We are about to wrap up another great Family History Class here at the Y. This is the 5th year we have offered this class. Thank you, Mary, Barb, Karleen, Bev, Becky, and Roy!
This evening I searched the new database on Ancestry.com, "U.S.
Headstone Applications, 1925-1963". I found the application for George
C. Ferguson, who is the father of my six siblings.
1940 Census Happy Dance!
I found dad in the 1940 census! I had a hunch he was working in Wyoming for the Elsom or Patch families. I looked at the 1930 census and found that the Elsom's lived in Election District 5, so I looked in that district in the 1940 census. They are on the first page with the Charles W. and Maude A. Patch family. Dad (Hugh B. Russell) is a hired hand, 27 and single. He completed the 8th grade and in 1935 was living in Sargent, Nebraska. He is listed as seeking for work in column 23 but is listed as a ranch laborer. Dad's brother Wayne R. Russell is listed after dad with the same details except his age, 25, and the number of weeks worked and income.
Dad liked to talk about his years in Wyoming. He helped the Patch family and the Elsoms do various ranch work, including herding sheep. I don't think he enjoyed that part too much doing it only one season. I remember him saying he thought a lot of the sheep dogs - border collies, I think - and how smart they were. He said in the hottest days of summer, the male sheep dogs would find the shade and the females would keep working. He also talked about mules skidding timber down the mountain.
I remember visiting the Elsom ranch in the late 60s, I suppose it was. Mrs. Elsom had a huge Christmas cactus in her living room, blooming, in an old wringer washer. They raised goats for milk and that was the first time I tasted goats milk. I liked it! Dad always thought a lot of the Elsoms and Patches. We visited a Patch family in Buffalo in the 1980s.
The Patches were relatives of dad's mom's first husband, Louis Patch.
Dad liked to talk about his years in Wyoming. He helped the Patch family and the Elsoms do various ranch work, including herding sheep. I don't think he enjoyed that part too much doing it only one season. I remember him saying he thought a lot of the sheep dogs - border collies, I think - and how smart they were. He said in the hottest days of summer, the male sheep dogs would find the shade and the females would keep working. He also talked about mules skidding timber down the mountain.
I remember visiting the Elsom ranch in the late 60s, I suppose it was. Mrs. Elsom had a huge Christmas cactus in her living room, blooming, in an old wringer washer. They raised goats for milk and that was the first time I tasted goats milk. I liked it! Dad always thought a lot of the Elsoms and Patches. We visited a Patch family in Buffalo in the 1980s.
The Patches were relatives of dad's mom's first husband, Louis Patch.
1940 Census
The 1940 census was released yesterday. I guess there was a computer glitch in the delivery or I guess I should say so many interested genealogists that the computers couldn't keep up. Anyway, I stayed away yesterday but thought I'd check this evening. I struck gold right away on ancestry.com.
Nebraska, Custer County, Lillian Township. On the first page:
Irene Russell, line 10, a school teacher living with Charles and Margie Estes.
Ben T. Russell, line 17, age 61, renter operator of a farm
Predmore family, Rufus, Bula and kids, line 18; Rufus was the father of dad's first wife. She was grown and gone by 1940.
Anton Hansen and his wife Grace and kids, line 37; neighbors when we lived on the Lakeman place. I have a very faint memory of Anton and his wooden leg. Grace was the enumerator of this part of the census.
But where is dad? If he was renting the Lakeman place in 1940, he should have been listed between the Predmores and Hansens. Hmm. Was he working for someone elsewhere? I don't see him in Lillian, Milburn or Sargent townships. Maybe he was in Wyoming. Maybe he was working as a hired man in another part of the county. Maybe I'll have to wait for the 1940 census index to be completed before I find him.
Others I see:
On page 2 I see Barent and Annie Ottun and four children on lines 65 thru 70.
Page 3, my grandmother, Della Russell and son Glenn Patch who was dad's half-brother, lines 17 and 18
page 4, Earl Patch, another half-brother, line 75
Names like Greenstreet, Lacy, Jezbera, Willhoit bring back memories of all the conversations dad and I had about his past. I see Temp and Hazel Wykoff, neighbors my sister and I visited one time, on horseback. I see Andrew Miller and know he was living on what has been immortalized in our family as The Miller Place. We moved there in 1964 - a great place for a kid to grow up!
