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Family history & genealogy- 3
Family reunions are often originated by a genealogist and history is what most reunion members have in common. These are examples of how families incorporate family history and genealogy in their reunions. We urge you to e-mail us your special reunion history and genealogy.
Surprise! Finding relatives
by Arliss Treybig
On my first visit to Büdesheim, Germany, in 1987, I stayed and traveled with my cousin Gene Treybig and his wife Jane (now of Boerne, Texas). At the time, they had lived in Germany for 25 or so years. They took me to visit Büdesheim and meet the two gentlemen who had done my Burtschell and Braden family history research in church books. Several years later I discovered that Gene is descended, as am I on my mother’s side, from both the Burtschell and Braden families. Gene did not know in 1987 when he took me there that he was visiting the village of his ancestors as well.
Shirley Brandes Thomas and I were friends involved in many mutual activities during our four years at Wharton County Junior College and Sam Houston State. About a year ago I discovered we were kin, also through the Burtschell and Braden families. Shirley’s daughter, a teacher, attended our Burt(t)schell Family Reunion and discovered her school secretary is also a cousin.
Gigi Reese, of the Burtschell-Braden line, was a Clear Creek High School counselor several of the years I taught there. She moved to Clear Lake High School when it was formed and some of her students were at our reunion. A number of my students and yearbook staffs are Burtschell descendants. There is truth is the old saying: “Be careful; the person you talk about may be your kin.”
About the author
Arliss Treybig, El Campo, Texas, began doing genealogical research about 28 years ago. She says her research and meeting family here and in Germany has given her a different sense of who she is.
Famous census
Michael Neill has posted census images from the “rich and famous.” The main page is www.rootdig.com/1930census/. Some of the many images linked are Lucille Ball, Marlon Brando, Mel Brooks, George Bush, Jimmy Carter, Walter Cronkite, Walt Disney, Amelia Earhart, Katharine Hepburn, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson and Dr. Seuss.
Pryer/Gilbert attendance at 1,800!
The first Pryer Family Reunion was held in 1989 in Rosedale, Louisiana, attended by 550 relatives. The second Pryer/Gilbert Family reunion was in 1996, with over 1,500 relatives attending.
The further we dig, the longer our roots have grown, and based on this year’s expected attendance of 1,800, the history of our family is proving to be “overwhelmingly” long and deep. What’s even more amazing is that the family has such a long lineage, which continues to blossom, despite the many buds now faded away.
Attendees came from Belize, New York, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, California, Maryland, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, and where “the roots” began, Woodville, Mississippi.
We are all very blessed to know that from one acorn, a tree with a rich heritage, continues to grow long and strong. I feel our family tree is one of the great sequoias of our time.
Reported by Melonie Pryer, San Francisco CA
Not only can you announce your own events through Roots Central, you are welcome to embed the Roots Central video player on your own websites, and keep your users up to date on what is happening in the genealogical world. Contact us at rootscentral@rootstelevision.com for more information.
Family tree searches produce reunion stories
The president of Philadelphia’s African-American Genealogical Group, John T. Logan, still returns to central Kentucky to search family tree branches.
Logan, 51, was born near Muncie, Indiana, but from the age of just a few months he grew up on a farm in Garrard County, Kentucky, where his mother’s family lived.
“I think there have been changes among black people toward their family histories,” Logan said. “Alex Haley made a major impact on black people, if not on the world” with his novel Roots. “He displaced some myths about black people having no history in this country by proving he could research and find his history.”
Inspired by Haley’s work, Logan began searching for lost chapters of his family’s history. It proved difficult, but he has traced his maternal line back six generations. His family database now contains more than 5,000 names associated with the Logans, Rays and Kennedys of Garrard and surrounding Kentucky counties.
Logan’s paternal grandparents died before he was born and his maternal grandfather, who died when Logan was 10, was orphaned at about age 6, having lost his father, mother and older sister during an early 1890s epidemic. Little family history was saved.Logan’s discoveries are seeds for family history tales he tells at his reunions. His great-grandfather, Mason Logan, was a member of the 6th US Colored Cavalry at Camp Nelson, Kentucky, and was buried in a country church graveyard in Buckeye community, Garrard County. “I found his military headstone one evening while visiting and doing research, but have been unable to find out any more beyond his Civil War records and his birth date.”
Logan learned many of his mother’s ancestors were slaves on the infamous Kennedy Plantation near Paint Lick in Garrard County, which many historians believe was the setting for Harriett Beecher Stowe’s powerful antislavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
“The difference in African-American genealogy many times is we have to parallel our research to the slave owner,” Logan explained. “We have to know their genealogy almost as well as our own, because through their travels, ownership, transactions, wills, farms they owned and where their family came from, we may discover more information about ourselves.”
Contact John T. Logan or the African-American Genealogical Group of Philadelphia, at jtlogan@africamail.com.
Taken from a column by Byron Crawford, Courier Journal, Louisville KY.
Reunion genealogy board
Connecting the various branches of your family reunion can be easy according to Paula Sheagley, from Holy Cross Abbey in Canon City, Colorado. She sent pictures of a large family tree chart displayed at the Brueggeman Family Reunion held at The Abbey.
Two large photos of Frank and Catherine Brueggeman are at the top of the chart with pictures of their eight children and spouses below. Underneath the pictures is a list of the couple's and their children's names. Each branch uses a different color to list names. The same color is then used for name tags making it easy to see who relatives descend from.
Looking at ancestors
Mary Thiele Fobian is planning a reunion for her Napps/Knapp family branch. Fobian asks how other families have displayed, printed, published their family trees and histories. Her concern is about having a HUGE family tree of eight to nine generations and hundreds of people. The location of her reunion will add to the challenge of mounting an exhibit because it will be outside in a park.
One solution to Fobian's query came from Phil Bousley, Vincennes, Indiana. Bousley wrote, "At our last Bousley (Beausoleil) reunion in Dunbar, Wisconsin, the hosts put two 4' x 8' plywood sheets on a wall and each family from great grandfather down was listed in a descendancy chart. I added over 150 names from the chart to my genealogy program. Unfortunately, not all of the last names were given so I still have a lot of investigative work to do. At the next reunion I am going to take a notebook and have everyone list their address, phone number, e-mail address and how they are related to the oldest ancestor. I also plan to ask relatives to add some story about one or more of their ancestors. The reunion is a great source of interesting information — especially if the old relatives are there. Gee, I am one of the old relatives. Sometimes the older relatives have information that is not available in any book or record."
Claire LeBeaux of genealogy.com advises that if you have a GEDCOM or FTW file (or are willing to create one), you can use Family Tree Maker to create a tree, then print it to file, save it to disk, then take the disk to a quick copy shop like Kinkos and print it on their plotter.
Exploring roots
Alex Haley planted the seed of interest in millions of people including his own son, William, for whom finding every root and branch is a journey he'll never finish. Speaking to a group, Haley preached his version of his father's gospel.
Your ancestors did what they had to do to survive. Make sure they're not forgotten. Don't worry if you're searching for relatives from the days of slavery who had no surnames in 1865 but have faith you'll find what you need. "You learn life lessons from your family stories. And remember they only took the strongest. You are descended from the strongest."
Katie Brown Bennett freed her slave ancestors from the papers of North Carolina family history collections, where they lay buried in bills of sale, personal correspondence and wills. The gift, she says, was to learn how they persevered. Bennett's genealogical chronicle, Soaking the Yule Log, takes its title from the practice her 18th-century kin devised to lengthen the Christmas holiday. Having been granted "a vacation" by owners for as long as the great yule log burned, slaves learned that a good soaking in creek water added hours of time off.
submitted by Ken August Brunner from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One family tree
Janice Scruggs, Milledgeville, Georgia, shares her McLeod family tree displayed proudly at reunions. Eight family branches are each represented by different shaped leaves, in different colors to represent each generation. They use identical leaves for nametags to denote each branch of the family.
The International Society of Sons and Daughters of Slave Ancestry
ISDSA members are proud of their enslaved ancestors; they want to remember the past not erase it; they want to celebrate their heritage not mourn it; they want to document and promote slave genealogy. Their archives are housed with the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection at the Carter G. Woodson Library in Chicago. Membership is open to anyone who can prove slave ancestry. Contact ISDSA, PO Box 436937, Chicago IL 60643-6937.
