Friday Finds of the Week

     This post of Friday Finds of the week combines two weeks worth of research. Research has kind of been all over the place which tends to happen. I put feelers out sometimes and the information comes in sometimes all at the same time. Also, with Root Tech comings up soon, I've been making connections with supposed relations through the Family Search Connect page. Are we related? Click the image below to find out!

3rd Great-Grandfather Paul Bunch

    One of my closest connections is related through my Strawhun/Bunch line. I had not done a whole lot of research on the Bunch line, so I decided to tackle that connection. I have come across quite a bit of information for my 3rd great grandfather, Paul Bunch. I plan on writing a separate post all about him at a later date, but I will share a couple of things I did come across.

    Paul Bunch was married a couple of times. I only had two marriages listed in my tree, but thanks to Newspapers.com, I was able to find another marriage.

Paul Bunch weds Mrs. Thompson
Rolla Herald
Rolla, Missouri
25 Nov 1886

Paul Bunch divorces Argentie Bunch
Rolla Herald
Rolla, Missouri
13 Aug 1891

    This next article is about Paul Bunch's youngest son and is such a tragedy. Hugh Bunch was engaged to his school sweetheart, but her parents were against the union. Hugh could not stand the thought of them not being together so he murdered her and then committed suicide. I'm only sharing a part of the article, but if you wish to read the whole thing, click on the image.

Hugh murders fiancee
Rolla Herald
Rolla, Missouri
21 Jun 1894

 Update about Scottie Rickards 

    About two weeks ago, I had a surprise call from a distant cousin: Sara Poston. She is the daughter of W.F. Rickards, Mark's grandfather's brother. We have been in contact for a few years now sharing family info back and forth. Well, she decided to call us on Facetime so we could "meet" face to face. We had such a wonderful chat. During that call, she revealed some information about Scottie that she had learned from our other cousin. If you remember, I have been curious about his life and his health for years. Well apparently, Scottie had epilepsy. 

    This is a huge discovery! He had appeared to have had a normal life growing up, but then only attended college for one year, moved in with his sister when their father died, and was in a nursing home by the time he was 59. In letters written between Ruth, his sister, and her friend, DeWitt, they had mentioned he had been sick for a while. Sick with what? Well, now we know.

    This is something family more than likely wouldn't have talked about. There were stigmas surrounding Epilepsy during this time. How he came to have it is still a mystery. As I said, he appeared to have a normal childhood growing up. I would say I don't think he would have graduated High School if he would have had Epilepsy as a young boy. But the fact he only attended College for one year, leads me to believe something happened around that time. There might have been an injury of some sort or he may have gotten an infection that led to it. By the time of the World War II draft, he listed on his Draft Registration Card that he was unemployed. He was living with his father. Nothing would have been written on the card itself, but when he went for the Health Screening, it would have been made known that he had epilepsy and he wouldn't have been able to serve. Granted a lot of information I have shared here is only speculation. The only thing we know for sure is he had Epilepsy. I still have to send off for his Death Certificate, so we will see what that comes back saying.

Obituary for Edward Schmidt

    If you haven't noticed yet, I'm going crazy with finding Newspaper Articles on Newspapers.com. I've been dying to get a subscription for their site for a while. So glad I did. I am finding so many items. LIke this next one. While it doesn't provide any elaborate or ground-breaking information, I found the obituary of Edward August Schmidt, the husband of my grandma's cousin, Anna Marie. 

Edward Schmidt Obituary
St. Louis Post Dispatch
St. Louis, Missouri
30 Jul 1988

Jewell Lawless Birth Certificate

Not only do I love doing research on my own family, but I also love finding things for my friends' families. I recently completed some research for my best friend and sister, Sarah about her dad's Hribar line. They loved what I was able to track down. Recently, I came across a document that wasn't part of that research because it was about his Mom, which I didn't research. I came across her Birth Certificate! I wasn't sure if they had a copy or if they had ever seen it, so I downloaded it and shared it with them. 

