The Dukes of Hazzard...and "Boss Hogg" too!

Not the HOGG lineage of Virginia, South Carolina and Texas!

Screaming down the road, bustin’ through the fences, flying over the hills…The General Lee is trying to save the court house treasures, and of course "Roscoe" and "Boss Hogg" are in full chase! 

There is nothing like a late night re-run to kick start two days of fun genealogy research. Do you remember the great old popular television series: The Dukes of Hazzard? I am sure most of you do and who could forget all those lovable characters? My now adult sons were crazy about “Dukes” and of course the “General Lee”. We owned all the associated toys and never missed an episode some 30 plus years ago but little did I know that as I was channel surfing a couple evenings ago in the late hours of the night time that the old re-run of the kid’s favorite program would draw me into my next fun genealogy search.

The “Duke boys” and “Boss Hogg” were at it again and after all these past years, they were still adversaries. “Boss Hogg”—well, the old guy who I had not thought about for years,  got me to thinking that HOGG is an old name in my husband’s lineage that I have all but ignored. Somehow the names of Hogg, Horsey, Buck and Bull have seemed to be happy living in the file cabinet and back pages of my books. Good old “Boss Hogg”, he was just begging me the other night to go ancestor hunting for our HOGG relatives and ancestors and I was sure that my family would just love to claim him as their very own relative! I have been very busy finding names, war records, marriages and even following all these new found ancestors as they traveled south out of Virginia. I thought for sure they would end up in good ol’ Hazzard County, Georgia with “Boss Hogg” standing at the county line to greet them.

Not so, however, as our HOGG families made the journey from old Virginny to South Carolina and some then went on to Texas. Hubby can be proud of his HOGG ancestors as all of his direct line men served in the military in one capacity or another. Starting with Lewis Hogg in the early 1700’s who served in the French and Indian Wars, others in the Revolutionary War and later generations who served in the Civil War. Many of the HOGG men attained officer status and his cousin ties lead to James Stephen Hogg who was the nineteenth Governor of Texas.

Poor old “Boss Hogg” just doesn’t seem to fit into our family tree so for now he will just have to keep his residence in Hazzard County late night TV land being ornery and deceiving but he should be proud and happy that at least some who have managed to elevate the proud HOGG name have now found a new home.

You Go Genealogy Girl #2--Cheri  (Why am I always number 2?)

The Spirits Are After Us!

How eerily appropriate that the "Girls" are together again for a few days. The spirits have been in the air and have seemed to be all around us as we have had a very busy past week. You Go Girl #1 has been visiting in Alliance for some much needed research time and we have been planning and then presenting Family History Month programs which we will report about very soon! Halloween has certainly blown in on the wind the last few days here with howling winds that have been gusting to 50 miles an hour. Outside my office window which is above the spare bedroom where Girl #1 stays, our huge flags have snapped, whipped and clanged as the metal flag buckles have banged against the flag pole both day and night bringing the eerie sounds of screams, pains, balls and chains! Sleep has been elusive as the sounds of the night winds have brought uneasy dreams.The one lone huge limb that hangs over the corrugated metal roof of our back deck has constantly scrapped the metal for three days making creepy sounds like a monster's fingernails scrapping over a blackboard. Spiders have moved indoors for the upcoming winter. The dirt and grit has been in our teeth and hair as we have ventured out to darken the doorways of the local museum to investigate records and our once "gorgeous" faces have been plastered with that same dirt mixed with snow and leaves. We have looked like a haunting pair indeed! Braving all the evil forces of nature, we even managed to make our fall pilgrimage to a couple local cemeteries to visit our dear departed love ones, thanking the Gods that they couldn't see what homely creatures had blown in with the wind to pay them homage. Our hair was standing on end as if we had been struck by lightening which complimented our overall looks. Sorry, there are no photos...we love our readers and didn't want to scare you all away!

