One at home ... one on the way

The You Go Genealogy Girls have done a fine job of not being together this summer.  It has not been our intent, but what has happened.  We have talked about trips or meeting somewhere for research, but it hasn't happened.  Add to that the fact Nebraska has had a brutally hot summer with days in the triple digits with no rain, makes both of us want to stay at home in the AC and at the computer.

Things are cooling down now, even though we have not had rain for weeks on end.  Our original plans were to meet up in Kearney, Nebraska for the Midwest Family History Expo which begins Friday and Saturday of this week (Sept 7th and 8th).  You Go Genealogy Girl #2 has conflicts so has had to bow out of her arrangements.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll leave for Kearney, Nebraska, which is the shortest jaunt I've made to a Family History Expo this summer.  Kearney is located about smack dab between the east and west coast so maybe we should say the Heartland Family History Expo or the Mid-US Family History Expo or the Smack Dab in the Middle Family History Expo.  I think Midwest Family History Expo is fitting, even though we here in Nebraska usually don't refer to us as being the midwest, reserving that for a bit further east, for some reason.  So if we are not midwest, what are we?  Are we the Mid-Plains?  Whatever we are, we'll all show up to learn and share in Kearney.

Wherever I'm going, I am always thinking genealogy.  It can be anywhere in the United States ... smack dab in the middle, in the mountains, along a river, in a city ... I'm thinking genealogy.  Traveling to Illinois for the Family History Expo a month ago I recalled ancestors who lived in towns along the route as well as courthouses and cemeteries I need to visit.  For me life is one big genealogy trip.  I hope you feel the same and take your ancestors with you every day of your life.

There's still time to register for the Midwest Family History Expo which is held smack-dab in the middle of the United States.  Go .... GENEALOGY!

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 ..... Ruby

My Obsession With Cemeteries

What do you call a person obsessed with cemeteries or graveyards? That's easy ... a GENEALOGIST. I can spot cemeteries a mile away and sometimes think chopped down tree trunks are gravestones and imagine fallen tree trunks will lead to a mysterious graveyard in the woods. Yes, the imagination takes over.

On the constant lookout for cemeteries, I have been known to go out of the way to locate them, altering my schedule to the point I have to speed to arrive to my destination on time. After spending hours looking for an old, nearly abandoned cemetery, I was startled to see that it was under lock and key. A few graves within the site were old and I was not about to leave without getting closer to them. Tossing my camera gently over the fence, I discovered a spot near the gate that was low and I began crawling into the cemetery. It had rained the night before. The first push I gave through the mud I remember that I was wearing white slacks. Fortunately they came clean. I got my "high" for the day and took photographs of the stones. All in a day's work!

Have you ever been stalked in a cemetery? It can happen and especially if somebody wonders what you are doing or if you are alone in a cemetery. A few years ago I was enjoying my lunch in a cemetery when I realized there was a Nebraska, dirt-spitting, rip-roaring truck going up and down a road along the perimeter of the cemetery. Same truck, over and over, back and forth. Two young men in it kept watching me. Just as I got out to deposit my lunch remains in the dumpster, they were heading pell-mell through the cemetery at me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. Holding it in front of me and pointing to it, I drew it to my ear while watching them. They abruptly stopped and backed out of the cemetery, never to return again unless perhaps to bury one of their friends. Incidentally there was no cell phone signal in the cemetery!

Genealogists never stop when it comes to cemeteries. Three years ago, two of my friends and I decided to spend a crisp November day in search of abandoned, hard to locate cemeteries in this area. We packed our lunches and could hardly wait to set out in exploration of what was bound to reveal interesting tombstones in strange places. We discovered the tombstone of a young child in a flat field of corn rows. The current farmer and those before him have plowed and planted around the stone, leaving it standing in isolation for over one hundred years.

Next we discovered a few stones on top of a hill ... yes we have hills here in the Platte River Valley. Once at the top of the hill, we were not only short of breath, but breathless from the view of the valley below. For miles we could see the meandering South Platte River and could envision pioneers in their wagons, riding horses and walking thousands of miles westward. Many never made it and from that vantage point I mused on the many unmarked graves along the route.

As the sun was going down we decided, with some speedy maneuvering, we could visit one more cemetery. It was surrounded with a fence and the farmer had recently picked the corn around it. There were several graves and some were rather unusual. It was getting dark and soon even darker. One of my friends produced a small flashlight. A dim light, but better than nothing! While they struggled with the gate, I managed to return to our vehicle. About that time a corn picker in a truck came along, stopped and offered to help. That's sort of a Nebraska thing ... they either stalk you or they help you!

