Genealogical Gems

Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small , challenges fellow GeneaBloggers each week with her 52 Ancestors Challenge. This week’s prompt is:  Which ancestor is the closest to where you live? Who has a story that hits “close to home”?   The closest physically to me – there are many in Lancaster alone, let alone the County – would be Charles Eckman, his wife Rosa Kirchner and her family. Charles grew up in New Providence but moved to Lancaster City and then married Rosa in 1881. Her parents and siblings lived in Lancaster City . Her parents were both born in Germany . Charles’ family had been here for many generations when they met.   Charles was – for the longest time – very elusive. Once he moved to Lancaster , there was little to be found of him. He shows up in the 1880 census as working for the Telegraph Co. but still living with his folks in Strasburg Township . City Directories place him and Rosa on Manor Street in the City thereafter.    ...

For the first time since 1415, a pope has resigned his thrown. It was On This Day two years ago that Pope Benedict XVI announced his resigned as pope. The native Bavarian had served as pope since 2005, succeeding Pope John Paul II. The pope is the earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church. It is believed that Pope Benedict XVI resigned due to health issues. In 1415 Pope Gregory XII resigned during the Roman Catholic Church’s Great Western Schism. Gregory was one of three men who claimed to be the pontiff. The Schism – that one that is – ended in 1417 when Pope Martin V was elected pope.   On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) launched NGS Monthly , this week. This new digital publication will feature articles on genealogical methodology, research techniques, sources, and the latest news from NGS. Blog posts worth reading: Michael John Neill does Genealogy Tip of the Day and his tip on Tuesday this week was awesome. His tip was about teachers and newspapers. If you have a teacher in your tree – I have several – this is a must read! Thank you, Michael! Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small, reinforced some great information about dying without a will in her 52 Ancestors post this week. If your ancestor died without a will, chances are that everyone got named in the court records following the division of the estate! I love Vera Miller’s blog, Find Lost Russian Family . This week she shared her latest find, a database – in English – that covers WWI soldiers.   My New Follows at Twitter: @gra...

The first Union prisoners arrive at the infamous Confederate prison at Andersonville , Georgia On This Day in 1864. The prison only existed for 14 months, just a little over a year. In that time, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were held there. Today Andersonville is preserved as a National Historic Site .     On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

This week’s prompt is conducting collateral research. Collateral is defined as “a person having the same descent in a family as another but by a different line.” In genealogical terms, a collateral relative may be an aunt or uncle or a cousin. Last October I discovered the maiden name of hubby’s great grandmother through collateral research!   Hubby’s grandmother was Julia Coursault Deyoe. Her death certificate shows her father as Charles Coursault from the USA and her mother as simply Apolina from England . Nowhere had I been able to find more information on Apolina until …   Last October I did a broad search for Coursaults in the Pennsylvania Death Certificate database on Ancestry.com. I already knew her siblings’ names since I had followed the family through the census records. I found the death certificate for her brother, Francis Coursault. Their sister Catherine (also spelled Kathryn), who married George Bonner, was the informant and listed their mother as A...

My parents took us – my sister and I - on several vacations over the years. Some I really enjoyed and others were less exciting. All of them were great, in hindsight. I wish I would have been more appreciative at the time.    We went to Disney World, Bush Gardens , Colonial Williamsburg, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard , and out West. We went to Yellowstone National Park , the Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, the Corn Palace and the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. We also spent many a summer at Daddy’s cabin in the Potter County .   When I think of family vacation time, I have to admit the cabin comes to mind first. I even chose Lock Haven State University because it was in the mountains relatively near Daddy’s cabin! (LHU is in neighboring Clinton County ).   Dad had a cabin with some guys he grew up with from Coatesville. The cabin was called Bear Cat Cabin. I have no idea why. The cabin was, in the truest sense of the phrase, a hunting cabin. ...

The HMHS  Britannic launched On This Day in 1914 at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast . She was the sister ship to the RMS  Titanic. The HMHS that precedes her name stands for His Majesty’s Hospital Ship.     On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

His stone is a simple one. It reads: “Father. Darius J Eckman. 1870 – 1944.” He is buried alongside his wife, Ella, at the Zion UCC Cemetery is New Providence, Lancaster County . Many of his family are buried there. He was born 14 September 1870 in Strasburg Township , Lancaster County to John Henry and Catherine Kezia Cresswell Eckman (hubby's 3x great grandparents). He married Ella M. Doner in 1897. They had three children: Esther, Charles, and Paul.   The family lived on Mary Street in Lancaster City , where Darius was a coal dealer for many years. Sometime between 1920 and 1930, he became a collector for the City Treasurer’s Office and the family moved to James Street . Esther has moved out on her own at this point.   His death certificate simply states his occupation as retired. He died on 15 March 1944 of cardiac dilatation. That was due to coronary disease for four years due to hypertensive heart disease for 12 years. He was buried five days later....

