Friday, September 30, 2011
Schwinns, Winters and Kellers
Well...where to start. Yesterday I did go to the Menard County courthouse, and looked for CB's death certificate, but no luck. This guy really doesn't want to have any solid, significant facts printed about him. On Sunday I will go to the Presbyterian Church in Middletown and see if I can find out any information from them. After that stop, I went on to Peoria to hunt out anyone else I could, and recheck the death records. Zero. Next stop - Woodford County, to research the Schwinns and Muellers.
I want to stop here for a moment and just say how beautiful most of these courthouses are. With the exception of Peoria's, which is an ugly cement square block building, all of them are the original old buildings, either brick or wood, with long graceful staircases and scrolled bannisters, doors that have etched glass insets in the top part, with the name of the department either painted on or etched in. The floors creak comfortably, and the air smells of old documents and excitement. Visiting these lovely old buildings of history has been one of the highlights of my trip.
So onto Woodford. I was greeted by a very nice woman in the county clerk's office, who was very helpful. While I was searching the huge register books, she was searching in their new computerized database. She actually came up with more than I did! I came up dead empty, and she found two death certificates of children from my Henry Schwinn's brother, Nick, and then a birth certificate of Henry Schwinn and Mary (Miller) Schwinn's eleventh child - a son. The only census I can find these guys in so far is the 1880 census, and this child was born in 1882, so I don't even have him listed. It lists their residence as Germantown, which is another thing I had been wondering about. Since they came from Germany, as had many in this area, why were they not living in Germantown? Not that they necessarily had to - I am not trying to pigeon-hole them - but it just made sense to me that they would be there. All of the other information I have says Worth Township. Well - Germantown is a Village in Worth Township, so they were actually living in both! Anyway, I get off topic easily. The birth certificate also lists him as a blacksmith, as does the 1880 census entry, so that seems pretty solid. As I was lamenting to this nice lady (I never did get her name, I'm sorry to say!) she suggested that I go to the Woodford Historical Society, which is across the street. But of course, they are only open on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, and this was Thursday, so that was that.
So this morning I went yet again to Peoria, but this time to the Library. They have a beautiful newly renovated library, with an entire floor devoted to genealogy and history. The two librarians there were very helpful, and I soon had a table full of books to look through. I searched through cemetery listings, marriages, births, deaths, tax rolls and probates for any hint of Muellers, Winters or Schwinns. (Kellers really didn't get there until the 1900's, and I have most of my direct line's info to that point, and what I don't have, I'd already searched for at the courthouse and come up blank). I even looked at the Coroners records for 1897-1904 to see if Gustav were there. He wasn't, but there were a lot of interesting deaths that occurred. A lot of Irish men in their mid-twenties, drunk and getting into brawls, or being run over by trains. Also a lot of children drowning in cisterns - ugh! Anyway, in all of those books, and my 2 1/2 hours of searching, I found an entry for Gustave Winters (Gustav and Elizabeth's son) in the St. Joseph's Cemetery, place of death Peoria State Hospital. So at least I found something.
Next it was back in the car and on to Eureka to go to the Woodford County Historical Society. The woman there - Barb - was terrific! She brought out book after book of marriages, births, deaths, cemetery indexes, and not just for Woodford County, but also Tazewell County, which is right "next door". She is the one who explained to me about Germantown being a village in Worth Township. She also had some very colorful language about a lot of things, and then would walk over to me and nudge my arm and say “ya know?” She was a hoot! So, we looked through all of these books, and did not find a single thing that I didn’t already have. Wait - not quite true. I now have the section, row and lot numbers for the people who I already knew were buried in the St. Mary of Lourdes Cemetery in Woodford County. So that will help.
So back to the car to call it quits for the day. But, then as I took out my cell and turned it back on and there was a voice mail from Peoria. It was the volunteer at the courthouse saying the records I had requested earlier in the week were ready for me to pick up. So back to Peoria I go.
