I beg everyone's indulgence and apologize in advance for using the list
for a personal matter, but I just can't resist any longer! Please feel free
to report me to the list administrator. :-) I think you all know that I
try to help everyone who posts to the list - if I don't respond to your
post, it's because I don't have any information in my database. If I do, I
share whatever I have.
But I am just about to burst with the news of not one - but TWO - new
twigs of my own family tree. BOTH of my sons (with the help of my
daughters-in-law, of course) presented me with brand new granddaughters
yesterday, November 8th! Rachael Elizabeth arrived at 7:33 a.m. and Anna
Elizabeth arrived exactly 6 hours later at 1:33 p.m. They weighed within 2
ounces of each other and were born at the same hospital. I am delighted
with the old-fashioned names they have chosen and I did get to see them both
yesterday. (I have been taking care of my 1st granddaughter, Rachael's
sister, who is 17 months old and am a bit frazzled at keeping up with her!)
The first thing I did when I got back from the hospital late yesterday,
was to enter their names into my personal family database and wonder at the
odds that they would both have been born on the same day in the same place
in the same hospital. I think all of us who are researching our families'
histories have a special sense as to births and deaths and marriages and
family connections. I think we all see a bigger picture and realize that
what we are today is connected so much to our past and that we feel this
need to discover as much about it as we can.
I can still see my Aunt Ruth's face (this was about 10 years ago or so -
she is now 96 years old) when I asked her if she had any information about
the family's history. She gave me this look (like I was demented) and said
"Why do you want to mess around with all those dead people anyway? Here,
have some peach pie." (And it was very good peach pie! They don't make
peach pie like this except in Indiana!) Aunt Ruth, God bless her, has
always lived in the present.
I lost my father on October 15th of this year, and while his passing was
a blessing because he was so ill, he was really my last connection to the
past. He helped me so much in piecing together my own family history (which
still contains many mysteries) and I am saddened that he did not live to
know (in this world at least) the thrill of having two great-granddaughters
born on the same day!
So, again, I beg your indulgence at my personal use of the list, but I
felt I just had to post this all somewhere! May God bless you all as He has
blessed me.
Nancy
List Administrator
Congratulations Nancy. I would consider this genealogy. Just present and
not past. We share your joy with you.
Barb
Thanks to all of you who took the time to write regarding my new
granddaughters! I particularly enjoyed the comments about "100 years from
now" and it really got me thinking. Do you suppose in 100 years you will be
able to just enter - say - your own social security number in a computer and
it will spit out your family history back to Adam and Eve??? (Or, at least,
back to Noah unless your family were VERY good swimmers.)
Then I got to thinking - how DID people do family history a 100 years
ago? I can't even fathom keeping a database any where but on a computer,
and yet personal computers (for home use I mean) have only been around
what - 20 years? I used my first one in 1984 and that was a top of the line
IBM-XT with those 2 floppy drives so you stored everything on disks.
There was no microfilm in1902 - I had to look it up, but the first
commercial use for microfilm was in 1925 and that was for microfilming
checks at a bank. I have no idea when the government first starting
microfilming the census reports, but it can't have been much before that.
And, of course, you have the 72 year privacy "rule" so in 1902 you wouldn't
have any of the good census reports anyway (for me, 1850 was a gravy year in
census!).
So how did they do it? I've heard that some people kept card files with
each individual on a separate card with all their vital information and then
sorted by families. Just imagine if you dropped the box! And what did you
start with? Well, probably where most of us started - with a page from the
family Bible, I suppose.
We are really so lucky with computers and, especially, the Internet. I
cannot fathom how I would have done any of the searching I've done without
the Internet.
Any thoughts on how family history was done in 1902??? I'd love to hear
your thoughts. (And if you were around in 1902, it is much past your
bedtime!)
Nancy
List Administrator
Hello!
I have been travelling back and forth to Miami County this Fall researching
the Berkheisers. I have managed to visit some of the wonderful cemteries
such as Weasaw, Greenlawn, etc. where many of my relatives are buried.
However, I am developing a problem. I really don't have the time to
research the local libraries in your county. If someone would be willing to
do some of the leg work for me, I would greatly appreciate it. Are the
newspapers in Miami County as well indexed as St. Joseph County? If someone
is willing to help, I'll provide that person with a list of names and dates
in which to locate obituaries. Unfortunately, I didn't get much cooperation
from your local genealogy society. I'm a little ticked about that. Three
years is a little long to wait.
Thanks!
Rick Berkheiser
South Bend, IN