Geneabloggers have been challenged to 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, as a way to share the gems of resources we have found in our own research. This week's request is for information about the genealogy blog that are we most thankful-- is it an early blog? or a current blog? why should others read this blog?
I am a relative newbee to genealogy blogs. I had been reading other kinds of blogs, but genealogy ones weren't on my radar. Last year, I found the Geneabloggers website and thought I should post a blog I had started in an effort to find one of my mystery women, Ursula WRIGHT. I started that blog with the idea that maybe, just maybe someone else was looking for her, would see my blog and contact me. Then I got to thinking I could write a more geneal blog also after reading others.
I read a bunch of genealogy blogs now by wonderful authors. Some I read daily. I love checking to see who has posted to G+ their latest blog posting.
I always read Randy Seaver's Geneamusings. I find his daily posts interesting and covering a wide range of topics. I've found ancestors in his Surname Saturday postings, interesting links to other blogs in his weekly review of other blogs, felt challenged by his Saturday Night Challenge (even if I don't always do it), enjoyed his "not so wordless Wordless postings," learned about webinars to help educate me, and learned about Geneabloggers radio which has become part of my Friday night entertainment. His blog is always a wealth of information.
Four generations of RICHARDSONs 1917
William Richardson, Alice Josephine Richardson Dakin, Robert Worthington Richardson, Harry Bogart Richardson
Showing posts with label Randy Seaver blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Randy Seaver blog. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Genealogical Hostess from Heaven in Jefferson WI
I enjoy reading Randy Seaver's blog, Genea-Musings. After attending the FGS conference in Springfield IL, he has extended his genealogical tour around the midwest. On day 10, he starts his morning in Jefferson WI and talks about the generosity and help from folks there and in Dodge County. Reading his blog brought back fond genealogical memories from my own experience in Wisconsin.
I grew up hearing my grandmother say, "I am Adelaide Copeland Harvey Richardson -- Copeland of the Copeland Ryder Shoes." So years later, when I got to wondering about "Copeland & Ryder Shoes," I googled it. I discovered there really was a Copeland & Ryder Shoe Company in Jefferson WI for many years and it had been sold to Dr Scholls Shoes in 1946. In 1868, George COPELAND and Lewis RYDER arrived in Jefferson WI, from Bridgewater MA, with plans to establish a shoe company. Their business was originally opened as the Jefferson Boot and Shoe Factory. I was looking for information on the Copeland's of the shoe company and discovered that, yes, they were her relatives. My grandmother, who was born in 1893 in Lake Mills WI, was a first cousin twice removed from George COPELAND.
In 2002, I checked to see if there was any local historical society that I might find in Jefferson and Lake Mills.
In my search for a local historical society, I got a letter from a local resident which started, "Hi Cousin!" Marie Copeland had been told by someone at the historical society "to get all the information together and send it to" me since she was also researching the COPELAND family. Starting in 2002, we sent information back and forth, comparing our own records on the Copeland family. Our relationship has continued over the years.
I flew to Chicago and drove to Jefferson. Since M.C. wasn't related to either my WORTHINGTON or to my HARVEY family, I figured I'd explore those parts of my family on my own. My amazing hostess had different plans.
I arrived and she welcomed me as a long-lost relative who has finally come home. She had prepared for my visit. When I arrived she gave me a copy of a book on the history of Lake Mills WI, People Their Places & Things by Roland R Liebenow, M.D. Since there was no index, she had already gone through the whole book with a highlighter and picked out every mention of anyone named Harvey, Brun and Wegemann (other family connections) so we would be prepared for our first day of exploring.
The next morning she put me and her husband into the car and we headed for Lake Mills. She had called the cemetery ahead of time, and had made an appointment to meet someone there to show us where all the HARVEYs were buried. As we arrived, I commented: "We didn't stop at a bakery to take something to the nice caretaker who met us" -- no problem, she had planned ahead and took a bottle of wine out of the car trunk to give him. The next stop was the house my grandmother lived in as a young child (she not only highlighted the book but she checked out the address ahead of time -- this was before those handy GPS machines and Google Maps!). Here one of the mystery photos I had brought with me was identified!
We also visited the local library and the town Clerk's office to see the vital records.
The next field trip for the three of us was to explore Jefferson. She headed to the cemetery where the COPELANDs are buried and then we did a tour of the various houses in town that the large extended COPELAND family had lived in -- including all those aunts that my grandmother talked of so fondly. We headed to the vital records office and the town library and then we needed to go home because she had invited her whole family to dinner (her children, their spouses and children). A wonderful large family dinner -- much larger than any dinner in my experience, I never had any cousins or relatives in the same state in my childhood. Everyone graciously welcomed me.
