Our nation has had a contract which we support, defend and protect everyday. It's something we Americans have done for the last 226 years. Yep, today is the 226th anniversary of the signing of our Constitution.
While I don't have any ancestors who signed the Constitution, I do have on both my maternal and paternal bloodlines patriots who have fought and died for America since the Revolution. I was thinking of today being Constitution Day and it occurred to me that every generation of my family has served America since the founding of our great land.
What do you know about the Constitution? Have you read it or studied since you were in high school or college? I am still amazed that the 55 delegates from the newly formed 13 states were able to debate, argue, and compromise over that long, hot summer in Philadelphia so many years ago. What they penned and what the 39 delegates who signed the Constitution did is so incredible. We have the longest surviving Constitution and the shortest in the world. Amazing.
Since I can't claim any genealogy fame to any signer of the Constitution, I guess I'll just have to thank those men who did sign it. Perhaps, I'll shout "Happy Constitution Day" to all I see today and then sit down and see what military records I can find on my beloved and brave soldiers and sailors in my bloodline. Seems fitting.
Just in case you need a fun fact about the Constitution-- The original Constitution (without the 27 amendments added at later dates) had something like 4400 words. Only one word is misspelled. Can you guess it? The state it was penned in--- Pennsylvania.
Ahh, genealogy. Gotta love it while we support, defend and protect our nation- one generation at a time.
©AS Eldredge, 2013
Ahhh, genealogy. A glimpse of the past shows of what I am made.....
Showing posts with label military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label military. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Friend of Friends Friday: Pittsburgh Folks Just Keep Dying to Get In
The good people in the Allegheny County, PA, area keep dying and well, we keep finding them.
For over two years, our little band of volunteers has been digging in the old Pittsburgh area newspapers for death notices. The volunteers come and go, but there are usually at least five of us working at any given time.
Our last update brought us to over 88,000 death entries. We have over 3500 entries waiting in the hopper. I suspect these names will be available for family history buffs by Easter weekend.
Check us out. In addition to our death index, we have:
over 24,000 marriages
Divorce notices
WWI Military Personnel with over 73000 names
World War I articles
The record of Company E from the Civil War
House of Refuge information
Morganza information
Poor House Census 1850-1910
Poor House articles
1931 Fire of Little Sisters Poor House
1890 Veterans Schedule/Poor homes
Allegheny Co Home Census 1860-1940
There are also wonderful snippets of interest that will lead you to outside links with history information and resources from the area.
Whatcha waiting for? http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/
The index of names: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
Ahhh, genealogy. Such generous, kind friends-- any day of the week, not just Friday!
©2013 AS Eldredge
For over two years, our little band of volunteers has been digging in the old Pittsburgh area newspapers for death notices. The volunteers come and go, but there are usually at least five of us working at any given time.
Our last update brought us to over 88,000 death entries. We have over 3500 entries waiting in the hopper. I suspect these names will be available for family history buffs by Easter weekend.
Check us out. In addition to our death index, we have:
over 24,000 marriages
Divorce notices
WWI Military Personnel with over 73000 names
World War I articles
The record of Company E from the Civil War
House of Refuge information
Morganza information
Poor House Census 1850-1910
Poor House articles
1931 Fire of Little Sisters Poor House
1890 Veterans Schedule/Poor homes
Allegheny Co Home Census 1860-1940
There are also wonderful snippets of interest that will lead you to outside links with history information and resources from the area.
Whatcha waiting for? http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/
The index of names: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
Ahhh, genealogy. Such generous, kind friends-- any day of the week, not just Friday!
©2013 AS Eldredge
Monday, May 16, 2011
Honoring WWI Pittsburgh Area Veterans
For those of you who follow my genealogy antics, you know I have been the coordinator for a fabulous project in the Pittsburgh area. A super group of volunteers have banded together to search the old newspapers and pull out the death, marriage, divorce and photos found within. These entries have been put into indices which can be checked at no cost online.
