After the exhilaration of being able to go to the gravesite of one of the earlier Bromagem family members, and actually the first time I've been able to visit a Bromagem grave period, I moved on to Eastern Indiana. I started at the Randolph County Courthouse in Winchester, IN and had some success finding Bromagem land records there, specifically evidence of James Bromagem's (son of Elias whose stone is shown in the previous post) financial problems. I had heard from a cousin that there was such evidence but didn't have the copies myself. Now I do.
In Winchester I also ran into what could be a possible lead in the Mary J. Braden/Hawkins Bromagem maiden name issue. I found someone named J. Park Braden listed in the land deed index and the name stuck out. Mary J and James Bromagem's eldest child, Eliza/Lida Bromagem Van Wormer, had a son named J. Park Van Wormer. There was no indication in the deed that he was any relation to Mary J. but it's something I am going to try to pursue to see if maybe he could be a younger brother/cousin, anything related to her. J. Park isn't exactly the most common name around so I'll keep you posted on the status on that.
I also was able to take a look at marriage applications for Randolph County for my Mother-in-Law. Her Phillips family has Randolph County roots and I was able to take a look at all of the wonderful info included on these applications. Randolph County started recording applications for marriage licenses around 1882 and they are indexed and available through the County Clerk's Office. This date is not the standard for all counties so you must check with your particular location's Clerk's office for more info. There are two parts to each application, one page with the groom's info and one page with the bride's info. Included are the couple's parents names, locations, if the parents are living or deceased, whether this is the first marriage for each person, when and where they were born, and more. Obviously these are great resources when searching for marriages that occurred in Indiana during the latter part of the 19th c.-early part of the 20th c.
From Winchester I went to the Jay County courthouse, but didn't find too much there. I wish I had taken photos inside the courthouse though. It had a gorgeous stained glass ceiling surrounded by painted scenes from Indiana history. That was probably the best part of that courthouse :) That, and the pop machine that had cans for 50 cents.
I made a quick stop at the Wayne County Indiana courthouse to do some more searching for my Mother-in-Law's family and found a great deed where the grantor was the widow of the earliest generation of Turners in this country from her line. The widow was dividing up the property to her children after the death of her husband and their father and because of that, it included the names of several of their sons and daughters so we can compare that list of children with those that we already had. Very helpful indeed!
One thing I must say about Indiana courthouses is that they are expensive. At each of the three courthouses I visited copies were $1.00 per page which can get extremely costly. So be ready to take notes in the form of abstracts and/or transcripts if you have the time. Most also did not allow digital photographs to help combat the copying cost so that's not going to be an option either. Also, the original deed books are at the courthouses so you may want to come prepared with your own gloves to protect your hands, as well as the delicate pages. The Randolph County Recorder's office provided gloves, in both mens and ladies sizes, but I did not see them available at any other location that I visited.
So overall it was a great little trip. I got tons of copies and have some leads to work with too. I also learned a little bit more about some of the records available, the marriage applications were a new resource for me since my own Indiana relatives arrived before their use. So now I can start trying to follow up on some of these new leads, hopefully something will come of them!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
part 2: Hillgrove Cemetery, Darke Co, OH
Here is the image of the cemetery that I got from google earth:
From the looks of the photo I figured that I could walk around and try to find Elias' stone fairly easily and I was right, thanks to google earth. This was my first real time using this application and I'm really glad I tried it. All I had to do was enter in the latitude and longitude coordinates, which I had gotten from
www.histopolis.com, a website that I hadn't seen before. Between the two sites I was not only able to see how large the cemetery was, but I was also able to figure out how to get there prior to my leaving home, which was extremely helpful. What I wasn't mentally prepared for though, was the sad state of some of the stones. Specifically, the fact that there were stacks and stacks of stones that had broken, fallen, etc. just lying on top of old bases so you couldn't know where the stones were supposed to go. Some were worn blank but there were some that were still legible. One had only initials at the top of the stone. I started to get worried but soon found the stone, bent backwards a bit, but still in tact and legible. I plan to return periodically and hopefully I'll be able to get a plat map set up as well.