Jewell Lawless Birth Certificate
16 Mar 1915
Reynolds, Greene, Arkansas
Source: Ancestry.com

    That's all I have for now. But more will be coming I'm sure with Roots Tech just around the corner. Have you signed up for it yet? Head on over to RootsTech.org and join us! It's all virtual this year and is free. I already ordered my swag, which included these awesome Roots Tech Earbuds, that I will be using during the live streams. 

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What exciting finds did you 

discover this week? 

Share in the comments below!

Maps of Clinton County, Missouri (How Galen & Pearl Met Cont.)

    The recent 52 Ancestors Prompt, Courting, took me down a road where I found more information than I was expecting. On my quest to learn more about the area where Mark's Grandparents met, lived, and were married, I came across some sources that opened up a new perspective for me. While researching the area trying to get an understanding of where everything was located (The School, the Church, the Swope Family, the Berryman Family, and the town), I discovered some maps of the town from that time period. I had mentioned that the town was small and surrounded by farms. I was curious how close everyone was to everything. Well, I was in for a surprise.

    To recap, Galen Swope would stay with his parents when he would come back to town from Kansas City and Pearl McGrew was renting a room from the Berryman family while she worked as a teacher for the Martin School. The 1930 Census shows where they lived.

1930 US Federal Census
Mildred Mcgrew
Platte Township, Clinton County, Missouri
Source: Ancestry.com

1930 US Federal Census
Galen Swope
Lafayette Township, Clinton County, Missouri
Source: Ancestry.com

    I found these maps online after doing a Google Search. The first map shows the Plats of land that belonged to J.A. Swope and R Berryman. The 1930 Census told me that they both owned their properties, so that told me to look at these maps. Look how close the Swope Farm and the Berryman Farm were to each other. 

    The second map shows the location of buildings. Black squares were houses. There were a couple of houses right near each other that could have the Swope's house and the Berryman's house. 

Map 1

Plat book of Clinton County, Missouri
Lafayette Township
Missouri Plat Books cir 1930
Source: Missouri Digital Heritage

Map 2

Plattsburg, Missouri
cir 1926
Source: Old World Maps
Courtesy of USGS

    There are a couple other things written on Map 2 that caught my attention. First, Martin School. That's the school that Pearl taught at. Map 1 does not have the school listed because the first map is for Lafayette Township only. Map 2 has Lafayette Township and Platte Township, where Martin School was located. So I found the Platte Township map & combined it with Lafayette. See Map 3 below. If you look in square 11, you will see a dark square which is labeled "school". Looking back at Map 2, you can see that is where Martin School was located.

Map 3

Plat book of Clinton County, Missouri
Lafayette Township & Platte Township
Missouri Plat books cir 1930
Source: Missouri Digital Heritage

    There was something else I noticed on Map 2. West of the Martin School is Lebanon Church. That would be the Lebanon Baptist Church that they attended. Now when you look back at Map 1, I circled a cross on that map. That would be the location of Lebanon Church. Do you see where that's located? Right next to the J.A. Swope property! So everything was right there along the same road.

    This is really neat! And helpful. I now have a better understanding of the area. Mark and I plan on making a trip out to this part of Missouri hopefully this year. When we traveled out there a few years ago, it was tricky trying to find where the old farmhouses were and where the location of the Church used to be. The cemetery used to be opposite the Church. While the church is gone, the cemetery is still there and that's where a lot of Mark's family is still buried... including Galen & Pearl Swope.

Lebanon Cemetery
Stewartsville, Missouri
Google Maps

Galen & Pearl Swope Headstone
Lebanon Cemetery
Stewartsville, Missouri
July 2014

    It's amazing what else you can learn about family when you start looking a little deeper. I never planned on looking up maps for the area. I never thought about looking up the location of the farms, the church, or the school. Just goes to show you, just when you think you can't research anymore, there is always something. 

Read the post about the Prompt that started this all here: Week 8: Courting (How Galen & Pearl Met)

Week 8: Courting (How Galen & Pearl Met)

Week 8:
The Week 8 theme is "Courting." Is it courting as in the law or courting as in romance? You decide! 

Courting: to engage in social activities leading to engagement and marriage - Merriam Webster Dictionary

    Dating as we know it today, did not really exist in our grandparents' day. Most of the time, instead of dating, courting took place. This involved two people getting together in social activities to get to know each other better in the presence of friends and family. Most of the time it was family. That was the case with my husband's Grandparents. 

