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Tuesday's Tip: Visiting the Family History Library

5/26/2014

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PictureFamily History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah
Last week, I made my first ever trip to Salt Lake City, with one of my goals being a couple of good research days at the Family History Library.  A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my general preparations and goals: focusing on only a few family lines and only looking for indexed records or records for which I already knew where and when certain ancestors were born.  With only two days, I did not have time to sit down with a gazetteer and try to search the microfilms for every village in which Great-Grandpa Kowalski may have been born.

Originally, I was going to use an online form to contact the library beforehand and let them know what films I would like to search.  I messaged them a few times through Facebook, and they assured me that, because none of the films in which I were interested were solely kept in the Vault, I should have no problems finding them when I arrived.  

Well, with my (bad) luck, wouldn't you know it, but the first film I search for was not in its proper place in the microfilm drawers.  One of the volunteers kindly helped me search the overflow drawers and even looked around at other patrons to see if they were using it, but we couldn't find it.  He ordered it from the Vault and it was thankfully there the next morning!  Phew!

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In the past, I've also had notoriously bad luck with getting the hang of different types of microfilm machines, so I was a little worried about that on the first day.  Turns out that I had nothing to worry about; the machines were well-maintained, easy-to-use, and instructions were printed on each one. Not to mention the fact that there were many library volunteers eager to assist anyone who needed it.

This is the machine at used for 2 1/4 days.  I sat at the same one each day; it was next to a wall outlet, so I was able to charge my phone when it ran low on battery. 
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"My" microfilm reader
Before I arrived at the library, I knew that if I wanted to save any images digitally, I would need to transfer the microfilm reel to one of the special scanner computers that had USB drives.  I fully intended to do this, and even bought myself a new USB drive.  However, I quickly realized that, with the number of records I wanted to save, and considering that the scanner computers had time limits of only 30 minutes, this process would severely cut into my available research time.  So, instead I experimented with taking photos of the records directly off the microfilm reader with my iPad 4 and iPhone 5.  After carefully reviewing a few images - zooming in, looking at clarity and details - I determined that these photo images were more than adequate digital records of what I was looking at on the microfilm reader.  Of course, the photos were saved in JPEG format, but I could easily convert them to TIFF format when I save them to my permanent hard drive and cloud.

Each time I located a record of interest - one that I photographed - I wrote down the name(s), date, location and film number in a steno notebook.  I was very careful to maintain my notes in the exact order of the photos I took, so that when I do go to organize the record photos into their proper "family" folders, I will know exactly what record I am looking at and who it 'belongs' to.
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One of many pages of notes
Thanks to my planning, I was able to find at least some records for all but one of the families I had prepared to research.  For those of you who follow the families I research, these are the ones on which I focused my research this time:

- The family of my great-grandfather, Michael Bodziony in southern Poland
- The family of my great-grandfather, Sophia Krupa in southern Poland
- The family of my husband's ancestor, Ferdinand Waterkotte in Ostbevern, Germany
- The family of my husband's ancestors, Gottfried and Maria Eva Wimmers in Garzweiler, Germany
- The family of my husband's ancestor, Johann Michael Drees in Cloppenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- The family of my husband's ancestor, Maria Catharine Wellerding in Steinfeld, Oldenburg, Germany

It was a great first trip to THE library, and I'm looking forward to going back someday.  I spent all of my time on the International Floor.  It was so great to look around and see people researching so many different countries of the world, and hearing other patrons and volunteers speak in languages other than English.  Even though I didn't really talk with the other patrons, I did feel as if there was a camaraderie between us, and I realized that there really are quite a few of us who are more than a little obsessed with learning about our ancestors.  :-)

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
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Sunday's Obituary: Louis Licciardi

