Wordless Wednesday Gallatin County High School

This is another postcard from my dad's collection, probably from the mid 1910's.

The Back says made in Germany for a firm in Minneapolis.

Saturday Night Fun Genealogy Roulette

1) What year was one of your great-grandfathers born?  Divide this number by 50 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person, and what are his/her vital information?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

Well it was interesting that picking any of my great grandfathers gave me the same number: 37

Hans Mikkelsen born 1837 divided by 50 = 36.74
Stanislaus Dillingham born 1835 divided by 50= 36.7
Robert Forsyth Kelly born 1855 divided by 50= 37.1
Orville Travis born 1864 divided by 50=37.28

So Ahnentafel  number 37 is Karen Jorgensdatter
Karen was born about 1766 in Tullebolle, Denmark on the island of Laangeland
Karen married Peder Nielsen who was born about 1763 also in Tullebolle
Karen had at least one son Jorgen Pedersen born about 1791 also in Tullebolle 

Wordless Wednesday Cow Camp

Another postcard from my dad's collection, the back is blank. Probably from the mid 1910s.

Saturday Night Fun Ancestral Name Number

1)  Determine how complete your genealogy research is.  For background, read Crista Cowan's post Family History All Done? What’s Your Number?  For comparison purposes, keep the list to 10 generations with you as the first person.  

2)  Create a table similar to Crista's second table, and fill it in however you can (you could create an Ahnentafel (Ancestor Name) list and count the number in each generation, or use some other method).  Tell us how you calculated the numbers.

3)  Show us your table, and calculate your "Ancestral Name Number" - what is your percentage of known names to possible names (1,023 for 10 generations).

4)  For extra credit (or more SNGF), do more generations and add them to your chart.

5)  Post your table, and your "Ancestral Name Number," on your own blog, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status or Google+ Stream post.

Wordless Wednesday NP Depot, Billings, Montana

This is another of the postcards from my dad's collection, probably from the mid 1910s.

This one is not blank on the back and the picture here is almost as good as the picture on the front. The note says: Say Claude, You will have to send to Montgomery for your wagon, can't get one here. Dady

My dad grew up in Columbus, Montana, the county seat of Stillwater County Montana, about 30 miles west of Billings or the next water stop for a steam engine.

Saturday Night Fun Genealympics part 3

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to COMPETE in the 2012 SNGF Genealympics. Your effort can extend until Sunday, 12 August. 

For these 2012 SNGF Genealympics, the motto is "Research, Cite, Analyze, Resolve, Conclude!"  

Competitors can:

1)  Perform one or more of the challenges outlined in Announcing the Summer 2008 Genea-Blogger Group Games!  Same medal levels.

2)  Perform one or more challenges outlined below (created by me on the spur of the moment here!): 

a)  See the 28 July post - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the SNGF  - Genealympics I - compete in any or all of the events described. 

b)  See the 4 August post - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the SNGF Genealympics, Week 2 - compete in any or all of the additional events described.

c)  New Event:  1940 Census Search Race:  Search for the family of Virgil Carringer (age 26, born TN), wife Evelyn (age 31, born OK), and daughter Marie (age 4, born CA).  

*  Email me at rjseaver@cox.net with your findings, including a complete source citation.
*  First correct one submitted gets the Platinum, second gets the Diamond, third gets the Gold, fourth gets the Silver and fifth gets the Bronze.  Others get experience searching census records and creating source citations.
*  Winners announced on Sunday, 12 August.

d)  New Event:  Online Person Search for Facts:  Search for information about Jane (Whittle) McKnew, who married Elijah Pickrell McKnew.  Find Facts for:

*  Her birth date and birth place
*  Her parents names
*  Her marriage date and place
*  The names of all 11 of her children 
*  Her entry in the 1860 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her entry in the 1870 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her entry in the 1880 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her entry in the 1900 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her entry in the 1910 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her name in the 1920 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her death date and place

Provide some sort of source citation for each Fact in order to qualify for a medal.

Medal Awards:

*  Bronze - 2 of the 11 Facts
*  Silver - 4 of the 11 Facts
*  Gold - 6 of the 11 Facts
*  Diamond - 8 of the 11 Facts
*  Platinum - 10 of the 11 Facts

e)  New Event:  Genealogy Book Collection:  Which of these books do you have on your genealogy bookshelf (or in PDF format on your computer)?

*  Professional Genealogy, edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills
*  Evidence! Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills
*  The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, any edition
*  Red Book: American State, County and Town Resources, edited by Alice Eichholz
*  Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, by Val Greenwood
*  Who Do You Think You Are? by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
*  Courthouse Research for Family Historians, by Christine Rose
*  They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins, by Loretto Dennis Szucs
*  Your Guide to the Federal Census, by Kathleen W. Hinckley
*  Land & Property Research in the United States, by E. Wade Hone
*  The Sleuth Book for Genealogists, by Emily Anne Croom
*  Google Your Family Tree, by Daniel M. Lynch
*  Producing a Quality Family History, by Patricia Law Hatcher
*  Organizing Your Family History Search, by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
*  BCG Genealogical Standards Manual

I realize that those are "American-centric."  Sorry!

Medal Awards:

*  Bronze:  5 of the 15 above
*  Silver:  7 of the 15 above
*  Gold:  9 of the 15 above
*  Diamond: 11 of the 15 above
*  Platinum: 13 of the 15 above

Well I have the Source at home so I guess no medals tonight. I have read 4 of the books at the library though, so maybe an honorable mention Bronze medal.

