Interview on WFLA Channel 8 News

     Hey, um yeah, so I've been kind of behind on writing on my blog. The last post was published in October. My bad. Well, just because I've been quiet, doesn't mean I've been idle. I've been waiting until everything was final before I shared the big news. And believe me, this is big. Big, Huge! As you can tell from the title of this blog post, I was interviewed on WFLA Channel 8 News in Tampa, Florida. The interview took place in November, but I wanted to wait until it went live before I shared it with you all. Well, it was posted last night, so it's time!

    Let me tell you how this came to be. Actually, it all started back in September when I was in Colorado for my nephew's wedding. Beautiful wedding by the way. I was checking my email when I noticed a message from blogger. Someone had filled out the contact form on my blog. See image below.

    It had been sent at the beginning of September, but I was just now seeing it at the end of September! Oops! Darn email! While I immediately wanted to get excited, I was skeptical. You know, you get those emails from people who claim to want to talk to you about your content, but they are actually looking to scam you. Yeah, I've gotten a few of those in the past few years. So I decided to do my research first and check this Walt Buteau out. 
    Well, turns out this Mr. Buteau is legit. He is a senior investigative reporter for WFLA Channel 8 News in Tampa, Florida. Holy Cow! This is for real! A real reporter wants to talk to ME about MY video. The video about the 1973 fire at the Personnel Records Center. So I emailed him back as quick as I could, apologizing for the delay in my response, and told him I would be very interested in talking with him. But it would have to be after I got back from Colorado. We exchanged a few emails about some details but agreed to do a zoom interview sometime after I got back. 

    Fast forward a few months to November. We finally were able to set up a time to do a zoom interview. Let me tell you, I was very nervous. I didn't know what to expect. I've never been interviewed like this before. I suddenly felt very inadequate. And I had one more obstacle to overcome: my computer did not have a webcam. So we set up hubby's new camera to see if it would work. And it did! Then it didn't... It kept freezing up on me at the very beginning of the zoom call. Ugh... I finally got it to work, but not before I got all flustered. Anyway, after a few minutes of discussion, we began the interview. It only last a few minutes, but I was still so excited to share the story behind my video. See some of the photos I took of my setup below.

    Originally the video was supposed to air right around Thanksgiving but got pushed off until now. That's why you see my fall decorations in the background. I also got to share pictures of my Dad and Father-in-law. 

    I hope this interview brings awareness to other veterans and will guide them to the help they need. Mr. Buteau's father was also a veteran so he is very passionate about helping other veterans. Watch some of his other videos on their website. 

But without further ado, here is the interview with Mr. Walt Buteau from WFLA Channel 8 News in Tampa, Florida.

via YouTube

If you wish to read the story yourself and check out the links mentioned in the video, click the link on their Twitter Post. Or Click here to read the story on their News Page.

Disastrous 1973 fire continues to burn Tampa Bay veterans trying to claim benefits | @WFLAWalt reports https://t.co/h363PuBPTg pic.twitter.com/Ph821jOkFb

— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) December 30, 2022

Click the video below to re-watch my video on the 1973 fire at the Personel Records Center.

    The effects of the 1973 fire are still felt to this day by many veterans. Unless you kept your own paperwork, like my dad, then you are going to have a difficult time trying to get benefits. Even though my dad had his paperwork, they still denied him some benefits. This was something I only recently found out. I was going through my dad's VA file when I came across two denial letters from the VA for benefits relating to PTSD. I just started crying. We knew my dad had PTSD, but he would never admit it to us. But to know he tried to apply for benefits and was denied, TWICE, just broke my heart. He finally recognized he needed help, but they would not give it. So even if you have all your paperwork, there is no guarantee you will get help.

I'm going to write another blog post soon sharing information about what to do if you lost your DD214 in the 1973 fire. So check back soon. Let me close this post by saying Thank you to Mr. Buteau for the opportunity to share my story. And thank you to all the Veterans who have served our country. You deserve to be treated better. 

Side note: I wish my dad could have seen this. I think he would have been very proud. Miss you dad. The second anniversary of your passing is fast approaching. Love you dad and thank you for your service. 

Family History Trip: Day 1

     Ok wow! So life has been crazy, hence why I haven't updated in a few months. Back in July, my hubby and I took a Family History Trip for a vacation to celebrate our 20th Wedding Anniversary. We've wanted to take a trip back to western Missouri to do more family history research for years. Specifically, the towns of Independence, Liberty, and Plattsburg. Things finally lined up for us to travel, so we went! Since we've been back I've been trying to go through all the photographs, videos, and research we came back with. The trip was a whirlwind for sure, and I can't wait to share it all with you.

Day 1 - Traveling & Arriving in Independence

The drive to Independence was only going to take about 3 1/2 hours so we planned a few stops along the way. We left around 10:00 am on Saturday to start our journey, but first, coffee. We have a local favorite coffee shop that Mark and I frequent every Sunday morning for some "us" time, so it only made sense to stop and get some coffee. If you are ever in Washington, Missouri, I recommend you stop by The Washington Coffee Shop on the corner of 5th and Jefferson. 

