NGS Conference – A Great Day of Learning & Sharing!

Day #2 at the NGS Conference 

was even better than Day #1!

My day began with the First Timers’ Breakfast at the Marriott. The pastries, little boxes of cereal, apples, juice & hot tea and coffee were nice but the people were even better. I found a table that quickly filled with happy faces, despite the early hour. As all first timers none of us knew quite what to expect but we were all anxious to give it our best. We went around the table, mentioning the states we were from: CT, CO, MD, IN, VA, MI & NY. We talked about our states: the weather, how we traveled from there to the conference & research in our various home states. We talked about cemeteries, Find A Grave & sessions we had attended so far. We also said how nice it was to be able to talk to others who love genealogy. Try to talk to non-genealogists about cemetery discoveries and their eyes glaze over. Now we had a table full of people interested in the same thing! There was a brief talk about NGS, door prizes were given out & we all headed, eagerly, to our first sessions.

First Timers' Breakfast
with me, in pink, in the center

These were the sessions I attended today:

·         North Carolina Research, Jeffrey Haines

·         An Inside Look at Ancestry DNA, Kenny Freestone

·         Oh, the Things You Can Map! Mapping, Data, Memory & Historical Content, Stefanie Evans

·         Where Would You Go if you Had 5 Days in Washington, D.C.? Pamela Boyer Sayre

·         Tracking Pennsylvania Ancestors, Kay Freilich

I give 5 stars to Jeffrey Haines for the North Carolina Research session! He is knowledgeable, organized and full of tips. He began by joking about the early session and suggesting we shake our fellow attendees if they start snoring but who could fall asleep with all the great information he shared? I took four pages of notes and can’t wait to use his suggestions.

Kenny Freestone’s talk answered many of my questions about DNA & genealogy. Buying the kits is discounted at the Exhibit Hall so I may have to do that before the last day.

Pamela Sayre has me ready to visit Washington, D.C. My oldest daughter & son-in-law live in the area so my lodging is all set. I better do my homework and put it on my calendar.

I went to the NYG&BS lunch where Naomi Josh kept us laughing as she told us about the collection of data & the writing of the’ New York Family History Guide & Gazetteer’.

In general I learned lots of new things today that will help improve my research and I met lots of wonderful people from many parts of the USA. Coincidently I met several genealogists who are also quilters, like me. We talked about sewing & finding time for both interests. I even met a nice lady who knitted socks as she listed to PA research tips. Can’t wait to see who I meet tomorrow!

Thanks for the comments on my previous posts! Jacqi, you asked me write more. Hope you don't regret it now. ha! Wendy, I'll save you a seat tomorrow morning!

A First Timer at the NGS Conference

That’s me. I’m a first timer at the NGS Conference & so far I’m enjoying myself.

Last night I drove down to the Marriott for a dinner given by FamilySearch for bloggers. It was a friendly evening with a delicious salad, pasta & breadsticks. Jennifer Anderson challenged my mind when she talked about the more than one billion records published. 2014 will be the Year of the Obituary. Jennifer said, “Dead men tell no tales but their obituaries do!” Sign up to help index! And help with “Lift Where You Stand’ a project slated for Sunday, July 20, 6 pm MDT – Monday, July 21, 6 pm MDT. They are looking for 20,000 participants to help index in those 24 hours. Lets lend a hand.

Myself & Cheri with our Blogging Beads

At the dinner, I was delighted to meet some fellow bloggers who I had only met through their blogs in the past. Cheri from Carolina Girl and Lisa from The AccidentalGenealogist to name two.

Opening Session

Today I went to the Opening Session where the National Genealogy Society, its mission & its plans were explained. The ‘Genealogists Declaration of Rights’ was set as a goal for the future where we have access to records on county, state and federal levels. Awards were given to volunteers & to authors of family newsletters. Joshua Taylor spoke briefly for FamilySearch. Then Dr. Sandra Treadway, Librarian & State Archivist, talked to the large crowded room about ‘The Evolving Library’. She painted a wonderful picture of the Virginia Library in the future & invited us all back in seven years to see the changes for ourselves.