5/24/2014

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My great-grandfather, Louis Licciardi, passed away February 26, 1974.  He was born January 30, 1891 in Palermo, Italy, and came to America in 1920.  This obituary was published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer on February 27, 1974.
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Obituary for Louis Licciardi, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 27 Feb 1974, Page 6-E
A shorter obituary was published the same day in the 'Death Notices' section of the same newspaper on page 7-E.
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Obituary of Louis Licciardi, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 27 Feb 1974, page 7-E
Here is a photo of Louis dancing with his wife, Adele, at my parents' wedding, which was about five months before he passed away.
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Louis dancing with his wife, Adele, 1 Sep 1973.
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
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Sunday's Obituary: J. M. "Mike" Drees

5/17/2014

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This is the obituary for Johann Michael (commonly known as "Mike") Drees from the 28 Mar 1941 edition of The Minster Post. Mike Drees was the maternal grandfather of my husband's paternal grandmother (got that?).  In other words he is one of my husband's great-great-grandfathers.

As you can tell by reading the obituary, Mike was an influential man in the area and was very social. He reported for the local newspaper, which, I have to say, is great for my research of the family, because there is often a heavy bias in the newspaper on what his children and extended family members were doing from week to week.  He was also a farmer, and he was not shy about mentioning his own farming accomplishments and activities in the weekly newspaper round-up.
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Mike Drees was a son of German Catholic immigrants, Johann Michael (also called 'Mike') Drees and Maria Catherine Wellerding. (The obituary incorrectly says 'Caroline.')  His father, a blacksmith, was one of the founders of the town of Minster, Ohio, and served as the town's first mayor.  

The decedent had nine children; a daughter, Katharina Bernadine Drees, with his first wife, Maria Gertrude Berning (who is not mentioned here).  She passed away less than two years after her daughter was born.  Shortly after her death in 1880, Mike married Mary Catherine Wilkens, with whom he had eight children. His youngest child, Frances Marie Drees, was the mother of my husband's grandmother, Naomi Grilliot Schroeder.

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
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Tombstone Tuesday: Johann Christopher and Maria Angela Bernhold

5/12/2014

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These are the tombstones of Johann Christopher Bernhold and his wife, Maria Angela Mehring, who are buried in St. Augustine Cemetery in Minster, Ohio.  They are my husband's 4x great-grandparents through his paternal grandfather's (Schroeder) line.  
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Gravestone of Johann Christopher Bernhold
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Gravestone of Maria Angela Bernhold
Johann Christopher (who usually went by just Christopher) and Maria Angela were from Hunteberg, Niedersachsen, Germany; according to immigration information found at AidaOnline, more specifically the district of Welplage.  In 1846, they immigrated to the U.S. with their four children, Karl ("Charles"), Ernst Friederich Heinrich ('Fritz", "Frank", "Fred"), Anna Maria Sophia Engel, and Herman Heinrich.  Two daughters, Anna Maria Elizabeth and Margaretha Engel, passed away in Hunteberg in the 1840s, prior to the family's emigration. (The location of Hunteburg is shown below:)
The Bernhold family settled in the German immigrant community around Minster, Ohio, where they ran an average-sized family farm.  By the 1870 Census, Christopher and Angela were living with their son, Herman, and his wife.  Maria Angela passes away in 1874, but Christopher is listed in the 1880 Census, still living with Herman.  That census form is difficult to read, but it states that Christopher, at about the age of 80, still "works some on farm."

Photo source: FindAGrave.com; photographed by Crashlan.

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
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Census Sunday: Joseph Brunswick and Family, 1900

5/10/2014

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In 1900, Joseph Brunswick, my husband's gg-grandfather, was living in German Twp, Auglaize County, Ohio with his wife, Bernadina (née Rolfes), stepson, Clemens Vehorn, and sons, Julius, Lawrence, Edwin, and Frank.  He is listed as a farmer and land owner.  (Click on image for larger view.)

