Research Trip Uncovers Family Nuggets
Bruce Austin found that his family really did come to America on the “Love” boat. His wife, Diane, followed her line back to Switzerland in the 1500s.
Kathleen Conley took her family back to Ireland, and Betty Lambert verified her family in Australia.
Mary Ellen Long said she checked a bunch of places where her ancestor was not!
Jeanne Tomlin found actual descriptions of her ancestor’s property in Virginia and Ohio.
Marian Greear and June Andrews were assigned as roommates and discovered they are distant cousins.
Eleanor Hood said she “found something every day.”
And Lila Williams proudly said, “I can do this now!” - meaning she really learned how to use the Family History Library.
Such were the comments made by folks joining me on our annual January research trip to Salt Lake City. A group of about 40 winged their way to Salt Lake the second week in January and enjoyed a snowless week spending 10-hour days in the Family History Library. Everyone had a great time, but more importantly, everyone made some good progress in finding their elusive ancestors.
If you know somebody who went on this trip, ask them how it was - but not if you don’t have half an hour to hear the answer.
Mark your calenders for January 1996. We’ll be trekking south again and would love to have you join us.
Evelyn Jordan of Spokane has done what many of us only talk about: she has written and published a sketch of her family’s history. Titled “As I Remember,” her small book is a short story about ranch life in Eastern Oregon in the early 1900s.
Jordan’s family moved east from Portland because of the “terrible influenza (which) hit our neighborhood. Dad put padlocks on the gates when he went to work. Schools were shut down, and people were warned to stay indoors. Mom made us little cloth face masks soaked in a disinfectant that we tied just under our noses. We three (kids) would stare whenever a hearse would pass by, carrying away a neighbor. No one knew a cure for this frightening disease, but by some miracle our family escaped the plague.”
The rest of the story is told in an easy-to-read style and tells of her growing-up years in the deserts of Eastern Oregon.
A copy of Jordan’s book will be placed in the vertical file in the genealogy section of the downtown Spokane Public Library, where you can take a peek at it sometime.
Glen Leitz of Fairfield wrote to say one set of his grandparents came from Germany to the Waverly, Wash., area and the other set came from the Ukraine to the Odessa, Wash., area. Last summer he traveled to Stuggart, Germany, where he joined a tour to the Ukraine.
He enjoyed seeing his ancestral villages and learning about the agricultural methods there.
Leitz would be happy to talk to anybody about his trip, especially if their family came from these areas. Call him at (509) 523-2872.
Bud Graves writes that he has a substantial database pertaining to the Graves family and that he would be willing to share information with any Graves descendant. Contact him at 14410 E. 10th, Veradale, WA 99037-9655. (Be sure to enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope.)
Bob Brotherton shared the latest copy of his newsletter, the Brotherton Family Tie, with me. If you are a Brotherton descendant, contact him at 2727 E. 53rd, H-207, Spokane, WA 99223-7999.
Monya Virgil of Coeur d’Alene wrote to say her uncle has written a book about “the history of the Moran family and much more. It is also the history of 19 related families originating in the British Isles and Germany.”
For more information on the 722-page book, contact Patrick Moran, 2114 Sieber, Houston TX 77017.
Jeff Sims, writing in response to my Jan. 22 column on Norwegian bygdeboks, says these books can be purchased for home use. They’re not cheap, costing from $20 to $99 per volume, but he felt that what he learned about his family was worth the cost.
If you would like more information about buying these bygdeboks, contact Sims at 1604 E. Decatur, Spokane, WA 99207.
Donna Robinson of Naples, Idaho, writes to share her success story using the resource, Gale Directory of Publications, which “lists all the names and addresses of any newspaper or magazine published in the United States or Canada.
“From an old obituary, I knew that my husband had relatives in Western Kansas. I used Gale Directory to find the addresses for two newspapers in the area. I wrote to the editor, asking if any readers could help me locate members of the Robinson family.
“My letter went out in November 1993, and by Jan. 1, 1994, I received a letter from my husband’s second cousin!”
Robinson goes on to say how this cousin, living in California, had received a copy of the newspaper that had her letter and how they are now working together. Robinson would agree it pays to check out and use new sources if you want to really make progress with your genealogical research.
The Eastern Washington Genealogical Society and the Northeast Washington Genealogical Society are well along with their project to gather Bible records and publish them as a genealogy resource for others. If you have been meaning to turn in your family Bible record for inclusion in this project, please do it now.
Send it to EWGS, Bible Records, P.O. Box 1826, Spokane, WA 99210 or NWGS, Bible Records, c/o Colville Public Library, 195 S. Oak, Colville, WA 99114.
We request a photocopy (if possible) of the actual record, the date and publisher information, who currently owns the Bible, and a typed transcript of the information on the Bible pages.
Are you wishing you had clipped out and saved a particular copy of my columns as they appeared in The Spokesman-Review last year? I have compiled the 1994 columns into a stapled booklet that I would be happy to mail to you for $7.50. Please make your check out to me and send it to me in care of this newspaper.
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Donna Potter Phillips The Spokesman-Review