"Forever" Family Tree

Yesterday my copy of the TV series "Forever" arrived on DVD.  This means that I finally have the episodes I was missing when I created a timeline and family tree a year ago for the characters in the show.  If a TV show is going to spend an episode on genealogy, in this case with a finite set of research data to draw on, then I can start a research project on it, right?  And since the series only had one season (still really bummed about that!) I can actually finish it, too!  I already extracted data from 15 of the 22 episodes, so I'm more than halfway there.  I wish I had this much detail on many of my own ancestors and relatives!

Hello, (blogging) world!

Despite the intent of this blog as a genealogy adventure, a form of “Hello, world!” seems an appropriate starting post for this software professional.  I’ve recently returned from my 3rd RootsTech conference, where the tech-based Innovator Summit sessions hold as much interest for me as the genealogy specific ones.  And once again, everyone was talking about using blogs to record your research, share it, and of course, as cousin bait.  Since my main web site is still partying like it’s 1999 (that’s about when I first created it), I figured it wouldn’t hurt to play with some blogging software and see if I could do any better at keeping that up to date.

You may have noticed that there are a number of posts prior to this date, and wonder how I can have started a blog prior to starting a blog.  Is it magic?  Have I learned how to time travel?!?  How can this be?!?!?!?  Lacking a DeLorean, I fall back on what tech knowledge I do have - in this case, backups.  These blog sites provide a way to take a backup of all the posts, as well as a way of restoring that backup.  But what if you were to, say, tweak the backup files?  Maybe change the dates, change the titles...  Well, then you can create posts for earlier dates.  So I thought I might try to document my genealogy journey prior to this date as well, while keeping my discoveries in chronological order.  (My thought of documenting my ancestor's journeys using dates from their timelines was foiled by the blogging software not believing in blog posts dated prior to about 1970, and rejected them on restore. Bummer!)

Let the grand adventure begin!

Finding Grandma

Today's primary mission: Finding Grandma! My father's mother, Margaret Carroll Jordan, passed away when my father was a young boy. Dad never knew where she was buried, and his father didn't want to talk about it. Dad knew that his older sister had attempted to find their mother's gravestone many years before with no luck. So how was I to accomplish this mission that the previous generation could not?

Well, back in 2011, I requested a copy of my grandmother's death certificate from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (acquiring this document was another adventure!). The certificate stated that she was buried on June 1, 1949 at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa, NJ, so that's where I headed. Since I did not know what plot I was looking for, my first stop when I reached the cemetery was the cemetery office.

The woman behind the desk was super helpful when I indicated I was trying to find my grandmother, and quickly located the burial card for the last name and burial date - which was not for Margaret Jordan, but Mary Jordan! But now I had a location: Section F, Lot 49, Grave 4. To my surprise and delight, I was also provided with the original burial book to view, where the information was first recorded.

Original Burial Book

Again, she was listed as Mary, but the address of 145 Springfield Ave was correct for 1949 - although the book listed it as Jersey City instead of Rutherford - but this was still a confirming bit of evidence. And a new piece of information was provided, one that had been purposefully blanked out of the death certificate (part of that other adventure) - my grandmother's cause of death, heart disease.

I asked who else was buried in the plot, in search of more clues. My grandfather had three wives, and my father knows he is buried in St. Mary of the Lake Cemetery in Lakewood, NJ, and not with my grandmother, his first wife. The card for Section F, Lot 49 was produced...and contained three names I'd never heard of, all with the last name Kelly! Were these more family members to hunt down?

Burial Card for Section F, Lot 49, Graves 3 and 4

A mystery to pursue at a later time, as now I had a grave site to visit. My hostess gave me a map of the cemetery and directed me to Section F.

I proceeded on to Section F, and about an hour later, another mystery was solved. Now I know why my aunt could not find my grandmother in the cemetery when she searched - THERE IS NO HEADSTONE. Not for my grandmother, or any of the Kellys she is buried with. Section F may contain many graves, but it is rather lacking in markers.

Section F

This evening I returned home to my parents' house, where I presented all my findings of the day to my father: where his mother was buried, what she died of, why his sister could never find her grave. And he was able to shed light on one of the new mysteries - he knew who the Kellys were. Getrude Kelly, the other person buried in grave 4 with my grandmother, was my grandmother's best friend, who passed away in 1976. Grave 3 contained her parents - Gertrude's father had died in 1946, which is why the family had the plot. Best friends together forever!

Gertrude Kelly and Margaret (Carroll) Jordan

Ancestry Member Connect Cousin Bait

I think I found another 3rd cousin on Ancestry, copying stuff outta my tree. :)

This is why I have a public tree and use Member Connect on Ancestry - when someone starts pulling data from my tree, I get notified, and after all, what are public trees for? Cousin bait, of course! If you're poking around in my tree enough to want to snag stuff from it, I probably want to talk to you.

I sent a message to say hi - hopefully he will respond!

Update 3/12/2015: He replied!!!!! He's just starting and trying to figure out how to deal with Ancestry. And I have a newly found third cousin from my Buhlert line!

Helping with Homework

Ah, the homework assignment Aunt Kim LOVES to help with!!!!

Nephew's Homework Assignment

Hopefully I did not overwhelm the nephew with information overload.  :)  With any luck, this will peak some interest in genealogy from the next generation. <fingers crossed>

I took some pity on him - I limited it to 3x great grandparents and the one set of 4th great grandparents who immigrated to the US, and did not get as far as the 10th and 12th cousins I know!

Of course, I did have to include a separate chart showing his cousinship to Buzz Aldrin. I didn't have that last year for the older nephew. Who knows what more I will learn before the niece has her turn?!?

A Famous Swedish Cousin

My new found 10th cousin 2x removed tells me that I have another "Swedish" cousin: astronaut Buzz Aldrin!! A 5th cousin 2x removed, if I've done the math correctly. And that's just the closest of something like 5 relationships....how cool is that?!?! 

I'll be checking that out shortly. And I am totally wearing my NASA shirt today.  (Yes, I have a NASA shirt.  Doesn't everyone?!?)

My NASA Shirt

 
Update 3/19/2014: I've found records that connect the Spångberg line of smiths that I already had to a line of Aldrin smiths. Now I need to trace that line forward and see where it leads!

Update 3/20/2014: Success! A Swedish 4th cousin found the book 24 Famous Swedish Americans and their Ancestors published in 1996 by The Federation of Swedish Genealogical Societies.  It contains a list of Buzz's ancestors, and it matches the paper trail I've found. Buzz Aldrin is our 5th cousin 2x removed!

A #genchat Learning Experience

So, as I was putting together my list of films to request at the Family History Library during RootsTech, I was trying to narrow down the list. The FHL has a number of directories for my Great Grandmother's hometown of Harburg in Bavaria, Germany, on microfilm currently located at the vault and not in the library proper. After last night's ‪#‎genchat‬ about re-evaluating sources you already have, I realized that I ALREADY HAVE THIS INFORMATION. It is in a book on the housing history of the town I got when I visited in 2006.

Cover of Harburg Hauserchronik

It's in German, grouped by house, and lists the ownership history of each house in town. And it has an index of names. Duh! There are more relatives in this town than those from the one house I focused on, and a first quick scan tells me that the owners of the 1575 German bible I have were my great grandmother's next door neighbors!!! *facepalm*

I think I have my source for re-evaluation for challenge #2, discovered while working on one of my SMART goals for challenge #1. It won't be close to done before the next chat though (or perhaps even this year!!).

Let the discoveries continue to steamroll!