52 Weeks to Better Genealogy: Week #35

Week 35: Examine the Daughters of the American Revolution® Genealogical Research System (GRS)  Even if you aren’t a member of DAR, you can benefit from this wonderful database. Look at the page and enter some test searches. If you know of a Patriot in your line, try that name in the search box. If you don’t have a Patriot name, use John Smith. Explore the results and see the type ...of information you uncover. Bloggers are encouraged to share their knowledge of this great research tool with their readers.


You start from the home page by clicking on 'click image to open GRS'.  Since I had been to the webpage before, I was taken directly to the ancestor search page.  I knew I had three ancestors that were patriots.  The three ancestors were Alexander Glover, Moses Poor, and Hopkins Rowley. 
 
The information that I found included ancestor number, state of service, rank, birthdate and place, death date and place, service source, and service description.  If you click on the ancestor number you will find residence, spouse and associated applications and supplementals.  The associated applications and supplementals section will show children.  This page also tells you if supporting documentation is available and if a descendants list is available.  Each person who is listed here will have a nat'l number that you can click. 
 
For example, Alexander Glover's record:
GLOVER, ALEXANDER
Ancestor #: A045679
Service: MASSACHUSETTS    Rank: PRIVATE
 Birth: 3-20-1756 COLUMBIA WINDHAM CO CONNECTICUT
Death: 1-27-1826 PHELPS ONTARIO CO NEW YORK
Service Source: MA SOLS & SAILS, VOL 6, P 505
Service Description: 1) CAPTS MURRAY, DINSMORE, FRENCH  2) COLS WOODBRIDGE, FIELD, WELLS
 
Moses Poor record:
POOR, MOSES
Ancestor #: A202380
Service: NEW HAMPSHIRE   Rank: PRIVATE
Birth: 3-10-1743 NEWBURY ESSEX CO MASSACHUSETTS
Death: 6-17-1775 BOSTON SUFFOLK CO MASSACHUSETTS
Service Source: HAMMOND, ROLLS OF THE SOLS IN THE REV WAR, STATE PAPERS NH, VOL XIV PP 52,53; NARA M881; COMBINED MILITARY SERVICE RECORD.
Service Description: 1) CAPT ELISHA WOODBURY CO, COL JNO STARK REGT; KILLED AT BUNKER HILL, 17 JUNE 1775
 
I was so encouraged by the information I found on the above two patriots, I couldn't wait to research my third, Hopkins Rowley.  I had found some historical information (secondary sources) about Hopkins Rowley being a Green Mountain Boy and the taking of Fort Ticonderoga.  So, I thought good now I can learn more about him.  I guess I was counting my chickens before they hatched because when I searched for Hopkins Rowley, I got the dreaded notice "TREAT AS NEW ANCESTOR".  Why do I say dreaded?  Because this means that no application or supplemental application information has been verified since earlier in the society.  This means that all information must be documented using today's standards.  It wasn't a total washout as I did see some information.
 
ROWLEY, HOPKINS    Ancestor #: A099320
Notice: TREAT AS NEW ANCESTOR (WHY?)
Service: VERMONT Rank: PRIVATE
Birth: 12-18-1758 BEEKMAN PATENT DUTCHESS CO NEW YORK
Death: 9-1-1831 SHOREHAM ADDISON CO VERMONT
Service Description: 1) CAPT COOLEY, COL WARREN
 
Since the 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy prompt was posted I decided to see if I could find any other patriot ancestors.  Rather than blindly type in surnames, I decided to see who in my family tree was of the age to have served in the American Revolution and look for their names.  I found three other ancestors in the database:  Seth Beal, Thomas Bowles, and William Salisbury. 
 
I feel honored to be a descendant of such brave and patriotic men.  One, Moses Poor, gave his life in the Battle of Bunker Hill.  The patriots and their relationship to me are:
 
Seth Beal, Sr.-My 6th Great Grandfather
Thomas Bowles-My 5th Great Grandfather
Alexander Glover-My 4th Great Grandfather
Moses Poor-My 5th Great Grandfather
Hopkins Rowley-My 4th Great Grandfather
William Salisbury-My 5th Great Grandfather
 
The DAR website opened up new resources for me to check and to learn more about my ancestry.  If you haven't checked the DAR website out, you should.  You never know who you may find.

What Will the Next 6 Months Bring in the World of Blogging?

Today marks six months of my Journey to the Past blog.  It may not seem that long to some, but when I started I wasn't sure I would make it this far.  I am not a writer or a professional genealogist.  I am just someone with an interest in genealogy who was looking for a way to share what I have found with others.  I don't plan to (nor want to) write for genealogical journals, so what you see here is just my thoughts and findings related to my family history with a little local, Battle Creek, history thrown in.

One of the things that pleases me the most is the contact I have had with other geneabloggers.  Reading other blogs is a great learning experience.  There are a lot of creative bloggers out there.  I hope I can continue to learn and grow as a blogger.

One of the ways to help me grow as a blogger and genealogist is to develop a few goals that I hope to complete in the next six months.  These goals are:

• To balance my blogging and my research time better-if I do a good job on one the other seems to suffer.  Lately, my blogging has taken up more time and my research has taken a backseat.
• To take a workshop or two to further my research knowledge.
• To support other bloggers by reading and commenting on their blogs.
• To research at the Michigan state archives.

Do you have any tips on how to balance your research and blogging?  What kind of goals do you set for yourself?

