Genealogical Gems

Check out your local historical society or preservation society to see if they have ever put together something on the various local historical places. Lancaster County did just that. It covered older buildings - some historical and some just old. Often it may lead to interesting family discoveries. Sometimes it simply confirms them. Strasburg Township, Lancaster County, PA is home to the Joseph Eckman House, the Daniel & Elizabeth Eckman House and the Jacob & Elizabeth Eckman House. Joseph's house was on White Oak Road near Beaver Valley Pike (now known as Route 222). The later two are located on Winter Hill Road. The houses all date back to the early 1800s. From personal reserach and meeting family members who - until only the last 10 years or so - still lived on Winter Hill Road, I learned that the Eckman family did in fact at one time own much of that land around Winter Hill and Old Road. John Eckman - the stroy goes - donated the land for the Zion United Church of

I woke up early this morning and decided to take a look at the old to do list. We all have this sort of list. It's made with god intentions but have you ever noticed as we cross one item off two more items find their way on the list! Anyway, something woke me up at 4 this morning and since I normally wake up at 5 anyway I decided to just stay up. My FarmTown (yeah - I'm addicted!) was not ready so I pulled out the to do list. I think I could probably wake up at 3 for an entire month and still have a nice list! Today - I updated my family file on Ancestry.com finally. It's been a long time coming. If you would like to check it out, it is called Ruczhak Family Tree. It covers: Ruczhak/Hruszczak, Matys, Kurenda, Skrabalek, Still, Walsh/Welsh, O'Flaherty, Durkin, Keating, Murphy, VanHorn, Rice, Bing, Way, Eckman, Deyoe, Schermerhorn, Herr, Miller, Kirchner and more. I used to be able to recall any date and name or place or event ... then I computerized. I love it don&#

O Fllaithbheartaigh ... that is O'Flaherty in Irish, according to http://www.censusdiggins.com/irish_surname_search.html . From this site, you can research your Irish surnames. It tells you where in Ireland the name was and is most found and a little history of the surname, noting any famous or infamous people. The site is an interesting read as well as a great place to start when you are ready to cross the pond!

Looking for info - esp wife's name - for Charles Still of W Vincent Twp., Chester County, PA. Charles died in 1868.

Looking for info re Jacob Still died 11 Oct 1831 in Chester County, PA. Found dead in field along w a Matthew McDonnaugh.

Did you know ... the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization was established in 1906?

Tip of the day -- you found some old nes clippings in the old family bible ... make a copy and store the original in an archival folder. Do not laminate.

Tip of the day ... Search your last name (or the name you're searching) on Facebook. I did and found a possible cousin!

If you are in the Philadelphia area thi weekend, Philly.com has announced a Genealogy Fair. Experts will be on hand to answer questions & help attendees start tracing family history. Temple Sholom in Broomall, 55 Church Ln., Broomall. Sunday, 6/12. 1-5 pm.