I had requested copies of Elizabeth Schwinn and Gustav Winters marriage certificate (I hoped), Anna Mueller and Henry Schwinn’s marriage certificate (I hoped) and Louis Winter’s birth certificate. What I got was Anna Mueller to someone else – not my Anna Mueller – and a birth certificate for un-named baby boy Winter (turns out it is Louis) and a marriage certificate for Elizabeth Schwinn (the right one, with parents Henry and Mary Schwinn) marrying Adolphus Danner. Oops! Wrong groom. So now, it appears that Elizabeth was married once before Gustav. This marriage was dated 5 Jul 1887, and I have Elizabeth and Gustav as marrying around 1886 – so I guess my estimate was off!. Their first child that I know for certain was my grandmother in June of 1890, so there is still time in the timeline for Lizzie to get divorced, or widowed, and then marry Gustav. The other interesting find was that on the birth certificate for Louis Winter, son and second child of Lizzie and Gustav, it lists the father’s name as August Winter. I have two entries from city directories that list him as Gustav A Winter, so I guess he used his middle name, August. Now I will search all over again using August Winter rather than Gustav.
All in all a successful day, I think. I met some great people, and at least made a little progress. If I have learned nothing else this week, I have learned to be at peace with this slow progression, and know that eventually I will find out a little more about these people, but probably not today!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Some thoughts on the Howard/Keller union
I came across a couple of interesting facts yesterday, which is helping piece together how and when Ella Nora Howard and Charles Byron Keller came to get married. First of all, when I got the marriage certificate for Juliet Keller, the oldest of their children, it states that her birthplace is Lincoln, Nebraska. She was born in July of 1879; Ella and CB were married in October of 1878. Those dates are close enough together that I began to think maybe they got married in Nebraska. Then, when I was checking the family tree last night, a new fact "leaf" (one of Family Tree Maker's ways of telling you there is information online for this person) popped up on Ella, and guess what it was? The Nebraska state census in 1878, showing the entire Howard family living in Midland, Lancaster County, Nebraska! So there - I think - is the final piece pointing to the fact that Ella and CB were married in Nebraska, and that's why nothing shows up here in Morgan County records! So, I'll start working on that later tonight when I'm back from Peoria.
The other piece of information about these two has puzzled me for a while. The fact that at his death CB was living in Middletown suggests that he and Ella were at least separated, and I found it rather interesting that she didn't attend his funeral. Now I know that she remarried, for the 1910 census shows her married to Roland Butcher and living in Oklahoma City with Homer and Ray still at home, and Juliet and her husband and kids living with them. What I didn't look carefully at before was the column that asks for the number of years of present marriage. They had been married for 5 years in 1910, which means that she and CB were divorced, which led him to move to Middletown. Aha! I love solving puzzles!
Those were two of the items that kept bothering me yesterday, and now that I've had a chance to really look at them they are making sense. So I need to add divorce records to my list when I go back to Jacksonville. But, today it is on to Peoria (after a quick stop in Petersburg to check for CB's death certificate!) and continue the search for the elusive Gustav Winter, my dad's mother's father.
The other piece of information about these two has puzzled me for a while. The fact that at his death CB was living in Middletown suggests that he and Ella were at least separated, and I found it rather interesting that she didn't attend his funeral. Now I know that she remarried, for the 1910 census shows her married to Roland Butcher and living in Oklahoma City with Homer and Ray still at home, and Juliet and her husband and kids living with them. What I didn't look carefully at before was the column that asks for the number of years of present marriage. They had been married for 5 years in 1910, which means that she and CB were divorced, which led him to move to Middletown. Aha! I love solving puzzles!
Those were two of the items that kept bothering me yesterday, and now that I've had a chance to really look at them they are making sense. So I need to add divorce records to my list when I go back to Jacksonville. But, today it is on to Peoria (after a quick stop in Petersburg to check for CB's death certificate!) and continue the search for the elusive Gustav Winter, my dad's mother's father.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
On the hunt for CB Keller - Wednesday 9/28/11
Well, after yesterday's find of the obituary for CB, I felt sure that I would find his death certificate today, and that would lead to other finds. Well, in the world of genealogy, of course it is never that easy. I went to the Logan County Courthouse this morning (it was open!) and searched for his death certificate. Nothing anywhere in any index for Charles B. Keller. OK. The very nice woman in the clerk's office said that the genealogy specialist, Tanya, would be in at about 3:30, and did I want to leave her a message and have her call me. Of course I said yes, and wrote out a short note with all the information.
