Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games (GeneaPopPop)

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Feb 122010
 

Thomas MacEntee has lit the flame for the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games. 

My flag for the Opening Ceremony acknowledges the number of family lines (Brenner, Mieding, Schaar, Weaver, Renkinburger, Barthel, Knepper, Messerall) that go back to Germany or its predecessor states.

There is also a small Sudanese flag to honor Mary Anna Bode who served as a teaching missionary in the Sudan, and for the many Sudanese refugees in his country whom I can call Friends, especially the Sudanese Presbyterian Church of Omaha, NE.

There are six (6) events in the Games:  

  1. Go Back and Cite Your Sources!
  2. Back Up Your Data!
  3. Organize Your Research!
  4. Expand Your Knowledge
  5. Write, Write, Write!
  6. Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness!

I intend to enter events #1 and #5.  I have already been working of citing sources (#1) for old data I have had.  This will give me some incentive to tackle a large part of the remaining task.  Since this blog (my first) is less than two weeks old, #5 will challenge me to post more.   I may try my hand at a few tasks for the remaining games, but my priority will be for citing sources and blogging.

Let the Games begin!

Roots Among the Rocks – John Brenner’s Passage to the USA (GeneaPopPop)

 Adelshofen, Baden, Brenner surname, Castle Garden, genealogy, immigration, Le Harve, Youngstown OH  No Responses »
Feb 122010
 

My g-g-grandfather, John Brenner, was born on 10 February 1836 in Adelshofen (now Eppingen), Baden. I have in my possession a copy of a handwritten transcription of what appears to be an official letter of recommendation permitting John Brenner’s emigration from Baden at age 18. I was particularly interesting in the information giving his description:  18 yrs., 5’7″, slender, long face with healthy color, brown hair, high forehead, brown eyebrows, gray eyes, medium nose, round mouth, no beard, round chin, good teeth, no other identification marks.

The copy of the transcription came from my cousin, Dana, who did most of the early work on the Brenner family line. Unfortunately, I do not have any source information regarding the transcription or its original (undoubtedly in German). Finding the original is a new research goal to add to my growing list.

Also from my cousin were copies of two obituaries of John Brenner (one in German; one in English). Since John lived in Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio, from about 1856 or 1857 until his death in 1909, I would surmise at the present that the obituary in German was from the Rundschau, Wm. F. Maag, Publisher and Proprietor, 16 & 18S Phelps, 30 September 1909, since the Rundschau was published every Thursday. (Another research goal: confirm publication date and that the obituary was actually from the Rundschau. From my translation of the obituary one of the most significant sentences was: “He arrived in New York on October 19, 1854.” Now, all I had to do was find the name of the ship and the passenger.

A quick search on Ancestry.com no listing for a John Brenner (both English and German variants were searched). A search of New York Times “ship landings October 1854″ and the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild provided no listing of a ship landing on 19 October 1854. However, a Google search for {ship “19 October 1854″ New York} sent me to a genealogical website listing an ancestral arrival aboard the Isaac Bell in New York on 19 October 1854. The Isaac Bell sailed from Le Havre France.

I quickly learned that Le Havre, France, was a preferred embarkation port for many from the Southern German states. I also learned that there are not good passenger lists for ships leaving from Le Harve.

While I previously searched the Castle Garden site (http://castlegarden.org), my son searched the site again. We found three ships that arrived at New York on 19 October 1854 – Isaac Bell, Nelson, and Waterloo. A careful review of the passenger lists of each of the three ships did not find John Brenner We had seemingly reached a dead end. Not to be daunted, my son continued on searching the Castle Garden website. Allowing for name alterations, he searched for Jo* Br* arriving in 1854 and found one Johannes Brenner, age 18, arriving from Le Havre on the William Tell on Oct. 23.

(click on image to enlarge it)

Voila! Age matches John Brenner’s; date is close to date reported in obituary; port of departure was Le Havre. Problem solved? Not completely, but we are well on the way!

2010 Census (GeneaPopPop)

 2010 Census, family history  No Responses »
Feb 092010
 

Abba-Dad ( I Dream of Genea(ology) ) had a great idea — namely, to gather 2010 census data from family members now rather than waiting for it to become available publicly in 2082.     So, here is the email I drafted to all members of my extended family for whom I have email addresses:

To: My Extended Family

One of the tasks of a family historian (genealogist) is to find and preserve crucial information (and the stories behind that information) about our families so that future generations of family members will better understand who they are by knowing more about their roots.   One of the key places to find information is in the data of previous US Federal Censuses.  Because the federal government does not make individual census data available for 72 years, the latest census information we have available is the 1930 Census.