"The final nail in the coffin", as they say, was our trip today back to the museum for more records today, ah but first a stop at the grocery store for sustenance. Nice warm buttermilk leaking from the store carton and all down the front of that You Go Girl #1 sure did leave her with the lovely odor of the rotting and decaying soil and flesh of the season. She was ripe! Finally we made it to the Heritage Room at the museum and found just what we thought was needed for records, pulled out the hand held scanner and went to work. It is so great when things go wonderfully in the world of finding elusive family of the past, however today was not the case. This operator of the scanner had ghosts looking over her shoulder, and it was turning into one Halloween that our ancestor just did not want to be disturbed. Even our usually loving ancestors did not take pity on The You Go Genealogy Girls this day, you see they were practicing for the upcoming special night, thus our ancestor's complete records are still hidden for a visit again on another day. All we got was an eerie warning from that possessed scanner, we would surely all meet again.....some day!

You Go Genealogy Girl #2-- Cheri

Sunday: Rest and Regroup

Sunday, May 30:
After a busy and long week of study and research, the girls had a day off today since the Family History Library was closed. We needed the day to get caught up and regroup for another grueling week of "fun!" We spent this day by having a Sunday breakfast out on the town, doing a little shopping at a local mall and taking a walk around the Temple Square area. It was a gorgeous day here in Salt Lake after a few days of chilly temperatures and blustery winds. It seemed good to venture out into the real world and meet some living people for a change! The gardens in the Temple Square are beginning to mature and will be beautiful again this year. We always enjoy taking time to see and "smell" the gorgeous flowers as we tour the grounds. We discovered that there is a replica of the Temple on display in the South Visitors Center within the Temple Square. It was surrounded today by visitors and we could not even get very close to see it. It is an accurate scale model of the inside and includes all the tiny details of furniture and lighting etc. We took some photos and have included one of the real towering Temple walls as well as one taken of the scale model. There is also a video and photo website which features the Temple model here if you would like to take a closer look. It is quite an awesome little display. Enjoy one of our flower photos too, wish everyone could see the sights with us! We will soon get back to work looking for our ancestors and remembering them all on this Memorial Day. Our soldiers, fishermen, spies, mothers, fathers, crooks, laborers, and ministers--all.

To our loved ones gone: we salute you and look forward to meeting you soon, maybe even this Memorial Day, 2010- in the halls of the Family History Library.

You Go Genealogy Girl #2, Cheri

Researching In Style

This last month has really been a busy one for both of us girls! We have been working each day, putting together our research notebooks, packing and re-packing, and planning our summer over the phone and through emails. At times it seems so mundane and ordinary but we work at keeping each other pumped up and motivated to get it all done. Girl #1 has also been getting Li'l Red all spruced up and ready to head west and she will do all the last minute road travel planning this week while Go Hubby and I make a short trip to Topeka, Kansas for our Granddaughter's graduation which I will share next week with everyone. We have about come to the end of our Salt Lake researching preparations and Girl #1 says she will need a bigger notebook if she keeps adding pages to hers. It is only a 4 inch size right now. Mine is also, but I have two! Trying to figure out what to take and what I can leave is just too hard--so I usually have to take it all. Last year I didn't use much of all the "stuff " that went in the extra notebook and I have been reminding myself that I vowed to leave some of the papers home this year. Who is that person that keeps whispering in my ear, saying "take it, take it"? Wishing I was a bit more organized with everything on my laptop but alas, I still live partially in the world of paper. At least if we get stranded in a freezing blizzard on the way to Salt Lake in late May, we can always live on our jar of peanut butter and jelly beans and then burn my paper "stuff " to keep warm- (yes, it is all duplicate copies so we are safe there.) We are almost good to go....