After that I hightailed it to Jacksonville, to do some searching in that courthouse. I was greeted with great enthusiasm when I said I had a number of birth, death and marriage dates to look up, and was let in to the room with all of the old registers, and told to search for the marriage information I wanted. When I was done, I was to go down to the next counter and ask about the birth and death records. I started with Charles and Ella, since he was on my mind, and guess what? Neither of their names are in the date-appropriate register. Go Figure! So I guess they weren't married in Morgan County after all. Am I ever going to find this man?! So I went on through my list, and found 2 couples' information, two of the Keller daughters - the two that actually had shown up for CB's funeral, according to the obituary. So I requested those. Then on to the birth/death desk, and more searching. The records start at 1878, so not many of the births I was looking for were even going to have a record, so I started with death records. I found 3 death records including - again - 2 of the Keller children, who died in infancy. So I was able to piece together some missing information there.
About this time, a woman comes up to me and asks if I am doing genealogy research. I say, yes I am, and she starts talking a mile a minute about deed records and probate records, and did she hear the name Keller, and she was a Keller, too...!! Well, somewhere in her line are Kellers, and she thinks they may be related, since they were in Pennsylvania at one pint, and that's where (according to census records) CB's father was born. So she grabs me and hauls me back into the room with all the old registers and gives me an hour long lesson on the benefits of land deed research, and we find Ella's father, Charles Henry Howard, making a ton of land transactions in a span of 10-15 years. I have to go back to the courthouse end of the week or Monday to get those copies. Then she drags me upstairs to the probate department, and we search for probate records. OMG I am so tired and my feet hurt from standing for hours, but I hang in there. I ended up finding Belle Howard's probate information (Ella Nora Howard's sister), administered by her nephew Homer M. Keller (my grandfather's brother), and there was some interesting stuff there, so I got some copies. I thank her effusively, and we exchange email and snail-mail addresses, and I race back to my car that I parked at 10:45 in a 2 hour parking zone, praying there is no ticket, as it is now 2:45. Yay! No ticket.
Next I go to the Jacksonville Genealogy Society to ask them some questions and hopefully get some more direction. Well, the lovely 90 year old woman with her Life Alert pendant dangling from her neck, can't hear me well enough to understand what I'm asking, so I finally just ask about the Jacksonville East Cemetery. She pulls out a book with the map that I have - only this one has different names for the "roads" within the cemetery, and they are ringing bells. So I write down the correct directions, and head on my way. I get to the Cemetery, and find the place where everyone is supposed to be, and lo and behold there is a large, broken stone marking the Howard family area. Excitement builds and I rush back to the car to get the camera. As I walk around and look, I see that the broken family monument, and a couple of other broken or sunken stones, then two that are legible (one for Essie Belle Howard - Ella Nora's sister - and one for M E Howard - Ella Nora's mother) is all that is there. That's it. Ella Nora, her sons William and Lawrence, and a few others are recorded as being buried there, but nothing to show for them. There is an obvious family area, with what was once probably corner posts with a chain surrounding the graves, but now has become broken and sunken, and the land in-between has become hilly and broken itself. I will have to go back one more time and find someone at the cemetery to help me - if that is possible! (I have loaded pictures on the cemetery page.)
So at that point - 5:30 - I head back to Lincoln. As I get into the car, I realize I never turned my cell back on after leaving the courthouse. I do so now, and there is a message from Tanya at the Logan County courthouse. She nicely explains that she has done some additional searching, and cannot find any reference to Charles B. Keller anywhere, but did I know that half of Middletown is in Menard County? So I should contact them for a death certificate, because by 1909 there really should be one. Hooray I say, there is yet another lead! No, I didn't know that Middletown, with it's grand population of 324, was split into two different counties. So, tomorrow, I will start with the Menard County courthouse and see what they say. Everyone cross your fingers!
There are more clues to other parts of the Howard and Keller lives that I have gleaned from today's finds, but I am too tired, and this post is already waaaaay to long, to add them in tonight. I will think more about them and let you all know tomorrow.