This morning while reading another genealogist’s blog I discovered a remarkable way to get ahead of the curve – that is, collect and preserve 2010 data from as many members of my extended family as possible.   The information being sought by the Census is not very intrusive.  The 10 simple questions being asked cover the following areas:

  • Name
  • Sex
  • Age and date of birth
  • Hispanic origin
  • Race
  • Household relationship
  • If you own or rent your home

You can see the actual form at this web address –    http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php

If you would be willing to send me a copy of your responses to the census questions, I will be glad to preserve that data with our family’s records.  I won’t be around in 2082 (72 years hence) when this year’s census data is made public; but I will make sure that our family’s descendants will have access to my information during all those intervening years.  I invite you to do the same.  If you don’t wish to send the information to me, I would encourage you to make a copy of it for your records.  That way your grandchildren and great-grandchildren and… will have access to it.    If you choose to send the census data, please also send me a few paragraphs (or pages) describing the people living in your household — not the ID bracelet information, but the stories that bring those individuals to life.

I will treat your information with tender care.  I will not make any of it public without your permission. 

Thanks for your cooperation.

Research Roundup: "What’ll I Do With All This Stuff?" – Part 2 (GeneaPopPop)

 genealogy, MediaWiki, organizing digital files, research log  No Responses »
Feb 082010
 

Following my son’s recommendation, we installed MediaWiki to our website. My first challenge then was to build a wiki data display template for our family tree. I focused on John Brenner (1836-1909). my g-g-grandfather. I found my data clustering in a number of areas:

  1. Basic Vital Records (gender, birth/baptism information, death/burial information, UID)
  2. Family Group Information (parents, marriage information, spouse, children)
  3. Narrative (information gathered from official records, biographical sketches, obituaries, personal data)
  4. Notes & Sources
  5. Notebook (this became a separate Notebook page, listing additional information and narratives – census data [including 1890 Veterans Schedule & 1889-90 Youngstown Directory], German & English obituaries, biographical sketches, Civil War service & Pension Claim data, immigration)
  6. Research to do (this morphed into a separate Research Journal page: a template for tracking all information and sources about the individual – birth, marriage, death, military, immigration & naturalization, census & related data, family sources, education, employment, estate, miscellaneous. This one-stop gives a quick overview of data possessed and data not-yet-found.)

The next step (one I should have initiated long ago) was building my research log – another wiki page. This is the simplest one to develop (and, for me, the one that takes the most discipline to maintain). Each day’s work is listed under the date – name of person researched, data found, data not found, sources cited.

It didn’t take long to realize that I needed some kind of indexing system for my research log (one that would also allow me to catalogue all data that I have previously held). Actually, two indexes began to emerge: 1) a name index (organized by the surnames of the 8 lineages we are following) – all data for an individual, including the data not yet entered into an overview template (see #6, above) or listed in my research log; 2) by data type – census records (by year), birth records, baptism/confirmation records, marriage records, death records, and military records. The categories of this index will be expanded as other record types are found – for example, wills and deeds. I will also be adding a media index to contain listing of all photographs.

I only have one plastic storage case containing about a half of a standard filing cabinet of papers and original documents. Everything else is scanned and digitized (and, of course, backed up multiple times). Other family documents are still in the possession of the family members I borrowed them from. The more data I enter into our research wiki, the clearer the overall picture becomes and the easier it is to access stored data. Actually, even though I still have a ways to go, I am beginning to feel as if I were organized. Perhaps, before too many moons rise and set, I will be able to say that I am organized… except that data continues to happed. After all, that’s the genealogy way!

Research Roundup: "What’ll I Do With All This Stuff?" – Part 1 (GeneaPopPop)

 Brenner, genealogy, organizing digital files, wiki  No Responses »
Feb 082010
 

A little over 30 years ago I was introduced to genealogy by Dana Jack Bode (1920-2007), my 1st cousin once removed.  Dana’s files were in notebooks.  At the time I made copies of all the pages in his BRENNER notebook:  hand-drawn, hand-written family group sheets; photos of documents, newspaper articles, and tombstones; family pictures; and a few biographical sketches transcribed from published works.  While Dana’s research was very thorough, it was lacking in source citation.   Since his death, his sisters have allowed me to scan his second BRENNER notebook (the results of his continuing research since our get together 30 years ago). 