These were the sessions I attended today:

·         Are Those My Virginia Ancestors? Eric Grundset

·         The Records of the Southern Historical Society, Kathy Huber

·         Repopulating the Past: Using the Collections of the Virginia Historical Society, Frances Pollard

I have the printed syllabus [much too heavy to carry around to the sessions] & the digital notes but I took my own notes as well to remember all the good tips I learned today.   

I talked to many friendly people from various parts of our country who were eager to talk & share their stories. I spoke to an older gentleman who had been to several conferences, was not impressed by anything he heard & promptly fell asleep in the folding chair next to mine; then woke up and left before the end of the session.

Of course, I visited the Exhibit Hall & of course I spent too much on books! And I’ll probably over indulge tomorrow as well. ha!

Most of all I am proud that I did not get lost once, both driving to Richmond & navigating the conference center & the Marriott. Looking forward to learning more tomorrow!

On the Road to the NGS Conference

Yesterday I drove down from New York State to Virginia. As a genealogist, I cannot just drive along this route without stopping by a cemetery, an archive, or something to add to my research.

Coincidently I was recently looking closely at John Frederick Wolf, my fourth great grandfather. I was preparing to write about him for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

So I went to Family Tree Maker & clicked on the ‘little leaf’ with new hints. The hint took me to Find A Grave.  I already had his burial information & had visited & photographed his grave site. However I followed the suggestion to see if there was anything new there. I easily found Frederick Wolf and photographs of his historic home in Abbottstown, PA! Checking Google maps I discovered this home was just a short distance from my route to Virginia!

Home of
John Frederick Wolf 1779 PA - 1872 PA
29 East King Street, Abbottstown PA

I was meant to stop there on my drive & I did. I had been in the area before looking at cemeteries. In fact, I was only a block away from my last visit. I parked & snapped photographs of the home of my distant grandfather.

Back to Google, I put in the address & found a real estate website with thisinformation:

The Frederick Wolf House was built in c.1753 and is the second-oldest house in Abbottstown. It predates the founding of Gettysburg (1780) by 30 years. The house was built by the Abbott family, who also built the Abbott House, the borough's oldest structure. The Wolf Family lived in the house from 1820's to the 1890's and built several additions to the original log cabin. This house was the recipient of the Historic Gettysburg-Adams County Inc., 2004 Historic Preservation Award. The house was built circa 1753. The museum quality restorations were performed by T.L. Sanders, Historic Building Preservation Specialist.

When I return home after the conference I plan to contact the local historical society to learn more about this house.

This conference is off to a great start!

Elidia Rebecca Ritter Mark; Ohio Mom

Elidia Rebecca Ritter Mark

30 July 1854 OH – 28 August 1912 OH

My Great Great Grandmother

Elidia Rebecca Ritter Mark & children in OH

Elidia Rebecca Ritter was the daughter of Isaac Ritter & Isabell Fisher. She was the fourth of 12 children. Her siblings were: Lovina B., John William, Mary Catherine, Barbary Ann, Amos, Elizabeth, Eslie D., Anthony Casper, Matilda Jane, Philip & an infant Ritter. In 1860 the Isaac Ritter family was in Wayne Twp., Wayne, OH. Isaac was a carpenter.[1] In 1870 they were in Chester Twp.[2]

Elidia Rebecca Ritter married William Mark on 20 April 1878 in Cedar Valley, Wayne, Ohio.[3]  She was his second wife. In 1880 they were living in Chester Township in Wayne County.[4] William was a 36 year old day laborer. He and Elidia Rebecca had five children at home. In 1900 William and Elidia Rebecca owned their home with no mortgage.[5] He was a farm laborer who was unemployed for six months that year. Seven children were at home, between the ages of 22 and 3 years old. Providing for seven children and being unemployed for half the year must have been difficult. Granddaughter, Ivy (Mark) Brown remembered the small home in Chester. She said,