    Samuel Galen Swope was born on August 15, 1895, in Clinton County, Missouri. He was the firstborn child of James Albert Swope and Mary Alice Hoover. The Swopes were a prominent family in Western Missouri around the Kansas City area and in the county where Galen was raised. Looking through the newspapers for the area, I found quite a few mentions of the Swope family in the "Happenings" or "Society" sections.

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
2 Jan 1914

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
9 Nov 1917

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
17 Dec 1920

    Pearl Mildred McGrew was born on June 6, 1907, in Kansas. She was the fourth child born to Reverand Hudson Taylor McGrew and Sadie Emma McCullough. As you can see, her father was a Reverand in the United Brethren Church (which eventually became a sect of the Methodist Church). The United Brethren Church had traveling ministers that were appointed to different churches in their area for a specific time. So Pearl's family moved around quite a bit.

    Since Pearl's father was a respectable man in the United Brethren Church, his children were also expected to be on their best behavior. Rev. H.T. McGrew was mentioned in the newspapers quite a bit as well. From the new appointments to the families he would visit and many other circumstances. 

Wichita Daily Eagle
Wichita, Kansas
15 Sep 1889

The Times
Clay Center, Kansas
3 Aug 1911

Lecompton Sun
Lecompton, Kansas
18 Jul 1902

Lecompton Sun
Lecompton, Kansas
5 Apr 1901

    Since both of them belong to very prominent families and their lives were documented publicly in the paper, they would have had to have been on their best behavior. When Mark asked his mom about his parents courting, she said she wasn't told much about that time except that they met in church and that they were not allowed to "date" so to speak in private. All their meetings would have been in public with family present. Thanks to newspapers, I was able to track some of the meetings.

    Mark's mom said they met in Church. This would have been the Lebanon Baptist Church in Clinton County, Missouri. The area consisted mostly of Farmland and the nearest town was Stewartsville. Plattsburg is about 15 miles south of Stewartsville and Lebanon Cemetery, where the Church used to be, is about halfway in between the two towns. Pearl moved to Stewartsville to be a teacher in the Martin School District. Mark's mom said this was a one-room schoolhouse. Pearl did such a great job as a teacher, they elected to keep her for three years. 

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
15 Mar 1929

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
13 Sep 1929

    As you can see, there are only eight students in this school, all ranging from different grades. We are talking VERY small town. So it would have only been a matter of time before Galen and Pearl met. Galen worked in Kansas City for a time, but he would frequently visit his family.

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
11 Jan 1929

    When Galen was back in town, he would stay with his parents, James & Mary. Pearl did not originally live in Stewartsville when she was hired as a teacher. So she rented a room from Rae Berryman and his family. When school was closed for the season, she would go back to visit her parents in Guilford, Missouri. As stated, this was a small town, so almost everyone knew each other. Everyone would make visits to each other's houses, they would attend church together and even celebrate occasions with each other. This would be perfect for Courting situations. As would be the case for Galen & Pearl. And it would then be published in the local paper for everyone to read about.

    Thanks to Newspapers.com, I was able to track down these articles. Articles mentioning dinners, reunions, health & well-being posts (who was sick, who was recovering), and who was visiting who. This made the courting process more apparent.

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
17 Apr 1931

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
6 Feb 1931

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
2 Jan 1931

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
13 Nov 1931

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
29 Apr 1932

    Soon after that last article, this one appeared in the newspaper.

Maryville Daily Forum
Maryville, Missouri
2 May 1932

    As you can see in the articles, Pearl was invited to many gatherings at the J.A. Swope house (Galen's father). They were also invited to dinner at the Hoover's house (Mrs. Mary Swope's family). As stated before, they both attended Lebanon Baptist Church where Rev. H.T. McGrew preached at least once. 

    When I first saw these articles, I didn't think much of them. But this prompt caused me to look at them in a different way. In the way of Courting. You can actually see the courting process. The families were coming together for meals, celebrations, worship, etc. Then to the wedding shower and eventual marriage. I am looking forward to presenting this to my Mother-in-Law to give her a small glimpse into the lives of her parents and how they got together.