If I was better with images I would include them here. Instead, I would suggest anyone interested in seeing the images go to ancestry.com and see if the 1940 census is free. (I have a subscription so I don't know what it looks like if you don't have one.) Another location to check is the National Archives website. Keep in mind there is no index. All around the world, dedicated genealogists are working feverishly to get it indexed as quickly as possible. But it will probably be months before that happens. (If you are looking on the National Archives site, you need to look for Nebraska, Custer, then you need to look for Enumeration district 21-27, Lillian.)
This has been a long and rambley sort of post but it has been fun to travel down the river road again and over the hill to Round Valley and to see the names of loved ones and neighbors and to remember dad.
Nebraska, Custer County, Lillian Township. On the first page:
Irene Russell, line 10, a school teacher living with Charles and Margie Estes.
Ben T. Russell, line 17, age 61, renter operator of a farm
Predmore family, Rufus, Bula and kids, line 18; Rufus was the father of dad's first wife. She was grown and gone by 1940.
Anton Hansen and his wife Grace and kids, line 37; neighbors when we lived on the Lakeman place. I have a very faint memory of Anton and his wooden leg. Grace was the enumerator of this part of the census.
But where is dad? If he was renting the Lakeman place in 1940, he should have been listed between the Predmores and Hansens. Hmm. Was he working for someone elsewhere? I don't see him in Lillian, Milburn or Sargent townships. Maybe he was in Wyoming. Maybe he was working as a hired man in another part of the county. Maybe I'll have to wait for the 1940 census index to be completed before I find him.
Others I see:
On page 2 I see Barent and Annie Ottun and four children on lines 65 thru 70.
Page 3, my grandmother, Della Russell and son Glenn Patch who was dad's half-brother, lines 17 and 18
page 4, Earl Patch, another half-brother, line 75
Names like Greenstreet, Lacy, Jezbera, Willhoit bring back memories of all the conversations dad and I had about his past. I see Temp and Hazel Wykoff, neighbors my sister and I visited one time, on horseback. I see Andrew Miller and know he was living on what has been immortalized in our family as The Miller Place. We moved there in 1964 - a great place for a kid to grow up!
If I was better with images I would include them here. Instead, I would suggest anyone interested in seeing the images go to ancestry.com and see if the 1940 census is free. (I have a subscription so I don't know what it looks like if you don't have one.) Another location to check is the National Archives website. Keep in mind there is no index. All around the world, dedicated genealogists are working feverishly to get it indexed as quickly as possible. But it will probably be months before that happens. (If you are looking on the National Archives site, you need to look for Nebraska, Custer, then you need to look for Enumeration district 21-27, Lillian.)
This has been a long and rambley sort of post but it has been fun to travel down the river road again and over the hill to Round Valley and to see the names of loved ones and neighbors and to remember dad.
Who Do You Think You Are? Season 3
Ancestry.com has released information on the first two episodes of Who Do You Think You Are, Season 3. NBC, 7 Central; Probably available the next day on the Internet.
Episode 1: Martin Sheen learns how family members in Ireland and Spain stood up for their beliefs during times of war.
February 3rd, 8/7c
Episode 2: Marisa Tomei travels to Italy to discover the truth behind the rumor about her great-grandfather’s murder.
February 10th, 8/7c
Episode 1: Martin Sheen learns how family members in Ireland and Spain stood up for their beliefs during times of war.
February 3rd, 8/7c
Episode 2: Marisa Tomei travels to Italy to discover the truth behind the rumor about her great-grandfather’s murder.
February 10th, 8/7c
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun
While I listen to the Husker-Badger game, I'll post my entry for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. GO BIG RED!
"List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother."
1. Me
2. Grace Jones (1923 Ferguson, Nebraska-2009 Grand Island, Nebraska) married 1) George Ferguson 2) Hugh Russell
3. Elizabeth Wilmot Jones (1888 Loup County, Nebraska-1985 Sargent, Nebraska) married Frank Jones
4. Flora Lucinda Swift (1859 Macomb, Illinois-1927 Ferguson, Nebraska) married George Worth
5. Eunice Calista Robinson (1832 Ohio-1906 Westerville, Nebraska) married 1) Charles Swift 2) Alanson Hurlburt
6. Rachel Walker (1807 Hudson, Ohio-after 1880 Illinois) married Aaron Robinson
7. Rachel Cochran (1768 Virginia-1847 Hudson, Ohio) married John Walker
Since my kids might read this, thought I'd do the same for their dad.