I remember their place. It wasn’t a very big place but they always had a good garden and a lot of chickens. Chickens were out back. In those days there was a lot of hunting. Like rabbit, turkey, wild turkey and such things. They had a lot of fishing. There was a big creek right by their house. They could fish.[6]

After William died in 1904 Elidia Rebecca applied for a pension to help support herself and her children. She received $10.00 a month and $2.00 per child under 16 [She had 4]. At some later date, this was increased to $12.00 a month. She received her last payment 4 June 1912.[7]

Her obituary was entitled "Mother of 11 Children Died Wednesday Night":

"Mrs. Rebecca Mark died at her home one mile south of Overton at 7 o'clock, Wednesday evening.  She had been ailing for a long time with cancer, which caused her death.  She is survived by the following children: George, William, Amos, Guy, Charles, James, Mary, Elva, Margaret Mark and Mrs. Emma Pfeiffer of Wayne County and Thomas Mark of Medina County. Funeral services will be held from the late home at ten o'clock, Friday morning.  Interment will be made in the Church of God cemetery east of Overton."[8]

Elidia Rebecca (Ritter) Mark & her husband share a tombstone in Overton Church of God Cemetery, row 7[9]^,[10],[11]. There’s a large flowering shrub that reaches over the tombstone in the spring. An American flag is proudly planted in front of the tombstone to show that William was a veteran.[12]

Elidia, William & Family:

1 William Mark b: 26 May 1844 Wooster, Wayne, OH, d: 21 Nov 1904 Chester, Wayne, OH

... + Elidia Rebecca Ritter b: 30 Jul 1854 Chester, Wayne, OH, m: 20 Apr 1878 Cedar Valley, Wayne, OH, d: 28 Aug 1912 in Chester, Wayne, OH

......2 William M. Mark b: 12 Feb 1877 Cedar Valley, Wayne, OH, d: Aft. 1920

...... + Alice Leota Heacock b: 3 Oct 1880 Ashland, OH, m: 19 Oct 1899 Wooster, Wayne, OH

......2 George Washington Mark b: 1 Apr 1878 Wayne, OH, d: 16 Oct 1938 Chester, Wayne, OH

...... + Elizabeth Shifferly b: 10 Oct 1881 Plain Twp., Wayne, OH, m: 20 Nov 1901 Cedar Valley, Wayne, OH, d: 3 Sep 1949 Chester, Wayne, OH

......2 Thomas Kenneth Mark b: 19 Jul 1879 in Wooster, Wayne, OH, d: 12 Feb 1975 Wadsworth, Medina, OH

...... + Nancy Regina Victoria Gruissy b: 31 Jan 1879 Sharon, Medina, OH, m: 28 Jan 1903 Medina, OH, d: 24 May 1959 Wadsworth, Medina, OH

......2 Margaret Maude Mark b: 6 Jan 1881 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 10 Jan 1964 Wayne, OH

...... + Ralph Clayton Kauffman b: 8 Nov 1877 Wayne, OH, m: 28 Aug 1937  Wayne, OH, d: 12 Nov 1968

...... + Samuel Martin Jolliff b: 8 Dec 1871 Wayne, OH, m: 10 Mar 1898 OH, d: 28 Jan 1927

......2 Emma Jane Mark b: 27 Apr 1882 Wayne, OH, d: 9 Dec 1961 Wooster, Wayne, OH

...... + Alfred C. Pfeifer b: 23 Feb 1880 Grafton, Lorain, OH, m: 30 Dec 1902 Lagrange, Lorain, OH, d: 8 Apr 1968

...... + Elmer Howard Wilson b: 10 Oct 1879 NJ, d: 12 Jul 1959 New Castle, Delaware