Our last death index had over 73000 entries! This has been accomplished in about 15 months and still the labor of love of history keeps on ticking! We update the these lists on a regular basis, so there is always a reason to check the lists every month or so. You just never know when you will be jumping for joy!
On another note, last December, one of the volunteers, Lynn Beatty, approached me with the idea of pulling the World War I veterans names from the newspapers. My first thought was this would be so grand since so many of the World War I veterans information has been lost due to fire.
Since then, Lynn has singlehandedly indexed 85133 entries for the military index. My buddy, Ellis, graciously added the index to our Allegheny County Death Index page. Norm even set up a page for our beloved veterans which will take you to the link for the date the name was seen in the newspaper.
So grab a cup of joe and take some time looking at the stories, the happy reunions, the letters, and shed a tear for those who gave their lives for our wonderful country.
Military Service Index: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Enjm1/11AC-WWI-Military-Service.html
Ahh, genealogy. Listen to your heartbeat when your beloved's name is found.
©2011 AS Eldredge
Friday, March 25, 2011
Watching the Family Tree Bloom
Have you noticed the pollen counts lately? Where I live, the trees and early spring flowers are blooming their little heads off and sending those of us with (and without) pollen allergies running for our boxes of kleenex.
I so marvel at the wonder of spring as the trees awaken from their deep winter slumber and everything comes to life once more. Branches you thought were dead spring to life with new leaves, just like my genealogy trees.
A cousin just popped up as a result of reading some of my earlier posts. How fun is that? It's always interesting to be able to share the information as you know it to be with other family members who are just beginning their search for their roots. Of course, it is even more fun for me to be able to solve some mysteries of the past and verify what I think I know.
A good source to research is that of old obituaries. They can be hard to locate, but sometimes, they can really send you into screaming fits of joy.
Take, for example, the obit of Austin McClain BRENDEL. His May 1935 obit confirms the name of his wife and their two children. The surprise of the obit came in two parts: "...Mr. Brendel leaves.....and a daughter, Mrs Floyd TAYLOR of Akron, OH......." and "He was buried in the Southside Cemetery beside his mother."
Really? Another daughter? Does that mean an earlier marriage?
The obit led us on a goose chase for Mrs. Floyd TAYLOR. We found evidence of her and, then we lost her. The name was just too common and she appeared to have left the area. That was several years ago.
We've just found her daughter alive and well. Or rather, she found us with the able assistance of her son. This is so cool. Emails are flying and more tidbits of information are coming in. Now we have more leads to follow to try and nail down some of the past that we think we know. Will we have moments of "aha" waiting for us?
We knew where Austin was buried as I have been to the site and my father's cousins had told me. This had also been confirmed by the cemetery. What we didn't know was that his mother, Henrietta Renton McCLAIN BRENDEL, was also buried there. Surprise. There are no headstones for either of them.
The newly found cousin was able to supply the name of the first wife, so now it's off to see what supporting documentation will show up on her family. A local history book has identified the family names, so the search is on. A local hysterical society :) in the area has confirmed they have information on her family and I am patiently waiting for them to identify what the information is.
I have also been able to find when his first wife filed for divorce by finding it in a 1910 Pittsburgh newspaper. Now I wait for my "sweet tea" buddy to make his monthly trek to the Allegheny County courthouse to find the hard evidence for me.
Old obituaries are really great. They can provide the names of those grieving for the deceased. Those names, in turn, can sometimes be traced to a living descendant. If you are lucky enough to locate an old obituary, you can then start the hunt for a living, breathing kinsman who may be able to fill in some gaps. Even the smallest tidbit can lead you to finding a pot of gold.
You can also compare the names with some of the early censuses to see if you are following the correct family. Censuses can be difficult as they are not always accurate. The early ones were done by folks in the neighborhood who sometimes were known to make educated guesses. Just remember, a census is secondary evidence when trying to find your roots. If possible, go by the death, marriage, land, wills, probate, church, draft registration, SSDI or other records. Look for patterns and a preponderance of evidence to support your theories.