There are several mistakes in the names and birth dates on this family's census form.  Several of the names are spelled incorrectly, and the enumerator failed to note that Clemens ('Clarence' on the form) was Joseph's stepson (who had a different surname).  Also, I have located county probate birth records for every member of this family, and the only date of birth that is correct on the census is Frank's, who was born only a few months before the census was taken.  The enumerator did correctly record the couple's number of years married at six years; according to Joseph's obituary, they were married 4 Apr 1894.
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Joseph Brunswick and Family, 1900
The location of Joseph's land can be seen in this 1898 Land Ownership Map for Auglaize County, Ohio.  The farm was on the western edge of German Twp, and shared a border with Mercer County. The area of gridded streets in German Twp is the town of New Bremen, and farther south in Jackson Twp is the town of Minster.  This area of Auglaize County, along with neighboring Mercer County, was heavily settled by German Catholic immigrants during the 19th century.  (Click on image for larger view.)
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1898 Auglaize Co, Ohio Land Ownership for German and Jackson Townships.
In the modern-day map below, Joseph's land would be located in the rectangle between Amsterdam Rd, Wilker Rd, OH-274, and Mercer-Auglaize Co Line Rd.  His land would have been about in the middle of that rectangle.
Map below showing Auglaize County. The purple circle indicates the location of German and Jackson Townships.
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Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Census source: Year: 1900: Census Place: German, Auglaize, Ohio; Roll: T623_1240; Page 19A; Enumeration District: 33
Map source: U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918; Collection NumberL G&M_27; Roll Number: 27

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
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Tombstone Tuesday: Joseph Anton Brunswick

5/5/2014

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This is the gravestone of Joseph Anton Brunswick, who was the grandfather of my husband's maternal grandmother, Rita Brunswick Tumbush.  According to county probate birth records, he was born December 3, 1867 in St. John, Ohio (Mercer County), which is very close to Maria Stein.  He was the fifth child of Andrew Brunswick, a German immigrant, and Philomena Oldendiek, the daughter of German immigrants.
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Gravestone of Joseph A. Brunswick
Joseph married twice.  He married a young widow, Bernadina Rolfes Vehorn, on April 4, 1894 at Maria Stein.  She passed away December 27, 1905, a couple of weeks after giving birth to their seventh child.  He remained a widower until 1925, when he married the widow Elizabeth Boeckman Droesch.  He died September 30, 1940, and is buried in St. Wendelin Cemetery in Mercer County, Ohio.  His obituary from the October 4, 1940 edition of The Minster Post is below:
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Joseph A. Brunswick Obituary (Source: The Minster Post, 4 Oct 1940)
Gravestone image source: FindAGrave.com; photographed by tut
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I'm Going to the FHL! - And I Need Your Help!

5/3/2014

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PictureFamily History Library (Source: Wikicommons)
Two weeks from today, my husband and I will be on our way to Salt Lake City.  There is a short conference/class that my husband wanted to attend for work, and he suggested that I come along and we make a little non-kid vacation out of it.  (And, yes, he knew when he mentioned it to me that I wouldn't be able to refuse!  He knows the power of the Family History Library, lol!)  

This will be my first trip to the FHL.  I will only have two days of research time.  I am going into this experience with realistic expectations of how much (how little) research I will probably be able to accomplish in that short period of time.  I will only be concentrating on a couple of family lines, and I will be primarily searching for microfilmed records that I have already found to be indexed on FamilySearch.org.  All of the films are international.   I know exactly which microfilms I will need, and I will be using this online form to request them ahead of time, so they are ready to go when I arrive.  I have printed out copies of the indexed records and paper-clipped them together with a single-page print out of that portion of the family tree.  I will have a stenographer's notebook where I have written down who and what I am looking for in each family, and I will also use it to take additional source notes, if necessary.  I also plan on bringing my iPad so that I can access all of my family tree records that I have put online, if I need to look something up.  

If possible, I would like to avoid having to bring my laptop, mainly just for travel reasons.  I plan on using a USB flash drive to collect records, and I will copy what I find onto my OneDrive 'cloud' or Google Drive just to be on the safe side.  I actually want to invest in a new flash drive for the occasion - any recommendations or suggestions?

So, for those of you who have done research at the FHL, what am I forgetting?  Any advice or suggestions for a newbie?  My husband and I will also be taking some time to tour Salt Lake City and the surrounding area, and I'd love to hear suggestions for what to see, where to eat, etc.

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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    Emily Kowalski Schroeder

    Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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