More recently, I have received GEDCOM files from my ex-brother-in-law, John Boyer, presenting his research on my wife’s family.  John did a fairly good job of consolidating family family and citing sources for much of his work.  He also provided me with large number of media files.  Actually John and I have been trading files for a long time.  At first it was Family Tree Maker files; more recently, since I have migrated my work to RootsMagic, GEDCOMs.

In the past few years, I have begun to fill in some of the gaps in the data – especially online research on census files, death certificate and indexes.  And this all has led to the problem:  What’ll I do with all this “stuff?”   How can I organize it so it can be retrieved in an orderly fashion when needed?  and   Will this data be available in a usable way for the family after I am transformed from genealogist into ancestor?   (I still don’t even have all my data entered into RootsMagic.)

I have read many articles on organizing genealogical files.  Most of the articles, however, were written by people who think in orderly, rational categories.  I am a highly intuitive person; for me, organization happens at a much different level.   The first system I found that worked for me was Robert Ragan’s GATHER, DUMP, STORE and QUICK FIND Computer Genealogy Method. It is the first “intuitive” rather than “linear-rational” filing system I have found.   As long as I was confining myself to a desktop operation (RootsMagic), that system worked fine.

My son, Russ, is my collaborator in this genealogical venture.  Russ is the technologically proficient one.  (At one point in his life described himself as a “techno-geek.”)  He has coaxed and coached me toward a Genealogy 2.0 solution.  We had moved our data from RootsMagic to PhpGedView and later to TNG (The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding), where it now resides.   While our ultimate goal is for Russ to develop our own wiki-style program, I found myself back to the question:  What’ll I do with all this “stuff?”     This has become a critical question because “all this stuff” has become much more “stuff” than before.   We have scanned and digitized all our files.   (Actually, I have one full box of pictures and letters that was passed along to my wife’s uncle and loaned to me – all waiting to be scanned.)

Too many computers;  too many memory sticks and external storage;  too many files duplicated in too many storage folders.    With my son’s encouragement, I began to find a solution to my organizational “twilight zone” in the form of a wiki.

In my next post I will describe my wiki-solution to organizating and storing our digital files

Research Roundup — Searching for Lloyd Brenner in 1910 Census (GeneaPopPop)

 1910 Census. genealogy, Brenner, Youngstown OH  3 Responses »
Feb 062010
 

For the past few days, most of my genealogical research time has been spent poring through the 1910 Federal Census records for my Great-Grandfather Lloyd Brenner.

Lloyd Brenner was born in Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio, on 1 May 1867, 5th of 15 children of John & Kate Brenner.  Lloyd married Mary Ellen Cole on 30 September 1887 in Columbiana County, Ohio (just south of Youngstown).  They had 5 children (the eldest was my paternal grandfather).  Lloyd died in Youngstown on 25 February 1947, having lived his entire life in Youngstown, Ohio.

 
4 generations of Brenners
This is a favorite picture of mine.  That’s moi sitting in Great-GrandPa Lloyd’s lap.  The handsome young man in the middle is my Dad, Donald George Brenner (1912 – 1990);  GrandPa, George Henry Brenner (1888 – 1955), is on the right.  (Picture from about 1943.)
My goal was to complete my census records for Lloyd Brenner.  He is listed in the 1870 and 1880 census enumerations, living at home with his parents.  The 1889-90 City Directory for Youngstown shows Lloyd’s address as 700 High Street (the home of his parents, John & Kate Brenner).  Lloyd and Mary Ellen are listed in the 1900, 1920, and 1930 census enumations.   But, what about 1910?
That question set the goal for my research mini-project.  Once again, I checked Ancestry.com for the 1910 census index and the 1910 Miracode Index for Ohio.  No listing of Lloyd or Mary Ellen.  Knowing that in previous record searches, both the census enumerators and the indexers have misspelled family names, I tried the logical alternatives (Brener, Brinner, Braner…   even Renner and Rinner).  I knew that the Miracode Index should have picked up many of the possible misspellings, but I tried any way…  and with no success.  I went to the individual records for Youngstown, Ward 5, where I have previously found 700 High St. and 312 Garlick St. (Lloyd and Mary Ellen’s home)… again with no success.   With no evidence that Lloyd and Mary Ellen anywhere but Youngstown, Ohio, (as well as broader searches on Ancestry.com finding no additional information about their whereabouts in 1910, only one option remained…    go page by page through the 1910 census records for Youngstown (56 enumeration districts)… again, with no success.
My learnings:   some pages are so indistinct (faint) or blurred that they are impossible to read or decipher;   some enumerators had exceptionally poor penmanship, while a few would have made their teachers proud;  indexers have an incredibly difficult task (in some cases, only already knowing the names of those listed would lead to a correct indexing; being able to enlarge the images on-screen made it possible to read some fairly indistinct names.
What’s next as I attempt to complete the data loop for Lloyd and Mary Ellen Brenner?   Offline research!  This coming Spring or Summer, I will travel back to Youngstown (my place of birth) and survey Youngstown city directories and newspapers for the years around 1910.  Until then, the “gaping hole” in Lloyd Brenner’s records will remain.

