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Sorting Saturday ...

Last month - yes I do mean November, can you believe it is December already! - we rearranged our apartment when our oldest daughter moved back in. My things literally got moved in piles and boxes so I have been looking forward to today's Sorting Saturday!

First on my stack are the twins' first marking period report cards. Both did really well. I found a flyer from their 6th grade choral concert. I only found one though and they were both in it. I also found a relatively recent immunization record for my oldest daughter. Off they go to their own respective files.

I came across a list of four churches in Shenandoah. These are Roman Catholic churches, one of which I am hoping to find information on my Walsh and Keating ancestors. My Keating s - specifically Anna Keating - lived in Ringtown just down the road. At some point the Keatings moved to Shendaoah where she met and married Michael Walsh. We went up to Shendoah last summer and spoke with people  at the Greater Shendoah Area Historical Society who gave us a cemetery plot and some suggessions. Only one of the churches - Annunciation - would have been around in the 1870s. For now the list will go in Michael's folder.

What do I do with general helpful tips that cover several families? The first such paper is "How to Begin your Irish Family Research" from the Irish Genealogical Society (IGS). The mailing address for the IGS is: PO Box 16585, St. Paul, MN 55116-0585. It is dated August 1992. Most of the suggestion are pretty obvious after having done this for over 20 years. This I can actually round file. The next paper - also from the IGS - is "Sixreen Suggestions for Finding Maiden Names." Again these tips are pretty obvious for me but I think I may hold on to this momentarily so I can use it for a resource for a future article.

My goal for next year is write more genealogy related articles. That is another reason I was excited for today's Sorting Saturday. I have a notepad next to me with running article ideas!

I came across a letter from the Joseph H. Brown Lodge No. 751 dated 11 April 2009. My husband was a Master Mason there at that time but unfortunately things got tight financially and we were not able to renew his dues and his membership was suspended. I know he would like to be active again so since there is an email address on the letter, I will email them before filing in the hubby's folder.

I found some scraps of paper with notes on it about Stills. We had gone to the Chester County Archives one day awhile back and these were some extra notes that I just could not fit anywhere at that time. The first scrap is of Tavern Petitions. Henry Still is listed for 1820 through 1827 with the sole exception of 1821. His petition was in Compass in Uwchland Township, Chester County, PA. The other one is Jacob Still who petitioned a tavern in Uwchland in 1819 and again in 1821. The 1819 was noted to have been "latley in possession of John Mitchell." I also wrote down the Stills mentioned on the 1814 Tax Index: Charles in Uwchland, Charles in Vincent, and Henry in Uwchland. Henry was also noted as being a freeman. Charles is also mentioned in Uwchalnd in 1799 and another Charles in Vincent in 1785. I believe these to be two different people. Another scrap has some crime related notes. An Aaron Still had been accused of rape in August 1797. A Henry Still had been accused of having a disorderly house in May and July of 1821. Jacob Still had been accused of the same in August 1819. A disorderly house charge may have had to deal with their tavern. I believe I have connected the Henry and Jacob to my Still line. Another scrap lists an Aaron Still entered the poor house in 1829 at age 64. A Sabella Still, age 27 from Sadsbury Township, was also admitted to the poor house on 2 August 1845. It notes she was pregnant at the time. Since I do not have everyone connected, I will include these scraps in my "Other Stills" folder.

I also unearthed several magazines. I think I may solve sorting them though for another Sorting Saturday! Sadly, I did not get as far as I wanted to today but my self imposed two hour limit is over. More next Saturday!

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