Tombstone Tuesday: Burton and Dora Watt

Dora Fran Nelson and Burton Lewis Watt

Burial:  Park Cemetery, Marquette, Michigan

Dora Frances Nelson

Birth:  12 February 1895 Sault Ste Marie, Michigan

Death:  16 August 1992 Ishpeming, Michigan

Burton Lewis Watt

Birth:  10 December 1892 Marquette, Michigan

Death:  6 March 1994 Traverse City, Michigan

My great uncle, Burt Watt married Dora 'Fran' Nelson on 9 November 1916 in Marquette, Michigan.

Follow Friday: Lassen Postcard Collection

1918 Postcard of Band photographed at Camp Custer

View 21 years of Stuart Lassen's Postcard Collection online.  Stuart Lassen, a Battle Creek resident and businessman, donated his postcard collection to Willard Library in Battle Creek, Michigan.  This collection was digitized and is available online.  Many images in this collection depict Battle Creek history.  The images include post cards, trade cards and advertisements.

The collection is searchable by issue date, author, title and subject or you can view the entire collection.  You will find individuals, businesses, places and events among the postcards.  Information is included on what was written on postcard, and who it was written to and from.

See a glimpse of Battle Creek's history through postcards with the Lassen Postcard Collection.

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset

Frankfort Lighthouse

Frankfort, Michigan

Joy of Cooking

My Cookbook Collection

Part of it!

One of the things I get great pleasure out of is cooking.  I like trying new ingredients and new recipes.  I am not one to create my own recipes, but I will change recipes to suit my tastes, omitting or adding ingredients at whim.  It drives my husband crazy when he helps me in the kitchen.

In addition to my love of cooking, I love cookbooks!  Currently, I have around 130 (or more?) cookbooks in my collection.  They range from basic (Better Homes & Gardens, Fannie Farmer, Joy of Cooking) to world cuisines (Cuisines of Mexico, Thai Cooking, Chinese Technique) to various community and fundraising type cookbooks and just about everything in between.

I began my love of cooking and cookbooks in high school.  The first recipes collection I bought was McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection.  I would get two packs of recipes a month and I did complete the set.  Next, I bought a group of 6 or so Betty Crocker paperback cookbooks.  Sadly, they have since fallen apart.

I guess it shouldn't surprise anyone that I went to college and majored in Home Economics and continued my love of cooking. 

Throughout my married life I would get cookbooks for gifts, scour garage sales and used bookstores for cooking treasures.  I also, make use of my public library and check out cookbooks to read.

A few of my favorites include:

• The Centennial Cookbook from Trinity Lutheran Church, Onekema, Michigan (The church I was baptised in and the one many family members belong too.  My aunts and cousins have quite a few recipes in it.)
• River Road Recipes:  A cookbook from the Junior League of Baton Rouge, La.  Lots of great southern and creole recipes.
• Eastern, Midwestern, Southern and Western Junior League Cookbooks, edited by Ann Seranne:  A great collection of recipes from Junior Leagues around the country.
• Bernard Clayton, Jr.'s cookbooks Complete Book of Pastry, Complete Book of Breads and Complete Book of Soups and Stews:  All great books of recipes.  

A great website for those who enjoy cooking or have an interest in the historical aspect of cooking should check out Michigan State University's Feeding America website.  It's online collection includes images from 76 cookbooks from the late 1700's to early 1900's.  The earliest cookbook being a 1798 one titled:  American Cookery: Or, The Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry, and Vegetables, and the Best Modes of Making Pastes, Puffs, Pies, Tarts, Puddings, Custards, and Preserves, and All Kinds of Cakes, from the Imperial Plum to Plain Cake...  by Amelia Simmons.  It even tells you how to dress a turtle.

If you need to know what an aebelskiver pan or a bain marie is, check out the section of images of antique cooking tools.  Additionally, there is a glossary of cooking terms.  I could spend hours reading this website.


So, whether you love cooking or have a historical interest in food, Feeding America is a great website.

Do you have family recipes or cookbooks that you love?  Feel free to share them.

Land Management Records: Daniel Fenn

Although I haven't blogged on 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy topics, I do look over the websites recommended on their weekly suggestions.  One week's suggestion was to look at Federal Land Records at the Bureau of Land Management website.

It is easy to search for records by going to search land patents, enter state, and last name of person you are searching for.  I chose to check one of my brickwall ancestors, Daniel Fenn.  I found three land patents under his name.  I found land patents given to Daniel Fenn from the Detroit land office for land in Washtenaw County, Michigan Territory. 

Document numbers were 9093, 9094, 9095 and were for 80 acres each, for a total of 240 acres of land.  They were issued 14 October 1835, two years before Michigan became a state.

Land Patent Number 9094

Issued to Daniel Fenn

Legal description:  West half of the north west quarter of Section 13 in Township Two, South of Range Three, East.  (80 acres)

Early Settlers of Washtenaw County, Michigan

My third great grandfather, Daniel Fenn, was one of the early settlers of Washtenaw County, Michigan.  Daniel Fenn and his family arrived in the Michigan Territory in 1833, settling in the Sylvan Township area.  Washtenaw County, Michigan was established in 1827.  This area at the time was considered a wilderness with the eastern part of the county being sparsely developed.  It is now home to Ann Arbor and surrounding areas.

The year before, Daniel's son, Orlo H. Fenn came with a group of pioneers from Addison County, Vermont and established what was known as the Vermont Settlement.  These men are memorialized on a granite stone in Vermont Cemetery, Sylvan Township, Michigan.

The early pioneers who came in 1832 were:
Wm. Arnold Davis
Warren A. Davis
Orlo H. Fenn
Truman Lawrence
Ira Spaulding
Warren Spaulding
Dennis Warner
Mahlon Wines

More information can be found in Chapman's History of Washtenaw County, pages 754-758 on Vermont Settlement.