After that I hightailed it to Jacksonville, to do some searching in that courthouse. I was greeted with great enthusiasm when I said I had a number of birth, death and marriage dates to look up, and was let in to the room with all of the old registers, and told to search for the marriage information I wanted. When I was done, I was to go down to the next counter and ask about the birth and death records. I started with Charles and Ella, since he was on my mind, and guess what? Neither of their names are in the date-appropriate register. Go Figure! So I guess they weren't married in Morgan County after all. Am I ever going to find this man?! So I went on through my list, and found 2 couples' information, two of the Keller daughters - the two that actually had shown up for CB's funeral, according to the obituary. So I requested those. Then on to the birth/death desk, and more searching. The records start at 1878, so not many of the births I was looking for were even going to have a record, so I started with death records. I found 3 death records including - again - 2 of the Keller children, who died in infancy. So I was able to piece together some missing information there.
About this time, a woman comes up to me and asks if I am doing genealogy research. I say, yes I am, and she starts talking a mile a minute about deed records and probate records, and did she hear the name Keller, and she was a Keller, too...!! Well, somewhere in her line are Kellers, and she thinks they may be related, since they were in Pennsylvania at one pint, and that's where (according to census records) CB's father was born. So she grabs me and hauls me back into the room with all the old registers and gives me an hour long lesson on the benefits of land deed research, and we find Ella's father, Charles Henry Howard, making a ton of land transactions in a span of 10-15 years. I have to go back to the courthouse end of the week or Monday to get those copies. Then she drags me upstairs to the probate department, and we search for probate records. OMG I am so tired and my feet hurt from standing for hours, but I hang in there. I ended up finding Belle Howard's probate information (Ella Nora Howard's sister), administered by her nephew Homer M. Keller (my grandfather's brother), and there was some interesting stuff there, so I got some copies. I thank her effusively, and we exchange email and snail-mail addresses, and I race back to my car that I parked at 10:45 in a 2 hour parking zone, praying there is no ticket, as it is now 2:45. Yay! No ticket.
Next I go to the Jacksonville Genealogy Society to ask them some questions and hopefully get some more direction. Well, the lovely 90 year old woman with her Life Alert pendant dangling from her neck, can't hear me well enough to understand what I'm asking, so I finally just ask about the Jacksonville East Cemetery. She pulls out a book with the map that I have - only this one has different names for the "roads" within the cemetery, and they are ringing bells. So I write down the correct directions, and head on my way. I get to the Cemetery, and find the place where everyone is supposed to be, and lo and behold there is a large, broken stone marking the Howard family area. Excitement builds and I rush back to the car to get the camera. As I walk around and look, I see that the broken family monument, and a couple of other broken or sunken stones, then two that are legible (one for Essie Belle Howard - Ella Nora's sister - and one for M E Howard - Ella Nora's mother) is all that is there. That's it. Ella Nora, her sons William and Lawrence, and a few others are recorded as being buried there, but nothing to show for them. There is an obvious family area, with what was once probably corner posts with a chain surrounding the graves, but now has become broken and sunken, and the land in-between has become hilly and broken itself. I will have to go back one more time and find someone at the cemetery to help me - if that is possible! (I have loaded pictures on the cemetery page.)
So at that point - 5:30 - I head back to Lincoln. As I get into the car, I realize I never turned my cell back on after leaving the courthouse. I do so now, and there is a message from Tanya at the Logan County courthouse. She nicely explains that she has done some additional searching, and cannot find any reference to Charles B. Keller anywhere, but did I know that half of Middletown is in Menard County? So I should contact them for a death certificate, because by 1909 there really should be one. Hooray I say, there is yet another lead! No, I didn't know that Middletown, with it's grand population of 324, was split into two different counties. So, tomorrow, I will start with the Menard County courthouse and see what they say. Everyone cross your fingers!