If you've got roots in the Pittsburgh area, my merry little band of 47 volunteers is still busy digging them up out of old newspapers. The list blooms each day and we strive to send a new upload to the web about once a month or so. To date, we have almost 70,000 death entries, over 16,000 (so 32,000 names) marriage entries, and 1103 divorces. The dates of the newspapers range from 1806-1997.
You can check out the dates here: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njm1/Daily-Update-Submitted-Newspapers.html
And the names here: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
We also have been hard at work on a military service personnel index for WWI. This information is also coming from the old Pittsburgh newspapers. We currently have almost 70,000 entires uploaded on this index and I have more waiting to go. Check it out here: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
Ahh, genealogy. Sometimes, it's not the pollen that has you running for the kleenex, it's the new branches on the family tree.
©2011 AS Eldredge
I so marvel at the wonder of spring as the trees awaken from their deep winter slumber and everything comes to life once more. Branches you thought were dead spring to life with new leaves, just like my genealogy trees.
A cousin just popped up as a result of reading some of my earlier posts. How fun is that? It's always interesting to be able to share the information as you know it to be with other family members who are just beginning their search for their roots. Of course, it is even more fun for me to be able to solve some mysteries of the past and verify what I think I know.
A good source to research is that of old obituaries. They can be hard to locate, but sometimes, they can really send you into screaming fits of joy.
Take, for example, the obit of Austin McClain BRENDEL. His May 1935 obit confirms the name of his wife and their two children. The surprise of the obit came in two parts: "...Mr. Brendel leaves.....and a daughter, Mrs Floyd TAYLOR of Akron, OH......." and "He was buried in the Southside Cemetery beside his mother."
Really? Another daughter? Does that mean an earlier marriage?
The obit led us on a goose chase for Mrs. Floyd TAYLOR. We found evidence of her and, then we lost her. The name was just too common and she appeared to have left the area. That was several years ago.
We've just found her daughter alive and well. Or rather, she found us with the able assistance of her son. This is so cool. Emails are flying and more tidbits of information are coming in. Now we have more leads to follow to try and nail down some of the past that we think we know. Will we have moments of "aha" waiting for us?
We knew where Austin was buried as I have been to the site and my father's cousins had told me. This had also been confirmed by the cemetery. What we didn't know was that his mother, Henrietta Renton McCLAIN BRENDEL, was also buried there. Surprise. There are no headstones for either of them.
The newly found cousin was able to supply the name of the first wife, so now it's off to see what supporting documentation will show up on her family. A local history book has identified the family names, so the search is on. A local hysterical society :) in the area has confirmed they have information on her family and I am patiently waiting for them to identify what the information is.
I have also been able to find when his first wife filed for divorce by finding it in a 1910 Pittsburgh newspaper. Now I wait for my "sweet tea" buddy to make his monthly trek to the Allegheny County courthouse to find the hard evidence for me.
Old obituaries are really great. They can provide the names of those grieving for the deceased. Those names, in turn, can sometimes be traced to a living descendant. If you are lucky enough to locate an old obituary, you can then start the hunt for a living, breathing kinsman who may be able to fill in some gaps. Even the smallest tidbit can lead you to finding a pot of gold.
You can also compare the names with some of the early censuses to see if you are following the correct family. Censuses can be difficult as they are not always accurate. The early ones were done by folks in the neighborhood who sometimes were known to make educated guesses. Just remember, a census is secondary evidence when trying to find your roots. If possible, go by the death, marriage, land, wills, probate, church, draft registration, SSDI or other records. Look for patterns and a preponderance of evidence to support your theories.
If you've got roots in the Pittsburgh area, my merry little band of 47 volunteers is still busy digging them up out of old newspapers. The list blooms each day and we strive to send a new upload to the web about once a month or so. To date, we have almost 70,000 death entries, over 16,000 (so 32,000 names) marriage entries, and 1103 divorces. The dates of the newspapers range from 1806-1997.