The next morning, I got up ready to drive to Oconomowoc to try to find the cemetery where my WORTHINGTON family was buried. Much to my surprise, Marie, her husband and I made the trip. It was good she was driving. First of all she knew where Oconomowoc was located and knew the back roads to get there. Finding the cemetery wasn't easy; and sure enough, she had checked out where to find it.
My Genealogical Hostess from Heaven was definitely a blessing. I might have stumbled on all the information I gathered on my research trip to Wisconsin without Marie Copeland. But, I probably wouldn't have done it as efficiently or in three days. I was a real genealogical newbie at that point and didn't know all the questions to ask or to compile before taking the adventure. Best of all, I found a wonderful friend/distant family member and we have stayed good friends all these years.
I grew up hearing my grandmother say, "I am Adelaide Copeland Harvey Richardson -- Copeland of the Copeland Ryder Shoes." So years later, when I got to wondering about "Copeland & Ryder Shoes," I googled it. I discovered there really was a Copeland & Ryder Shoe Company in Jefferson WI for many years and it had been sold to Dr Scholls Shoes in 1946. In 1868, George COPELAND and Lewis RYDER arrived in Jefferson WI, from Bridgewater MA, with plans to establish a shoe company. Their business was originally opened as the Jefferson Boot and Shoe Factory. I was looking for information on the Copeland's of the shoe company and discovered that, yes, they were her relatives. My grandmother, who was born in 1893 in Lake Mills WI, was a first cousin twice removed from George COPELAND.
In 2002, I checked to see if there was any local historical society that I might find in Jefferson and Lake Mills.
In my search for a local historical society, I got a letter from a local resident which started, "Hi Cousin!" Marie Copeland had been told by someone at the historical society "to get all the information together and send it to" me since she was also researching the COPELAND family. Starting in 2002, we sent information back and forth, comparing our own records on the Copeland family. Our relationship has continued over the years.
As a budding family historian, I needed to verify the data I had on my family and decided to take a genealogical field trip to Wisconsin on my school spring vacation in 2004. I figured I could check out where the factory was located, maybe identify some pictures, find tombstones and vital records to verify the data I had on the COPELAND and HARVEY families in Lake Mills and Jefferson. I also wanted to see if I could find where the WORTHINGTONs were buried in Oconomowoc WI. Marie graciously invited me to stay at her home in Jefferson.
I arrived and she welcomed me as a long-lost relative who has finally come home. She had prepared for my visit. When I arrived she gave me a copy of a book on the history of Lake Mills WI, People Their Places & Things by Roland R Liebenow, M.D. Since there was no index, she had already gone through the whole book with a highlighter and picked out every mention of anyone named Harvey, Brun and Wegemann (other family connections) so we would be prepared for our first day of exploring.
The next morning she put me and her husband into the car and we headed for Lake Mills. She had called the cemetery ahead of time, and had made an appointment to meet someone there to show us where all the HARVEYs were buried. As we arrived, I commented: "We didn't stop at a bakery to take something to the nice caretaker who met us" -- no problem, she had planned ahead and took a bottle of wine out of the car trunk to give him. The next stop was the house my grandmother lived in as a young child (she not only highlighted the book but she checked out the address ahead of time -- this was before those handy GPS machines and Google Maps!). Here one of the mystery photos I had brought with me was identified!
 |
| 210 East Madison St, Lake Mills Wisconsin. My grandmother's first childhood home. |
We also visited the local library and the town Clerk's office to see the vital records.
The next field trip for the three of us was to explore Jefferson. She headed to the cemetery where the COPELANDs are buried and then we did a tour of the various houses in town that the large extended COPELAND family had lived in -- including all those aunts that my grandmother talked of so fondly. We headed to the vital records office and the town library and then we needed to go home because she had invited her whole family to dinner (her children, their spouses and children). A wonderful large family dinner -- much larger than any dinner in my experience, I never had any cousins or relatives in the same state in my childhood. Everyone graciously welcomed me.
The next morning, I got up ready to drive to Oconomowoc to try to find the cemetery where my WORTHINGTON family was buried. Much to my surprise, Marie, her husband and I made the trip. It was good she was driving. First of all she knew where Oconomowoc was located and knew the back roads to get there. Finding the cemetery wasn't easy; and sure enough, she had checked out where to find it.
My Genealogical Hostess from Heaven was definitely a blessing. I might have stumbled on all the information I gathered on my research trip to Wisconsin without Marie Copeland. But, I probably wouldn't have done it as efficiently or in three days. I was a real genealogical newbie at that point and didn't know all the questions to ask or to compile before taking the adventure. Best of all, I found a wonderful friend/distant family member and we have stayed good friends all these years.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)