previous month's posts.

The advantage of having archives is I can refer back to previous posts when necessary. I have some posts in mind in the next few weeks that may take advantage of this new capability. I didn't want anyone who clicked on a link to the archives to get excited, realize that they weren't in Kansas anymore (read The News-Messenger Web site), and think that their computer had been taken over by aliens, a malicious virus, or candid camera.

I haven't finished labeling the posts, and inexplicably I am missing seven of the darn things, so I am going back to figure out which posts I missed. This blog remains my main mode of communication, and therefore, I won't be posting anything new on the archived site. If that situation should change, I will let you know.

I have not corrected or rewritten any of the original posts. I figured if I started doing that I would be spending all my time working on old material, instead of researching and/or posting new stuff. I do confess, that I did change one word in one post, mainly because I think I made the word up out of thin air. And no, I'm not telling which word or which post!

The web address for the archive is http://desktopgenealogistunplugged.blogspot.com/.

Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging!

Note: If you aren't reading Desktop Genealogist Forums you should be! Sandi posted that the following website has FREE access to Civil War databases until April 30!
The web address is http://alexanderstreet.com/resources/civilwar.access.htm. Way Cool, Sandi! Thanks for keeping us updated!

Note this post first published online, April 21 , 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

Genealogy Quick Notes - Veterans of Different Wars

I didn't intend this week's “Genealogy Quick Notes” to be strictly about veterans, but a Where Were You Carnival, a comment, and a well-written blog post by another author have conspired to make it the topic of the week. 

Where Were You Carnival GenLady has posted this month's “Where Were You” Carnival at http://www.genlady.com/2008/04/11/where-were-youduring-the-civil-war/. The subject of the posts is “Where Were You (or in this case, your ancestors) during the Civil War.” Seven authors responded to the challenge. 

Next month's subject — Pearl Harbor. The Wall Dawn left a comment on the forum section of Desktop Genealogist that Footnote.com has placed what they are calling an “Interactive Vietnam War Veterans Memorial” 

You can search for specific names that appear on the wall, leave stories or perhaps a tribute. Footnote has made this part of their database free. Nice job Footnote! And nice job Dawn!

And Finally, a Touching Post

I love this post written by Lee Drew at “FamHist Blog.” In “I Met a Veteran Today” he writes — well, any description I give won't do it justice so you'll just have to go read it for yourself! You can read it here:s 

Until Next Time - Happy Ancestral Digging! 

Note this post first published online, April 16, 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 16 April 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

My Toxic Effect

I toss my laptop over to my husband to read my “This Little Piggy” post to get his reaction. I watch as he reads it and see him smirk approvingly several times. 

“Is it okay?” I ask. 

 “Yup.” 

“You think it's funny, right?” 

 “Yup,” he says as he walks out of our living room into the kitchen. 

“You don't think it's too weird, um, talking about my feet do you?” 

Silence. Dead silence. I get up, run out to the kitchen, and catch him deep in thought. 

Finally, “Well, I think it's funny, but then I've been living with your sense of humor for a while.”

Holy cow, my humor is so warped that I've killed my favorite love's sense of what is and isn't funny. Be afraid, dear reader, be very afraid. 

Note this post first published online, April 15, 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 15 April 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

This Little Piggy

Okay, anybody who has just eaten or is about to eat, back away from your computer right now. Don’t look left. Don’t look right. Trust me, you’ll thank me later. 

Now for those less squeamish, let’s talk toes. Yep, those ugly little piggies belong to yours truly. Normally, I try to shield you, dear reader, from the uglier aspects of my life. You can place the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist or Jasia over at Creative Gene , or for that matter, the blame can be placed on my dad whose toes I've inherited. 

Lisa suggested the topic for this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. “What traits run in your family? Which of them did you inherit? “And Jasia was all like, well sure, that sounds good. So let’s just take a little peek at my toes. (Haven’t been able to take your eyes off them, have you?) 

If you look closely, you can see that the second toe is longer than the big toe. My father’s toes have the same arrangement. When I was little, he said a longer second toe was a sign of intelligence. I believed him. In fact, in times when I have doubted all of my abilities, I’ve clung to the thought that at least I had the intelligence thing going for me. After all, I had that longer second toe to prove it. 

Turns out Dad fibbed. While this is one of the myths surrounding a lanky second toe, the toe itself is actually a deformity. That’s right I have a DEFORMED TOE. It even has a name, Morton’s Toe. There’s also a website, http://www.foot.com/info/cond_mortons_toe.jsp, which talks about the definition of Morton’s Toe, what problems it causes, and the treatment of said toe. 

I was happy to know that there are no sharp objects like surgical knives involved in treatment. The website suggests that those suffering from the affliction wear “footwear with a high and wide toe box” and notes that often, wearing a shoe a half size larger will “accommodate the longer second toe.” Hah! No wonder my shoe size was always bigger than my friends. It also explains why I preferred cutting my bare feet on sharp stones to putting on shoes as a child. 

Without the Carnival of Genealogy, I would never have explored this aspect of my being. I now know that I am deformed and probably as dumb as a box of rocks. Thanks COG, thanks a lot.

Until Next Time …

Note this post first published online, April 14, 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 14  April 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder