You can't take it with you

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 11:50:22 GMT

Newspaper articles turn up surprising information on relatives. From the obituary of my great great great grandfather I have gained the opinion that when he left this life, he left his family more than a little dissatisfied. Unlike other obituaries of 1911 that lauded the generosity, kindness, intelligence and dedication to family, his began “Was Once Wealthy”.

If he had written his own obituary I highly doubt he would have broadcast to the local public his failure to leave his family in the cushiony comfort that must have been expected. For a man that had always defined himself as a farmer in every census, even after being involved in many oil producing ventures, this statement must have made him roll over in his grave. Not only did they make the statement the he was once wealthy but put a dollar amount on it if $300,000 in the body of the obituary. You can almost hear the "thanks a LOT dad" sneer. I guess I shouldn't be surprised when I wrote for a copy of his will to the local courthouse, he didn't have one.

This tends to make a person wonder, left to the living what would your family have to say about you?

Plays with dead people

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:50:09 GMT

Several years ago I started a family tree. With improvements to the information available on the internet, that small family tree has grown to immense proportions. Along the way I have found politicians, farmers, oil producers, photographers and soldiers. I am of Irish, German, Belgian, English, Scotch-Irish heritage, at least that captures the major ones. I am sure there are many more nationalities tossed in. Some came across on the Mayflower, others traveled here during religious uprising in their home countries and one even came over to brew beer.

I thought I would start this blog to share my journey into the past, looking for clues. My major source of information has been ancestry.com. As time has progressed I have invested in more of the search capabilities that ancestry offers but lately have found that I needed other sources of help.

My last trip to my hometown, I went to the local Historical society. What a fun trip that was. I was looking for any information on a specific set of multi great grandparents. They were photographers and well known in the town at the time. After digging through census records on line I uncovered the fact that at one point my grandparents were no longer living together. The historical society had photographs that had been taken by my grandparents and speculations concerning the break up of the marriage. It was a lot like a true life soap opera weaving in affairs and drama. In the end they pointed me at the courthouse, even calling the courthouse to let them know I would be over the next day. My trip to the courthouse didn't turn up a divorce record, or even a will, just a statement of debt that my grandfather owed at his death that took my grandmother 2 years to pay off. It still leaves the question of why granddad moved out or was asked to leave with a son still in the house 13 years old. After more digging another son was turned up that died at 6 years old. I had noticed that my grandmother had claimed in different censuses that she had 4 children and 5 children in the other. After an email to my new friends at the historical society, they found the notice of the death of the 6 year old son.

Genealogy - Diggin up Dirt: Hobbies

You can't take it with you

Plays with dead people