Ticked One Off of the Bucket List

Last week I had the opportunity to check off an item on my bucket list. I became a registered researcher at the Library of Congress. It was a surreal experience for me. The first time I entered the Library of Congress was when I was on a week-long high school trip to Washington DC almost twenty years ago. I only was able to peek into the Main Reading Room. We had to fib a bit and say that we were not high school students to gain entry to the Main Reading Room.

When I entered this time, it was not on a lie. I was there to look at a book on the Quakers of Michigan that the library has in their Local History / Genealogy section. I could not help standing in the room and looking up to the ceiling with an opened mouth. It is so beautiful. I eventually made my way to the book, but I took the time to gawk at the ceiling. My trip was slightly successful; I was able to confirm information on my early Ewer Ancestors in Michigan, who were Quakers. I found a listing for Albert Ewer and his wife Sarah Ann Ewer. This listing confirmed the transfer of their certificate to the Battle Creek Monthly Meeting. However, the true highlight was just to enter the room. If you have not had the opportunity to enter the Main Reading Room in the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, I highly recommend it. You will enjoy it!

WWII Photo in Montreux Switzerland

I found this wonderful photo my Grandfather he sent home to his mother.  He lists a Tech SGT Miles and a SSG Ziegele as being in the photo with him.  The photo was taken in Montreux Switzerland on 15 Oct 1945.

Is This Your Wood Family Member

It turns out my second post will be one that will hopefully help others. As I have been going through some family papers, I found this clipping from my great grandmothers papers. The clipping appears to be from Port Huron, MI.  As far as I can tell, it doesn't belong to my family, but maybe someone out there will find the information interesting.

Transcription included below photo.

Mrs. Emily A Wood, 2015 Oak Street, who heard Abraham Lincoln speak, and who in her young girlhood was taken to school in New York state by her father to protect her from Indians, is celebrating her one hundredth birthday today.

She was born Dec. 28, 1845 in Hanover, Mich., near Jackson, the Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Whitman. When she was a small child, the family moved to New York. They returned to Jackson when she was 15. She was married to the late Benson J. Wood Nov 30, 1871. They had two children, Frank C. Wood and Mary Wood Hibbard, both of whom are dead. Her son owned a grocer store here and was killed in a train accident in Port Huron.

She has three grandchildren, Mrs. Rhea E. Churchill, whit whom she lives; Benson J. Wood, Detroit, and George E. Hibbard, Battle Creek; six great grandchildren, Thomas C. Churchill and Mary Jane Churchill, both of Port Huron; Miss Catherine Hibbard, Battle Creek, and Frank J. Churchill, and Miss Roberta and Miss Rebecca Wood, all of Detroit, and one great great grandson, Lynn Churchill, Detroit.

Mr. and Mrs. Hibbard are expected here today to join in the celebration.

Introduction

I started researching my family history when I was nine years old. Luckily, a good portion of my family had lived in the area for generations. This enabled me to go down to the county court house in my hometown and search for records. Now, twenty-seven years later, I have more research resources at my disposal.

My goal in creating this blog is to share and expand my research. I will be sharing family photos that I have come across. In addition, I will also share some of my research brick walls. With this in mind, this first post will include the surnames that are in my family history folder currently.

Allen, Allyn, Andrews, Ann, Arzt, Babbitt, Badgley, Balch, Barney, Bates, Beard, Belcher, Betsey, Bilsborrow, Blackmer, Blackmore, Blakeslee, Blakesley, Bovenhizer, Bovenhoizer, Bowerman, Boyd, Bray, Brickett, Brown, Browne, Brunk, Bucklin, Bullock, Burlingham, Burroughs, Carroll, Carscallen, Castle, Chaffe, Chaffee, Clapp, Clarke, Cole, Crawford, Croman, Cunningham, Darby, Davis, Davol, Deal, Dean, Deane, Deardoff, Delmage, Devell, Dieffenbach, Dollmetsch, Dolmage, Dolman, Dolmetsch, Doty, Drake, Dulmage, Edget, Edgett, Elizabeth, Embury, Epstein, Eubank, Eubanks, Ewer, Fecher, Ferguty, Ferkey, Fish, Foch, Ford, French, Frost, Fuller, Garcia, Gillman, Goralick, Gorelick, Gorham, Graf, Gregoire, Haight, Hannum, Harr, Hart, Hartshorn, Helmar, Hewlett, Hinckley, Hippensteel, Hippensteele, Hipsley, Hohl, Hohl, Hull, Holland, Hosford, Howland, Hubbard, Hubble, Huble, Hull, Imberger, Jenkins, Jolin, Kaplan, Kapplan, Katz, Kimmich, King, Klinglin, Knapp, Lawrence, Lawson, Learned, Lehman, Lenzy, Leonard, Lincoln, Lindsay, Linss, Lombard, Lorentz, Lothrop, Lovell, Mallory, Margaret, Margreda, Marks, Marshall, Martens, Mary, Mascraft, Mayo, McLellan, Menta, Mesty, Metcalf, Miles, Miller, Milliken, Moses, Mosher, Moss, Naszpitz Katz, Newcombe, Nicholls, Olds, Osborn, Owen, Owens, Parke, Parks, Paty, Pease, Pilford, Pitt, Pitts, Pluff, Powell, Powers, Quick, Raines, Raymond, Rber, Reader, Rechfuss, Rehfuß, Rehfuss, Richmond, Rickard, Rickett, Rider, Rinehart, Ringer, Roberts, Rockwell, Roeckel, Rogers, Rolfe, Root, Rose, Roth, Rouse, Rowley, Ruckle, Ruth, Sanford, Savage, Schepp, Schweicklin, Schweiklin, Seitz, Shafer, Shaffer, Sharp, Simons, Smith, Snyder, Southworth, Spangler, Spencer, Spiess, Starke, Steller, Stockwell, Stout, Switzer, Tabler, Taylor, Tinsley, Tobey, Todd, Von Ebmark, Wade, Walden, Waters, Watson, Watts, Weeks, Weigel, Werner, Wescott, West, Westcott, Wheeler, White, Whiting, Whitmore, Wood, Wyatt, Wyble, Yates, Yeatman, Young