Legacy Log — Aunt Katie’s Poetry (GeneaPopPop)

 Bode, genealogy, poetry  1 Response »
Feb 062010
 

Yesterday the mail brought an awaited treasure.  A couple weeks ago I received an email from Barbara.  She introduced herself as the daughter of a friend of my Great-Uncle Fred Bode.  She was in the process of cleaning out her father’s effects after his death.  She had come across a book of poems by Katharine Brenner Bode entitled “My Victory Garden of Thoughts.”  The book was self-published and bore the copyright date of 1943, plus Aunt Katie’s address in Pittsburgh.

Barbara had done a web search for “Katharine Brenner Bode” and discovered the site where our TNG-based family tree is displayed. She contacted me and asked if I would like to have the book of poems.  Of course I said “Yes!”   Aunt Katie was my paternal grandfather’s sister.

I have fond memories of the Bode family.  Uncle Fred was a YMCA secretary and later a High School coach.  Son Dana got me started in genealogy over 30 years ago.  I am still assimilating the research he gathered.  I remember Freddie because he played the bagpipes.  I still stay in touch in daughters Mary Anna and Miriam.  Mary Anna was a teaching missionary for the Presbyterian Church, serving in Sudan and Egypt.  Miriam was a teacher in Pittsburgh.  I remember my Mom talking about Aunt Katie’s kitchen:  “When she baked, flour was every where.  And so was the love.”

Aunt Katie’s poetry tells us something about the person she was deep within –  a woman of deep faith and strong citizenship, with a vibrant love of life and a caring spirit toward others.  Here are two poems from her book:

       TREASURES
True friends,
Like rare treasures,
Altho’ not on display;
Or met with often, are priceless
        Today.

       THROUGH MY GARDEN
I do hope you like my garden,
     And all my little flowers;
‘Cause I need friends to help them grow,
     Friendship gives sun and showers.

And that’s why I love to share it,
     With the ones who with me roam;
I hope you’ve picked a big bouquet
     To take with you to your home.

Thanks, Barb.  You have left a few of Aunt Katie’s flowers with me.  I’ll treasure them.

Stardust Stories – Birth of a Genealogist (Genea-PopPop)

 Brenner, Deeter, genealogy, Youngstown OH  No Responses »
Feb 042010
 

The serendipitous processes of creation had 13.7 billion years of practice that went into my formation. The Psalmist states it more poetically:

“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out, you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God – you’re breathtaking! Body and soul I am marvelously made.” (Psalm 139;19f The Message)

That formative process began in the latter part of December, 1939, a little more than 3½ months after Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the outbreak of the Second World War. Eleanor Roosevelt, in her syndicated column “My Day,’ noted the dampening effect of the early months of that international conflict as she wrote about a diplomatic reception. “It was sad though to see so many people go by, whom you knew must be heavy hearted. The gay uniforms, beautiful dresses and jewels can not hide people’s eyes, and the eyes are the mirrors of the soul. Through them one can tell when suffering has left its mark on a human being.” The hostilities and the sadnesses increased; and, nine months later, on September 16th the day of my birth, Congress passed and President Roosevelt sign into law the act that created the first peacetime draft in U.S. History. Three months later, the U.S. was at war.

