Missouri River Bottom Land

Nestled in Platte County, Missouri, in the bottoms, under an overcast sky heavy with moisture, lies a small parcel of twenty acres that was once owned by Hiram McDaniel in the 1850s. Where the ground drops off to the west is the life-giving Missouri River. Kansas trims the horizon. Bluffs rise from the bottoms to the east. A neglected house, weathered brown, sleeps on this land. How long has it been there? Who lived in it? There once was a house on this land filled with the purposeful movements of Janettie McDaniel and chatter from the children, Lucretia, John Hiram, and James. Today, remnants of dried stalks and cobs indicate that corn is grown in the dark gray clay. Did Hiram grow corn, too? The bottoms continue to be home to hard working farmers like the McDaniels.

My brother and his family are touring Ostfriesland. They have met up with our German cousins, the Gericke family. How wonderful to have personal tour guides to take them on a family history journey through the land of our immigrant ancestor, Hayo Eberhardt Thaden, known as Herman in America. There's just something special about walking the same village streets, stopping by the town's Lutheran church, gazing up at the windmill at the village entrance, shopping in the same merchant district as did the Thaden family in the 17 and 1800s. It certainly brings one closer to forebears with a deeper respect for the sacrifices and triumphs of their lives.

Photo of Bockwindmuhle from Panoramio at http://www.panoramio.com/photo/48902976

Cemetery Haunts and Jaunts

Over spring break I drove with my parents and brother back to Kansas City to meet new relatives and conduct some research. Our cemetery experience was disappointing, yet rewarding at the same time.

There used to be an old register for Woodlawn Cemetery in KCK, which has seen its fair share of troubles over its 140 year history. My mother has seen this book; now no one knows where it is. Researchers have to rely on the printed cemetery index which doesn’t include helpful information typically found in a register, such as parents’ or spouse’s names, cause of death, place of birth, etc. What a shame this precious book has been misplaced or even destroyed as was suggested by local history staff at KCK’s public library.

On the other hand, Calvary Cemetery in KCMO is well staffed and maintained yet help was very hard to get. Their policy allows two free lookups and each additional lookup costs $10.00. Our two free lookups provided us with only the block and lot numbers and a copy of the cemetery map with highlighted directions to the gravesites. With additional genealogical information from the card file in her hand, the staff member would give us no more. She wouldn’t even take our names to pass on to the lot owners, citing the Privacy Act. But cemeteries are not subject to the Privacy Act unless they are federally owned. Calvary’s staff is either misinformed or lazy.

We did not come away entirely empty-handed from these two cemeteries. At Woodlawn we noticed stones bearing the names of Hoffman next to the empty spot where Albertson markers once stood. Next to a Bright monument lay stones for Pearson and Little. Hoffman, Pearson, and Little are recent discoveries in the family history and finding their graves by accident was a pleasant surprise.

A similar experience awaited us as we unexpectedly happened upon a Corti marker next to a monument for De Mayo—one of our two free lookups.

Challenges aplenty await the researcher without unnecessary obstacles such as lost registers and uncooperative staff. Yet perseverance and patience pay off with gentle little surprises.

A Lay Webmaster's Best Friend

I have discovered Google Sites! Wow, what an easy way to create a family website! It’s much simpler than the way I was snailing them out on Rootsweb’s host. Though it was easy enough with the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) feature, it still lacked the pleasant layout options Google has to offer.

I started with Arachnophilia’s template which was a handy tool, but I still needed to learn some HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), a secret code for webmasters. Eventually I memorized some of it and the writing went a bit faster. One little mistake, though, could make my web page look really whacked. Therefore, it was very time-consuming.

I’m so happy with Google Sites, and now I am transferring all my web pages over to sites.google.com/site/hahnfamilyandthadenfamily and it is going very quickly. Knowing that creating a new page or updating an existing page won’t be drudgery, I’m more apt to add more content.

The Family Historian

How can I spend so much time on family history? It’s easy. It’s sooo easy. When I’m not gardening, or maintaining the kitchen and our food supply; when I’m not cleaning, flinging, and keeping our house in order; when I’m not working out to get fit or working at my paying job; when I’m not mending, beading, or needlecrafting while enjoying a Western with my honey—I’m deeply engrossed in the family history, my most favorite hobby.

I’m in the process of writing my third family history book. I write from the facts I have already collected and in doing so, I develop more questions. Then I conduct further research to get the new questions answered.

While writing, I am studying to receive my certification in genealogy. I have a manual of standards and I take online classes in methodology while looking forward to my FamilyTree magazine. I learn professional practices which I put to use in my personal research and in the various other projects I have adopted.

Findings for my own genealogy are documented and uploaded to Rootsweb’s online database. I also maintain a family history website featuring the surnames and individuals I am currently researching. I post to this blog with fascinating tidbits for my immediate family members and other interested cousins.

My website has been hit by researchers googling for the people about whom I have written. Three previously unknown cousins have come forward to introduce themselves to me after discovering my website. Other researchers have found my Rootsweb submission and have contacted me for the purpose of collaboration.

On occasion I have found it necessary to spend some time on a case study. I have published the results of these studies on the internet as well, and one of my articles has been printed in a genealogical society newsletter.

For the past several years, I have taught a family history class during Sunday school. The students and I have covered numerous topics while I share with them the things I have learned in my own trial and error and success.

I recently joined a group of volunteers who help researchers from out of town locate local facts. So far I have had four satisfied “clients.”

Knowing the value of oral history has prompted me to begin recording and transcribing the personal story of Fred Ferguson, a long-time Colorado resident, while still working on the transcription of my own parents’ stories.

Having an interest in the town of Fountain led me to the ongoing project of publishing the research of one of the town’s early residents.

Currently, I belong to the Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America and am waiting to hear from the newsletter editor how I may get involved as a volunteer. Meanwhile, I’ve got the gears turning in my head as to how I will transcribe and photograph a local cemetery plot that is so tucked out of the way, its existence is doubtful well known.

In this season of my life I am allowed to spend a lot of time on what I love.

To Be American

As my body was arousing this Saturday morning from a restful sleep, I was thinking. Sometimes I get my best thinking done before full reality sets in, when there's still room for imagination in my brain. I was thinking about the term Native American. This is not about Native Americans of indigenous descent. This is about native Americans like me of Heinz 57 descent. To be a native means to be born in a certain place. I was born in America; that makes me a native American, right? I cetainly can't be a native Brit or a native German, or a native Syrian. Even the native Syrians in my family tree were descended from Greeks and quite possibly others. The native Sicilians in my children's family trees were decended from Arabs; they did not call themselves Arab Sicilians. So why do I have to call myself a European American or an Arab American? Why can't I be a native American? After all, it seems pretty much agreed that the indigenious Americans originated somewhere else. Perhaps they should more correctly be called Siberian Americans. No, I guess that won't go over too well. In the meantime, I hope it will be okay for me to call myself an native American, born and raised in America, as were my parents and grandparents and many more before them.

Separating the two Mary Albertsons

Imagine my dismay at finding our Mary A. Albertson combined with another Mary A. Albertson. Our gal had the right parents but was hooked up with the wrong spouse. The other Mary had that other spouse but was linked to our Mary's parents. What a mess!! Read how I straightened that out. In the meantime, the two are combined into one until the owners of those published family trees make the necessary adjustments.