......2 William Hercules Mark b: 30 Apr 1884 Wayne, OH, d: 12 Aug 1929 Congress, Wayne, OH

......2 Mary Jeanette Mark b: 28 Feb 1886 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 6 May 1940 Berea, Cuyahoga, OH

...... + John Rickert Shaw b: 13 Jan 1886, m: 12 Jun 1912, d: c. 1984

......2 Amos Martin Mark b: 21 Jun 1888 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 16 Jun 1969 Wayne, OH

...... + Lillian Myrtle Hoverstock b: 25 Apr 1896 Chester, Wayne, OH, m: 28 Apr 1914 Overton, Wayne, OH, d: 10 Oct 1975 Wooster, Wayne, OH

......2 Eslie Guy Mark b: 2 Dec 1890 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 10 May 1972 Medina, Medina, OH

...... + Golda Mae Warner b: 22 Sep 1902 Lodi, Medina, OH, m: 15 Apr 1922, d: 25 Mar 1982 Lodi, Medina, OH

......2 Charles Forest Mark b: 2 May 1892 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 30 Apr 1967 OH

...... + Bertha Flickinger b: 2 Mar 1904 Wayne, OH, m: 2 Jun 1923 Overton, Wayne, OH, d: 01 Jul 2000 Wooster, Wayne, OH

......2 Elva Gale Mark b: 28 Jun 1894 Wayne, OH, d: 12 Jan 1959 Wooster, Wayne, OH

...... + Myron A. Boreman b: Abt. 1893 Wayne, OH, m: 13 Sep 1912 Wayne, OH, d: Unknown

......2 James Everett Mark b: 28 Oct 1896 Wayne, OH, d: 28 Oct 1968 Wooster, Wayne, OH

...... + Effie Margaret Carter b: 15 Feb 1904 Knox, OH, m: 31 Dec 1924, d: 5a Apr 1966

---

[1] 1860 US Census,   Wayne, Wayne Co., Ohio; the Isaac Ritter family.

[2] 1870 US Census, Wayne County, Ohio; 1870; Volume 60 (1-124);Page 14, Line 9; Family History Center, Loudonville, NY Microfilm #552779; Isaac Ritter inTownship of Chester.

[3] Certificate of Marriage for William Mark and Rebecca Ritter, 20 April 1878, Volume 9, Page 132, Wayne County Marriage Records. From the Wayne County Public Library, Wooster, Ohio.

[4] 1880 U. S. Census, Wayne Co., Ohio; 1880; Compiled by Richard G. Smith, 1979, Published by Wayne Co. Historical Society Genealogical Section, Wooster, Ohio; Page 38; State Library of Ohio, Columbus, Ohio.  “Marks, William”

[5] 1900 U. S. Census, Wayne Co., Ohio; 1900; Vol. 155, E.D. 142, Sheet 10; Line 37; Family History Center Microfilm #1241331. William “Marks.

[6] “Interviews with Ivy Regina Mark Brown”.

[7] Pension Application for William Mark; Cert #602620; Civil War, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Co. I, 195 Regiment; filed by widow Rebecca Mark; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[8] "Mother of 11 Children Died Wednesday Night." Wooster Daily Record 29 August 1912: Page 1.

[9] Letter from Rebecca Kurtz Cogar at Overton Church of God Cemetery Association (7940 Akron Rd., Sterling, Ohio 44276) letter to Colleen G. Pasquale (7 Seneca Drive, Averill Park, NY 12018) 7 April 2009.

[10] Murray, Wendy. Overton Church of God Cemetery Records. Privately Published, 1992.

[11] Genealogical Section of the Wayne Co Historical Society. Wayne County, Ohio Burial Records. OH: Privately printed.

[12] Graves Registration Card for William Mark, 21 November 1904, Ohio Military Records: Grave Registration, Microfilm #0182752, Family History Center, Loudonville, NY.