The other day my granddaughter and I gave a demonstration to friends on how to witch for graves. She makes it look like child's play and often grabs people's attention while witching. Some people just don't get the hang of it. Maybe they have blocked, non-believing minds. That's okay as we witch enough for everybody. Imagine walking two-thirds of a sandy, prairie-dog infested pasture before finding the place of a child's burial. We aren't nuts, just close to it!

My granddaughter says that cemeteries are peaceful and not spooky. When you visit a cemetery it has a different appearance. The stones brushed by snow, covered by red and gold leaves, surrounded by wild flowers and dripping in the summer rain, all add to the comfort and serenity of death. They rest there, but their souls are with the ageless.

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 .... Ruby (look for me in the graveyard!)

A Day At The Museum: Genealogy Style

The past Saturday was our long awaited day to have some fun in the park and tour some great Nebraska museums. The You Go Genealogy Girls were the hosts for "A Day At The Museums" in Alliance Nebraska. Since we both belong to the genealogy society in North Platte, Nebraska and I live in Alliance, Nebraska; we thought it would be a nice field trip to bring the genealogy group to Alliance.

You Go Girl came to visit me and we stayed busy for two days beforehand, getting things ready for our picnic meal and planning the tour for our group. We were anxious to get started and looked forward to seeing our friends on Saturday.

Finally the day arrived. We busily gathered all our supplies with the gracious help of my niece and "Go Hubby". Everyone at my house had to work if they wanted lunch! We arrived at the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center at 9 am to set everything up. The museum director was kind enough to let us use the indoor patio facility at the museum when the weather that morning was to exceed 100 degrees! It was very nice and surely did make the long day more bearable. By 10:30 AM our guests had arrived and we were ready to get started. Our group included friends from North Platte and Alliance, with some staff ladies from the museum who very kindly helped out with lunch and our tours.

First stop was a walking tour of the basement, kitchen, storage, and archiving area of the Knight Museum/Sandhills Center. We got a behind-the-scenes tour of their great system for storing all the collectibles and archiving the thousands of family history documents that are housed there. The museum director, Becci Thomas, was very thorough and our group got to see the unique movable shelving systems and see how they integrate into the new museum. The basement tour concluded with a look at the facility's full service kitchen that is used for meetings, weddings, and city celebration parties: all these gatherings can be held on the beautiful indoor patio area that we were using for our gathering that day. Our museum is a complete community facility.

Lunch was next on the agenda! Everything was served buffet style and while the group ate and visited we held our door prize drawings. Several guests went home with small mementos of the day. Immediately after our lunch, the group gathered and split into vehicles for the short drive to the nearby Sallows Military Museum which is part of our overall museum system but housed separately. A few of the genealogists elected to walk the three blocks, passing by our historic city fountain. Once again the director filled everyone in on some of the history of the area and told about the displays in the military museum. That building also houses a small but impressive indoor botanic garden which was an added bonus.

Back to the main museum at 1 PM. There we were introduced to the impressive holdings of genealogical,family history,county histories and vital records which are housed in the gorgeous "Heritage Room" of the Knight Museum/Sandhills Center. The research room was designed and built into our new museum for the purpose of housing those records and anyone is welcome to come and research there. Staff is always on duty to assist patrons and welcomes all visitors to the new facility. From there we journeyed into the new little theater to view a Nebraska Sandhills film which introduced everyone to the main museum. Western Nebraska history from the age of the dinosaur through prairie pioneers, native Americans, soldiers, railroaders and agricultural families is all beautifully represented in the museum. It had been a busy day for everyone but we were not quite finished yet!

Two o'clock brought us all to a museum conference rooms where we were treated to a power point presentation on the new Nebraska Veterans Cemetery at Alliance. The administrator of the facility, Allen Pannell, showed many photos of the project as it has progressed in construction and told about the ways the veterans and their families will be honored. The cemetery is built on part of the land that was once the Alliance Army Air Base. Nearly all the first troops into Normandy during WWII were trained here at this base so it is a special honor for us to have this new facility located here. It is the first Nebraska State Veterans Cemetery. The program was enjoyed by all and we went away with a lot of new knowledge and pride about the cemetery.

A few in attendance took some time to do some research at the days end before the three hour drive back to North Platte. Many said they were surely going to make the trip again and spend more time getting to know the wonderful museum system we have here. The day was long but a lot of fun for all and best of all was that one of the ladies in attendance met a relative that she never knew. Her unknown family had just came to the museum as patrons and in the course of writing a check for a gift shop purchase, our museum director noticed their name as being the same as one of our tour guests. She introduced them and sure enough, they were related and had never met--who knew? That is one of the things that most genealogists dream of! A nice ending to a fun genealogy day in the park.
----------------------------------------------------

My next big outing will be the Family History Expo in Kansas City on July 30-31st. The agenda is available on their website and includes great topics as Southern State researching, Swedish record acquisition, and using Twitter and Facebook. For those who can't attend, we will have daily live updates from the conference--right here!