Looking for letters
Danell Spillman, Editor of Louisiana African Americans, explains that letters are not only prized family heirlooms but often the only link to information about ancestors. Letters are the raw material – pieces of the puzzle of the African American past. Spillman is collecting copies of letters to publish; include biographical and/or genealogical information about people mentioned in the letter. Send to Louisiana African Americans, University Station, PO Box 16726, Baton Rouge LA 70892.
What do estates and reunions have in common?
by Peggy Rockwell Gleich
I received a call from an estate researcher, telling me he was tracking my ancestors because there was a valuable estate which probably belongs to the family. He located me through my information at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
He wanted all our family information – now – over the phone! I told him to call back in a few days. Then, I asked others if they'd heard of him. To make a long story short, I concluded he was legitimate.
I contacted the relatives involved but no one wanted to give him any current information, including Social Security numbers for tax purposes, which are not necessary until the sale is final. When I contacted him, I gave him only names. He wrote letters to each relative and mailed them to me for distribution.
With the help of two third cousins, we located sixteen living heirs, all second cousins of a Rockwell descendant who died in California and left no family. Most of us knew nothing about this 87-year old man and apparently he didn't know much about any of us. What a terrible shame and one I wish could be rectified.
The estate included a corner lot near Berkeley, California, on which sat a dilapidated, fallen-down, mouse-infested, broken-into house. The house had to be torn down but the land holds some value. Sadly, no heirlooms, paperwork or other items were salvageable. This cousin had been in a nursing home for a long time. The sale was pending a California court hearing.
When the estate researcher contacted me, neighbors were trying to have the court name them administrator. They were trying to have the house condemned and torn down. An administrator was named to represent all the cousins. The estate researcher, attorneys and administrator all share in a third of the estate.
Maybe this was the reason I was meant to be working on my family history. Keep following your genealogical dreams. Don't give up, and above all, never say never!
About the author
Peggy Rockwell Gleich, Janesville, Wisconsin, is President of the Walworth County (WI) Genealogical Society; Editor of Cemetery Q's & A's (Queries & Anecdotes) and the Wilkinson Connection. She has been doing genealogy for fifteen years is a member in many genealogy societies and a speaker in beginning basic genealogy instructor.
Reunion tales
In their Grandparenting column, Dee and Tom Hardie reported about the Thornhill Foundation reunion at Tom's ancestral home, an antebellum cotton plantation in Talladega, Alabama. Their annual reunion is devoted to the clan's history and upkeep of the family cemetery and research. The Hardies took their 13-year old granddaughter who was fascinated by 50 cousins she met. Her fourth cousin, a perky 82-year old grandmother who recounted a story of a visit to her farm from her three- and five-year old grandchildren. Together they planted wildflowers. The following morning the children rose early and rushed "to pick the wildflowers." Grandma had to tell the children that the flowers were still sleeping and that Hardies have always been optimistic people!
Submitted by Schuyler C. Brossman from the Reading (PA) Eagle.
Frederickson Family Reunion
Elsie Hutton, the oldest of nine, and daughter of an oldest of nine father, has much to deal with as she resurrects the Frederickson Family Reunion after a break of many years. The family has already published a cookbook and preparations for entertainment around a "Good Old Days" theme includes participants dressing in period attire. Hutton plans to provide a genealogy workshop to share her passion as well as interview elders, develop a family health record and collect keepsakes.
National Archives figure in reunion display
Ericka Watson, Westampton, New Jersey, has been bitten by the genealogy bug. She gathered several members of the Williams Family Reunion for a research trip to the National Archives to prepare an exhibit for their family reunion. They are also engaging older relatives for contributions of pertinent information and oral histories. They report frustration at names listed incorrectly and inconsistent census data but a passion to continue and have more for each reunion to share with family.
