TV Worthy I Am Not ...

Today I opened my Inbox and read a notification wishing me a happy blogging 2nd anniversary.  Apparently I started this blog two years ago.  Time sure flies. 

I could claim being busy, and that might be so.  There were no 'ah-ha' moments, therefore nothing intriguing and worth while mentioning.  However ...

• I uncovered one Staub ancestor's Company information when he served in the Civil War.  Just this Christmas I shared this information with a great nephew (that makes me feel old!) who has an interest in  Civil War and participated in a re-enactment. I think that I opened another door and made a young historian happy. 
• Prior to Super Storm Sandy, I visited with an elderly neighbor, taking them a dish of my 4-cheese macaroni casserole.  One thing lead to another and I ended up with information about his family and embarked on a journey to help him find his roots.  I hit a brick wall, but did find some interesting stuff, AND learned the history of three counties - Baltimore, Frederick, and Carroll.  Funny how little details are too darned important.  Now I can't wait to share what I found.
• Saw the movies Lincoln and Les Miserables.  I actually understood the history from it all and enjoyed it.  Also, I developed a deepened appreciation for my ancestors who lived during those trying times.

Guess it is the small stuff that keeps me digging.  So, you won't be seeing me on TV anytime soon, right?

Happy New Year.  Blessings to all genealogists.  Happy research.

Homestead in Brodbecks, PA
of Jesse and Agnes Berkheimer

How many of us baby-boomers grew up knowing little about our family ancestry?  I missed out on many opportunities to ask questions.  Thankfully, I had an uncle who felt it was important for me to have a framed photograph of my great-great-great grandmother before it got lost in an estate sale.  What started as a hobby is now an obsession! And, I am not alone.

One day while volunteering in our local research library, a lady asked me for help in trying to understand her German ancestors.  Her relatives claimed that they were Irish. She was so patient and eventually we found that her German ancestors couldn't sail to America when they wanted to and were offered land to stay in Ireland, thus the German-Irish connection.  Proof in hand, she couldn't wait to share this at the next family reunion!

I knew little about my mother's paternal ancestors, and found bits and pieces about her parents, their divorce, and that I have a step grandmother.  Nothing exciting, just a loose end on the family tree.  Another find was an article from the Berkheimer family file which revealed that my great, great, great grandfather, Andrew Berkheimer, had a brother, Henry, who had bought a farm shortly after becoming married in the early 1800s in Washington Township, Pennsylvania.  Together with his wife Elizabeth, they raised a family and operated a widely known wool mill.  Today it is a working farm (sorry but I couldn't find a photograph of this farm, just driving driving directions) listed on the National Registry of Historic Buildings.  This find won't land me on NBC's show "Who Do You Think You Are?" but to know that a piece of their history is important enough to be registered and still a working farm is pretty cool.

Over a year ago, I began my family research, and didn't know that I would become so obsessed with history.  A quote from Henry Wiencek sums it up for me.

"Genealogy becomes a mania, an obsessive struggle to penetrate the past and snatch meaning from an infinity of names. At some point the search becomes futile - there is nothing left to find, no meaning to be dredged out of old receipts, newspaper articles, letters, accounts of events that seemed so important fifty or seventy years ago. All that remains is the insane urge to keep looking, insane because the searcher has no idea what he seeks. What will it be? A photograph? A will? A fragment of a letter? The only way to find out is to look at everything, because it is often when the searcher has gone far beyond the border of futility that he finds the object he never knew he was looking for."

-- Henry Wiencek

True Grit

For anyone over the age of 40, you will remember the Grit newspaper.  Today, the Grit paper is no longer in circulation, BUT it is a magazine. 

I am not promoting the magazine by any means (but it is interesting).  This is something that I stumbled on when reading my eNewsletters from several of my favorite magazines. 

Growing up, my parents subscribed to this weekly paper.  Mike and his siblings peddled the Grit paper, and I can still remember Nell helping the kids with their paper money and bookkeeping.  Am I jogging any memories for you?  Care to share, anyone? 

Change ...

 

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
― Lao Tzu

 

 

No, the image above is not of an ancestor.  Lao Tzu just happened to write about change, and the quote resonated with me.  After researching our family heritages, I have been thinking about changing the overall feel of the blog.  This decision comes from the connectivity among the family ancestors.

 

I suppose that I fall into a small category of folks who embrace change.  To me, it is refreshing and a sense of renewal - like the changing of the seasons. 

 

So, when I started to recreate this blog, I only intended to change the title and image.  One thing began to led to another, and everything began to click. 

• The title - based on how our ancestral roots entwine. 
• The subtitle - because if family history is not recorded and shared with relatives, then knowledge could become lost. 
• The tree image - wide, supportive, and strong.  The little fence that surrounds the tree represents family.
• The color - natural, clean and peaceful.

Time is a test of knowledge, so they say. Time will be a test of how this change affects the blog stats and readership. 

Until later ...

Curiosity killed the cat ...

Shakespeare used a similar quote in his circa 1599 play, Much Ado About Nothing:

"What, courage man! what though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care. ”

For many years I knew that my maternal Grandfather had a 'new lady' in his life, and it wasn't Grandma.  This knowledge led me on a journey to find out more.

My journey began with city directories.  I learned where my maternal Grandparents lived, when they stopped living together, and what jobs they held.  You might be surprised by what information can be found in these directories.

Next I made a trip to the York County, PA Archives. It was here that I found the tax records for both my Grandfather and his 'lady.'  Still nothing on a second marriage.

I then visited the York County Courthouse.  My first trip was a total bust.  I was denied entry because I had my cell phone with me.  After parking four blocks away and dealing with rain, I decided to try later.  Just a few days ago, I parked, removed from my purse all forms of electronics including my thumb drive, and tried once more.  The nice officer let me through.

My visit wasn't totally fruitless. I learned that Grandma filed for divorce based on indignities and her divorce was granted in 1948.  However, there was no marriage for my Grandfather in York County.  Could their marriage have been a common law marriage? 

Onward to Adams County.  Nada!  I wasn't totally disappointed, but realized that now I must navigate the Maryland court system.  Was I prepared to pay for this information, or drive to Annapolis or Baltimore?

So, I went home, poured a glass of wine, booted up the laptop, and Googled once more.  Oh, I also sent a message to Grandma in the spirit world that I could use some help!  My find was a  Maryland Vital Records site that has microfilm records online, and it was free.  I skimmed through six years of microfilm data until my goal was accomplished.  Thanks, Grandma!

Long story short ... Grandma and Grandpa Berkheimer divorced in 1948, and he remarried in Maryland in 1960.

The moral to my very long story. and many of you are not related to the Berkheimer family, is this ... if your parents or grandparents are still living, don't do as I did, do as I say - sit down with them and ask your questions to learn more about your family history.