The drive from Washington to Warrenton to get on Hwy 44 is beautiful. Full of rolling hills, a few wineries, and some small farm towns. We made some notes of places we would like to visit at some point including the Daniel Boone Burial Site & Monument near Marthasville. Once on Hwy 44, our next destination was only an hour away, putting us right on time for lunch. And we had big plans for lunch. We stopped in Columbia around 12:30 pm. I planned the trip this way because there was a place we had to stop and eat. Some place we hadn't eaten in years: Zaxbys. Oh My Gosh! LOVE this place. They are a cross between Raising Canes and Chick-fil-A, but way better. We used to get food from here when we lived in Tennessee. So anytime we have the opportunity to stop in an area that has one, we eat there.

From there our next stop was about 1 1/2 hours. If we would have had more time, we would have visited many places around the town we were traveling to which is the town of Lexington. The city is full of Confederate history from the Civil War. One interesting site is the Lafayette County Courthouse where there is a Cannon Ball still lodged in the pillar from the Civil War. Fascinating! But we were in town for a different reason. We were there to visit the grave of a Murderer.

Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde
Let me tell you a little story. In 1909, the Swope family started experiencing some horrible circumstances. First, a friend of the family, James Moss Hunton died unexpectedly. Then Col. Thomas Hunton Swope suddenly died. And it wasn't long after that William Chrisman Swope also died. Plus the family all started coming down sick with typhoid and other mysterious illnesses. What was going on? Turns out the doctor who was supposed to be taking care of them was doing the opposite. He was actually causing the illnesses and was responsible for the three deaths in the family! This Doctor was Bennett Clark Hyde, the Nephew-in-law of Col. Thomas Hunton Swope. More will be told later about this and the trial of the century in the next blog. To learn more, watch the first episode of Grave Hunting with Auntie Jen.

Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde is buried in Machpelah Cemetery in Lexington. He is buried in the Hyde family plot with his parents. His dad was with him through all the trials and supported his son until the end. Dr. Hyde was first convicted of First Degree Murder and Attempted Murder in 1910, but the Supreme Court overturned the verdict citing some issues with the evidence. So they attempted to try Dr. Hyde two more times, unsuccessfully. In the end, Dr. Hyde was acquitted of the murder charges. He was a free man. 

Dr. Hyde died on August 7, 1934, in Lexington. He was stopped in a local newspaper office to find out the results of an election when he dropped dead right there. At the time of his death, he was not married anymore and his medical practice was all but gone. His ex-wife is not buried with him either. This is a fascinating story with a lot of twists and turns. If you want to learn more about it, I suggest you pick up the book Deaths on Pleasant Street: The Ghastly Enigma of Col. Swope and Dr. Hyde by Giles Folwer. 

You may be asking why we took the time to visit Dr. Hyde's grave. Well, believe it or not, my husband Mark is related to the Swope family through his mom. Dr. Hyde is Mark's 2nd Cousin, 3 times removed. Since we are looking up the Swope family on this trip, it only made sense to visit his grave too. We didn't leave flowers for him, but we took some photos. Mark asked if it would be in bad taste to urinate on his grave. I said, "Yes! Very bad taste. You may not like him, but don't do that!" And that led us to create a funny video.

Hey if you can't have fun then life is boring. And Mark and I love to joke around and have fun. He has been making me laugh for 20 years. That was something I always wanted in a spouse. Someone who I can have a good time with and who can make me laugh. More of these funny videos are to come. 

So after we visited Machpelah Cemetery, it was time to head on to the Airbnb we were staying at for the next couple of nights. We chose to stay at some Airbnb's to treat ourselves. We were able to find some really nice options right in the areas we were hoping to do research. They were more affordable and more comfortable than hotels.

The first place we stayed at was Mallinson Winery in Sugar Creek, which is just a few miles north of Independence. The winery was just a little place off the beaten path and the place we were staying was on the property. It was beautiful. You could look out the window and see the vines where the grapes were. My full review of the winery is below if you wish to watch it. I definitely recommend this place to stay if you are in Independence. 

The Courthouse Exchange

Wow, talk about a busy first day! But we weren't done yet! It was time to celebrate the beginning of our trip with a nice dinner at The Courthouse Exchange in the little square in Independence. Something else we decided to do on this trip was to try new places to eat local to the area. No restaurant chains if we can help it. That's how we came upon The Courthouse Exchange. The business has been around since 1899 serving fine burgers and now down-home cooking in a casual environment.

The main eating area is actually downstairs below street level. Quite the experience. The place is very cozy. I love all the exposed brick and old-time decor they have hanging on the wall. They also have an outside patio on street level where they have live music some nights. At first, we were thinking of eating outside, but it was pretty warm and it was going to be a while before the band was ready to play, so we opted for eating downstairs in the main dining area. The food was decent. Not the best I'd ever had, but still good. We were just excited to get this anniversary trip started. 