Last year we came up with the idea to mark the file cabinet drawers in the FHL with bright colored stick-em papers so we could find our way back to the right file drawer a bit easier and quicker. That worked fairly well but this year we will be going in style! All that a fore mentioned research and packing got me to thinking that I needed something fun to do for a break, so today I set out to make some fancy magnetic film drawer markers. Since we are taking all those wonderful little purses and all those beautiful shoes, we needed gorgeous magnets to match. My project got a bit out of hand before it was finished and they look more like party table favors than drawer magnets as they are sporting sunflowers, roses, oak leaves and feathers, but I guarantee these will be better than "a bread crumb trail" back to the file drawer. We can just gaze down the long aisle, spot our little fluorescent floral magnets, and run right down to the drawer. Anyone who has been to the library should appreciate how many hours of precious time this has the potential to save. Only trouble with that scenario is the fact that the two Grannies aren't very good at running any more, it would be just our luck to get our feet tangled up and go down in a heap and the FHL would probably ask us to leave for being unruly.The next day we would have to stay in bed and nurse the bumps and bruises which would negate all that saved time. These little beauties will save some time though and they will brighten up the drab film aisles at the least! Just the same, we are traveling AND researching in style.

Fill up your jelly bean dish, take time to relax and get ready to join us this Spring as we live the life of genealogy researching. We would love to have you come along on our journeys and we guarantee that you will have good time with us and maybe even learn something new and exciting along the way.

A Hodge Podge of This and That!

Last week I made the trip east to visit with YGGG#1 to spend some time after a long and cold winter. I had been trying to get there for over a month in between snow and ice storms. Finally, the great day time arrived and I got on the road quick! One short break in Ogallalla, Nebraska to check out my favorite store for Memorial Day flowers. They always have a great selection so I loaded the car with bunches of beautiful poppies and roses. When YGGG #1 and I get together in Mid May before our Salt Lake trip, we will spend 2 days decorating all our family graves in Box Butte county. We have nearly 30 to attend in three cemeteries. What a job- but what an honor!

My next stop was North Platte, Nebraska. Just in time for lunch and then..SHOPPING. Grannie one suggested we go right away to the quilt shop as she knew I had been waiting to get there. Somehow she blames me for all the shopping, but since I don't get to a good place to shop very often it is fun to go and besides she does not complain much. She follows (or maybe leads) and off we go. New material, new books, flowers, sewing notions, craft stuff, clothes, purses. Two old grannies sure can have fun and spend money. The only time genealogy comes in second is when we go into shopping mode for a few hours. My dog, Babee, who went along for the trip only managed to get into trouble a couple times while we shopped. New venetian blinds will be in order for YGGG one now. Hope the dog can get a job to pay for them!

We surely are starting to show our age though. What a nuisance..we had to stop and rest often, but only after several hours and many miles on foot. Grannie one propped up her new knee and I rested my back. I got a 2:30 boost of "5 hour energy", which wound me up and I was good to go again. We got out the research notebooks, hit the computer library catalog and were off and running until late night, every night for a week. The notebooks are now bursting with new ancestors and records to find at the FHL in May. Eleven at night came fast every evening and it was time to read a bit, before the "day" was gone and we had to start all over again. The monthly meeting of the North Platte genealogy society, watching WDYTYA on Friday night and The Generations Project on Monday, and even more shopping rounded out my stay in North Platte. Two old granny sisters-in-law sure can make work but we do have great fun!

Back home this week has brought more challenges to get all my research done for my notebook to take to the Libraries. YGGG #1 helped me to line up some areas to search, now I must get busy and peruse all the good websites for helpful clues before we leave to head west. Go Hubby isn't getting much for homemade meals these days either as I am just to darn busy! At least that is what I tell him. I have been trying to get him to write another story for my personal blog: Those Old Memories. It will save me time and besides, he gets better reviews (and comments) than I do! Will I ever get it all done in time? It's just get up and go to bed and the day is gone. Do any other genealogists or wives ever get caught up?

While organizing my research stuff, I have spent some more time on a great site for Swedish researching. I have been here before but thought some of you might like to check this one out if you are into Swedish research, especially within Skaraborgs Län and specifically around the
Falköping area. Annelie Jonsson has a really great site, Emigrant.se and she is very involved with GenealogyWise and the Swedish groups with helpful advise. Late night dates with several great state web sites have kept me occupied too. A nice cup of white hot chocolate and left over Valentine truffles have rounded out my "dream" dates. The clues of more names and places to follow up with have just been the wonderful bonuses!

