Genealogy Goals - 2012 Edition

So here are my genealogy goals for 2012.  I'm hoping this year will go a little smoother than last year, now that I have a relatively sturdy foundation for goal-setting and goal reaching, thanks to the last several months of the Success Team with Laura.

1. Obtain the addresses, birth dates, and anniversary dates for all of my first cousins on both sides of my family … and names and birth dates of spouses and children.  Oh and all my half siblings’ spouses and kids too.
2. Attend at least five (5) Scanfests (or equivalent) this year - and actually scan stuff.
3. Scan and label at least 15 photos and/or negatives each week, or until they are done, whichever happens first.
4. Attend at least two (2) genealogy conferences.
5. Give at least two (2) presentations to my genealogical society.
6. Index at least 200 records per month at FamilySearch Indexing.
7. Add at least five (5) individual ancestor stories to my website.
8. Blog at least twice per week.
9. Finish reading Greenwood's "The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy."
10. Add at least three (3) website links per week to my online toolbox.

I plan to update my progress on these goals once per quarter, so ... we'll see how it goes!  Good luck to everyone on their goals for the new year!

Happy Bacon Day!

We interrupt our normal genealogical programming to bring you this very important message:

HAPPY BACON DAY!

Some of you may or may not know that I am a fan of bacon.  Okay, I love bacon.  Yes, it's not the healthiest food item on the menu, but it's SO ... DARN ... YUMMY!  (It actually ranks right up there with real butter ... but I digress, this is about the bacon).

My mom always teased me and my siblings and said that we would eat just about anything if it was wrapped in bacon.  She is probably right.  What isn't better with bacon?  Green beans?  Better.  Oysters?  Better.  Filet Mignon?  Duh.  

There are even conventions for bacon!  And now ... BACON DAY!  I'm in heaven!

I was recently in Nashville and visited a little hole-in-the-wall cafe.  Attached to this little cafe was a gift shop where you could buy some of the jams, jellies, and other treats they served.  I bought this shirt, which pretty much sums up my feelings about bacon:

Bacon even helps heal your boo-boos:

Obviously, bacon has permeated pretty much every part of my life.  So ... Happy Bacon Day!  I'm gonna go have some right now.

Wisdom Wednesday - Search Terms and Spelling

I would like to say "thank you" to the indexers at FamilySearch for giving me a much-needed chuckle while I was in the midst of a very frustrating search for my 2nd great grandfather's South Dakota state census record for 1905.


Let me explain.


I was doing some housekeeping on some of my files to make sure I had obtained a copy of every census available - both federal and state - for my direct line ancestors.  With names like Lanctot and Schneider, I expect there to be some weirdness in the spellings.  At least in the handwriting interpretation.


I ran across the following "misspellings" for Lanctot: Sanctot, Lancto, Lanetot, and Lancelot.  For Schneider, I got the expected Snyder and Snider, but also got Shmider and Schinder.


I also ran across the expected first name conundrums.  My ancestors have pretty standard names - Mary Alice, Louis, Thomas Patrick, Anna Christina, etc.  It can get confusing when an ancestor uses one name on one census, then their middle name on the next.  However, I never thought about the different ways that someone could misspell "Louis." 


I was using some pretty explicit language (directed mainly at my ancestors who appeared to have vanished into thin air between 1900 and 1905, then reappeared in 1910 right where I left them) to try to convince my computer to actually FIND something useful.  It didn't.  I finally decided to do a very VERY broad search for "Schneider" only in the 1905 South Dakota census.  I narrowed my search down to his birth year in the 1850s.  That's when I saw it.

Mine or not, I had to check it out.

Sure enough.  My eyes didn't deceive me.  My 2nd great grandfather was Louis Schneider, born in Iowa in 1851.  Both of his parents were from France.  He is first found in South Dakota on the 1880 federal census (1870 census shows him in Iowa).  All of this information appears to fit.


Here's the actual census card:

I guess I can see how someone could think that said "Lovins" ... but shouldn't common sense and logic overrule that theory?  In any case, I got a good chuckle out of it.  And apparently my 2nd great grandfather was WAY ahead of his time ... because THIS is the first thing that popped into my head when I saw it:

It just goes to show ... be prepared for ANY type of misspelling or misinterpretation when performing your searches.


This actually is going to help me quite a bit.  I have 2 Mary Alices (mother and daughter) who married two men named Louis (unrelated).  Now this Louis can be referred to as "McLovin" just so I don't get so darn confused.