Something special to close out this blog post. A picture of Galen and Pearl on their wedding day & the newspaper article about the day.

Galen & Pearl Swope
1 May 1932

Plattsburg Leader
Plattsburg, Missouri
6 May 1932

This prompt also caused me to do some more research on the area they lived. If you want to see what else I found out, check out my next blog post: Maps of Clinton County, Missouri - (How Galen & Pearl Met Cont.)

Do you have any stories about your parents or grandparents courting??

1950 Census - Who Do You Hope To Find?

Who do you hope to find in the 1950 Census? A question asked frequently among the genealogy community. I don't know about you, but I have a list of people I am hoping to find. Some will answer some questions, others are just people I want to find.

There are a couple of family members that could be somewhat troublesome to find until the index gets released. Mostly because they moved around quite a bit. I have a few possible leads, but they may not pan out.

One specific lead that could be helpful is Pictures. My Grandma and Dad had a lot of pictures in their collection. I've been going through them for years dividing them up by year, location, family, etc. These pictures give clues about where my family could have been living during specific times of their lives. And based on these pictures, I can narrow down that location to hopefully find the Enumeration District Map so I can locate them on the 1950 Census.

Here are some pictures of family members I hope to find on the 1950 Census

Ilg, Buer, Cash, Kelley Family 
July 1955
Carmel, Indiana?

    This photo was taken in July 1955 possibly in Carmel, Indiana. Great grand Aunt Ruth and her husband, Howard are going to be a little difficult to locate for the 1950 Census because they moved around quite a bit for his job. He was an architect. I have found them in St. Louis, Missouri;  Joliet, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; and Carmel, Indiana, where they retired to eventually. My mom told me stories about visiting them in Indiana. This photo is one of those times family visited Aunt Ruth and Uncle Howard. Starting in the back row from left to right, there is Oma Mae Caldwell (2nd Great-grandma), Robert Edward Cash (son of Herbert & Alyce), Howard James Kelley (Great-Grand Uncle), Joseph Melchoir Ilg (Great-grandpa), and Herbert Arthur Cash (Husband of Alyce). In the front row from left to right, we have Margaret "Honey" Ilg (Great-grandma), Ruth Helen Kelley (Great-Grand Aunt), Edward Elmer Buer (2nd Great-grandpa), and Alyce(daughter of Edward & second wife, not pictured).

    Edward Buer (2nd Great-grandpa) was married to Oma before they divorced in 1913. He then married Alice Boyer (unknown maiden name). Alice is not pictured with family because she died in December 1950. But she will be on the 1950 Census. When Alice died, they were living in Joliet, Illinois according to the 1950 City Directory. So that's where they will be found in the 1950 Census. I do know that after Alice died, Edward moved in with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Howard. He died in 1967 in Carmel, Indiana. So in this photo, he was more than likely living with them. 

    Mom said she remembers Uncle Howard Kelley traveling to so many places for his work. Seattle, Texas, Illinois, and even Alaska. Mom remembers receiving a souvenir from him when she was little; a little Eskimo doll. So it's possible Aunt Ruth and Uncle Howard may be living somewhere completely different by the 1950 Census. He supposedly even traveled to different countries. Oh boy... But one thing we do know is they were in Carmel, Indiana by 1955. We hope... See how much information you can glean from one picture?

    This picture was taken sometime in the '50s. This is my Grandma Ruth Wheeler, Uncle Jerry Valdes, Uncle Les Wheeler, Mom Maggie Wheeler, and Uncle Howard Wheeler. Mom was born in 1950. I might have some photos from when my mom was little, but I haven't gone through all my grandma's photos yet. This picture was more than likely taken in High Ridge, Missouri at their house.

    This is where mom's memory comes into play. Mom said they moved to High Ridge when she was about six months old. She was born in March so that would mean they moved around September. The Census was taken in April. So mom would have been born for the Census. What's helpful is I have Mom's birth certificate and it has their address listed. That will help me find them in the 1950 Census. Everyone in this photo, except for Uncle Howard (who was born in 1951), will be on that census. 

More Photos to come!

