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COASTAL GEORGIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY NEWS &
REVIEW (NOVEMBER 2003)
16 NOVEMBER 2003--Our first
day trip this year! We will be touring our new library facilities located
at 208 Gloucester Street in historic downtown Brunswick at 2 p.m., our
usual meeting time.
21 SEPTEMBER 2003--Met at
the College Place United Methodist Church on Altama Avenue, and basically
had a show and tell, and talked about various genealogy software that are
available. Amy Hedrick, our editor, brought in her lap top and gave a
demonstration on how to use Family Tree Maker.
FYI
The November issue of our
newsletter was sent out a little earlier this month, due to your editor
being out of commission during the last week of October and the first week
of November.
Of course, this shouldn't
cause any problems, other than a lack of the calendar of events section.
Unfortunately, due to this
hiatus and the holidays, there will not be a December issue.
Hope all is well with our
group, happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all!
-Amy Hedrick, editor
LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN
One of our email recipients of our wonderful newsletter, suggested that we
might want to start a letter writing campaign in support of our friend,
Beth Gay, whose genealogy column recently was cancelled by the Florida
Times Union.
Although I have not read an
FTU paper, I am a staunch supporter of genealogy learning aides such as
Beth's column.
To me, researching family
history, is not only a way to learn about your heritage, but for young and
old alike, it is also a way of learning and maintaining job skills.
For instance, you learn how
to organize files, research documents, typing skills may be increased,
reading and comprehension skills boosted, social skills enhanced by
interacting with strangers of different age levels. Not to mention your
technological skills in using a computer and maintaining your files
therewith.
Having columns such as this
in newspapers are a boon to local community awareness, especially when you
include articles about area research. Newspapers are here to inform their
readers, and genealogy has become one of the top hobbies in America today.
Many companies are focusing
on selling software, resource books, forms, archival tools, and more.
This is a growing industry and when someone offers help for under $2.00
[like a newspaper] who can resist buying that newspaper?
So if you want to help save
Beth Gay's column, write your letter to the editor immediately, to express
your concerns about it's cancellation.
There is always a place for
you, Beth, in our little rag! Feel free to send any articles of yours for
publication within our small newsletter, people like yourself are an asset
not to be wasted in the genealogical world of research!
RECENT TRIP TO THE LDS
CHURCH
Your editor finally got a weekday off from her job, and decided to visit
members Jerry and Norah Martin at the local Church of Latter Day Saints to
get a brief tour of the facilities, and do some quick lookups.
If you are not familiar
with what the church provides in the way of genealogy services, check out
their web site at: <http://www.familysearch.org/>
From their website, you can
do surname searches in their family files, which are files that have been
submitted by members of the church, or you can search the 1880 U.S.
Census, the social security death index, and much more.
Also online is a "card
catalogue" of the LDS holdings in Salt Lake City, Utah. While at the
church, Jerry briefed me on how to use the computers to search for
surnames, and localities. I didn't have much luck on the surnames, but I
was curious about looking up microfilm for my home town of Marion, Grant
Co., Indiana.
I knew that the church has
many court records on microfilm, as I have purchased Glynn County records
from them already. My interest was in a will book located in Indiana,
that may have more info on my Hedrick line. Since writing to the
courthouse about a will transcription that I have in my possession and the
courthouse saying that the will did not exist, I got very frustrated.
Usually when you send
requests for records, the person doing the lookup doesn't really care
about your research, and does just a basic search, and if nothing is found
within 10 minutes or so, then it isn't there. Well, I have this type
written will, that gives me the book and page number, it has to be there,
right?
So, I do a locality search,
and viola! There is the will book on microfilm, I order it immediately.
Now not only can I search for my Hedricks, but I can search for all of my
surnames on this roll and not have to worry about an overworked courthouse
employee not finding the info I need or want.
Had I done the search for
this particular microfilm on the LDS website, I would not have found it, I
did a quick search while typing this article, and the subject of probate
records was not listed. Which tells you that you can not trust the
information on the internet to be complete.
After ordering my film,
Jerry, under direction of Norah, pulled out some microfiche of people
doing research on surnames. I scan through, and to my surprise, someone
is interested in my second great grandfather Jacob J.Hedrick and his first
wife Mary Bane. Not only does it give this person's name, but an address
and phone number! I have yet to call this number, read my brick wall
article below and you will see why.