 Pope Gregory XIII announced the Roman Catholic Church was changing over to a new calendar On This Day in 1582. The announcement was made through his papal bull Inter gravissimas . The new calendar, now used throughout most of the world, is known as the Gregorian calendar. It replaced the Julian Calendar.     On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

As I go through my journals, I wrote about many things, including pets. When I first met my husband he had his dog, Bear – a shepherd who had been training to be a drug sniffing dog for Maryland law enforcement. His mom had a nasty thing out back. It was part greyhound and part wolf. I would not even go near it. Bear, on the other, I absolutely loved!   His mom’s dog got pregnant – neighbor’s dog – and had a litter shortly after we got married and were expecting our own bundle. We ended up with one of the pups from that litter … though not for long.   Entry from Thursday, 28 January 1993:            The other day (Tuesday) the man came to take the puppies when Glenn dropped me off at my parent‘s. I started bawling. I didn’t want to loose my puppy – the black one. He is so adorable! He cuddles right up to me and he’s really good in my car.   Anyway, Tuesday morning Glenn got back to the house five minutes bef...

Byzantine emperor Justinian I ordered the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople On This Day in 532. The basilica – the Hagia Sophia – is now a museum in Istanbul , Turkey .   Photo:   " HagiaSophia Mars 2013 " by Arild Vågen - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.     On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Birthdays Happy birthday, Karen Swier Hornak. May God grant you all Many Years. Memory Eternal Today is the 16 th anniversary of the passing of Charles D. Eckman. Charles is the son of Darius and Ella Doner Eckman. He was the husband of Mattie Leanore Kittinger. He was a watchmaker at the Hamilton Watch Company in Lancaster .   Monday will be 93 years since George David Still, my 3x great grandfather, passed. George! What can I say about George that I have not already said dozens of times! His mother, Margaret Still, had him out of wedlock in 1808 and I am still tracing his father. George apprenticed as a tailor but took to farming instead. In 1830 he married Sarah Bing and they had six children. He died of dropsy and heart disease. George is buried at the Olde Doe Run Cemetery in East Fallowfield Township , Chester County .   Agnes Armstrong Still passed away 155 years ago on Tuesday, the 24 th .   She was the George’s sister-in-law! She married...

Pennsylvania State University (PSU) was founded On This Day in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania . It was known as Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania from 1855 to 1862 when it became the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania. The name changed to Pennsylvania State College in 1874 and became PSU in 1953. The school is located in State College , Pennsylvania .   On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Michael Walsh has gone in hiding. Well, at least it seems that way. I have managed to narrow down his death year but I know so little about him.   Walsh is an extremely common Irish surname. My 2 nd great grandparents are Michael J and Anna Keating Walsh. I know little of her and even less of him. My grandmother had told me once that Michael was born in Dublin . She was not sure when he immigrated. Anna, she said, left Ireland as a child with her siblings. They met up near Shenandoah, married and had several children.   Their children (that I know of) are: John Katherine (1875-1939) Daniel James (1877-1957) Margaret Mary (1881-1926) Martin Joseph (1884-1923) ß my great grandfather Michael Joseph (1893-1968)   The Walsh family lived at 306½ Lloyd Street in Shenandoah, Schuylkill County . By 1910 Michael Walsh, the father, was already passed. This I know since Anna’s marital status is widow on the 1910 US Federal Census. The Census shows jus...

Today is International Mother Language Day and it is a day to promote all of the world’s estimated 6,500 spoken languages. The purpose of today is to celebrate the world’s cultural diversity.    Mother tongue education, according to UNESCO, is “essential to bolster multilingualism and respect for linguistic and cultural diversity in societies that are transforming quickly.”   You can join the effort today on Facebook or Twitter. Use hashtags #IMLD or #MotherLanguage.     On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small , challenges fellow geneabloggers each week with her 52 Ancestors Challenge. This week’s prompt is:  Does this mean a generous ancestor or one you found through land records? You decide. Land records indicate that my 4x great grandmother Margaret Still just showed up one day. Instead of answering questions, her land records simply create more questions. With her though, I am not surprised. Since today’s topic is simply land records, a little background on Margaret is necessary. Margaret was no saint and she is certainly not the ideal mother figure.   Margaret Still, according to my Aunt Helen (Margaret’s great granddaughter), “got herself knocked up and her father put her up on a farm in Goosetown away from the family.” She was right, my Aunt Helen.   Margaret Still was born in 1788 to Charles Still and Margaret Rhoades, his wife. She had several brothers and the family lived in nearby Uwchlan Township in Chester County ,...

This week’s prompt is reviewing genealogy database software, and digitizing photos and documents. These would seem to be two non related items but they are more closely related than one would expect at first glance.   Genealogy database software I personally use Family Tree Maker. It was my first many moons ago and while no one program is perfect for everyone, this one is pretty good. That said, I am also stubborn and do not take well to change!   FTM 2014 actually lets me sync with Ancestry.com! Love this feature! This feature saves so much time and energy. With FTM, you can easily add photos and other images to specific persons. You can merge any duplicate entries, which unfortunately happens more than any of us want to admit. FTM 2014 allows you to create family stories and simplifies citations. Ancestry.com also now lets you share access to your tree. One genealogist wrote that she had numerous problems loading the software. After reading her post though I fe...