You can check out the dates here: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njm1/Daily-Update-Submitted-Newspapers.html
And the names here: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
We also have been hard at work on a military service personnel index for WWI. This information is also coming from the old Pittsburgh newspapers. We currently have almost 70,000 entires uploaded on this index and I have more waiting to go. Check it out here: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
Ahh, genealogy. Sometimes, it's not the pollen that has you running for the kleenex, it's the new branches on the family tree.
©2011 AS Eldredge
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Wordless Wednesday: Pittsburgh area WWI Military Index Updated
Unbelievable. The World War I Military Personnel Index that I am involved with now has almost 70,000 entries. Ok, so it's really ONLY 67,989 entries.
These entries are all marching in from old Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, newspapers courtesy of my genealogy buddy, Lynn B in Arizona.
The most recent entries are coming from dates after the war ended in 1918. It's really cool to read some of the stories of the boys as they come home from the horrendous battlefields in Europe. Even the headlines of the daily newspapers provide a snapshot to the emotions and events at the end of the Great War.
I found myself just stopping my daily routine just to spend time reading some of the articles. One article which caught my eye is from the January 19, 1919, Pittsburgh Press. While the article is about one John E STANTON who was among the first Americans in German territory, names of his family members are also mentioned. What a great find for that family!
Other articles provide pictures and memories of battles in France. What great reading!
The index can be seen here: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
If you are among the fortunate to see your beloved's name, you will be able to identify the date and which newspaper and page to search. Even if you don't readily find your family, the tales are fascinating.
Ahh, genealogy. While my grandfather's name hasn't been seen yet, he was exposed to mustard gas in France and ended up losing part of one leg due to being wounded.
©2011 AS Eldredge
These entries are all marching in from old Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, newspapers courtesy of my genealogy buddy, Lynn B in Arizona.
The most recent entries are coming from dates after the war ended in 1918. It's really cool to read some of the stories of the boys as they come home from the horrendous battlefields in Europe. Even the headlines of the daily newspapers provide a snapshot to the emotions and events at the end of the Great War.
I found myself just stopping my daily routine just to spend time reading some of the articles. One article which caught my eye is from the January 19, 1919, Pittsburgh Press. While the article is about one John E STANTON who was among the first Americans in German territory, names of his family members are also mentioned. What a great find for that family!
Other articles provide pictures and memories of battles in France. What great reading!
The index can be seen here: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
If you are among the fortunate to see your beloved's name, you will be able to identify the date and which newspaper and page to search. Even if you don't readily find your family, the tales are fascinating.
Ahh, genealogy. While my grandfather's name hasn't been seen yet, he was exposed to mustard gas in France and ended up losing part of one leg due to being wounded.
©2011 AS Eldredge
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Old Pittsburgh Newspaper Marriage and Divorce Indices
The awesome all volunteer group from the Rootsweb Mailing Group that I am associated with has done it again. We've recently celebrated our one year anniversary for the death index we've been compiling from old newspapers in the Pittsburgh area. Yep, we've been combing the old newspapers from the last 200 years and the entries just keep on coming.
What would we do without the wonderful volunteers? (Did I mention these 46 super folks are fantastic in their commitment to the project?)
Just in case you missed it, our little project now has marriage and divorce sections, as well as our new military index with names from World War I.
Latest index numbers for marriages online (and available to all for free- well, maybe an occasional shout out from other researchers): 16,520
Latest index numbers for the divorce: 1083
Latest index numbers for the World War I military personnel index: 37, 324
Click here to go to the pages to see if you will shout for joy in your Pittsburgh area research:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
Ahh, genealogy. The old marriages and happy times come alive just in time for Valentine's Day. After all, we needed them for our generation.
©2011 AS Eldredge
What would we do without the wonderful volunteers? (Did I mention these 46 super folks are fantastic in their commitment to the project?)