So here is a pic of the cemetery
And here is the stone
From the looks of the photo I figured that I could walk around and try to find Elias' stone fairly easily and I was right, thanks to google earth. This was my first real time using this application and I'm really glad I tried it. All I had to do was enter in the latitude and longitude coordinates, which I had gotten from
www.histopolis.com, a website that I hadn't seen before. Between the two sites I was not only able to see how large the cemetery was, but I was also able to figure out how to get there prior to my leaving home, which was extremely helpful. What I wasn't mentally prepared for though, was the sad state of some of the stones. Specifically, the fact that there were stacks and stacks of stones that had broken, fallen, etc. just lying on top of old bases so you couldn't know where the stones were supposed to go. Some were worn blank but there were some that were still legible. One had only initials at the top of the stone. I started to get worried but soon found the stone, bent backwards a bit, but still in tact and legible. I plan to return periodically and hopefully I'll be able to get a plat map set up as well.
So here is a pic of the cemetery
And here is the stone
Back from the trip, part 1
So I'm back from my research trip to Eastern IN and Western OH and overall the trip was really successful.
The first stop was to the Indiana State Archives in Indianapolis to view the 1850 agricultural census for Eastern IN counties including Wells, Steuben, Randolph, and Jay counties. I was hoping to find some lead to the ever-lasting "Who was Mary J. Braden Bromagem" question. Is she a Braden or is she a Hawkins? Well, as far as the 1850 agricultural schedule is concerned, who knows. I didn't find anyone in that schedule that I hadn't already tracked through the regular 1850 population schedule. So that part was a bust, fortunately it didn't leave a cloud over the rest of the trip.
The next day I started hitting the archives and courthouses in Western Ohio. I have to say that the Greene County, OH Archives did not disappoint. I've spoken briefly about how great they are in the past, due to my experiences with their copy request system, and they are just as great in person. The microform machines are new and in good condition, and easy to read and use as well. The staff is knowledgeable and helpful, and they care about what you're working on too which is great because they may be able to steer you in a new direction based upon their knowledge of county records. Their holdings are also pretty great; they have land deeds, tax lists (though most have been lost/destroyed), some probate files, and much much more on microform. They also have just received the original clerk's deed books so if the microform isn't working for ya, you can just look at the original in-house. The other huge plus is they only charge 6 cents per page for copies! I was able to get a ton of copies, papers that probably aren't vital but are certainly nice to have, and that really means a lot to me. While most repositories are charging out the wazoo and still struggling to keep their doors open and maintain a useful and accessible resource, this little town has one of the best and most user friendly records repositories around. I can't say enough good things about them.
From there I moved up to Darke County, OH and headed straight for the Darke County Courthouse in Greenville. I was able to find a few Bromagem land deeds at the courthouse, but I don't think there was much of significance. I'm still going over the paperwork though so I may come back to this.
The real gem of the day was heading out of town toward Hillgrove Cemetery, the gravesite of Elias Bromagem, father of James Bromagem....
The first stop was to the Indiana State Archives in Indianapolis to view the 1850 agricultural census for Eastern IN counties including Wells, Steuben, Randolph, and Jay counties. I was hoping to find some lead to the ever-lasting "Who was Mary J. Braden Bromagem" question. Is she a Braden or is she a Hawkins? Well, as far as the 1850 agricultural schedule is concerned, who knows. I didn't find anyone in that schedule that I hadn't already tracked through the regular 1850 population schedule. So that part was a bust, fortunately it didn't leave a cloud over the rest of the trip.
The next day I started hitting the archives and courthouses in Western Ohio. I have to say that the Greene County, OH Archives did not disappoint. I've spoken briefly about how great they are in the past, due to my experiences with their copy request system, and they are just as great in person. The microform machines are new and in good condition, and easy to read and use as well. The staff is knowledgeable and helpful, and they care about what you're working on too which is great because they may be able to steer you in a new direction based upon their knowledge of county records. Their holdings are also pretty great; they have land deeds, tax lists (though most have been lost/destroyed), some probate files, and much much more on microform. They also have just received the original clerk's deed books so if the microform isn't working for ya, you can just look at the original in-house. The other huge plus is they only charge 6 cents per page for copies! I was able to get a ton of copies, papers that probably aren't vital but are certainly nice to have, and that really means a lot to me. While most repositories are charging out the wazoo and still struggling to keep their doors open and maintain a useful and accessible resource, this little town has one of the best and most user friendly records repositories around. I can't say enough good things about them.
From there I moved up to Darke County, OH and headed straight for the Darke County Courthouse in Greenville. I was able to find a few Bromagem land deeds at the courthouse, but I don't think there was much of significance. I'm still going over the paperwork though so I may come back to this.