After dinner, we walked around the square getting a feel for the area. The courthouse building in the center housed the Jackson County Historical Society so that was convenient. Plus a few other places we wanted to stop were right across the street. But we were getting pretty tired after the traveling so we headed back to the Airbnb to rest up. We had a long week planned so we needed as much rest as we could get, especially since I was still recovering from some health issues. 

That's it for Day 1! We still have 7 more days to go. You can watch my vlog about the first day of our trip below. Come back soon for Day 2!

Got an original record from an Ancestry Database Index

     Isn't it excited when you get a new shaky leaf on your tree on Ancestry? It means you have a new hint. A possible new source of proof. A possible new answer. That's how I felt when I got a hint for my 5th Great-grandfather, John Hance. I had just made a recent connection with him and was looking for more sources to prove the connection. This may be what I need!

    So I checked the hint. It was for a marriage record for John Hance and Rachel Daulphin. Yes! That's the first name of the wife I had listed for John based on his probate record. But then the let-down came. This was only an index. And it only had a couple pieces of information. I had no way of proving this was my John Hance (besides the names) and this was the correct date. 

What are Index Databases?
    Index databases only contain information that the compiler thought was impertinent at that time, not the whole record. So they pick and choose certain pieces of information from the original record and compile it into a searchable database that is easier to keep organized and easier to search. But sometimes there is information on the original records that could be extremely helpful and necessary to make connections and prove your research. So when you come across these index databases, it's best to search out the records from where they originally got this information.

How To Access The Sources
    That's what I did. The record collection/database was called, "U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900". When you click on the hint from Ancestry, it brings up the indexed entry. At the top of the page, it has a clickable link to take you to the record collection. If you scroll down past the search boxes, you will find information about this particular database. I've discussed this in a YouTube video for my Auntie Jen's Two Cents segment. Check it out below.

    Every record set page has information below the search boxes explaining how they got this information and more details about this database. This information is important to your research. It will help you determine if more research needs to be conducted, how reliable this information can be, and if this database is a primary source or a secondary source. 

U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900

Ancestry.com

Scroll to the bottom to learn more about the database

    This information led me to reach out to the Yates Publishing Company. They were the ones who originally compiled this database, so they would be the owners of the original sources. I was blessed that there was information on how to contact the Yates Publishing Company listed below in the "About" section.

"This database contains marriage record information for approximately 1,400,000 individuals from across all 50 United States and 32 different countries around the world between 1560 and 1900. These records, which include information on over 500 years of marriages, were extracted from family group sheets, electronic databases, biographies, wills, and other sources. Compiled over thirty-four years by professional genealogist Bill Yates, these marriage records are unique because they were taken from a wide array of sources and stand to provide a great deal of information about entire families.

"Source materials for these marriage records include family group sheets, pedigree charts, family history articles, queries, letters, Bible records, wills, and manuscript genealogies. Researching with this unique database, you may be able to learn the full names of the bride and groom, their birth dates and places, the year and/or month they were married, and the marriage location. One of the most useful features of this collection is that once you find an ancestor in this database, you have the opportunity to quickly and easily obtain a great deal more information about that individual by contacting Yates Publishing (see next paragraph).

The marriage records in this database were provided by Yates Publishing. Yates Publishing has been publishing genealogical books, periodicals, and quarterlies since 1972. In 1981, the founder, Bill Yates, began a service to provide and collect the family history information in family group sheets. Called the Family Group Sheet Exchange, this service has collected over 200,000 pages of family group sheets on paper and several hundred thousand more on disk. For more information or to order an original Family Group Sheet on the Family Group Sheet Exchange, please visit Yates Publishing." ~ About U.S. and International Marriage Records 1560-1900, Ancestry.com

    I was able to access the Yates Publishing website through a link provided in the "About" section. Thanks to their efforts, I was able to order a copy of the family group sheet for the Hance family. I wanted to check the sources to see how they came up with the marriage date and to see what other information I could learn. The sheet was emailed soon after and I was able to view it.

Family Group Sheet
John Hance
Yates Publishing

    As you can see there is a lot of information to unpack from this group sheet. Unfortunately, all Yates Publishing had was this group sheet that was submitted by a descendant of Greenbury Hance, one of John Hance's children. He is the one that compiled this group sheet. Some of the information matches what I know to be correct, so I know this is the right John Hance and family. Looking at the bottom of the group sheet, there is a list of sources that were used to compile this information. That's what I was looking for.
    This information was compiled from many sources. Sources I have already checked like census records, but some I did not know existed. Such as a family bible. Fascinating! There is also another descendent listed as a source. So the next step will be to track down these lines and see if any of them have these sources still. 

    Just from a glance at this sheet, I'm inclined to believe the information that is listed here because the sources seem to be pretty specific. But that doesn't mean there aren't errors. But I feel confident in the validity at the moment. 