Just in case you missed it, our little project now has marriage and divorce sections, as well as our new military index with names from World War I.
Latest index numbers for marriages online (and available to all for free- well, maybe an occasional shout out from other researchers): 16,520
Latest index numbers for the divorce: 1083
Latest index numbers for the World War I military personnel index: 37, 324
Click here to go to the pages to see if you will shout for joy in your Pittsburgh area research:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
Ahh, genealogy. The old marriages and happy times come alive just in time for Valentine's Day. After all, we needed them for our generation.
©2011 AS Eldredge
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Treasure Chest Thursday: Linking Pittsburgh Area WWI Vets for Today's Family
Even though we've been cold, wet, and sometimes stranded during the raging winter weather, my volunteer research efforts have been roaring on.
The death/marriage/divorce indices that I coordinate for the old Pittsburgh newspapers have given rise to another new index.
It's really cool to announce not only the World War I men of Allegheny County whose names were listed in the local newspaper, but I also get to send kudos to Norm M for setting up a webpage which details the issues of the newspapers that have been indexed by Lynn B.
Go to the site to see some of the over 30,000 hometown military personnel names and activities. If you've got Pittsburgh area roots from that time period, you may be in for a special treat. Even if you don't have roots in the area, you can just spend some time reading about World War I.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njm1/11AC-WWI-Military-Service.html
Ahh, genealogy. What great reading for a winter day.
©2011 AS Eldredge
The death/marriage/divorce indices that I coordinate for the old Pittsburgh newspapers have given rise to another new index.
It's really cool to announce not only the World War I men of Allegheny County whose names were listed in the local newspaper, but I also get to send kudos to Norm M for setting up a webpage which details the issues of the newspapers that have been indexed by Lynn B.
Go to the site to see some of the over 30,000 hometown military personnel names and activities. If you've got Pittsburgh area roots from that time period, you may be in for a special treat. Even if you don't have roots in the area, you can just spend some time reading about World War I.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njm1/11AC-WWI-Military-Service.html
Ahh, genealogy. What great reading for a winter day.
©2011 AS Eldredge
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Filling in the Blanks of WWI Heroes on Treasure Chest Thursday
The not-so-little-anymore project that I am involved with from the old Pittsburgh newspapers has expanded yet again.
Last month, just in time for the holidays, we unveiled a new section for Military Service listed in the 1918 newspapers of Pittsburgh. In little over a month's time, super volunteer Lynn B. has SINGLEHANDEDLY transcribed over 27,000 entries for this one of a kind index. (Super kudos, Lynn!)
The list has been sent to the webmaster for uploading and I suspect it will be available to everyone shortly for their viewing pleasure. I was looking at the list today and wondering about all these brave men who fought for America back in World War I. Did my family members know any of them? While I will most likely never answer that question, the pondering sparked yet another wild thought.
What if we could identify more of the units these great veterans served in? The index has a column for the branch and a separate one for the units. So many of the unit spaces are empty.
Do you know any of these men? If you do, and can identify the unit in which they served, please let me know. I will be happy to add the units to their names.
In the meantime, keep on checking out the awesome all volunteer death, marriage, divorce and military indices from old Pittsburgh newspapers. We update them all on a fairly regular basis. Here is the link: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
It may just warm you up on these cold winter days.
Ahh, genealogy. More than just names.
©2011 AS Eldredge
Last month, just in time for the holidays, we unveiled a new section for Military Service listed in the 1918 newspapers of Pittsburgh. In little over a month's time, super volunteer Lynn B. has SINGLEHANDEDLY transcribed over 27,000 entries for this one of a kind index. (Super kudos, Lynn!)
The list has been sent to the webmaster for uploading and I suspect it will be available to everyone shortly for their viewing pleasure. I was looking at the list today and wondering about all these brave men who fought for America back in World War I. Did my family members know any of them? While I will most likely never answer that question, the pondering sparked yet another wild thought.