The real gem of the day was heading out of town toward Hillgrove Cemetery, the gravesite of Elias Bromagem, father of James Bromagem....
Monday, September 28, 2009
Starting the NGS Home Study Course
I received my first CD of the three part NGS Home Study Course over the weekend. The first lesson really takes things back to the very beginning covering definitions for sources, information, and evidence, a chart showing how all of those parts can lead to proof, two small self quizzes and a very good discussion of pedigree charts and family group sheets. The first assignment is to fill out one of each of those forms. There are about 6 lessons on this CD so it's going to take some time to go through it all but so far I feel like it's going to provide a solid foundation. Considering I started out in genealogy when I was about 12/13 with my mother and neither one of us had a clue about what we were doing, I felt like taking the course was necessary in order to continue to grow as a professional. Going back and re-learning the basics through this highly respected home class seemed like the best way to do so. So I may be a little more quiet lately, taking on the course on top of the NGSQ and ProGen groups, and a research trip this week, plus all of the normal home and post-move stuff is really going to keep me on my toes. Hopefully it won't effect things too much though. Thank goodness I'm a stay at home mom to a school-aged child. I can take advantage of the days a little better than if I worked outside the home. I really don't know how some of you do it all!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Planning my first research trip in a long time
I'm so excited I can hardly keep it together. Next week I get to head out to Indiana and Ohio for a short research trip. I'll only have 2-3 days and while making out my list of things I want to do it'll be hard to get it all done, impossible might be a better word, but when I get back I'll have a ton of info that I didn't have before which will be great.
My first stop is probably going to be the Indiana State Library. I'm probably making a huge mistake but I'm planning on looking at as much relevant microfilm that I can before they close on Wednesday. I probably should follow the rule about going wiht a focus but I feel like since I'm there, I need to try and get as much info as I can. No one piece of info I could gain from there is more important than another so I want to just pick someone to start with and work from there. I'll be spanning the state from Parke County, IN on the West side of the state to Jay and Randolph Counties on the East side and covering both my Gilkison family and my Bromagem side. The microfilm collection at the library is extensive from what I can gather through their website. They have deeds, wills and probate, newspapers, delayed birth records, marriage applications affidavits and records, DAR and WPA reports and all manner of other records for pretty much every county in the state and I plan to see as much of it as I can.
Depending on what I can get from the library, that will tell me what I need and where I need to go on the next day. Much of what the library has on microfilm is held at the county courthouses in Jay and Randolph Counties, but not everything, so I'm assuming visits there may be necessary as well. One of the main targets for these areas is to take a look at the movements of the Bromagems through these towns through land records, tax records if they are available. I already know that tax records for this time in Randolph County are non-existant. They were discarded a long time ago and from what I have gathered from the Randolph County Historical Society, there is no way to piece them back together. I can still check the deeds and see what other types of land records are available. I'm not sure if land was ever owned there or if a mortgage is a possibility so those are all things I can look into. In Jay County, I know that one of the Bromagems owned land so that's a start. I haven't been able to figure out the tax situation in Jay County though, so that may still be an option. Again though, a precise plan for those localities won't be possible until after I figure out what I may already have gotten from the library.
After I've covered Indiana, I need to focus on Darke and Greene counties in the Western portion of Ohio. The two earliest Bromagem generations settled in these two counties and I'd like to dig up whatever I can, especially through land records. I've found that land records, tax records especially, are not only difficult to find sometimes, but they are also pretty difficult to order from long-distance. The same can be said of court records, so all of these types of records are going to have to be searched while I'm there.
The finale to the research trip will be a trip to a cemetery to visit the grave of my Great Great Great Great Grandfather near Union City, IN. This will be the first Bromagem grave that I've been able to actually visit since Mary and Lillian's are missing from Oakwoods in Chicago where they're supposed to be, and James' is in D.C. which I can't get to right now. So I'm pretty excited about that. I was able to pull up the cemetery through google earth which was also pretty cool. I'll see if I can get the screenshot posted here. It's a pretty cool view.
So that's the plan for now. I'll be heading out on Wednesday next week and I'm sure I'll have lots to post about when I get back.