In case you don't remember
Charlotte Johnson, Alton, Illinois, is historian for the family reunion of George Schultz and "His," Inc. She presents a very entertaining slide show about the formation and genealogy of the family. Johnson weaves and illustrates an uncommonly complicated, sometimes convoluted, tale that follows the growth of the family. At each reunion, she reserves a room for displays of past reunions; pictures, mementos, notes and comments. The room rings with happy laughter and chatter as family members see pictures of themselves and begin to recall past reunion pleasures.
Catskills Ideal
The third international reunion of about 125 descendants of Richard Lounsberry (ca. 1634 - 1690) was a great success, reports Albert "Al" Lounsbury, Saratoga Springs, New York, about what he refers to as the "L Family Reunion" at the Balsam Shade Resort in Greenville, New York.
Family gathered from many places in the US and Canada. The recreation hall was lively with genealogical research. Members brought computers with a wealth of information stored in them to share family lines, picture displays and genealogy books.
A short skit depicted the family of Richard Lounsberry and Elizabeth Pennoyer, who came from England separately, married and raised six children (five sons and one daughter) in the mid to late 1600s. Volunteers from the audience played roles as family members. Each night there was a bonfire for those who preferred to be outdoors. An auction Saturday produced lots of laughs, good bidders, fun and helped put reunion finances in the black with a little to spare for the next one.
Family skeleton
For one Iowa family, a family skeleton brought them together again. Literally. After 132 years, James Benson's bones were unearthed from his Lafayette County, Wisconsin, grave so relatives could move them to the family plot in Lamoille, Iowa. It took two grave diggers one-and-a-half hours to uncover the remains. Then, family members were invited to sift through the dirt for remaining bones.
To some this may seem like a grizzly way to reunite five generations of buried Bensons. But not to Wendell Benson, James' 73-year-old grandson. "We're a very close family," Wendell said. The idea to dig up great-great-great-grand dad originated at the 1997 Benson Family Reunion. Family members agreed to share the cost of exhuming and transporting the remains. The family plans a graveside service at its 1999 reunion.
The Harmelink Archive
In an effort to collect and preserve family documents and treasures, Vernon and Sondra (Einfeldt) Harmelink, Phoenix, Arizona, established a family archive. They voluntarily began to collect items and organized what they have.
An archive is an organized body of records pertaining to an organization or institution; in this case, a family. The Harmelink Archive is intended as a repository, storage place, museum for records and artifacts. This Archive includes vital statistics (birth, marriage, divorce and death records), photographs, documents, certificates, diplomas, military records, news clippings (achievements, acknowledgments, obituaries) and heirlooms or photos of sentimental keepsakes. The items will be centrally organized and accessible to family members.
The Harmelink Family is anyone using the name in any version (Harmeling, Hermelink, Hermeling), those with Harmelink genes (blood), having legal ties to family members by marriage or adoption and their descendants or even by divorce. Once a Harmelink, always a Harmelink.
Vernon and Sondra (Einfeldt) Harmelink volunteered to collect and organize what they have. Statistics and photographs are being entered into Family Tree Maker, version 7. Hard copy printouts of records, statistical worksheets and original copies of photographs are stored in five steel file cabinets at the couple’s home. A few precious artifacts (e.g. gold pocket watch and two gold wedding bands owned by John Harmelink, Sr.) are stored in a safe deposit box in a bank.
Harmelink family members were asked to submit birth, marriage, divorce or death records, photos and newspaper coverage, obituaries and funeral memorial brochures. The request for materials is of particular importance to people who are closing down a home or downsizing possessions. There are instances of old photos being thrown out because it was thought no one would want them. Label photographs with names, dates and places. Even without labeling, photos are valuable, since names, places and approximate dates can often be determined from other photos, from family group records or the ages of children in photos.
Family members who want to retain wedding, graduation or family group photos, can send copies. Paper records will be deposited in the Greater Sioux County Genealogical Society files in the Sioux Center, Iowa Library, and the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin.
Book reviews
The Family Tree Detective: Cracking the case of your family's story, by Ann Douglas, illustrated by Stephen MacEachern, 1999, Firefly Books, 230 Fifth Avenue, New York NY, 48 pages, paper, $9.95.
For older kids, The Family Tree Detective encourages a little family sleuthing. And what better way for budding genealogists to catch the family history bug! Among the many highlights, there's a family tree grid ready to be filled in with appropriate names, sample interview questions the kids can ask family members, even names, addresses and phone numbers of international organizations who can put them in touch with genealogical societies right in their own communities.