It was an auspicious time to begin a life. With the helping hand of C. W. Sears, MD, I checked in at 3:55 pm (7 pounds, 8½ ounces [birth announcement distributed by parents]) at Northside Hospital in Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio. [Ohio Department of Health, Birth Certificate #13471] As a warning to this future genealogist, my mother’s maiden name was misspelled on that Birth Certificate – “Deiter” instead of “Deeter.” Fortunately, my name was spelled correctly – “Barthel” (the maiden name of my mother’s maternal grandmother; and my grandson’s middle name).
Mom, Bessie Garnet Brenner (nee Deeter) was 25 at the time of my birth; Dad, Donald George Brenner, was two weeks shy of his 28th birthday. They had been married for a year and a half and were living in the Youngstown home that had belonged to Dad’s maternal Grandfather. As the U.S. was plunged into the war, we were fortunate that Dad did not have to take up arms, since he was employed at the steel mill, working in the electro-plating shop at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company.

Organizing My Blog (GeneaPopPop)

 blog themes, genealogy, organizing, research  No Responses »
Feb 042010
 

I hold myself accountable for my genealogical research by remembering my two grandchildren – Olivia (almost 6) and Benjamin (4+). To them I am just “PopPop,” not a genealogist or family historian. In 20 or 30 years, I hope they will entertain some fascination with our family’s history… and when they do, I want them to have the best records that I can leave. One of the ways I ensure such a legacy, is to use this blog as a means to record reflections on my genealogical work and the stories which I find that need to be told.

For the past couple of months I have been following other genealogical bloggers using BlogBridge (which I highly recommend – blogbridge). Currently I subscribe 70 blogs. (That is nowhere near the almost 600 read daily by Randy Seaver (Genea-Musings), but enough to help me get started with this blog.)

As I begin this blog, I am not quite ready for “GeneaBloggers Calendar” or “52 Weeks to Better Genealogy.” In imitation of them however, I have developed five themes to help me organize my thought:

  1. Research Roundup – ruminations about technology, methodology, and finding in my family history research. This will focus upon the actual data upon with which I am working at the present time.
  2. Stardust Stories – stories from the cloud of witness in my family tree. Here I will begin to “flesh out” the data, giving vibrance, personality, and context to our ancestors. In particular, I am working on: Brenner, Deeter, Mieding, Smith family lines (my grandparents) & Weaver, Gregg, Hill, Spitzer family lines (my wife’s grandparents)
  3. Philosophical Posts – pondering the deeper meaning of genealogy and life. This moves beyond the stories toward purposefulness. Because of my training, my philosophizing may be tinged with theological overtones. (I’ll be careful, however, not to turn this into a sectarian venture or to preach.)
  4. Legacy Logs – learnings from the collaborative nature of genealogy. I am convinced that genealogy only “works” for me when I am able to collaborate with my ancestors and my descendants. We are all in this together. My ancestors can only speak through the records that they have left (and that we can find). My descendants (my grandchildren and their grandchildren) are the listeners for whom the stories are told and the legacy that we have left. Looking back, looking ahead… that’s the genealogical task.
  5. Roots among the Rocks – reframing the metaphor of “breaking down brick walls.” I am always fascinated by the trees, bushes, and flowers that grow out of cracks in the side of a cliff. I can’t see the root system, but I know it must be strong. I would rather search the rocky ground for evidence of hearty roots than break down brick walls. I recently read that wildflowers are good for rock gardens. I suspect there are some wildflowers in my family history. I hope to find them.

(Next Post: “Stardust Stories – Birth of a Genealogist”)

Why “Stardust ‘n’ Roots?”

 creativity, genealogy, stardust  No Responses »
Feb 042010
 

In her book, The Geography of Love: A Memoir (Broadway Books, August 2008), Glenda Burgess writes: “Physicists say we are made of stardust. Intergalactic debris and far-flung atoms, shards of carbon nanomatter rounded up by gravity to circle the sun. As atoms pass through an eternal revolving door of possible form, energy and mass dance in fluid relationship. We are stardust, we are [hu]man, we are thought. We are story.”

I am fascinated by the process of serendipitous creativity, which many of us name as “God.” That such a process might develop nuclear furnaces to refine the basic known elements is a remarkable story. That this process would continue to evolve over 13.7 billion years to bring about sentient beings with the capacity for self-reflection and story-telling is almost beyond comprehension. In short, it is awesome!

The movement from stardust to story excites, deep within us, a strong desire toward meaning and purpose. And so we ask: Who am I? Where do I come from? What is my destiny? What are my roots? my wings?

So, here I am… what astrophysicist James Gort calls “second generation star material” … looking toward the stars while searching for my roots…. Hence, “Stardust ‘n’ Roots.”

(Next Post: Organizing My Blog)

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