Googling Grandma

Today,  I sat down with my laptop and decided to enter my grandmother's name - Caroline McMurray Davies - into the Google search.

Here is what I found: there was a link to her obituary in Calgary paper. It showed her death date as June 3rd, 1981, the obituary ran two days in the paper on June 4th and 5th, 1981.(Where was I at that time? How old was I? I need to know these things to put everything into perspective)

It says she was 79 when she died, I had never bothered to figure that out before.  My mom is 83, and still lives alone and takes care of herself. My grandma had been in a rest home for a number of years (I need to find that out) with Parkinson's disease.

(This post qualifies as "Gold flecks" because even though I found information- I need to search deeper- for facts  to find out some more details.)

There was also a link to one of grandma's brothers - Milford - it showed several pieces of information about him, but one thing that was wrong was it listed one of his sisters being named Hattie, and her name was really Lottie.

It shows how important to use primary sources and not just take what you find on the internet as true.

Laptop compliments of my son, John. Thanks!                       

Caroline McMurray Davies

Defining My Quest

After thinking about it for a week, I made a decision on who or what will be my first family history quest.

I want to delve into the life and history of my maternal grandmother, Caroline McMurray Davies. I have many memories of my grandmother, and since my mother is still alive I can get additional information about her mother that I would have no other way of finding out.

I will find information and interesting stories about her, but also want to track down documents and photographs and whatever else is available.

My Grandmother: Caroline McMurray

Parents: James Stevenson McMurray & Sarah Ann Orr

Born: March 11, 1902

Place: Orton, Alberta, Canada

Married: William George Davies

Date: January 29, 1929

Died: June 3, 1981

Place:     

Friday Family Story... Birth Certificate

Allan King Fowler  -- gold dust, just a little family history tidbit

So I found out that my dad's birth certificate is wrong!

My father- Allan King Fowler, was born on February 28, 1928.  At least, that is what we always thought.
However, in talking to my Great-Aunt Doris, she tells me that he was actually born on February 29th. Doris Fowler Komm was the youngest sister of Douglas Bradshaw Fowler.

Douglas Bradshaw Fowler was my grandfather, but he was also the local family doctor in southern Alberta. So, when his wife, Louise King Fowler was ready to deliver their baby it was actually born on February 29th in a leap year. He didn't want his son to only have a birthday every 4 years, so he just changed the birth date on the birth certificate.

My Dad: Allan King Fowler

Parents: Douglas Bradshaw Fowler and Louise King Fowler

Born: February 28, 1928

Place: Magrath, Alberta, Canada

Paperclips or Staples?

Neither, if they are metal they will rust over time and ruin your documents.

Try to get the plastic coated paperclips.  

File Folders

I am tying to follow my own advice...and define my goal.

I have some ideas for my first quest, but they are still milling around in my mind.


By Saturday I will be ready to put my goal down on paper.

Today, I got some file folders. Couldn't decide whether to go with legal or letter size so I bought a box of each.  My rationale was that since many of the pages of genealogy (that I recently inherited) are on legal size paper I wanted to be able to store them well...but for ease in working I want to have letter size info that I can print easily off the computer.

What Do I Want To Know?

Since I want to start looking for my family roots it’s important to figure out exactly what I hope to learn. 

How much interest do I have and who and what interests me?  Maybe I will want to fill out a family tree, or maybe I want to research my entire family history. 

From past experience I know it is important not to get started until I:

•          Define my goal

And I need to remember to:

•          Not give up easily when things get difficult, and to
•         Enjoy the journey, no matter where it takes me

And above all, I shouldn't get discouraged because:

•          Family history is not always quick and easy 
•          There is no way that I am going to find out everything in one day

Hang in there...

What are Gold Flecks?

"gold flecks"- gold flecks are also small pieces of information, but that information makes me think more, and sends me on a little quest for more information on that topic, event or person

What does it mean - to Stake a Claim?

"stake a claim" -  when you stake a claim you own something, so I will give you (or mention it as a suggestion) the opportunity to search for some information.  If you do it,  you will be staking a claim on your own family history

What are Gold Nuggets?

"gold nuggets"- gold nuggets are worth a great deal! They are not easy to come by, but they can be found, and sometimes it is with divine intervention.
The gold nuggets that I will find while mining for gold will be family information of infinite worth.

I hope you can collect your own gold nuggets - but you have to work hard and search for anything of value.

Ahnentafel Numbers

 
You ask- What exactly is an Ahnentafel Number?

Ahnentafel is a German word meaning "ancestor table." the system is easy to use and gives each ancestor an identification number.  Some genealogists like to use these numbers to organize their files or notebooks. Once assigned, the number stays the same for that person, it doesn't change as you add new ancestors.

Gold Mine "Definitions"

"gold dust" -  is just a little story, just a little tidbit of information that I found while mining for family gold

"gold flecks"- gold flecks are also small pieces of information, but that information makes me think more, and sends me on a little quest for more information on that topic

"gold nuggets"- gold nuggets are worth a great deal, and so the gold nuggets that I will find while mining for gold will be family information of infinite worth. I hope you can collect your own gold nuggets

"mine cart" - a mine cart is used to bring gold up from the bottom of the mine - so when I have some information to share I will bring it up in a mine cart

"stake a claim" -  when you stake a claim you own something, so when I will give you the opportunity to search for some information, you will be staking a claim on your own family history

Where Do I Come From?

My ancestors come from many different countries. While looking at some old pedigree charts I discover that I have ancestors from these different countries:

• England
• Wales
• Scotland
• Ireland
• Norway
• Sweden
• Switzerland

(Actually, Switzerland is from my step-dad, Grant Lester Anderson's ancestors, and Norway and Sweden are from my hubby's family)

   What family stories can I find?

Tuesday Task.....What's in a Name?

I know the story about how my parents chose my name . . . do you know the story behind your name?

My dad went on a mission to Hawaii, and learned the beautiful Hawaiian language.  The story that may parents told us was that we all were given Hawaiian names as well as our English names. I was named  Leilani - which means "flower from Heaven".  In addition to my Hawaiian name my parents chose the name Launa. Apparently, they really liked the name when my older sister was born, but were not 100% that they wanted to use it. Two years passed, and then I was born and they still liked it so then I got to be "Launa".  I really liked my name, it was a bit unusual and so I felt it was special.       

Try to find out the story about your name.                   

What Names Will I find?

• McMurray
• Orr
• Nowlin
• Davies
• Fowler
• King
• Bradshaw
• Stevenson

Off the top of my head, these are the family names that come to mind- however,  with the exception of my grandparents and  their fathers parents I am not sure exactly how some of the names fit.

I know Jabus Nowlin got his nose shot off in an Indian skirmish- my mom told me that when I needed an interesting ancestor story.  However, I am not quite sure how I am related to the Nowlins.  These are some of the things I want to know.