Crammed with colorful illustrations and easy to understand "Family Facts," this is one guide guaranteed to get the kids involved in next year's family reunion. (If they can pry it away from dad, that is.) JP
Roots of the Rich and Famous, by Robert Davenport. Taylor Publishing Company, 1550 W Mockingbird Lane, Dallas TX 75235; 1998, 138 pages, soft-cover, $10.95.
Obsessed with the history of celebrities? Or just want to know the down and dirty on your favorite show biz personalities? Then Roots of the Rich and Famous, by "Genealogist to the Stars" Robert Davenport is just the ticket. With detailed genealogical charts and fun facts on everyone from Judy Garland to Princess Diana, Goldie Hawn and Tom Selleck, Roots unearths some startling gems: Prince Charles is a descendant of Count Dracula, Elvis
Presley was related to Abraham Lincoln, John Wayne shares blood with folk hero Johnny Appleseed and actor Glen Ford claims to be a descendant of Martin Van Buren, America's eighth president. And that's just for starters. Illustrated, with over 150 photographs, Roots of the Rich and Famous is a Hollywood hoot.
Dozens of Cousins by Lois Horowitz. Ten Speed Press, PO Box 7123, Berkeley, CA 94707; 1999, 107 pages, paper, $11.95.
The subtitle of Dozens of Cousins says it all: Blue Genes, Horse Thiefs, and Other Relative Surprises in Your Family Tree. That's right: as much as we sometimes would like our more "colorful" family members to disappear, they just won't cooperate. For better or worse, we're stuck with them. So why not enjoy their stories?
Dozens of Cousins not only allows researchers to enjoy past ancestral pranksters, it offers helpful tips for tracing and finding family members you can be downright proud of, too. Loaded with fun family tree trivia, Dozens includes personal anecdotes from people of all backgrounds on the surprises and joys their quests for kin-formation brought them.
Organizing Your Family Research by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. Betterway Books, 1507 Dana Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45207; 1999, 150 pages, paper, $16.99.
Those well on their way to unearthing family history may find Organizing Your Family Research just the tool needed to get those paper piles and data discs finally stored in proper, easily accessible places. Among other practical tips, author Carmack shows how to create a flexible filing system that can expand with new information; how to take notes according to this filing system; and how to set up an efficient work space.
Family Chronicle's Introduction to Genealogy. Family Chronicle, PO Box 1201, Lewiston, NY 14092; 1999, 184 pages, paper, $25.
Family Chronicle's Introduction to Genealogy targets the beginning family historian. Articles such as "First Things First," "Finding Your Vital Records," and "Common Mistakes," Introduction not only gets would-be historians out of the starting blocks, it's designed to keep them going to the finish line. Whether a serious researcher or just looking for weekend laughs, the literature on family genealogy grows richer every day.
Family History Made Easy by Loretto Dennis Szucs (1998, 223 pages, paperback)
Unlocking The Secrets In Old Photographs by Karen Frisch-Ripley (1991, 190 pages, paperback, $16.95)
Both books above from Ancestory Inc., PO Box 476, Salt Lake City, UT 84110
Researching family history can be a daunting task. The motivation may be strong, but the questions may seem overwhelming. Where to begin? What to look for? How to make meaning of the research? Family History Made Easy offers a steady, easy-to-follow guide through the often confusing task of tracing family branches back to their roots. Author of several books, Szucs instructs on matters from locating source materials at libraries to local and federal government offices. She also provides tips on how to preserve and organize family history.
Family trees for the first Thanksgiving participants
Millions of Americans can tie their roots back to the original Thanksgiving participants. So it’s no surprise that eight past American Presidents share family trees with Pilgrims. Ancestry.com has published family trees for many of those who sat around that first Thanksgiving table. Now you can see a complete list of those who participated and find out if your family has ties to the original Thanksgiving guests. Find out which famous people claim ties to the original Pilgrims. For more information about the first Thanksgiving go to www.ancestry.com/landing/holiday/thanksgiving/harvest.html.
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