Friday, July 27, 2012 - Briggs Library, Hamner Room, Ironton, Ohio

First of all, it was exciting just to drive over the Ohio River from West Virginia. Now, I'm in Ohio for the very first time in my life. Driving in the area where dozens of family members lived their whole lives. After having a hearty breakfast (knowing that I probably wouldn't take a break all day), I arrived at the Briggs Library in Ironton at 10 a.m. Now, get the laptop, camera & iPad out and get started. This 7 hours will fly by. The first place I headed was to the family history shelves. These shelves contain the books, folders and binders submitted to the library by people who have created family histories/genealogies. These can simply be a handwritten genealogy, copies of family stories or Bible pages or extensive genealogy charts and group sheets created on computers or by hand. TIP: You may not find these any place else, including at the FHL (Family History Library in Salt Lake City). I located several books pertaining to family names; BOGGS, BOWEN, DUNFEE, HOLDERBY and others. TIP: When looking through these types of books keep in mind all your collateral lines. You may not find your direct line surnames on the label of the book or binder, but they may still be there, in association with those collateral lines.

The BOGGS book I located had a lot of information. I decided that instead of trying to take pictures of every page I would check on Amazon.com. Sure enough they had the book and I purchased it. When it arrives at my house I will be able to take my time going through it. Any book that you purchase during your travels or research can always be donated, at a later time, to a library or historical society. Or you could even sell it on eBay. The rest of my day was spent looking at obituary indexes, marriage record, births and court indexes. I gathered a lot of good information and was well rewarded for the time I spent. And, no, I didn't take a break or leave the library for any reason. Good thing I had that big breakfast. Afterward I met my friend at Jim's Restaurant in Huntington for some very delicious and famous spaghetti. Not pasta, but spaghetti. Turns out that President Kennedy ate at this restaurant while he was in office. I hope my photos show up in this post in right places. You know, since I'm out of practice on here. I also hope that the tips I'm including and the links, will assist you in your research. Until later, Michigan Girl

Researching on the road - Ohio and West Virginia

We have a lot of fun researching our ancestors lives. One of my favorite things to do is hit the road and travel to places my family members have lived. This week I'm in Huntington, West Virginia right on the Ohio River. Lots of family history here and just across the river in Lawrence and Gallia Counties in Ohio. I met up with a local researcher who has a website I've been using for years. It's a great source for Lawrence County Ohio information, here's the link A sister site which is also a tremendous source of information is http://www.miles-shute-kouns-families.com/ So, if you have family from southeastern Ohio or Cabell County, West Virginia you will find these websites very helpful. Today I met up with my friend, and we went to Marshall Univeristy, Morrow Room. They have a collection called the Lambert files. It's a collection put together by one man back in the 1930's. He interviewed people all over the Cabell County area and wrote down the conversations. Along with that he collected letters and photos from these people about their families. As a result you have information, much of which is not available elsewhere. I certainly hit pay dirt, including a photo of a 3rd Great Granduncle, Richard Lundsford and one of his wives. In the afternoon, after stopping by Hillbilly Hotdogs for a taste of some local food, we headed for Cabell County Library. My friend has been there many times and knew just what books to pull off the shelves. You should have seen that stack of books. I thought to myself "how am I ever going to get through all those in only 4 hours?" You know, they do close at 6 pm. Well, we did get through them because we worked together. She used my camera to take pictures of the pages and I used my iPad. TIP: When you are looking at all those books and want copies of the pages, take photos with your digital camera or your iPad. For one thing it's much quicker and it saves you a little money. In my case we took over 200 pictures today. Standing at a copy machine would have been laborious, and depending on the per copy cost, I saved from $20-50. Since we want our libraries to stay open and times are tough I suggest you make a donation to any library that you visit. Tomorrow is another day and I'll have more tips and more to report from my current genealogy adventure. Til then, happy hunting, Michigan Girl

Back after two years away

I started this blog back in 2010 because I wanted to share my experiences in researching my family history. So much has happened since I began this journey back in 2003. New cousins, a new brother, new friends, traveling to new places to do research. Oh my, the things I have done. Of course I couldn't do any of it if it weren't for my wonderful husband, Ron. He has put up with my story sharing, the screams of happiness when I finally get a hit on someone I've been looking for, my hours and hours on the computer, trips to libraries, ordering documents and books, attending genealogy society meetings and traveling without him to do research. Yup, that's the life of the spouse of a crazed genealogist. Did I mention that he does all of that without complaining (too much). LOL! I am going to try this blogging gig again and hope family, friends and others will find my blog and enjoy reading it. It won't be like some of the other blogs that cover other websites or give you hints on now to do this or that. Mostly it will be about the journey and what I find. However, along the way there will be lessons learned by me and by you too. I will include good websites and tips when they relate to the story. That's all I'll say for tonight. For one thing, I'm typing this on my iPad and it's not as easy as using the computer. Bye for now Michigan Girl