1. Jim
2. Dorothy (living)
3. Bertha Wilhelmina Johanna Noffke (1895 Hall County, Nebraska-1984 Grand Island, Nebraska)
4. Auguste Fredricke Emelia Teichmeier (1862 Falkenburg, Pomerania, Germany - 1951 Grand Island, Nebraska)
5. Albertine Karoline Konn (1831 Germany - 1893 Nebraska)
"List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother."
1. Me
2. Grace Jones (1923 Ferguson, Nebraska-2009 Grand Island, Nebraska) married 1) George Ferguson 2) Hugh Russell
3. Elizabeth Wilmot Jones (1888 Loup County, Nebraska-1985 Sargent, Nebraska) married Frank Jones
4. Flora Lucinda Swift (1859 Macomb, Illinois-1927 Ferguson, Nebraska) married George Worth
5. Eunice Calista Robinson (1832 Ohio-1906 Westerville, Nebraska) married 1) Charles Swift 2) Alanson Hurlburt
6. Rachel Walker (1807 Hudson, Ohio-after 1880 Illinois) married Aaron Robinson
7. Rachel Cochran (1768 Virginia-1847 Hudson, Ohio) married John Walker
Since my kids might read this, thought I'd do the same for their dad.
1. Jim
2. Dorothy (living)
3. Bertha Wilhelmina Johanna Noffke (1895 Hall County, Nebraska-1984 Grand Island, Nebraska)
4. Auguste Fredricke Emelia Teichmeier (1862 Falkenburg, Pomerania, Germany - 1951 Grand Island, Nebraska)
5. Albertine Karoline Konn (1831 Germany - 1893 Nebraska)
The land of our ancestors
Our Worth, Angel and Dugdale ancestors lived in Devon for many decades -- probably for centuries. This article from the BBC2 tells about some very early residents of the area now known as Devon, England.
"A chance discovery of coins has led to the bigger find of a Roman town, further west than it was previously thought Romans had settled in England."
I love to read about archeology. I think it would be fun to work on a site. Genealogy is like archeology, isn't it? Unearthing the facts about our ancestors, piecing together the stories from the things they left behind.
"A chance discovery of coins has led to the bigger find of a Roman town, further west than it was previously thought Romans had settled in England."
I love to read about archeology. I think it would be fun to work on a site. Genealogy is like archeology, isn't it? Unearthing the facts about our ancestors, piecing together the stories from the things they left behind.
Tapes Return
Last week I received the tapes and copies of them on DVD. They've been copied and cleaned up and sound ok, considering the shape they were in. The 1978 tape was cheap to begin with and I think I recorded music on it first and recorded the interview over it. Add to that the fact that I didn't have a microphone and used the built-in one...it's no wonder it's still, after being treated by an "audio doctor", almost impossible to hear 50% of the words. As I listen, though, the conversation we had that day comes back to me and I'm able to recall a lot of what dad said.
The 1983 tape comes with a bonus...or really, two bonuses. I taped it at my parent's house while I was visiting them with my two oldest kids. In the background I can hear Liz talking and I can hear Ben making baby sounds...she was about 3 and he was less than 1 year old. If I knew how to imbed an audio clip, I would include one here.
Oh well.
I'm just glad they are home safe and sound (no pun intended!). Now to transcribe and work on a book I've had in mind for a while now about dad.
The 1983 tape comes with a bonus...or really, two bonuses. I taped it at my parent's house while I was visiting them with my two oldest kids. In the background I can hear Liz talking and I can hear Ben making baby sounds...she was about 3 and he was less than 1 year old. If I knew how to imbed an audio clip, I would include one here.
Oh well.
I'm just glad they are home safe and sound (no pun intended!). Now to transcribe and work on a book I've had in mind for a while now about dad.
Precious tapes
Today I Fed-Ex'd two cassette tapes to a man in Canada who will work digital magic on them, turning rumbling and roaring noises and broken tapes once again into the clear steady voice of my dad. These are two of five or six tapes I recorded of conversations with my day in the 1970s through 1990s. I've been meaning to get this done for four years and today I did it. I hope all goes well.
on the 99th anniversary of dad's birth
A photo from almost every decade. Some weren't dated. The top right may have been taken in his teens, and the one where he's holding me is in his 40s. I included it to show that he lived over half his life before I was born. The bottom center is my favorite photo of him which I took in 1983.
Still miss you, dad.