Week 7: Landed

Week 6: Landed
The Week 7 theme is "Landed." There are many meanings of landed: to have arrived at a destination, to have been delivered, to own real property, to be part of the "landed gentry." So many ways you can go with this week's theme!

"The Eagle Has Landed" - Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were part of the American crew that piloted the Apollo Lunar Module, Eagle. Neil said this now-famous quote to Houston after they landed on the moon. It is now a phrase that is used constantly to signify something has arrived.

    The phrase "Landed" I'm sure is used quite a bit in reference to many things. Especially when it comes to our genealogy research. When a family has moved to another location, they have landed. When they fly somewhere for vacation or to visit relatives and they arrive at their final destination, they have landed. But the first thing that comes to my mind is when our ancestors arrived on ships from their old countries.

    When did your ancestors "Land" in this new country? Do you know there are a couple of places to look for the exact date of when the "Landed"? There are a couple of places to check.

• Passenger Lists
• Passport Applications
• Census Records
• Naturalization Records

    These are just a few options. To read more in-depth about these, click here to read about Passenger Lists - How Do We Know With Database to Search?

    But did you know there is another place to find out when your ancestor's ship landed? I just happen to run across this while researching my 2nd Great Grandma, Pauline Ilg. Newspapers! That's right! Newspapers. I thought maybe they would give some announcement or something when new ships had come in, but it was actually something different.

    Newspapers were the best place to get information and to share information. From Bus Schedules to train schedules and even ship arrivals! While looking through each page of the New York Tribune, I came across a section called "Marine Intelligence". This section reports all kinds of information about the ships that were coming and going. This is where I found my 2nd Great Grandma Pauline's ship and her soon-to-be husband's ship. Now this is only helpful if have the actual name of the ship. There are no passenger names listed in these articles, just ship names. This clipping is for my 2nd Great Grandma's ship. She was on the Vessel EMS. Can you find her ship?

New York Tribune
3 Jun 1887
New York, NY
Source: Newspapers.com

    As you can see, you can find out when a ship has left, when a ship has landed, and even when a ship has passed others. Knowing what ship, she was traveling on, I was able to find when they left Bremen too. All from knowing what ship she landed on. This is just another great source to include with your records. 

    Now, this is just for the Port of New York. Since this is just for New York City, it doesn't include other ports in which your ancestors may have Landed. And this is just for the Port. Depending on when they arrived will determine where they were processed. Check here to see where your ancestors would have been processed: Castle Garden and Ellis Island.

    This section of the newspaper only started showing up because of The Great Migration. I am unsure of the exact date this section started to appear. There was no reason for them to share this information when many people were not immigrating. This only occurred because of the influx of immigrants and people needed to know when their families would be arriving. Always scan through newspapers for new sections that were added. They are a great source of historical information.

What other sections of the newspaper have helped you in your research? When did your ancestors "Land" in America? What do you think of when you hear the word "Landed"? Let me know in the comments!

Week 6: Maps (1950 ED Maps)

Week 6: Maps

The Week 6 theme is "Maps." They say X marks the spot. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that maps are great resources for our research! Think about a time when a map helped you discover an ancestor. Another way you could approach the theme is think about an ancestor would could have really used a map. Feel free to be creative!

        When I first got into genealogy research, I never knew how invaluable maps would be for my research. But as I went along, I found myself looking up more and more maps to understand my family: where they lived, where they worked, where they moved, how did boundaries change, etc. By viewing maps, I learned more about my family than thought I would.
    While trying to decide what/who to write about for this prompt, a couple of options came up: 

• I wrote a blog post back in 2019 for the 52 Ancestors challenge called "Map It Out" where I talked about using Google Maps to pinpoint where all my family lived in comparison to each other. I could go into more detail about that experience.
• When researching my great-grand Uncle, William Ilg, and his death in World War I, I was able to view a map at the Research Library in Forest Park (St. Louis, Missouri) to pinpoint the location whereabouts he would have died. Then I used the NARA website to find the EXACT location. That was fascinating!
• When trying to find the marriage record for my grandma and her first husband, my Aunt Patty instructed me to check the local map of the area to see what churches were near where they lived, and then contact them to see if they have any record for the marriage of them. And it worked!
• My Uncle Marty shared a map with me a few years ago showing the old properties (Where they currently lived) and who owned them in the late 1800s. It helped put into perspective the stories they told about this family and that family and how this land came to be owned by this person, etc. 

