New Collections in Ancestry

I booted up my computer to draft a blog post about my Schmitt ancestors for this Surname Saturday. While things were warming up, I checked email. And found this: 54 is a large number of new hints, which in itself is interesting. More interesting however, are the hints that stem from new collections. What really…

Name That Ancestor

I’m addicted to I really enjoy watching genealogy-related shows like Who Do You Think You Are?, Finding Your Roots, Genealogy Road Show, and History Detectives. I have an idea for another show Ancestry dot com could host. I’d call it Name That Ancestor. Here’s how the show would work: Ancestry dot com would choose a…

Voices in the Cemetery

Jim, a fellow Find A Grave contributor and blogger jokingly suggested conducting a séance after reading my post about the elusive Lily Flower. Our conversation continued by sharing experiences with the departed during our frequent cemetery visits. Jim mentioned a cousin who had been spoken to by cemetery inhabitants who asked “Who are you?”, “Why…

Labor in My Family Tree

Otto Victor MUELLER was the son of Elise SCHMITT and Anton BIDENHARN. He was adopted (informally I surmise) by Elise’s second husband Jacob Koebe MUELLER. A wonderful snippet about Otto appeared on page 5 of the October 6, 1905 Suburbanite Economist [Chicago Illinois]; “Otto V. Mueller, a former Englewood business man, has been appointed to…

What I Learned on Find A Grave

Find A Grave contributors come in many shapes and sizes. I know this because I read the bios that catch my eye when I process edits. I enjoy reading the reasons people contribute memorials to Find A Grave, the stories about what brought them there and about their backgrounds in genealogy or graving. Today I read a…