What if we could identify more of the units these great veterans served in? The index has a column for the branch and a separate one for the units. So many of the unit spaces are empty.
Do you know any of these men? If you do, and can identify the unit in which they served, please let me know. I will be happy to add the units to their names.
In the meantime, keep on checking out the awesome all volunteer death, marriage, divorce and military indices from old Pittsburgh newspapers. We update them all on a fairly regular basis. Here is the link: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm
It may just warm you up on these cold winter days.
Ahh, genealogy. More than just names.
©2011 AS Eldredge
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Serving America Through Politics and the Military
Everyone of us has a viewpoint on politics. While I don't always agree with all of my kin on their thoughts, I find it interesting to go back in time to see how my family has been involved in politics in one way or another throughout America's history.
The first mayor of New York on land that was American, not English, was installed at the Wall Street tavern of my grandpa.
"...The little two-story affair on the west corner of Nassau Street deserves more extended notice than its size would seem to justify. It was John Simmons' tavern, where, in February, 1784, the common council met and with appropriate ceremonies installed the newly appointed Mayor, James Duane, in the presence of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. It is said that Simmons weighed more than four hundred pounds, and was of such bulk that at the time of his funeral the doorway of the tavern had to be enlarged to admit the coffin. His widow continued the business for several years, and among its later proprietors were David King and Samuel Randolph. After it ceased to be a tavern it was occupied by T. & W. Benton, bootmakers ; Thomas L. Rich, merchant tailor ; John N. Baur, watchmaker, and others.
In historic interest the site on the east corner of Nassau Street is the most important in New York. Here stood the second city hall, built in 1699-1700. In 1789, having been made over into the most elegant building in America and renamed Federal Hall, it became the first capitol of the United States, and on its balcony General Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the Republic...." (Source: file:///Users/username/Desktop/newSimmons2009:10/New%20York%20City%20-%20Wall%20Street%20Ninety%20Years%20Ago.webarchive)
It's not hard to imagine my grandpa and his family leaning out of the windows to see General Washington become the first president of the United States. After all, history books have documented that Washington had eaten at the family tavern back in 1784, and had hired a distant family member on his staff.
History books have also shown an uncle as being the first keeper of the door when Congress first met in NY.
Fast forward in time and see who else in the family has served America in elected office.
Uncle Samuel Smith HENRY (1786-1853)- Ohio State Representative
Cousin Ashmen Cooke HENRY (1828-1907) - Mayor of Oakland, CA
Couisn James BUCHANAN - President of the United States
My dad- City Council Member
While this is not a complete list, it serves to show my family has always been interested in serving America. Not everyone has an elected office. Many chose to serve America in the military- starting with the American Revolution.
So, elections. Yep, they are important. They were important to my ancestors.
Ahh, genealogy. My ancestors fought so I could vote. What a gift.
©2010 AS Eldredge
The first mayor of New York on land that was American, not English, was installed at the Wall Street tavern of my grandpa.
"...The little two-story affair on the west corner of Nassau Street deserves more extended notice than its size would seem to justify. It was John Simmons' tavern, where, in February, 1784, the common council met and with appropriate ceremonies installed the newly appointed Mayor, James Duane, in the presence of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. It is said that Simmons weighed more than four hundred pounds, and was of such bulk that at the time of his funeral the doorway of the tavern had to be enlarged to admit the coffin. His widow continued the business for several years, and among its later proprietors were David King and Samuel Randolph. After it ceased to be a tavern it was occupied by T. & W. Benton, bootmakers ; Thomas L. Rich, merchant tailor ; John N. Baur, watchmaker, and others.
In historic interest the site on the east corner of Nassau Street is the most important in New York. Here stood the second city hall, built in 1699-1700. In 1789, having been made over into the most elegant building in America and renamed Federal Hall, it became the first capitol of the United States, and on its balcony General Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the Republic...." (Source: file:///Users/username/Desktop/newSimmons2009:10/New%20York%20City%20-%20Wall%20Street%20Ninety%20Years%20Ago.webarchive)
It's not hard to imagine my grandpa and his family leaning out of the windows to see General Washington become the first president of the United States. After all, history books have documented that Washington had eaten at the family tavern back in 1784, and had hired a distant family member on his staff.