You Go Genealogy Girl #2, Cheri

Day Six - Our Final Day in the Library

We have completed our final day at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  While we are both tired and a bit grouchy, it has been fun and worthwhile.  Since I research hundreds upon hundreds of lines and surnames, I could easily spend a month here and still not complete all the research I would like to do.  Ahhh ... should I move here?  Bet my daughter and grandchildren in Nebraska would miss me. 

You Go Genealogy Girl #2 spent most of her day in the Swedish section.  It was painstaking research for her and she did find some things, but not near enough.  We decided that Minnie Anderson just wanted to continue hiding.  

Tomorrow morning we get in Li'l Red and head toward Nebraska.  We'll be in You Go Genealogy Girl #2's home town of Alliance, Nebraska for Memorial Day.  After paying respects at the grave of my late husband, I'll depart on Tuesday for my home.  Then begins the joy of unpacking a large box of copies and genealogy items I purchased.  As for me, I'll spend my summer thinking about this week and adding information to my computer files.  

Genealogy work is never done.  We'll chat with you when we get back to normal at our home bases.  

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 -- Ruby

Li'l Red Goes To The Cemetery

Today Li'l Red and I went to the Greenwood Cemetery in York, Nebraska.  It is over two hours one way from where I live.  My parents, grandparents and a lot of other relatives are buried there.  Because I will be traveling for several weeks, this was my only opportunity to decorate the graves.  

It was a lovely day for a drive.  The sun was out with only a few clouds and little to no wind.  Is this Nebraska? 

The cemetery is well kept, with an office on the grounds.  In fact some of the employees were mowing and doing maintenance.  There are a lot of trees and shrubs on the grounds.  

I parked Li'l Red and then began decorating the graves.  As I turned to walk back, I noticed a tree behind Li'l Red and it had something blue on it.  I was shocked.  The message was nothing that I expected.  The serenity of the cemetery was suddenly interrupted. 

Every few trees, there was a blue signed tacked on them.  They are firmly tacked so nobody removes them or the Nebraska wind doesn't blow them off to Kansas.  The message reveals the cost of cemetery lots, the cost of grave openings and cremation openings.  This is followed by a message that the cemetery is not tax supported so donations are appreciated and tax deductible.  Excuse me ... I believe we paid for perpetual care!  

Tacked and tacky!  Find another way to advertise the cemetery, such as a sign tacked to the cemetery office.  I would rather see directions to various sections of the cemetery tacked to the trees ... save the advertising for somewhere else.  Better yet ... save the trees and don't tack anything to them!  

LOOKING FOR ADALINE

On a recent trip to eastern Nebraska, the YGGGirls made a visit to the quaint old cemetery at Blue Springs, Gage Co., Nebraska. It was a nasty and cold day with high winds but we were determined to find the final resting place of our Great Grandfather as well as some of our Great, Great Grandparents.

We arrived at the beautiful old iron gates of the cemetery which is located about a mile north of the little community of Blue Springs, Nebraska. This cemetery was started in the year 1860 and is the oldest recorded cemetery in the state of Nebraska. There is a great old central building in the middle of the cemetery with an old water pump next to it which made it a very picturesque scene. We could hardly even stand up due to the wind but started out to locate our ancestors. We first found Great Great Grandmother, Mary Eberhart on the west side of the cemetery. By then we were about to freeze out, having only brought sweaters on an extremely cold day, but we pushed onward while trying to not blow over in the wind!

Finally, we discovered the rest of the family who seemed to be all together. Father, Joel Moore and his son Thomas Moore were close together. It seemed natural that Adaline Moore who was the wife of Joel should also be close as we knew she was buried in the same cemetery. No stone for her, that was odd--but as we pondered her whereabouts, we noticed that an area of grass that was next to Joel's stone seemed to appear slightly sunken. Down on hands and knees, we began to probe the area with our hands. Sure enough , it seemed as though Adaline's marker was indeed there. We pulled grass and moved as much dirt as we could by hand in order to bring her marker to light. Both of these people had only the original metal plate markers which had been set in cement many years before. Adaline's had sunken below ground level and become completely overgrown over time.Her first name had been spelled incorrectly on the old metal plate. We cleaned the area out as best we could, knowing that she would surely be covered up again when the first rain came through and washed dirt over the stone. We hoped that at least for a few short weeks that she might "stay in the light of
day".

It was a great day to be able to find our Great Great Grandparents and other family in that beautiful little cemetery. I will visit there again someday but wonder who will look for our "Adaline" in the distant future and again re-discover her final place? We put out flowers, the first to be there to honor our relatives in many, many years and then hurried back to our little red car to turn on the heater and recover from our freezing outing. It was a great discovery for us and soon we were off to yet another cemetery for more research!