    The next time you come across an Ancestry Database Index, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of that record set to learn more about where the index came from and if you can possibly get your hands on the original records the index from which the index was compiled. That is the best way to get to the bottom of what you are researching. 

Back to work...

This is why I did this - Fort Leonard Wood Yearbooks

    Guys, listen. I recently received an email that just blew me away and made all the work I've been doing on this project worth it. I'm crying right now. I did not expect this to happen as soon as did. Heck, I wasn't sure if it would happen at all.

A gentleman by the name of Ed Janota sent me this wonderful email:

"Hello Auntie Jen,

"This is amazing that you have a copy of the year book from my 1960 basic training, I was on 4 Battalion, 3rd Reg, Co B. 

"I am listed as E. Janota, Jr. I was 17 yrs old and fresh out of high school then headed to MP school at Ft Gordon. Eventually wound up in Vietnam in 1966.

"I lost my year book around 1978 after moving to Texas. I have also lost almost all of my old service buddies. I would dearly love to have pdf pics of anything you have from my year book. I am going to your donation site and do what I can.

You are a Godsend, Bless You. "

    This is why I did this. From the first moment that I saw the yearbooks in the antique store, I decided to purchase those books & put them online. For Free! I knew there had to be graduates that had lost their yearbooks or never received them. And there had to be families of these servicemen who had never seen these yearbooks. My dad never discussed his service in Vietnam unless prompted, and even then sometimes he wouldn't talk about it. 

    So receiving this email has just reassured me that I am doing the right thing. It has lit a fire under me to try to track down more yearbooks. I already got two more recently. One I found online and the other was donated by Lynn Wagner from the Franklin County Historical Society. We are going to grow this collection as large as we can. And keep this collection for free. 

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FtLeonardWoodYearbooks.com

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    I need your help, guys. Talk to friends and family. Look at yard sales. Search antique stores. Help me track down as many yearbooks as we can. If you are ever curious if I have a particular yearbook or not, just check my website. Keep it bookmarked. Now is the time to be looking for these. Servicemen from this time period are passing away and their belongings are being donated. Let's save these yearbooks. Together. I don't even need to have the book in hand. If you can photograph or scan the yearbooks, that will be just as good. 

    If you are unable to find yearbooks but want to help, you can send me donations that go directly toward purchasing yearbooks. Here is the link specifically for this: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/AuntieJens?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

Together we can connect servicemen and their families to these yearbooks.

Week 21: Yearbooks - Fort Leonard Wood Army Training Center

      Yearbooks are a fantastic source for locating pictures of your ancestors and learning more about a particular time in their lives. I have all my yearbooks from when I was in school from my Elementary years up to High School. I also have my parents' yearbooks in my collection now. Ancestry.com has been growing its yearbook collection as well and, thanks to them, I've been able to download many copies of ancestors' yearbooks. But there is a collection that I haven't found anywhere else as of yet. And this prompt is giving me the perfect opportunity to announce a project I've been working on as well.

    One yearbook I inherited that was in my dad's collection was his Fort Leonard Wood Army Training Center Yearbook from when he attended. He went through the training center in preparation for Vietnam. I remembered going through it with him one time before he had passed. He said they were stock yearbooks in which a section was added that included their photos. It still gave me an insight into the training he went through while attending the Army Training Center.

    Fast forward to last year when I went to the South County Antique Mall. I had a specific item I was looking for in the book sections when I came across the cover of a yearbook I was very familiar with. It was a Fort Leonard Wood Army Training Center yearbook. Granted it was from a different year, but it still resembled my dad's yearbook. I was so shocked anyone would sell their relative's yearbook. Soon after, I found more yearbooks from Fort Leonard Wood. My mind just couldn't process this. Do you know how many people I've seen post on the internet wishing they had their Father's yearbook or even just a photograph? That's when I came up with an idea.

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Read my blog post

Antique Malls and Fort Leonard Wood Yearbooks

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    After searching online, I have yet to find a Fort Leonard Wood Training Center Yearbook collection on websites like Fold 3 and Ancestry. I know every day more and more collections are being digitized and added to their sites, but they are usually behind a paywall. I wanted to make these yearbooks available to anyone and everyone. So that's why I would like to share the website I created just for these yearbooks.

www.FtLeonardWoodYearbooks.com

    This website is a collection of yearbook pages containing graduates from Fort Leonard Wood Army Training Center in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The years included will be 1959-1967. The focus will mainly be on the Vietnam War era. Please visit my site to learn more about this project.

    I am still working on getting the yearbook pages added that I have in my collection. It is very time-consuming typing all the names into the site and scanning the pages for viewing. My goal is to make this site searchable for anyone who visits which is why I am typing each name individually into the site. That way the search engine will pick up the names. That will be the last task I will work on, but for now, you can go to each yearbook and use Ctrl + F to search for a name. 