History books have also shown an uncle as being the first keeper of the door when Congress first met in NY.
Fast forward in time and see who else in the family has served America in elected office.
Uncle Samuel Smith HENRY (1786-1853)- Ohio State Representative
Cousin Ashmen Cooke HENRY (1828-1907) - Mayor of Oakland, CA
Couisn James BUCHANAN - President of the United States
My dad- City Council Member
While this is not a complete list, it serves to show my family has always been interested in serving America. Not everyone has an elected office. Many chose to serve America in the military- starting with the American Revolution.
So, elections. Yep, they are important. They were important to my ancestors.
Ahh, genealogy. My ancestors fought so I could vote. What a gift.
©2010 AS Eldredge
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Marking Veterans Final Resting Places
Chances are you have some veterans in the family. Have you thought of honoring the memory of their desire to protect our great land and the freedoms you enjoy? It's easy and I encourage all genealogy and history buffs to honor your loved ones.
My grandfathers both served America in World War I. One was in the Army and suffered from the exposure to mustard gas. Click here to read more of Charlie and his World War I experience and subsequent death. The other grandpa was in the Navy for a short stint, and died happily at an old age.
While my dad is buried in a military cemetery and has an official veterans marker, my grandfathers do not. Since my grandpas both have headstones at their final resting spot, I have not had the reason to seek honoring their military service with a government issued headstone. But wait-- can I do it now?
Just recently, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced a new option to honor our veterans who are buried in private (non-government) cemeteries and who have privately purchased headstones.
Now, we can honor our veterans' service to our great land with the addition of a bronze medallion to the existing headstone. For veterans who died on or after November 1, 1990, the medallion can be ordered through the VA. For more information on the medallion option, visit http://www.cem.va.gov/hm/hmtype.asp
Perhaps, the VA will soon have these medallions available for veterans who died before 1990. Wouldn't that be great?
Ahh, genealogy. Loving the past and wanting to honor my special veterans--- always and all ways.
©2010 AS Eldredge
My grandfathers both served America in World War I. One was in the Army and suffered from the exposure to mustard gas. Click here to read more of Charlie and his World War I experience and subsequent death. The other grandpa was in the Navy for a short stint, and died happily at an old age.
While my dad is buried in a military cemetery and has an official veterans marker, my grandfathers do not. Since my grandpas both have headstones at their final resting spot, I have not had the reason to seek honoring their military service with a government issued headstone. But wait-- can I do it now?
Just recently, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced a new option to honor our veterans who are buried in private (non-government) cemeteries and who have privately purchased headstones.
Now, we can honor our veterans' service to our great land with the addition of a bronze medallion to the existing headstone. For veterans who died on or after November 1, 1990, the medallion can be ordered through the VA. For more information on the medallion option, visit http://www.cem.va.gov/hm/hmtype.asp
Perhaps, the VA will soon have these medallions available for veterans who died before 1990. Wouldn't that be great?
Ahh, genealogy. Loving the past and wanting to honor my special veterans--- always and all ways.
©2010 AS Eldredge
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Ancestry Offers Free US Military Collection
In honor of our veterans, ancestry.com is offering free access to their US Military Collection until November 13.
Here's the link in case you want to do some genealogy surfing:
http://landing.ancestry.com/military/collections.aspx?html=main&URL=military%2fcollections.aspx%3fhtml%3dmain&o_iid=31731&o_lid=31731
Here's the link in case you want to do some genealogy surfing:
http://landing.ancestry.com/military/collections.aspx?html=main&URL=military%2fcollections.aspx%3fhtml%3dmain&o_iid=31731&o_lid=31731
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