St. Columba (South Dakota) Parish Church Registry 1881-1927 - H Surnames

I have come into the possession of a copy of a Church Registry for St. Columba Parish, South Dakota that includes the baptism, marriage, first communion, confirmation, and death records for the Yankton townships of Walshtown, Mayfield, Idylwilde, Jamesville (Sigel) from 1881 through 1927.  The entire list of surnames posted to date can be found here.  If any of these names belong to you, let me know and I will gladly forward a copy of it to you.

Last Name	First Name	Page	Comments
Hand	Barbara Margaret	6
Hanson	Mary Odella	43
Haney	Michael	5
Hansen	Christopher	60	(m. Goebel)
Hansen	James Lloyd	46
Hanson	Hans	58	(m. Slowey)
Hanson	Bernard Edward	38
Hansen	Katherine Helen	46
Hasker	Hedwig Anna	52	(m. Drotzman)
Hasker	Helen M.	58	(m. Wagner)
Hasker	Henry	60	(m. Medeck)
Hasker	Katherine	55	(m. Hauger)
Hasker	Margaret	58	(m. Rankin)
Hasker	Mary Theresia	10
Hasker	Mary	55	(m. Schramm)
Hasker	Peter	59	(m. Wagner)
Hauger	Agnes Catherine	40
Hauger	Clarence William	45
Hauger	Cordilia	33
Hauger	Elisabeth	54	(m. Frick)
Hauger	Henry	55	(m. Hasker)
Hauger	Henry Laurence	26
Hauger	Henry William	23
Hauger	John Sylvester	32
Hauger	Joseph Albert	37
Hauger	Josephine Elizabeth	47
Hauger	Lauretta Ann	4
Hauger	Lena Mary	46
Hauger	Mary	39
Hauger	Mary Catherine	10
Hauger	Odel	51	(m. Wagner)
Hauger	Peter George Henry	29
Hauger	Robert Henry	42
Healy	Elizabeth Williamina	29
Healy	Evangeline Monica	40
Healy	Joseph Francis	14
Healy	Katherine Agnes	24
Healy	Ludovicum (Hugh)	15
Healy	Mary	20
Healy	Mary Margaret	6
Healy	Sarah Ann	18
Healy	Thomas Luke	32
Healy	Thomas	52	(m. Paul)
Heider	John Francis	15
Heider	Veronica Martha	17
Heinisch	Catherine	56	(m. Rapp)
Heinisch	Theresa	59	(m. Sigl)
Heirichs	Anna Mary	10
Heirich	Frank	52	(m. Huber)
Heirigs	Annie	19
Heirigs	Francis Joseph	17
Heirigs	Joseph	33
Heirigs	Wendel Laurence	19
Hermann	August	58	(m. Schmeltzle)
Hickey	Bridget	55	(m. Eldred)
Hickey	Edward Martin	19
Hickey	Florence Clare	16
Hickey	James William	23
Hickey	Mary Genevieve	26
Hickey	William	53	(m. Flynn)
Higgins	Lili	54	(m. Foley)
Hirsch	Laura	2
Hirsch	Louis	2
Holbrook	Frank	58	(m. Slowey)
Holbrook	Mabel Isabelle	47
Holbrook	Mary Ela	49
Holtzbauer	Ceilia Mary	4
Holtzbauer	Charles	4
Hruska	Mary Josephine	54	(m. Mader)
Huber	Albert Emil	30
Huber	Ann	53	(m. Nipp)
Huber	Arnold Lewis	40
Huber	Carolina	52	(m. Heirich)
Huber	Catherine	57	(m. McGillick)
Huber	Charles Michael	56	(m. Rothmeyer)
Huber	Christina Anna	24
Huber	Edward Marcellus	31
Huber	Elenora Bertha	28
Huber	Frederick	1
Huber	Genevieve Theresa	34
Huber	George Paul	24
Huber	Hedwig	58	(m. Madsen)
Huber	Henry William	20
Huber	Herman George	36
Huber	John Peter	13
Huber	Joseph E.	54	(m. Rothmeyer)
Huber	Joseph Peter	35
Huber	Katharine Emma	17
Huber	Klara Rose	20
Huber	Louis	12
Huber	Martha Mabel	32
Huber	Mary Leona	18
Huber	Mildred Theresa	40
Huber	Nelly Echo	23
Huber	Peter L.	54	(m. Wallace)
Huber	Otto	13
Huber	Theresa E.	57	(m. Anderson)
Huber	William	9
Huber	William Peter	21
Hunhoff	Anna Mary Helen	14
Hunhoff	Mary Johanna Agnes	11
Hunhoff	Mary	56	(m. Schramm)