A busy month ahead for sure. I will give a small program at our local genealogy society meeting in April on the use of the various census records. That will be fun but I must get the power point done soon so I can get back to my ancestors. Our oldest Granddaughter will graduate in May in Topeka, Kansas so Go Hubby and I will travel east for that event. We are anxious to see all 8 grandchildren and spend a couple precious days with family. Our son will leave his family at home in Kansas and come back to Alliance with us after graduation.YGGG, Ruby, will be here the next day. Son, Jason, is going to help the YGGG's do cemetery work early and see us off towards Salt Lake City on the 22nd of May. He will house and dog sit for me for the two and half weeks that the YGGGs will be in Salt Lake City. While Go Hubby is working, Jason will do some fix up things around here for us. He and his Dad will have a little time together to take a "bike" ride and do some gardening and house painting --all while I play at the Family History Library. Yea!

Finally a nice day today, spring may actually be heading our way. Wish I could play but alas must get back to work on my notebook. All of this and that keeps coming to mind. Dreaming of the future trip to Loveland, Colorado for the Family History Expo, where I have been and where I need to go. Next stops: websites for Tippah County, Mississippi and Carroll County, Tennessee. Those Hopkins and Henleys are waiting in the wings.

You Go Genealogy Girl #2- Cheri

Thanksgiving Bounty

Turkey, turkey,and more turkey! Assuredly we all had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends. Ours was a nice small gathering of family in Cheyenne, Wyoming which was hosted by my husband's sister and her husband. Over the years we have not been able to spend very many Holidays with his side of the family so this was one of the few that we were able to and we had a great time and wonderful meal. The occasion this year also included a Wednesday evening at Chilis with the family. My husbands brother from Montana was there, our son, Mom and other family members, best of all was we didn't even have to do the cooking! After a great Thanksgiving with family we got to bring home an added bounty which made the trip even more special.

For some months, Mom has been trying to acquire the genealogy records that her sister Hazel had started work on years ago. Over the decades, she and Hazel had worked on the family research together when they could and often each worked on their own and collaborated over the miles between them. Hazel is no longer able to do research and she and her family agreed to send us all her records pertaining to our side of the family. She spent many years doing research before the computer age came along, perusing libraries and record repositories. Mom and I now try to work together as much as possible. At present we are the lucky caretakers of Aunt Hazel's records. Last week there arrived a dozen large family binders full of genealogy documents and research plus a huge box full of files and papers. Treasures which we will compare and then will incorporate the information into our own research archives. Mom also borrowed a large 4 inch thick photo album from one of her cousins who lives near Lingle, Wyoming. This is an awesome album of family photos, most of which we did not have. We are looking forward to becoming acquainted with these past family members.

Am I thankful? Yes, indeed! We brought home to Nebraska all this collection of research materials and photos. A project to keep me busy for the winter (along with all my other unfinished ones--). Reading, adding into records and of course a lot of scanning to do. It is a blessing for sure when family is willing to share and our Thanksgiving Bounty this special year was truly a Family Treasure. We are thankful for many things this year: our children and grandchildren, love of family, relatively good health and discovery of even more ancestors.

The You Go Girl #1 is awaiting her new IPOD Touch and I have a new NetBook to play with. We just can't get enough tech gadgets to take up our time with. Next to the "old" ancestors, our "new" toys keep us pretty busy. We have plans to meet next week in Ogallala, Nebraska ( about half way between us) for a day of play, shopping and gadget comparison. We must soon take time away from the toys and get back to the serious business of genealogy. The Grannies are getting older by the day and the To Do list is getting longer by the day! After all, I MUST get busy on all those albums and photos....

You Go Genealogy Girl#2, Cheri