NGS Home Study Course - Lesson 1

I knew this wouldn't be easy.  That was the whole point of taking the course.  I wanted to see what I was doing wrong before I do my BCG certification.  Lesson 1 of the NGS Home Study Course has two assignments.  Assignment #1 - Pedigree Chart and Assignment #2 - Family Group Sheet with Citations. 

Assignment #1 seemed simple enough.  I started with myself and added my parents, grand parents and great grandparents.  Then I filled in their dates and places of birth and death.  Done!  Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy!

Assignment #2 - a little more complicated.  I used my grandfather, William Smith Roberts and his wife, Mary Alvira McCormick, and listed their eight children and their spouses.  Here is where it started getting complicated.  Three of the eight children had been married multiple times.  I knew the names of the spouses, but finding the where and when was difficult. 

Boy, was I surprised when I found my aunt Charlene's marriage to her first husband, Lou Palfy!  I thought his last name was Palfry all this time!  Family legend has it that Lou was a "bit player" in the movies.  This is why I think I must have A.D.D.  I stopped what I was doing and went to imdb.com which stands for internet movie data base.  I put in Louis Palfy and bingo!  Lou was in such films as "Gilda" and "Wanderer of the Wasteland"!  Here's the link:  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0657650/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

O.k....back to Assignment #2.  I dug around for information to fill in the blanks on my family group sheet.  Then I worked on the citations.  I would like to mention here that I DO own a copy of Elizabeth Shown Mills "Evidence Explained". 

I attached the cover sheet and emailed NGS - Lesson 1

~ a couple days pass ~

I received an email with the results of Lesson 1

Assignment #1 results - Apparently I was used to the way I do things on Ancestry.com.  When listing a place of birth or death, I always list it as City, County, State.  Here's an example:  Anderson, Madison, Indiana the person who graded Lesson 1 said I did good, but I should use Co. or County after the county and resubmit it.  O.k., I can do that.  Here's an example Anderson, Madison Co., Indiana.  So I added Co. to all my counties.

Assignment #2 results - Simply owing a copy of Elizabeth Shown Mills' "Evidence Explained" is not enough.  You must take the book down off the bookshelf and use it!  The person who graded Assignment #2 (please let it not be Elizabeth Shown Mills or I will have to change my name) was kind enough not to ask if my brain fell out during the citation writing process.  After giving me an example of a proper citation, he or she asked that I rewrite my citations and resubmit my assignment.

I rewrote my citations...all 75 of them...proofread, spellchecked, re-proofread, and then resubmitted Lesson 1.

Now I'm waiting on the results...and thinking of a new name.

Mystery Monday: Gottlieb Gerlinger

Today's mystery comes not from the attic, but the basement of the Kosciusko County Historical Society in Warsaw, Kosciusko County, Indiana. The recently discovered documents of Gottlieb Gerlinger had nothing to do with Kosciusko County or even Indiana. As a volunteer at the Kosciusko County Historical Society Library, I was asked to do research so that the documents could be given to his next of kin.

From his Declaration of Intent #11732, filed on 16 August 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, I leaned that Gottlieb Gerlinger was a wagon maker who was born in Orlawski, Russia on 07 January 1887.  He had a fair complexion, was 5’8” tall, 155 lbs., with blue eyes and brown hair.  He emigrated from Bremen, Germany aboard the George Washington which pulled into the port of  New York on 14 April 1913.  He was single and lived at 506 W 81 Place, Chicago, Illinois.

The enlistment record shows that Gottlieb Gerlinger enlisted in the U. S. Army on 07 Oct 1917 in Chicago.  He was promoted to Sargent on 20 June 1918 and served with the A.E.F. from 18 Sept 1918 to 25 Apr 1919.  He was single and of excellent character.

On 07 May 1919, Gottlieb Gerlinger, 20585-19, Sargent, Company A, 306 Infantry, received an Honorable Discharge from The United States Army at Camp Grant, Illinois.

Gottlieb’s Certificate of Naturalization was issued on 14 June 1918 in Chicago.  He was described as being 31 years old, 5’7”, white, complexion light, blue eyes and red hair.

The next document dated 08 July 1957 was from the Veterans Administration and addressed to Hart Funeral Home, 8608 Summit Avenue, Chicago, Illinois and CC to Mrs. Emma Runkel, 506 W 81^st Place, Chicago, Illinois. It referenced 3028/215A, XC-20 444 068 George Gottlieb Gerlinger.  The letter stated that an allowance $150.00 had been approved covering the funeral and burial expenses of the veteran.

The final document was dated 14 May 1957.  It was from Wilbert Manufacturers Association and guaranteed the Wilbert Burial Vault purchased by Mrs. Emma Runkel for interment of the remains of George Gerlinger in St. Mary’s Cemetery located near Evergreen Park, Illinois.

And there you have it.  How did these documents from Illinois end up in Warsaw, Indiana? We may never know.  If you are a relative of Gottleib "George" Gerilinger or Emma Runkel and would like to have the documents, please contact me.

Friday's Faces From the Past: Mallie Miller Dye

Mallie Miller Dye (1886-1980)

This elegant young lady was my 1st cousin 1x removed, Mallie Miller Dye, daughter of Zealey Miller and Mary J. Stipe.  Mallie was born on 17 September 1886 in Sherman, Grayson County, Texas.  She married John Mack Dye about 1905 and became a minister's wife.  Mallie and John were the parents of Ruth, Ruby, Cora and Henry Loyd Dye.  Mallie died on 17 June 1980 in Lubbock, Lubbock County, Texas at the age of 93 and was buried at Elmwood Memorial Park, Abilene, Taylor County, Texas.  Photo courtesy of Russell Van Hoose.

NGS Home Study Course

After three long years of working on my genealogy certification, I have come to the conclusion that I need help.  I know you must be thinking to yourself that my family held an intervention.  No, although they must know by now that I am certifiable.  I just ordered CD #1 of the National Genealogical Society Home Study Course!  I have heard good things about the course and I am hoping it will help me stay on track.

I think my problem is that I would rather do research than work on my certification.  I just need to focus, complete the course, do my certification and then I can do all the research I want.  Maybe by then they will have released the 1950 census!

I will let you know how it goes.

FGS 2013, Here I Come!

I had such a great time and learned so much at the NGS 2013 Conference in Las Vegas in May with my friend, Rhonda Holden, that I registered for the FGS 2013 Conference to be held August 21-24, 2013 at the Grand Wayne Convention Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.   

The good news is that Fort Wayne is only a 45 minute drive from my house, so I won't be paying for airfare or a hotel.  I will be driving with my friend Sharon Susec, the librarian at the Kosciusko County Historical Society library!

The bad news is my friend Rhonda won't be there...and there will be no slot machines.

I hope to see you there!