There are more clues to other parts of the Howard and Keller lives that I have gleaned from today's finds, but I am too tired, and this post is already waaaaay to long, to add them in tonight. I will think more about them and let you all know tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tuesday - Logan County
Originally I did not have this county on my list of areas to research, but after more thinking, I decided that since my great-grandfather, C.B. Keller, was buried here, it might be a good idea to see what information there was here. Since I wasn't sure what I was looking for, and figured the courthouse wouldn't help as he died in Morgan county, I went to the library. The librarian set me up with some of the cemetery registers, then interrupted me to ask if I had his death date. When I said that I did, she set me up with the microfilm machine and the roll of film from the Lincoln Courier in the date range that included his death. I started looking at the day he died, Oct 18, 1909, and went forward. I figured it would be in the paper a day or two after the fact, as he was only buried here, had not died here. I was on the page for Friday of that week (he had died on Monday), about to give up when I saw "Death Record - Charles B. Keller who worked for about three years in the Ledger office, died last Monday in Middletown, at 4:30 pm after an illness of several months." I just about stood up and cheered, but remembered in time that I was in a library! The rest of the article said that the funeral was held at the Presbyterian Church of Middletown, under the charge of the Middletown lodge of the Knights of Pythias (shades of my father's memorial service past in front of my eyes - sorry, inside joke, unless you were there), and Rev. Rainey had "charge of the service". The only family that attended were his son Homer Keller, and daughters Juliette and Edna, and their families.
That takes me down a new road. Obviously he and Ella Nora, his wife, are separated at this point (divorced?), and he has been living in Middleton, working at the newspaper office. I do have reference from one of the city directories that lists him as a printer, so I guess that is what he did at the Ledger. So then, my brain says, now go to the courthouse and get a death certificate. He did die in Logan county, after all. The courthouse was closed. So then, my brain says, go find the Presbyterian church in Middleton and see if they still have any records. I do, and the church is there, but closed.
So, since it was then 3:30, and too late to get to either Jacksonville or Peoria, I went back to the hotel, and began chronicling my day. Tomorrow I will go to the Logan County Courthouse (open M, W, F), then on into Jacksonville to work on the Morgan county folks, and find someone who can get me more information about the Jacksonville East Cemetery. Hopefully I will have more information tomorrow.
That takes me down a new road. Obviously he and Ella Nora, his wife, are separated at this point (divorced?), and he has been living in Middleton, working at the newspaper office. I do have reference from one of the city directories that lists him as a printer, so I guess that is what he did at the Ledger. So then, my brain says, now go to the courthouse and get a death certificate. He did die in Logan county, after all. The courthouse was closed. So then, my brain says, go find the Presbyterian church in Middleton and see if they still have any records. I do, and the church is there, but closed.
So, since it was then 3:30, and too late to get to either Jacksonville or Peoria, I went back to the hotel, and began chronicling my day. Tomorrow I will go to the Logan County Courthouse (open M, W, F), then on into Jacksonville to work on the Morgan county folks, and find someone who can get me more information about the Jacksonville East Cemetery. Hopefully I will have more information tomorrow.
Monday - Peoria
Obviously I didn't post on Monday, so I will post now for Monday, then later for today. I started out yesterday heading to Peoria to the courthouse. I spent 2 hours looking through old, dusty birth, death and marriage registers. I was looking for information on the Schwinn line, the Mueller line and the Winter line. My most "slippery" people are Henry Schwinn (father to Elizabeth Schwinn, who is my father's maternal grandmother), Gustav Winter (my father's maternal grandfather) who are both German-born, and on my dad's father's side Charles B. Keller (his grandfather) and Charles Henry Howard (his father's maternal grandfather). Hmm...all men...go figure!
The Schwinn's and Winter's were no where to be found in any of the registers, until the last book. I found our (I think) Louis Schwinn in the birth register, and ordered his birth certificate. I then found Anna Mueller (mother to Elizabeth Schwinn) in the last death register, and ordered her copy. Then I found Elizabeth Schwinn in the last marriage register, in the bride's section of course, when I had not found Gustav Winter (her husband) in the same register in the groom's section. So of course I ordered a copy of that record as well. I guess it really wasn't too bad a result for 2 hours. Plus, I didn't get a ticket from my expired parking meter!
