OBITUARY REUNITES FAMILY

ALTOONA MIRROR OBITUARY REUNITES FAMILY  
I found this amazing article today in the Altoona Mirror Newspaper.
The family was reunited more than a century later.

CITATION NEEDED

I love this, it applies to a lot of people.

TRIP TO HUNTINGDON COUNTY

The trip went well, it turned out to be about a two and a half hour drive.  The drive from Pittsburgh to Altoona is about one and half and the rest was spent driving on Route  22., which was through small towns and much traffic which was heavy with school buses stopping at every railroad crossing.  The morning was mist or foggy, or perhaps it was the smoke of a wood burning fireplaces.
The Historical Society is a great place to research.   They have many books and where I found a lot of information is in their family files and folders.  They also have books or pamphlets on the towns and brochures from different towns from centennials and  such.   The records that I am looking for are in the time from of 1740-1830, most of the records in the folders are a little later.   Huntingdon County was part of Bedford and became a county in 1787.   I need to go to Bedford County.
What I found was a Coleman Chronology in a file.  It is a compilation from 1634 to about 1833.  A note states it is not complete,  and every possible source is not there.  It was an amazing list that gives a wealth of information, I have to peruse it closely.
I also found a copy of Thomas Colemans will, where he names six sons., John, James, Thomas, Absalom Gray, Michum and William.  [My though is that one of these sons is the father of my Michael Coleman 1809-1855]   I have to evaluate and come to a conclusion on which one, if it is indeed one of them. 
I am thinking it is Thomas, because that family lived in the area near the Saylor Family in Huntingdon County PA.  But, the information in the family bible given in the affidavit states that “father” was born in 1780, and the Thomas (one of the six sons) was born in 1788.
And lastly, information of Harlan and Elizabeth Saylor, who are potential siblings of Mary Ann Saylor (1814-1896)   I did not find a will for Thomas Saylor, but there was one for Thomas Sollars, who died about the same time as Thomas Saylor.   I need to go to the Courthouse, but it was 3:30 and I needed to drive home because I hate driving in the dark.   Too many deer frolicking about.

BUSY WEEKEND OF CONFERENCES

I have been busy for the past half year or so searching for my husbands Revolutionary War Ancestors.   It is amazing what you learn about someone who your have known for forty five years.   Actually, he was clueless about them, and in his defense, no one else in the family  has even a hint that they might exist.  Isn’t that a surprise?
On Friday I went to a lecture of D. Joshua Taylor, it was sponsored by the DAR, and the topic was ways for finding them.   I have documented, thanks to his cousin Helen, back to their second great grandparents.   I have found two Revolution War Ancestors, complete with the documentation and information about their pensions and service.   I just need to find the links that connect them.  
I have found information and this week I will go and search for deeds, land records, wills and tax records.   The lecture on Friday night gave me some ideas.   I guess it is a road trip of sorts,   and I have made mental and written notes on what I need to do.   The most important will be to call and see if they will be open.   I hate to drive to central PA and find them closed, but the weather will be warm and leaves should be beautiful.
On Saturday I went to a conference sponsored by the NORTH HILLS GENEALOGIST and the speaker was D.Joshua Taylor again.   He spoke on four topics on “Bridging the Gap, Tracing Families in the United States between 1780 and 1830.”   Which is exactly what I am going to do, hopefully.
The other three topics were Discovering USGenWeb,  Mapping Your Success: Employing Maps for Genealogical Research, and an interesting case study of his own family using the topics above.
It was an excellent day.  Now, off to apply what I have learned. 

IT OCCURRED TO ME YESTERDAY

What, you might ask...I was reading my grandmothers Baptismal certificate posted earlier this month.  It dawned on me that I did not have my mothers Baptismal certificate nor did I have one from her father.   It seems unusual that my grandmother did not bring them on the trip to America.  If she brought one why not the others?

I suspect all three were brought to the USA and the other two were lost somehow.  Next, I wondered, where was my mother Baptized?   They were living in Altona, Germany, could I theorize it would have been a Lutheran Church in that city or somewhere else in Hamburg? 

Yesterday I searched for Lutheran Churches in the area but did not get a good picture of where any were.   I will have to search better today or go to the LDS and see what films are available.  I know that my grandfather was not born where they lived, another mystery, if I knew where his family lived I could search for a church there also.    There are a lot of unknowns for my family in Europe.

This goes as well for my Irish great grandparents.   All the documents state that he was from Limerick, Ireland.   But I can find no Irish documentation to back up what is written.   I read a little tidbit that states that the surname O'Rourke was common in County Leitrim, I will looks at the LDS for that film too.

I have more questions than answers.

READING 19TH CENTURY WRITING

Just in case you are having trouble with the writing of this era, here is a link from England

19TH CENTURY WRITING

NOT MUCH POSTING.

I have not been too busy on the trails of my ancestors.   I have been posting links to another one of my blogs. OAKMONT GENEALOGICAL STUDY GROUP,  I started this with the idea of helping others in our group find useful links and stories.  

There is a lot of information but I am now sorry I did not add tabs and categorize it that you could find things with a keyword.    I have to look into that before the blog gets too large and it would be overwhelming.
I was at my volunteer research job yesterday, and I was searching for a client and in this one old (1840’s) church records.   Honestly, I found the whole parish had a family census that was complete with the list of children.   The priest must have added to the list with every Baptism.   Each family had about a half of a page in a log book where the names were added.   What a bonus to report.