    If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I want this site to be as user-friendly as possible. I am also hoping to grow my collection very soon. I will be on the lookout for more yearbooks when I start going to yard sales, estate sales, and antique malls. 

This project is dedicated to my Dad and all those soldiers who fought in Vietnam. May their sacrifices never be forgotten.

SSG Dennis G. Fuchs

Where are you Harry Hill?

     Where are you Harry Hill? You frustrate me to no end! I know you're there. Couldn't you have left a few more bread crumbs about where you came from and where your parents came from? That would have been so helpful. Don't get me wrong. I'm so grateful for what I DO have. But I want to know where your family came from in Ireland. Is that too much to ask?? I'm going to find you. And your family. I'm good at puzzles and I was good at "Where's Waldo?" You are my modern-day Waldo. Blended in with all the other Harry (Henry) Hill's out there. But I will find you. There will be a distinction. You will finally stand out. And that day I will shout, "There's Waldo!"

    Yeah so as you can see from above, I am frustrated. I am trying to locate my 2nd Great-grandfather, Harry Hill in New York. Which is proving to be an arduous task. I have no link to an area in New York. I assume it was New York City. I don't see the family moving out of the city unless they had a reason. But I have no proof. I have written about Harry Hill before, as he is my Immigrant Ancestor. Now that is not entirely true as he was born in New York. BUT both of his parents were from Ireland. So while he didn't immigrate, he is full-blooded Irish. 

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Read about Harry Hill here

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    I am still trying to trace some leads here in St. Louis to hopefully help me narrow down my search in New York. Until I get a response though, I am forging on. I have begun my research in New York. I have located a Harry Hill in New York City in the 1870 US Federal Census that matches the age of my Harry Hill. But that's all that matches. So I have no proof it is him. There are a few Harry Hill's in New York City in 1870, so I need to narrow it down. Which will include tracing ALL the Harry Hills I find to rule them out.  Oh boy... this is going to be a long process.

What I know about Harry Hill

• He was born in New York (multiple sources back this up)
• His birth date is approximately 24 May 1845 (based on age from Death Certificate; 53 years, 6 months, 9 days)
• At the time of his death, he was a painter; owned his own business for years. In keeping with that, he could have worked in trades related to this (Laborer)
• Came to St. Louis around 1877 (according to info on Death Certificate)
• His parents immigrated to New York before 1845 (based on age from Death Certificate)
• He was married at Holy Ghost Evangelical Church in 1879 (a German Protestant Church, not a catholic church)

    Knowing this information will help me narrow down and eliminate other Harry Hills. That's the best way to try to find someone. Eliminate who they can not be based on what you already know to be true. So let's get started.

Beginning Research in New York
   Thanks to a friend in the Genealogy Addicts Anonymous Facebook group, I have access to New York City Directories. So I started with those. I looked up all Harry Hills from 1869 to 1880. Since we know that Harry Hill came to St. Louis around 1877, we can eliminate Harry Hills that were at the same address past that year. I included all the way up to 1880 as I don't have a guarantee the year he came to St. Louis. But since he was married in 1879 in St. Louis, we know he was definitely there around that time. Also, City Directories are taken a year before and released a year after. So an 1880 City Directory includes people who lived in the city from the year before.

    So I began looking up all the Harry Hills from each year. While looking those up, I noticed a few repeat entries from year to year. Except they were listed under "Henry" instead of "Harry". Oh, this complicates things. So I also looked up all the Henry Hills that were listed in the city directories as well. 

1873/1874 NY City Directory Source: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/	1874/1875 NY City Directory Source: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/

    I created tables in my research log notes to organize and coordinate my research. Once I went through those city directories, I color coordinated similiar entries from the different years based on the same information.

Research Log

Harry Hill

City Directories

    As you can see, I have crossed through a few names. Those are people I've already ruled out. After I listed out all the entries and color coordinated the matching people, I went to the 1870 Census and looked up all the Harry & Henry Hills I could find. Then I worked on matching up those in the census to the city directories. I used the same color for the entries in the 1870 census as I did for the city directories.

Research Log

Harry Hill

1870 US Federal Census

    Based on some criteria, I was able to rule out a few more people. But I still have a few options that I just can not rule out officially. The next step will be looking further back to the 1860 US Federal Census. Harry will be 15 and he might be living with parents. But going back will hopefully help me eliminate more options. 
    This might take a while and it might be the long way of going, but I don't know what else to do. As I said before, tracing the others is the best way to rule out who is not your ancestor. I've used that technique before when tracing my Helfrich line. But I was researching in a familiar area at that time. I have not researched in New York before. Plus this will only work as long as the family stayed in New York City. I don't see a quick end in sight, but I'm not done researching yet.

This is just the beginning...

Stay tuned for more updates on my research about Harry Hill.