What Should I write about?

    While all these ideas would be interesting to write about, the best choice to make right now would be to write about the Enumeration Maps that were used for the 1950 Census. These maps are an invaluable tool, especially right now since (at this time) the 1950 census is not available and when it does become available, it won't be indexed right away.
    When I first got into genealogy research in 2012, the 1940 census had just been released. That was my first taste of a census, but I didn't know ANYTHING about Enumeration District maps. I've studied quite a bit about them in the past year, and I'm still not even close to being an expert. I suggest checking out my blog post that lists many helpful resources regarding the 1950 census and Enumeration District Maps. Those sources are what I used to help me understand how to use the ED Maps so I'm prepared when the 1950 Census is released.

What are Enumeration District Maps?

"The area that each enumerator covered was called an Enumeration District. Enumeration districts varied in size from several city blocks to an entire county depending on the location. In each state, an enumeration district is given a unique number including two different numbers separated by a dash (i.e. 15-1). The first number is the assigned number for the county and the second number is for each district within the county." Source: NARA Blog - The Unwritten Record

    As I stated, when the 1950 Census is released, it will not be indexed right away. This is where these maps come into play. The Censuses are organized by State, County, City/Township, and Enumeration District (ED). So you have to know what ED your ancestor was living in to know where to find your ancestor in the Census. This also means you need to know WHERE your ancestor was living. 

Read this blog post to figure out where your ancestor was living in 1950

    Once you have the address for your ancestor, you head over to the SteveMorse.org website to find the ED Map. There are quite a few steps you have to go through to get to your correct map, but it is way more efficient than trying to page through each map to find which one you need, which is what you would need to do on the NARA site. So thank you to Steve Morse, Joel D. Weintraub, and David R. Kehs for creating such a useful tool for us.

How to find the ED Map:

1. Go to SteveMorse.org


2. On the left-hand side, hover over "US Census", then select "Unified 1880-1950 Census ED Finder" from the menu

3. Select the State, County and City/Town from the drop-down menus

4. Once you do that, an option should appear to add the house number and street name; add that info

5. Underneath that, Links to Enumeration Districts should show up; If there are many links, you can narrow it down by selecting cross streets that surround the block of where your ancestor lives; you can find this out by looking at Google Maps of the address




Google Maps


6. Once you are narrowed down to one ED, you can look up the map; DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK AT THIS TIME


7. Open up a new tab and go to SteveMorse.org again


8. On the left-hand side, hover over "US Census", then this time select "1940 and 1950 ED Maps" from the menu

9. Make sure it says 1950 at the top of the page; then select the same info as before from the State, County, and City/Town from the drop-down menus; Click "Get ED Map Images"; a new window will open

10. If the correct ED is within the range listed, you have found the right maps; click on the NARA link to open up the maps in a new window

11. If there are many maps in the collection, scroll through to find the Map that matches your ED number



NARA Website



12. Once you do, zoom in to the correct ED on the Map to see where your ancestor would have lived; you might need to use Google Maps first to get a general idea of where they lived



1950 ED Map
Kirkwood, Missouri



Google Maps

    There you have it! Now you have the ED number to look up your ancestor in the 1950 census (when it comes out) and now you have a map of the area! I used this exact method to find the EDs for the ancestors I am going to look up for the 1950 Census. The case above is for my great-grandma, Nellie Fuchs. She lived on North Clay in Kirkwood, Missouri. I knew the address from City Directories and the location because my dad took me there one time. He remembered visiting her when he was little. He also remembered attending St. Peter's Church and School which was right across the street.
    It's so interesting to look at old maps and see how much a town has changed. It's also helpful to understand the area more and how it used to be. I used an Enumeration District recently for an interesting case I was studying for a friend. You can read about it here: Accident or Murder? The Death of William Shoults.

    Are you ready for the release of the 1950 Census? Have you checked out the Enumeration Maps or the SteveMorse website? What other maps have been helpful to you? Leave your comments below.