Then off I went to the Springdale Cemetery to find the family plot containing my grandmother (Louise Keller), my great-grandmother (Elizabeth Schwinn Winter) and her 3 brothers and cousin. I stopped at the office and spoke with the woman I had communicated with via email, and got a map as to their locations. I drove down the hill, parked, retrieved my "cemetery bag" from the back seat and went off to photograph, record and do rubbings. Only to find that Louis, John and William Schwinn are there, along with Marie Kraker (the cousin), but no Louise Keller nor Elizabeth Schwinn. Long story short (after multiple backs and forths with me and cemetery staff) - both are buried there, and neither has a headstone. So I am really batting zero with cemeteries this trip! Then of course there is the question of do I now foot the bill to get them both headstones? I'll have to ponder that one.
After that, I decided to try one more time. Since I was already in the Peoria area, why shouldn't I check out the Sand Ridge Cemetery, where (supposedly) Henry Schwinn is buried? So I figured out how to get there, and off I went. As I was driving down Spring Bay Rd, I had the same eerie feeling of driving through the cornfields on Sunday. But, as I turned a corner I could see the cemetery on top of the rise of the road. Only problem - no driveway or road to turn into. I pulled over and re-checked the map - no other roads going into it, no other road parallel to the one I am on that has an entrance to the ***** cemetery! I went back and forth on that section of road probably 5 or 6 times, but to no avail. There really is no way into the cemetery. So...I gave up for the day. I went back to the hotel and did laundry.
I did add Springdale Cemetery to the cemetery page, and posted pictures of the Schwinn bothers' headstones.
The Schwinn's and Winter's were no where to be found in any of the registers, until the last book. I found our (I think) Louis Schwinn in the birth register, and ordered his birth certificate. I then found Anna Mueller (mother to Elizabeth Schwinn) in the last death register, and ordered her copy. Then I found Elizabeth Schwinn in the last marriage register, in the bride's section of course, when I had not found Gustav Winter (her husband) in the same register in the groom's section. So of course I ordered a copy of that record as well. I guess it really wasn't too bad a result for 2 hours. Plus, I didn't get a ticket from my expired parking meter!
Then off I went to the Springdale Cemetery to find the family plot containing my grandmother (Louise Keller), my great-grandmother (Elizabeth Schwinn Winter) and her 3 brothers and cousin. I stopped at the office and spoke with the woman I had communicated with via email, and got a map as to their locations. I drove down the hill, parked, retrieved my "cemetery bag" from the back seat and went off to photograph, record and do rubbings. Only to find that Louis, John and William Schwinn are there, along with Marie Kraker (the cousin), but no Louise Keller nor Elizabeth Schwinn. Long story short (after multiple backs and forths with me and cemetery staff) - both are buried there, and neither has a headstone. So I am really batting zero with cemeteries this trip! Then of course there is the question of do I now foot the bill to get them both headstones? I'll have to ponder that one.
After that, I decided to try one more time. Since I was already in the Peoria area, why shouldn't I check out the Sand Ridge Cemetery, where (supposedly) Henry Schwinn is buried? So I figured out how to get there, and off I went. As I was driving down Spring Bay Rd, I had the same eerie feeling of driving through the cornfields on Sunday. But, as I turned a corner I could see the cemetery on top of the rise of the road. Only problem - no driveway or road to turn into. I pulled over and re-checked the map - no other roads going into it, no other road parallel to the one I am on that has an entrance to the ***** cemetery! I went back and forth on that section of road probably 5 or 6 times, but to no avail. There really is no way into the cemetery. So...I gave up for the day. I went back to the hotel and did laundry.
I did add Springdale Cemetery to the cemetery page, and posted pictures of the Schwinn bothers' headstones.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Cemetery Day
My goal today was to find the Evans Cemetery in Middletown, and hopefully find the resting place of Charles B. Keller, my great grandfather. Well, I had a lovely drive along some beautiful county roads, through miles upon miles of corn fields, but no cemetery. I double checked directions from Google, my iPhone and Phoebe - my navigation system on the car - and tried from 2 different directions, but still came up at the same corn field. This cemetery supposedly sits at 470 County Rd. 1100 N, but I sure can't find it. I'll need further help tomorrow - the county courthouse for this county is just down the road from me.