My first stop is probably going to be the Indiana State Library. I'm probably making a huge mistake but I'm planning on looking at as much relevant microfilm that I can before they close on Wednesday. I probably should follow the rule about going wiht a focus but I feel like since I'm there, I need to try and get as much info as I can. No one piece of info I could gain from there is more important than another so I want to just pick someone to start with and work from there. I'll be spanning the state from Parke County, IN on the West side of the state to Jay and Randolph Counties on the East side and covering both my Gilkison family and my Bromagem side. The microfilm collection at the library is extensive from what I can gather through their website. They have deeds, wills and probate, newspapers, delayed birth records, marriage applications affidavits and records, DAR and WPA reports and all manner of other records for pretty much every county in the state and I plan to see as much of it as I can.
Depending on what I can get from the library, that will tell me what I need and where I need to go on the next day. Much of what the library has on microfilm is held at the county courthouses in Jay and Randolph Counties, but not everything, so I'm assuming visits there may be necessary as well. One of the main targets for these areas is to take a look at the movements of the Bromagems through these towns through land records, tax records if they are available. I already know that tax records for this time in Randolph County are non-existant. They were discarded a long time ago and from what I have gathered from the Randolph County Historical Society, there is no way to piece them back together. I can still check the deeds and see what other types of land records are available. I'm not sure if land was ever owned there or if a mortgage is a possibility so those are all things I can look into. In Jay County, I know that one of the Bromagems owned land so that's a start. I haven't been able to figure out the tax situation in Jay County though, so that may still be an option. Again though, a precise plan for those localities won't be possible until after I figure out what I may already have gotten from the library.
After I've covered Indiana, I need to focus on Darke and Greene counties in the Western portion of Ohio. The two earliest Bromagem generations settled in these two counties and I'd like to dig up whatever I can, especially through land records. I've found that land records, tax records especially, are not only difficult to find sometimes, but they are also pretty difficult to order from long-distance. The same can be said of court records, so all of these types of records are going to have to be searched while I'm there.
The finale to the research trip will be a trip to a cemetery to visit the grave of my Great Great Great Great Grandfather near Union City, IN. This will be the first Bromagem grave that I've been able to actually visit since Mary and Lillian's are missing from Oakwoods in Chicago where they're supposed to be, and James' is in D.C. which I can't get to right now. So I'm pretty excited about that. I was able to pull up the cemetery through google earth which was also pretty cool. I'll see if I can get the screenshot posted here. It's a pretty cool view.
So that's the plan for now. I'll be heading out on Wednesday next week and I'm sure I'll have lots to post about when I get back.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Genea-Musings Ahnentafel Roulette-Great Grandma Ward
One of my favorite genealogy blogs posted this "assignment" tonight and I thought I would post mine here. It's one of the perks of having my own blog, I can talk about whatever I want :)
Here are the directions:
1) How old is your father now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."
2) Find the person with that number in your ahnentafel. Who is that person?
3) Tell us three facts about that person with the "roulette number."
4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook note or comment, or as a comment on this blog post.
5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick your mother, or yourself, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!
The person with my roulette number is my Great Grandma, Elizabeth Taylor Ward. She's a pretty interesting lady but her story has been touched upon here before, at least I think it has. Three facts about her are:
1-Her life's story is actually what brought on my passion for genealogy and apparently she had that interest in family history as well. She applied to DAR in the 1950s and the story goes that she came home very upset at having her application denied due to some missing dates. So upset in fact that she threw her work into the fire. All of her work, all of her knowledge was lost and I've spent years trying to reconstruct it, with quite a bit of success. Her MA and PA roots are extensive and interesting. They include one of our family's links to the Mayflower, by which my mom was able to join the Mayflower Society. They also include our link to some really incredible Salem, MA families, including those linked to what is now known as the Witch House. Her PA ancestors go back to Philadelphia in the 1700s (probably farther, I just haven't gone back myself beyond that yet) and a Captain John McKeever, who offered aid to the American allies during the Revolution. Ironically, it is the info relating to those who were closest to her, her father and brother in particular, that I'm still missing. Information that she could easily have provided and info that would surely, and clearly, have been included on her DAR application paperwork. (This brings us to #2)
2-She had a brother, Raymond, who I have attempted to track in the hopes that he would have living family who could tell me what happened to their father after 1911/1912 when he kicked Elizabeth out of the house for being pregnant. At that time, they were living in NYC and George Ward was a pretty common name, as was his occupation (mechanical engineer, engineer, and other variants). Unfortunately I have lost track of Raymond after 1942 when he filled out WW2 draft paperwork from New Hampshire. Prior to that, he had been living in Nassau, NY so why and when he came to NH is unknown.