Week 18: Social

     When I think of the word "social", the first ancestor that comes to mind is my grandma, Ruth Wheeler. She was a very social person. She belonged to many organizations and groups that required quite a bit of socializing. I can't even begin to name all the organizations she was a member of (mostly cause I don't know all of them haha). But there was one group that she was a part of that I participated in every once in a while. Card Parties.

Me and my Grandma

    Yes, you read that right. Card Parties. What's that you ask? It's a gathering of a group where they play cards all day. Playing cards was a very popular pastime. It still is in some circles, but it was something women (majority of the time) would do during the day (in the 50s and 60s) while the men were at work. Ex. Bridge Club. But playing cards to pass the time has been around since the early 19th century.

    If my memory serves me correctly, my grandma's group would get together for big card parties once a year. They would rent out a hall, set up tables everywhere for the members to play cards, serve food, and even have door prizes and raffles. Those were my favorites. I would scan the tables of prizes to see what I would pick if and when my number would be called. Mom and grandma would give me (and my friend if I brought one) their door prize tickets as well. I know what you are thinking. That the prizes were the only reason I attended these card parties. Well, you would be very wrong. 

    Believe it or not, I loved playing cards from a young age. Especially Canasta. That was my game of choice. My mom and grandma taught me how to play so we could have great times when we would visit my grandma. Grandma loved playing cards. Especially Gin Rummy and Bridge. I have to admit, I never got the hang of bridge. But Canasta, oh I would go nuts over. We would go and stay with my grandma overnight (or for a weekend) and we would spend hours playing Canasta and eating Cecil Whitikers Pizza. Great times!

Canasta
Source: Wikipedia

    So when grandma started inviting Mom and me to her card parties, I was THRILLED! We would sit for the whole day playing Canasta. Grandma got to socialize with all her friends too. The ladies loved having a younger generation in the group that enjoyed playing cards just as much as they did. It shocked many of them when they learned I knew how to play Canasta and was good! Some of the ladies would even give us their door prizes just because. I wish I could remember the ladies my grandma introduced me to though. And I wish I had pictures from the card parties we attended.

    It became more fun when I taught my best friend Crystal how to play. Now there were four of us! She would come and stay at my grandma's with us and she would even go with us to card parties as well! I miss those days so much. Going to visit grandma and go to her card parties. They were such a great social event. I looked forward to them every year. 

    I do have one item that I won from one of the raffles they had. It is a rug that my grandma had made. She told me I should pick something I wanted, and I did. I wanted that rug. One, it was pretty, and two, my grandma had made it. Even then, I was a very sentimental person. That small rug is packed away at the moment, mostly because I don't know where to put it. But maybe one day I will get it out.

Great times. Great memories. I did teach my husband how to play Canasta so every once in a while we will play. I beat every time. Well, almost every time. He did beat me once. Haha! We did play once with his parents. And I never realized how much of a shark his mom is haha! She is excellent at Canasta. Beat the pants off me for sure.

    Card parties were a great social event. Did you ever attend a card party? Do you know how to play Canasta? Oh, you just became my new best friend haha!

1950 Census - New Finds & Surprises

     Ancestry.com has finally released the indexes to the 1950 Census. A SEARCHABLE index. While the hints haven't shown up yet as of the publishing of this blog post, you can search for your ancestor and then add the census to your tree. Oh, I've been so waiting for this! While I've found the majority of everyone on my list there were still a few family members I had yet to locate. Either because they moved somewhere I wasn't aware of or they traveled a lot and I couldn't track them. There are some of the family members I found and some surprises as well.

James Benjamin Francis Wheeler
    J. B. Wheeler is the father of my grandpa, Les Wheeler. I had a few address options for him, but neither had panned out when. He was one of the first names I searched on Ancestry to see if he would pop up. And he did!

    Surprisingly, he was living with his oldest living son, James Enoch Wheeler, and his family. They were living in Oakland, Missouri at 961 Big Bend Rd. I hadn't even attempted to look for James E Wheeler when I originally made my list. I figured I would look him up later after the index had come out. I never guessed J. B. Wheeler would be living with his son.
    Something exciting I found was J. B. was on the final line of the census, which means not only is he on a sample line, he has extra questions. More than everyone else. I learned a couple things about J. B.  I learned he attended school up until past 7th grade. He finished 7th grade but did not go any further. I also learned the last job he held was in construction. One of the questions did ask how long he had been married last and he put 20 years. He also selected "yes" that he had been married more than once. If I didn't know this already, this would have been helpful. But these weren't the most surprising facts I learned by locating this census.

1950 US Federal Census
James Wheeler & Family
Oakland, St. Louis, Missouri
ED: 95-269; Lines 24-30
Ancestry.com

   

As I was looking at this census, I had one question: Where was Pearl? Lucy Pearl was J. B. Wheeler's 3rd wife. They were married in 1930. The family was well acquainted as both their children from previous marriages had married. But, where was she? She wasn't living in the household. Then I looked a little to the right and noticed under the "Marriage" column, "Sep" was written, which means separated. Interesting! A quick search for Lucy Pearl Wheeler brought up a census record where she was living as a lodger. She was also listed as "Sep". This shocks me as there was no indication that they had separated in the information I had. J. B. Wheeler died in 1957 and he was listed as still being married. Lucy Pearl Wheeler died in 1967 and she was listed as a widow. Even J. B.'s obituary states, "Wife, Lucy Pearl Wheeler" so they never officially got divorced. It is unclear if they ever moved back in with each other. Almost a year before he passed, he moved into a nursing home where he lived out his life. 