My next goal was to get groceries, which I didn't do yesterday (I drove around town instead, ogling houses and admiring kids riding bikes all over everywhere). That was relatively easy, and I even managed a bag of non-perishables for the food drive that the high school was doing.
Next was to take a test drive to Jacksonville, which I was figuring would be about 90 minutes. Well, it took an hour, so I was really happy! Then I though I might as well take a look at Jacksonville East Cemetery, since it was Sunday and everything else I needed was closed. So - I found it! Not bad being 1 for 2 on the cemetery search. So I went in and took out my Jacksonville East folder, clipboard and camera and went in search of all the Hendersons, Howards and Kellers that are buried there. Couldn't find a one! I have a very old copy of the cemetery plan, and it really doesn't match up to the roads that are there, so I couldn't tell what was what. After an hour of wandering and reading headstones I decided that I need to come back after I have had some help finding section N303 on the map. So I will find someone somewhere that can point me in the right direction. Unfortunately, there is no office building on site, so I'll start at the courthouse.
So that was my day. It was productive to a point, but not that satisfying. Now I am going through all my lists and making a game-plan for the week. Hopefully I will have better news as the days go by.
My next goal was to get groceries, which I didn't do yesterday (I drove around town instead, ogling houses and admiring kids riding bikes all over everywhere). That was relatively easy, and I even managed a bag of non-perishables for the food drive that the high school was doing.
Next was to take a test drive to Jacksonville, which I was figuring would be about 90 minutes. Well, it took an hour, so I was really happy! Then I though I might as well take a look at Jacksonville East Cemetery, since it was Sunday and everything else I needed was closed. So - I found it! Not bad being 1 for 2 on the cemetery search. So I went in and took out my Jacksonville East folder, clipboard and camera and went in search of all the Hendersons, Howards and Kellers that are buried there. Couldn't find a one! I have a very old copy of the cemetery plan, and it really doesn't match up to the roads that are there, so I couldn't tell what was what. After an hour of wandering and reading headstones I decided that I need to come back after I have had some help finding section N303 on the map. So I will find someone somewhere that can point me in the right direction. Unfortunately, there is no office building on site, so I'll start at the courthouse.
So that was my day. It was productive to a point, but not that satisfying. Now I am going through all my lists and making a game-plan for the week. Hopefully I will have better news as the days go by.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Day 6 of Illinois Journey
I reached Lincoln IL today about 1:30 pm. Thank goodness - I am in a place to stay for a while! I have unloaded the car, unpacked my things and settled into my suite quite happily. I am now on a mission to find a grocery store to stock up on lunch and dinner items (hot breakfast served each day by the hotel) then hoof it across the parking lot to Cracker Barrel for dinner tonight. I really quite like my room - it will do nicely as a home away from home!
Sitting room area...
Kitchen area...
and Bedroom space...
So I think I'll do OK!
Now that I'm here and settled, it is on to the meat of the trip. I will review all of my files - which are many - and figure out my plan of attack for the week. I will probably go visit some cemeteries tomorrow, as it may rain Monday and Tuesday. If I do that, and get some information as to death dates, etc., then I can move on to county records' offices and start finding some documents for these people. I am planning at least one day in Springfield at the state archives for some information, but much of the stuff I need pre-dates the state recording years, so will have to be found at the county level. Plus I need to find where C.B. Keller (my dad's father's father) and Gustav Winter (my dad's mother's father) are buried so that I can begin their searches. I need a place to start and work backward! I'll post as I gather information. So...here I go!
Sitting room area...
So I think I'll do OK!
Now that I'm here and settled, it is on to the meat of the trip. I will review all of my files - which are many - and figure out my plan of attack for the week. I will probably go visit some cemeteries tomorrow, as it may rain Monday and Tuesday. If I do that, and get some information as to death dates, etc., then I can move on to county records' offices and start finding some documents for these people. I am planning at least one day in Springfield at the state archives for some information, but much of the stuff I need pre-dates the state recording years, so will have to be found at the county level. Plus I need to find where C.B. Keller (my dad's father's father) and Gustav Winter (my dad's mother's father) are buried so that I can begin their searches. I need a place to start and work backward! I'll post as I gather information. So...here I go!
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