For those of you doing long
distance research, the LDS church is a valuable resource, that if not
used, could be taken away due to lack of interest. This is a volunteer
endeavor to run these local libraries, and the wealth of information here,
just may help you topple your brick walls.
THE BRICK WALL
"My Brick Wall, Slowly Crumbling"
Since discovering my who my third great grandfather was [John Headrick], I
have put off my genealogy research for almost a year now.
Just recently I have gotten
back into it, and started by sending off for a pension file on a half
great grand uncle, grandchild to the above mentioned John Headrick in
hopes of it containing further proof of my heritage.
During this break, I
haven't even searched the internet for my ancestors. This morning [3
October 2003], out of curiosity, I decided to search Rootsweb for my
Hedrick line.
I typed in Jacob Hedrick
married to Mary Bane, and one record showed up. I didn't get excited,
calmly I checked this gedcom for my names, and slowly the excitement rose.
Over the past 5 years of
researching my Hedrick line, I have never found any info containing my
exact ancestral line. There are many off shoots of my line starting with
my great-great grandfather Jacob, but not a lot of info on him or his
ancestors.
Well this gedcom had all
the way down to my grandfather! A first ever, and it was just uploaded on
17 September 2003! Not only does it have my grandparents, but it has 3
generations back from my third great grandfather! The waiting paid off.
My assumptions on who my
third great was, were correct. I assumed through an estate record in
Indiana, that John Headrick was the father of my second great, Jacob, and
due to cemetery records, that a Jacob Hedrick married to a Catherine Meese
in Virginia, was the brother to my John Headrick. According to this
gedcom, I was correct in my assumption.
Now the long wait for the
compiler to email me and tell me how she came about this info!
UNUSUAL GIVEN NAME HAS
ANCIENT HISTORY
By Carl Hommel
I have noted on some mailing lists mention of the given name of Benoni.
This is an unusual name, and some people think that it is an Italian
family name and the child is named after his or her mother's family and
then indicate that they have been unable to find a family with that
surname.
Actually Benoni is a
Biblical name that means "son of my sorrow." It was the original name
given to the younger son of the patriarch Jacob. Rachel, his mother, in
her dying agony named the child Benoni. (Genesis 35:18).
This name was often given
in American Colonial times to a child whose mother died in childbirth or
whose father died before the child was born. In fact, this is an important
clue. When one sees the name Benoni, look to see what sad event might have
caused the child to be given that name. It might have been the death of a
grandparent, a parent or a sibling.
INTERNET
<http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/daghtml/daghome.html>
The Library's daguerreotype collection consists of more than 725
photographs dating from 1839 to 1864. Portrait daguerreotypes produced by
the Mathew Brady studio make up the major portion of the collection. The
collection also includes early architectural views by John Plumbe, several
Philadelphia street scenes, early portraits by pioneering daguerreotypist
Robert Cornelius, studio portraits by black photographers James P. Ball
and Francis Grice, and copies of painted portraits.
LOOKUP OFFER
Our newsletter not only goes out to our members, but upon request, will be
emailed to anyone requesting a copy. One of our email only recipients has
recently dropped out of our mail list, but she has offered to do lookups
for anyone needing assistance.
Joyce Van Meter lives in
Virginia and has offered to do lookups for anyone needing assistance in
the Shenandoah Valley. If you have ancestors from this area, she may be
able to help.
Email the newsletter at:
cggsnews@hotmail.com and your
request will be forwarded to Joyce.
PUBLICATIONS
"Elmira, Death Camp of the North" by Michael Horigan [Stackpole books
2002] Throughout the Civil War, POW camps were inevitable. This is the
story of Elmira, or Hellmira, located in Elmira, New York, that opened on
6 July 1864 and closed 11 July 1865. During its single year of existence
12,123 Confederates passed through its doors and nearly 3,000 of them
died. Elmira's death rate was the highest of any Northern prison camp
during the war. The prisoners were kept in deplorable conditions, and due
to maniacal behavior of officers in charge [namely the war department],
were nearly starved due to retaliation for wrongs done to Union soldiers
in the south.
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Annual membership to the
CGGS is only $15 for one person or $18 for a family. Membership extends
from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003.
Remit payment to our
treasurer:
Barbara Baethke
119 Bayberry Circle
St. Simons Is. , GA 31522
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