3-Grandma Ward was described by my mom as a fairly bitter woman (to put it nicely), I believe rightfully so considering the events of her life. Her mother died when she was about 13, she got pregnant 6 years later, her father kicked her out of the house, the father of her child married someone else and then died, she eventually married a man who turned out to be abusive, and then she had to run half-way across the country to get away from him. She and her daughter, my grandma, settled in the Chicago suburbs and remained there for the rest of their lives.
So I'd say that gives her a right to be bitter and generally not a cheery person. I never got to meet her, she died just a few years before I was born, but I do know that she was completely devoted to her daughter. I inherited an opera book from my grandma with an inscription from her mother on the inside front cover and it's really the only thing that I have to show what kind of person Grandma Ward really was. She wrote a few lines of Emily Dickinson to her daughter:
"She ate and drank the precious words
Her spirit grew robust,
She knew no more that she was poor,
Nor that her frame was dust.
She danced along the dingy days,
And this bequest of wings
Was but a book. What liberty
A loosened spirit brings.
To my Isa on her 19th birthday."
Here are the directions:
1) How old is your father now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."
2) Find the person with that number in your ahnentafel. Who is that person?
3) Tell us three facts about that person with the "roulette number."
4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook note or comment, or as a comment on this blog post.
5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick your mother, or yourself, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!
The person with my roulette number is my Great Grandma, Elizabeth Taylor Ward. She's a pretty interesting lady but her story has been touched upon here before, at least I think it has. Three facts about her are:
1-Her life's story is actually what brought on my passion for genealogy and apparently she had that interest in family history as well. She applied to DAR in the 1950s and the story goes that she came home very upset at having her application denied due to some missing dates. So upset in fact that she threw her work into the fire. All of her work, all of her knowledge was lost and I've spent years trying to reconstruct it, with quite a bit of success. Her MA and PA roots are extensive and interesting. They include one of our family's links to the Mayflower, by which my mom was able to join the Mayflower Society. They also include our link to some really incredible Salem, MA families, including those linked to what is now known as the Witch House. Her PA ancestors go back to Philadelphia in the 1700s (probably farther, I just haven't gone back myself beyond that yet) and a Captain John McKeever, who offered aid to the American allies during the Revolution. Ironically, it is the info relating to those who were closest to her, her father and brother in particular, that I'm still missing. Information that she could easily have provided and info that would surely, and clearly, have been included on her DAR application paperwork. (This brings us to #2)
2-She had a brother, Raymond, who I have attempted to track in the hopes that he would have living family who could tell me what happened to their father after 1911/1912 when he kicked Elizabeth out of the house for being pregnant. At that time, they were living in NYC and George Ward was a pretty common name, as was his occupation (mechanical engineer, engineer, and other variants). Unfortunately I have lost track of Raymond after 1942 when he filled out WW2 draft paperwork from New Hampshire. Prior to that, he had been living in Nassau, NY so why and when he came to NH is unknown.
3-Grandma Ward was described by my mom as a fairly bitter woman (to put it nicely), I believe rightfully so considering the events of her life. Her mother died when she was about 13, she got pregnant 6 years later, her father kicked her out of the house, the father of her child married someone else and then died, she eventually married a man who turned out to be abusive, and then she had to run half-way across the country to get away from him. She and her daughter, my grandma, settled in the Chicago suburbs and remained there for the rest of their lives.
So I'd say that gives her a right to be bitter and generally not a cheery person. I never got to meet her, she died just a few years before I was born, but I do know that she was completely devoted to her daughter. I inherited an opera book from my grandma with an inscription from her mother on the inside front cover and it's really the only thing that I have to show what kind of person Grandma Ward really was. She wrote a few lines of Emily Dickinson to her daughter:
"She ate and drank the precious words
Her spirit grew robust,
She knew no more that she was poor,
Nor that her frame was dust.
She danced along the dingy days,
And this bequest of wings
Was but a book. What liberty
A loosened spirit brings.
To my Isa on her 19th birthday."
Friday, September 18, 2009
Update for Philadelphia libraries...Woohoo!!
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter reported today that Philadelphia's free libraries have been saved. Read more here http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/09/update-philadelphia-will-not-close-all-free-libraries.html
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