Wordless Wednesday Security Bank, Minneapolis, Minnesota

This is the last postcard from Minneapolis in my dad's collection, probably from his sister that went to school in Minneapolis in the mid 1910s.The back is blank.

Saturday Night Fun Genealympics 2

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to COMPETE in the 2012 SNGF Genealympics. Your effort can extend until Sunday, 12 August. 

For these 2012 SNGF Genealympics, the motto is "Research, Cite, Analyze, Resolve, Conclude!" 

Competitors can:

1)  Perform one or more of the challenges outlined in Announcing the Summer 2008 Genea-Blogger Group Games!  Same medal levels.

2)  Perform one or more challenges outlined below (created by me on the spur of the moment here!):

a)  See last week's post - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the SNGF  - Genealympics I - compete in any or all of the events described.  

b)  The Source Citation Vault:  What is your ratio of source citations to persons in your genealogy software or online tree database?  Tell us:

*  How many persons are in your database?
*  How many source citations are in your database?
*  Determine your source citation to persons ratio by dividing source citations by persons (e.g., 2,000 source citations divided by 3,000 persons gives a ratio of 0.667.)

Medal Awards:
*   Bronze:  Ratio of 0.333 or more
*  Silver:  Ratio of 0.667 or more
*  Gold: Ratio of 1.000 or more
*  Diamond:  Ratio of 1.333 or more
*  Platinum:  Ratio of 1.667 or more

c)  The Genea-Blog Reader's Marathon:  How many Genea-blogs do you read on a daily basis?  Count them in your Reader or your Favorites/Bookmark list.

Medal Awards:
*   Bronze:  at least 50 genea-blogs
*  Silver:  at least 100 genea-blogs
*  Gold: at least 200 genea-blogs
*  Diamond:  at least 400 genea-blogs
*  Platinum:  at least 800 genea-blogs

d)  The Genea-Conference Race:  How many multi-day genealogy conferences have you attended over the past five years?  These can be local, regional or national conferences, or even cruises!

Medal Awards:
*   Bronze:  at least 2 conferences
*  Silver:  at least 4 conferences
*  Gold: at least 8 conferences
*  Diamond:  at least 16 conferences
*  Platinum:  at least 32 conferences

NOTE:  This is supposed to be a fun competition, and is based on your word and honor.  No drug tests, no judges.  The intent is to inspire you to do more research, cite more sources, analyze more data, etc.  Bonus points awarded for excellence in humor and style!

3)  Whatever you choose to compete in, please tell us about it in your own blog posts, in Facebook Status posts, in Google+ Stream posts, or as a comment to this post.  You don't have to post your status or accomplishments on a Saturday Night!  Any time is fine! You have until Sunday, 12 August to compete and achieve your medal levels.





b. Well my sources are on the last 1665 of 2065 for .80 or a Silver Medal
c.  I read 306 blogs according to Google Reader, but 77 are not genealogy blogs, so 229 Genealogy blogs a Gold
d. I have went to 5 multi day conferences in the last 5 years so another Silver 

So total two Platinum, two silver and one Gold

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy Cousins

Week #31 – Cousins Week 31: Cousins. One of the best experiences in family history is meeting with new cousins found through your research. Tell us about your favorite cousin meet-up. How did you discover each other? Where did you meet? What type of information was exchanged and how did it benefit your research? 

Well lets talk about two cousins, actually both were once removed cousins from me. The first one is Loraine (Names) Erickson. Loraine was one of the first cousins we contacted before the first Hansen reunion in July of 1991. Loraine was a volunteer at the local Family History Center where she was living in Arizona. My uncle Ralph had visited many of the cousins and had some old addresses for several of the cousins and Loraine was one of the first we found. She sent some family group sheets of my great grandfather and the five brothers that came to Austin, Minnesota from Denmark.  You probably have heard the story of the three brothers that came to this country and one went west and got lost, well our family had five brothers and one went west, my grandfather, and he kind of got lost from the other four, so this reunion would be for descendants of four Hansen brothers. So now we had a bunch of group sheets and addresses for family from three of the five brothers. I was just starting to get a book ready to print when we received a letter from Evelyn (Hansen) Anderson the youngest daughter of the fourth brother John Hansen. Her husband Carroll Anderson was a minister and they had moved FIVE times since the address we got from Uncle Ralph, and each church had forwarded our letter. So Evelyn was the second cousin that I will write about. She managed on a couple of weeks notice to gather up the group sheets for most of her brothers and sisters families, send them to us and get a bunch of her relatives to come most of the way across the country to our Hansen reunion. We asked for pictures at the reunion and my Uncle Leigh had the photo albums of my grandfather and in it was the photos of four of the five brothers wedding pictures and several other pictures of four of the brothers. The fifth brother Martin Hansen we never found, he had moved to Minneapolis, got married had three children and pretty much disappeared from the rest of the family. So now back to Evelyn, she was so surprised we had a picture of her parents wedding, they had one and took it to a photographer to get more copies and the photographer lost their only copy. The next summer (1992) Evelyn and Carroll were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in upstate Wisconsin and so we had made copies of all the wedding pictures and took a set of them to Evelyn and Carroll's anniversary party for them. They were so surprised and since we now had negatives of all the pictures we took orders for several copies of each. Soon after this anniversary I got a letter from Evelyn that was written when Evelyn's parents had gotten married written by Evelyn's  aunt Martha the younger sister of Evelyn's mom. Martha described the wedding and all the preparations for the wedding, so now we had an account of the wedding of John and Isabelle Hansen to go with the pictures of the wedding. Sadly Evelyn was having stomach pains at the party and went to the doctor the next week and they found cancer and she died less than a year later.