Month: January 2016

Staking Her Claim: Women Homesteading the West

Based upon the suggestions of a reader, I purchased Staking Her Claim: Women Homesteading the West, by Marcia Meredith Hensley.The book includes transcriptions of letters, diaries, and similar sources to document the homesteading experience from the viewpoint of women who were actual homesteaders. A post from yesterday mentioned a homestead claim that was started by a 21 year […]

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The Kinfolk Witness an 1884 Land Claim Statement

We’ve mentioned the incomplete land homestead claim in Dawson County, Nebraska, for Cornelia Albers before. Cornelia’s father was a first cousin of my ancestor, Focke J. Goldenstein, who also settled in Dawson County. A statement Cornelia makes in support of that claim on 1 July 1884 makes for a good illustration of the importance of […]

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Vowels Matter on Unexact FamilySearch Searches

Searching the Cook County, Illinois, death index on FamilySearch reminded me that when searching with the “exact box” unchecked vowels sometimes matter. The last names of Verikios and Verikos only differ by one letter: a vowel. It’s not even the initial letter where a different letter is more significant. In most sites that have unexact searches, […]

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Cook County IL Death (1878-1994) Index More than Decedent

FamilySearch includes a database of Cook County, Illinois deaths between 1878 and 1994. This database appears to search (when information is contained in the original record): name of deceased name of father name of mother name of spouse informant There are of course limitations with transcriptions made from old death certificates and there are no […]

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Buying a Kraut Cutter and a Phone in 1920

On 12 October 1920, there was an auction of the chattel property of Sarah Newman as a part of the process of settling up her estate. According to the sale bill, Sarah’s residence was four miles west of Stillwell in Hancock County’s St. Albans Township. She must have lived right on or near the St. Albans-Walker township […]

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Ancestry.com Updates ELCA Database

There may just be the addition of missing images here, but Ancestry.com has updated the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). I noted a few images that were unavailable the last time I checked, but my use of the database is limited to congregations in western Illinois and parts of Nebraska. Remember that names of sponsors and witnesses […]

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