1950 US Federal Census
Pearl Wheeler
St. Louis, Missouri
ED 96-599; Line 30
Ancestry.com

Ruth Kelley    

    Ruth Kelley is my grandma's Aunt. I grew up with her and knew her well. She was married to James Howard Kelley, but he died before I was born. He was a general contractor who traveled all around the US working on projects. One being the space needle in Seattle, Washington. Mom has memories of him sending special gifts back from his travels which included an Eskimo doll.
    With all the moving around and traveling he did, I knew it would be difficult to find them in this census. I did try using addresses I had for them but wasn't successful. So I was waiting, impatiently, for the index to be released to find them. And I finally DID find them! Although, I was slightly disappointed.
    They were living in the area I thought they were, but just at a different address. So it really wasn't as exciting as I thought it was going to be, but I am still glad I found them. Aunt Ruth was working in a cafeteria at a high school which Uncle Howard traveled around. I wonder if her picture would show up in a yearbook from around that time. Hmmm... Anyway, I'm still glad to have found them.

1950 US Federal Census
James H Kelley, Ruth H Kelley
ED 98-672; Lines 1-2
Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana
Ancestry.com

    Those are the two ancestors I was unable to locate by address and ED districts alone. It took the index being finished for me to locate them. I did learn some new information about my family so it was definitely worth locating. I will search for more ancestors later, but these are the more important to me.

Have you tried using the index on Ancestry yet?
Who have you found? 

Week 17: Document

     I really struggled with this prompt. It is such a simple prompt, but because of all the different possible avenues to take, I got tripped up. Nothing immediately stood out. Then it hit me. Why not write about what I am working on right now; which includes many documents. Perfect.

    I am currently in the process of digitizing a box of documents that belonged to my mom and dad. Something you might not think about digitizing. And more than likely, it's not in your collection anyway. What's that you ask? Tax documents. I know what you are thinking. Why wouldn't I digitize tax documents? Well, most of the time, people do not keep copies of their taxes past 10 years, or even less. Why would you? There is no need for them anymore. That's why I said it probably wouldn't even be in your collection anyway. Well, when it comes to my parents, as I've stated in the past, they don't get rid of ANYTHING!

    When I cleaned out my dad's filing cabinet, one whole drawer had tax returns going back to the early 1980s. I pulled them all out of the drawer and put them in a box to go through later. Later was a few months ago. As I started going through the envelopes, not only did I find their tax returns, I found receipts, canceled checks, notes, and more. Details about their lives for that year. Do you know how much information you can glean from these? It was at that moment that I decided to save the box to digitize. As much as I'd like to keep the originals, I just don't have room. So here I am now. Digitizing my parents' tax returns.

Receipts from 1985

    I will be writing another blog post later talking about the information you can learn from these documents. Some obvious facts and some not-so-obvious facts. And as the years went on, the requirements changed. As we get more currently, there are fewer and fewer extra documents. As I stated, some of the envelopes had returned checks. I scanned each one. It may be overkill, but I would rather do the extra work now than regret not doing it later. 

Drug Store Receipt
Jennifer Fuchs - 1985

    It is fun looking through receipts and such from when I was just a baby. Trying to learn more about my parents and their struggles trying to make ends meet. There were even medical receipts in these envelopes. I took the time to convert the income figure to today's amount to understand more. 

    So that's what I am currently working on. Pouring through many documents. Digitizing. Analyzing. Reminiscing. Definitely keeps me busy. I've been laid up with some health issues, so this works. What kind of documents are you going through right now?

1950 Census - Reviewing names on Family Search

     The 1950 Census has been available now for 21 days. After the excitement of finding ancestors on the NARA site, the focus has now been on indexing and reviewing names. It's amazing how fast this is all going. Thanks to the new software being used by NARA and Ancestry, names are being indexed faster than previous census records. And especially thanks to all the volunteers who are reviewing all the data over on FamilySearch.org. They have been working around the clock to complete this project. You can help too!

How Do You Do It?
    I've dabbled a little bit in helping review names on FamilySearch.org, but yesterday I jumped right in and went crazy reviewing names. You see, Missouri became available yesterday! Yay!! While I have found pretty much everyone on my list, there were some I hadn't found yet. So I dove right in.

1950 Census Community Project

Reviewing Names & Indexing

FamilySearch.org

    As you can see they are coming along fairly nicely. You can choose which state you want to work on either from the drop-down menu or the map. After that, you a box comes up giving you a couple of options. As of right now, the only choice available for Missouri is "Review Names" at the bottom. Once the indexing process gets a little further, other options will be made available. See the images below. Utah is further along in the indexing process so they have more options available.