1901 Gruissy, Morrison Letter

 

This letter was written to my great grandmother,
N. Regina (Gruissy) Mark 1879 OH – 1959 OH

To: Miss Regina Gruissy, Leroy, Medina Co., OH

From: E. Morrison, Sullivan, OH

Postmarked: 17 Jan 1901, Sullivan, OH

Dear friend regina I suppose you will think strange to get a letter from me But I am worrying aBout [about] seths[1] I have lookt [looked] and lookt [looked] But I ant heard one word from them since they went away I don’t know what is rong [wrong]  I allways [always]  tride [tried]  to do all I could for them wall if you have heard eny [any] thing from them will you plas [please] let me no [know] if you pleas [please]and I will do as much for you if ever Can I hope to find you all well excuse mis taks [mistakes] and poor wrightin [writing] from a friend E Morrison[2] to regina Ancer [answer] soon and all the news goodby [goodbye]

Anser [answer] soon as you can

My love and Best wishes for you

Note: This letter was written in pencil on lined paper. There are many spelling errors & no periods in this letter.

Related Posts:

• 1899 Letter, Unrequited Love
• 1896 Letter

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[1] Regina’s half sister was Margaret Jane Gruissy b 26 Dec 1861. Margaret married Seth Morrison. In 1900 they were living in Sullivan Twp., Ashland Co., OH. In 1910 they lived in Medina County. This letter may refer to their move.

[2] E Morrison was most likely Emily Morrison, b 1867, sister of Seth B Morrison.

Extra! Free Book! Extra!

Eakle, Arlene, and Johni Cerny. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1984.

I have two copies of this book. My second copy is a newer edition. This one is in very good condition. It does have my name inside & a signature by Arlene Eakle.

If you would like this book I would be happy to send it to you. 

Of course, I would need your name & address.

If I don't have anyone who would like it I will donate to my local library.

I have three other books I will be giving away because I have duplicates. 

Watch my blog for those books.

Family Treasure: Mom's Little Vase

This little treasure is not a piece of fancy Belleek pottery or anything fancy at all. However it is still special to me. This little vase belonged to my mother, Alberta Joy Gardner Brown. It always sat on the right side of our kitchen windowsill, just over the sink. It was often filled with assorted items like a stray button that was waiting to be sewed back on a shirt or sweater, a paper clip or safety pin. Sometimes my mother would take off her engagement ring and drop it into the vase while she scrubbed a dirty pot.

Now it sits on my kitchen windowsill. I like to fill it with a blossom from my garden and think of my mother and smile.

Related Posts:

• Treasure Chest Thursday - Belleek from Ireland
• Treasure Chest Thursday - Sewing Machine
• New Year's Resolution

National Genealogy Conference – Next Week!

Just a few more days & I’ll pack up my car & head south to Virginia. I plan to attend the National Genealogy Conference in Richmond where I hope to learn many ways to improve my research, organize it & share my findings. I have been to the Ohio Genealogy Conference but never a national conference.

Tuesday night, before the conference begins, I will attend the FamilySearch NGS Blogger Dinner. The invitation said, “It is customary for FamilySearch to hold this social event the evening preceding the NGS conference. It gives us a chance to touch base with you, share what’s new at FamilySearch, and provide a forum for you to socialize with your peer bloggers attending the conference.“ Sounds good.

The next day, sessions begin. My four days are planned out, focusing on VA, NS & SC research. I downloaded the App on my iPad. The App has my schedule, maps, speakers, exhibitors, and other attendees. I can already download the handouts for each session, checking the details to be sure the sessions will focus on my interests & answer my questions.

With the App, I can see my friends & their schedules & find the best time to meet up! Wendy from Jollett Etc. & Cheri from Carolina Girl Genealogy & I plan to meet at the conference. If you are there be sure to say hello. I’ll be the northern girl with a clipboard, a camera and the look of a lost tourist. Ha!