1950 Census Community Project
Review the Census in Missouri
FamilySearch.og

1950 Census Community Project
Review the Census in Utah
FamilySearch.org

    Since the only option available is "Review Names" that's what I clicked on. And it brought up another box that gives you the options of either searching for specific surnames or just diving into the state. I did both. First I started with the surnames in my family. I wanted to review my family names and I wanted to see if any missing family members popped up.

1950 Census Community Project
Review Individual Names
FamilySearch.org

    When I searched for the surnames in my family, many pages were brought up that were NOT my family, but that's ok. I was happy to review the similar names and help other families. I was pretty impressed it picked up hard to recognize surnames like "ILG". If not written correctly, it could resemble other words. 

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Read my blog post:

52 Ancestors: How Do You Spell That?

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    Searching the surname "ILG" brought up my great-grandparents Joseph and Margaret Ilg in St. Louis, Missouri. I had already located their census page on the NARA site with the help of the SteveMorse.org site. But I was so happy to be able to review the name and identify that it was correct.
    I was able to continue to review the page they were on if I wanted. A continued search of the surname "ILG" brought up other people with that same last night, but no other families like I thought it would. That either means one of two things: 1) The surname wasn't recognized as being "ILG" or 2) The other "ILG" families were already reviewed. Which works for me. We are all working together to help each other and get this project done faster. You can see below what it looks like to review names.

    

1950 Census Community Project
Reviewing Names
FamilySearch.org

    Right now, they are only reviewing first names and surnames on the census for Missouri. If it matches, you click match. If it's incorrect, you can edit it. If you are unsure (and that's ok) then click unsure. Better to be honest than to be incorrect. There are other options to choose from such as if there are other words besides names or if something has been scratched out or other anomalies. I have not worked with the other options available to other states yet such as reviewing groups, but when I do, I will write another blog post.
    There are still some bugs to be worked out in the system so be patient. If you have any questions or want to know about updates to the project, click the link below.

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1950 US Census Project:

Updates, More Information, and FAQ

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    As of this date, Missouri is at 2% for reviewing names. But I know that won't last for long. I will be contributing more as will so many other volunteers. Maybe I will come across some more surprises. Check out a couple I have already found.

Surprises
    As I said above, there are still some family members I have not found yet for various reasons. So I'm waiting for the indexing process to be complete. While waiting, I searched for their surnames for reviewing. I came up with a couple of surprises but not the ones I was expecting.

    First, I searched for the "Rickards" surname to see what would come up. I did bring up my father-in-law and his parents, which I had already found. So I verified their names while I was there. But there was one person missing from that census, which I knew would be. My father-in-law's brother, Keith Rickards. Due to some complications during birth, he was born with severe mental disabilities. He was at home for a few years, as shown in the 1940 Census and in some photographs I have from my father-in-law. But he was not with them on the 1950 Census. As I said, I already knew he wouldn't be.
    I was informed years ago that Keith had spent most of his life in a special facility for his mental disabilities. He thrived well as far as I understood. Lilly, his mom, worked at the facility in the gift shop. According to a newspaper article, Keithie (as his mom would call him) lived at Bellefontaine Rehabilitation Center. I wrote about him for the 52 Ancestors prompt: Bachelor Uncle.

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Read about Keith here

52 Ancestors: Bachelor Uncle

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    Even though I knew the name of the Facility, there was no way for me to track it down in the 1950 Census. And I learned why while I was reviewing names. While searching for "Rickards" surnames, a page popped up with a whole bunch of unrelated names in alphabetical order. And there he was, right on that page. I scrolled to the top and noticed the name of the facility was not the same as what I had. It's possible they changed the name sometime in the years he had lived there.

1950 Census Community Project
Reviewing Names
FamilySearch.org

    The name of the facility was St. Louis State Training School in St. Ferdinand, St. Louis, Missouri. Oh, I feel some more research is going to happen soon and another blog post going more in-depth. That is if I find more information. So I was excited to find this surprise. But this wasn't the only one.

    While still reviewing "Rickards" surnames, I came across a name I recognized: Len Rickards. I know that name because he contacted me a few years ago. We are distant cousins on my husband's side. I didn't realize he would appear on this census! So I downloaded a copy of the census and emailed it to him. Can't wait to hear back from him.

    Going from my hubby's family to my family, I searched for the surname "Strawhun" to see what would come up. My Grandma Fuchs' brother and his family popped up! Wilbert Strawhun was a fireman in Rock Hill, Missouri for years and I hadn't located him yet on the 1950 census. So that was a fun surprise. I continued searching but no other Strawhuns showed up.

I know as the days go on, I will find more surprises popping up as names get indexed. What surprises have you found? Are you helping index? Who are you hoping to find once the index is complete?